Shinka no Mi

Chapter 156: Rough Entry to a Country

“―――― Seiichi-sama.”

“Ah, there’s something out there.”

As I was taken by the tree and made my way through the forest, I suddenly felt a sign of life.

As for me, it’s fine as long as it’s not a horde of caterpillars, but what’s going on?

Thinking that way, from that sign, I heard a human voice this time.

“――――!”

“――――Reach―――― this!”

“――Hindrance―― Then――……!”

If I listen closely, it seems that they’re fighting with monsters, so I inadvertently looked at the tree.

“Oi, it sounds like they’re being attacked, but……”

“…… These presences are not Her Majesty’s soldiers. It’s probably soldiers from the enemy country. So, we can leave it alone. Besides, they don’t seem to be in a crisis.”

As the tree says, there are a lot of shouts which can be heard faintly, but feelings such as impatience and fear aren’t transmitted with it. On the contrary, I felt an annoyed atmosphere and they even have composure.

“Well, if tree says that it’s good, I won’t move either…… But, if it’s soldiers from the enemy country, then it’s better to check their fighting power, right?”

“…… It’s true that those are important, but for me, I want you to go to Her Majesty’s country as soon as possible.”

“I was stopped by that Her Majesty’s order.”

Her Majesty would never have thought that the existence she had created would bring me to her by its own will.

She wouldn’t want to bring such an insidious person into her own country.

“And, perhaps, it’s no coincidence that they’re fighting against monsters.”

“Eh?”

“In other words, it’s a strategy by His Majesty’s vassal. As I listen carefully, the soldiers of the enemy country are gradually moving away from the country, so it’s like a short break. However, there’s no time to rest because it’s just a very brief moment. Let’s hurry ahead.”

I didn’t have any particular complaints on the tree telling me that, and I just followed behind it.

Thus――――

“Here it is.”

“Oh……!”

I finally arrived at our destination.

As the tree said, there really was a town in the middle of the forest.

It’s surrounded by walls as large as Terviel, and soldiers are busy moving in the wall.

And the big castle that was visible from the other side of the wall was impressive.

I don’t know what to say…… The castle of Terviel is a dream-like national castle, but the castle in this city has a Taj Mahal look.

Although I was impressed in front of such a town, I felt an impulsive atmosphere.

“It feels like, it has a tense atmosphere.”

They’re currently in a battle with the enemy country, so the town seems to be on edge somehow.

In fact, you can see some soldiers moving around at visible distances and rushing to carry the people who look like they’re injured.

“Etto…… what should I do from here? As expected, I don’t think they’ll let me enter from the front, but……”

“? What are you saying? Let’s go from the front.”

“Are you stupid?”

Eh, do you think that a man who doesn’t know what to do can be accepted head-on in such a frazzled place?

The tree laughed when I really thought so.

“Seiichi-sama …… What do you think I’m here for? If I were here, then we’ll be able to get in.”

“O, oh. Is that so. You are an existence created by the 【Empress】.”

“Yeah. Besides, there’s only one way to get in and that’s through the main gate. So, let’s go quickly.”

Prompted by the tree, I approached the main gate.

Thereupon, I realize that the main gate which gradually comes into view is not normal.

“He, hey…… if my eyes aren’t strange, it looks like the gate has eyes and mouth, but……”

“That’s because the main gate, like me, was created by Her Majesty. That gate prevents unauthorized entry and criminals from entering the country, and because it’s originally a gate, it doesn’t need to sleep, and we don’t have to hire people to open and close the gate, so it works as a perfect gatekeeper.”

“Oh……”

Indeed, if you give the gate a personality, it can do such a great thing hah.

As I approach the city while admiring the amazing feature, the soldier-sans on the wall noticed me.

“Oi, that’s――――”

“No way――――”

“Excuse mee! I am――――”

The moment I was about to say that, arrows were shot all at once from the wall. ……Eh?

“Ueeeeeeeeeeeeee!?”

All those arrows were shot at me, and I avoided the arrows in a bad posture, just as I did when I was caught in a dungeon trap.

“Wa, wait Tree-san!? It’s different from what you just said!? Wouldn’t it be fine if you were here!?”

As I raised my voice of protest against the tree in a terrible posture, the soldier-sans on the wall became even more alert when they saw me like that.

