Interlude: The ghost who got lost in another world

As the great sun of Britannia gradually sank to give way to the moon that would watch over the world in the darkness of night, a beautiful woman was forced to run through a wild and terrifying forest with no little concern for what might affect her balance while she sobbed weakly with every breath she took.

The trees surrounding it were so large that the ground was tinged with a dark tone, as if a solid darkness enveloped the landscape.

However, the woman could still hear with her keen senses the clear signs that the mysterious alien creatures she encountered were continuing to pursue her and closing the distance between them, eager to make her their snack.

“¡Ugh!“

Numerous branches and leaves were tangled in the fine white hair that reached down her back, tinged with a touch of brown due to mud stains. Looking into her stern but moist, pale gold eyes, one couldn't help but see the fear of the normally noble-looking young lady anywhere else.

Her cheeks were still stained with the dried stains of her tears.

Why is this happening! Why is this happening to me! Ugh! I shouldn't be here!

Although the woman's breathing as she ran at an incredible speed was rough, the number of wounds on her hands and feet from the trees and bushes only increased as if she was trying to avoid getting entangled in the forest, but even so, she still ran forward while lamenting in fear and anger at her inexplicable situation.

Thanks to the unusual silence of the forest, the beings chasing her could be heard to some extent. However, those terrifying ghostly beasts couldn't be seen as she looked around in panic.

The girl was a member of an organization of magi from another world… no, to say that she was just a member wasn't entirely accurate, since she was its director by right, and as such she carried the ability to use noble sorcery.

However, the young woman could not use her spells without having time to react and, of course, it was impossible to use sorcery to even try to know where she could go to escape the threat that relentlessly pursued her in the darkness of this unknown forest.

Her senses, amplified by a booster spell, weren't weak by the average Aspirant's standards, but the platinum-haired woman lacked the experience in forest battles for that to make much of a difference, nor did she have any training in dealing with this kind of situation in a damned forest since her job wasn't to participate in field work in the first place, so she didn't know how to handle this situation calmly.

She also didn't have time to randomly collect stones and carve zodiac signs into them for defense, given her current situation. She could use Gandr for offense, but the enemy following her was more than just six morons; they were monsters capable of destroying a tree with their bare fists, and she was so scared, it was obvious to anyone with a shred of brain cells that it wouldn't work either way.

The poor otherworldly Magus, Olga Marie Asmleit Animusphere, was desperate to escape the clutches of those filthy beasts that threatened her, but her green-skinned pursuers were continuously closing her encircling net without mercy as she viciously tracked her.

He could still remember how he was about to give a serious speech to the members of Team A who were about to enter Singularity F in Fuyuki when suddenly, a sudden explosion sent his mind into darkness.

And the moment she woke up, she was in a mysterious forest somewhere lying on the filthy ground, encountering these filthy creatures shortly after they started chasing her relentlessly on this beautiful sunset…. She was so scared that it was a miracle she could even use reinforcements to run away in the first place.

I simply couldn't understand how the Director who would lead the Grand Order to save the light of humanity ended up in these unknown lands shortly after an attack by unknown forces.

First of all, this couldn't be Fuyuki....After all, Fuyuki was a concrete forest, not a literal one full of smelly green monsters in loincloths!

Damn it! Was there some kind of system error or was this caused by a space-time anomaly—?  Olga Marie's pointless questioning was quickly cut short.

Shiiiiiii~

A whistling sound was heard, and suddenly a ball of stinging, supernatural blue light launched itself at the defenseless back of the Chaldea headmistress with force at the same time as a crudely made arrow made of feathers.

Olga Marie, losing her balance from both attacks, fell painfully onto the dirty, rock-strewn ground with force.

The feeling that something strange and unnatural had lodged itself in his body was quickly overshadowed by the realistic sensation of warm blood oozing out of his body. He couldn't help but visualize the arrow piercing his flesh, with an expression of disbelief and horror.

A sharp pain rose the moment he thought about it.

“¡¡¡AAAAAAAH!!”

Olga Marie's back was filled with excruciating pain, large tears falling to the ground as she writhed around. The bushes swayed, revealing several stocky, humanoid figures dressed in a manner resembling Native American hunting.

They were monsters known in this world as Orcs… More specifically, they were 'Orc Hunters', a subspecies of phantasmal beasts that were quite agile and specialized in hunting prey in the forests, whose levels ranged between 12 and 15, according to the monster encyclopedia.

While that sounded good on paper, in reality they could never compare to true, well-trained hunters of humanity, and were only slightly more dangerous than the average Orc.

….Of course, for many of the Sorcerers who were not Aspirants, like Olga Marie, phantasmal beasts like Orcs could be a very serious and terrifying threat if they were not prepared, as the average Orcs were stronger than 20 humans…not to mention hunters.

Even as a talented Sorceress, Olga Mari Asmleit Animusphere really couldn't outrun a single Orc Hunter's running speed….no matter if she was using reinforcement like she was not long ago.

In other words, the Orcs were toying with her to satisfy their deepest sadism; taking pleasure in her fear and despair after years of being exterminated like pests by Draco Silva's humans.

The hideous green creatures with crude arches smiled eerily, showing their jagged yellow teeth as they chanted some sort of mantra in their primitive language.

