Just wanted to let you know that any inquiries, suggestions and applications regarding this translation project for Ouroboros Record should be directed to this address from now on. Be sure to include “OR” in your mail subject.
Also. I’ll be moving my original work from RRL to this website. I’d like to apologise to the subscribers if you’re bothered with this. Don’t worry, I don’t write very often and this original series probably won’t spam your mail.
First. I’ve read your suggestion and clearly that estimate of next chapter section is not working. The percentage of progress will return, but first I’ll need someone independent to check on the progress and update it every day so that I won’t leave you all wondering if there’s a long break between chapters. If you have the free time to do this, feel free to apply through comments.
Second, someone by the handle name of DystopianPotato have contacted me through Discord to become the co-translator of this series. Unfortunately I missed their message so I didn’t get the chance to reply until 3 days later. If you see this, DystopianPotato, and you’re still interested, please drop your comment below and I’ll arrange so that both of us can start working on the next chapter together.
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SHAMELESS AD SECTION
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Rant section
You know what comes with owning an old place? Trouble. Water alone costs me $130 in April. Something is definitely leaking somewhere. I’ve only used the house for two weeks that month. But I guess I’ll have to be thankful that I own a place at all. I’ve been fixing the place for weeks now but I don’t believe I’ve covered all of the parts.
Laugh all you want but this crap is just making the TL even slower.
Done, here’s your chapter
Chapter XXIII – Like the Falling Rain in the Forest
“……….’Thunderspear’!”
Fired from the Chief’s palm, a spear of lightning ran through the sky.
Its thick ray was like that of a battering ram. Just how much mana and might had been poured in there?
Its velocity was as if it was literally a lightning bolt. That lightning, which seemed to mock even the wind itself for being slow, struck its target without giving the target any room to dodge.
“GUH, GAH!”
Fem, who was shocked throughout her entire body, leaked out a strange groan and twitched for a moment.
However, she managed to shake it off using sheer force, and drew close to the chief. She brandished her destructive fist at him once again.
“Attack, commence!”
The air split.
Fallen leaves danced around before they fell back, while more leaves were torn and blown off from its trees.
Disregarding the fact that she did indeed wear gauntlets, what was brought forth from her girly thin arm – the force of her mere fist – created a windstorm that seemed to mow the forest down.
“‘Blink Move’!”
The scenery of the forest was distorted as the Chief’s body disappeared, before he reappeared behind Fem’s back a single moment later.
Rather than teleporting the chief to another space, the spell worked to bend the space and quickly move him within a short distance. And since it was different in concept compared to teleportation, it was hard to jam it. Therefore, the chief could use the spell to evade….. but its mana consumption was large. In the first place, spells that interfere with space were already considered to be high-tier spells. If he were to use it continuously, he’d be running out of mana in a blink of an eye. Normally, “Blink Move” counted as a spell that people would avoid, due to the difficulty of learning it and its effect that did not live up to its mana consumption. But his former teacher, Old Gran, had said to him some centuries ago, “there will be a time when you’ll find a spell handy, no matter what spell it is. Those words were etched in him and thanks to that he barely managed to hold on to his life.
Though, he didn’t know for how much longer could he afford to keep it up.
“….. Bloody monster.”
The chief, an Elf who had lived since ancient times that predated the human calendar itself, muttered in horror.
He saw the aftermath of her brandished fist. The ground was upturned and the trees fell down.
If he were to receive the blow— no, if it even were to graze him, he was sure that his flesh would be plucked off his bones while his bones would break, rendering him incapable to fight. In the other hand, no matter how much he tried to fire his spells at his opponent, it appeared that she wasn’t even scratched because of it.
What absurdity was that? However, if he couldn’t hold on against this absurdity, he would die here. The village would follow too.
“Let me ask you once again. What are you?”
The chief asked Fem.
For a while now, his spells had been hitting her directly. It would mean that whatever magic equipment she had wasn’t the kind that interfere with and defend her from the spells itself. She could endure the chief’s attack only by relying on her toughness alone. That way, there was no way that she was a human, and the chief did not think that she was a fellow Elf either. He didn’t want to think about the possibility, but could she be a demon? Or probably, some sort of an avatar of an evil dragon?
Without responding to the Chief’s question, Fem readied her fist yet another time.
“Verifying data. Correcting deviations. Changing pattern……. Self-improvement application test, commence!”
“You just won’t listen, huh!?”
The fierce attack started then.
Just when he thought that Fem’s figure was moving, her fist came flying in without pause. Then another, then another, then another.
Right. Left. RIght. Left. Right. Left. The chief then made a big move to protect his right side. Fem responded by hitting his left side, left side, left side————–
Instead of the intense but unrefined punches that she threw a while ago, her consecutive attack was now lighter, but sharper. The weight of each blow was indeed reduced, but its basis – her herculean strength – was still that of a giant’s. The barrage of fists finally grazed the chief, who could only manage to avoid them within a short moment, and scraped his flesh off to be eaten by the birds.
“UGH, AGH……….!?”
He couldn’t bear it, so he blink-moved. He moved towards her back – she turned around. The way she turned her trajectory, it was as if she was dancing. It was so graceful to the point of it being cruel. She resumed her attack, but just before that, he grandly blink-moved again. As if she had already predicted that, Fem rushed at him. The chief blink-moved thrice – Fem followed after him each time.
‘Did she read me? There’s not enough time to do it the fourth time. Defend, defend, defend!’
“De, ‘Defender!’”
The torrent of fists rushed against the makeshift defensive magic barrier. Sparks of fire flew all over as his magic barrier and her metal gauntlet collided.
“GAH, AAH, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
The chief’s feet was dragged backwards, forming a furrow on the ground in the process. He couldn’t completely cancel the impact. His wall raised a shriek. At this rate, his protection would be smashed to pieces, and the chief surely would be attacked from his rear and be killed.
But, during the several seconds before that finally happened, the chief saw a way for him to prevail.
“‘Heed my call! Thunder spirits of the heavens, lightning spirits of the earth! Gather ye in this place and be my arms———’”
Ever since the beginning of the battle, this was the first time for the chief to chant regular spell.
He had been pressured by Fem and was compelled to use only chantless spell because of that.
However, instead of attacking him with heavy strikes, Fem chose instead to attack him with lighter fists now, and as these fists were chipping the barrier little by little, the chief had only a few seconds, but that was enough opportunity to cast the chant.
“Come manifest, ye great lord who presides over the eighty thunders. Dwell ye in the tip of my spear and strike my enemy….”
“…! I won’t, let you!”
His mana ran amok as lightning surged.
Realising the Chief’s intention, Fem pulled her fist to a great extent.
She was changing her style to single heavy punches again, with that kind of ridiculous strength, surely she would manage to break through the cracked barrier and land a hit on the Chief.
The chief laughed. No matter what she chose, it was all the same. She would need to amass a lot of energy to pack that punch. A moment to amass the energy to exhibit its perfected might.
That single moment was enough for him to complete his chant.
“For here in this place, in this moment, with the might of the heavens I shall crush the wicked! ‘Keraunos’!”
Her fist crushed through the barrier, fragments of glass-like light danced around wildly.
At the same time, the Chief released his spell.
Even among the spells that he had learned, this was the strongest among them yet.
‘Oh, Great Forest. Please do not forgive me who could not even strike the enemy without resorting to means like these, not even a bit.’
Life and death intersected each other, in a single moment that seemed to have lasted for an eternity.
In that moment, such was the chief’s penitence.
The might of that spell also threatened the forest that he was supposed to protect. But if he didn’t use it, he wouldn’t be able to protect the forest either.
While what he used were only chantless spells, it was still a fact that his enemy was a monster that could take mid-tier spells like they were nothing. Then if he used a top-tier spell, that spell should’ve been able to destroy her completely. And then, unless he destroyed this enemy of his, he wouldn’t be able to protect the forest nor the village.
‘I will bear the blame for this. Therefore, please, protect the people that have received your blessing!’
The might of the released lightning strike. If “Thunderspear” had the force of a battering ram, then this one was like an avalanche. The spell, whose electric discharge could even distort space itself, became a torrent of flash that swallowed Fem and burned the entirety of the chief’s field of vision.
“A top-tier lightning spell? In the forest? Turns out that even the White Elf Chief is more senseless than I thought.”
