After staying for a night, Teto and I got on the carriage arranged by Altair-san and headed for the Great Forest of Elves.
"It feels nostalgic to ride on a carriage after a long while."
"Because Majou-sama uses a wand or the flying carpet for most of our travels!"
I had always kept carriages at arm's length since they needed maintenance and management, unlike casual transportation methods like bikes and motorcycles or the equivalent wand and carpet.
"This might feel slow for the two of you from «Flying Carpet», but I beseech you to be patient."
Altair-san, who was with us in the carriage, spoke with an apologetic tone as I passed my time staring at the scenery from the window.
"You're mistaken, We mostly traveled by foot before we devised transportation methods like a flying wand or a magic carpet, so this is a fresh feeling instead."
"There were lots of people when Teto rode a carriage for the first time with Majou-sama~"
"Kyaa!? T, Teto, at least say something before you lie on my lap."
Gazing at Teto who put her face on my lap in front of Altair-san, I scolded her in a helpless tone.
Altair-san chuckled with a pleasant smile seeing the exchange between Teto and me.
"I was wondering what kind of people you were when I heard you were an immortal witch and an apostle from the priestess, but that's a surprisingly cute reaction......"
I averted my gaze from Altair-san, who said 'I'm sorry' but continued to smile, to the outside of the carriage's window and hid my eyes by shifting my triangular hat.
Teto, who could probably see my face from my lap, murmured 'Majou-sama is embarrassed'.
"Is my behavior so strange?"
When I mumbled so in a slightly pouty tone, Altair-san stopped smiling and looked at me with a serious expression.
"Those who seek an audience with Her Highness the Queen usually have some hidden ulterior motives, so it's really been a while since I've guided a person with as gentle a temperament as you."
People who usually wanted to meet the Queen who was immortal, possessed vast wealth and influence, and was even a rare high-elf among elves usually had some kind of motive like, —people who wanted to acquire the magic of the high elves who possessed abundant mana, —people who sought to lift the veil of concealment covering the Great Forest of Elves, —people who want to get their hands on a rare high-elf existence as a slave, and —people who wanted to get the land, resources, and mythical beasts of the Great Forest along with the elves living in it.
People harboring such desires would want to meet the high-elf Queen.
"My goal isn't the queen of high elves, but how the Great Forest manages to counter intruders."
"That may be so...... but if I may say, Chise-sama is in the same position as Her Majesty the Queen."
"Probably. Probably so."
The current scenario of the Great Forest of Elves might be, in a sense, one of the future possibilities of the «Empty Wilderness».
Interacting with the outside world with limited windows, brushing off any outside interference, and living while defending the forest.
Indeed, you can say our situations were kind of similar, but——
"The «Empty Wilderness» is currently in charge of generating mana for the world, but I also think it might not be a problem to cut the forest down once that role is finished and the world is filled with mana."
"Why do you think so?"
I spoke out my reasoning to the surprised Altair-san.
"I'm not talking about clearing the whole forest. Just a bit. The way we are doing things might look like we're some sort of pro-environmentalist, but I am not doing this to deny the development of humans and culture."
"Majou-sama always looks happy when reading a book!"
Just as Teto said, I liked books, and books and printed texts were absolutely indispensable for culture promotion.
Besides, I believed culture and nature could coexist in harmony.
I wasn't someone who destroyed nature heedlessly, but some of the forests of the «Empty Wilderness» would eventually be cleared, and I hoped that people who could coexist with nature would be able to thrive on the cleared land.
"Teto thinks it would be nice if mythical beast-sans can live anywhere they like."
"Yeah. It would be nice if their living habitat can be expanded to the outside world, not just in the confines of the «Empty WIlderness»."
I agreed with Teto's statement.
Right now, the attempt at poaching was happening due to the rarity and low population of the mythical beasts, but if their numbers were to increase, and they spread out to the whole continent and became a common sight, then maybe the people trying to poach them would decrease and it wouldn't be a pipe dream to see mythical beasts coexisting with people, just like the Dragon-Demon race members riding on Griffons and Pegasuses, or my disciple Yuishia taking Cat Siths with her on her journey.
Of course, there might be mythical beasts who would pass away due to various factors like illness, accidental death, or being killed by people and monsters when their living space increased.
Though I also thought that this was probably a necessary risk to propagate the mythical beasts' population.
