After finishing [Restoration] of the faces injured in training, Garnet and I decided to leave the Knights' headquarters and walk leisurely along the mountain path.

　The reason for visiting the Knight's Headquarters was just to see how far everyone else's work was progressing, so it would be a nuisance to stay there too long for no reason.

　However, I didn't have any specific plans for where we would go next to the Knights' headquarters.

　For a while, we just continued to walk along the mountain path without a care in the world.

...... Come to think of it, it's surprisingly rare for me to pass this road unrelated to work.
I know, I know. The only time I pass through is when I have to go to our branch office, the guild office, or the dungeon. The fact that you can walk around with ease is very strange to me.

　I exchanged chit-chat with Garnett as we climbed the gentle slope.

　The mountain path that is the only pathway between the city center of Green Hollow and the nearest dungeon, the "Sundial Forest" ...... and thus the "Ark of the Elements", is a constant stream of adventurers coming and going, even though it's late afternoon.

　In the past, "Sundial Forest" was thought to be a large depression with only different vegetation from the surrounding area, and was a pathless path that was only occasionally passed by residents in search of medicinal plants and wild vegetables.

　Later on, I found out that the "Sundial Forest" was actually a dungeon with a difficulty level equivalent to E rank, and it was often visited by fledgling adventurers to earn a few coins, but even so, it was still just a poorly maintained mountain path.

　The situation changed drastically some time after I moved to Green Hollow and opened a weapon shop.

　This is because I discovered that there was a hidden passage in the Sundial Forest that led directly to the vast underground space of the Demon King's Castle Realm, which stretches deep into the Thousand Year Corridor of the Abyss, which was thought to be an independent A-ranked dungeon at the time.

　With this, the importance of Green Hollow and the Sundial Forest skyrocketed, the Golden Fang Knights' fortress was built and became a frontline base for the Demon King's War, and after the war, the adventurer's guild branch was established and became the frontline of exploration, and the town and the forest were constantly being developed.

　Naturally, the mountain roads connecting the town and the dungeon were also subject to development.

　Nowadays, those narrow, winding, poorly footholded roads are nowhere to be found.

　The road is wide enough for large freight wagons to pass by with room to spare, and the ground is paved with hard, leveled dirt, and the road continues uninterruptedly straight from the edge of town to just before the Sundial Forest.

Every time I pass by, I think to myself, "Something's going to change. "Every time I pass by here, I always think, 'Everything changes in a flash, for better or worse.

　Garnett, who was walking next to me on my right, muttered heartily.

It's a lot more crowded in Green Hollow Town than it was when I arrived, and this road and the Sundial Forest have become a lot more walkable. A good thing, of course, is that ...... is a good thing.

　I involuntarily put my right hand on Garnett's face - extending the fingertips of the prosthetic limb, which was based on the doll's sleeves - and lightly brushed her bangs above her left eye.

　The injury from earlier has healed without a trace.

　I've never failed to plug the physical damage with [Restoration] before, so I didn't need to bother checking it, but I couldn't help but want to make sure that Garnet's face was clean.

　As a side note, this feeling of certainty that I am cured is more like faith(s) reliance(s) than self-(s) belief(s).

　This is just a personal feeling, but it has come to seem unnatural to think of the abilities that have evolved and developed under the influence of Alphasul as one's own resourcefulness.

　Rather than confidence in one's abilities that one had honed on one's own, there was a greater emphasis on trust in one's given abilities, if you will.

　This tendency was gradually becoming stronger as the various truths surrounding Alfazul were revealed.

''No, it's nothing,''

　I smiled at a quizzical Garnett to disguise my true thoughts.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. I've changed a hell of a lot in the past year, too: ......
The only thing that's changed about you is your social status. The only thing that has changed about you is your social status, and I'm sure you haven't changed at all on the inside. It's because you're such a fundamentally different person that your position and title have changed so dramatically.

　Garnett tickled me, and I couldn't help but caggle when he said that.

　It was an assessment as if the person I am was right from the start - as if I had been right from the beginning - even before I started a weapons store.

　I don't have the slightest bit of self-awareness, but does it look like that from Garnett's point of view?

　In the meantime, we had arrived at the end of the wide, neatly maintained mountain path, or in other words, at the entrance to the 'Sundial Forest'.

　From here, descending the 'Sundial Forest' would lead us to the Adventurer's Guild Branch, Hollow Bottom Fortress, and the 'Elemental Ark'.

''What shall we do?''　Do you want me to show up at the branch office or chapter?

　When I asked that casually, Garnett often made a thoughtful gesture and then gave a small shake of her head.

...... No, let's go a bit more 'deep' today.
Back?　If you say it's further down the mountain road than here, you're talking about ......

　This is the only path from the city of Green Hollow to the Sundial Forest, but it's not the only path that leads to the Sundial Forest.

　It's not the only road that leads to the Sundial Forest, however, it leads deeper into the mountains, deeper into the greenery than where we are, and that's where the maintenance has yet to take place.

　I'm not sure I've ever seen such a thing.

It's nice.
"Oh ...... hey!　Don't pull it!