There, above the village, with the light of the moon on her back, a woman grumbled.
As her body was laden with presence-concealing magical equipment, probably not even the trained eyes of the Elven hunters could catch the sight of her.
Below her, the fire in the furrows that the lightning strike had left were burning the forest in a grand manner. There were fires blowing up here and there. In other words, it was a wildfire.
“Well, anyway, it’s probably because his opponent is that one. Even for me, I don’t think I can match her unless I do something like this. Doesn’t change the fact that the whole affair is unsatisfactory, though.”
The woman snickered.
An Elf that received the divine blessing of the forest – their chief, of all people – would burn it down on his own volition after he found himself to be at his wits’ end. She found this so ironic and hilarious, she couldn’t bear to suppress her laughter.
However, she couldn’t afford to be laughing all night. This outbreak of this fire was unfavourable to the fulfillment of their objective. If the prey that they had carefully selected were to catch fire and die, then all would be lost. And no matter how much deep in the forest they were, if the fire were to continue to spread in a flashy manner, then chances were that it might catch the attention of the hairless apes outside of the forest as well.
She needed to take an action, quickly too.
The woman thought about something for a while before she broke into a smile, as if she had come up with a good idea.
“Well then, let’s have a break, literally.”
TL Note: This is a pun that I unfortunately couldn’t properly translate to English. The word that was used for break was “水入り”. The pun is, she said ‘literally’. So it translates as “let’s get some water in there”.
The Old Gran saw that light.
That dazzling, ominous flash of lightning that fell from the skies. She instinctively recognised its true nature, and for that, her eyes went wide.
“Boy…… you actually used that….?!”
A complicated feeling rose in her heart.
Sympathy for the man who had lived his life caring for the trees for so long, only to burn them all together so that he could burn his foe as well.
Remorse for her own powerlessness, for she couldn’t be a helping hand for him, to the point that he was driven to do something like that.
And the conviction that he should’ve won, for he had chosen to use that.
“Woaaaaah… Isn’t that a top-tier lightning spell? As expected from the Elven chief, he sure knows amazing stuff! Will this be okay, though? Releasing something like that in a middle of a forest like this. See, see, the trees caught fire, and now we have a wildfire, you see?”
The vampire jeered.
His boots were currently trampling on the forest’s soil. Then what about the chief’s residence that had both of them until while ago? That place was already gone. It was, after all, a battleground between a High Elf and a Lord Vampire. Of course the aftereffect of the spell exchanges between the two of them would wipe it off from existence.
Old Gran stared at the vampire sternly.
“Thou… how dare thine lot stand to speak that way!?”
“Woah. Scaary!”
He moved both of his hands to cover the sides of his face as he said ‘nope, nope’ while making an exaggerated show of how frightened he was. The vampire kept fooling around unsparingly.
But the reason why Old Gran was able to maintain her life until now was precisely because that Vampire had been fooling and playing around. Elves are born with excelling magical prowess, but not only do Vampires have that, but they also excel in physical prowess. In one-on-one combat like this, her defeat was supposedly already a given.
Surely, her opponent thought so as well.
The vampire ceased fooling around and shrugged.
“Well then, lady. How long are you planning to keep this up, again? Are you perchance thinking that if you can keep me until dawn, the morning will burn me to ashes?”
Unfortunately, she didn’t think that was likely.
Vampire Lords have extraordinary self-regeneration ability. Even if the sunlight – a vampire’s weakness – were to get to them, surely they would have some kind of a feat to bring them back from the brink caused by the damage they received. And most of all, she wasn’t confident that her supply of mana could last in a battle of spells with a Vampire until then.
Old Gran suppressed her anxiety and smiled confidently.
“Humph… I have no need to wait that long. “Keraunos” was the sign of the chief’s victory. At this moment, he hath already left to save the village. He will ride on that momentum and come here eventually. It may take a while until he arriveth here, but I do not suppose he would be so leisurely as to come only until dawn breaketh.”
“Eeeeeh? Hmmmmm? Ooooooh?”
The vampire grinned broadly.
“Is that so? Really, is that so? Then it’ll be weird if we don’t start doing something as well, don’t you think?”
“Kuh….”
What he said was true. It was the same power that had breached the white birch forest’s barrier and performed large-scale summoning to attack the village. If they were that proficient in magic, surely they would be able to do something like telepathy, and it wouldn’t be odd if they carry around magical equipments to communicate with each other. With that, they were bound to be in touch in case of emergency.
“Well then, as you wish, guess I’ll take you on. It’ll be fun to see if help really is coming for you, too! …. ‘Shadowlance’!”
He sneeringly shouted as he thrusted a lance made from a mass of shadows and approached Old Gran. With dark magic, he manipulated the virtual existence, then he added void element into it—- a multi-elemental spell. An advanced spell that superimposed a rare element onto another rare element. And for him to chantlessly use it without effort, as expected from Vampire Lords, the existence that is said to reign supreme over the night.
Of course, the Old Gran were not planning to take this lying down.
“‘Ray of Light’!”
What she produced from her palm of hand was a thick assembly of rays of light. It pierced through the ‘Shadowlance’, along with the Vampire that stood behind it. Reason dictated that light vanquished shadows, and as such, in that clash of the two, light would prevail. A vampire was a creature of the dark. She wasn’t as versed as humans in terms of holy magic, but she could expect that she landed a severe blow there…. or so she thought.
The vampire’s chest absorbed the rays of light,
“GRAAAAAAAH! …….. Juuuust kidding. Did you think it worked? AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!”
… and then disappeared while not affecting him at all.
Was he able to excel against it because of the magic defence imbued on the magical equipment he was wearing, or was it because of his innate resistance from his high magical prowess?…… or perhaps – she didn’t want to think about it, but, perhaps – was it because of both?
‘Damn monster………!’
Old Gran glared at the abomination that stood a few metres away from her with bitter regret.
Even for Elves, light spells – which did not belong to the four classic elements – typically were not their strongest suit. She was the most proficient caster in the village, but chantless spells weren’t enough to land effective damage against the vampire.
‘There must be another way to take this monster down. A weak point that I can exploit to kill him in one fell swoop, something, anything.’
“Weeeeelll then, what should I do now? Shall I increase my magical prowess one step further— hm?”
The vampire’s complacent smile froze for a moment.
He brought his fingers to his cheek and swiped something.
“Eh? It’s raining?”
As if taking that word as a cue, droplets of water began to fall from the skies.
It started raining.
‘’Tis raining…?’
Old Gran flickered her eyes.
It was a full moon night. Not even a single cloud was in view until a while ago.
But now, it was raining?
Sure enough, when she looked up, dark clouds suddenly spread all over the nightly sky, to the point where they conceal the full moon itself.
Old Gran intentionally disregarded that enigma.
— Even though if this was her usual self, she would’ve already realised something like this, something like someone, somewhere was manipulating the weather in a grand scale.
This was aid from the heavens. The flames of the Chief’s battle aftermath were being extinguished.
‘Nay, anyway, my utmost priority now is to somehow deal with this Vampire’, the Old Gran strengthened that will and started chanting.
“Oh, trickles of water falling from the skies, flowing to the earth. I order thee, water spirits, far and wide!”
“Th— that incantation!?”
The vampire went into blatant panic.
Of course he would.
What she was chanting was a spell to summon the water spirits. The rain had started falling, and if the water spirits were to act in conjunction to it, it wouldn’t be impossible for her to generate an enormous water current.
And … Vampires were weak against running water.
“Hearken unto my voice. May thee wash over and cleanse all impurity!”
“S, stop! STOP IIIIIIIIIIT!”
Old Gran laughed at the vampire who abjectly pleaded at the moment he was exposed to his weak point.
If he had the spare time to do that, then he would’ve jumped in and stopped her chanting.
—– ‘Blasted moving corpse, did the rot go all the way to thine brain cells, too?’
“‘Hydrostream’!”
A raging stream of water gushed out from the seal of the spell. Even in the darkness of the night, the cascade of white foam flooded everything before her eyes.
“SHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!! IF ONLY THE RAIN HADN’T FALLEN! GRAH, BLLLLLLARRRGH!”
The Vampire’s figure and his muffled curses were all submerged in the water.
“Fuh, fuhahahaha! Thou might be an immortal, but it was still not enough to surpass the ages I had passed, it seemeth…….”
