"We're here! Welcome to my village! Thank you for bringing me back!"
Gerda, the girl clad in a dark green cloak, expressed her gratitude and welcome to Shiomi and his companions, who had successfully escorted her back to the village while avoiding the giants' paths.
"You're welcome... After all, we had a part in it," Shiomi replied gently.
The distress call they had heard came from a young girl. The cause was the magical fluctuations and killing intent stirred up by their battle with the Lostbelt Servant, which had alarmed nearby Jötunn giants, sending them into a frenzy. This young girl, who had ventured out alone to gather medicinal herbs, had unfortunately encountered the agitated giants. Fortunately, Shiomi and the others detected the cries in time, drove off the rampaging giants, and rescued the little girl named Gerda.
"Hehe~, it feels so incredibly surreal. I always thought guests like this only existed in stories."
As she spoke, Gerda's emerald eyes sparkled with innocent wonder. "And there are four of you! You must be an envoy, right?" she asked excitedly. Seeing their Mystery power—so different from the villagers'—and their ability to easily defeat giants, Gerda naturally made this assumption.
"Envoys? You mean the messengers of the goddess Skadi?" Artoria inquired.
"Yes, indeed! Every so often, the village is visited by the Lady Goddess's envoys. They can fly through the skies without fear of giants or beasts," Gerda explained.
"Oh? That's quite intriguing." Scáthach surveyed the village thoughtfully.
Morgan tugged at Shiomi's sleeve and whispered, "My lord, you noticed upon entering, didn't you? This village is protected by a barrier from the outside. Without Magecraft abilities, one couldn't even detect its presence by approaching."
"And the temperature difference between inside and outside is huge—it feels like early spring here," Shiomi nodded. "Plus, I roughly counted—there are only about forty or fifty households. If each has three people, that's just a hundred or two at most?"
"It's almost like..." Morgan murmured.
Shiomi had the same thought. In the Fairy Kingdom, humans couldn't survive independently. Instead, they were raised like livestock by the fairies. Even after Morgan initiated the Queen's Calendar, she couldn't prevent the clans from establishing what they called 'Human Pastures.'
—Though half the reason was that Shiomi's realm of Londinium was predominantly human. As the rival queen, Morgan couldn't afford to show excessive favoritism toward humans.
—Whether that was truly the case aside, the barrier outside the village and the sealing talisman on the closed gate were primarily composed of Primordial Runes.
"Whether that's truly the case aside, the barrier outside the village and the seal on the gate are primarily composed of Primordial Runes," Scáthach interjected, approaching to join the conversation. "Judging by the caliber, it's likely a barrier personally erected by the Queen of this Lostbelt, the goddess Skadi herself."
"That seems the only conclusion. After all, in terms of Runes Magecraft alone, Skadi's skill is no less than the Master's." Shiomi answered truthfully, carefully observing Scáthach's expression, wary that she might take offense at the comparison.
"Why the look? On a purely factual level, I have no reason to take offense." Scáthach smiled indifferently, pinching Shiomi's cheek. "But Gerda mentioned this village is called 'Village 23.'"
"What?" Shiomi thought he'd misheard.
"I thought I misheard too, but she insisted that's the name." Scáthach glanced at Artoria, who was chatting with Gerda. "But she seemed sincere—clearly it's true."
"Villages named by number, a limited number of villagers..." Morgan felt a growing sense of déjà vu.
Just then, Gerda pulled Artoria's hand and ran over, enthusiastically extending an invitation:
"Um, um, you four Servants, please let me repay your life-saving kindness! Stay at my house tonight! Since I'm already 13, I have my own place. Let's gather around the hearth for dinner! I'll bring out my treasured mead, freshly baked bread, and fish!"
Faced with such warmth, Shiomi found himself unusually conflicted. After all, returning from this village to the Storm Border garrison wouldn't take them long. Having already traversed the route, they knew the way well—returning before nightfall posed no problem.
"It's a rare invitation—let's accept it for now," Artoria urged Shiomi. "We should also use our stay in this village to gather more intelligence before heading to the royal capital... especially about the route there."
Her point was undeniably crucial. Skadi had left behind no maps or landmarks of any kind, clearly placing complete trust in Shiomi and his companions' abilities, confident they could reach her castle without difficulty.
"In that case, then—"
Just as Shiomi was about to agree, he suddenly heard a series of light footsteps.
Turning around, he saw several children, even younger than Gerda, probably only five or six years old, running over.
"It's Sister Gerda!"
"Welcome back, Sister! Amazing! You really made it back safely from outside the gate! Did you gather the herbs we talked about earlier?"
"Who are these people? They look so impressive!"
"Pretty big sister! That silver armor and white cloak are so cool!"
"I think this big sister's robe and hat are prettier! You look alike! Are you sisters?"
"This big sister is dressed so lightly, is she really okay?"
"Big brother, big brother! Where did you come from?"
The children swarmed around Shiomi and the others, chattering away with innocent wonder. Their curiosity and admiration nearly overwhelmed the four.
Morgan suddenly felt glad she'd changed clothes before leaving. Otherwise, her queenly attire might have been too much of a shock for these little ones.
"Hmm..." Scáthach looked thoroughly delighted.
Shiomi knew instantly why—the children had called her "big sister."
But he quickly spotted the problem: while the commotion had drawn the villagers' attention, nearly all who came running were children under ten. Not a single adult was in sight.
"Why are there only children?" Shiomi's earlier suspicions deepened. He hurriedly asked Gerda,
"Where are the adults and elders of the village?"
"Mr. Shiomi, you're so strange. Elders are just figures from legends, right? All adults must leave the village once they reach twenty-five, correct?"
Gerda's answer instantly pulled Shiomi and the others out of the commotion, bringing them back to their senses.