The carriage stopped, and Jared and Caroline, who had already woken up from a deep sleep, looked at each other with some puzzlement, judging from the color of the sky in front of them, they should have already arrived at the Forest of Death, but why did they stop the carriage?
"Ms. Serenity? Did something happen?"
Kelly frowned, then opened the door and asked Serenity, who was driving the carriage. But Serenity's answer was a mixture of questions and confusion.
"Are we ... going the wrong way?"
"Eh?"
Hearing this question, all of them were slightly shocked, they hurriedly stepped down from the carriage, and then were equally shocked by the scene in front of them.
The forest was a sea of green trees that rose andfell in a continuous stream. The ground is covered with green grass and dotted with colorful flowers like a natural carpet. Not far away, clear and transparent mats flow happily into a mirror-like lake. The entire forest looked exceptionally beautiful and serene, and it was no wonder Serenity was skeptical. After all, even the Celestial Masters themselves didn't know much about it, and they had thought that "restoration" meant regrowth from the ashes of death. But now, it looked as if the forest had been revived, radiating a vigor and vitality that no one had ever seen before. At this moment, it was no longer suitable for the dreadful name of the Forest of the Dead, but more like the name it had received before its destruction, the name that everyone on the continent knew.
The forest of life.
"Is this really the Forest of the Dead?"
Despite having been here before, the situation at hand made Kylie unsure.
"It should be."
Tawana looked carefully at the map, nodded to confirm. She didn't think as much as Kylie, the little girl thought more purely, although she had also seen the dreadful appearance of the Forest of the Dead, but she had also experienced the dream-like changes afterward. For little Tawana, these are very easy to accept. Only Caroline's expression was serious, but also a little worried. But then Jared tapped her on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine."
Hearing Jared's words, Caroline's body, which was a little tense, relaxed, she exhaled softly and didn't say anything, but just looked at Jared like that, revealing a reassuring smile.
For the rest of the way, the wagons were no longer useful. After all, the road had worked well up to the Forest of the Dead, but after that, there was no way to use it anymore. It was impossible to use a carriage under the thick grass and trees. So they decided to walk. They unhitched the horse because it might be of some use. But the wagon was no longer needed and had to be left where it was. Jared and Caroline's instinctive desire to destroy it was met with a justifiable skepticism.
"We don't have to destroy the wagon at all, and it can be used as a coordinate to confirm the location, can't it?"
Kelly asked curiously, unable to understand what Jared was thinking.
Jared did not intend to refute this, he also realized that in this world he was not being hunted, there is no need to disappear his whereabouts. But stay so really makes Jared quite uneasy, but he really can't think of any way to ask the people to accept his opinion. Years of scouting and counter-surveillance had made Jared and Caroline accustomed to it, but when things didn't work out the way they were supposed to, it was only natural that they felt uncomfortable.
(We are not being hunted right now...)
Sensing that Jared was still a bit helpless, Caroline had no choice but to reassure him, even though her tone was filled with the same sense of uncertainty.
(We are now the Mission, we have good reason to enter here, and there is no need for us to keep our whereabouts a secret, and if anything happens to the Mission, these traces will make it possible to search for and find us very quickly.)
It was more like Caroline was justifying it to herself, but she was just as upset as Jared was.
"Even if we leave, there's no way that the murder plan against Kelly can be undone, and I don't want to leave a trail for them to follow."
（There are two trainee acolytes here, so I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, it's better to have fewer people, isn't it? That way, if we find someone other than us, we won't need to check and hesitate whether to attack or not.)
"That's true ."
Thinking differently, although the traces they left behind would be discovered by others, but since the other party could only follow their traces to look for them, the enemy's scope of action was likewise limited. At least they can only follow in their own back, rather than from all sides of any one place to drill out, after thinking differently, the two people's mood is finally a little better.
But unlike the two who had been worried, the wizards strolling through the forest were struck by the beauty of nature, and instead of the confusion and worry of Jared and Caroline, they strolled through the forest with a sense of wonder and excitement. Apparently, in the time since then, the animals had accepted the changes in the forest before the humans did, and there had been more than one sighting of a variety of animals.
"Stand still."
Jared pulled Serenity back as she strolled forward to enjoy the view. This makes her a bit dissatisfied to stare at Jared, but before the magician can express her doubts, a colorful viper swam through the grass in front of her eyes and slithered away without even looking at the young girl. This surprised Serenity so much that she subconsciously grabbed Jared's hand in return, it seemed that no matter how brave a girl was, there was always something that even courage couldn't drive them to face.
"The forest is not only beautiful, but also dangerous."
Jared let go of his hand and smiled bitterly. In this kind of well-lit place, he could more easily feel the surrounding structure style, so as to reverse deduce what kind of animals existed in the surrounding. Therefore, he was also very sensitive to the surrounding environment, and if there was any danger, no one could sense its existence earlier than him.
"That's true. One moment, please."
Kylie also became more cautious, before they were just immersed in the beauty of the forest, completely ignoring the danger hidden underneath the beauty. Kylie closed her eyes, stretched out her arms in front of the flowers and trees, and began to whisper a new magic.
