Mushoku Tensei:The Successor Arc

Inside a forest with a gloomy color palette as its main theme.

...

After Lara and I became more familiar with each other, she tried to use divination to deduce the general location of my hometown. Traversing this forest would be a shortcut. Of course, it was also possible her deduction was wrong. After all, divination isn't one hundred percent accurate.

...

But, let's put aside the matter of whether the destination is correct or not for now.

...

The current problem is—

"O' esteemed Lady Lara."

I couldn't help but call out to her as she walked ahead of me.

"If you have something to say, say it."

Lara's posture has become a bit hunched, and her steps are dragging. It looks like she's pretty tired too. Even Leo is completely listless.

...

"I just wanted to ask... Lara, are you sure your divination was correct?"

After I asked, she turned her head and gave me a disdainful smile.

"As you can see—it seems there's been a problem."

How you can say something like that with such a disdainful look is beyond me.

So I replied to her with a calm expression as well.

"That makes sense. After all, we've been lost for several days."

Hearing my words, she silently avoided my gaze.

...

The two of us were silent for a while.

"Lug, um, anyway... I'm very sorry."

"More than an apology, I'd rather know how to get out of here."

...

Originally, it was not recommended to enter this forest casually. There are monsters like Mist Flowers in here. They release a special, interfering smoke. This mist magic can interfere with detection, obstruct vision, and has a strong misleading effect. People who enter this forest have a high probability of being forever lost.

So, one must make full preparations before entering; marking tools and a map are basic necessities. In the end, Lara confidently patted her flat chest and guaranteed—"Just follow me, you'll be fine."

And then we got lost.

...

I shouldn't have trusted this girl. Next time, it's better if I do the planning.

"By the way, we're almost out of food."

We can use magic for water, at least.

"Let's eat monsters..." Lara said with a helpless look. It seems she hadn't anticipated that this place's misleading effect would be so strong.

...

Normally, relying on Leo's sense of direction would have been fine. As the saying goes, an old dog knows its way home. It's usually impossible to get lost. This time, it seems it's not working so well.

"Let me just remind you, monsters are not tasty."

The meat of the monsters in the Demon Continent is really just average. I personally don't like to eat it.

"I know that too, but there's no other choice... Let's just bear with it," Lara's tone was a bit helpless.

I sighed resignedly, then with a flick of my blade, I casually killed a snake that was trying to bite me. Attacks like this have become commonplace. Lara has already given up on defending herself and is just letting things happen. If I can block it, I'll help out. If I can't block it in time, she'll just get bitten and then use detoxification magic.

Poison, mist, swamps. This forest is simply a fantastic place to be buried. I heard the reason the soil here is a bit red is because... —let's change the topic.

...

"Can we eat this snake?"

I had cut off its head with my sword, but the snake's body was still writhing with great vitality. As expected of a snake from the Demon Continent. It's a bit like a gecko's tail.

"Not sure, but it's best not to waste food." Lara took it without any hesitation. As expected of a veteran adventurer, not scared at all.

Actually, the most delicious thing is snake; it's one of the few things among monsters that is palatable. But actually, the snakes on the Demon Continent aren't that tasty either.

"Leo, are you hungry?... I have something yummy." Lara directly offered the still-wriggling snake body to Leo's mouth.

"Woof~"

It ran over to my side in fear. Even though it's so big, it can be scared? Maybe it just doesn't want to put something that's still moving directly into its mouth. This dog is very picky about its food. It usually only eats fruits and pastries, and at most some cooked food. It's pretty much like a person.

Speaking of which...

"Lara, is it my imagination, or do I feel like we've been walking towards the center of the forest?"

"No, we'll never reach the center. This mist seems to be constantly guiding us in circles. The corpses of those who die eventually become nutrients for this forest..." Lara stated something terrifying with a calm expression.

"Then what do we do?"

"Let me use divination magic to determine our position..."

Are you really reliable, ma'am? I held back my retort and didn't ask.

...

"Hmph hmph hmph! Now you know how amazing your Big Sis Lara is, don't you? Didn't we succeed?"

Lara had her hands on her hips, her expression full of pride.

"Amazing my foot! This is clearly the center of the forest. Weren't we supposed to be looking for the exit?"

I couldn't help but palm my forehead. What kind of mentality do you have to be able to look so proud like that?

...

Then, I started to frown at the sea of flowers in front of me. This seems to be the place where the mist originates. In the sea of flowers, there's an absurdly large flower. It's a good ten-plus meters wide, and it's emitting a foul stench—no, it's more like the fragrance is a bit too overpowering.

Hmm... is this a giant Rafflesia? The petals feel very thick and large. I guess it's a succulent.

...

"Well, a normal person wouldn't have the strength to walk here. So you can say we succeeded, can't you?" Lara spread her hands at me nonchalantly.

That's true. After all, this place would definitely prevent outsiders from entering; otherwise, it would be troublesome if its nest got poked. Lara just got lucky, a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse. She didn't divine the exit, but instead divined the very center... I sighed. This girl is so unreliable.

"So we just need to take care of that giant Rafflesia?"

"Let's try setting it on fire," Lara said, her tone also a bit uncertain.

Is it really that simple? This forest has existed for hundreds of years. I have a bad feeling about this. But let's give it a try anyway.

...

At this moment, Lara suddenly looked at her palm, her face turning a bit stiff.

"What's wrong?"

"Try using a fire spell..."

I nodded, a little puzzled, then held out my palm.

[Fireball...]

It didn't work. It felt as if it had been interrupted by Disturb Magic. Huh? This wasn't happening before. Is it because we're too close to the source of the mist now?

...

However, if it's just 'Disturb Magic'—

I cast the spell again.

[Fireball]

Success.

"Lug, you can still use magic?" Lara frowned, looking at her own palm. It seems she couldn't use it at all.

"You just have to cast the spell while simultaneously being under the interference of Disturb Magic."

"Can you even do that?"

"You just need to practice."

It's just... why is there Disturb Magic here? No, is it because of the high concentration of mist? The visibility in this forest is very low, probably only about ten meters. The surroundings are all covered in mist. The area near the sea of flowers, however, has no mist. It looks very strange. At first, I just thought this mist could block perception and interfere with vision. Now it seems that the central area, where the mist is dense, can also disrupt magic. It's really dangerous...

...

But, it also feels very valuable.