If Jean had to describe his trip so far, the most accurate word to do it would be peaceful; all he had done until now was take a train, walk around the capital for a while, and get back on another train.

But it's not that this disliked him; after all, even though he had become a bit manic from the fights and the training, he also thoroughly enjoyed the moments of peace and quiet, even more so when he would soon be walking towards a place that had been classified as a death trap.

The anti-wizard forest was, in his opinion, one of the rarest peculiarities that he could have seen; after all, in this world, magic was everything.

Those with the most power were the wizards, those who fulfilled the most dangerous requests were them, and those who really decided the course the kingdom would take were the wizards.

And while also there were guilds of mercenaries and treasure hunting that used magical artifacts to make up for their lack of power, the wizard guilds were still in the lead by an overwhelming difference.

That was the reason that this forest was strange, a place that was directly opposed to the unwritten rule known to everyone.

The rule that the wizards would always be on top.

From the information Jean had been able to gather, after a couple of attempts where there were no apparent survivors, no magic users ever approached the anti-wizard forest again, leaving only the treasure hunters to search for the relic that granted any wish, the army of the kingdom that was sent to get the relic for the king from two generations ago, and the mercenaries hired by wealthy people who dreamed of getting an item practically out of legends.

It surprisingly seemed that magic items were not affected by the environment and kept their special properties.

But in the end, it seemed like that little benefit didn't matter either, because once again, no group ever left the forest after entering.

But where others had failed, Jean thought he could succeed, after all, he had things that wizards, mercenaries, and treasure hunters don't, namely his Sacred Gear, Blade Blacksmith, his divine protection of water spirits, and a totally hellish training of over 12 years backing him up, and none of those things depended on the ethernano or magic.

That led Jean to think that perhaps he might be the only one in the entire kingdom who had a real shot at reaching the temple in the middle of the forest, defeating the guardian, and claiming the item that could grant any wish, though the mention of such thing seemed… terribly convenient in his opinion.

But what other option did he have? Even practicing day and night, even using his Sacred Gear in different ways, the bitter reality was that he seemed to suck when it came to using senjutsu.

In all the time between his decision to put Layla in a coma and today, he hadn't made any significant progress toward his goal or even anything noteworthy.

It seemed that all those fanfics where the protagonist mastered senjutsu in a year or two had lied to him; it was that, or he really sucks with that particular skill.

So even if it was dangerous, he decided that he would try, at worst, even if it was all a lie, and there was no temple, guardian, or relic; Jean would still have one thing left: the forest, such a place could serve as a training ground.

After all, even though he had trained himself to the point where he could easily ignore the ethernano when he was seeking natural energy, a part of his mind was still focused on ignoring that energy, so perhaps if he was in a place without ethernano Jean could also focus that little bit of attention on his mastery of senjutsu and improve it.

Was that unlikely to work? Definitely, but as long as it wasn't impossible, Jean would take the option without hesitation.

That was why he was currently walking through the streets of Rublan Town, the closest inhabited place to the anti-wizard forest; he planned to spend one or maybe two days in this place to rest and collect some information about the famous forest.

Finding himself in front of a tavern, he decided to go in; after all, if he wanted to find information, these kinds of places would be a good choice.

Upon entering, he first noticed that the place wasn't full of scowling musclemen as some clichés dictated, still, but there weren't any scantily clad waitresses either.

So he figured that while he wouldn't have a problem with anyone, he also wouldn't run into a cute waitress trying to flirt with him to make him spend more.

Which would not have bothered him at all, the savings he had after selling several lots of swords to his uncle, helping out at his mother's shop, and doing some odd jobs had left him with a sum of money that wouldn't end soon even if he splurged a little from time to time.

Walking to the bar, he sat down, and a slim man with a neatly groomed mustache gave him a look.

"What can I get you, boy?"

Jean suppressed the response of just water and ordered a beer; if he was honest, the alcohol wasn't his favorite drink, which was ironic because he seemed to have a higher-than-average resistance to drinking.

This was discovered when his uncle invited him to drink on his 16 birthday, and after many drinks, he hardly felt the difference, in contrast, his uncle and his mother had an average resistance; perhaps this was something inherited from the man who was his father?

