“Wah!?”
Feeling the oddly shaped and strangely flavored object in her mouth, Histori widened her eyes and instinctively wanted to gag.
“Don’t spit it out. Hold it in, just keep it under your tongue.”
Amir pinched Histori’s chin, stopping her from spitting it out.
“This is a Sacred Tree Leaf. As long as you hold it in your mouth, it’ll let us pass through the natural barrier of the Elf Forest and also evade most of the pursuers.”
“…L-Leaf?”
Histori blinked in confusion, her words slurred.
Amir turned and pointed toward the dense thicket ahead.
More precisely, she was pointing at the thorny vines that hung from the ancient tree branches like slender snakes, covered in sharp barbs and slowly writhing in the breeze.
“Actually, that carriage driver probably never entered the Elf Forest. The most dangerous thing here isn’t any guard—it’s the forest itself.”
“The outskirts are still fine, since even the proud Elves occasionally need to trade with other races. But the deeper you go, the closer you get to the legendary Sacred Tree, the more dangerous this forest becomes.”
“The forest… becomes dangerous?”
“Mm. Not beasts or monsters, but the plants in the forest.”
“Without the Sacred Tree’s recognition, everything in this forest turns into a deadly trap—vines that drain you dry, flowers that release hallucinogenic gas, tree trunks that seem harmless, and so on.”
Amir shrugged lightly at Histori and said calmly—
“So whether you’re Human, Demon Race, Orc, or any race other than Elves, if the Sacred Tree sees you as a threat, you’ll likely be strangled and turned into fertilizer for this forest.”
“…Huh? R-Really?”
Histori forced a smile that looked worse than crying, then took two steps back, trying to stay away from the seemingly harmless grass.
“Don’t worry. That’s what the leaf in your mouth is for.”
Seeing Histori’s cowering expression, Amir extended her index finger and pointed at Histori’s puffed-out cheek.
“As long as you hold this leaf plucked from the Sacred Tree, the faint magic within it will slowly merge with your aura, making the forest mistake you for a pure-blooded Elf.”
After saying that, Amir took an identical leaf from her pocket and calmly placed it in her own mouth.
“Only then can we temporarily fool the forest’s perception, avoid attacks from the plants, and safely enter the Elf Forest.”
“…I see.”
Hearing this, Histori finally relaxed a little and gently pressed the leaf under her tongue, afraid it might slip out.
But then, thinking again, Histori tilted her head in confusion.
“Still, Lady Amir, if this leaf is so precious, where did you get it? And you even have two of them? Could it be that the Church gave it to the Hero as a benefit…”
“Oh, this?”
Amir lightly touched a small dagger strapped to her calf and said casually—
“This is from when I was still an Assassin, from a Wood Elf I…”
“…Cough!?”
Thinking of a certain possibility, Histori’s face went pale.
She felt a strange rotten odor fill her mouth.
She quickly coughed a few times, spat out the leaf, then grabbed a bottle of water from her storage space and frantically rinsed her mouth.
“…Of course, it wasn’t obtained from a corpse. Getting this kind of thing from an Elf’s body is meaningless. The leaf only serves as protection if the other party sincerely hands me a leaf from the Sacred Tree.”
Seeing right through Histori’s thoughts, Amir smirked and said with a grin—
“I did use the dagger in the process, but in the end, our exchange was pleasant. He got to keep his life, and I got a chance to enter the Elf Forest. Of course, each Sacred Leaf is brand new and can’t be used twice.”
…Phew, so that’s it.
I thought I was sharing a mouth with a dead person…
“Then, you gave me such a precious opportunity…”
“Oh, don’t misunderstand. For the Elves, Sacred Tree leaves aren’t that valuable. They’re everywhere inside the Elf Forest. It’s just that their pride won’t let them casually hand over that trust.”
Amir shrugged and said—
“But after that one breach, he started selling Sacred Tree Leaves at a high price in the Unified Kingdom’s underground mall. So as long as you have money, you can get as many as you want.”
“…”
Well, no wonder Amir once said that even the proudest Elves would sneak into the black market if there was profit to be made.
Turns out it wasn’t a saying—it was her personal experience.
“I understand. I’ll keep it in my mouth carefully.”
Histori nodded to Amir and pressed the strange-tasting leaf firmly under her tongue.
“But, Lady Amir, what are you…”
“Changing into clothes suitable for the forest.”
Watching Amir skillfully drape a dark green cloak over herself, Histori couldn’t help twitching the corner of her mouth.
She hadn’t been traveling with Amir for long, but she’d already seen her pull out several different-colored cloaks from her storage ring.
Did she only pack dry rations and fill the rest of the space with cloaks?
“But haven’t we already gained the Sacred Tree’s approval? Do we still need to hide like this?”
“Of course. The Sacred Tree Leaf only fools the forest’s own traps, so we won’t be attacked by plants when we get near the core. But it can’t fool the guards.”
As the green cloak fell, Amir’s tall figure was half-devoured by the surroundings, and her presence diminished significantly.
“If a patrol sees us with their own eyes—two clearly non-Elf types swaggering into the Elf Forest during lockdown—do you think they’ll welcome us warmly?”
Then Amir pulled out another dark green cloak and unceremoniously tossed it over Histori’s head, hiding Histori’s striking golden hair under the hood.
“So, once we’re deep in the forest, remember to keep your steps light.”