Old Gran gasped for breath as she released herself from the stance of the spell.
She could feel that her body had suddenly become weak. Her body had run deficient of mana.
Her opponent was a Vampire. In the unlikely chance that the Vampire could escape its weak point that was the stream of water, she had to mow down a considerably wide area with the spell. The price for that was this sudden depletion of mana.
“Wheeze…. wheeze….. This was not something someone my age should have undertaken…. se, seriously…”
Besides,
Truthfully, there was another cause of this fatigue of hers.
“Guh…… not good, the spell……..”
Her magic was undone.
As the caster suffered from both the recoil of forcing herself to cast a high-tier spell and deficiency of mana, the invoked spell vanished away.
As if to wash her adornments off, the rain kept falling….
“——— Hmmm… I suppose it’s about time.”
TL Note: Yes, that’s it for this section
Rumble, rumble. The sound of the giant’s footsteps.
In the rain that fell all of a sudden, the battle was still raging in the village.
The monsters did not force their way through to attack, instead they cunningly rounded up the Elves and hunted them one by one.
Curiously, the monsters were mostly aiming at adults. They would deliberately leave the younger ones, while striking down those from the eldest in order of their age.
“These things….. could it be that they’re intending to capture the youngsters alive?”
Verche’s father shouted his speculation.
Certainly, if they were to think that way, then it was easy to understand this situation. They cull the adults, who’d be difficult to handle, and then sweep the children and the youngsters away.
That line of thinking, it was as if….
“Father… are you implying that a human is behind this raid?”
Indeed, capturing Elves as slaves is how humans would think.
Her father nodded at his daughter’s question.
“I don’t think humans have the ability to manipulate the monsters this far, but from the way they act it certainly seems like it was them. After all, they’d usually go after the weaker ones first, right!”
He shot an approaching ogre dead, then tutted.
“Hey! I’m out of arrows! Has anyone got some spare?”
“I’m out too! Try the others!”
“I haven’t got any as well! To begin with, who the hell still have some with them anyway?”
Coming this far, the Elves were running out of arrows.
As Verche had ran out of arrows herself, she had been supporting them with magic, but she was at her limit as well. Her mana was now mostly exhausted.
She had used up too much arrow and magic in the beginning of the battle against the cyclops. The monocular giant, who was kept under the protection of the spell of an unknown person, was still able to maintain that impregnable barrier. The only mages who could dispel it were probably just the chief or the Old Gran. It would’ve been better if people could understand that and preserve themselves though.
“More importantly, what is the Chief and Old Gran doing?! Aren’t they supposed to be rushing in here?!”
“Surely you saw that flash of lightning a while back. That was the Chief! They’re in the middle of combat there too!”
It seemed that both of them were being kept by something and thus couldn’t come their way.
Then,
— Rumble, rumble.
“EEEEEKKK!?”
As if to strengthen the pressure, the cyclops took another step towards them.
Verche couldn’t tell whether that shriek was hers or someone else’s.
‘Do, don’t be afraid! Am I, am I not a hunter of this forest?!’
Even though she desperately persuaded herself, her body just wouldn’t stop shaking.
The Elves around her had a similar look as well.
‘Uuuuuh…..’.
The difference of strength between them was overwhelming. The Chief’s aid was still not in sight. All in all, their situation was hopeless.
The Elves’ morale were breaking down.
‘…… So, it’s all over’.
‘No….’
Drip, drip. Tears were starting to fall from her eyes.
How unsightly, was that an appearance a hunter of the Witte clan would expose in the sight of others?
But it seemed that no one would criticise her over this.
In fact, she had held well to be one among the survivors so far.
“Ehehehe… we’re finished…. we’re all going to die.”
Among them, it seemed that there were those who had already went past their limit long ago.
Taking that into account, a young girl crying alone would surely count as innocent.
She was making do just by crying silently, she’d probably be praised as a brave kid for that.
“Verche.”
The voice when the father called out to his daughter was a lonely one.
If his conjecture that the enemy’s aim was to capture the young Elves was correct, then this would not result in Verche’s death. But when an Elven woman got captured, there could be a fate crueler than death waiting for her. And even if his conjecture was incorrect, the only possible outcome was for her to die here.
With that in mind, as a father, just how hard for him to say something at this moment?
There was also the thing about her mother as well. Although they had sent her away to escape under the pretext of liaison, the village proper had already turned into a hunting ground for monsters now. Her life was probably already forfeit. With that in her mind, she could feel that her chest were being crushed. Surely her father felt the same way as well.
Rumble, rumble—–
The giant drew near.
Along with that, the monsters’ encirclement against them grew narrower.
At last, the coup de grâce was coming.
‘No….!’
She had no bow nor arrows, and her mana had already exhausted.
At this rate, would she be meet her end by the claws and fangs of the monsters, or just as her father thought, would she fall captive to the person who had been pulling the strings behind the scenes?
Neither was desirable for her.
‘I haven’t even met Chaga yet…..!’
Her mind was occupied by the thoughts of him, the one she had a fall-out with half a month ago.
If that was to be the last of their conversations, then that would be too sad.
She wanted to meet him one more time and make amends. At the very least, she wanted to see his face.
‘Chaga……!’
The monsters steadily drew even nearer.
So which one among them will leap out first?
The manticore? The direwolf? The orc? The ogre?
Verche’s body was petrified at the sign of the approaching evil.
Then, at that time,
“….. Verche!”
A spell broke through the house-wall behind her back.
Then, the face that she had missed for the last half month leapt into her vision.
“Cha, ga?”
She cried the name of the person who clumsily landed near her side in disbelief.
“Heh, heheh, I thought the demons can’t fit their figure indoors, so I went through the houses… seems like I was right.”
And on top of that, he even uttered such bravado.
His forced smile was stiff, and his voice and limbs were trembling all over, but still, she could feel that there was something encouraging about him.
“Why—–”
“Hey, brat! What on earth have you been doing up until now?!”
She meant to say ‘why are you here?’, but it was interrupted by her father’s shouting.
To answer that question, Chaga pointed at the hole on the house that he broke through from.
“Dear….!”
“Mom, you!?”
The one who appeared from there was Verche’s mother who was supposedly running towards the outskirts of the village.
‘So, she made it alive….!’
“I wondered when I saw auntie running about outside with a strange look on her face, so it was because that huge thing… I thought that I should rush here somehow, but the village proper has already been riddled with demons….”
“For the time being, I gathered all the arrows I could grab when I was running here and there with Chaga.”
She said as she presented the bundle of arrows that she brought in her arms.
‘Ooh!’, the surviving Elves raised their voices.
“Arrows! We can still continue to fight!”
“…. First, as the demons couldn’t pass through the houses easily, let’s go through there and head steadily for the outskirts! The white birch forest should be too narrow for the large-sized demons to traverse and the spirits’ blessing will hasten our mana recovery.”
“Wait, Chaga. Aren’t you worried that they might just anticipate us when we leave the houses?”
“And that is why…. we have this guy’s nose.”
What came running towards Chaga’s feet was that wolf familiar.
It was impossible for Verche to suppress her complicated feeling about that sight, but given the circumstances, there was nothing she could do. With a stern look on his face her father, too, asked him,
“….. Can you depend on it?”
“It was because of this child that we could get here without harm, you know?”
Her mother stroked the familiar wolf to thank it. Surely it was fine to believe it now.
Then, Chaga turned towards Verche.
“Verche, take this too.”
What he handed over as he said that was her bow and arrows.
“Cha, Chaga? This, how di—-”
“When I went to the armoury to retrieve the arrows, I took it along with me. Thought you’ll be troubled without it.”
As if being shy, he scratched his cheek as he was saying so.
… As expected, the bow, which she hadn’t held for a while, fittingly felt familiar in her hands.
Vitality returned to her droopy ears.
There were both her bow and arrows in her hand. Her companion, who she spent years together with, was also by her side as well.
The pieces that she lost half a month ago up until now were now restored.
The senses of a hunter… the will to fight returned to her.
“Chaga….. thank you.”
“Don’t mention it…. I’m weak, so… if I can help you, who’s strong, then it’s fine.”
“And, I’m sorry. I said something cruel to you then.”
“I’m sorry too. I was so engrossed in my attempt to be dependable to you, I couldn’t get a hold of what’s important to you.”
