Chapter 235: The Erosion of Territory
A few days after the devastation of the major northern cities, including the capital of the Reidia Kingdom, the Fenrir family, who had been scattering the surviving populace, began to move slowly towards the Demon Forest, adjusting their pace to that of their youngling.
The Tree was regularly monitoring their movements through satellite imagery. Ideally, they would have liked to deploy drones overhead, but due to the limitations of microwave power transmission, that option was abandoned.
While it was possible to dispatch the Solar-powered Scout Aircraft (SWIFT), the performance of its onboard equipment only allowed for information collection at a resolution similar to that of reconnaissance satellites, leading to the decision to hold off.
“It seems they’re on the move, but are they returning to the Demon Forest?”
“Uncertain, Ma’am. Their route differs from when they attacked the capital. They may simply be relocating their feeding grounds.”
The ecology of the threat creature known as Fenrir was almost entirely unknown. Observations were limited to satellite orbits with resolution constraints, making it impossible to determine what they consumed for food.
“We did confirm sightings of the youngling preying on humans, so it is undoubtedly carnivorous. It can be assumed that it is based on wolves or canid animals. There may be some degree of omnivorous behavior, but that remains unverified for now.”
“As for the adult, it appears to have gone over a week without eating,” one of the officers noted.
Even threat creatures required sustenance. This had been confirmed with the initial Rain Kroin, and the infamous Wyvern was reportedly preying on Big Moss. However, when calculating the creature’s activity levels against its caloric intake, the balance simply did not add up.
“It seems we should consider that they are utilizing magic essence in some form for sustenance. At the very least, the adult Fenrir shows no change in physical performance after a week without food. It does not exhibit any behavior indicative of hunting.”
With almost no confirmed phenomena, they could only discuss theories. Both Commander Eve and Ringo understood this, making their conversation merely a casual exchange.
“We can only continue our observations. It seems the Prava Divine Nation has begun to reorganize their frontlines, so there likely won’t be any significant movements for a while.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I will report any changes in the situation as soon as they arise.”
Three days after the Fenrir family returned to the Demon Forest, another sighting of a Fenrir occurred. The count was one, and based on size comparison, it was presumed to be the male parent, Froze.
“Froze appears to be patrolling the villages it destroyed in sequence. It is likely marking its territory. It seems that the areas it invaded in the Reidia Kingdom have now been incorporated into its domain.”
Ringo’s prediction was nearly confirmed by Froze’s subsequent movements.
After visiting the villages, Froze spent the night at the ruins of a relatively large city, likely Tralikuin City, scattering the few residents who had begun to return.
The next day, it extended its reach to the Royal Capital, Argasta, once again driving away the humans before returning to the Demon Forest.
“It seems the northern part of the Reidia Kingdom has been completely claimed as Froze’s territory.”
Whenever the scattered residents managed to return, Froze would chase them away again. It appeared that Froze had no intention of allowing humans to inhabit its territory.
“Wow. It was fine until now, but suddenly this happens. The fantasy world sure is harsh.”
“Yes, Ma’am. However, even after analyzing the information we’ve gathered, I found no historical records of threat creatures descending from the Demon Forest and encroaching on human habitation. At best, there are dubious fairy tales. There are no clear records. This suggests that a rather irregular phenomenon has occurred.”
While Paraiso was gathering intelligence, information regarding threat creatures was scarce. This was presumed to be because the current human habitation areas were not adjacent to the territories of threat creatures. Conversely, if they were adjacent, it was possible that humans had been wiped out under some circumstance. In other words, humans and threat creatures had already established a form of territorial separation.
However, that assumption was being shaken by the actions of Froze.
“The Tree’s military strength is outstanding compared to the nations in the southern part of the Northern Continent. With just a portion of our forces, it would be easy to subdue a nation. However, the only threat creatures that can directly challenge our military strength are those we have encountered so far.”
“Honestly, hearing that again makes me wish we could avoid such encounters. They attack us even when we don’t provoke them…”
That said, it was also true that they had sufficient military strength to counter such threat creatures. For instance, if they were to face the Rain Kroin, the first fleet, which served as the defense force of The Tree, would promptly rush to the scene and be prepared to eliminate it swiftly. The same could be said for the Wyvern; with a significant number of aerial forces deployed, they could likely shoot it down without issue.
Yet, despite having such a setup, the emergence of the unpredictable element that was Froze was a terrifying aspect of this fantasy world. Would they truly be able to eliminate that threat creature with the land forces they could deploy?
“However, if it is merely patrolling its territory, we shouldn’t have to worry about direct confrontation for the time being. Instead, we should take this opportunity to rejoice that the invasion route of the Prava Divine Nation has narrowed. Depending on Froze’s movements, the Prava Divine Nation may need to allocate some of their forces to deal with it. The pressure on the frontlines will significantly decrease.”
As Ringo analyzed, the immediate task at hand was to halt the invasion of the Prava Divine Nation. While it was not an element to be ignored, for the time being, it would not only have no adverse effects but could even yield positive outcomes.
On the third patrol of Froze’s territory, ten days after the initial attack, significant changes were observed in the satellite imagery.
Relatively large villages and cities had noticeably become greener. Trees several meters tall were already sprouting, and the remnants of the cities were rapidly being engulfed by a sea of greenery.
This phenomenon had been observed elsewhere.
The fairy circles that appeared within the Demon Forest, created by the larvae of Big Moss, were known for their rapid plant growth within their confines.
In other words, the ruins of the Reidia Kingdom’s cities were transforming into fairy circles.
“Sister, this is truly fascinating! Do you think the cities have become fairy circles, or were they built in places that were originally fairy circles?”
“Well… It’s too early to tell with such a small sample size… If we could have measured the magic density beforehand, we might have figured something out.”
Asahi excitedly engaged with her older sister, Eve, who was earnestly keeping up with her enthusiasm.
“That said, we do have some leads from our investigations in the Afrasia United Kingdom! It seems cities are often built in areas where magic essence is abundant, like fairy circles!”
“Oh, is that so? So they don’t become fairy circles afterward?”
“Yes! It appears that humanity in this world prefers areas with high magic density and feels averse to places with low magic density!”
That report was new to them. When Eve glanced at Ringo, she shook her head. It seemed the information was still under verification.
“Ah, so it’s that feeling of unease, right? When the magic density is sufficiently high, people don’t seem to feel anything particularly unusual! How intriguing!”
Regardless of the truth of that statement, it seemed that fairy circles would become a key concept. Fairy circles were places where magic essence flowed. This was a fact established through investigations in the Afrasia United Kingdom.
And Froze was accurately traversing the locations of these fairy circles. Whether humans or fairy circles came first remained unclear, but it was possible that Froze had been drawn out of the Demon Forest by entering the detection range of a fairy circle.
While it was dangerous to jump to conclusions, it might be worthwhile to analyze the information gathered thus far from that perspective. Eve made that judgment and decided to press Asahi for further contemplation.