"Wickel?" Fatenai stared at him in surprise as he abandoned the trail and headed in the opposite direction. She didn't care who had driven the boars mad—she knew Hermes had done it—but she did care about Wickel's behavior. It was absolutely out of character.
Wickel didn't answer her. Without looking back, he kept walking.
"Wickel? Wickel? Wickel!" Nobody liked being ignored like that, so Fatenai called his name several times. The tall man and the short woman moved through the forest together, seemingly in harmony, though in truth they had a serious disagreement about which way to go.
She hoped Wickel would stop and continue investigating. That way, she could feel she was still of some use. Staying by the side of an experienced hunter like Wickel was the best option, rather than wandering through the forest like a headless fly.
Her earlier experience in the forest had been far from dignified, so Fatenai called out a few more times. At the last call, Wickel suddenly stopped. Fatenai thought he had finally given in, but instead, he turned and walked toward her without a word. Before she could say anything, he simply... picked her up! He carried her off as though she were a small animal!
Even before she became the young lady of the Wisdom Family, Fatenai had never experienced anything like this.
"How rude!" Fatenai blurted out.
Of course, it did no good. The hound trotted along behind them, wagging its tail and seeming quite happy. That only made Fatenai want to crawl into a hole.
Fatenai's thoughts were in a muddle, but she stopped trying to figure out how to make Wickel put her down or turn back. She wasn't entirely a sheltered noblewoman; once she realized Wickel wouldn't listen to her, she changed her line of thinking.
Was he worried about something? Was there something in that direction? Or... did he not believe her?
Fatenai had plenty of guesses, but her first priority was to stay quiet. It was much the same as at home: until she knew she could handle the situation, she shouldn't provoke the other person...
In the end, she decided to test Wickel and find out why he didn't want to go that way.
Before long, the cabin came into view. Fatenai had no time to marvel at how unusual the little house in the forest was. She took a deep breath—just then, she felt Wickel set her down.
"Hey, Wickel, I wanted to say..." Fatenai tried to soften her tone, but before she could finish, Wickel walked off toward the forest again without even looking back!
What was going on?!
Fatenai gaped. Then anger surged, threatening to overwhelm her reason. Even her usually calm and wise father had never managed to make her this mad.
She felt he had thoroughly mocked her. She watched Wickel walk away—he was heading in the direction they had just come from.
That showed he still intended to investigate the place, but his actions just now also made it clear that he didn't want her slowing him down. He had even carried her back himself.
Was she really that annoying?! The realization shocked Fatenai, then filled her with anger.
In the end, she chose to follow him. At that moment, all she wanted was to confront Wickel and demand an explanation.
But nothing was as simple as Miss Fatenai had imagined. When she plunged into the forest, she ran into two serious problems. First, she realized she couldn't keep up with Wickel at all. Clearly, he had been deliberately slowing down when they walked together before—or else he was deliberately speeding up now.
The other problem was that she had gotten lost.
Fatenai knew roughly which way she was going, but when she came to her senses, everything around her looked completely unfamiliar. She couldn't tell one tree from another; to her, they all looked much the same.
It was all so frustrating that she couldn't help wondering how things had come to this. Fatenai looked around and cursed the Holy See a thousand times. If those religious fanatics hadn't invented some Awakening Ritual, why would she have taken part in it? And why would her standing in the family have plummeted, leaving her to be sent off for some strange arranged marriage?
If she hadn't been forced into that rushed marriage, she wouldn't have fled in such a hurry, and she wouldn't have been so unprepared.
But...
Fatenai took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Venting would only help for a moment; reality was still reality, and there was no undoing it.
All she could think about now was whether anything she had learned could help her find her way through the forest.
Music theory, etiquette, basic dancing, history, swordsmanship, horseback riding... and a few books about surviving outdoors that she had hurriedly skimmed. Of course, they were the sort of adventure books written for nobles, and they would be no use here.
What about the things she'd learned before that?
Fatenai rested a hand on a tree trunk and felt its ridges as she thought carefully. She didn't wander blindly, but waited quietly, as though expecting something. She no longer resembled the unusually short-tempered woman from a little while ago. Now she was the familiar, composed Fatenai.
