Chapter 63 – Registration pass
Sue had other things to do before she taught the thirty-six stratagems. She had not forgotten that the humans might try to assassin the prince.
The demi-races might have people who hated humans but they were considered more like an invisible threat. The humans who openly assassinated the prince were much more of a threat compared to the demi-races.
Sue did not think that hiding in the dark with a bow and arrow was more dangerous than one who carried a spear in the open. Since they were hiding in the dark, it was clear that they still had reservations to not show themselves or go into a full war. Because their positions were unstable, even if they wanted to join hands with the mastermind to assassinate the prince, they would reconsider their positions as long as the situation was not stable.
As long as the humans did not appear, no one in the camps could possibly recognize Fedrus.
The current problem for Sue was finding a way to let Fedrus avoid the humans that were coming into the forest……
The Tobias kingdom’s duke had waited for a long month before he managed to join a team of human adventurers that was going to explore the Lost Forest. (TL: Humans call it the lost forest.)
This might appear to be a long time, but considering the circumstances of the royal family keeping the news of the missing prince a complete secret, it was already fast enough. The duke was unable to hire any officials and he could only bitterly wait for skilled individuals to appear.
He had to gauge each member’s skills and weigh the overall strength of the team. If any apprentice joined the team, they would probably be smashed to little bits before they even managed to move ten meters.
Furthermore, highly skilled adventurers were typically picky, even if they wanted to add a member to their party, they would not randomly pick someone from the adventurer’s guild……
After many trials and errors, he was fortunate enough to get a full team who accepted him as well. If the queen did not inform him that the sigil on the prince was still going strong, he thought that he could only collect the belongings of his nephew when he entered the Lost Forest.
The first day in the forest was smooth for the adventurers. They broke through the outermost forest without issues, and the beasts they encountered were low leveled creatures. The members did not even display half of their strength and easily took care of them.
It was again a smooth progress on the morning of the second day. They encountered a few local territorial bosses which were stronger than the normal beasts, but it was still easy for them.
They continued their way in the afternoon. Everyone thought it was going to be fights agains monsters after more difficult monsters, but they did not expect something odd was about to happen.
They had prepared themselves for an optimal status from the rest point, and traveled about a mile in, before a little girl riding on a huge white tiger appeared before them. If a five or six years old girl riding on a tiger was not surprising enough, then the ten-over magical beasts lining before them would give them a shock….. Especially when they realized that the beasts were high ranking beasts with higher intelligence…..
“Welcome to the Magical Beasts Forest….. May I ask who’s the team leader?!” The little girl who was riding on the gigantic white tiger walked nearer and asked.
“……..” The team leader looked blankly at her: “I am…….”
[Are we going to fight?! But this is just a little girl…… Then don’t fight?! But there’s so many magical beasts behind her……]
The team leader clenched his weapon tightly and had the greatest conflict in his life, ever.
The little girl drew out a parchment: “It’s easy enough if you’re the team leader. I’m the native representative of this forest, and I’m here to prepare each person’s entry application.”
“……. Entry application?!”
“Of course! Currently the merfolks, druids, night clan, demons and titans are currently staying in this forest. Because of the differences between everyone, I have to arrange a location for you and handle other issues. This is to prevent any unhappiness for everyone…… Ah, I nearly forgot to introduce you. Behind me are the natives in this forest. Everyone might have to live with each other for the time being. Blackie-bro, come over and make your greetings!”
“…..”
The black panther slowly walked forward a few steps with grace, observed the human adventurers from head to toe, then snorted once and lifted his paw lazily. Once it did so, the greetings ended and he headed back.
“Blackie bro is the boss amongst the Magical Beasts. Under normal circumstances, he actually has a good temper, so please don’t mind his actions, everyone.” Sue had a warm smile on her face, but the whole human team kept on looking blankly at them, so she stop being long-winded and took out the real topic: “I have a number of bracelets here, please fill in the forms and wear them until you leave this forest.”
“Why?!” The team leader finally regained his composure. One glance over the bracelets told him that they were imbued with GPS magic. It was apparent that she did not even try to hide them, and the magic symbols were drawn openly on the bracelets.
[Does this little want to monitor us?!]
Sue did not mind his attitude and explained patiently: “As explained earlier, there are many natives and demi-races living in the forest. In order to avoid any unnecessary quarrels, we request everyone who enters the forest to wear the bracelet…… This is the same as you guys entering another kingdom with a requested application form right?!”
“Bullshit! We always smuggle ourselves inside!” There was a straightforward member who revealed the real truth before the team leader was able to stop him.
“Cough!” The team leader quickly tried to cover up the mistake: “The missions that we accept tend to have a big area to cover, and sometimes we don’t have enough time to apply for a pass….. But little girl, I do recall that the Lost Forest should be the direct administration of the Tobias Kingdom right?! What authority do you have to request we wear this?”
“Is that right?” Sue nodded: “I personally am fine with that administration, but you can go ahead and explain to the Magical Beasts here about how the kingdom is in control of them?!”
“…….” The human team leader looked at the excited crowd of beasts and wanted to cry. If they really listened, this place would be a zoo and not the Lost Forest.