A laugh filled with greed escaped his mouth. Grinning ear to ear, he exclaimed, "Do you see this? This is what's gonna make us rich! I told you there was something here. That nun actually believed us when we said we were just here for an investigation. Can you believe it?"
The two of them left the forest and returned to the orphanage to greet the sister. "Oh, Sister, we've come back from our investigation," they said. "There's nothing to worry about; it seems it was just a false report."
"Ah, that makes me glad. We wouldn't want the children to get hurt, right?" she replied.
"Yes, yes. Have a wonderful day. If anything else troubles you, just call our guild," the men said.
Laniakea watched the conversation from afar, waiting for the sister to finish. "Sister, Sister, is the forest safe now?"
"Lan, you don't have to worry. It was just a false report," she said with a smile. "And where did you even hear the forest was dangerous? Did the others say something stupid again? You know what—how about you go back to the forest? I know that's what you were planning to ask anyway. Go on, shoo!"
Laniakea didn't waste a single second. He bolted toward the forest so quickly the sister muttered in surprise, "Since when was he so fast? He might be faster than the guards."
As Laniakea ran, he felt the overwhelming joy of movement. His muscles moved in perfect harmony, the air felt fresh, and the forest was beautiful. I could run like this forever, he thought. Remembering the pond he had fallen into, he took a shortcut through the canopy. He realized the careful balance he usually needed to walk atop the trees was no longer necessary; his body felt so light he could run across branches like the knights and mages in his books.
When he arrived at the pond, he spotted a group of well-dressed people. From their clothes and the way they have servants doing the work, there's an 80% chance they're nobles—at least Counts or Earls, Laniakea calculated. Or perhaps rich commoners, but that wouldn't make sense. Why wouldn't they have bought a title? Something is definitely going on.
He crept closer, trying to stay hidden from the armed guards. He could only catch fragments of their conversation: "...gods... Aura... Spring."
What do those words mean? Laniakea wondered.
Suddenly, a figure in full plate armor—far higher quality than the guards' gear—looked directly toward his hiding spot. Laniakea ducked behind the leaves. T-that's a knight! He didn't wait to see if he'd been spotted. He scrambled back toward his hideout by the snow-bark tree. "I-I think I'm safe now," he whispered, heart hammering, not daring to make a sound.
"HEY!"
Laniakea shuddered. Is that the knight?
"Come down from there right now!" a stern voice commanded.
Laniakea obeyed instantly, his instinct to flee suppressed by sheer intimidation.
"Hey, you. You're smarter than the others," the knight said with a smirk, reaching into a pouch. "The others usually try to run away and meet God earlier than scheduled. Now, why don't you tell me what you were doing back there?"