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The meat of the one-eyed bear made a good gift.
The forest folk said they would provide several tents for Ekaterina’s party to stay in, and told them to relax and make themselves comfortable. Normally, several families of the forest folk would be living there, but they had moved into other tents and vacated the place for them. Ekaterina thought that a bit of meat was a modest token of thanks for all that trouble, but Aurora was delighted. Apparently, the forest folk are fond of bear meat.

“When you eat it, it warms the body and makes you resistant to illness. We will put it in the soup, so please have some as well, milady.”
“Thank you very much. I am grateful for your kind hospitality.”

Ekaterina smiled, and the knights also bowed to show their thanks.
She offered to help prepare the meal, but Aurora only laughed. It was probably normal to assume that a duke’s daughter could not cook. The forest folk rarely accepted guests, but once they did, it was their custom to spare no effort in entertaining them. So Ekaterina said no more and decided to enjoy her stay.

.

To loosen up her stiff body after the carriage journey, she was allowed to take a walk around the settlement. Besides the maid Mina, Forli and Oleg accompanied her. So did Regina and the other hunting dogs.

The forest folk were apparently usually exclusive and did not speak to Ekaterina. However, perhaps because Forli was with her, some smiled at her or nodded in greeting, and Ekaterina returned their smiles and bows. Many of them were tall and slender, with lean, toned bodies. Even the men wore their hair long, and it suited their somewhat androgynous faces. Their forest-dwelling lifestyle and appearance reminded her of elves, a staple race in the fantasy stories of her previous life.

At this hour, the women of the forest folk were busy preparing food. Or so she thought, but it seemed that in some households the men did the cooking. Perhaps because they lived in symbiosis with the Great King Bees led by their queen, they did not concern themselves much with gender and decided roles based on individual aptitude.
Hmm, surprisingly progressive. They probably did not need something like an Equal Employment Opportunity Act. Well, that sort of thing would not be necessary in this community anyway.

“Everyone wears such colorful clothes.”

The designs of their garments felt old-fashioned. In her previous life, characters in manga about Celtic peoples wore similar clothing. On top of that, there was fine, exquisite embroidery, and its colors were vivid.
Since coming to the territory of Jurnova, she had often been impressed by the beauty of embroidery, but these colors were distinctive and lovely.
Seeing some cute flower embroidery, she suddenly thought of Flora.

That would suit Flora-chan so well. I wonder if she’s doing well. And the prince too.
…I wonder if Onii-sama feels lonely without me. It hasn’t even been a full day since he saw me off this morning, so normally he wouldn’t feel lonely yet, but he’s a siscon.
I’m lonely though! Because I’m a brocon!

“How very ladylike of you to say so. The forest folk possess excellent knowledge of plant dyeing. Those tents will not fade even when exposed to rain and wind. I have long thought of learning from them and spreading it as a product in the imperial capital, but I am quite unskilled when it comes to matters of clothing.”
“If that is the case, I would very much like to help.”

Snap—she came back to herself, recalling how she had helped spread the celestial blue dye before, and said so.
At one corner of the settlement, there was a small field with crops planted in it. Even if they did not settle permanently, they only moved seasonally, so fast-growing summer vegetables could probably be harvested. There were even foreign crops such as tomatoes; perhaps Forli had brought those in.

And then—
…Just as I thought. It’s here too…
And it’s wriggling…

“The sugar beets here are wilder than the ones planted in the village we passed earlier.”
“…They move quite vigorously, don’t they?”

The one at the edge was swaying back and forth and side to side, wobbling wildly. It looked like it might pull itself out.
And then—

.

Ah.

Heave.

Ho.

…Like that, with a plap, its forked roots came out of the ground…
What is this thing…?

“Oh, seems like one got stunted and walked out”

The sugar beet that had come out of the ground stood upright on its forked roots (…), though it was wobbling.
Ah, it fell over.

“Those that come out of the ground and start moving while still in their juvenile form can never become adults, and remain as they are, so we call them Stunted—the ones that never came to fruition. They may walk around here and there, but they will never become adults, so please do not worry.”

