Chapter 4: What I Heard at the Forest’s Edge

Thanks to arriving at the post town early, I had plenty of time.

After brushing off the dust and straightening my appearance, I headed down to the first-floor dining hall.

It was still a little early for dinner, but several travelers were already enjoying meals and drinks.

I took a seat in the corner and ordered the day’s special along with an ale, as recommended by the innkeeper.

What was brought out was a simple stew of meat and beans, along with hard-baked bread cooked with the crust on.

And a chilled ale.

For a body tired from walking, it was a feast beyond compare.

As I slowly lifted the spoon to my mouth, I listened to the murmur of voices filling the hall.

Various regional dialects flew about, showing just how many different people made use of this post town.

My eyes drifted to a nearby table.

A group of five were gathered around a map, deep in discussion.

Judging by their equipment, they were adventurers.

There appeared to be a balanced composition—a swordsman, a warrior, a scout, and an apothecary.

In places like this, local information was often best gathered from adventurers.

If possible, it would be good to ask them about the forest I was about to enter.

Once I finished my meal, I stood up.

I caught the attention of a serving woman and pointed discreetly at the adventurers’ table.

“Excuse me, could you bring ales for that table? It’s my treat.”

She looked slightly surprised but quickly nodded with a smile.

Five mugs of ale were carried over to the adventurers’ table.

They looked puzzled as they glanced up at the server, but when she pointed toward me and said, “From that gentleman,” they all turned to look my way.

I gave a small nod and approached their table.

“Apologies for the sudden intrusion. I’m a traveler. May I join you for a moment?”

A large, warrior-like man who seemed to be the leader looked confused at first but gestured for me to sit.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks for the ale.”

I took an empty seat and introduced myself.

“I’m Edwin. Just a man traveling as he pleases.”

“We’re the party ‘Black Dagger.’ I’m Gordon, the leader.”

The big warrior, Gordon, introduced the others.

The muscular second warrior was Zack.

The toned female swordswoman was Fiona.

The small and agile-looking woman was Lila, the scout.

And the slender, scholarly-looking man was Pip, the apothecary.

It seemed they were based in the city of Norest beyond the forest and operated around this post town.

“Norest, you say. Do you know anything about that city?”

“Yeah. It’s beyond the Blackleaf Forest. A major lumber-producing town, and quite lively.”

Gordon answered.

Blackleaf Forest… so that was the forest’s name.

“Is the forest very large?”

“Large doesn’t even begin to cover it. You saw the map, right? Even with experienced legs, it takes days to cross from one end to the other. There are so many trees, and the leaves grow so thick that it’s dim even during the day. That’s why they call it the Blackleaf Forest.”

Fiona explained as she took a sip of her ale.

A forest that was dark even in daylight.

It sounded a little interesting.

“And… has anything unusual been happening there lately?”

When I asked that, their smiles faded slightly.

Lila leaned forward and began speaking in a low voice.

“Lately, we’ve been hearing repeated reports of travelers and merchants going missing after entering the forest. The guards are investigating, but they haven’t found any leads yet.”

“Monsters? Or bandits?”

“Hard to say. If it were monsters, there’d usually be some trace left behind…”

Gordon folded his arms.

If it were bandits, the cargo should have been stolen.

But if they were missing entirely, did that mean both people and goods had vanished without a trace?

“That sounds pretty dangerous.”

Even as I said that, a strange curiosity—or perhaps a small flicker of excitement—began to rise in my chest.

Missing persons, huh?

It sounded troublesome… but something even the guards couldn’t handle?

After thanking them, I left their table.

I stopped the serving woman and ordered breakfast for the next morning, along with enough rations to last until Norest.

There likely wouldn’t be any inns within the forest, so I wanted to be well prepared.

“And could I also get a full pouch of dried fruit?”

I remembered that the dried fruit Marco had given me when I left the regional capital was nearly gone.

Without something sweet, I just didn’t feel quite right.

The serving woman gave me a look as if to say it might be too much, but she nodded anyway.

The vast Blackleaf Forest.

A place dim even during the day, where people had been disappearing.

I hoped it wouldn’t turn into something troublesome.

Then again, maybe a little incident wouldn’t be so bad.