What Do You Mean There Are Other Transmigrators In My Harem Fantasy?

We got through to the other side of the portal uneventfully and we popped out on what appeared to be in the area in front of Tserof Fort.

The Grey Walker woman then concluded our business and left us for the Grey Walker guild branch here.

We passed through the fort and they only did minimal inspection on us before we were let through to the other side of the fort.

From here, I could see the forest was a short distance away and there was a road leading to it as well with a small number of people walking to and from the forest. The road seemed to extend into the forest itself so we spent a moment to check that everything was in order before we headed down the road towards the forest.

Most of the people who were walking in the direction of the forest seemed to be Mahuns while the majority of the people coming out of the forest were either Trasifs, Nekomata or Inugamis, which I guess made sense considering the demographics of both kingdoms.

As we entered the forest proper, I realised that just a short distance inside was another building that was clearly not Mahun in design since the style of the architecture looked more eastern than the mediaeval european that I had come to grow accustomed to within the Kingdom.

That means we must be at the border of the Nekinumi Kingdom.

Seeing that everyone moving in the direction of the forest was moving towards the building before they proceeded further, I’m assuming this is the border immigration or something for this side of the border.

We joined the crowd and headed inside the building and sure enough, there were a couple of official looking people here manning the counters and they were checking everyone who was trying to pass through the border.

My party waited behind one of the counters until it was our turn and a female Nekomata staff member was seated behind the counter.

“Are you a citizen of the Lehcarouc Kingdom?” She asked with a voice that suggested she has said that line at least a million times.

“Yes.”

“All of your party members?”

“Err… No. We have different backgrounds.”

“Purpose of visit?”

“Guild mission to subjugate a band of illegal slavers.”

That was not a lie by the way. Unerolia made it an official Guild Request directed to me so we are officially here to deal with those guys.

She stretched out her hand with her palm facing up but I wasn’t sure what she wanted so I just stared at her outstretched palm.

Like what did she want? Because if we need a visa to come in here, I most definitely did not get one…

Katsuki shifted closer to me, “Mistress… Your Guild identification and the Request.”

Oh, right!

I took out both and handed it over to the staff member.

She took them and inspected the Request for a moment before handing it back to me.

“Are you on foot? Any mounts or wagons? Luggage?”

“Err… Just our weapons and supplies on our back I guess?”

She then placed a slip of paper on the counter before she pointed off to the side, “Take this and have your things checked over there.”

Huh… They actually have a rather comprehensive immigration process I see…

I wonder how they would handle people flying or teleporting into their territory?

Then again… They do check your identity and stuff at every city before you enter it within the Lehcarouc Kingdom so I assume it’s the same here as well.

I went over to the area that the woman had pointed out to me with my party and it was just basically a station where several other staff members were just inspecting your inventory to check what you were bringing in past the border.

They simply checked our weapons and gear before we were waved through and… That was basically it.

Yep, we’re now officially in the Nekinumi Kingdom, yayyyy~

We stepped back out onto the road and I realised there was another smaller building that seemed to be an eatery of sorts with several Nekomata and Inugami people hanging out in front of it.

Most of them were calling out to the people entering the forest so when we got closer, one of them also approached us.

“Hey there! Welcome to Nekinumi Kingdom! Where are you headed to? Do you need a guide?”

I didn’t get to answer before Katsuki stepped out to make herself known to that guy, “There is no need.”

The guy stared at Katsuki for a moment before nodding and returning back to where he had approached us from, not even saying anything else.

“What are they guiding for?” I whispered to Katsuki as we went past them.

Katsuki gestured at the road, “Aside from the three main cities, there are no roads within the Nekinumi Kingdom, Mistress. If you look up ahead, this road would be ending soon and we would need to start traversing the forest itself to reach our destination.”

I blinked at her, “Does that mean… We’ll have to trek through the forest if we want to reach the capital city?”

“That is correct, Mistress.”

“Isn’t that… A little problematic? Without roads, that means that horses and carriages can’t exactly head there from here, right?”

“That is correct, Mistress,” She repeated.

“Again, isn’t that bad? How does trade happen then?”

“Traders would have to proceed on foot or use mounts that are able to traverse uneven terrain, Mistress. For outsiders who are unfamiliar with the forest, they would usually hire guides like the one that approached us to lead them to their destination.”

I see… Without a guide, you’ll need to rely on your own trekking skills or you might end up getting lost inside the forest instead.

“How often do travellers get lost and die inside the forest?” I asked out of curiosity.

“I believe the number was at several hundred a year though it’s just a rough estimate and not an accurate number.”

“And even despite that, they don’t intend to build roads?”

Katsuki shook her head, “The reason for that is two fold, Mistress. First, the people of this Kingdom do not wish to cut down trees as much as they can. If they were to build roads, they would need to cut down not only the trees in the way but also the trees around the path as they might grow to affect the path. Just to build a stretch of road would require a lot of deforestation.”

“So… What’s the second reason?”

“The Lehcarouc Kingdom has invaded the Nekinumi Kingdom before, Mistress. The forest was one of the few reasons that managed to stop the Mahuns’ advance on taking over this entire area. Thus, it was decided that no roads would be built leading from the borders to the cities just in case the Lehcarouc Kingdom might try to invade again.”

Ok… I guess that makes sense. Although I cannot see Sister Justi being the aggressor and starting an invasion of the Nekinumi Kingdom unprovoked…

Then again, she’s not going to be around forever anyway so it certainly made sense as a precaution for future rulers that might take her place.

Putting that aside…

“So do you know the way, Katsuki?” I asked.

She nodded, “I do, Mistress. First, we shall make our way to Shippo Village before we head westwards to where their hideout is supposed to be. Shall I lead the way?”

Alright, sounds like a plan. In that case, I’ll leave it to you, Katsuki!

The rest of us followed behind my maid and she really wasn’t kidding when she told us the path would end just a short distance after those buildings because now… All I could see were trees, trees and more trees.

I thought that since there might have been a lot of people walking through the forest, you might at least see a trail of some sort but nope. If you got dropped here, I’d think you would be utterly and completely lost.

For there to still be people who choose not to hire a guide, they must either already know the route, are extremely confident or are extreme misers with their money.

That reminds me…

“Ummm… When was the last time you’ve been here, Katsuki? Would the forest have changed?”

“Do not worry, Mistress. I know the way. It was part of my training to memorise the forest back then.”

Ok… I’m not even sure if that training was referring to the maid training or her former family’s training…

But to memorise an entire forest? How are you even supposed to do that? Do you memorise every tree or something?

As though reading my mind, Katsuki then placed a finger on her lips before subtly gesturing towards the tree she was standing beside.

I wondered what she was trying to show me until I saw it.

It was really, really subtle and hidden well so if you didn’t know what to look for, you would have missed it.

But on the tree trunk were very small scratches that formed into arrows pointing in certain directions which I assumed pointed to the various settlements within the forest.

I see.

So basically the guides are scams. Got it.

Good thing Katsuki is here then~