Revitalized by the cheery responses, we marched through the forest, undeterred by the freezing wind. We had no clear goal in mind, and so we strolled along at a leisurely pace. Samya and Helen weren’t nearly as vigilant either; they were far more cautious when we were on the city’s streets.
“We’re more used to this area,” Samya said.
“People usually don’t come here anyway,” Helen added. “And there aren’t any large beasts around either. We just don’t need to be as cautious.”
Fair enough. There were only wolves around here, and they rarely attacked us. Only bears or monsters dared to fight, but they were easy to sense without being so on guard.
“The city streets have got plenty of people walking about, so it’s more troublesome for me,” Helen said.
“You do keep a sharper gaze in the city,” I agreed.
I felt a light punch on my shoulder—much gentler than the attacks Diana inflicted upon me.
“But there aren’t a lot of beasts during this season,” Samya said, a touch weary. “We don’t have to be so jumpy.”
I thought all the animals were hibernating, but it seemed some dared to venture outside in the cold. I could hear an occasional rustle or two in the brush, and some animals were squeaking away.
“What is that?” Anne asked as she pointed to the birds or squirrels that scampered past us.
“Oh, that’s a...” Lidy began, providing answers.
We strolled through the winter forest like we were taking an enjoyable walk.
Various fauna lived within the Black Forest, and there was just as much flora to support the thriving ecosystem. Many evergreen trees dotted the forest—I thought they just naturally grew there, but it seemed it was partly due to the magical energy.
“In the forest I was in, those trees lost all their leaves in the winter,” Lidy said.
It seemed there were quite a few of these trees, but I had no idea how exactly magic affected this forest as a whole. Only the forest spirits would hold an answer to that. Wait, I feel like Lluisa would also shrug her shoulders and claim that she doesn’t know either... In any case, every now and then, we could even harvest fruits that were out of season, which was a unique trait of this forest.
Samya, who was born and raised here, assumed that this was normal and didn’t find anything amiss. I couldn’t blame her, since this forest was all she knew. Had Lidy not told me, I would’ve also assumed that trees in this world simply worked like that for some inexplicable reason. My installed knowledge didn’t give me much information about plants. I only knew the shapes of leaves that were fatally poisonous, like wolfsbane, for example. If I accidentally ingested these plants or tried to use one as medicine or something, that would spell the end of me.
In any case, the plants of the Black Forest bore fruit out of season, just like the elves’ seeds. But since they were out of season, the fruits didn’t grow in abundance.
“We’d be lucky if we could harvest a tenth of what these trees produce during their season,” Samya explained.
So if a tree that normally produces twenty fruits bears two in the winter, it’d be a good day. We can’t expect a stable food source from them. Now that I think about it, when the temperatures dipped and they brought back some fruits after hunts, there were way less of them than usual.
“Elves’ seeds can grow quickly, but they grow better in the spring or summer than in the winter,” Lidy said.
I assumed that we had a stable crop harvest thanks to the power of the seeds, but it seemed it was due in no small part to Lidy’s expert farming skills. She must’ve put in a lot of effort. As we continued to walk through the forest, I noticed Diana’s eyes restlessly darting around the forest. Every time some sort of brush rustled, her neck snapped as she turned in the direction of that noise.
She was the greatest hunter of adorable things in our family and was likely frantically searching for a cute, cuddly scene. Helen and Anne were equally alert, but they were probably just being vigilant in case of any danger. Or so I’d like to think, but they seem a little disappointed when there’s nothing special causing the noise. They look just like Diana, quite frankly.
Ultimately, they were keeping watch of our surroundings, and we weren’t out hunting today. We just wanted to patrol the forest, and being vigilant was probably a good thing in this instance. There was no need for me to warn or scold them for their restlessness. As we made our way ahead, with sunlight trickling through the lush greenery, Diana let out a small gasp.
“Ah!”
Helen swiftly placed a hand on her blade, and a slight clink reached my ears.
“Oh, sorry, it’s not something dangerous,” Diana quickly said, causing Helen to take her hand off her weapon.
“Is it that?” Anne asked. She made a visor with her hand over her eyes and spotted what Diana had supposedly seen.
“Hmm?” I strained my eyes as well.
I couldn’t quite tell. All I could see were the green leaves, lush despite the winter season. Diana approached the spot where she’d supposedly spotted something.
“H-Hey,” I stammered as I chased after her with Krul, Lucy, and Hayate in tow.
“See! Look!”
When we caught up with her, Diana pointed to a certain spot. As I followed her finger, I saw that there was just the thinnest layer of snow with very tiny white flowers growing in a bunch. Even if all the flowers were combined, they’d be much smaller than the average flower in this world. And yet, these small blooms didn’t seem at all evanescent or fragile. They grew strong and proud, amid the cold of the winter, confidently appealing their existence and their path of life. They’re living all...
“They’re living all bunched together within the large trees. They’re just like us,” Diana said, vocalizing my thoughts.
Everyone nodded, likely with the same thought, and I did the same.
“You’re exactly right,” I said.
I held Lucy in my arms as she jumped around, hoping to get a better look at these precious lives.