Furthermore, there were no roads in the forest, making it very easy to get
lost — though Latifa could make her way back to village using her sense of
smell at any time. There was no need for her to fear getting lost or running
into dangerous creatures.
And yet, at that moment...
Latifa noticed that the skies above her were rather noisy, and looked up.
Through the gaps of the trees, she saw several of the village's warriors flying
through the air, conversing in rather loud voices. It was Sara, Orphia, and
Alma.
They could be searching for her — realizing that, Latifa looked around in
a panic, but sighed in relief when she noted that she was still alone.
With that, she ran off once more, putting further distance between her
and the village.
◇◇◇
While Rio was speaking to Latifa in the village square, far above the
skies near the great forest, a single griffin was soaring through the air.
"Mr. Reiss, did we pass through a forest this large on our way here?" The
boy, who was carefully carrying the large egg, asked Reiss in a worried
voice. Reiss was manning the reins of the griffin.
"Did we, I wonder?" Reiss answered indifferently. His gaze was fixed
sharply on the great forest below them, so he was barely paying any mind to
the boy.
Statistically speaking, most of the force field should cover the ground
below. However, the closer the distance to village, the more the barrier
would protect the sky, too. I would love to carry this out in a smart way, but I
only have three pawns to use, and who knows when that will come for its egg.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I suppose — I shall have to speed things
along, even if it's a bit more risky. Reiss looked coldly between the boy, the
egg in his arms, and the griffin between his legs. With a small chuckle, he
adopted a gentle tone as he addressed the boy. "Shall we take a water break?
I'd like to let the griffin rest a little, too."
"Y-Yes, sir. But will it really be all right? Resting in a place like this."
"Well, it does seem like a peaceful forest. This is a rare opportunity...
Why don't you make some memories instead of being afraid? You may never lay your eyes on nature like this again."
After that, Reiss lowered the griffin down next to a suitable spring. At the
moment, they were located within half a temporal hour away from the
village, if traveling by air.
The boy led the griffin to the spring by the reins. After he tied it to a
nearby tree, the griffin began to drink the spring water. Then, the boy moved
to refill his canteen with water, too.
"Now, I'm going to take a little look around this area. I shall be back
soon, so swallow this and wait here for me." Reiss handed the boy a small
stone. The stone was transparent, like a jewel.
"Swallow... this?" The boy, understandably, expressed some resistance.
Very few people would willingly swallow jewels for fun, after all.
"It's a type of artifact. A precaution prepared in the unlikely event that I
am separated from you. As time passes, it will slowly dissolve inside of you.
The absorption itself will pose no harm to you. But, if you don't want to eat
it, I won't force you..."
"I-I'll take it, if that's all it is!" Taking Reiss' words for what they were,
the boy hurriedly accepted the jewel and swallowed it with some water.
"Good — now I can leave without worrying."
"You'll be back soon, right?"
"Indeed. If anything happens, feel free to leave me behind and get away
on the griffin. You should run in that direction, by the way," Reiss said,
pointing where the giant tree was hidden from perception by magic barriers.
"Okay!"
"Oh, and one more thing. Do carry the egg with you carefully. In the
unlikely event that you need to run, of course."
"I understand." At Reiss' emphasis, the boy nodded with a huge,
exaggerated smile.
"Now, if you'd excuse me."
With that, Reiss slowly wandered off into the forest. Less than a minute
later, the boy's figure by the spring was completely out of sight.
"I'd love to take the remaining eggs back right now, but I must wait for
that to arrive in search of the decoy egg first. The demi-humans could also
appear at any moment, so I must make haste."
Reiss gave a small sigh. Immediately after, his body started to float in the
air. He rose high into the sky before flying away, placing distance between
himself and the village.