"I had the impression that Chise-sama was a realistic person, but you're unexpectedly a romanticist."
"I mean, don't you think living together happily or the mythical beasts naturally mingling with the townsfolk would be lovely scenery?"
Hearing my words, Altair-san directed a gentle gaze at me as if she was looking at a child.
Well, from the elves' perspective, I might still be a child, but in the long life of an immortal, which was fraught with painful memories most of the time, a life without dreams and aspirations might as well be a colorless life.
Amidst our chitter-chatter with Altair-san, the carriage seemed to have reached the entrance of the Great Forest.
"We will have to get off the carriage from here, after we reach the first settlement, to get to the next settlement. Will you be alright?"
"We are used to walking."
"It's easy with«Body Hardening»-nanodesu!"
We, who got off the carriage, examined the elven settlement.
There were only elves and dark elves living in this settlement in the forest, though it looked like a normal settlement.
However, to keep the trees enhanced by the mana of world tree from encroaching on the settlement, metal stakes had been nailed at the borders of the land.
And when Altair-san also got off the carriage, I could see a familiar reaction from the elves of this settlement to her.
"It's the same reaction everyone has with Majou-sama."
"Could it be that Altair-san has a high status in this elven kingdom?"
"Well, I am like the handmaid of Her Majesty the Queen."
After saying that, we moved to greet the settlement chief after parking the carriage in the village.
This seemed to be the gateway to the Elven Kingdom, and we were going to traverse through the forest to reach the capital city where the Queen resided.
"As long as there's permission from the elves, even adventurers can come here. This is the path to the next settlement."
As we walked through the animal trail in the forest under the guidance of Altair-san, I relished the sensations of the forest with my skin.
"The forest is well-maintained, isn't it?"
The pruning was well done as the sunlight was properly falling into the forest and the erected trees were equally magnificent.
The occasional sighting of animals darting through the foliage brought a sense of tranquillity, and breathing in the cool air gave one an invigorating feeling.
"Thanks to the efforts of the people, the forest around the settlement has been carefully maintained. However, once you move away from the animal trail, you'll find yourself in the untouched primeval forest that stretches beyond."
It seemed like that primeval forest had transformed into a monster habitat with all sorts of monsters residing there, making it highly dangerous.
However, the safe animal trail we were currently walking on was under the care of the elves, so intruders usually tried to break through the primeval forest where they faced the attacks of the monsters.
"I see...... By turning almost all the areas around the kingdom a habitat for monsters, you're limiting the places that could be raided."
"If there are few places to guard, then it can be managed by just a few people!"
It seemed that the Elven Kingdom was formed by connecting the Great Forests, which served as the habitat of monsters, like dots on a map.
"In case of entry points, one can enter from the nations facing the great forest— the Gard Beastkin Nation, the Lovile Kingdom, and the Sanfield Empire that lay beyond the Gard Beastkin Nation in the south."
Speaking of which, there was an old continent map in the magic index of the church, but I hadn't seen the name of the Sanfield Empire in the map of the old era.
"What kind of country is the Sanfield Empire? I know a bit about it from the books and literature but that's all......"
"The Sanfield Empire facing the southern sea is a land of magnanimous disposition, a melting pot of various races that welcome anyone from humans to demi-humans to demonic races."
It seemed to possess the continent's foremost dungeon, had developed land and sea routes, had a state-managed coliseum where gladiators could be seen fighting day and night, and the citizens who came to watch it."
"It sounds like an interesting place. I would like to visit it one day."
"Teto also wants to experience being a… guradiator-nanodesu? That!"
Altair-san's story, as someone who acted as a bridge between the outside world and the elven kingdom, was quite interesting.
She talked about the kinds of battles in the coliseum, who was the current favorite fighter, and many more.
My impression of her was that she was a serious person, but seeing how easily she got caught up in the discussion and began to talk about the topic passionately made me understand a bit about what kind of person she was.
"I'm sorry, I bored you with my talks."
"No, they were rather interesting. I'm an amateur, and I know I would be lost among the many new things so your stories are rather helpful."
"Teto is also getting more and more interested!"
"......Thank you."
The dark brown skin of the dark elf seemed to have been tinged with a slight red flush, but we just continued the casual conversation. And after a few hours of walking through the forest, we reached a campsite situated along the trail connecting the different forest settlements.
