Leaving the clearing at the system-made gate behind filled my heart with a slight dose of anxiety. Yet, as I continued to send glances over my shoulder, I quickly noticed that everyone else was equally as anxious.
Although, our reasons for worry could be any less different.
While I worried about the core elements of my plans for the future, both near and one that was far-off into the future... The vigilant glances Makary's men sent all over the forest revealed the source of their worry.
Unlike me, they were actually worried about their safety.
With modern guns in their hands and this strange, black cloud alerting them of any and all presences around, they continued to fear every shadow and gust of wind, ready to pounce on anything that would come out from this otherwordly forest.
I, on the other hand, couldn't feel any safer.
With Fay in her ascended form right by my side there was no way anyone or anything would approach us without her noticing. In fact, with how much my aura grew ahead of my other attributes, there was a chance I would be the first one to tell someone was approaching instead!
Still, with Fay at the helm of the group, I simply couldn't fathom a scenario that was both anywhere within the realm of reasonable probability and one where we would be in any danger.
'Especially when all it takes for us to re-enter that strange promoted state is to ramp our bond to its limits.'
Simply unable to worry about the things that made my companions so anxious, I continued to make my way through the forest.
And it was this movement, this traversing of the thick bushes and undergrowth that turned out to be our greatest enemy...
At least in the very first part of our journey.
"Target dead ahead, just beyond that hill," the feminine man pointed out the direction with the tip of his LMG.
"I will go," I said with a small sigh. "You guys are like ants here. If it's a real enemy, you will get cut down the second they see you," I warned the others before they could even oppose to my suggestion. Enjoy new tales from m-v l'-novelhall.net
In theory, exposing myself to danger was absolutely the last thing I should be doing. With how I was the only one capable of operating the portal between worlds, my life was of utmost, utmost importance...
But right now, if I wanted to build a better future by exploiting the benefits of this portal, taking this small risk was simply the most rational option.
"More or less," I replied while feeling my face twitch.
But this wasn't the time to explain the deep details of my complicated relationship with my father-in-law. In fact, it was better just to ignore this topic and our pretty unfriendly history.
"Let's not waste time," I requested as I turned my attention back to the man below. "What happened? Have the imperials overran the forest?"
This was my greatest worry. And something that still came to be, even after all that I did to stop this war from escalating.
"Yes and no," Loraz replied right away, most likely coming up with the same line of thought as I did.
For all I had against this man, he still tried his best to keep the forest, his home, safe from the human invasion. And while he ended up bogged down by his doubts born from the extreme numbers disadvantage of this conflict...
He was still the leader of divines who ignored the hermetic nature of his clan and went out of his way to establish a network of spies and informants outside of the forest that brought him the news of the invasion before it actually started.
To a degree, even his hostile act against me and Fay was, in a pretty warped way, his attempt at making things right, regaining his strength so that he could keep protecting the forest to the best of his ability.
"A day after you've left, a second army arrived, led by a powerful imperial duke," Loraz's report started with big, important details right away. "The Golden Princess stood her forces down. I believe the duke wanted to get one over her, so he decided to push for the forest to gain the initiative over the princess."
Loraz lifted himself up and, with the help of two of Makary's men who rushed over to help him, stood up.
"Without you on hand, Madam decided against any elaborate plans, saying we don't know human tactics and ways of thinking to arrange any fancy strategy. So, to buy some time, she decided to let them through, opting to receive their attack within the forest," Loraz glanced over at the humans in weird outfits and with weird weapons surrounding him.
Then, he turned his eyes back to my face and lowered his voice, as if not sure if he was supposed to share this within a talking distance of other humans.
"The forest gives us an advantage. And while Madam cannot make the move without inviting the princess to counter it right away, while in the forest, we still fight within her domain."
"So," this time, my high intelligence and wisdom allowed me to process everything Loraz said in a single instant. "Things should be more or less... stable, right?"
Loraz's expression soured.
"Tell that to all those who died since yesterday," he spat out before staring at my face for a second and ultimately averting his eyes. "But yeah, things are all as they would normally be."