Jean just shrugged and let that thought go, he didn't hate the man and was actually curious about who he was, but his mother never told his name or what he looked like, so he would probably never meet him, although Jean hoped the man was at least someone cool.

"It's 900 jewels". Said the mustachioed man setting the oversized cup in front of him.

Jean took a sip as he looked at the man. "I'm just passing through town, so I was wondering if I could ask you for some information". Jean asked, leaving 5.000 jewels on the counter.

The bartender glanced at the money and smiled knowingly, took a cup from behind the counter, and took a sip before sitting down across from Jean. "I might have a few minutes, and if you're looking to have a little fun, I know the best place on the east side of town that opens at 8 p.m; here's a card". He said in a knowing tone as he slid the small card across the bar.

"That wasn't what I was going to ask about". Jean replied with a blank expression.

"And yet you save the card in your pocket". Countered the barman with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"What I want is information from a certain place". Jean avoided the barman's observation by switching to the main topic he had come for, his expression and tone of voice turning slightly serious as he named the place. "The Anti-Wizard Forest"

Like Jean, the barman's gaze and body expression turned serious; the man exhaled before speaking. "Look, boy, if you want to get close to that place, then I don't recommend it; you'd have a better chance of surviving by throwing yourself off a cliff"

"Don't worry, I'm not that suicidal, you see, I'm just a simple wandering writer; I look for all kinds of curious or unusual places, people, and events to write about, and since I heard many things about that forest, I thought that maybe I could find inspiration for a new story"

Jean put on the best smile he could and spoke in a calm tone; before he arrived, he guessed that even if he offered money, there might be some people who wouldn't want to answer his questions or get involved with him if he said he was going to the anti-wizard forest, so his cover would be that of a wandering writer.

"Is that so?" The barman asked with a somewhat skeptical expression.

"Sure, only a madman would enter that place after hearing the rumors; the most I plan to do is reach the entrance and maybe take a couple of pictures; after all, If I'm going to die, I'd rather do it as an old man after spending my life with a lot of pretty girls". Jean said something he thought the bartender might relate to; after all, this was the man who had given him the business card of what looked like a venue in the town's red-light district.

"Hahaha, why didn't you say it before? I can understand that 100%; I also dream of one day being surrounded by cuties". The barman said happily before pouring himself a new cup. "But if you want to know about that place away from the hand of God, then it could take a while, a time where I wouldn't be able to serve my clients". The man hinted at him before taking a big sip.

"Okay, okay, you greedy old men, you don't even have a pretty girl serving the drinks". Jean mumbled before reaching into his shirt and leaving 12,000 jewels on the counter. "That's enough?"

"Mmm… I would have liked a little more, but you seem like a nice guy so that should do it, Marcus! Your break is over! Get your ass here and take care of the bar counter while I'm busy!" The man with the mustache shouted in the direction of the back room, and a second later, a boy a little older than Jean came out and took the place of the barman while the man left his seat and sat next to Jean.

#####

See you, Casian! Take care, Marcus!" I said goodbye to the bartender and his nephew as I walked away from the tavern.

"Take care, boy, don't forget to visit the place I told you about; just tell them that the good Casian sent you, and the girls will treat you with love"

"Goodbye, Jean; thanks for the stories; when you come back from the forest I'll make sure to show you the drawing"

"Count on it!" I said before turning around and continuing walking; I had been in that bar for almost 6 hours; at first, just Casian and I talked, but after 10 minutes, Marcus, his nephew, joined the conversation, and we ended up drinking and talking the three together.

And although I didn't learn much about the anti-wizard forest, I must admit that those two were good company; Marcus turned out to have a fascination for hero stories, and to improve my image as a writer, I ended up telling them an abridged version of the Achilles story, and they ended up liking it so much that Marcus offered to draw a picture of the hero on the battlefield.

And let me tell you that he definitely has a fantastic talent for drawing; seeing his book of drawings was a treat for the eyes; it almost seemed like I was looking at illustrations made by a professional artist with years of experience.

If he had been born in my original world, he could give a run for their money to guys like the artists of Berserk or One Punch Man.

The pleasant conversations we'd had aside, I found myself thinking about the new information I'd learned about the forest; what Casian had told me mainly were things I already knew.

