God-Protected Forest

The God-Protected Forest is a forest in the Kingdom of Friedonia inhabited by the Dark Elves who are a given a degree of autonomy as protectors of the forest.

Location
The general location of the forest is near the center of the Kingdom of Friedonia, just south of the capital city of Parnam.

History
The God-Protected Forest is the home of the Dark Elves and has existed since the time of the founding of the Elfrieden Kingdom. The Dark Elves were isolationists but some had begun to push for being more open. Prior to the summoning of Kazuya Souma, the forest had recently endured incursions by intruders in search of food during a nationwide famine, due to the Demon Lord's invasion. This led to several skirmishes with the Dark Elves. As a result, Aisha Udgard went to Parnam to directly petition the King to put a stop to the poaching. Kazuya Souma made a promise to send food aid to the forest and to punish those who illegally invaded it. He would also introduce the method of forest thinning in order to maintain the forest's soil integrity and prevent landslides. However, there were some Dark Elves who were against the idea, feeling thinning would be a betrayal to their sacred role as caretakers, Aisha's paternal uncle Robthor among them.

Shortly afterwards, the forest did indeed have a major landslide occur due to the lack of forest thinning and maintenance. As a result, half a village was destroyed, and many were killed, including Robthor's wife. Kazuya would lead a relief effort to rescue survivors with the Forbidden Army. Reluctantly, the Dark Elves accepted forest thinning without further debate and greater trade with outsiders with some even joining the Forbidden Army during the One Week War.

As a result of periodic thinning the Dark Elves were able to trade lumber and during the winter they make various traditional art like statues with extra lumber which were sold to merchants.