This is a forest of magical fog.

The forest is covered in a fog that contains a lot of magic that rarely clears because the concentration of magic power in the atmosphere is too high.

Visibility is poor, and powerful demons that have evolved due to the high concentration of magic power are wandering around, so there are few people who enter this forest willingly.

Since it is located in the center of each country, the only people who deal in illegal items, black marketers who can't walk on the main road and adventurers who aim to get rich by using rare demon materials are the ones.

Fortunately, the demons do not try to go out of the forest of demon mist.

They may be accustomed to an environment with a high concentration of magical power and do not want to go outside where the magical power is thin, is the tentative answer given by the scholars from various countries.





Now, such a highly dangerous forest of demonic fog was being explored by a party of adventurers.

''Kama. We've reached the place where we ended our search last time. We don't have much information from here, how do we proceed?

The one who spoke up was Tumor, the party's scout.

The dagger he carries at his waist and the short bow and quiver on his back are equipment that focuses on blocking the target's movement rather than dealing damage to the opponent.

He wears it so that he can move easily and can respond quickly in an emergency.

I think.... Seinu, Taysis, how is the remaining magic power and stock of food and medicine?

It was Kama, the party leader and shield, who was spoken to by Tumor.

She has a well-worn but well-maintained one-handed sword and a shield large enough to cover her entire body if she bends down a bit.

In addition, it is equipped with armor that is heavy, yet has few restrictions on movement, and you can tell it is of good quality just by looking at it.

In order to decide on a course of action for the future, I'm going to check the remaining amount of magic power and supplies with the mage Seine and the healer Taysis.

The magic power is about 60%. Recovery potions (potions) and magic potions (aether), we didn't use much this time, there are enough of them.

It's the hat and robe of a mage and the staff that is made from the branches of the magical tree, which has a high rate of magic conduction, to which Seinu replies.

I'm 70% magic power. The food supply is about two weeks, and if you cut back on it, you'll be fine for about three weeks.

Teisys wears white robes and a crystal-like circlet on her head.

She is equipped with a wand made from the branches of the demon tree and an easy to handle buckler, just like Seine's staff.

It seems that Seine and Taysis both use storage magic belonging to spatial magic to store supplies in general that get in the way during exploration and battle.

Judging from their equipment and behavior, you can tell that these four are an experienced level adventurer party.

''Alright, let's continue our search. We didn't get much more material than last time. However, all of you must raise the alert level. There is very little information available beyond this place, so it's best to proceed with caution. The smallest detail is enough to alert us. Let me know right away.

They all nodded at Kama's suggestion.

In fact, there was a lot of information about the Demon Fog Forest up to where they were currently located, but extremely few things beyond that, that is, to the center of the forest.

Tens or hundreds of adventuring parties went to explore, but only a very few were able to bring back information and materials.

Because of the scarcity, those very few had gained great wealth and high prestige.

It was precisely because Carma and his party had seen them that they too had decided to explore this forest.

It was not a reckless challenge, but rather a solid search where the first priority was to survive, making quick and qualified decisions that were willing to retreat as soon as they felt it was a little too tight.

This time, the decision to continue the search was also made after seeing the battle with the monsters along the way and how tired the members were.

If this is the case, even if something happens, we can deal with it adequately.

In the worst case, if an unruly demon appears, we can just retreat immediately, and we're ready for it.

Even if you can't catch the materials, if you have information about unknown monsters, you'll get special rewards.

It can be information on natural materials such as terrain or plants.

Getting rich is already at hand.

We can do this ourselves.

Such thoughts haze me just a little.

The fact that most of the tens or hundreds of parties did not make it back.





You can hear the sound of fierce fighting.

It's a battle between Kama's party and the Jewel Tree, which bears fruit that shines like a jewel.

The fruit of the Jewel Tree is packed with a high density of magical power, and it is said that if you eat the fruit, you will increase the absolute amount of magical power.

Moreover, the taste of the fruit is exquisite, but because it is extremely difficult to obtain, not only magicians, but also royalty and aristocrats of various countries try to obtain it, even if they have to spend huge amounts of money.

The jewel tree itself is rare, and the jewel tree itself does not try to protect the fruit, and any fruit that falls naturally is absorbed by the jewel tree as nutrition.

For this reason, the only way to get the fruit is to kill the jewel tree, and the number of rare jewel trees is getting smaller and smaller, making it more and more difficult to get them, and the value of the jewel tree is skyrocketing.

In addition, the latest auction history shows that the fruit that was sold at the auction two years ago was sold on the same day for an amount equivalent to 20% of a country's national budget.

Okay, he's getting pretty weak! Tumor, no sign of any other demons around?

Kama caught the branches that were sharply shuffling and attacking her from the Jewel Tree with a large shield and responded by slashing at them with her one-handed sword.

'I'm fine for now, but I keep making this much noise. The other demons could come at any moment. We'd better hurry up and take them down!

