Nai Forest

"Anyway, no matter what, I did find some clues about where Breda is hiding."

After holding her head and recovering for a while, Frieren told Zanze about the scene of flames filling the sky.

"And judging by the vegetation left on the ground at the time, it was also somewhere in a forest in the central region."

"There must be records of a fire on that scale."

Zanze nodded. That narrowed things down considerably.

"Lord Heiter, how is Lady Frieren?"

Fern looked deeply worried as she asked Heiter, who was examining Frieren.

"She can't use Mana again for at least a week."

Heiter lowered the hand with which he had been casting Goddess True Magic.

"The memory fragment poured unprocessed mental shock directly into her consciousness, affecting the flow of Mana in her body as well. She's stable now, but if she uses True Magic again before she's fully recovered, the lingering disorder could very likely spread again."

"Is that so? Why do I only feel a little dizzy, then?"

Frieren struggled to her feet and walked a few unsteady steps before suddenly falling backward without warning. If Lorenzo hadn't caught her, she would probably have ended up on the floor.

"All right, it does look like the problem is a little serious."

Frieren looked up at the ceiling.

"Why does it look like it's turning to the right?"

"The ceiling isn't moving at all. Lady Frieren, please rest in bed for the next few days."

Fern immediately stepped forward, picked Frieren up, and carried her toward her room.

"Let Lady Frieren rest. Leave the investigation to me."

Zanze watched Fern carry Frieren back to her room, then continued.

"In that case, I'll need to make a trip to the Holy City as well."

Heiter stretched his limbs.

"The item was bought at the Saint Lomiu Festival, so information on the people involved should still be on record. Besides, since Breda controls so many Windwing Dragons, we should also warn the different regions to strengthen their defenses in advance."

"I've retired, but not everyone I knew back then has. Things should be much easier if I handle them."

That was a considerable understatement.

Given Heiter's status as the former archbishop, if he suddenly appeared at church headquarters, he probably wouldn't even need to seek out anyone he used to know. He would only have to stand in the hall for a while before a crowd came running over to pay their respects.

"The True Magic Association will also send warnings to its branches everywhere."

Zanze added.

It was nothing like the beginning of a horror or disaster movie, where a few young people or overlooked scientists discovered signs of a disaster that could destroy a city or the world and hurried to report it to the authorities, only to be dismissed as lunatics. Even the evidence they had struggled to find would be considered fake, and to avoid causing a panic, the authorities would even arrest the people who had discovered the problem first.

Only after the monster appeared in the city center and smashed some landmark building to the ground would those people finally realize something was wrong.

After all, it depended on who gave the warning. Of the two people here, especially Heiter, even if he said the hero Himmel would come back to life in a week, the entire continent could start holding celebrations today.

"But for now, don't make the speculation that the Demons might attack the Holy City public."

Heiter cautioned.

"There's no conclusive evidence yet. Announcing it rashly would only cause unnecessary confusion. It's enough to have the different regions raise their alert levels on the grounds of guarding against monster migrations."

"I know."

"Then let's get going."

Heiter took his coat off the rack.

"The sooner we get the news to the Holy City, the sooner the other places can prepare."

Lorenzo planned to go to the Holy City with Heiter. After all, if Ophiuchus's sensing wasn't wrong, his body was already on the verge of collapse. Although Magecraft had temporarily eliminated his pain, that was nothing more than burying his head in the sand.

The news soon reached the entire continent through Heiter and Zanze, and churches and True Magic Association branches everywhere rushed to make preparations.

Come to think of it, could the church and the True Magic Association in this world actually work together in good faith? Judging by how some common stories went, even if religious institutions and magical organizations didn't regard each other as heretics, there should still have been serious conflict between them. They ought to have constantly argued over ownership of ancient ruins and magical items, then spent several chapters suspecting and hindering each other when a real disaster struck. That would have felt normal.

But on closer thought, the situation in this world was somewhat different to begin with.

The Goddess True Magic used by priests seemed to be a kind of True Magic itself. Surely they couldn't cast healing and purification spells while accusing other True Magic Users of disrespecting the gods by using supernatural powers?

In any case, everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

Even if Breda really was preparing an attack, at least they wouldn't be like the village before, only realizing danger had arrived when the Windwing Dragons were overhead.

Meanwhile, Zanze's investigation soon began to show results.

The central region, a forest, a great fire, and before the Wind Demon Dragon's attack...

There weren't many places that met all those conditions, and the target was soon narrowed down to a place called Nai Forest.

Nai Forest lay toward the north of the central region and covered a vast area. A river ran through its center, while a long, low ridge lay to the east, almost perfectly matching the terrain Frieren had seen in the Windwing Dragon's memories.

After confirming the location, Zanze chose to come here one night to investigate in person.

She hadn't brought a large group of True Magic Users with her so as to avoid alerting Breda, who might be hiding in the forest.

Besides, the more people there were, the more obvious the traces they left behind would be. If she really did encounter a danger she couldn't handle alone, it would be easier for Zanze to escape by herself.

Besides, if a First-Class True Magic User couldn't solve a problem, that could only mean more First-Class True Magic Users needed to be sent to help. There was no reason to send Second-Class or Third-Class True Magic Users to their deaths.

Zanze restrained her Mana and followed the river deeper into the forest. Several strands of her long hair silently extended along the ground in all directions, continuously probing the area along her route.

Yet she hadn't found a single animal along the way.

There were no beasts foraging at night, no small monsters hiding in tree hollows, and not even the sound of insects. The entire forest was far too quiet.

By rights, several years had passed since the fire, and the vegetation had grown back. Animals and monsters should have returned here long ago.

Such an obvious abnormality had gone unnoticed. The different regions really should have kept a closer watch on the wilderness.