That of all the people who'd entered, only one had managed to come back, that the amount of ethernano there was nil, that any mage who entered would gradually lose their reserves until they were empty, and the magic items seemed to be unaffected, all things I already knew.

But near the end, they mentioned two things that I didn't know, both quite alarming if I might add.

The first was that apparently, the number of victims that I had found in the newspapers, the 182 people, was just the "official" number since, in Cassian's words, every month, there were always 2 to 5 "idiots" in some cases, who entered the forest for whatever reason, be it looking for the treasure, to prove that they were brave or just out of curiosity, and like everyone who entered before, they were never seen again.

Somehow all of this reminded me a bit of the rumor about area 51 that my world had.

I was hoping I could go check out for myself what was happening before someone in this world came up with the idea of trying to get in with a massive group of people while everyone was running with their arms outstretched behind them.

And the second thing was even more worrying; it seemed that as the years went by, whatever was causing there to be no ethernano in that location was expanding its radius and affecting a wider area.

According to Casian and Marcus, in the last two years, the radius of the affected area grew by about 200 meters; this might not seem like much in the short term; after all, it only seemed to grow by 100 meters per year.

But, if for some reason, whatever was happening there had a very long or even indefinite duration, it could affect entire cities, and eventually, the kingdom, or even the continent.

It seemed very dramatic to think this, but perhaps what was in that forest could, eventually, bring about the end of magic in this world.

Crushing my cheeks and shaking my head from side to side, I pushed the conspiracy thoughts out of my mind; this was just the beginning of my journey and I was already thinking about situations that could cause the end of the world as people knew it?

I was letting my imagination run wild.

Right?

#####

After leaving the restaurant where I'd had my dinner, I stretched as I walked back to the hotel where I was staying.

Apparently, I'd arrived when the city was in the middle of some festival, so finding a decent place to stay was a bit difficult.

From tomorrow I would walk for about 8 or 9 days, and I would have to camp, so just for this night, I decided to spoil myself a little and get a slightly luxurious hotel room.

A big fluffy bed, a bathroom with a big tub, a spacious room, quite nice, and with some relaxing scented candles.

I didn't need any of that, and I wouldn't have a problem sleeping in a small room or camping in a sleeping bag, but as I said before, having little luxuries once in a while was not wrong, and 12,000 jewels for one night would hardly tickle my savings.

Now, by sheer coincidence, to get to the hotel where I was staying, I would need to pass through the eastern part of town, and right now, it was 8:56 p.m if the clock on the store I had just passed was correct, so maybe I could give a short, just a very short look at the place that Casian had recommended to me.

After all, what could go wrong?

#####

"Hey lover boy, don't you want to have a fun time with this big sis?"

"Come on, come on; we have a massage service that will take every last drop of the stress out of your body; if you know what I mean"

"Do you have any fun dreams that you would like to fulfill? Perhaps a student and teacher? Something with a big strong girl? An S&M experience? Come in and enjoy the pleasures of life"

Ok, this vision was definitely an adults-only category thing; the only thing that the girl who was standing at the door of one of the premises had on was lingerie and a red negligee.

Maybe I could? No, maybe I should? I mean, I'm going to risk my life soon, so going through an experience like this might motivate me.

No no no, think with the correct head Jean, the owner of the hotel said that I had to leave the room at the latest by 8 a.m, and if I wanted to be fully rested and take a long hot bath before I left, the best thing to do would be to go back to the hotel and take a short shower and then sleep.

But when I come back, when I come back from the forest, it wouldn't hurt to pay this place a little visit.

And taking one last look at the red light district, I turned around with a smile of anticipation. "It really isn't bad at all". I said as I started to sing a happy tune as I walked away. "I want a busty girlfriend, that when I hug her I won't wrap her~"

But when I turned a corner, someone bumped into me, and from the soft feel of the blow, I was sure that it was a girl.

"Sorry about that, are yo-wait a second! Lucy?!" My eyes widened in surprise at seeing a face familiar here of all places.

"Jean? JEAN! I finally found you! I was about to throw in the towel and sleep in a park!" She complained, and from what she said, it seemed that her arrival in Rublan Town was not a coincidence; she had been looking for me.

"It's not like I'm not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?" I asked, but when her mouth opened to answer, a huge growl came from her stomach.

