I listened to Ms. Lugria’s report
“Hmm. So you found something that I should hear as well?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Ms. Lugria answer to Mr. Ekenhart as she straightened her posture.
“So, what did you find?”
“Previously, footprints were discovered near the boundary of the forest, to the east of this estate. We cannot say whether they were made by the same person, but we have now discovered similar footprints in the opposite direction, to the west.”
“The west…”
“East and west… It seems like they are avoiding Range Village. …But none have been found to the north yet?”
“Yes. We have only discovered these footprints to the east and west of the village.”
Well, if they were entering the forest too close to Range Village, then there was a possibility that the villagers would see them… Besides, the fenrirs also lived quite freely here, and would notice them as well.
“Mr. Takumi, do you think it’s possible that the people entering the forest also know about the fenrirs?”
“…I don’t know about that.”
I shook my head.
They would surely know about this village, as it was not exactly hidden. But as for the fenrirs…as well as us and Leo, I had no clue.
“They are likely avoiding the village so as not to be spotted by anyone. As long as Leo and the fenrirs are here, they would sense something for sure that was not far enough away.”
“Indeed. Considering the effort to avoid detention, they must be doing something very secretive…or planning to.”
“Yes. Excuse me. Could you tell me about how you find the footprints… Was it near the entrance to the forest?”
I nodded to Mr. Ekenhart and then turned back to Ms. Lugria.
“No. Unlike the ones we found to the east, these were located some distance inside the forest. Hmm… Paptist, how far had we traveled after the fenrirs started acting strangely?”
“Yes. We left the fenrirs, who had suddenly refused to go any farther into the forest, along with the captain and a few others. And then we went a little deeper into the forest. I suppose it was less than an hour’s walk from the forest edge.”
“…So it’s not right by the entrance… As for the fenrirs. They did not want to go deeper inside then?”
“Wou?”
It was definitely curious that the fenrirs had acted that way.
Even Leo appeared to be interested, as she tilted her head and barked.
“I will explain everything in order. We traveled straight north from the village, then entered the forest and gradually moved westward from the forest boundary.”
“I see.”
“From the village… Well, to be more precise, from this house, I would estimate that it was over three hours away on horseback. Thanks to the fenrirs, it did not take us very long to get there. Once our investigation had reached that area, we continued deeper into the forest, and then…”
Over three hours by horse. If that was at an ordinary speed, it would be a few dozen kilometers away.
At that distance, one would be able to enter the forest without the villagers or fenrirs noticing them.
Of course, we still didn’t know if this was deliberate.
In any case, according to Ms. Lugria, after advancing for a short while, the fenrirs started to show discomfort towards going any deeper into the forest.
But as there was no one there who could properly communicate with the fenrirs, the members of the investigation team had been quite troubled…