Chapter 182. First Day In The Golden Sap Forest.

Marta and the rest left the Town Hall with thoughtful gazes. Lorea smiled and said. "From now on, my subordinates will help you move around the town. I'll need to go and receive new guests soon! I hope you find the amenities welcoming enough. Oh! And if you ever want to find me, all of the Rose Fairies related to guidance live in the <Lignified House> closest to the walls." Lorea pointed at a place. "That way." 

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Lorea."

"We will certainly think about what your Queen asked us for." 

"I hope you don't deny us when we go to you for help!"

Lorea laughed and answered them, shaking their finger with her hands. After all, Lorea was twenty-five centimeters tall. 

After she flew away, Marta smiled. "Rose Fairies are quite adorable. I should tell Sect Master to help me save a few if we can and carry them here." 

A man in luxurious clothes asked. "Won't that increase the strength of the Rose Fairies quickly?"

Marta nodded. "Yes, but Flor is Level 19. That Ant Queen is also Level 19. They are not strong enough to fight real powers that have Second Energy Cycle members. Moreover, any intelligent race is infinitely more numerous if we speak about numbers." 

Marta waved her hand. "Anyway, each of you go your way." Then, Marta walked away. As she walked, she could see a few humans and beastkin roaming the place, so she approached one of them.

Marta was a brunette woman wearing a beautiful light brown dress, which complemented her hair and light green eyes. Her slender body and white skin made her look elegant. "Let's see, where should I go look?" 

Marta looked at the large leaf she had, which had a simple map, and hummed. "How about… The Temple Of Summoning? I want to see what kind of place can give everyone such a powerful buff."

She walked over, and soon, she was in front of a tall and powerful-looking tree. While it wasn't as big as the large Life Tree in the middle of the town, it had its own aura of grandeur that made it look unique. "Hm. This is a nice… Huh?" 

Marta looked over as an enormous serpent with giant wings slithered out of the temple and looked at her. 'W-What's that? A giant snake? Why does the snake give me such a dangerous feeling?'

The enormous serpent stretched its wings, and then it took flight, soaring into the sky with a ridiculous speed. Marta looked at it for a few seconds, and then she rubbed her forehead. "This place is a bit more than it shows, and what it shows is already incredible. The potential of this place… I really need to speak with Sect Master." Then, she frowned. "I hope those 19 other people don't make problems for anyone. While they are my connections, and I called them over because Wert promised me a nice show, I wasn't expecting something like this." 

Marta sighed. "Let's visit the…" Marta lifted her eyebrows and read out loud. "Life Tree's Endless Library? That's quite a grand name."

It wasn't far away from the Temple, so she took very little time to arrive there. 

"Wow… Exquisite architecture. This place is gorgeous." 

Her eyes roamed around the place, and she decided to walk inside. There was a path with gorgeous flowers by its sides leading to a large plaza. The plaza had a circle of flowers at the center, all being of a similar shape. 'I wonder why they chose this flower to plant. While pretty, there are prettier ones, no?'

She looked at the several buildings and pondered. "Where to go first?" Her mind quickly came to a conclusion, and she chose the right path of the three.

Once inside the building, she was welcomed by a relatively large library with empty shelves. "Wow… There must be enough room for at least 10,000 books here. Hm?"

Marta felt a refreshing wave of energy entering her body and making her brain feel refreshed. 'What's happening?'

[You are under the effects of <Focus Rune Field>.]

Marta blinked and asked. 'Hm? What does it do?'

<Focus Rune Field>: Creatures affected by the soothing aura of this Runic Field will find themselves being more productive and having a much easier time focusing.

Reading it, one would not find it extraordinary. However, Marta was someone who had been working for a long time, so she understood how much of an effect this could have on people. "It all depends on how strong the field is. Let's try to work for two hours straight without losing focus. That should be a good test."

Marta reached into her large purse and took out a few documents that she needed to finish. She walked toward one of the wooden tables and sat on the chair. The chair had a layer of very soft grass as a cushion. "Oh~, this is nice~."

Marta felt a bit ticklish because of the grass for a second, but once her entire body weight fell on the chair, her whole body relaxed. "Woah… This chair is nice. I should ask how they keep a clean grass mound like this on a chair."

She placed her working material on the table, took out a writing tool, and then she began working. 'Hm~, I don't feel much different.'

She continued working, and working, and working. After a while, she stretched and smiled. "This was nice. How much time has it passed… Huh?"

Marta looked outside the window with a speechless expression. "It's sunset?" She took out the clock from her purse. "Ha? Three hours? That felt like 20 minutes…"

"It's awesome, isn't it?"

Marta looked around and saw a mothkin sitting in front of her, her antennae playfully flopping from side to side with her head movements. "Hi~, I am a resident of this town! Who might you be? It's the first time I've seen you."