The forest suddenly grew quiet. Birds called now and then, and a breeze stirred through the trees...
It was quiet enough to feel... wrong. No, there was a sound.
Rustle...
Fatenai narrowed her eyes and peered around the tree trunk. For some reason, tension rose within her. As the seconds passed, the rustling grew louder. Fatenai backed away two steps, growing increasingly anxious about what might be behind the tree.
Whoosh!
Fatenai sprang back two steps, then suddenly relaxed. The hound was wagging its tail, its round eyes fixed on her as its tail swished from side to side. It seemed to have followed her.
Apparently, it couldn't keep up with Wickel either.
"You scared me..." Fatenai found herself saying, as if trying to talk to the hound. She glanced at it, bent down, and stroked its head. The hound was very docile. It stretched its head toward her and let her pet it, wagging its tail even more excitedly.
Seeing it like that, Fatenai smiled, then stood up. "You know how to get back, don't you? Since we can't catch up, we'll just have to go back. That's better than wandering around here."
The hound wagged its tail, then turned with a look of understanding. It sniffed the ground and started walking. Every so often, it looked back at Fatenai and barked twice.
Fatenai followed it.
As she walked through the forest with the hound, having given up on finding Wickel, Fatenai began to admire the scenery. The ancient forest was full of towering trees, unlike anything she had ever seen. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting wavering shadows that seemed especially warm on this afternoon. Usually, the Eisole Forest was peaceful and serene.
As they walked, the scenery somehow brought a sense of calm to Fatenai.
Would she have to live in a forest like this from now on? Like a Forest Hunter?
The thought came to Fatenai out of nowhere, and for the first time, she felt lost.
Her only goal had been to leave the world of the nobility, but she had no clear ideas about the future. She didn't even know how people on this continent lived outside the noble class.
But she had no time to dwell on it.
"Can you catch up?" a voice suddenly said beside Fatenai. She hurriedly ducked below a small hill and peered through the branches of a huge tree growing on its slope, looking toward the source of the voice. A group of people stood there, dressed in black cloaks and moving lightly.
"We can. Follow this way, then go over there," another voice said.
Fatenai's expression changed. Who were they?
On instinct, she used the Eye of Connection. Mana flowed through her eyes. To her surprise, the black-clad figures had very regular currents of mana around their bodies. Strange patterns were clearly visible around them as well. They seemed to be what distributed the mana evenly around them.
The word "mages" suddenly appeared in Fatenai's mind. She wanted to look more closely, but a bark suddenly sounded beside her!
The hound?! Fatenai realized what had happened and hurriedly scooped it into her arms, trying to keep it quiet.
"Who's there?" But it was already too late. The black-clad figures, who had been about to leave, had clearly spotted Fatenai hiding behind the little hill. They rushed toward her. Even the hound in Fatenai's arms sensed the danger drawing near; its body stiffened in her grasp.
She was now certain they were mages. They had rushed through the woods from quite a distance away, but in the blink of an eye they were right in front of her. Fatenai could see the mana surging, flowing into the patterns around the mages, then triggering some kind of transformation.
But Fatenai had no time to think about the mages. She had no interest in uncovering the secrets of their powers. She only knew that she was in trouble now that they had found her. She tried instinctively to think of a way out, but could feel how helpless she was.
Was there really... nothing she could do?
Fatenai was close to despair, but a crisp sound stopped the mages in mid-charge, as if someone had pressed a button.
What had happened?
"The reaction of a Magic Potion? There's a high-grade potion that can teleport people?" one of the mages suddenly said. Her voice was pleasant, clearly belonging to a woman.
"Go after them—we can't let 'them' take the Eye of Simorely. Anyone who can use a potion like that must be one of 'them,'" another mage said.
With that, they set off, running into the distance.
Fatenai let out a breath of relief and collapsed to the ground. Before she knew it, her back was soaked with sweat, though she wasn't sure what would have happened if they had found her.
"That was close, miss." The familiar voice sounded again. Fatenai looked up and saw Hermes sitting in a tree.
He seemed quite pleased, baring his little fangs as he grinned.
"Did you do that just now?" Fatenai asked. As soon as she said it, she realized she might as well not have asked. Apart from Hermes, there was no one around her who could use these things so skillfully.
Before you continue