“Oi, he’s still alive!”

“Anyhow, shoot the arrows!”

“Don’t let him approach the city!”

“Dieee!”

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!”

There is no sign of me being accepted at all!

As I desperately push the feeling of wanting to Tsukkomi while avoiding the arrows, strangely enough, I began to feel like the arrows are starting to avoid me.

……A’re? This phenomenon, is similar to the decline when I fought against Zakia-san and the others……

With the arrows no longer hitting me, naturally, the soldier-sans on the wall also noticed it, and they frown.

“Hey, our attacks aren’t hitting!”

“What are you doing! Aim firmly!”

“You know that we’re aiming at him!”

“What? Then it must be his power. I don’t know what kind of hand he used, but it won’t last forever. Now keep attacking!”

However, as the conclusion of the country’s soldier-sans, they thought that they weren’t hitting me now because of my power, and their attacks continued with the prediction that the end would come soon.

When I saw it, one uneasiness crossed my head.

―――― Is it okay for them to use arrows like this for me!? Isn’t this for the soldiers of the enemy country!?

“Oi, tree! Stop the attack somehow with your power!”

I have been avoiding it until now, but considering the consumption of arrows from the country, I’m collecting it while taking care not to break it as much as possible, and I told the tree so, but……

“……Seiichi-sama. Please don’t talk to me. If I talk to Seiichi-sama, I’ll be attacked too. I’m a tree. Just a tree. Sounds good?”

“I’m going to beat you, you bastaaaaaaaaaaaaaard!”

I told you! They’re wary, and I’m sure they won’t let me in!

The tree sighed while I was desperately collecting the arrows.

“It can’t be helped. I’ll talk to them.”

“Do that from the beginning……!”

The tree approached the main gate and raised its voice as I was collecting a large number of arrows.

“Please open the gate. I’m not a suspicious tree!”

“No, not a suspicious……”

“No wait. The trees that Her Majesty were manipulating in the current battle, should be marked properly! This guy doesn’t have that mark!”

“……Oya? This situation……”

“――――Kill that guy!”

“It’s not goooooooooooooooooood!”

What kind of tree is not suspicious in the first place! You’re already suspicious when you move have eyes and mouth!

The tree got attacked together with me, and in addition, the waves of attack are getting stronger, and when I was really becoming worried about the stock of the country’s arrows, the main gate, which is a similar existence to the tree, opened its mouth.

“…… Mu. Mumumu!? Everyone, please stop the attack! From that tree, I feel the same sign of power as me!”

“What!?”

“You mean that…… Her Majesty used her ability in the forest?”

By the voice of the main gate, the soldier-sans who were on the wall stopped attacking at once, and thanks to that, I was finally able to take a breather.

“……Hey, they didn’t let us in at all.”

“That’s strange…… I was a popular being in the forest. Only a group of ignorants were the ones who do not know me.”

“Who are you really!?”

There’s no popular existence or shit on trees. I don’t understand.

When I managed to somehow stack enough arrows that I can’t hold with both hands, some soldier-sans came to us on alert from the main gate.

And, when they look at the tower of arrows I’ve piled up, the soldier-sans open their eyes.

“You, those arrows……”

“Ah, I’ll return this. Originally, these arrows are intended to the opponent who you’re fighting now, so I tried not to break it as much as possible, but……”

『――――』

In response to my words, the soldier-sans became speechless somewhere. A’re? Are they concern?

Then the first soldier-san in the center turned to us and looked at the tree standing next to me.

“The tree is……”

“Ah……what should I say…… With a slight mistake, I met the 【Empress】 of this country in the forest? I met her, and at that time this tree was used to stop me from my tracks because I was suspicious.”

“Yeah. That was a really good choice. If it weren’t for me, it would’ve been impossible to stop him.”

“I can’t say anything because I was actually stopped……”

The soldier-sans who seemed more and more surprised by what I said and the tree, looked at each other’s faces, and they guide me to the area near the main gate? Or rather, I was taken.

And as expected, I wasn’t able to enter the gate yet, but somehow one of the soldier-sans who brought me to the main gate talked to the soldier-san who was waiting for him, and I had no choice but to watch as the soldier-san who was told so run off somewhere.

Apparently, the soldier who ran off headed to tell the higher-ups-san in the country about me.