Just with that exchange of words, the ill feeling she harboured melted away as if it was never there.
So she couldn’t do something so simple as this, and she was troubled for half a month because of it? In spite of herself, she thought the whole affair was silly.
“Hey, you two! Don’t idle about! The battle is still going on!”
““YE, YES!””
At her father’s scolding, their voices intertwined.
While gazing at the bitter smile that he floated, she nocked and fired.
—- One arrow.
First, the direwolf—- one fatal shot aimed at the throat of the demon whose appearance was a profane mockery of a wolf.
‘I haven’t lost my touch yet, half a month might have passed, but this bow still precisely works as an extension of my limbs!’
She released the next arrow as she found joy in that.
Her aim was the ogre. The arrow pierced through its eye socket and struck its brain, killing it instantly. Elven bows were enchanted with magic. If a divinely blessed user shoots an arrow with it, its power would surpasse even that of a crossbow’s.
“Oooh, oooh!”, the Elves around her livened up.
‘We can do this. The cyclops is still tough to face, but it’s not that difficult to cut a way through the other guys. We’ll escape according to Chaga’s suggested route. First, we’ll go to the forest. We’ll join up with the Chief and Old Gran, and using the combined war potential as a leverage we’ll push the enemy back. I came to feel like that isn’t impossible. No, we can do this!’
“All right, we can still do this! There’s still hope for us!”
One in her company cried out.
Verche felt the same as well.
‘That’s right, we can still do this!’
…. But then, that came.
“Hey, hey, isn’t it a bit too early to get excited now?”
A voice rung out from above.
The rain had stopped. It had stopped abruptly, just like how the rain broke. The rainclouds had already disappeared as well.
The light of the moon came back and illuminated their surroundings.
There, floating in the midair and glaring at the villagers, was a certain someone.
“A,,, Dark Elf?”
Her silver hair was dazzling even in the dark, in contrast of her dark brown skin that dissolved into the shades of the night.
A pair of long ears similar to that of an Elf’s extended from the sides of her head.
Certainly, that person was a Dark Elven woman.
And Verche knew this woman.
That woman, whose left eye was covered by an eyepatch.
“Miss, Drei?”
The Dark Elf who introduced herself as a slave of an adventurer, who had saved Verche when she wandered into the Black Forest two weeks ago.
Then, why was she here?
No, that was fine too. Verche knew that she was a terrific expert of a mage. If they could get Drei to help, then surely it would be possible to exterminate this horde of demon.
“Verche, you know that person?”
Chaga asked her in his confusion.
‘Of course’, she answered promptly.
“Yeah, that person—”
Answer,
“Eh….? Ah….?”
Answer,
“Huh……!? Huh….! …..!!”
Answer, she could not.
Suddenly her breath was seized, her voice couldn’t come out.
Only her lips was flapping and moving about, there was no meaningful words that came from her tongue.
“Wh, what’s wrong, Verche!? Get a hold of yourself!”
“What is it!? What the heck is happening!?”
Chaga shook her shoulder.
Her parents gazed restlessly between their abnormally behaving daughter and the unexpected intruder.
Drei pleasantly stared the suffering Verche down.
Her single eye, warped with joy, gave the same impression as the giant’s eye.
“Kuhuhuhu, what a foolish girl. If you’re having trouble talking about me, then perhaps you should talk about something else.”
“Hhh! Hhh!? Hhhhhhh!!”
They couldn’t get it.
What on earth was Drei saying?
Why was she laughing at Verche, who was suffering?
“You… what did you do to Verche!?”
When Chaga shouted angrily at her, Drei’s laughter grew even more intense.
Her laughter felt as cruel as that of a cat when it was torturing a rat it had captured.
“My, my, what are you getting so worked up for… ah, I see. So you’re the Chaga brat, aren’t you?”
“Wha, why did you know my name…?”
Verche was as surprised as him.
She hadn’t spoken about Chaga with Drei at that time. There should’ve been a topic about him since he had always been with her, but somehow she found it embarrassing to talk about so she didn’t bring it up.
Then how come did she know about Chaga?
“Hmph. It’s a bother to explain. I’ll just undo my spell now, you can guess however you want when you see the girl then.”
Drei said before she snapped her fingers.
At the same time, something burst open inside her mind.
— A memory of what really happened that night was coming back.
“—– And if you do that, you’ll be able pass through the barrier and enter the village…….”
While her head was feeling fuzzy and her thoughts were muddled, Verche was obediently answering the questions directed at her to the extent of her knowledge.
The village’s scale, its population, its notably powerful people, and the way to pass through its barrier.
Most of them was supposed to be kept secret, but for some reason that she couldn’t understand, she felt that she couldn’t conceal them.
When Verche saw that “left eye”, she felt that she must comply with whatever she was ordered to.
Drei nodded in satisfaction after Verche had told her the whole story.
“I see. I’ve heard the gist of what I wanted to know.”
“…. Thank you.”
“But, there’s something that still makes me curious. Shall I hear about it, then?”
“…. Yes, please ask me anything.”
After she acknowledged that, Drei began to scrutinise her with dangerous eyes and asked away.
“When we talked about idle things before I used this eye, I felt that you were hiding something in your words. Most likely it’s nothing important, but I’m just making sure. Spit that out as well.”
Verche’s body trembled.
“……………………….. I’m sorry. That, I can’t tell.”
“What? Why are you hiding it? … Speak.”
Drei’s left eye emitted a purple light.
When Verche saw that light, the resistance that she felt in her heart began to gradually disappear.
“…… What I hid, was about Chaga.”
“What is that?”
“…. My hunting mate.”
“I don’t get it. Why would you hide something like that?”
“Because…….. it’s… embarrassing.”
At that answer, Drei made a dubious look.
‘I just don’t understand’, it seemed that her look was saying that.
However, Verche, who had lost her resistance, slowly began to continue on her own.
“…. I, really hold him dear, I just couldn’t say it well. I’m afraid….. I’m embarrassed that, I’d say something weird, about him.”
“That’s not a reason at all. Apparently the girl herself hasn’t settled the matter as well….”
“…… I’m, not good, with words…… I can’t put, his good side, to other people…. But I’m… embarrassed… sad… because of it.”
“So long story short, it’s just a brat’s love affair. Tsk, I wasted mana for this? ……. That’s enough.”
From the way Drei was speaking, it seemed that she couldn’t care less about what she kept in the depths of her heart.
She tossed the secret that she held dear in the bottom of her heart away just like that. Verche’s chest was hurting.
The woman who stood before her eyes didn’t pay that any mind and continued to talk,
“For the time being, let’s just keep your mouth shut….. alright? Your village is an exclusive one, so I have no idea about how the other villagers would feel about outsiders. Surely you’ll feel bad if the others think were to think ill of the person who saved your life, yes?”
“…. Yes, I’ll feel bad.”
“There, there. good child….. So, Verche. Absolutely don’t mention anything about me to the villagers, alright? Ah, besides that, forget everything that happened since I showed you my left eye. Got it?”
“That’s……… it…….”
Verche was made aghast by the memories that she regained.
She told Drei everything by herself. The location of the village. The method of entrance. The details of their war potential. Everything related to this raid, it all came from her.
‘So…. everything, everything is because of that…..?’
The miasma from the monsters that encircled them.
The terrible smell from the husks of Elves who had fallen in the battle.
Both of them joined up and furiously agitated the insides of her heart.
———- Your fault.
She felt as if someone was whispering that to her.
She felt as if one of the scattered bodies, one of her dead companion’s eyes, was sending the blame her way.
———- The reason that they came. The reason that we died. It was all your fault.
Verche felt as if she was tightly grabbed by the stomach.
An acrid sourness welled up from the back of her throat. She couldn’t hold her vomit in.
“Urkh…..!? Blergh…….!”
“Verche!? Are you alright!?”
Chaga rubbed her back gently, but it couldn’t offer her any comfort.
She kept throwing up and throwing up, and even when there was nothing left to throw up, her stomach was still cramping.
Drei glared down at her.
“Aw. And here I thought you were a bit of a gutsy girl. It turns out you’re frailer than I expected.”
“Bastard! What did you do to our daughter!?”
Upon hearing her father’s cry, the woman culprit sighed deeply.
