It was the morning of our second day on the Dark Continent.

　The five of us were summoned to the largest tent in the settlement base.

　It's the headquarters of the Fifth Pioneer Group.

　Inside the tent, besides us, the representatives of each group - General Robert, the representative of the Knights of the Kingdom, Aase, the representative of the Knights of the Temple, and Reidl, the representative of the Dragon Horsemen - were also gathered there.

　Incidentally, Kirt-san is the representative of the Adventurers' group.

　Apparently, the representatives are having a discussion with each other.

(Is it okay for me to be there, too?)

　I thought.

You and Poe are the Deity's Family who are closely related to the Spirit Stone. Irna is the Golden Mark Adventurer. Since Sol is also a member of the party, is it strange for one person to be left out?　All four of you can join in the conversation.

　He said.

　Well, I'll try to be quiet so as not to interrupt him too much.

　The moderator of the conversation was General Robert.

"First, I want to inform you of our plan of action.

　When he said that.

"I now ask that Leydre Quodka and the rest of the 'Dragonriders' maintain an aerial view of the area. Then, I want you to find and map the target area.

　I say to Mr. Reidle.

'Okay,'

　Mr. Reidle nodded.

　General Roberto nodded, and his gaze went to Mr. Kilt.

'Kirto Amandes. I want you fifty adventurers and your group of fifty adventurers to head to that target from the ground. Your duty is to investigate and ensure safety along the way.
Hmm. Very well.
200 of the kingdom's knights will be assigned to do the same.
"Mm.

　He shook his silver hair, and Mr. Kilt nodded.

　General Roberto's gaze finally turned to Aase-san.

''I want Aase Mudelka, and the fifty Temple Knights, to defend this stronghold.
All right.

　Arse-san agrees.

''We, the Temple Knights, are better at defense than exploration. We will show our full strength.

　And he made a smile on his mouth that was visible through his helmet.

　General Roberto laughed at the dependable words.

''I'm counting on you. If there is an external enemy, this base will be the final defense point to protect everyone. Also, 100 kingdom knights will be left at the base for defense.''

　General Roberto piled on the words.

　Mr. Aase said.

Yes, sir.

　He nodded.

　Illtimina-san watched the discussion of each representative in silence.

(We're the search team on the ground, aren't we?)

　It's a unit that actually goes to check something that Mr. Reidl and the others have discovered from the sky.

　...........

'Mr. Reidle.

　I called out to him.

"Hmm?

　A young man with dark hair and gold eyes looks back at me.

　I take something out of my pocket.

　I hold it out to him.

　It's a round, circular object with a transparent magic stone in the center - a "probe stone disc" that shines in response to the "divine spirit stone".

''Please take this with you.''

　I said.

　I thought that Raider-san and the other 'Dragon Horsemen' who fly in the sky would travel farther than us who walk on the ground.

I thought it would increase the chance of the Exploration Disk reacting to the situation.

''..........''

　Mr. Reidle stares at the disk.

　And.

'No, you should have that one, Marle.

　I shook my head.

(Huh?)

　I was surprised by the unexpected words.

　Mr. Raidle smiled.

'I don't know how big this Dark Continent is. Maybe it's even bigger than the Albac continent,'' he said. It would be an astronomical probability for even us 'Dragon Horsemen' to find a 'Divine Spirit Stone' that we've never seen before among it.
..........
That's why I want you to keep it.

　...I don't know what that means.

　He looks at me in confusion and says.

''You've gone through a lot of hardships so far.
..........
In the Kingdom of Shumuria, he found the divine dragon Nagaia, which could not be found despite the mobilization of 10,000 soldiers, and he also fought with the Children of Darkness in a truce, killing three Demon Shards. He also formed a ceasefire and a joint battle with the "Son of Darkness" and defeated three of the "Demon Shards --You may not be aware of it, but this is truly amazing.

　The next thing I knew, everyone in the place was looking at me.

'You've accomplished what no one else has been able to do.
..........
''Because of you, Marle, I have a feeling that you are the one who will find the 'divine Spirit Stone'.

　..................

　I feel like they're expecting too much from me.

　But General Robert and Kirto-san don't argue about anything, and Aase-san nods his head in a big way.

''This mission is like finding a single jewel out of the desert.
..........
But I have a feeling that you can pull off a miracle like that, you know?

　Reidl-san smiled at that.

　Then he put his hand on my small fingers and let me regrip the 'Exploration Stone Disk'.

''You keep that one.

　A quiet voice.

　I looked up at Illtimina next to me, troubled.

　Cocoon.

　Illtimina-san smiled and nodded.

(.........yes.)

I understand.

　I nodded.

　I have to admit, I'm not sure, but I'll keep it for a while.

　General Roberto opened his mouth.

'Then, Raidle.
Yeah, all right. We'll be gone soon.

　Mr. Reidle nodded.

'Please do.'
Firm.

　Mr. Kilt and Mr. Arse also call out to him.

　He smiled reliably, ducked his cloak and started walking to the entrance of the tent.

　Reidl and the rest of the "Dragon Horsemen", as the spearhead of the 5th Pioneering Brigade, begin their search for this "Dark Continent" before anyone else.

　We'll be the first to face the unknown danger.

''.........''

　I continued to stare straight at its back as it left the tent.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　About two hours later, the four 'dragons' returned to the blue sky above the base.

(They returned safely!)

　We were deeply relieved to hear that.

　Eventually, Mr. Reidl and his team's report was passed on to each group through their representatives.

'They say there's a river 10,000 meters south of here!

　Mr. Kilt is talking loudly to the group of adventurers.

　We listen to it in silence.

'Beyond that, there is a wilderness, and further south, a steep mountain range that blocks the land!　The rest of the world is basically a forest!　Also, at this point in time, no human settlements have been found!

