The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 53: Fire Turtle
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- The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life!
- Episode 53: Fire Turtle
Episode 53: Fire Turtle
It took a bit of time, but it seemed the confirmation had gone through. The staff member handed Ardan a stack of papers. Ardan took them and walked over to where we were gathered. It was clearly just a few sheets.
“Ardan, isn’t there kind of a lack of information here?”
“I agree, Fel. Looks like the full details haven’t been compiled yet.”
“Did we arrive too early?”
“But we didn’t rush to get here or anything, did we?”
Could there be some kind of problem in the Elf Kingdom? Ardan was reading through the documents. He let out a low groan. It seemed there was some unpleasant information in there.
“From what I can gather here, there haven’t been any particular issues in the surrounding Great Forest. However, to investigate further, we’d have to enter the depths of the forest… but it seems that area is considered sacred among the elves. There are information restrictions in place to prevent details from being shared publicly.”
“Wait, does that mean we might not get any important information if we just sit around here?”
Jill’s completely reasonable observation made everyone go silent. He started looking around nervously, as if wondering whether he had said something wrong. Jill, you’re absolutely right.
“Jill’s right. If we want accurate information, we’ll have to go into the depths of the Great Forest ourselves.”
“But… is it really okay to just walk into an elven sacred site without permission?”
“Alright, I’ll ask about that when I return these documents.”
With that, Ardan stood up. It seemed the documents weren’t allowed to be taken out since many adventurers had accepted the same request.
“Hey, what if they tell us we can’t go?”
“In that case, Lilia… we’ll sneak in, secretly.”
“Wow, Jill, that’s a pretty bold idea.”
“Shut up.”
“Uh, that wasn’t a compliment.”
Elise shot them a half-lidded glare as the two of them grinned mischievously. But honestly, we might not have another choice. Just as I was thinking that, Ardan returned.
“Apparently, entry into the sacred site is generally forbidden. However… as long as it’s not made public, they won’t stop us from going in.”
“So Jill’s idea wasn’t too far off, huh?”
Elise sighed in exasperation. It wasn’t clear if she was frustrated with Jill and Lilia or with the country for saying such things. Despite the possibility of something serious happening.
“Oh, so that’s why there’s so little information. They can’t report to the Hunting Guild because they’re trying to keep things quiet.”
“That’s probably it, Fel. If we want to gather information, it’d be faster to ask fellow adventurers directly. But since most of them have just arrived in this country, we probably can’t rely on them either.”
“In the end, we’ll have to gather the information ourselves.”
—
The next day.
We immediately set out to investigate the Great Forest. Naturally, there was no map of the sacred site. Normally, wandering through this dense, tree-filled maze without any guideposts would be reckless.
But we had Auto-Mapping. There was no chance of getting lost.
“Hey, isn’t that spell kind of cheating?”
“Can’t be helped. I’ll teach you how to use it later, Elise.”
“Yay! Thanks, Lilia!”
“Ugh, get off me, you’re suffocating!”
Lilia pushed Elise away with both hands as Elise hugged and showered her with kisses. Man, that looked nice. Just as I was thinking that, my Analyze spell detected something.
“Jill, monster to your left. It’s a Forest Bear.”
“Leave it to me. I’ve got no interest in weaklings like you!”
Uh, wasn’t the Forest Bear supposed to be a fairly strong monster? Silver Rank adventurers would struggle against it, if I remembered correctly. But right before my eyes, Jill grinned confidently and took it down with a single slash.
“Fel, any others?”
“No monsters heading our way. In fact, they seem to be running away after seeing that.”
“Cowards.”
For monsters—creatures said to lack emotions—to flee, that meant something serious was going on. Jill must have been radiating an overwhelming bloodlust.
“Calm down, Jill. Fel, let us know if you find a good spot for setting up camp. It’s about time we start thinking about nightfall.”
Although the trees blocked out the sunlight, it somehow felt as if the surroundings were getting dimmer. Checking my watch, I saw it was almost 5 PM.
“There seems to be a spring a little ahead. How about setting up camp there?”
“Sounds good. Let’s go with that. Lead the way.”
When we reached the spring, its water appeared to be clear and pure. Even after checking with Analyze, no abnormalities were found.
“Alright, this time, we’ll have to use tents. If we build any weird structures in a sacred site, we’ll probably get in trouble.”
“Got it. I’ll set up a Barrier spell to keep monsters away.”
“Then we’ll get the tents ready.”
“I’ll set up the cooking area.”
With roles assigned, we got to work right away. Since we were getting used to camping, all the preparations were finished in no time.
“Our real investigation of the Great Forest starts tomorrow. If you sense anything unusual, report it immediately.”
“So far, nothing strange.”
“Same here.”
Lilia and I responded. And it seemed Elise hadn’t noticed anything either. However, Jill was deep in thought. That was rare—was something bothering him?
“……..I smell something burnt.”
“Burnt? Are you sure it’s not just the usual damp forest smell?”
Everyone turned their attention to Jill. He might have picked up on something. I sniffed the air, but I couldn’t detect anything unusual.
“Yeah, I can still smell the dampness. But mixed in with it is a faint burnt scent. Maybe it’s burnt wood? But… something feels off.”
What could it be? Could it be related to that withered tree we saw earlier? I hadn’t been able to see it clearly from a distance, but was it burned due to a forest fire? If that were the case, the Geper Village should have also noticed something. A fire big enough to burn a section of the forest would have filled the sky with smoke.
“In that case, tomorrow, we’ll follow the scent and investigate. Jill, we’re counting on you.”
“Yeah, leave it to me. My nose never fails.”
—
The next day.
As it neared noon, we exited the Great Forest—or rather, we ended up exiting it.
The trees that should have continued endlessly suddenly began to thin out at a certain point. As we moved forward, the density of the forest decreased, and sunlight started to pierce through. Eventually, we arrived at an area where even the undergrowth was gone—just a stretch of withered trees.
“Jill, is the scent coming from ahead?”
“Yeah, it’s still further ahead. But… why are all the trees here dead?”
“They seem to have withered standing up. Could it be some kind of disease?”
Elise examined the trees closely. Curious, I stepped closer as well. However, not being a botanist, I had no clue what was going on. Even Analyze didn’t pick up anything. It seemed they were just dead trees.
Out of curiosity, I grabbed a branch and snapped it easily with a dry crack.
“Look at this—it’s completely dried out. Maybe all the moisture around here disappeared?”
“That sounds ridiculous… but yeah, like you said, this wood is so dry it’d make great firewood.”
Ardan broke off another branch as he spoke. It seemed the trees had died due to extreme dryness. But how could something like this happen?
“…Hey, could a Fire Turtle be the cause?”
“Fire Turtle? Never heard of that monster. What kind of creature is it, Lilia?”
“Well, to protect itself, it emits intense heat from its body. Wherever it stays, plants can’t grow. But something’s strange… it normally doesn’t affect such a wide area. And they’re not that big.”
Lilia crossed her arms and tilted her head. It seemed the Fire Turtle she knew wasn’t large enough to cause this level of destruction.
“Then maybe there’s a giant one nearby? One big enough to dry out an entire area? Could the burnt scent I smelled be coming from that thing?”
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