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There's no reason to stay in this town any longer.

After parting ways with the Grand Duke, Coai immediately checked out of her inn.
Other than the papers and small items in her pocket, she had nothing of great value.
She gave her luggage in the bedroom a cursory check... asked the innkeeper to prepare the horse she had left in his care, and paid the lodging fee at the same time.

It was a town where she hadn't been attacked with magic like before, nor had she made any good discoveries... just a town where she had grown tired of waiting and met the Grand Duke.
Coai turned her back on it, passed through the castle gate, and left.
At the edge of the gate stood the man who had spoken to her when she first arrived in town... but today, he showed no sign of calling out to her.
Of course, Coai had no intention of initiating a conversation either.
Only the sound of the wind and her horse's hooves saw Coai off from the uneventful town.

As Coai spurred her horse back toward the Elgeen Bridge to cross the border, various thoughts raced through her mind.

The southern forest... it seems I'll need to cross a swamp.
I've never heard of a swamp in a forest deep enough to swallow a person, but... if the ground is that soft, can I even take a horse?
I should be fine on my own, but the horse might get its legs stuck and drown.
But if I leave the horse at a nearby castle town and walk, how many days will it take to reach the forest? The Grand Duke mentioned a village at the southernmost tip of the Tabris territory, the one closest to the forest... I think, but I've forgotten its name.

Ah, maybe I should have summoned Snow once before leaving Salakleet.
...No, that's not right. That town had no suitable taverns to entertain her, nor any places I could take her.
Even if there was no risk of that magic... I would feel terrible if I couldn't entertain her and she ended up bored.
It's not just about the absence of danger.

The southern forest... the tree I'm looking for is apparently growing beyond the swamp. But...
Does that mean there's a swamp in the forest deep enough to swallow a person... and someone in the past managed to cross it and bring back that tree?
Or was it possible to bypass the swamp back then? Or perhaps... is it possible that the tree used to grow north of the swamp, on this side?
No, there's no point in thinking about that... The fact that the humans failed probably means the swamp must be crossed.