…I am not quite sure what I am supposed to be reassured about.

Then, from somewhere, another walking sugar beet appeared. This one skillfully moved its forked roots, trotting along—not fast, but with practiced steps. …Is “steps” the right word? They’re roots, though.
It extended its leaves toward the fallen sugar beet. The fallen one entwined its own leaves with them and was helped back up…

…What is this beautiful camaraderie…?
The latter one is kind of handsome in what it’s doing… A handsome sugar beet… It doesn’t have a face, though…

But then suddenly, a black shadow leapt out from the forest. Perhaps a badger—an animal about the size of a small dog bit into the handsome (…?) sugar beet and lifted it up in its mouth.
A squeal was heard. Carrying the sugar beet in its mouth, the badger dashed back into the forest in an instant—

At that moment, something sliced through the air with a byoo sound.

“Milady!”

Mina pulled Ekaterina toward her and shielded her behind her, while the knight Oleg drew his sword and stepped forward. The hunting dogs let out threatening growls, but Ekaterina had no idea what had happened.
She only saw the badger vanish as if it had been erased, and the sugar beet that had been in its mouth fell to the ground and rolled away.

“Mina, Oleg, there is no need to worry. Calm yourselves, hounds. That creature does not attack humans unless provoked. —Lady Ekaterina, an Adult has appeared.”
“That is…?”

Following where Forli pointed, Ekaterina widened her eyes. In the crimson light of dusk—come to think of it, in her previous life this time of day was called Twilight¹—she could only see half of it in the forest outside the settlement, but it looked nothing like the sugar beets in the field.

First of all, it was huge. Perhaps two meters long. What had been the turnip-like root was now covered in rough, bark-like skin, as thick as a grown person’s embrace, and could only be seen as a torso. The parts corresponding to its split legs were firmly planted, like an elephant’s legs, and the part that had been its neck, where leaves had grown, had changed into sword-like thorns.
And mixed among those sword-like thorns were several long, vine-like stems (?), swaying gently. One of them was wrapped around the badger from earlier, dangling it.

“Adult sugar beets protect the juveniles and use those that attack as nourishment. They possess a sac inside their bodies filled with digestive fluid, and are able to digest them.”

Ah… like a pitcher plant from my previous life…

“Adults are on friendly terms with the Great King Bees and do not attack the forest folk. Moreover, the individuals near the settlement are ones that reverted to their ancestral form and became adults from crops planted in the fields, so they may remember having been cared for in the past. In time, adults bloom into enormous flowers. Great King Bees normally do not gather nectar themselves, using only their subordinate worker bees, but when it comes to the giant flowers of adult sugar beets, Great King Bees personally collect the nectar. This is to produce a special royal jelly for raising new King Bees. And thanks to the Great King Bees, the Adult sugar beets are pollinated and bear fruit. Therefore, Adult sugar beets reside near the territory of the Great King Bees.”

Royal jelly… So that’s what it is. …The sweetness of sugar beets exists to attract the Great King Bees when they bloom. They probably cannot be pollinated unless the pollinator is as large as a Great King Bee.

The adult swayed its massive body heavily as it disappeared into the depths of the forest.
The sugar beet that had nearly been carried off by the badger seemed to be safe (?), and shakily got back up, supported by the other sugar beet.
Yes, now I understand what “you can relax because they won’t become adults” means.

Then, thinking she saw something glow in the forest at the hour of Twilight, Ekaterina narrowed her eyes.

“A horse…”
“A horse?”

Oleg, having sheathed his sword, turned back with a puzzled look. All eight horses—the knights’ mounts and the carriage horses together—were tied in the center of the settlement, leisurely eating the grass cut by the knights and the forest people.

“I thought I saw a large, black horse. Its mane was shining silver… Mina, did you not notice?”
“I didn’t see anything.”

Though expressionless, Mina seemed perplexed.
Forli’s face grew stern.

“Milady, it seems you’ve just encountered the Maiden of Death.”