Rest and Urla advanced through the Forbidden Forest.
Treading on the leaf-mold ground and pushing aside branches and leaves with magic, they carefully walked step by step through the forest.
The dim, humid forest made it difficult to see even a few meters ahead, and an indescribable eeriness hung in the air.
"Rattle, rattle, rattle!"
"Wind Blade!"
"Rattle..."
Rest cut down the giant serpent that had attacked from above the trees.
They encountered monsters several times along the way, but thanks to Presence Detection, he sensed their presence beforehand and prevented any surprise attacks.
Rest unfailingly disposed of each monster that appeared, one after another.
"We've taken down a fair number of monsters by now… but there's no sign of a Diamond Bear or anything close to it…"
"Deeper in."
"Right… so it lives deep in the forest. How was the one offered to the royal palace hunted before?"
"It just happened to wander out."
"So you hunted the one that coincidentally came out of the forest… I guess you were pretty lucky."
"GUOOOOOOOH!"
"Yeah, yeah. Earthen Wall."
"Guoh…!"
The boar monster's charge was halted by the wall of earth.
With its movements stopped, Rest cast another magic and drove in a finishing blow.
"Earth Spear."
Several spears thrust up from the ground, piercing the boar's defenseless torso from below.
The boar monster died instantly. It collapsed and lay still.
"Impressive."
"Ah, I had to do at least this much... We've been walking for over an hour. Aren't you tired? Want to take a break?"
"Mm, okay."
"Alright, then I'll make some space."
He used magic to cut the grass and harden the earth, creating a space for the two of them to sit.
He also used barrier magic to set up a ward against monsters.
Maintaining the barrier constantly consumes mana, but for Rest, who has infinite mana, it's no problem.
"That should do it... Well then, let's sit and rest."
"Mm, let's rest."
"Hmm..."
Rest sat down on the space he'd made on the ground, but Urla sat right beside him, pressing close until their shoulders touched.
"Urla... you're close, aren't you?"
"Mm."
Although he urged her to move away, Urla looked up at him from right nearby.
Her direct gaze. The silent pressure made Rest flinch instead.
"D-do you want some water?"
"Yes.
Rest handed her the water bottle, and Urla drank it, gulping loudly.
"As thanks."
"Ah... thank you."
"Indirect kiss."
"..."
Rest drank from a different part of the bottle than where Urla had put her mouth.
"Boo... meanie."
"Ah... how long do we need to walk to get to where the Diamond Bear is?"
Rest obviously changed the subject.
Urla pointed into the depths of the forest with a dissatisfied look on her face.
"An hour."
"So we have one hour left... by the way, I know it's a bit late to ask, but can't we fly over the forest?"
"No, it'll startle them."
"So the Diamond Bear will get startled and run away?"
"Mm... the black one."
"Ah, you mean that black monster from earlier?"
"...............Yeah."
Urla took a strangely long pause before nodding.
"The black one gets startled. That's bad. It attacks."
"So the black monster gets startled and attacks... well, I suppose it's best to avoid unnecessary battles."
I didn't know what kind of creature a black monster was... but regardless, our objective this time was the Diamond Bear.
If it was a weak monster like that boar from before, that was one thing, but I had no intention of risking my life by fighting an unnecessarily strong opponent.
"Sandwich."
"Ah, sorry... wait, it's an Ogura sandwich!"
Urla took out a lunchbox and handed it to me.
It was a sandwich filled with sweet red bean paste and butter.
"Your favorite."
"Ah... I do love red bean paste. I'm happy. Thank you...!"
"Shy."
As Rest munched on the Ogura sandwich, Urla looked happy and shyly blushed.