“Didn’t I tell you just a while back? From the look of your girl over there, take a guess however you want, that I told you. And yet you still ask me to take the trouble to explain it for you? That takes effort. So nope, no can do………………….. Sigh, you lot are slow on the uptake. I’m starting to doubt whether you people will be able to work properly if I were to take you back with me.”
“So you’re the ringleader behind this incident.”
“………. You really are slow on the uptake. What are you saying now? You saw all that and you still can’t understand?”
She said as if she was admonishing her underperforming students.
As they saw the way she behaved, the surviving Elves around her began to get a hold of the situation.
“So the ringleader is that Dark Elf?”
“She manipulated that many demons? That’s absurd, what is she aiming?”
“No, rather than that….”
Someone among them stared daggers towards Verche’s direction.
“She cast a spell on Verche, and dragged out everything about this village from her, huh? So the cause of this—–”
“It’s your fault……………. VERCHE!”
Several people affixed their glare her way.
Her father and mother gazed at her with a look of disbelief on their faces.
Chaga’s hand, which was placed on her back, was shaking as well.
‘St, stop it…!’
She couldn’t bear being stared with that kind of look in their eyes.
“Did, did you deceive me……….?”
She could bear it no longer, and thus without thinking, she called Drei out with imploring eyes.
She still couldn’t believe that she was the culprit behind all of this.
She wanted Drei to tell her that this was a joke. She wanted this nightmarish night to be all just a lie.
However, Drei was just callously laughing.
“Deceive you? Don’t say things that may sully my reputation, now. I haven’t told you a single lie, you know?”
“Aren’t you an adventurer’s companion? Th, this, isn’t what ordinary adventurers do!”
“What a silly one you are, little White Elf girl. I have no memory of telling you that he was a proper adventurer. I just saved you from a monster once, and you dropped your vigilance on your own just like that. Kuhuhuhu….. besides, aren’t normal adventurers already harmful enough for the village?”
“Your village was destroyed, right!? And yet why would you do the same thing yourself?”
“I told you back then, didn’t I? I don’t mind it anymore, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Yo, you told me that your companions were important….. and yet, why are you doing this?”
“It’s not strange, I suppose? My action is in the interest of my companions. Elves have a variety of uses. If I can capture a lot of you people, it’ll please me and my companions.”
“When you said, you went to the forest, to hunt…..”
“Yeah, I was planning to capture these demons. Since they’re this many, even I had to work my fingers to the bone. Especially that cyclops, it really took its sweet time before I can get it under my control. Thanks to that, I made you saw something scary. Yeah, guess I really am sorry for that part.”
The one-eyed giant returned Drei’s words with a low laughter.
That cyclops was the same cyclops that encountered her when she wandered into the black forest. So at that time, it had already became the familiar of that Dark Elf. That was why it pulled back simply with just that.
“All of this… you were planning this from the beginning….”
“Why are you bad-mouthing me?”
The Dark Elf’s face was distorted with even more malice.
“Me discovering about your village was totally just a coincidence. Surely I wouldn’t notice any of this had that day someone didn’t foolishly chase a boar too relentlessly and leave the barrier of her home because of it.”
“……………. Kuh.”
“Huhuhuhu, I am thankful, Verche. Thanks to you, not only that I could produce good results for my master, I can get a hold of you people as an extra too, you know?”
“Ah………”
Strength left her body.
“VERCHE!?”
Chara promptly supported her collapsing body.
Even so, she still couldn’t find the strength to stand.
In other words, Verche came to conclude that this was all her fault alone.
‘Me… a forest hunter that protects her village…… what a joke.’
——– This happened because she met Drei that day.
——– Because she had wanted to hunt the boar down on her own, she wandered into the Black Forest.
——– It was because even though she was a woman, she put her all towards something like hunting.
——- That meant, because of who she was, this happened.
“Because I fancied myself as a big shot, things became like this………….!”
Regret, guilt and self-disdain were endlessly swelling up inside of her.
She was so afraid, her body couldn’t stop shaking.
She wasn’t afraid of death, nor she was afraid of pain.
She was afraid to admit that her life was meaningless and worthless— no, rather, she was afraid to admit that her life brought nothing but harm.
‘After all, through their eyes… everyone is saying that this is my fault….’
Her surviving companions were already glaring at her as if she was their enemy.
——— It’s your fault.
——— Just because you’re skilled with the bow, you think you’re clever and now this happens.
——— You’re unfit as a hunter…. no, you’re unfit as an Elf of the proud Witte clan.
Such thoughts were loaded behind their silent glare. They pierced her entire body.
Her father didn’t say anything as anguish-filled look warped his face.
Her mother who still couldn’t understand all of this seemingly wanted to say something, but she was at a loss of words.
The hand Chaga placed on her shoulder gripped her so hard it hurt her.
Now, the only thing she was afraid of was to lose this warmth that seemed to be disappearing from her any second now.
“Huhuhu. It seems that you’ve come to hate being shamed by your fellow tribesmen than the enemy before you, huh? What an incorrigible White Elf. This is why it was easy to ruin you.”
The Dark Elven woman laughed gleefully.
She took her hand onto the eyepatch that covered her left eye,
“Well then, let’s wrap things up.”
And exposed the purple-coloured eye that was hidden behind it————-
“…! WATCH OUT, CHAGA!”
“Ve, Verche!?”
Verche was moving out of reflex.
She covered both of Chaga’s eyes with her hands, then she grabbed his hand and rushed to the back.
It was that eye. That ominous left eye was the source of Drei’s unnatural power. Verche, who had been struck by its spell once, learned from her restored memories and tried to avoid seeing it as much as she could.
“Even though she appeared to be suffocating to death a while back, it seems like the decision to undo the spell came back to bite me. So she still has some energy with her.”
Drei’s irritated voice ran through her back.
Verche’s parents and the remaining Elves were all petrified when they saw the glint in Drei’s purple eye.
“Don’t, don’t look at that eye! It’s an evil eye! You won’t be able to resist it!”
“So that’s what she has up her sleeve…!”
She was pulling Chaga’s hand and escaping that place in desperation.
It wasn’t that she didn’t feel bad for leaving her parents behind, she just couldn’t help it now.
And besides…. she didn’t want to lose Chaga, she didn’t want him to be taken from her.
Someone who would remain with her until the very end. Her precious partner. Perhaps more dear than just that.
For her, who had just lost her duty, her pride, and her everything, only he remained.
Her mind was in chaos and her heart was in tatters, but the feeling of not wanting to lose him remained.
‘At, at the very least, Chaga alone must make it away…!’
Truthfully, she didn’t know what would become of her if Drei were able to capture her.
But if she were to follow the demons the she should’ve hated and fall to the hands of the the lot who killed these many Elves. Surely she’ll meet a crueler fate than living as an ordinary slave.
She no longer cared about what will happen to her though, so at the very least, Chaga alone must make it.
She firmly held that in her heart as she pulled him away.
“Tsk. I won’t let this force me to shed any effort on my part. I can make the demons to chase after them, but there’s a risk that an accident will happen if I do that, I guess?”
The pair was rushing to the hole that Chaga made to come to this place earlier.
Just before that,
“Hmmm. If it’s this spell, it should be able to stop them without hurting them—–”
Something. Verche could feel some unnatural spell engulfing her entire body….
————————————————————————————————————
Aaand done. Next chapter will be the last of this arc.
Slept longer than I should’ve have.
Do your thing Deskie. On it, guv.
Chapter XXII – Harvest Moon (2/2)
A little while before in time.
The Witte village chief, who was doing his daily meditation in one of the rooms of his residence, raised his face as he abruptly realised something.
There were deep smile lines among his clear-cut, characteristically Elven features, and wrinkles were etched around his eyes. For a long-living race whose times of youth remain for a thousand year, he was dyed that deep in the colour of the aged. One could only guess how many months and years he had gone through.
“You there, Old Gran?”
A deep, calm voice, tinged with a vague hint of nervousness resounded in that room.
There was no one there but himself. And the moment he thought that he was only speaking to himself,
“— I have told thee to cease with that ‘Old Gran’ thing, haven’t I, boy.”
Just before his eyes, the figure of an Elven woman teleported into the vicinity of the reach of his hands.