　From the information given, I draw a map in my mind.

　Hmmm.

'The strawberries will go to that river first!　Each party gets ready, and in 30 minutes we'll start exploring!　Everybody get ready to go!

"Oh!

　The adventurers responded in force.

　The people around us started to move, and before long, Mr. Quilt came underneath us.

'Alright, let's get the strawmen ready to go,'
Yeah!
Yes, sir.
Okay.
.......................

　So we went back to our simple tents and prepared our equipment for the search.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　We entered the forest.

　The 50 adventurers and 200 knights of the kingdom are in the forest as well.　

　The plan is for each party of 250 people to split up and line up side by side at roughly 100-medium intervals to move deeper into the forest.

　Zach, zach.

　We walk through the woods.

　There are five of us in our party.

　From the front, it's Kilt-san, Poe, Solstice, me, and Iltimina-san, in that order.

(...It's a normal forest.)

　Or so I thought.

　The trees in the forest are about twenty meters tall.

　The sun was falling through the leaves to the ground.

　The ground is grass and dirt.

　In addition to the short plants and trees, there were also flowers in bloom.

It's beautiful.

　I muttered to myself.

　Solstice, walking in front of me, looks back at me.

　I say.

'The Dark Continent, I thought it would be a more horrible place, but it's not.

　I put my face close to one of the flowers.

This one smells so good, too.
Yeah?

　Solstice stops.

'But it's an insectivorous plant.
..........

　At the girl's words, I hurriedly pulled my face away.

　Solstice laughs.

　With her small fingers, she strokes the surface of the petals.

　Huell.

　The petals closed.

　It was as if he had replayed the blossoming of a flower in reverse.

　............

　Solstice laughed at me, who was frozen in place.

''We lure bugs with a nice smell and lock them up like this. If Merle had been a bug, he would have been hit immediately.
..........

　Ugh, I can't argue with that.

　Solstice paid back a few laughs and looked around.

'But I agree that the vegetation isn't all that different from the continent of Albac.

　I said.

''There are some differences in the species, but the basics remain the same. Even that insectivorous flower is found on the Albac continent.
Oh, really?

　Me nodding.

　And.

I'm surprised you're so peaceful, too.

　Illtimina, behind me, joined in the conversation.

　She touched the ground.

There are some animal tracks here. Probably a deer or something. There's some other tracks.
..........
At least it's an ecosystem not so different from Albac.

　And so on.

(Hmmm?)

　Along with my sisters, I look around.

　A peaceful forest view.

　There's nothing particularly frightening, just a quiet green world.

'However, we must not be too careful.

　And Iltimina.

　She says to me and Solstice as she holds up one finger.

'Maybe there are some demons that are mimicking some of this peaceful landscape. Just keep your tensions up so that you can be attacked at any time.
Yes.
I know. You're not doing this with Merle.

　I nodded and Solstice replied in frustration.

　Iltimina laughed and nodded, "No thanks.

'What are the three of you doing? Don't leave without permission.

　Mr. Quilt, up front, called out to us as we stopped.

　Poe, too, is gazing at us.

'Oh, I'm sorry.'

　I apologized and we quickly followed the two in front of us.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　We spent the next few hours walking through the forest.

　There were some small cliffs and fallen trees in the forest, but other than that there was nothing special about the forest.

　His progress was good.

　Tch, gah, gah.

　From time to time, I could hear what sounded like the sounds of birds and beasts.

　But I didn't see them.

　Maybe they felt the presence of people and fled ahead of me.

　And.

I think it's time to take a break.

　Suddenly, Mr. Quilt said.

　We didn't object either, and sat down at the base of a large tree, using the raised roots as a chair.

(Phew.)

"Yes, Merle.
Oh, thanks.

　I take the water bottle Iltimina-san offered me and take a sip of the water inside.

　Yes, it's delicious.

　I've been walking around for quite a while, so I was thirsty.

"Thanks for the food.
No.

　When I handed back the water bottle, Illtimina-san was beaming with joy.

　As it is, she puts her mouth on the water bottle and drinks the water too.

(Haha ... it's an indirect kiss.)

　I noticed and got a little nervous.

　While I was doing so, Mr. Kilt was standing alone.

　Maybe she was keeping watch.

　She looked up at the sun, visible through the trees in the forest.

Hmmm ... it's about time we hit the river.

　I muttered.

　Soltis says to me.

'Doesn't Marle the dog smell water?'

　Huh?

Yeah, not really.
Well, you're an idiot.

　with a swoosh

　That being said, it's not my fault that there's no water.

　I was going to say it back, but I felt like Solstice was just playing with me, so I swallowed my words with a gulp.

　But I looked at her with a bit of resentment.

''..........''

　I suddenly realized that Poe was looking deep into the forest.

'Poe?　What's going on?

　Illtimina, who also noticed, asked.

　Poe said.

'A sign of a person,'
What?　
There's a man 300 yards away. Poe guesses it's probably the same adventurer.

　Oh, yeah.

　I'm walking at 100-med intervals, but after a few hours, I'm sure the distance has opened up.

　And each party is probably moving through the forest at a different speed.

(Maybe the party that is faster than us will have reached the river by now?

　Mr. Kilt nodded, "I see.

　And that's when.

　Hulle paaaan.

(Huh?)

　Suddenly, a green light shone in the blue sky beyond the trees.

　It was a luminescent beacon.

　The green light illuminated all of our faces as we looked up unconsciously.

　A green luminescent beacon, it is a signal that something has been discovered.

''Mr. Quilt!''
Hmm.

　Kirt nodded vigorously at the sound of my voice.

The break is over. Let's all hurry up and get underneath those signal bullets!

　At the sound of his voice, we stood up in unison.