Chapter 176: Defending the Elven Village, Part 2

After I killed roughly a quarter of the Mantises around the elven village, their assault quieted.

I preferred not to dwell on the reason: they were busy eating their own kind.

Using that interval, I followed an elf guide to request a meeting with the village chief.

The chief’s home apparently doubled as the administrative office. His position must have resembled that of a human lord.

The elves had established their defensive line around the house and barricaded themselves inside.

“This is the place.”

“Thank you for guiding me.”

I thanked the elf and reached for the door, but he blocked my way.

“Wait. You must leave your weapons here…”

His fear made his voice tremble, yet his resolve was clear: he absolutely wouldn’t let an armed stranger pass.

I hadn’t come to start a conflict, but disarming in the present situation was more than I wanted to accept.

“I’d prefer to enter as I am…”

“N-no. If something happened to the chief…”

As we argued, a voice came from beyond the door.

“It is fine. Let him enter as he is.”

The guide answered, “Understood,” and stepped aside.

Custom dictated that I enter alone, but Gar stopped me.

“Gar, I’ll be fine.”

“…No. We haven’t confirmed your safety. I’m coming.”

I turned to him with a strained smile.

“Gar, thank you, but I truly will be fine. I already forced them to let me keep my sword. Anything more would be insulting.”

“…”

“Please, Gar.”

“…Understood.”

He backed down. I opened the door slowly and entered.

An elf who looked to be in his fifties sat alone inside.

“A pleasure to meet you. At the request of the lord of Sandra and the Fosterk royal family, we have come to your aid. I am called a Royal Shadow.”

“Such courtesy honors me. I am Nox, chief of this village. You have my sincere gratitude for answering our request.”

“I only wish we could have arrived sooner…”

“The insects went to Sandra as well. It couldn’t be helped…”

“What do the elves intend to do now?”

“Once, two thousand people lived here. Now only those gathered in this building remain… A little over five hundred, I believe. Most are children and the elderly. Food is scarce. If we endure several more days, we may count ourselves fortunate…”

“I see. The truth is…”

I told Chief Nox that tonight our other unit would attack the Mantis boss—the lord—believed to be in the Great Serpent Forest.

“If they destroy it safely, the Mantis population should stop increasing.”

“O-oh! Then the people of the village will be saved?”

“However, beginning around midnight, the Mantises freed from the boss’s control will likely attack everything nearby in search of food…”

“W-what…?”

“If we don’t kill it now, the damage will only spread. I’ll fight as well. If we can hold for roughly two days, we should somehow manage…”

“…”

“…”

“…Very well. Nothing can change our circumstances now. Every elf in the village will support you with all our strength.”

“Thank you.”

“No—thank you. That a child like you must enter such a deadly place on our behalf… I am ashamed.”

I bowed silently.

“One more matter. Is there a human in this village?”

“…Why would you ask that?”

Wide-area sonar had detected a human response in this house.

Was this a subject he didn’t want touched?

I tried a small bluff.

“This is normally confidential, but one of our companions possesses a wide-area detection technique…”

“I see. Then that searching mana I sensed earlier came from the Royal Shadow…”

“Yes. We used it to locate the elves and the enemy.”

“Indeed. One human is confined in a cell beneath this house. That person committed a crime.”

“I understand. The lord of a land has the right to judge crimes committed there. Forgive my intrusive question.”

“Not at all. Naturally, you would be concerned about one of your own kind.”

Our conversation ended.

The chief summoned several elves and explained what we’d decided.

He had said there was indeed one human here…

But the person wasn’t underground.

According to sonar, they were above us, probably on the second or third floor.

The chief called them a criminal, so perhaps it wasn’t my place to interfere. The fact that someone from another race had been imprisoned rather than killed suggested that the crime couldn’t be too serious.

I had no desire to complicate matters, so I intended to pretend I hadn’t noticed.

After leaving the chief, the four of us were given a single room on the third floor.

Several blankets, presumably for naps, lay inside along with a few tables and chairs.

Perhaps it had normally been used for storage. A faint musty smell hung in the air.

“Al-boy, are you going to sleep and recover your mana?”

“It’d be wasteful to let the mana I have now go unused. I’m going to reduce the Mantis numbers a little more.”

I opened the window and ran into the air with an air step.

From above, I saw the Mantises still eating one another, though the corpses I’d provided as bait were nearly gone.

“Now it’s your turn to be eaten.”

I primed a mana shield with Reactive Armor and charged into the swarm.

The explosion hurled part of the mass away.

I dismissed the shield and formed a magic greatsword in each hand.

Using the greatsword techniques Liezas had taught me, I cut, cut, cut!

This time, I wasn’t trying to preserve mana, so I used anti-monster Wind Bullets whenever needed.

Ultra-vibration would have been overkill, so I restrained myself.

