There was no grand opening ceremony. The competition began without fanfare. Two aircraft carrying the respective groups of the 399th Princess and Euphemia departed from the palace courtyard and flew swiftly at high altitude. About half an hour later, the two aircraft arrived above a vast and densely wooded forest, then landed at separate locations within it. Once all the participants had been dropped off, the aircraft promptly flew away.
"So this is the legendary forest everyone speaks of — this is my first time coming here." Euphemia's eyes widened as she took in the lush, verdant woodland. Perhaps the aircraft's landing had startled away the nearby creatures, for the forest was very quiet, with no wild beasts visible in the vicinity.
The Suzaku Guard Captain scanned the surroundings and said: "This forest is called the Primordial Forest. It is said to have existed even before the Sanctuary was founded — its history runs very deep. The forest is located at the heart of the Sanctuary, within the Emperor's direct domain. Under normal circumstances, no one is permitted to enter without the Emperor's authorization."
Euphemia said: "Yes — not even princes and princesses may enter the Emperor's direct domain without permission. I've heard that many powerful and strange creatures live here, and it would be extremely dangerous for an ordinary person to wander in. Even with our numbers, we must still be careful. So what should we do next?"
The Suzaku Guard Captain said: "To survive in this forest, we must first find a suitable location nearby to establish a base camp for our protection. However, since we haven't brought any tools or weapons, we'll need to craft them first. Among our team, there are several masters skilled in fashioning weapons and tools from wood and stone. We should craft our weapons and tools first, then build our base, and try to have the camp ready before nightfall."
Euphemia said: "Very well — I'll leave that to you, Suzaku Guard Captain."
The Suzaku Guard Captain then assigned tasks to everyone, directing them to use the trees and rocks in the forest to craft weapons and tools. With the exception of Rulu, Kallen, and C.C., everyone else set to work in earnest.
Once the Suzaku Guard Captain had distributed the tasks, he returned to Euphemia's side. He looked over at Rulu, who had nothing to do, and said: "Alright, things have now progressed exactly as you intended. You said before that you would use this competition to find evidence proving that Princess Meiyu was the mastermind behind the Hydra incident — I hope you meant that."
"Of course." Rulu said with full confidence. "Princess Meiyu is highly suspect. Over the next few days, I will find a way to gather the intelligence and evidence needed to prove she was behind that incident."
The Suzaku Guard Captain said: "But Princess Meiyu likely has many skilled fighters under her command. Extracting intelligence from her side will not be easy. On top of that, we also need to protect Lord Euphemia and fend off attacks from the Strange beasts in this forest — we simply don't have the spare capacity for anything else."
Rulu said: "Leave the intelligence-gathering to the few of us. All you need to do is keep Lord Euphemia safe and find a way to win the competition."
The Suzaku Guard Captain had witnessed Rulu and Kallen's abilities before, so he raised no objections to Rulu's words. He said: "Very well. However, we've only just arrived, and we're still not very familiar with this environment. The base camp isn't finished yet, so for now please focus on protecting Euphemia's safety and finding some food in the area."
"Understood." Rulu agreed to the Suzaku Guard Captain's request. Before long, Euphemia's team members had fashioned a number of weapons and tools from stones and wood, then used those tools to fell trees, weave ropes, and construct shelters and a fence. The competition had begun that morning, and after a full day of hard work, the group had built a small shelter and several rest huts in a wide clearing in the forest, surrounding the area with a tall fence to defend against attacks from the forest's Strange beasts.
Darkness gradually fell. Euphemia's team members had been busy all day and were exhausted. After eating, they lay down to rest in the makeshift huts. At this point, Rulu suggested to Euphemia that he go out to gather intelligence in the nearby area. Euphemia said in surprise: "It's already dark, and everyone is tired. Wouldn't it be a little inappropriate to move now?"
Rulu said: "It's fine. I've been resting all day, so I'm in good shape. And Princess Meiyu's people have probably been busy all day too — they should be quite worn out and their guard will certainly be down. This is a good time for me to gather intelligence."
Euphemia was a little undecided and turned to the Suzaku Guard Captain for his opinion. The Suzaku Guard Captain thought for a moment, then said: "I won't object to Mr. Qin's suggestion. However, it's already dark, everyone is tired, and this forest is full of dangers. If something goes wrong while you're out there, we'll have no way to support you."
Rulu said: "Don't worry. I've managed to deal with monsters like those from Hydra — what is this forest to us? We don't need any backup."
Seeing Rulu's confidence, the Suzaku Guard Captain said nothing more. He handed Rulu a black spear, explaining that it had been made from black ironwood — as hard and sharp as metal — and was the best weapon they currently had. Rulu took the spear, exchanged a few words with Euphemia, then left the base camp with Kallen and C.C. and headed eastward.
After a while, Kallen felt they had walked far enough that their voices would not be heard by anyone else. She turned to Rulu with a sly look and said: "Hey, Rulu — what's your plan?"
"Plan?" Rulu gave Kallen a slightly puzzled look and said: "There's no plan."
Kallen said in surprise: "How can there be none? This is the Emperor's direct domain. Now that we've managed to get in here, the next step should be heading to that place — to find the thing you're looking for."
Rulu said calmly: "There's no rush on that. The forest is already very close to that place — we can go whenever we want. But I have other things to take care of first."
Kallen was even more puzzled: "Rulu, don't tell me you're actually serious about gathering intelligence for Euphemia?"
Rulu said: "That's right. According to the competition rules, the two sides landed in the west and east of the forest respectively. We landed on the western side, so if we keep heading east, we'll be able to locate Princess Meiyu's group."
Kallen said in a complaining tone: "I really can't understand why you want to help that Euphemia. What does any of this have to do with us? Didn't we come to the Sanctuary to find the thing you mentioned?"
"Kallen, don't ask so many questions. Don't forget you're my subordinate — just do as I say."
Kallen let out a sigh and said helplessly: "Fine, whatever you say. But I've heard Princess Meiyu's faction is quite powerful — can just the few of us really get any useful information? And this forest is supposed to be full of monsters. What do we do if we run into one on the way?"
Rulu said: "Don't worry. Our Psionic power levels are nothing to scoff at — we can take care of ourselves. If things go south, we just run."
Suddenly, C.C.'s voice came from beside them: "The two of you might be able to take care of yourselves, but don't forget that I have absolutely no ability to protect myself. What am I supposed to do if we run into danger? Are you going to leave me behind and run off on your own?"