What refreshed Eve's mind was a pleasant, low baritone. At some point, Mikael had approached her side.
"Your Highness, we've finished preparing to enter the forest."
"Ah. Let's depart right away."
With the residents seeing them off, Eve, Mikael, and the Punishment Knight Order entered the forest.
A few people from Dandelion accompanied them as well: Helione, the village chief, and five homunculi who would guide them.
Eve rode together with Mikael and left the reins to him. She needed to look at the map while they were moving.
'Hmm… Following the map's route and clearing a road all the way to the Demonic Dragon's seal site would be impossible.'
Outside the palisade was nothing but untamed nature—forest, mountains, and caves. The only "roads" were at best narrow paths formed along the routes the mid-level homunculi moved through every day.
Even those were usually winding, or looping around in circles.
They weren't paths made for traveling from place to place, but paths made for wandering in search of supplies.
Eve traced the route on the map with her finger for a while, then gave up. Instead, she made a decision.
'I'll have to clear a new road. For that, I'll need to get some help from Unni and Orabeoni.'
In any case, the expedition's overall mission was to search for the Demonic Dragon's seal site. In a place swarming with monsters, exploration inevitably involved combat.
'If I send Unni and Orabeoni to places where road development is necessary, I can make use of the strengths of Byeokhyeol and the Extermination Knight Order.'
Isn't it only right that good things should be shared?
Eve surveyed the map's terrain as a whole. The Demonic Dragon Ambroxa was sealed slightly northwest of the central region.
And to the east was an unpolluted lake; to the south, a rocky mountain emitting a strange aura. The rest could be considered all forest.
'Ambroxa's seal site and the water source are sketched especially roughly compared to other areas. That must mean they aren't easy to approach.'
For now, Eve decided to set their direction northeast. As they cut across the forest, black-violet miasma rose here and there, creating a bleak atmosphere.
Since it wouldn't have been strange for monsters to jump out at any moment, the knights and residents did not relax their vigilance.
Eve also studied the trees in the forest carefully. Perhaps under the miasma's influence, the conifers forming the forest had purplish trunks and leaves with a black sheen.
The needle leaves, sharp as if obsidian shards had been densely set into them, were eerie yet beautiful enough to draw the eye.
Eve folded the map and asked Helione,
"The trees are unusual. They look like fir trees."
"Baronet Erka calls them purple firs, so we call them that as well. They're the most common trees in Dandelion, so we use them as building material."
Recalling the interior of the building where she'd gone in yesterday to have a secret talk with Morien, Eve asked,
"For a building made entirely of wood all the way up to the ceiling, I didn't see any rotted parts. How does it survive even after going through the rainy season every year?"
"Ah, that is… May I show you something as I explain?"
"Of course."
Eve raised her right hand, halting the group.
Helione rummaged through the underbrush beneath a tree and picked something up.
A large purplish crystal-like chunk came into her hand. Rather than a gemstone, it looked like something liquid had hardened.
Eve's amber eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"What is that?"
"It's hardened secretions from insect monsters."
The field lesson continued. Helione pulled out a dagger and deeply scraped the purple fir's trunk with the blade.
As the purplish sap oozed out thickly, palm-sized insects came skittering in, sssak-ssak, gathering. It was a creepy sight, but it didn't seem threatening.
"They're insect monsters that feed primarily on fir sap.
We melt their secretions into oil and use it as a waterproofing agent for wood. Once applied, it gives a glossy shine, and the waterproofing effect is quite excellent."
"I see."
Eve nodded as if it were no big deal. It was a lukewarm reaction. But if Anais had been here, she would have been extremely excited.
The insect monsters' secretion was a substance called shellac.
It was produced in the Empire as well, but since it was collected from ordinary small insects rather than large insect monsters, only a minuscule amount was made.
Therefore, it was a very expensive coating agent, used only on furniture or instruments made by high-end artisans. Even then, the Empire's shellac didn't have waterproofing as excellent as Dandelion's shellac.
"So that insect secretion is something you can obtain easily."
"Yes. Dandelion is a place short on supplies, but as for trees and monsters… we have so many it makes you sick of them."
"Good. Then we can use this to waterproof roofs. Come to think of it, the rainwater collection barrels were made of wood too—did you use waterproofing agent there as well?"
"That's right."
"Then it must be harmless to the human body. If it gives a glossy coating effect, could it be used to decorate nails? I should take this and discuss it with Young Lady Yegrin as well."
Eve tucked the purplish shellac into her sleeve and became preoccupied with the nail polish business.
Just then, Mikael, who had been guiding the horse, asked,
"By the way, Your Highness."
"What is it, Mikael?"
"Where exactly are we heading right now?"
"First, we're going to the lake to the northeast. They said there's a clean water source there."
Although they still had plenty of rainwater collected during the rainy season, there was a limit. Once the rainwater ran out, they'd have to purify muddy water drawn up from the swamp near the village and drink it. Securing a source of drinking water was a problem that had to be solved sooner or later.