In contrast of the chief, this woman appeared to be youthful in appearance. If she were to be a human woman, she would probably in her later twenties. Elves do keep their early-twenty appearance for a long time, so she must’ve been older than most Elves, but here the chief called her ‘Old Gran’, and she called him ‘boy’.
“But, Old Gran is, well, an old granny, right? Anyhow, you’ve maintained that appearance ever since I was a kid. And besides, if we were to go with reason, shouldn’t you stop calling me a ‘boy’ already?”
“Humph, and since thou still can’t understand how a woman heart’s works like that, thou shalt always remain a boy……… more importantly, since thou hast summoned me, I assume thou hast also realised it, too?”
After the customary exchange of impressions between the two was over, the Old Gran said so with grim look.
The chief nodded.
“There has been an upsurge of hostile mana force within the village. Judging from the distortion of space-time that I felt on my skin————-”
“A large-scale summoning, huh?”
“Indeed. We must have been under the invasion of a certain someone. I don’t know how they passed through the forest’s barrier, but the fact that someone has brought down an army to suppress this village is for certain.”
The circumstances were grave. Judging from their magnitude from his perception spell, the enemy had prepared a force strong enough to possibly take down a human fortress town. From the time when the Witte clan decided to take residence in this white birch forest, there was no crisis more serious in their history than what was happening right then.
“Is it humans? I’ve heard that those proficient explorers – the ones they call ‘adventurers’, would sometimes intrude through the barriers when they enter the forest…….. no, this magnitude, it couldn’t be humans….”
“Beats me. It could be the act of a spellcaster that stood out even among the humans, an evil deed of a fallen Elf from somewhere, or probably a revival of some sort of an ancient demon….. Either way, there’s no answer to that question in this place. I don’t think a discussion about it is necessary.”
“Indeed.”
Old Gran nodded at the chief’s words. It wasn’t necessary to pinpoint the perpetrator right now. Rather, it was essential for them to cut down the enemy heading for the village posthaste, and rescue their clansmen.
“Well then, time to teach the foolish outsider a thing or two. About who’s who in this village, of course.”
“I’m counting on you, Old Gran. Ah, no… Teach.”
“Hohohoh! Been a while since thou called me that. Long hast thou surpassed me, and being called that way maketh me proud. Well then——”
‘Shalt we?’, so she’d like to continue, but at that time.
“Good evening, I said as my greeting.”
The curiously monotone voice interrupted her.
“…! Who are you!?”
At the chief’s sharp-toned question, the door of the room quietly opened.
What stood there was a small girl, her head lowered for a bit.
The elaborately well-ordered elements was made in the shape of a young lady’s face, who was keeping her calm. Her graceful look would draw the admiration of anyone who glanced upon it, as if her beauty was shaped by the golden ratio itself. Rather than that of a composure, it was perhaps more correct to say that her expression represented absolutely nothing at all, and yet despite this there was something, a hint in that expression of hers that suited her adolescent appearance. Protecting her body was a silver breastplate, and a similarly silver-coloured, boorish-looking gauntlet. Other than that, her stomach was boldly exposed, and there was a wide slit on her skirt, but there was no mistaking that she was there ready for war. And upon a closer look, she was fully armed to her knees. The most curious thing that she wore was the stretched ear decorations that seemed to push their way through from her extravagant platinum blonde hair. Viewed from a distance, they might be mistaken for horns, or the long ears of the Elves, but upon a closer inspection they were covered by something metallic. It would appear that she would have a hard time hearing because of them, but the girl didn’t seem to find them to be such an inconvenience.
The girl slowly raised her head. And her eyes that were once concealed – a pair of supernaturally golden eyes, were exposed to the two of them.
“Greetings, I said to begin my introduction. I am, Fem. Also known as, Opus-05.”
“…. How did you get in here? Rather, what happened to those who should’ve stopped you from getting in here?”
The girl who named herself as Fem awkwardly tilted her neck at the chief’s stacked question.
“Syntax error. Please ask your questions one at a time.”
“Eeergh, boy! Is it the time to ask questions!? A stranger appeareth in thy house at times like this, of course she is with the enemy!”
It finally struck the chief when Old Gran agitatedly interrupted. She didn’t come through intermediaries at that kind of present state and appeared just like that in his place. He didn’t know to whom that girl belonged, but it was highly probable that she was an enemy.
And indeed, Fem answered,
“Correct, I have said to mark the aforementioned statement. We are presently in a military operation. Our target is a certain Elf living in this area.”
“As I thought! You——— no, you people, on whose orders are you acting!?”
“I refuse to answer, I say as a reply. That information is still restricted at this time.”
Then she pulled her right fist and produced her left hand as she took a stance.
It was a barehanded battle stance. A female martial artist was an uncommon sight, but she did had made her way there alone. From that, the chief inferred that her strength must’ve been extraordinary as well. She seemed to be a considerably formidable enemy.
“However——-”
“—– It is clear that thine aim is to keep us here, then I will just make sure that thee don’t! ‘Greater Teleportation’!”
Just before hostilities broke among them, a teleportation magic circle was drawn on the ground. Chantless teleportation had its risks, but their destination point was somewhere within the village that they knew well about. Even in one out of a million chance, it was improbable for them to have the coordinates wrong.
But,
“……. What?”
The light of the teleportation spell’s formation dissipated without its intended effect before it disappeared completely.
……. It was jammed. The teleportation was averted.
With this, it was for certain that the two were in a predicament, as they couldn’t head to the village to provide their aid. Anxiety appeared on both of their faces.
“I jammed the circle’s development upon contact with me….. combat assessment trial, will now commence!”
Not wanting to miss the chance while the two were still shaken, with a howling sound, Fem sent her fist flying.
Her aim was the chief.
“GUGHHHH!?”
Just before her fist made a direct hit, somehow the ‘Defender’ spell was cast as a bulwark, in order to contain the impact.
While it was a chantless attempt, it was still casted by the spellcaster of the highest order among the Elves. The fist wouldn’t be able to pierce through it so easily – or, it shouldn’t have been. What hit the defensive barrier was an incredibly heavy impact that sent the chief flying to the back, without killing him.
His back was caught by the firm walls of the house. At that instant, along with an intense pain on his part, the sound of something cracking resounded in the room,
“——— BOY!?”
While he still heard the fading voice of Old Gran, the chief was expelled to the outsides.
His body was bent backwards, his field of vision switched upwards. All the stars in the sky were falling. No, the only one swept away here was himself. As he was blown away by such a terrific impact, what he saw kept passing in high speed. At that point, the chief comprehended his circumstances, and despite the pain and the gasping due to the lack of oxygen, the chief managed to cast a spell.
“‘Protection’!”
What he invoked was not a instantaneous superhard barrier that he casted a while back, but a spell that successively interfered with the laws of physics. As soon as his surroundings were wrapped with a thin film of mana, he crashed into a grove of trees, broke through them, crashed into another grove of trees, broke through them again – this cycle repeated several times until the chief’s body finally hit the ground.
Leafmould was rolled up before it fell incessantly around him.
As his mudcaked, graceful, middle-aged face warped in pain, the chief somehow could still stand up. He applied recovery magic to his shoulders, which had smashed through several trees earlier, and inhaled deeply to fill in his wrung-out, empty lungs.
“Cough, cough…… ugh….”
‘There’s probably a lot of blood in my windpipe’, he thought as he violently coughed.
……… It was a narrow escape. Had ‘protection’ been delayed in its progression, he would end up in small pieces and scattered all over to become fertiliser for this Mother Forest by now.
And, while it might either be good or bad luck, now he had successfully left his residence. It was possible that they couldn’t jam teleportation from here. It was hard that he had to leave Old Gran who had reared him and protected him ever since he was a child behind, but as the chief the presides over this forest, protecting the village was his absolute priority.
The moment he heartbrokenly prepared a teleportation spell,
“—— It’s futile.”
It was a shock that felt like an impact of a catapulted projectile.
The forest’s soil was overturned once again, its sediment blown away by the tempest.
There was nothing that needed to be said, it was Fem. Perhaps she had leapt here in one go through the hole that he had made. Putting aside the fact that she could dish out an incredible amount of power with her fist earlier, just what kind of body did she possess to allow her to do something like this?
“We have jammed the entirety of the area, I have proclaimed. You will not be able to teleport within the area of the operation.”
As soon as the rain of blown earth and sand settled down, Fem readied her fist once again.
