Its fun to ride upon slimes.
Merlin is rather fast as well. So we were moving straight ahead leaving my palace behind. It was still just like before. Dark and gloomy as much as it could be, and the sunlight struggling to get in... Oh it might be night then.
That was the first night I was awake on.
I expected some spirits to come out and greet their 'Majesty' but perhaps I was overestimating our population. Ah, right, how big could Astagha be anyway...? I wish Merlin could talk.
As we moved ahead, I only witnessed different new areas. Because everything was new to me then. There were ponds here and there. As it appears, there were a huge number of deers in the forest. Shouldn't there be any carnivores too then?
"Are there lions around?" I asked Merlin.
He nodded his head as response to me.
From the stories of old man, these carnivores are often assumed to be extremely ferocious beasts. Well, nothing of that danger compared to most monsters but some of the stronger beasts could perhaps kill any humans alive! Only if they are with their natural strength though.
After that I noticed a pair of balls. But they emitted a glow which was grey. If I remember right they were present in the gathering yesterday. They were a kind of monsters.
They saw me and immediately stopped their works, and slightly rolled over as if to bow and pay respect to me.
We moved on, and for a long time I saw no spirits. There were some monsters only. Like birds with interesting faces, absurd fishes and alike. Yet, in the gathering there were much more spirits than monsters. The giant knight who was along with Mar Hast in the gathering was nowhere to be seen as well.
I wondered.
Perhaps Astagha is... much bigger than I thought it was.
The minutes turned into hours but I was thankfully a patient apple. I took a pity upon Kavest, did I burden him with too much work? How long did it take for him to go to his home? Then I ordered him to complete such a task within a single day.
Arh...
Whatever.
That's what he deserved I believe. Because I could not feel the outmost respect for me from him, like I felt from anybody else, even Ratabat, who apparently has the title of Traitor, I say!
---
There was a feminine shadow in midst of a lake, sitting upon a single large stone and singing her mind. She appeared to be extremely alluring and some might even mistake this beauty for a mermaid. But she was a monster.
Viyanka, who resides in the lake of Cantar was waiting for a call from the other side of the lake, from a cave which was yellow for unknown reasons. And just that, there it was.
A growl of a mature voice resounded her ears, "Viyanka! Bring the strongests of Astagha and gather before the hall of Skeletons."
She smiled as she took the command from an invisible point and stood slowly. She gazed at a tree far away, at the shore. Then she looked a little downwards, to the shadow of that tree. She then vanished and appeared from the shadow therein.
That was a no normal tree. And that was so far away that no human eyes could have seen it from that distance, and to be able to pinpoint its shadow's length and breadth for her to adjust in with perfect accuracy, hawks could shiver with the task.
The tree was the second largest tree in Astagha. Around a hundred times smaller than the infamous Mother Tree which could stand alone as a small village of sorts inside it. Although it was then the palace of their new Guardian, and King.
And that was also the home of her younger sister. Bivishi.
She did not require to call her, as the two could sense each other acutely. Bivishi, who was just as alluring as her sister, came out from the giant treehouse built above its sturdiest branches. Her long and slender black hair floated slightly as it always does, however, she took her usual top-hat of mages and put it on her head.
Bivishi then magically floated through in the air and hit the ground, clearly delighted to see her sister. However, her smile faded in the next instant.
"Is it another task from that old man?"
"Don't call him an old man, Bivi."
"..."
Bivishi resented whoever did not have the good physical looks.
"This is only a commandment forwarded by him to us this time. The Holy Apple told us to gather the strongests in Astagha."
"...Why?"
"Perhaps he wants to strengthen the forces."
"Who will watch over the border when we are there?"
"I will send a few portion of my shadows to watch over. I believe he must have considered it and yet called us. The importance he asserts for this is evident."
"I see..."
Bivishi was convinced.
"Let's go, then." Viyanka's shadowy figure returned to a physical humanoid one. She became much more beautiful than she was.
---
"Hey, who watches the border when the guards thereof are not present?" I asked a skeleton I found randomly walking around.
"No... One..."
"Oh..."
I was definitely not concerned at all given that I brought all of the forest's powerhouses to one place leaving the borders of Astagha entirely unguarded.