"C-can you at least give me something to eat first? I'm starving". She asked embarrassedly, and I could also tell she was clearly tired.

Exhaling a little because of the situation, I took her backpack and motioned for her to follow me. "Come on, the place where I'm staying is about 10 minutes away, it won't be Aed's or mom's food, but it should be enough"

#####

"Wow, looks like you really were starving". Jean said as he looked at the three empty plates on the table; in all the time they had known each other, he had never seen Lucy eat so fast, normally at her house, the meals were of average size, while, at the boy's, Claire served large amounts of food no matter what she cooked, so on those occasions the blonde was barely able to eat a single plate.

"Well, I haven't eaten anything besides a couple of candy corn bars since your going away party". She answered in her seat, taking a cup of orange juice.

"Wait, that was over 30 hours ago; why haven't you eaten anything? Is it something like a diet?" Jean asked with surprise, a couple of times in the past, he had seen Lucy doing things like diets, but after he told her that something like that was silly and that the only thing she had to do was didn't have to overdo with specific types of food and to exercise regularly, she had stopped doing it.

"Of course not, after eating at your house, I wasn't hungry, and I was busy readin-". Lucy stopped and looked away, unable to admit that she had taken the book that Jean hid in his room.

"While you were reading what?" Jean raised an eyebrow curiously.

Lucy found herself trapped so she reached into her suitcase and after a few seconds of searching she pulled out the book that was in her friend's room.

Jean's eyes widened, and it took him a few seconds to articulate words. "Y-you, where did you get that?"

"Well, I was in your room and-"

"Wait, wait just a moment". Jean interrupted her. "Are you telling me that you snooped around in my room?"

"W-what? No, why would I do that? I offered to help Claire after you left, and she asked me to put some things in your room; then I remembered that you didn't want me to go near the right drawer of your desk, and I was curious"

"Oh, that changes everything". The boy said as he rolled his eyes. "You were keeping something in my room, and you took advantage of the situation to snoop around, you pervert"

"I don't-"

"Didn't you go through my stuff?" Jean interrupted, making an imaginary arrow stick into Lucy's back.

"Well, I-"

"Didn't you take something that was mine? And probably without telling my mom?" Once again, another arrow pierced Lucy, this time into her stomach.

"Em..."

"You didn't read it without permission, and that's why you decided to follow me?" And another arrow stuck, this time in the head of the blonde, making her fall to her knees.

"I-I'm sorry, I was very curious!" Lucy apologized as she wept childishly.

Jean just walked over with a smile and patted her on the head a couple of times; with that, Lucy thought he had forgiven her, but when she looked up, Jean spoke again.

"Don't worry, even if you are a perverted thief, I will still be your friend"

And the last arrow, this time much larger than the previous ones, red and with the words' perverted thief', stuck directly into Lucy's chest.

"Noooo, I'm not a perverted thief". The girl complained.

Jean laughed a few more seconds at Lucy's expense before calming down, putting on a slightly resigned smile and holding out his hand to Lucy. "So, all jokes aside, I guess you want some explanations too, right?" He asked her as she got up.

"Eh? Aren't you upset that I took this from your room?"

"Upset wouldn't be the right word; I think surprised would fit better; I didn't expect someone to find it"

"Why didn't you take it with you if you didn't want someone to see it?"

"Well, actually, that was the first of a couple of books I did, in that you have, I wrote down the few discoveries I made about senjutsu, and eventually, the anti-wizard forest stuff as well, then I moved the information with better explanations into a new book and I left the old in my room, what a carelessness, eh?"

"So you really plan to-" Lucy stopped before she finished speaking.

"Go to the anti-wizard forest? Yes, not like I completely believe that there is something there that grants you wishes, but who knows? And even if there's nothing, it might be a good place to train senjutsu, there's no Ethernano there, so I might feel natural energy a bit better, and maybe make a breakthrough"

Lucy's expression seemed a bit downcast, and Jean noticing it asked. "So, you still haven't told me what you hope to achieve by following me, are you going to try and stop me?"

Lucy looked up and noticed no trace of annoyance in Jean's voice but only genuine curiosity, she couldn't help but say. "You... don't seem upset when you say it"

"Why would I bother?" The boy's response genuinely surprised the blonde.

