Angel Little Sister 278

 

Chapter 278 : Leaving The Forest

 

It’s been about an hour since we left the half-elven village, Schultria.

I was reading the book I got from Tori-san, spending my time inside the shaking carriage that was moving along the narrow path through the forest.

「Guys, get ready to say goodbye to this forest!」(Kazuul)

Suddenly, I heard Kazuul-san call out to us from the coachman’s seat.

I closed the book I was reading and turned my face toward the coachman’s seat.

We had been surrounded by trees since we left the village, but now I can no longer see a single tree. We have left the forest and now we are traveling through a vast prairie.

All I could see was grass all the way to the horizon. There were no paths or roads, just a vast prairie with withered brown grass growing here and there, and a wheel trail that was barely visible on the ground.

The scenery here was more dazzling than inside the forest since there were no trees blocking the sunlight, so I couldn’t help but close my eyes for a second.

「Whoaa…!! I see nothing but grass!!」(Ester)

Ester leaned onto the coachman’s seat, stuck her head outside, and looked at the surroundings excitedly.

This is the first time she has been outside the forest, so I can understand why she is so excited.

Celine looked at Ester with a smile on her face, while Nicola was lying on Celine’s lap, sleeping like a log.

By the way, Nicola has been sleeping since we left the village. She woke up much earlier than usual today, so she must be very sleepy.

I turned my face to the back of the carriage and pushed up the curtain to see the outside.

I stuck out my face outside and saw the forest with dense tall trees gradually receding into the distance.

Suddenly, I noticed something off; there was no signboard or anything as the landmark for the entrance to the forest.

I wonder how peddlers like Kazuul-san know where the entrance is. Are they using this barely visible wheel track on the ground as the guide? But it will disappear when it snows, right?

Perhaps I will ask Kazuul-san about it later. I don’t want to disturb him now because I want him to concentrate on driving.

I let go of the curtain, went back to my seat, and decided to have a conversation with Celine, who was gently stroking Nicola’s hair.

「It feels weird now that I think that we had been living deep in that dense forest for four months.」(Mark)

「Fufu. You feel weird because you were born in a town, not in a forest.」(Celine)

「You may be right. By the way, why did they build a village deep in that forest?」(Mark)

「I heard from the elders that our ancestors discovered a Portal Crystal in that forest and decided to build a village there.」(Celine)

「I see. Speaking of Portal Crystal, are there any other Portal Crystal in other places? Portal Stones are great items. I’m just thinking that it’s not strange for important people like royal members and nobles to have Portal Stones to save their own lives when they’re in danger.」(Mark)

Celine put her thumb and index finger on her chin and tilted her head, thinking.

「Hmm… There’s a rumor that the first Portal Crystal was found in the old elven village, thousands of years ago. It is said that Portal Crystals are crystallized mana that were gathered from the surrounding nature, so I do think there are Portal Crystals in other places too. I don’t know if important people in this kingdom have Portal Stones or not, but from what I learned, Portal Crystals can’t grow in places that don’t have much natural mana like towns and big cities where there are not many trees and animals. 」(Celine)

「Makes sense. But, what if those important people go to a forest that has a Portal Crystal once in a while to make a Portal Stone?」(Mark)

「It’s not impossible, but I think it’s extremely hard. They will need at least ten or twenty years if they don’t do it daily like us. Well, unless they are extraordinary people like you who can complete a Portal Stone in less than a day. Fufu~」(Celine)

Celine smiled mischievously at me and ended her explanation.

 

◇◇◇

 

We continued traveling across the meadow for several hours, but Kazuul-san’s horses didn’t seem to be tired.

Kazuul-san only gave them water twice and barely let them rest. They might not seem tired, but I think they need to take a break.

「Kazuul-san, I think your horses need to take short breaks once in a while or they will die of exhaustion.」(Mark)

「Hahaha! I’m glad you worry about my horses, but you don’t need to because I have a Gift called “Tamer’s Blessings”!」(Kazuul)

Kazuul-san turned his face toward me and replied to me with a prideful look.

Tamer’s Blessings…? I wonder what kind of Gift it is.

「Really!? Kazuul oji-chan, you’re amazing!」(Nicola)

Nicola, who had just woken up, suddenly complimented Kazuul-san with a cheerful voice.

She received knowledge about this world from God, so I think she knows about this Gift.

Seeing Nicola’s cute reaction and her angelic smile, Kazuul-san couldn’t help but smile and scratched his cheek shyly with his index finger.

「Hahaha! Ojou-chan, you know about my Gift?」(Kazuul)

「Un! I heard about it from my friend!」(Nicola)

It was definitely a lie. I bet she just wanted to show her cute side to Kazuul-san…

I could just ask Nicola about the Gift, but… I think I’ll just ask the person who has the Gift himself.

「Kazuul-san, can you tell me about your Gift?」(Mark)

「Of course. As a fellow Gifted People, I will tell you. First of all, my Gift only works toward animals I keep or beasts I tame. I’ve never tamed a beast, though. Anyway, my Gift can recover fatigue and increase the stamina of the animals that I keep. As long as they’re near me, they will never get tired or hungry. In other words, Darrell and Kevin are being constantly healed while running. That’s why they’re not tired at all. Well, even though they’re not feeling hungry, I still have to feed them to make sure they’re always healthy.」(Kazuul)

「I see. What a wonderful Gift.」(Mark)

I see now. So, that’s how his Gift works.

By the way, Darrell and Kevin are the names of these two horses.

I can use light magic to recover someone’s fatigue, but doing it continuously for hours to two horses that keep running at the same time is almost impossible even for someone who has a lot of mana like me.

「When I found out that I had this Gift, I decided to become a peddler. Thanks to this Gift, I can travel much longer distances than normal peddlers can, and I can escape from bandits easily because my horses have unlimited stamina and can run faster than theirs. Hahaha!」(Kazuul)

Kazuul-san put his hand on his waist and laughed proudly.

「And thanks to my Gift, we will be able to reach our destination, Lev Village, in just two days!」(Kazuul)

Now that he mentions it, I just realized that this carriage is running quite fast. It’s much faster than the carriage we rented to go to Sadola Town.

I’m glad that Kazuul-san was in Schultria Village at the perfect time. If not, we would have to walk to Lev Village by foot which would take much longer time and more effort.

I could picture myself walking through this meadow with Nicola on my back…

 

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