Also, it wasn't only people who needed water. Since ancient times, watersides had been good hunting grounds.
So it was natural that Eve would choose a water source as a place where she could obtain drinking water and food at the same time.
Of course, from the perspective of Dandelion's residents, Eve's choice was not something to take for granted. Helione revealed her concern.
"Will it be all right? The lake is crawling with monsters, so we never even dared to go near it."
It was a fact Eve had already guessed early on from the roughly drawn map around the lake.
Eve reassured Helione and the mid-level homunculi.
"Even if it's dangerous, can it be worse than the monsters that poured in through the gate yesterday? I'll protect you for certain, so don't worry."
"Ah, yes. Understood, Your Highness."
Helione and the mid-level homunculi accepted it quickly. Remembering Eve's magic that had annihilated the monster horde that swarmed down from the sky yesterday, their hearts suddenly felt much lighter.
Around then, Mikael also spoke to Punishment.
"Did you hear? Her Highness says she will protect us. Don't be afraid."
"Yes!"
Eve, flustered, turned to Mikael and asked in a whisper,
"I'm the one protecting you?"
"It's to raise morale. They'll recall how you performed yesterday, Your Highness."
"I only used some defensive magic…
Fine. I won't do that anymore."
Eve reflected on her own. It seemed she would have to slowly accept the fact that it was too late for her to go back to being a harmless specialist in everyday-life magic.
'While I'm at it, I should study ways to use Silver Thread Arachne in unconventional applications.'
She had no talent whatsoever for applying offensive magic, but she felt she might be able to apply Silver Thread Arachne.
Just then, Mikael asked,
"Your Highness, there's something I've been a little curious about since earlier."
"What is it?"
"That there is a completely clean water source in a place polluted by miasma. Isn't it strange?"
Eve's face brightened as if he had gotten it exactly.
"So you thought that too, Mikael."
"Then Your Highness also…?"
"Yeah. Actually, going to the lake isn't just for securing water and food—there's also an investigative purpose."
"You're guessing there's something at the lake that suppresses the miasma."
"That's right. I'm planning to search the lake thoroughly and find out."
The group—made up of the Punishment Knight Order and the village residents—continued moving.
On the way, they were attacked by packs of monsters about five or six times, but they dealt with all of them easily.
After about two hours had passed, the homunculus in charge of guiding them through this area told them the water source was close.
It seemed this was the danger limit of where the homunculi normally explored.
When they pressed deeper into the dangerous region, there was a noticeable change in the environment.
The fir trees' purplish and black coloration had markedly faded, and trees of ordinary colors began to appear.
"This is…"
"It's not normal."
Just as Eve and Mikael sank deep into thought, Helione and the mid-level homunculi jumped in surprise as if they'd seen something unbelievable.
"My goodness. The trunks are brown and the leaves are green. How can a tree this sinister exist?"
Having lived their entire lives seeing only purple trunks and black needle leaves, it was a natural reaction.
It was then.
"Everyone, be quiet. There are monsters nearby."
At Mikael's voice, everyone took up a combat stance and watched their surroundings.
Between the conifers, the shadows of monsters flickered. There were quite a lot of them.
Along with the monsters' footsteps, they could also hear the sound of water. Judging the direction, Mikael picked two from Punishment and sent them out to stand watch. When they returned, they spoke with grave expressions.
"Your Highness, Commander, you should see this yourselves."
"So there's something. Chief, come with us as well."
Eve, Mikael, and Helione carefully headed toward where the sound of water came from.
Using dense thickets as high as their chests like a wall, they hid their bodies.
And then, when they looked out at the lake—Eve was startled.
A clean, blue-green lake stretched out before them, as if emerald had been melted down to form it.
And around it were monsters that had to number in the hundreds.
Orcs, ogres, trolls, behemoths, centaurs, nepenthes, gargoyles… The variety of individuals was vast—
But there was something peculiar.
They weren't entirely stained black from complete pollution by miasma; rather, parts of their bodies still retained their original colors.
"Those things… about half their bodies are still fine, aren't they?"
"They haven't fully become monsters. They'd be closer to magical beasts."
This was the second piece of evidence, following the ordinary fir trees. Once again, it strengthened the certainty of the hypothesis that the lake possessed some special power that suppressed the miasma.
Just then, Helione also said something about the scene before them. For some reason, her voice carried excitement.
"Yes. I think we can use all of them as food."
"What?"
Eve and Mikael flinched, turning to look at Helione. Helione only looked back at them with an expression that asked what was wrong.
It was then that an ominous conjecture burrowed into Eve and Mikael's minds.
'Come to think of it, Dandelion is a place where there are so many trees and monsters it makes you sick of them…'
'Then does that mean the sausage we ate yesterday and today…?'
At the conclusion they arrived at, Eve turned pale, and Mikael stiffened.
Recalling the breakfast table Peony had prepared that morning, Eve demanded, looking as if she might cry,
"W-Was it sausage made from magical beasts?"