Marta quickly regained her bearing and smiled. "I am Marta, Miss. I didn't expect to see a mothkin in this place. Are you a permanent resident?"

"I am~." Then, the mothkin spoke. "Oh, I am Mariane, by the way. Both our names start with an "M"!" 

Marta laughed softly at Mariane's childish tone. "They really do." She guessed that she was a low-level person, so she lowered her guard. "Do you come here often?"

Mariane giggled. "I basically live here~. I even asked Flor to let me become the main librarian!" Mariane flopped on the table cutely, her wings spreading as if she were melting. "She is still thinking about it, tsk tsk." 

Marta placed a hand on her mouth to hide her smile. 'So cute. She must be a young woman.'

"I see. Well, I am sure Queen Flor has her own thinking." Marta looked around and asked, "This place… It doesn't have books, right? Why is that?"

Mariane hummed. "Well, the books here are a bit special, so they take time to create. The first book is already done, though. It's about Runes! My specialty~."

Marta was puzzled. "Special? How are they special?"

Mariane rubbed her chin with one of her four arms and commented. "Well, the books here are all… right."

Marta blinked. "Right?"

Mariane giggled. "Yes~. They are all correct!" 

Marta was confused about the meaning of those words. "I see." Then, she smiled. "I hope there are many more books around here soon." 

Mariane nodded, "I hope so as well." Mariane asked. "Who are you, pretty big sister?"

Marta smiled. "I am one of the top administrators in the <Azurebell Heather Sect>." 

"Oho~." Mariane leaned her chin between two of her hands and asked. "Do you know Sir Eldric? I heard that he is going to your sect!"

Marta sighed. "Well, he was, but something happened to him. Lately, he has gone missing. We don't know where he is." Marta rubbed her forehead. "I hope he comes back soon so that his father doesn't bother us." 

Mariane's antennae flopped around cutely. "He probably won't be back."

"Hm?" Marta asked. "Why? Do you know where he is?"

Mariane shrugged. "Who knows~?" Then, she stood up and disappeared from there, startling Marta. 

"Mariane?"

Marta called her while looking around, but she was met with silence. Her face changed a few times as she doubted that she had even seen the mothkin. Thankfully for her sanity, the place Mariane sat had some moth scales left. 'I thought I had been hallucinating. I wonder who this Mariane is?'

Marta shook her head, and she walked outside after tidying up the finished documents. "It's really efficient… I finished the work in three hours when I usually need an entire day to complete." 

After walking outside, she went toward the residential area, and she was surprised to find many more people walking around than she expected. 'Why are there so many people?' 

Once she focused, though, she realized why. "Summoners. I see." Marta laughed. "Well, this is quite literally a small paradise for summoners. Being able to have one summon out all the time is incredibly useful." 

As she walked, her gaze landed on the side of the road where a woman and man had cornered a man. Her eyebrows frowned because the cornered man looked afraid. 'There are people already causing trouble? Tsk.'

She was becoming fond of this place, so she intended to intervene. However, before she could step forward, several ants rushed over and quickly grabbed those two people. 

Everyone looked over as the man and woman began screaming. 

"H-HEY! CONTROL THESE MONSTERS! AH!"

"HELP! I AM GOING TO BE EATEN!"

Marta saw the mandibles of one of the ants piercing the skin and bone of their shoulders while they dragged them out. The more than 20 ants that rushed over surrounded both people as they dragged them out in complete silence, like machines driven by someone's orders.

One person couldn't really bear seeing that and stepped in front of the ants. "Wait!"

However, the ants didn't even bother stopping as they circled around him. The man that stepped forward was stunned and looked backward, while a Rose Fairy appeared in the air, her aura profound. "I am Amapola, the Rose Fairy Guard Captain! The two humans that are being dragged out committed a crime! The crime was abusing another human and trying to steal their property. In <Golden Sap Town>, we take the security of our inhabitants very seriously. Please adhere to the rules you've received when entering the town! They are not complicated, and as long as you behave properly, you won't even need to read the rules." 

Amapola smiled. "That said, I recommend reading them." 

Then, she flew and hovered over the 20 ants, carrying those two away. Marta approached a Rose Fairy and asked aloud. "What will happen to those two?"

The Rose Fairy looked at Marta while the people around also looked over with curiosity. "The crime is not that high, so other than the injuries you've seen, they will be dragged out of the Golden Sap Forest and be left there. Of course, if they resist and Amapola or the ants consider them a threat, they will kill them on the spot." The Rose Fairy giggled. "We don't want bad friends in our city, after all! We want everyone to be comfortable!" 

Marta hummed and looked thoughtfully toward the group of ants. Just in case, she took out the leaf with the written rules and reread them. 'The ants are surprisingly good guards and escorts. They are also intimidating and command respect. This place will become a place with very little crime as long as the people controlling the ants don't become corrupt or drunk with power.'