Daigis is an ivy-like plant that grows in the Fell Forest by absorbing magical energy drifting from the air. Bromominthra is well-known for its use as a monster repellent; it emits an odor that is undetectable to humans but unbearable for monsters.
Since monsters react to human magic, a warding potion made with these two ingredients would effectively conceal its user’s presence. The only thing monsters would pick up would be the unpleasant smell.
Mariela’s master had taught her that if she covered her roof and fence with daigis and planted bromominthra around her fence, she could even live within the Fell Forest itself. The cottage she’d inherited from her master was set up this way, and until the Stampede, she was able to live a peaceful life without trouble from monsters. When the Stampede occurred, however, the creatures were worked up into such a frenzy that they paid no mind to things like the stench of bromominthra. Since Mariela’s cottage stood between the forest and the Citadel City, where the monsters could sense a human presence, the whole building had been razed to the ground.
Mariela sprinkled the newly created monster-warding potion over herself and headed out.
With this potion alone, monsters would avoid her, although the effectiveness varied depending on the species. That meant she could travel through the sparse parts of the Fell Forest without encountering any such beasts as long as she didn’t make much noise. She guessed it was around noontime, as the sun was still high in the sky, but she wanted to reach town as quickly as possible. Judging from the ripened fruit on the trees and the state of flowering plants in the forest, it was probably around the end of summer. She didn’t sense a high chance of rain from the bits of sky she could see through the gaps in the trees, but currently, she had no house to protect her from the elements, and what little savings she’d had were lost with her old home. The only valuables she had on hand were the low-grade potion she’d just created and the herbs at her waist. How much of a living could she expect to make with these?
After just a short while in the forest, she emerged onto a road used for carriage travel. The forest had changed; the animal trails she’d always used were gone, and the rows of trees were different. Even so, she had made it this far from memory.
Because the Kingdom of Endalsia was surrounded by steep mountains and the Fell Forest, the only way in or out was to pass through the mountain range or use the roads that wove through a gap between the foothills and the woods.
This was one of those roads, and it should have led to an expansive, abundant grain-producing region on the other side of the Fell Forest.
“The forest has taken over…”
However, there was no such area ahead; instead, the same gloomy woods continued onward.
What had happened to the Kingdom of Endalsia?
Though the region had vanished, the road still remained. It was narrower than Mariela remembered but appeared to see periodic human traffic; wagon tracks in the road told her it was still in use. If there were carriages, then human dwellings probably hadn’t disappeared, either.
At any rate, Mariela was about to continue along the road toward the Citadel City when she heard animal cries, possibly wolves, as well as sounds of fighting.