I'm sorry.

　The next morning, I apologized to Mr. Kilt.

　Mr. Illtimina, Soltis and Poe were behind me, watching the situation.

　Mr. Kilt stared at me as I lowered my head.

'Head up,'

　A quiet voice.

　I obey it honestly.

"Irna told me about you.

　Mr. Kilt said, shaking his rich silver hair and bowing his head to me.

'I'm sorry, Merle,'

(Huh?)

Thinking of you and keeping silent, but in contrast, you were left to deal with it all on your own, and you ended up making yourself suffer. I must have driven you into a corner.

　The sudden action took me by surprise.

　She looks up.

　She looks at me with those golden eyes.

From now on, we will share our painful realities without hiding them. From now on, we will not hide our painful reality, but we will share our pain and suffering.

　That's what he said.

Mr. Quilt...

　I was happy to see him bow his head to me as a child and face me head-on like this.

　My heart was hot.

　I felt like I was about to cry, and Kirt-san laughed.

　Crumple.

　His hand reached out and stroked my hair roughly.

　She's a small woman, and yet her hand feels so warm and big.

　Iltimina smiles gently at us.

　Solstice cowered her shoulders, and Poe nodded repeatedly, though she didn't understand.

　Thus we made up.

　And then we went to explore the reddish brown wilderness again.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.　


　The journey of exploration lasted for about five days.

　Along the way, we were attacked several times by the Big Hundred Foot and the Giant Hundred Foot.

　However, under Kirt's direction, we made it through unscathed.

　Of course, this time, I didn't disobey his instructions either.

(..............)

　What I found out while following instructions.

　That is, Mr. Kilt was always trying to keep the party in a state of extra strength.

　In the midst of an adventure, sometimes unforeseen circumstances would arise.

　She was always trying to make sure that she had enough strength left to deal with it.

　Yesterday, all I could think about was giving it my all.

(It was really selfish, wasn't it?)

　I finally realized that it was all about me, and that I was even putting my partymates at risk as a result.

　A real reflection.

　And so we proceeded through the red earth.

　Then, on the afternoon of the fifth day, the dry earth began to show a bit of vegetation.

　The air gets a little damp.

　Two hours later, a forest shrouded in mist appeared in front of us.

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

We've arrived at the Misty Woods, which was also mentioned in the Voyage Log.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　A week had passed since then.

　Just like before, the 'Forest and Base of the Mist' had been built, and the 150 members of the Royal Knights and Temple Knights who were to follow had joined in.

　Bassa, bassa!

　The "Dragon of the Dragon Cavalry" descended to the base, sending the surrounding white fog flying.

　Together with General Roberto and the others, we rushed over.

　From the saddle on its head, the Dragon Knight jumped down to the ground and landed on the ground.

''Phew.''

　Emerging from underneath the helmet that was removed with a gasp was the well-formed face of the dragon knight captain, Leydre Kwokka-san.

　Looking at the gathered us.

I don't think so.

　He shook his head.

　Those golden eyes stared in the direction of the forest, staring.

The fog is too thick. You can't fly for very long because you lose altitude and direction. It's impossible to see our route from above.

　I said.

　General Roberto has a difficult look on his face, 'I see.

''Beyond this point, there should be a 'ruined city' that would have been reached at the end of the 'Third Frontier'.
I can't help it.

　'I'm sorry,' said Kilt.

'From the time we arrived in this forest until today, this fog has not lifted. From here we will have to walk steadily on the ground to find that 'ruined city'.

　I say that as the head of a group of adventurers.

　General Roberto fell silent for a moment.

　Eventually, he exhaled heavily.

'Yes.'

　He nodded as if he was prepared to do so.

''Starting tomorrow morning, the group of adventurers will enter the 'Forest of Mist' to explore.　
Um, okay.

　Kirt-san agrees.

　And Aase, the head of the Temple Knights, who had been silent until then, opened his mouth.

''Do you have enough people, Kirto Amandes?''

　I ask Mr. Kilt.

　It's about the number of people we're searching for.

　In fact, by the time we got out of the 'reddish brown wilderness', there were 21 casualties.

　They were killed by those hundreds of millions of ants and those giant hundred-legged demons.

　In particular, the hundred-legged demons had attacked the 'Reddish brown wilderness/base' as well, and they had been in a battle with the Temple Knights including Aase and the Royal Knights led by General Robert.

　The defense was successful.　

　However, there were no deaths, but there were about 13 injured.

　Ever since they had come to the Dark Continent, the number of human casualties had been increasing little by little.

　Aase said.

''If necessary, our Temple Knights will send some people to search for them?
"Hmm.

　Mr. Kilt thinks for a moment.

'No, it's still all right.'

　I replied.

He replied, "We're still not at 10% wear and tear. For now, we should prioritize the defense of our bases. If push comes to shove, this will be our final line of defense.

　Then she looked at General Roberto.

　He nodded.

''Kirto Amandes is right. Since we still don't know the threat level of this 'Forest of Mist', it's better to avoid reducing the defenses of the base.
Yeah. Then we will do as we are told.

　Ms. Arse approves, a beautiful voice spilling out of her peeking mouth.

　Mr. Reidle opened his mouth.