They watched their prey screaming pathetically on the ground in pain with glee, lust glowing faintly in their dirty, disturbing yellow eyes at the thought of raping the beautiful human and forcing her to bear hundreds of their children until her inevitable death.

“N-no…go away…pests!” The Amusphere moaned in despair, and the Orcs just mocked the pathetic human who, as far as they understood, was uselessly begging for her life… they would probably be very angry if they understood that she insulted them too.

With huge bulges evident from their loincloths, the four Orcs came running with joyful and evil screams towards the horrified and traumatized Olga Marie when suddenly…

“Hia!“

…A silver iron mass flew towards one of their heads at a speed that was impossible to avoid.

The Orc leader didn't even have the chance to know what was happening before his body flew into a tree, his head completely smashed mercilessly leaving a bloody mess on the poor tree trunk.

"Know!?"

The others reacted with surprise to this sudden murder while Olga Marie looked at the scene in astonishment, but it was too late for them.

At least three arrows charged with the power of spirits suddenly flew out of the bushes, and hit each of the Orcs precisely in the waist, sending them flying and leaving them half dead instantly.

"What…."

Olga exclaimed in a daze as several figures appeared from the grass that any native of this world would identify as low-level young adventurers, staring at her in surprise at her appearance.

The only two men in the group of 5 were equipped with leather armor and thick green robes to more easily conceal their figures within the forest as if it were a matter of obviousness, one equipping a spear and the other a bow and short sword.

Meanwhile, the three women of great beauty were a blonde priestess, a purple-haired Saber in light armor, and a dark-skinned Caster with a staff who walked in comfortable clothing, marking a clear contrast with their male companions.

They were all [Novice Adventurers] with a standard class setup: Saber, Lancer, Caster, Priest, and Archer. The most standard among Britannian Adventurers.

—Oh, thank God, I…

The adventurers kept their expressions of shock on their faces as they watched poor Olga Marie, with expressions of both relief and agony, finally fall unconscious as her mind was overwhelmed by something inside her, something unknown, that was trying to take over her body….

Despite the scene of the fainted and wounded Olga, the adventurers first approached the Orc Hunters without any carelessness, indicating a certain level of experience in possible ambushes by enemy Orcs or globins, before finally killing them.

After that, they turned their full attention to the disheveled, badly injured but clearly noble-looking girl, with strangeness in their eyes.

—She's... a lost noble or something? One of the Barons' daughters visiting and out to have fun...? No... that doesn't make sense...

—Of course it doesn't make sense, you idiot. What would a spoiled young noblewoman be doing here in the forest instead of visiting the capital's palaces, trying to seduce the Archduke? Do you think she'd be out here hunting horned rabbits on her own while riding elegantly in the cold night? Bah... She's probably a rich woman who was simply unlucky enough to get lost in this place after her carriage was attacked by monsters...

—But I don't think he's from the empire...the clothes he wears seem too different from those worn by the nobility of our country.

—Hmmm… it also seems that she has more wounds on her body than those depraved Orcs caused, she even has a bruise on her arm. Did she run all the way here alone? She seems to have some abilities, although judging by her presence, she is not an Aspirant like us.

The sexy, dark-skinned Sorceress snorted in disinterest, "What does it matter? Let's go and continue hunting to complete our mission!"

—Shall we go!? Are you kidding me!? We saved her from becoming an Orc incubator and you leave her alone to die?! Now then, you two idiots, if you don't want me to beat you up for being useless, help this girl and let's take her to the church to be treated! — The priestess exclaimed angrily, looking at the others with a firm expression while ordering the two men.

One of them, the brown-haired boy, nodded in agreement with the priestess as he approached the unconscious Olga. “We can’t do something as cruel as abandoning her here to her fate. Besides, since she’s a noble or a rich girl, maybe she’ll give us a good reward for saving her.”

-But….

—We'll take her to the city...now!!

The priestess, who had already collected her mass from the Orc's corpse, sternly ordered the other adventurers while releasing a strong oppression emanating from those beautiful eyes that seemed to burn with anger.

….The image was quite shocking considering her attractive and cute appearance.

The second boy approached Olga Marie from behind with a healing vial containing a pink liquid and a bandage, his expression reluctant as he looked at the bottle. “Aurora, are you sure about this? If she’s an arrogant noble, there’s no guarantee that…”

—Come on, move your ass or I'll get really mad.

—Yes, ma’am!

With the order of his leader (?) being final, the guy made a salute worthy of a true soldier and helped his friend pick up Olga and despite the reluctance of the other two, they left with the director of Chaldea towards the capital city of Baldur.

The girl named Aurora walked along with the others while praying a little….

None of them realized they had been watched by an elegantly dressed, green-haired young woman in the distance, riding a creature with antlers and the lower body of a deer that had a human torso.

Both seemed translucent, difficult to notice if you didn't pay attention to them.

—Maybe those adventurers are heading towards the capital of the Archduchy if I'm lucky, right?....Follow them, Amuett!

The mythical creature conjured up by an Arietta carried away by her desire for fun only nodded her head with a serious expression before discreetly following the adventurers, jumping with magical and beautiful lights on her legs in the air.

——Almost all the protagonists of Britannia Lost Order, including Arthur Pendragon, were gathering in one place.

Only this time, it wasn't at a Sword and Wizardry Academy....