Attackers

Without noticing, Estelle was now surrounded by these people who she wasn't sure about. But she knew that they were definitely strong. Stronger than the previous ones.

The total number she could detect amounted to nine. She wasn't sure if there was more lurking somewhere she didn't pick up yet. She did not want to activate her magic yet in order to not alert the 'opponent'.

She gulped a mouthful of saliva before calming herself down, rationally considering her choices.

[What do I do in this situation?] she asked herself.

First of all, she hadn't directly confirmed whether the surrounding people were hostile to her or not, but she was almost completely sure that they were judging from the contexts.

They were in a deep forest, where anything could happen and it would have a high chance of not being found out.

Estelle took a deep breath and carefully prepared her magical abilities, getting into a fighting stance.