After roughly thirty minutes of combat, I had probably killed a hundred.

The survivors were no longer clustered closely enough to eliminate efficiently.

My mana had fallen to about one-third, so it was time to withdraw.

I returned through the window by air step. Gar and the others were waiting, but so were the village chief and my guide, both visibly excited.

“Thank you for destroying the Mantis swarm.”

“I wanted to reduce their numbers before midnight.”

“You must possess the spirits’ blessing. Thank you…”

I nearly replied that, although I did possess such a blessing, it wasn’t much of one.

“Al-boy, I can’t understand what you’re saying, but this is interfering with your rest. Ask them to leave.”

When Gar said that, the chief and guide exchanged glances.

“We cannot offer much, but we will prepare supper. Would you have someone collect it when the time comes?”

“Understood. I’ll send someone in the evening.”

“Very well… Then we shall excuse ourselves.”

“Thank you.”

After they left, I spoke with Gar.

“Gar, I think both of them reacted to your human language. They probably speak it.”

“Same conclusion here. Before you returned, I casually said, ‘He went out the window,’ and both looked straight at it.”

“Even in a crisis like this, elves won’t speak openly…”

“They’re considered the most isolationist of all the races.”

“Still, I doubt they’ll try anything now…”

“Probably. But I won’t trust them completely.”

“Understood. If we offend them, we’ll apologize together after this is over.”

“Agreed.”

“Then I’m sleeping to restore my mana.”

“Leave guarding you to us.”

“Thank you. The chief also offered dinner. Collect it when the time comes.”

“Got it.”

I spread blankets from the corner and prepared to sleep.

Once ready, I quickly removed my armor and swallowed a sleeping draught.

“I shouldn’t wake for four hours. Gar, Beret, Tamei—I’m entrusting my life to you.”

“Yes!”

“Leave it to me!”

“Your life…? That’s like being entrusted with the fate of the world…”

I fell asleep listening to each reply.

I slowly emerged from my drowsiness.

Sunlight still entered the window, but in summer that meant it was probably near evening.

“Morning… What time is it?”

“Nearly five o’clock. Gar left a little early to collect supper.”

“I see.”

Beret guarded me, and Gar had gone for food.

Then where was Tamei?

He sat in a corner, grinding and mixing something in a stone mortar.

“What are you making?”

“This? I’m gathering scents that insects dislike and packing them into little bags.”

“What for?”

“To give the elven children. It might serve as a small charm.”

Tamei smiled. Watching his back, I found myself wanting to ask something.

“Don’t you intend to start a family?”

“Women have the right to choose too, you know.”

“When we return, would you come to the capital with us?”

“The capital? I’ve wanted to visit once, but…”

“But?”

“When I look at your face, Lord Aldo, I suspect you’re plotting something thoroughly unpleasant, and I hesitate.”

I shrugged and ended the conversation.

I should introduce Tamei to Instructor Anna.

Naga? We needed Naga for labyrinth exploration. She could enjoy single life a while longer.

As I spoke leisurely with Beret and Tamei for the first time in ages, Gar returned.

“Welcome back, Gar. Thanks.”

“You’re awake. This will be a long night, so we’d better eat properly.”

Though addressed to me, the warning was meant for everyone.

None of us were foolish enough to eat so much we couldn’t move.

Over dinner, we assigned roles for the coming battle.

“I’ll fight on the front line with the elves,” Gar said.

“Gar on the front line. Beret?”

“I serve as a medic in the knights, so please assign me to healing.”

“Understood. Tamei?”

“I’m a scout, so I’d prefer a mobile role.”

“Good. I’ll focus on reducing their numbers and causing confusion.”

“Confusion?”

“I’ll drop food right in the middle of them.”

“You’ll make them stop to eat one another…”

“I hope they acquire a taste for their allies.”

“I see… Once the lord releases them, perhaps…”

“It’s unlikely, but hope costs nothing.”

Our roles were set.

Later, I would explain them to the chief.

We’d need elves who spoke human language assigned near Gar and Beret.

If the chief still pretended ignorance, I planned to threaten him with our withdrawal.

I was sure he would cooperate most readily.

Then came the possibility that we fought our hardest and still failed.

We needed a worst-case plan.

“If the situation becomes impossible… we’ll create a territory and withdraw.”

“What happens to the elves?”

“Five hundred people… If it were five or ten, perhaps. I’m sorry, but we’d basically leave them behind.”

“I see. Understood.”

“…Gar, do you think I’m cold?”

“No. I think you’re a good commander who can make a level-headed decision.”

“Thank you…”

Gar roughly ruffled my hair and pointed to the food he’d brought.

“Come on. It’ll get cold. Eat.”

The four of us ate with almost exaggerated cheer.

These three had looked after me for as long as I could remember.

Once again, I vowed in my heart that all four of us would return together.