To that, the chief fearlessly smiled.
“So, your target was me.”
“From the measurement of magic potency et cetera, it was deemed that you have a higher threat level, I say to conclude.”
“Is that so. Well, you’ve made my sorrow go away with that.”
The chief also readied his fist as he took a stance to prepare for a battle of spells.
The enemy priority was himself. Then, Old Gran – his teacher – could remain there.
She was also one among the village Elders, in fact, she held the second highest seat among them. If it was her, then she could calmly assess the situation and evacuate from there to aid the village. Even if his life was on the line———– no, even if his life was to become forfeit here, it was fine as long as he could hold this enemy off them.
And then the village would be saved. That was the great trust he placed upon his teacher.
“—— Just as I thought, you’ll go with that? I asked away.”
“What?”
“Excuse my rudeness, I apologise. That was an unnecessary remark.”
He could feel anxiety spreading over his back at the doll-like girl’s words.
‘Somewhere. Did I make a huge oversight somewhere?’
Without filling herself with that kind of doubt, Opus-05, Fem, declared the following,
“Continuing combat assessment trial. I expect a lot of valuable data out of you.
“……… Don’t die, boy!”
After she watched as Fem left her to pursue the chief, the Elven woman, who was known as Old Gran, jumped outside the room. Her chest tightened in regret, as she had to abandon her favourite pupil that she had spent so many years with, her fellow companion who, together with her, had nurtured the village. But if she were to come running to his aid here, it would be an insult to how things were.
Her favourite student was the village Chief. Even in exchange of his own life, he would protect the order of the forest and the livelihood of his people. That man had been living his life with that pride in his heart for a long time. And thus when the time came that he couldn’t come to save his village, that duty would fall upon his teacher.
“Kuh….”
It was supposedly impossible for the Old Gran, the witch who was known as the the great sage of the forest, but her eyes were tearing up.
The chance that the chief would die then was an eight or nine out of ten. Mages weren’t even vanguards, and he was up against someone with that kind of superhuman strength. He wouldn’t be able find the gap to dish out his trump spell, and at best he would undergo a cruel torment leading to his death. The cruel providence of combat had already deemed him defeated and killed.
No, if it was a mage his calibre, it was possible for him to survive against the barrage by utilising his chantless spells. His opponent was a boxer that would use all of her limbs as a weapon, if he could deliver a critical strike against her feet, he could dull her movements and dampen her battle potential—-
There was a bit of a wishful thinking. But if she couldn’t rely on such thoughts, she would find even standing difficult. He was her cute disciple, and now he still was her superior, her comrade, and her——- nah, let us stop there.
Even though someone her age should’ve known better, now there was no spare time for her to indulge in her deep emotions that should’ve had its limits. What she needed now was a cool-headed clear judgement. Based on the circumstances of the past, and the possible future, the most optimal choice for her was to preserve the survival of the village. Now she had to cast away her thoughts of his pupil, and become the ‘Old Gran’ that would show the village the way through.
‘Calm down’, she silently prayed to herself.
And when she indeed became calm….. she realised it.
“‘Tis weird”
There was an uncanny silence in the village chief’s residence. Usually, she would find this peacefulness as something desirable, just like most Elves, who would enjoy the small things in life, but now it was different. Now it meant that the enemy even had the chief’s living room in their grasp.
So did all the people stationed in the mansion get completely annihilated? If that was true, then there was a single contradiction in there.
It was the intruder’s – the one who named herself as Fem – fighting method. While she indeed had incredible physical power, her movements were unrefined. If she were to go on about killing everyone in the mansion, the chief and her would’ve been bound to notice her.
That meant that at least there were two intruders in the residence. There was another one besides Fem.
Then, could it be the mage who did the mass-summoning in the village? If they indeed were the same person, then they must’ve been extremely busy. They had to bring Fem while they attacked everyone in the residence while simultaneously attacking the village – that would be a poor plan. In the unlikely event that the intruder in the residence got caught by them, then the raid on the village would be called of as well.
Then that meant….. At the very least, there should’ve been another one. People that would go along with someone as conspicuous as Fem – someonewho was raiding the village at that moment, and then another intruder who silently killed all of the people in the residence.
At that moment.
—- Thump.
There was a sound from the corner of the passageway ahead.
It was the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.
“What the……..?”
She cautiously kept her murmurs inside her mouth and attentively watched the direction from where the sound originated.
Surely it wasn’t a piece of furniture falling down by chance. Someone was moving, hence the sound. What lay there on the other side…?
It wasn’t the time for her to go staring at things, but she would go with the flow for now. It was careless for whatever they were to run into the Old Gran here.
Honestly, whatever stood there didn’t have to earnestly leave from the entrance. It would be good if they left from the hole that Fem made in the wall as well. That would tell Fem’s senses that someone had escaped from the residence.
At any rate, now she had to prepare to ambush whatever was coming from the corner of the passageway. If she were to show her tail here, they might take that advantage and swoop down on her instead.
The silence that pained her ears. The thing that came crawling from the corners broke it as it appeared.
As the Old Gran fired a spell towards it,
“Eh?”
Her eyes inadvertently went round.
“Aaaah…. aaaaaah….”
Along with dry moans, what appeared there was something that fragmentarily looked like an Elf. Its ears were long, and its hair was blonde.
At the same time, however, it was decidedly not an Elf.
Its skin was chapped and completely dried up, its hair had lost its lustre, and its body was like a withered tree.
Its state was completely weakened, to the point that it couldn’t be alive, and indeed for that reason it should’ve been among the dead. But while it was dead, it was nonetheless still moving.
It was an undead.
“A lesser vampire…….?”
She unconsciously leaked out a dazed tone.
A lesser vampire. A failure that couldn’t be a vampire. When the vampire poured its blood, that was what someone who didn’t have the aptitude to be a vampire or a resurrected corpse would end up as. A pathetic botchery of a dead one.
And as something like that was present, it meant that————
“Aha, YOUUUU’VE GUESSED RIIIIIGHT~~~!”
As if to confirm her belief, another figure of someone appeared there.
Judging from its appearances, it was a young man of a noble stature. His looks could be deemed as refined. His dress was fine, his tops and bottoms were thoroughly decorated with magic equipments, and a cloak with bat wings attached to it enveloped his body. That was how a vampire would look like in the tales of the common public, almost to a comical degree, even.
That’s right, a vampire. The parent of that lesser vampire – an intelligent, high-ranking vampire.
“A vampire… a lord class at that!?”
Perhaps taking the surprised tone as a compliment, the vampire smiled widely. At that instance, from his lips a pair of long cuspid peeked through.
“AAAAAAAND THAT’S ANOTHER CORRRRRRRRECT GUEESSS~! Well, well, you sure know your stuff! Maybe it’s the aura of the noble of the night, which I have emitted all over my body? Or so I say! Ah, how joyful, to think that I can meet with someone with eyes as keen as yours! Maybe it’s the result after I haven’t been outside for awhile too, eh, Lady Elf?”
He stretched his cloak to let it flutter, and he began to spin round and around, dancing. His act was that of a clown, but Old Gran couldn’t afford to laugh at him.
A vampire, moreover, a lord-class. No matter how skilled she was as a mage, this was still too much trouble to ask for her alone. After all, her opponent was a monster who could easily put on airs with the chief and herself, as he killed all the people in the residence. No matter how ridiculous he was acting then, this monster was really not a laughing matter at all.
As she cautiously observed him, the monster suddenly stopped his movements.
“But hey, guess I’m a bit disappointed….. They say that there won’t be any witnesses deep in the forest, so I wanted to draw some blood….. The village, which I actually favoured, was assigned to my senior, so I had to make do with this sordidly men-filled, boring place of a house. Wasn’t this supposed to be the chief’s place? In that case then shouldn’t he have some healthy Elven virgin ladies lying somewhere around here? Well well, this won’t do at all, you Elves have poor fertility – that chief guy should’ve screwed some and made children of his own. And yet every single one I’ve encountered in this house were all males, and non-virgins on top of that…. Well I sucked them only after I killed them, so guess it couldn’t be helped that they all ended up as lesser vampires… dunno if some pure kid were mixed in there too… anyway for some dead corpses, their blood sure tasted good——- right!”
