To the Primitive Sea of Trees
I did my best to explain machinery in an easy-to-understand way.
Upon hearing that, my Eldest brother had a perplexed expression.
“I understand what you are trying to say, Ian. But is there anyone within the kingdom who can understand and create clockwork machinery?”
“It might be impossible to find someone among the human race. However, among the Dwarves… especially the Dwarves of the Primitive Sea of Trees, they might be able to create it.”
The “Primitive Sea of Trees” refers to the forest spreading across the southern part of the Kingdom of Critonia, it’s an undeveloped and dangerous forest where magic beasts roam freely during the day.
Deep within that forest, rumors among adventurers suggest that the Dwarves have built an underground city and live there. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know.
“When you say Dwarves, do you mean the Dwarves who forge swords and shields? I know they make simple ornaments, but can those rough folks create intricate clockwork?”
My Eldest brother, Roland, tilted his head in disbelief.
There are Dwarves living in the Kingdom of Critonia as well. However, many of them are weapons and armor blacksmiths, or they work as adventurers. Occasionally, decorative items made by Dwarves circulate in the Royal Capital, but the Dwarves’ dexterity isn’t widely known.
Thanks to my knowledge of Japanese light novels, I know that Dwarves are curious and love complex machinery, but Brother Roland doesn’t know that.
I stood up from my chair and clenched both fists.
“I’ll go check out the Primitive Sea of Trees myself. If all goes well, I’ll scout some Dwarves.”
“Ian, I can’t just let you go alone into such a dangerous forest.”
“But if we want to stand a chance against the Elfast Magic Kingdom, we can’t keep doing the same things as before. You know that the three of you have important roles in the castle. That’s why I’ll go alone.”
“In that case, let’s select the finest from the Royal Knights to accompany you.”
Roland and I continued our discussion for about an hour, and I decided to depart from the Royal Ccastle the next day at noon.
The next day, just before noon, when I went to the Royal family’s private stable, I found Kreiss from the Royal Knights and four other soldiers, and for some reason, my older sister Emilia was there too.
“Why are you here, Sister Emilia?”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Brother Roland told me about it. It wouldn’t be fair for you to go to the Primitive Sea of Trees alone, doing something so exciting.”
“Even if you say it’s not fair… Sister Emilia, you also have official duties at the castle, right? That’s why I was going to go alone.”
“Even though I’m part of the Royal family, I’m the second eldest, and a daughter. I can leave official duties to Brother Roland and Adel. Besides, I got caught up in battle the other day thanks to Adel, so it’s okay to push him a little this time.”
If anything, I feel like Sister Emilia was the one who wanted to get involved.
But it’s better to keep quiet and not upset her.
In the end, with Sister Emilia managing to persuade me, the two of us boarded the carriage and left the Royal Castle with Kreiss and the others.
After a while of riding in the carriage, Sister Emilia tilted her head.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yeah. There’s a town called Beakel near the Primitive Sea of Trees. I plan to gather information about the forest and the Dwarves there. I thought we could even hire a guide who knows the forest well.”
According to the information I obtained, the town of Beakel is close to the forest, attracting many adventurers who hunt magic beasts.
As a result, besides humans, there are also Demi-humans and Beastfolk living in the town.
I grew up in the castle and have never seen Demi-humans or Beastfolk up close, so I’m looking forward to meeting them in person.
About five hours after leaving the Royal Castle, the sky began to turn red.
Today, following my suggestion, we decided not to stay in the town and instead camped out in an open area along the road.
Upon arriving at the open area, we took out our supplies from the backpack-shaped magic bag, and Kreiss and the others set up the tents for camping.
Sister Emilia and I went to the nearby woods to gather dry branches for the fire, which we ignited using magic stones infused with mana.
As we gazed at the flames, Kreiss approached and kneeled down to offer his respects.
“We didn’t prepare camping food because we thought you would stay at an inn. Right now, we only have emergency rations. I apologize for the inconvenience, Your Highnesses.”
“Oh no, I actually wanted to try those emergency rations. Once we left the Royal Castle, we have become traveling companions, didn’t we? So don’t be so formal, Kreiss. Relax, just like us.”
“Understood. However, you seem different, Your Highness Ian. High-ranking nobles often dislike eating with soldiers.”
In this world, there’s a class system, unlike in the Japan I remember from my past life, where everyone was just commoners.
I don’t really understand the differences in status all that much.
We received some emergency rations from Kreiss and the soldiers, which consisted of hard black bread and smoked meat.
Emilia and I drank water from our canteens and slowly ate the rations.
The black bread was rock hard, and the smoked meat was tough to tear apart.
Watching me struggle with the emergency rations, Emilia chuckled.
“This is the first time I’ve had such a tough meal. It’s also my first time camping out in nature like this. Being with you means experiencing all sorts of firsts, and it’s really fun.”
“Yeah, I’m having fun too.”
Late into the night, Sister Emilia, Kreiss, and the others and I enjoyed each other’s company, chatting happily under the starry sky.