The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

Walking through the forest where not a single ray of light penetrated, relying on the blue light, felt like being in a horror movie.

Rustle~!

“Eek!”

Gilbert was startled by the sound of leaves rustling in the wind and reached for the hilt of his sword.

The sword hanging from his waist was not the one forged by the dwarves, but the consecrated sword given by Amelia.

The shadow monsters roaming the forest were basically curses created by magic.

The fact that they were based on curses meant that they took great damage from holy power.

Although it would be more effective if Sophia, a saint, consecrated it, considering the environment here, the consecration cast by a priest had a time limit, so a consecrated sword that constantly emitted holy power was better.

“I-I will protect you, Young Master!”

Shaking with fear, I don’t know who’s going to protect whom.

Gilbert wasn’t the only one who was nervous. Precia, Jade, Silua, and Abassael, who had no immunity to this environment, couldn’t let their guard down either.

No, was it because the three magicians were in an environment where they could barely use magic?

“Silua, if things go wrong, I won’t be of much help, so hold onto Precia’s hem.”

Silua was holding onto my clothes, looking around in fear.

At my words, Silua shook her head and clung to me even more.

“No, I trust you, Oppa. Precia unnie will save you first too.”

Have you ever seen such a cunning little one? I liked her attitude of being saved together with me if something happened.

Hmm, I’m satisfied. Just keep growing up like this.

Come to think of it, Silua seemed to have grown taller than when I first met her.

She really was growing.

“It’s amazing. Even though so little light reaches here, the trees grow so lush.”

On the other hand, Yard looked around curiously as if it was no big deal and wrote something in his notebook.

“What are you writing?”

At my question, Yard smiled as if it was nothing.

“I thought it could be used as a circus gimmick later. I’m glad I followed you, Yuan. I get to experience many things that others would never experience.”

Well, after going through a large-scale black magic ritual, ancient ruins, and now this forest with me, it was no wonder he said that.

“You seem fine?”

When I asked Sophia, she snorted, saying everything was scary.

“God will protect me, so what are mere evil spirits.”

What great confidence. As expected of Sophia.

I moved the lantern containing the ghostly fire around and said,

“Let’s turn a little to the right. In the direction of that tree.”

As I pointed to a tree, Precia at the lead changed course and cut through the undergrowth with a machete to make a path.

“Yuan, how do you know the way?”

Jade asked curiously about my navigation method while remaining vigilant of the surroundings.

“It’s nothing special. Yard said it was amazing that the trees grow well in this forest where so little light reaches, right?”

“Yes, he did.”

“The trees in this forest have developed a unique property of using negative-dimensional mana as nutrients after being exposed to it for too long.”

At my explanation, the three magicians’ eyes sparkled. Those were the eyes of someone who had discovered rare magic materials.

“As a result, these trees have become one of the foundations that make up the forest’s magic, and thanks to that, by waving the ghostly fire in front of the leaves, we can roughly know the flow of mana throughout the forest.”

Jade immediately snapped his fingers and created a will-o’-the-wisp to wave in front of the leaves.

“Oh! It’s true! The surface of the leaves subtly changes and the shadows move as if circulating.”

“If we roughly calculate the direction we entered the forest and the distance to the center of the forest, we can also know our current location.”

The leaves scattered throughout the forest were a kind of map. Since the shadow monsters roaming the forest also had bodies composed of mana, their approximate location could be known from the shadows of the leaves.

I didn’t want to encounter the shadow monsters until I could release mana.

They were like cockroaches where if you see one, there are dozens more nearby that you can’t see.

Moreover, since they were a type of magic, even if you defeated them, they would revive after a short while.

“Interesting. I thought you knew all sorts of things in the ruins too, but how do you know these things?”

At Sophia’s question, I grinned, and Jade answered on my behalf.

“Yuan reads a lot of books, so he knows. Right?”

I chuckled at Jade’s sly look seeking my agreement. It seemed Jade was also curious about the source of my information.

“That’s right. It’s because I read a lot of books.”

Of course, I had no intention of telling them. Even if I explained, it seemed they wouldn’t accept it.

Sophia had a look of disbelief, but Abassael nodded vigorously.

“My lord knows everything.”

Ever since regaining his magic at Mount Matterhorn, Abassael occasionally looked at me with burdened eyes.

“I don’t know everything. I just know a little more than others.”

Although that little was quite a lot, I was sincere.

“Well, if it’s a secret, it can’t be helped.”

At my answer, Sophia didn’t probe further and let it go.

“But why did we enter this forest?”

“Isn’t it too late to ask?”

At my retort, she shrugged her shoulders and looked at the party members.

“I thought someone would ask, but since no one did.”

Jade, who was the last to be looked at, said as if it was nothing.

“I thought you wouldn’t tell us even if we asked. You have a bad personality, you know.”

“Hey! That’s too much. Where can you find someone as kind and caring as me?”

At my protest, Jade laughed mischievously.

“Of course, I also thought that since it’s something Yuan is doing, it must have meaning.”

As we talked while walking through the forest, the tension of the party members seemed to have loosened to some extent.

Gilbert and Silua still moved stiffly, probably because they were scared.