"Eh? Well, if someone tried to stop me from doing something I really decided I would do, it wouldn't be obvious to get upset?"

"Lucy, I know well that what I'm doing is stupid and dangerous, you don't have to try to explain it to me, and if you were the one to do something that stupid, I probably would have also gone try to put some sense in you". Jean replied, fully aware of his actions.

"I'm not going to stop you; I plan to accompany you". Lucy said confidently.

"What?" This time it was Jean's turn to look confused. "Can you repeat that? I think I misheard"

"I said I'll go with you, I know it's impossible to stop you, but you have to be crazy if you think I'll let you go alone". She said looking directly at him.

Jean didn't know what to say and was silent for several seconds. "You… are you aware of what it means to go to that place? It's too dangerous; you can't go"

"You are going to that same place"

"But unlike you, I don't use magic, and almost none of my abilities or techniques depend on how much ethernano there is in the environment, so I will be almost unaffected by the conditions that forest is in, but tell me what will you do when you run out of magic"

"I still have this!" Lucy replied, showing her bracelet. "I read all the notes in the book, magic items aren't affected, and when you gave me the bracelet, you said that I had been passively gathering ethernano for over a year and a half and would continue to do so; that be more than three years of ethernano recharges, at this point, I could summon all the spirits I have, and I would have no energy problem"

"You don't see the whole picture, Lucy; the bracelet doesn't accumulate ethernano in that way; it has a big charge, I admit that but it only stores up to a certain amount; after that, it uses the surplus to reinforce the metal and be able to increase a little more the capacity that it has, I can't do something like an infinite ethernano container"

"So how much does it have now?" She asked, looking at the accessory.

Jean approached without saying anything and put a hand on the bracelet and another on Lucy's shoulder; he closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them, sighing, and looking away with a bit of annoyance. "I'd say enough to completely replenish your magic for about 50 times at most"

"You see! It's practically impossible for me to run out of magic, I won't have any problems!" With each word, she seemed more agitated.

"You're taking too many things for granted, the bracelet I gave you isn't like other magic items; what if it gets affected and starts draining the ethernano it has? Or what if the forest has a fast enough absorption rate that it could be a problem even if the bracelet isn't affected? Even if we put all that aside, there might be dangerous things in that forest and-"

"YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS GROWN!" Lucy cut him off when she finally cried out, Jean froze at her words as she continued. "DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS WORKED HARD ALL THIS TIME?! I ALSO WANTED TO DO SOMETHING TO HELP MOM, DO YOU KNOW HOW I FELT? KNOWING THAT NO MATTER WHAT I SEARCHED FOR, NOTHING I DID WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE! I'VE ALSO TRAINED FOR YEARS TO FULFILL MY DREAM AND THE PROMISE TO MOM; I ALSO WANT TO SEE THE WORLD!". Her voice was breaking more and more as tears ran down her cheeks; she took slow steps as she approached Jean until, in the end, she supported her forehead on his chest.

"Please, let me be useful, let me help mom... please". She said almost in a whisper as her fist hit Jean's chest with the same force that a kid 4-year-old would have.

Jean didn't know what to say; his eyes widened in surprise when he heard her scream, he had never seen Lucy so angry, sad, and frustrated, but after a few seconds, the realization hit him; his left fist clenched hard enough to draw out a few crimson drops as he berated himself for being so blind.

How would he feel if this had happened to his mother and he had to leave everything in someone else's hands because all his efforts would be useless?

He would hate himself, his own uselessness, his lack of ability, and although Lucy didn't seem to have reached that point, it was evident that the whole situation quite hurt her.

"I… didn't know you felt that way; I'm sorry that I didn't realize it before". Jean's voice conveyed his regret when his left hand cupped the back of her blonde's head and hugged her.

They both stayed like that for a minute before separating, and when Lucy raised her head, she noticed something. "You're crying?"

"I never cry; I just sweat through my eyes". Jean responded instantly before wiping a single little drop from the corner of his right eye; after all, he was a tough guy, and tough guys didn't cry.

"So, will you let me go?" She asked, and although she was calmer after letting her frustrations out, it was also obvious from her tone that there was still some fear and insecurity at the prospect of a denial of her request.