'Be careful, Kilt. With the fog in this forest, we won't be able to head for rescue and cover as easily as we have in the past.
I know.

　Mr. Kilt nodded.

'We will be cautious. Worst-case scenario, we're looking at retreat.
Yeah.

　Reidl-san nodded and looked back at his beloved dragon, who was right beside him.

'It's not that we can't do ground fighting too. If that happens, we'll walk with the dragon and charge into the forest. Our movement speed will be much slower, though.　
Hmm. If it really does happen, I'll let you know.

　Mr. Kilt laughed.

　Mr. Reidle returned the smile.

　Mr. Kilt then raised his hand lightly to the other three representatives before walking towards us, who were a little further away.

'You heard me talking, didn't you?'
Yes.

　I nodded.

　The other three nodded, too.

　Mr. Kilt looked around at all of us.

Just as you have heard. Tomorrow morning, the warriors will enter the Misty Woods.

　I declared in a powerful voice.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　The next morning we gathered in front of The Foggy Forest.

　It was no different than any other forest we've ever seen, a world of plants with trees a dozen or so meters high.

　But this forest was covered in a milky white darkness.

　Fog.

　A thick fog that never disappeared for 24 hours dominated the forest.

　.........

　I extend my hand forward.　

　Even though that's all there is to it, my fingertips appear to be white and hazy.

　Sound is hard to hear, and smells are hard to discern.

　It was as if my senses of sight, hearing and smell were being filtered.

　Geez.

　Before we entered the forest, we each wrapped a rope around our bodies.

　It connects the five of us together.

''Since, according to the 'Voyage Journal', there are many who have lost their way in this forest,''

　As Iltimina said this, she checked the ropes on me, Soltis, and Poe, the three younger girls, to see how well they were tied.

'Let us be careful not to stray,'
Yes.

　I nodded and Illtimina smiled.

　And we're ready to go.

''Alright then, let's go.''
Yes.
Yes, sir.
Yeah.
.......................

　At Kirt-san's command, we started walking towards the forest.

　Even beyond the surrounding white darkness, we could see the kingdom knights and adventurers who were going out to explore, turning into black figures and entering the forest.

(............)

　I want to see him again, alive.

　With that strong wish, I stepped into the Forest of Mist.


　◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇.


　I had walked through the forest many times before.

　It was a serene world filled with the bright colors of green and the smell of plants, and sometimes just walking through it made me feel at peace.

　But today was different.

　A few meters away, the white darkness spreads.

　A world where sounds and smells are blurred.

(.........This is real, right?)

　That confidence was so tenuous that my sense of reality was shaken.

　In front of me, Solstice is in front of me.

　Her soft, purple hair swayed on her slender back.

　Beyond that, there's Poe.

　But the blonde young girl's figure is half hidden by the white darkness.

　Furthermore, beyond that, Kirt-san should be there.......but I could barely see her.

　The red cloth that wrapped the black armor and the great sword was only slightly recognizable, and the rope beyond Poe was almost in white darkness.

(............)

　Turn around.

　Illtimina was there, properly.

　Thank goodness.

　The sound of her footsteps was hard to hear, so I was worried that she might have disappeared at some point.

　That couldn't be possible........

　Illtimina-san said, "? He smiles at me.

　I shake my head, "Nah," and fake a laugh.

　Then I turn my head forward and walk away.

　...........

　I'm walking as if I'm following the end of the rope, with Kilt-san in the lead, but I'm no longer sure of the direction.

(Base.........which way is it?)

　It should have been behind me, but I was starting to feel less and less confident.

　It felt like I was walking with my eyes closed when I should have been opening them.

　...Walking in the fog is incredibly stressful.

　I didn't know that for the first time.

　Maybe that's why my sense of time is so fuzzy.

　It feels like it's only been half an hour since we started walking through the forest, and sometimes it feels like three hours. I can't even see the sun, so I don't know what time it is.

(Ugh...)

　If you spend too much time in a place like this, it's going to take a toll on your spirit.

　Still, Illtimina is here.

　Everyone is here.

　That's the only thing that sustains me, and I'll keep going.

　I was walking around with that in mind.

　At that time.

"What?

　Solstice, who was suddenly walking in front of me, stopped with such a voice.

(Whoa!?)

　bang

　Unable to stop abruptly, I bumped into her back.

'Are you okay?'

　sizzling sound

　The two of us who were about to fall over in a tangle were supported by Illtimina-san behind us.

"Uh-huh, thanks.
Hey! What are you doing?

　Solstice pushes me away from her as she's close to me, turning bright red.

(What? Solstice suddenly stops.)

　I was about to complain when I suddenly realized that I was about to complain.

　Poe, who was walking in front of Solstice, had stopped.

　So Solstice stopped too.

(Hmm?)

　I mean, I could see the back of Mr. Kilt, the first one in line.

　I'm sure Mr. Quilt was the first to stop.

　So, Poe, Solstice had to come to a sudden stop too.

"Mr. Quilt?

　I called out to it.

　But its back, standing in the white darkness, didn't look back at me.

　I peeked at her profile.

　She was looking forward, as if surprised.

　Its golden eyes were wide open.

　Her lips trembled as she spun out the words.

''........Elle?''

　A small word.

　It trembled and disappeared like a sucker into the white darkness.