Chapter 42 (1/2)

Summary of the last chapter in three lines

Arezel cries.

The road loops.

Souta unlocks it.

「Since you canceled the trap before, I feel that the darkness in my heart also went away!」

「No, that’s just your imagination.」

「Hauu.」

Souta cuts off Arezel's attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

The darkness remains unchanged. It’s still hard to know if it’s day or night.

「This darkness and that trap might be caused by two different people.」

「Really?」

Arezel, who thought both the darkness and the trap were caused by the same culprit, asks Souta with a surprised expression.

「I can’t say it with certainty … … However, the quality of magic power is somehow different. And compared to the looping trap from before, this trap is too blatant, but it’s also a cunning trap at the same time. Covering the entire forest means it’s trying to erase its presence. By doing so, its purpose is also concealed.」

Souta narrows his eyes and tells his thoughts.

Arezel draws a breath from the change in the atmosphere.

「That’s just an idea. I don’t understand it myself. In the first place, this might just be a natural phenomenon, not caused by anybody.」

「Whichever it is, if it actually covers the whole forest, it’s tremendous, isn’t it?」

「That’s right. Though if it doesn’t actually hurt us in any way, the cause doesn’t matter… Anyway, I'm already hungry.」

With the day being dark day and night, Souta is grasping the approximate time with his biological clock. Right now, it’s about dinner.

「Now that you mention it, I'm also hungry.」

Once she remembers about her hunger, Arezel’s stomach rumbles.

「Uuu, that’s embarra.s.sing.」

「It’s almost time to go to bed. timewise, we need to make the camp now so we don’t sleep too late.」

「Wait a bit, I'll look for a suitable place.」

Souta stops the carriage, descends from the coach seat, and goes into the bushes.

Arezel also gets off from the carriage, but she stays there just as Souta instructed.

「I-I understand, but please come back soon.」

She clings to Ed as she feels anxious from being left alone.

Souta is looking for enough s.p.a.ce for them to make camp and parking the carriage.

After walking a bit, there is a clearing where the trees don’t grow, but it's overgrown with gra.s.s. Souta puts his hands on the ground and channels his magic power.

Souta maintains the ground using earth magic.

The gra.s.s is dug out and buried with the soil.

And then with earth magic, he levels the ground by breaking up the soil and spreading it around. After repeating that several times, there's now a circular s.p.a.ce in the forest.

It takes time, but a small square is formed.

「Like this …… This is the method that the elder told me.」

Not only in the woods but also in hot and cold places, there are methods for each. They were instructed by the gnome hero.

「Ummm, have you find the place?」

When Souta's recalling his past and looks into the distance, Arezel, who got impatient, comes along with Ed.

Because Ed followed Souta’s smell, they can arrive quickly.

「Hm? Ohh, you have come. I’ve found it, you can rest easily in this place.」

Souta moves a bit to show Arezel the s.p.a.ce that’s hard to see because it’s hidden behind his body.