Jean used his right hand to brush his hair back and sighed with a bit of discomfort. "Okay, I understand how important this is to you, I'm not completely convinced, but I will respect your wish". He finished saying in a defeated tone.

A huge smile appeared on Lucy's face, and she jumped for joy as she celebrated.

"That you did was not fair; you know well that I am not good with sentimental moments". Jean said as he continued to smile resignedly.

"I learned not to play fair from the biggest cheater I know". Lucy scoffed.

"Ha, yes, I guess I deserved a taste of my own medicine after using that card on you so many times"

"Yes, you definitely do"

"Then get ready; tomorrow we will leave here at 8 a.m at the latest; now let's go; we have to talk to the receptionist to get you a room". Jean said as he started to walk towards the door until he noticed that Lucy wasn't following him, and she giggled nervously.

"Well, several things happened while I was coming here"

Jean raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"I ended up spending all the money I brought in". She said as if that was just a little mistake as she stuck out her tongue and lightly bumped her head.

Jean's hand slammed into his face. "I'm not even sure I want to know what happened; I didn't teach you how important it is to save?"

"I had savings; it's just that I found something that I definitely had to buy"

"Okay, let's leave the whole story for tomorrow; I'll pay for your room; it's a little late, so let's go now; the sooner we finish, the longer we can sleep"

#####

"This is shameful"

"The more you say it, the more it will be; besides, this is my room; I'm not going to sleep on the sofa, and since you also refused to do it, there was no other option"

Lying in the same bed, separated by a soft wall of pillows, Jean and Lucy were lying looking up at the ceiling.

The attempt to get Lucy a room had been as successful as the time that a 12-year-old Jean, in his eagerness to make a bleach reference, tried to make a getsuga tensho.

Needless to say, both then and this time the results could only be described as disappointing.

"Why did a festival have to be held right now?"

"Come on, don't be a crybaby; it's only for one night, and it's not like I'm going to try to do anything to you; besides, when we were kids, you always wanted me to stay in your room to have sleepovers"

"That's because we were kids, and at that time, you weren't a pervert who joked around putting names to people's body parts"

"I always have been, don't you remember how I tried to ask that waitress at the Golden Jewel to go out with me when I was 12 because she had nice legs? Or that time I convinced Cancer to give me that haircut?" Jean said as he remembered his experience wearing "the hairstyle" when he was 13.

"Yeah, I remember her saying you were cute, but she liked older boys". She made fun of the rejection Jean received. "What I still don't understand is how you thought having a hairstyle with your hair covering your eyes would help you"

"Hey, it's the legendary hairstyle; don't you dare underestimate it; maybe it didn't work because I was still too adorable". Jean said the last part more to himself than to Lucy, although later he added. "And remember, if you ever meet someone who has it, turn around and run as far as you can"

"It's ironic that the first time you said that to me was while wearing that hairstyle in front of me"

"Well, you were 11, so obviously it wasn't going to affect you"

"And if you used it now it's supposed to affect me?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know it"

After that, everything was in a comfortable silence until the blonde spoke once more.

"Jean"

"Yeah?"

"Why do we always end up talking about nonsense like this?"

"I wish I know"

"…"

"…"

"Hey Jean"

"Um?"

"Thanks for trusting in me"

Jean smiled a little in the dark. "Anytime"

---

Another chapter packed and done.

I wasn't quite sure how to approach the issue of Lucy being upset that she couldn't do anything to help Layla.

I mean, in canon, she got over her death and moved on with her life, but here, she remained in a state of uncertainty for several years, and that added to the fact that having read the book, she knows that Jean blames himself to a certain extent for not advancing and he may be just as frustrated as her despite having tried so hard, that made her finally let out everything she had been holding back.

After that, just a few references, it seems that the legendary hairstyle didn't work for Jean; it's too bad for him that FT, even if it has ecchi, is not the kind of world where the hairstyle works… or is it?

Well, maybe he will try that hairstyle again in the future, but for now, it's time for the journey to the anti-wizard forest to continue!

Will there be problems before arriving? Definitely one, or two, or maybe 5, but hey, I'm sure Jean and Lucy will be able to handle it, but we'll leave that for later chapters.

By the way, what Lucy mentions about Jean joking about naming other people's body parts is a reference to the joke he made to her when they said goodbye in chapter 11.

That's all for now, ciao.