“The reason for entering the forest is nothing special. There’s someone I need to meet in the center of this forest.”

“Meet someone? Who?”

At Sophia’s question, I smiled mischievously like a brat.

“That’s a secret.”

************

“Phew~! We’ve finally arrived!”

Rouerfel collapsed in a disheveled state.

His clothes were soaked with sweat and had traces of dirt and leaves here and there, showing that he had a hard time.

“Is this the safe house?”

Javan also had bloodstains on his clothes, as if he had suffered a great deal.

It was an injury from dealing with the endless shadow beasts that rushed at them.

The wounds were treated by the skilled doctor Rouerfel and sutured with holy water supported by Amelia before coming to the Witch’s Forest.

Although most of the supported holy water was high-grade, the holy power contained in the holy water quickly volatilized as it was a space filled with negative-dimensional mana, which was incompatible with holy power.

“Rest required.”

“The Hermit” Osmond also headed towards the cabin built in the forest, leaning on his magic staff as if exhausted.

The cabin was a safe house built by Arcana when they created the forest and was one of the few places not affected by the flow of mana in the forest.

Rouerfel and Osmond, who entered the cabin, immediately lay down as if collapsing. They didn’t care if there was dust piled up.

For now, they were satisfied as long as they could rest.

“Ah- I didn’t know an environment with mana going berserk would be this tiring. Aren’t you two tired?”

Rouerfel asked, looking at Javan and “The Hanged Man” who were still not resting and unpacking their luggage even after entering the cabin.

“How could we not be tired? This forest was created to prevent outsiders from approaching in the first place.”

At Javan’s words, Rouerfel, who had lain down and was casually taking off his boots by rubbing his feet together, asked,

“Who created this forest?”

At that question, Osmond, who was lying down as if dead and groaning, said,

“Idiot.”

“What’s with you all of a sudden! I grew up being called a genius by my uncle!”

As Rouerfel became indignant, “The Hanged Man” giggled and said,

“Lovers, you didn’t read the briefing material. This forest was created by Arcana.”

“What? Arcana? Why?”

When Rouerfel was surprised, Osmond said as if he was pathetic,

“Moron.”

“Argh! I’m not a moron!”

Rouerfel didn’t even think of getting up and wiggled his toes to take off his socks.

As his feet, which had been stuffy from sweat, became free, Rouerfel felt refreshed and asked further,

“If Arcana created this forest, why are those crazy shadow monsters attacking us?”

At his question, The Hanged Man also took off her armor that had been stuffy.

“It’s because those shadow beasts were not created by Arcana.”

Then, she took out packaged food from her bag, handed it to her teammates, and continued her explanation.

“This forest is a giant magic circle created by Arcana to seal a certain witch. The negative-dimensional mana filling the forest exists to maintain the seal, and the magical tools we’re wearing on our wrists are also for managing this forest.”

“Then those shadow monsters…?”

“As I said, they were not created by Arcana.”

“Are you saying such monsters were created naturally?”

When Rouerfel was horrified, she looked at him pathetically and shook her head.

“Of course not. They are familiars released by the sealed witch to protect herself.”

“Even though she’s sealed, she can command that many familiars?!”

“There’s an error in saying ‘command’. The witch, just before being sealed, used the forest’s mana in reverse and ordered to attack all those who entered the forest. The witch is not controlling them.”

At her correction, Rouerfel finally nodded as if he understood.

“Still, she must have been an amazing person.”

“Yes, she was an amazing person. She was one of the Four Witches of Disaster and a monster among monsters, comparable to the Winter Wood Sage, who is said to be the strongest of the Four Sages of the Seasons.”

“The Hanged Man” shuddered as if the horror of the past had swept over her, and her complexion turned pale.

The number of Arcana Numbers deployed to seal the witch was a whopping thirteen.

“Arcana 00, The Fool”

“Arcana 01, The Magician”

“Arcana 02, The High Priestess”

“Arcana 03, The Empress”

“Arcana 05, The Hierophant”

“Arcana 07, The Chariot”

“Arcana 08, Strength”

“Arcana 12, The Hanged Man”

“Arcana 13, Death”

“Arcana 14, Temperance”

“Arcana 15, The Devil”

“Arcana 16, The Tower”

“Arcana 18, The Moon”.

It was nearly double the number dispatched to shake the seal of the hole to another world guarded by Yekatrice.

Less than half of those who had moved to seal the witch were still alive.

That’s how fierce the battle was, and it was a large-scale operation involving thousands of forces, from high-ranking executives other than the top members to the lowest ranks.

Among those who survived, “The Hanged Man” present here was also included.

No, to be precise, even she could not be said to have survived intact.

As an aftermath of the battle with the witch, her soul was shattered into hundreds of pieces, and a third of the shattered soul was annihilated on the spot.

Struggling to prevent her soul from scattering and dying, she, or he, had no choice but to become a colony composed of dozens of doppelgangers without a main body.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. No matter how powerful of an arch-mage she was, now she’s just a sealed grandmother sleeping. More importantly, there is a monster in this forest that cannot even be compared to the likes of shadow beasts.”

The monster called the Witch’s Scarecrow.