CH 538.2

To the Harvesting Forest.

When Adry-sama said “Good grief” and shrugged his shoulders, Alicia-sama’s face turned even redder.

Eh, was Alicia-sama perhaps a tsundere!?

No, I haven’t seen any of her dere yet…

Come to think of it, she looked lonely when she was sending back the summoned Magic beast.

I’m sure she’s a sucker for cute things.

“Oi~ you guys! You are the last ones!”

The other students had been transported by the warp magic circle to the vicinity of the Harvesting Forest.

“Let’s stop talking and head for the Harvesting Forest. Come on, let’s go.”

With Oniisama leading the way, we hurriedly moved to the warp magic circle that took us to the Harvesting Forest.

The Harvesting Forest is located within the grounds of the academy, and any student or staff member can gather goods in it, but because it is a fairly large forest, several warp magic circle points were set up.

Because of that, it’s necessary to record who uses which warping point before the transfer.

This is because there are several times a year when people are so engrossed in harvesting that they don’t even notice that the sun has set and get stuck in the dark forest, and end up in a distress…

In such cases, they search mainly around the warping point used by the missing person.

“When collecting, do not go too far from the warping point. When the time is up, be sure to return to the warping point.”

After the staff member gave a brief warning, the magic power flowed into the warp magic circle to activate it, and the scenery distorted, instantly transforming the surroundings into a deep forest.

“So this is the Harvesting Forest…”

At the warping point was a stone slab with a magic circle engraved on it.

“The area is covered with barrier magic, so if anything should happen to you, you can escape here. The pendant I’m going to give you now is a magic tool that allows you to pass through the barrier, so don’t lose it.”

As Oniisama explained the situation, he handed out pendants entrusted to him by the staff.

The pendant had a magic stone inlaid into the top, and the detailed pattern on the side of the pendant seemed to be the spell to pass through the barrier.

We put the pendant around our necks and tucked it into our shirts, so we wouldn’t lose it.

“All right, let’s start with the basic medicinal herbs.”

We left the warping point and entered the forest, with Oniisama leading the way.

“… Ah, did Mashiro catch up…?”

Since we used warp magic, Mashiro and others couldn’t go along.

“Don’t worry. As long as we are not in a barrier or something, they can easily find your whereabouts, so they should have started moving by now.”

Ruby, who was being carried by Mariel-chan walking next to me, heard my murmur and winked at me, telling me not to worry.

Oh, no, that’s right.

When I had gone temporarily missing from the Adventurers’ Guild in the fief before, they had literally jumped me as soon as I left the barrier of the magic tool store.

Thank goodness. We were always together when we were harvesting, so it was a bit disconcerting not to see the two of them. I’m glad.

Feeling a little more at ease, I decided to concentrate on the harvesting.