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Little by little, the forest road began to grow rough and bumpy.
Little by little, the trees growing on either side of the road became thinner and taller.

This meant they were approaching the northern edge of the Great Forest... that the border between the former Almaric and Emile territories was near.

Emile was, for the most part, a cool and dry region.
However, during the summer and the seasons surrounding it, sudden downpours and storms would occasionally arrive. And in winter, snow would fall silently and pile up.
The heavy rains in summer and the snowfall in winter brought the water that nourished the entire Emile region...

Koai awoke to the vibrations transmitted from the wheels of the cart.

He noticed the horse, while trotting lightly, seemed to be bothered by something. Koai peered down from the cart to look at the horse's legs.
As far as Koai could see, there were no visible injuries on the horse's legs, nor did he notice any particular awkwardness or unnaturalness in its gait.

Just as he decided there seemed to be nothing wrong and stopped watching the horse... the cart gave a loud jolt.
He didn't sense anyone else around. After looking left and right, Koai glanced back and saw a stone interrupting one of the ruts left in the ground. It seemed one of the cart's wheels had run over the fist-sized rock.

It's noisy... but if it's just me, it's not a problem. Good.

Koai let out a small sigh.

Though Koai didn't know it, the road at the border between the former Almaric, Emile, and Tabris territories was a little rougher than before.

This was because, in the past, the guards of the neighboring territories, lords, or those commissioned by magistrates... such as freelance adventurers, would regularly maintain the roads near the border to keep an eye on the elves and to make it easier for troops to advance in case of an emergency.
But now, the people within the territories had no such purpose, nor did they have any reason to risk entering the Great Forest without permission.