While Tumor is wary of his surroundings, he is using his bow and arrow to keep Jewel Tree in check so that he can't move around.

It's a good thing that you can use fire magic on the weakest point, because if you can use fire magic on the weakest point, it'll only take a second... Oh God! This is so depressing! Windcutter!

The windcutter released by Seine slashed the branches of the Jewel Tree and made a crack in the trunk.

''Kyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!''

Jeweltree screams and suffers.

'Ce, Ceinu! Please shoot so you don't damage the fruit! It's not even a joke when the fruit is ruined! Also, please don't ever use flame-based magic!

Taysis advises Seine, who is frustrated that she can't defeat them all at once while casting recovery and support magic on her party members.

'Kama! I'm gonna smash it through that crack! Seine and I will match it. Go!

Tumor guarded the arrow on his short bow and aimed at the crack in the jewel tree.

'Ooh-oh! My God!

There! Quick Arrow.

"Get down now! Aerial burst.

Three attacks released at the same time.

The Tumor's Quick Arrow is a technique that dramatically increases the rate of fire of the arrows, so it reaches them faster than the two attacks.

The Quick Arrow is shot into a crack in the Jewel Tree, creating a further crack behind the crack.

There, the Impulse Slash, which delivers an impact immediately after the slash, and the Aerial Burst, which scatters impact damage to the surrounding area when it lands, are decided at the same time.

"Ku...kii...kii...kii...

The crack reached deep into his body, and the Jewel Tree, unable to withstand the impact, grunted weakly, and then stopped its life activities.

''I did... right?''

Kama, who seems to have felt a response, asks her friends with an expression of disbelief.

It's not a good idea. The trunk is tattered, and I can't feel any life force or magic power. It is definitely dead. We've won.

Just in case, Tumor, who had been carefully monitoring the fallen Jewel Tree, told them of their victory.

'There's not a single scratch on the fruit! And three!

Wow.... I can't even imagine how much they're worth.

Kama and the others collecting the fruit of the Jewel Tree with a mixed expression of joy, surprise and accomplishment.

There were three Jewel Tree fruits that were sold for 20% of the national budget.

Even if we sold them at a discarded price and divided them up among the four of us, we would still get enough money to play and live for the rest of our lives.

''There's no need to take any more risks. Let's retreat quickly and report back to the guild.''

'Yes. And it doesn't necessarily mean that powerful demons won't come out.

It was only natural that they chose to retreat, having obtained an enormous achievement, the Jewel Tree Fruit.

The four of them quickly arranged their equipment and luggage, and then quickly left the place ━━

"...wait a minute.

Just before I'm about to leave, I get a wait from Tumor.

He puts his index finger over his mouth and tells the members to be quiet, and tells them with his other hand that something is approaching.

As expected of a veteran adventurer's party, I guess.

The buoyant atmosphere from a while ago dissipates, and you prepare yourself to immediately move on to battle.

I'm not going to be able to get it right. You have good instincts.

The voice emanated from just behind Tumor.

''What?!''

Tumor leaps back from the spot in surprise.

The other three followed Tumor, who was slightly behind.

The reaction is good," he said. It doesn't look like it's Magre that got us this far.

The owner of the voice is nodding in admiration to Kama and the others who are already in a fighting stance.

The four of them, who saw the owner of the voice, were in disbelief.

In his age, he was probably around 15 years old.

A neat-faced but sharp-eyed young man was standing there.

His upper and lower garments, which were probably made of cloth, did not seem to function as protective gear.

At best, they are probably just a bit sturdy, the kind of thing that a fledgling adventurer would wear when heading out on a harvesting type request.

Furthermore, they don't even have any weapons.

It's not the kind of equipment you would expect to find in this forest, where dangerous demons roam.

But the most worrisome thing is his black eyes and his black hair.

"I'm an abomination...?

Dark eyes, dark hair... you can't go wrong.

'But they say that abominations always disappear in the first year of life, and maybe they just dye their hair for some reason?

'Either way, he's coming into this dangerous forest in such a light outfit. That's not normal.

Kama and the others are alarmed, but the young man doesn't care about it and starts inspecting the Jewel Tree.

Hmm. I'm not sure how many times I've seen it. You can't defeat this thing without considerable accuracy and power.

After completing his inspection, the young man turns to Kama and the others and opens his mouth.

''I see that you guys are the highest-ranking people among the adventurers, am I right?

Yeah. We're the A-ranked party, the Will-Free Magic Sword. That Jewel Tree was defeated just now. But what about it?

Kama answers the young man's questions, but his eyes are not careless.

If the young man makes any suspicious movements, he's in a position to cut you down immediately.

''This area is my domain (territory). When you have influence over other adventurers, when you bring back that fruit, other adventurers will come rushing in to find it, right? I can't be bothered. I can't have this place trolled.

The eyes of Kama and the other four become even more severe.

You'll be able to get a good idea of what you're looking for.

I'm sure you'll be able to find it. I'm sure you'll be able to get away with it.