You're saying this is Fairy Village? What kind of Fairy Village has this many humans living in it?
Lily instinctively turned her gaze toward Iver and asked in a low voice, "Is this... that worse possibility?"
"...Hard to say."
Iver shook his head, feeling that strange sensation in his heart growing ever clearer.
When he had been walking along the Small Forest Path just now, he had experienced something peculiar. He had been filled with vigilance—one could even say he was on maximum alert—yet he had also felt a peaceful, carefree sense of comfort.
If he had to describe it, it was somewhat like the feeling of receiving aromatherapy. Or like walking alone through the forest in the quiet early hours of the morning, with no work or other obligations. His mind was utterly tranquil, and it felt as though time itself had stopped at that moment.
Sherlock had clearly experienced that strange sensation as well. That was why he understood what Iver meant.
—If this was Fairy Village, then it made perfect sense for such an anomaly to appear. All they needed to do was deal with fairies.
But if this wasn't Fairy Village...
"...Then there are only two possibilities. Either an extremely powerful transcendent cast a large-scale barrier over this place that operates constantly, in order to protect the village; or there's something abnormal about the village itself, and the strength of that abnormality is enough to distort the keen gaze of a Fourth Level White Lion."
Iver said solemnly, "Either way... we have to prepare ourselves to come into contact with Fifth Level power."
Just then, they saw Hai Na waving at them in the distance.
"You're here—"
She ran over excitedly.
But halfway there, she spotted Sherlock beside Iver. The smile on her face gradually faded,