Day 78: In the Lost Forest…
Holy Era 6102, Month of the Water Serpent, 30th day.
Weather: Cloudy/Sunny
After we finally finished going down the mountain, we spent the day walking though a forest of pine trees.
As it had been raining, it was now very humid and hot.
With every step I took, sweat would pour and make me sticky… How disgusting.
Also, this forest is so big.
Even though we’ve been walking for so long, I feel like we’ve barely made any progress… Are we lost?
As I began to worry, Ms. Noa said that we should stop.
She then told us that we were lost in the forest.
So she had also felt that something was wrong.
And so she used magic to check, and it was then confirmed…
When had she done that!? I didn’t realize it at all.
And then I was even more surprised when she said she knew the reason.
What it was that had made us get lost…
—Tree spirits known as dryads.
I had once read in a book that they looked like beautiful women with green hair.
They rarely showed themselves around humans, but they liked beautiful men and boys, which they would seduce and make wander around in the forest.
Ah…I get it now. They must be after my older brother… Well, I wasn’t sure about the ‘beautiful’ part.
Still, he was slender and had a pleasant face…
Perhaps dryads would like him… These tree spirits have terrible tastes!
So, what should we do now?
I couldn’t just leave my brother here and return with Ms. Noa…
As I wondered about what to do, Ms. Noa suggested that we go and search for the dryads.
If we found them, then we might be able to do something.
Apparently, elves were taught what they should do during such situations.
Ah…because elves had a lot of beautiful men too… It made sense.
They do say that you should hide a tree in the forest.
So it would be nearly impossible to find the tree where they live…
But as I thought such things, Ms. Noa told me what kind of tree to look for.
Oak and ash. Ah, that I can do!!
After all, the trees here were all coniferous trees!!
In about one hour, we found a giant oak tree.
Ms. Noa approached it and raised her right hand.
Huh!? Was she going to cut this one down like she did yesterday!?
As I looked frantic, she chuckled and explained.
The reason they seduced humans was to gain nutrition for themselves and the forest. And so if you gave them enough mana, they would be satisfied and leave you alone.
Ms. Noa said this method only worked for elves, as they had much more mana than humans.
…That was true. If anyone else gave the spirits enough mana to satisfy them, then they would die!
After some time had passed, the tree was enveloped in a faint light.
Ms. Noa nodded with a smile and lowered her hand.
…She looked pretty tired… Was she alright?
She rested for a moment, and as we continued on our journey, something strange happened.
The trees, which had been growing randomly up until now, suddenly lined up neatly and made a path in the forest!
…Was this the dryads way of thanking us?
After that, we were able to find our way out of the forest quickly.
And when we were out of the forest, we immediately saw the town road we had been looking for!
Yes! Now we can return home safely!!
—Just a little more and this troublesome quest will be over!
Today’s earnings and expenses:
None
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Balance: 59 silver, 45 bronze
30 cat coins
Requested items: Rock dew grass
(￣∇￣) Perhaps dryads are actually quite nice people.