The trees and bright green grass began to shake and turn, making a "rustling" sound. Kylie's voice was beautiful, with a hint of something that should not belong to a human being, like an elf. She danced her fingers gently, as if she were conducting a large orchestra. Obviously, this is not an attack magic, because Kylie's movements are very gentle compared to before, as if she is communicating with the forest. Then, as the beautiful singing slowly stopped, the trees in front of her stopped swaying and dancing. Then, Kelly opened her eyes.
"I've communicated with the neighborhood, and for the rest of the journey, we shouldn't encounter any more dangers like we did just now."
The ability to communicate with and be helped by nature is the center of Faerie magic.
For some reason, Jared subconsciously glanced back at Steven, who was leading the young girl at the end of the walk behind himself and the others. Just now, when Kylie was chanting her magic, Jared suddenly realized that the man seemed to want to do something. He immediately stepped forward as if he were casual, and intentionally stepped in between the two men. This obviously made Stephen very angry, but he just grunted and didn't say anything.
"I really want to finish him off."
Jared grumbled very helplessly to Caroline.
(You can't do that, after all, he's not showing any dangerous actions right now, and even if he wanted to act, it probably wouldn't be in this place.)
Caroline didn't have to tell Jared. This guy was obviously waiting for an opportunity. The question was whether he could wait for it.
One of the main tasks of the investigation team was to investigate the current environment of the forest, which was already obvious. The Forest of the Dead has fully regained its original vitality as the Forest of Life, and is very suitable for human habitation. But the other mission, which has not yet begun, is to find out if there are any investigation groups or spies from other countries in the area. The Lord of the Heavens has made it very clear that once the enemy is found, they must be wiped out. So as not to leave a trail of accusations behind. After all, if his own investigation team was wiped out, those countries would have nothing to say. They can't beat the table and ask San Marino Empire why the spies I sent to your country will disappear, but if they leave a survivor, then it will become an excuse for foreign affairs. It will be used by those countries with ulterior motives. Although the San Marino Empire has a strong military power, it maintains a policy of neutrality, and San Marino is only a medium-sized country in terms of size. If we give someone the slip on this kind of thing, then there will be a lot of trouble. That's why the Academy has specially sent out the two Trainee Ambassadors who are more precious than pandas.
Now that the first task has been accomplished, the only thing left to do is the second.
And soon enough, the crowd realized something was wrong. Near the riverbank, both Stephen and Serenity found signs of a former makeshift camp. It's clear that someone has infiltrated the forest.
Jared crouched down and reached out to scrub the ground for ashes and traces, while tossing aside the mounds of earth to find charcoal and bones buried and charred beneath the dirt.
"Judging from this portion, and the level of grease, there should be five to eight people on the other side."
Jared was, of course, full of shit, and there was no way, even if he was any good, that he could actually find any clues in a pile of charred charcoal.
He's analyzing it from the residual tectonic formulae in the air.
After all, in the forest, fire is the least likely to appear, so if you can find the color of the fire's structure, then it's easy to feel the surrounding area with that as the center. However, since there were many people around. He couldn't use his ability to recreate the image, but in any case, it was enough to know a general idea.
"So, what you're saying is that there's already at least one team infiltrating the forest now?"
Kelly had no doubt, after all, Jared had lied to people not once or twice, and the only person who could really tell when he was lying was Caroline.
"Sure."
"Can you track where they went?"
Serenity frowned slightly, while her hand was already pressed on the hilt of her sword, and asked after her seriously.
"No, that won't be necessary."
Jared lifted his head, looking forward along the river, and suddenly smiled easily.
"Our priority now is to find a base. After all, we are the masters of this forest, and this is our home ground."
Jared looked indifferent, but there was a hint of smug derision in his speech.
"The rats that are hiding, as long as we wait for them to take the initiative, there's no problem."
"So, Mr. Guardian, do you mean to say that we're going to lure each other out?"
The young girl who had been following Stephen around finally spoke.
"That's right."
Jared stood up and stretched.
"This forest is so big, and there's only so many of us, it won't take long enough to find them. But for us, those guys must be in a hurry. What do you think they'll do if they find out we're building a camp here?"
"Indeed, if the other side's goal is merely reconnaissance, then we'll be a hindrance to them if we set up here. But Jared ... "Kelly looked at him with an odd expression." The construction of the camp is not an easy job, and although we have wizards among us, we are not suited for such work."
Kelly's rhetorical question also caused Jared to frown, and he was thinking, or appeared to be thinking, about it.
（But that's not even a question, is it? Ms. Kelly?)
Caroline's voice appeared in Kylie's mind, causing her to realize, only slightly, the meaning of the scene before her.
"If you can find anything that fits ..."
"Speaking of which, I do have a suggestion."
Realizing what Jared and Caroline were up to, Kelly naturally began to play along.
"I once read in my father's study that there was once a castle in the middle of this forest, and even though so many years have passed, I think it should be able to be used."
After all, I've already slept there one night.
"Fair enough."
The corners of Jared's mouth turned up in a slight smile.
"Well, then, let's find out where this castle is."