Until the higher-ups-san contacted us, the tree and I were asked a lot of questions by the soldier-sans.

Where I came from, what country I belonged to, what my purpose was, I was a bit mentally tired of the soldier-sans trying to extract information from me, and I answered one by one without lying.

However, because the reason why I came to this country was originally due to the crystal that Destra of the 【Demon God’s Cult】 had, so when I told them that, the soldier-sans made their faces even steeper, and also, another soldier-san ran somewhere.

When I finish answering their questions like that, the tree and I had to wait outside the main gate while being watched until the higher-ups-sans came.

“Hey, you said that we could easily enter if you’re here, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then what do you think of this situation?”

“What are you talking about? It would’ve been fine if I was alone. The problem is that Seiichi-sama is suspicious.”

“It’s hard to deny that…… But I don’t think you could’ve been allowed to enter even if it was just you.”

“That’s not true. Right? Soldier-san?”

“I wouldn’t let in a suspicious tree.”

“What!?”

After all, there seems to be no way for us to enter normally from the beginning.

Well, as a result, I was able to bring it into a situation that I might be able to enter like this, so that’s good.

When I was having a light conversation with soldier-san, suddenly, a word mixed with hostility came from the main gate.

“――――You bastard!”

“Eh?”

When I look towards that voice, there’s a woman in armor glaring at me…… Riel-san was standing there.

However, it seems that Riel-san isn’t the only one who came here, and maybe she’s being wary of me, since I feel that there’s someone else weaving around and behind me while being invisible. It’s probably the black guy who had joined Riel-san and the others.

“What the hell are you doing here? Did you come all the way here to be killed by me?”

“No, no, no, why do I have to go and let myself be killed…… I with the tree here want to see Her Majesty? I’ve been asked to help her. Right?”

I call out to the tree standing next to me for consent, but for some reason, the tree closed its eyes and remained silent.

“……Oi?”

“Seiichi-sama. Please don’t talk to me. If I think about it carefully, I’m kind of like ignoring orders. So now I’m just a tree.”

“No, I think that’s too late……”

In the first place, there’s no tree near the main gate, so it would be strange if there was only one tree right next to me.

“Oi, I certainly feel Her Majesty’s power from the tree. I think it was ordered by Her Majesty to stop him at that time, but…… why did you bring such a suspicious man here?”

“Ah, did I get found out?”

“Did you really think that I won’t found out?”

This guy, I wonder if he’s smart or not. No, maybe I’m more stupid than this guy. Anyway, I’ve been stalled by the scheme of this guy.

Thinking that it couldn’t hide it anymore, the tree that tried to solve this plainly by camouflaging, stared straight at Riel-san.

“I was born because of Her Majesty and I think of Her Majesty first. And what can save Her Majesty’s crisis, is this Seiichi-sama is what I thought, so I’ve brought him all the way here.”

“What? Such a suspicious man will save Her Majesty? Don’t be stupid. No one can change the current situation. There’s nothing we can do anymore.”

When Riel-san said that, she had a sad expression on her face.

However, when she immediately change her expression to something steep, she glared at me again.

“So, what the hell are you, you bastard? I’ve heard you’re an adventurer……”

“Etto……”

I explained briefly on how I came to the 【Forest of Sealed Magic】.

Then, after listening to all my story, Riel-san, asks as if to confirm again.

“In other words, you are here because of a 『Deity』 from the 【Demon God’s Cult】?”

“Well, that’s what I want to say.”

“If so, then you aren’t a member of the 【Demon God’s Cult】?”

“I’m not. I don’t want to be in such an unknown group……”

No, I really don’t like them. I don’t even know that Demon God, and they’re rather annoying.

“Is that right…… If so, are you a member of the Kaizer Empire?”

“Eh? Kaizer Empire? I don’t know why the Kaizer Empire came out there, but…… No, I’m not, you know?”

“……”

When Riel-san heard my words, she gazed at me for a moment and she relaxed her vigilance somewhat.

“…… It looks like it’s really irrelevant.”

“Eh?”

“――――Okay, follow me”

While saying that, Riel-san turned to the main gate and gazed at me.

“I don’t know why the tree there called you, but…… I’ll show you that you cannot help with anything.”

Saying that, she let me and the tree get inside the main gate.