After he grumbled and made his idle complaint, for some unknown reason he kicked his own subordinate’s – the lesser vampire’s, neck.
In the end, the Elf who had gotten his blood sucked after he got killed and turned into a moving corpse was now a genuine dead corpse…… or not, it didn’t stay that way, as the corpse later turned into ashes and disappeared, just like that.
“…. Outrageous.”
“Ahahahahahahahahhaha! But, I guess I’M LUUUUCKYYYYYY!! The very last one among them turns out to be a pretty Elven lady! Well then, milady, are you perchance a virgin? Well then, I won’t kill you, but I’ll have your blood, okay? Right now, I’ll even throw in a bonus – I’ll love you a lot after that, alright! What a great deal!”
He had a peculiar way of speaking, filled with violent mood swings in between the speeches. ‘This man is disturbed’, Old Gran engraved deep in her heart. If she were to be swept away here, she would helplessly have her blood sucked without fail, since there was such a difference of performance between a Vampire Lord and the other kinds within its kin.
“Unfortunately my body hath outlived both my husband and my children. Apologies that I have betrayed thine expectations.”
“Whaaaat, that’s unfortunate…… eh, you’re a widow by death? And not only your husband, you outlived your children too? Hum—–”
Said the vampire whose name she didn’t know before he began to sniff around.
“—- Lady, your spirit does have quite the ancient smell to it, huh? I guess you’re at least two thousand years old? Thaaaat’s straaange. Elves do live long, but I didn’t think they’re supposed to live that long.”
“Thou hast been saying only rude things to this woman from some time now.”
As she spoke, she felt that she couldn’t stop her cold sweat from flowing. It wasn’t like she could wipe it off now. Once he saw an opening, at that same moment he would strike. However, perhaps she could find an opening in him before that instead.
Perhaps, in exchange of the power that it had obtained, vampires would have a lot of weak points. She could exploit that and prevail here.
“Enough of this impertinent talk, thou dressed-up corpse. Thou hadst me aged at two thousand… then I shalt let thee thoroughly chew those years’ worth of experience!”
“… A, aha. Ahahahah! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!”
The vampire replied to Old Gran’s sharp remarks with insane, loud laughter.
His eyes were now a pair of blazing, radiant red eyes.
“Wow, wow, wow, WOW! I guess I really am lucky! In a like this place, IN A PLACE LIKE THIS! I might have found a lead to my master’s goal?! This is good, this is good, THIS IS GOOD! THIS IS REALLY GOOD! Also, you’re lucky too, lady! Maybe I won’t get to suck your blood or kill you, you know!? Well, granted, it’s highly probable that there might be crueler things in store for you but hey! Aaah, guess you’re unlucky instead huh, lady?”
Then, madly, he bared both of his fangs.
‘’Tis fine’, Old Gran smiled. That smile was partially a mere bold front.
In a battle against a vampire, it was necessary for her to keep her composure. The strong point of a vampire was that they had the strength of a beast and yet the intelligence of a human. If she could anger him, starve him, and have him writhing, it was possible that he would abandon his human nature, his nature falling to that of a beast’s, and then she could hunt him down and kill him. That would be the best policy. After all, to hunt was an Elven duty.
‘—- Well then, let the monster hunt commence.’
She said as she let out a rough fighting spirit that did not suit her young face.
The Elves were being hunted.
Here and there, their village was overflowing with demons.
The profane being with a human head, bat wings and tiger body———- the Manticore.
The wriggling, countlessly many-headed snake——– the Hydra.
The scaled, giant rooster with poisonous breath——– the Cockatrice.
And then there were ogres, trolls, werewolves on top of weretigers, direwolves……
Those that were dyed with evil, and those that were born from the darkness itself. Those monsters were descending upon them.
Elves, they kill. Humans, they kill. Beasts, they kill. All living beings, these creatures oppose.
A huge flock of monsters.
As they faced those dreadful threats, those who found themselves petrified in horror heard the sound of footsteps from their back.
—– Rumble, rumble.
It was none other but the cyclops, who remained invincible against all manners of spell that the mages fired at it.
That noise was like an occasional reminder that it was drawing near from their backs.
As if the one-eyed giant was a beater. It drove its prey in packs to be slaughtered, as much as its herd wanted.
As long as the summoned monsters could kill whatever driven being it happened upon, then that was fine for them.
What was happening in this village was exactly that.
Let it be said once again.
The Elves were being hunted.
“—– Hmph, contrary to my expectations, this is disappointing.”
The woman, ignoring the pain and anguish that was occuring in the tragedy below her, curtly snorted.
Her callous scorn melted in the night sky, without anyone noticing.
It’s 3/5 of Chapter 22 done. That meant 3/5 of my promise kept. Apparently my wife believes that honeymoon = no devices. You won’t get the rest of the chapter until the next 12 days. Give me one more day to recover. Which meant the second half will be released at the 14th of April.
If you’re worried that your reading experience will be disturbed by the chapter split. Don’t worry. The other half of the chapter is about another character entirely. Something to do with Opus-05.
I enjoyed the in-depth discussion that had been going on in the previous chapter by the way. That really does make me feel translating this series worthwhile. Respect to you guys.
Do you thing, Deskie. GUESS WHO HAS AWOKEN FROM HIS PRIMORDIAL SLEEP!
Well then, I’m off on a hunt for cherry blossoms.
Chapter XXII – Harvest Moon (1/2)
Two weeks had passed since then.
Witte clan’s village was but a small one. Verche had wanted to avoid running into Chaga when she were to go out, so she stayed home as much as possible. She would lose her nerve were she just to stay at home idly all day, so she tried to learn needlework from her mother instead to kill time, in which she couldn’t do all that well, as all she did was merely wasting materials and tools. She was exceptionally good when it came to skinning slain game animals, but as one might be able to expect, this was out of her element.
She knew that hunting suited her nature more. And for her to hunt again, she knew she had to bring Chaga back on board.
Two weeks had already elapsed from the one month limit she had set.
But at this rate, it seemed that she wouldn’t be able to bear to wait for another three days.
‘Enough time has already passed.’
‘No, not yet, it’s still too early.’
She was spending that full moon night while harbouring those conflicting thoughts
—- All of a sudden. It happened.
Rumble, rumble.
At the earth-shattering tremor that seemed to pierce her guts, Verche raised her face.
“……… What was that?”
The house shook, and small pieces of debris flew from the wall and the ceilings into her room.
‘An earthquake? No, that’s not it.’ There was a sound of something heavy hitting the ground from somewhere. That shouldn’t occur in case of earthquakes.
Rumble, rumble.
Again, she heard that same noise.
Was it perhaps her imagination?
However, she felt that the noise just then was a little bit closer than the previous noise..
Rumble, rumble.
No, this was not a hallucination. The sound was indeed coming closer.
Adding to that, the sound didn’t seem to come from that far away, too.
It was close…. At the very least, it came from somewhere within the village.
Rumble, rumble.
This time, the tremor was even stronger. The noise was louder, too. In other words, whatever this was, was really close.
Rumble, rumble.
And if she were to recall correctly—–
Rumble, rumble.
She felt like she had heard this noise before, somewhere——
Rumble, rumble.
Along with the loudest and closest noise she had heard yet, the light of the moon disappeared from her window.
Did the clouds hinder the moon or something?
Spontaneously, Verche removed herself from the windows.
….. Darkness. It was pitch black outside.
Weird. Be that as it may that the night was a cloudy one, the house which could immediately be seen outside of the window shouldn’t disappear from her sight like this. And that was saying nothing of the fact that Verche was a hunter. She had confidence in her eyes. Even in the mountains during nighttime, she wouldn’t lose sight of the footprints of her game.
She thought it was strange, so she started to look around, until she finally looked up overhead.
—- The full moon.
A towering round light stared down at Verche. But if the moon was still shining, then why was the sky so dark?
“….. Eh?”
…. Then she realised.
Full moons. There were two of them.
No, one of them was not the moon at all. The light it reflected would occasionally appear and disappear, as if it was blinking.
She saw it once. That light.
“GUH, GUH, GUH……..”
“EEEEEP!?”
That voice that came storming down from above. She remembered.
‘Ah, that’s right.’
That light. It was an eye. Also, that giant figure blocked the moonlight, and for that reason it was dark all over.
As if it was satisfied by Verche’s fearful shriek, it narrowed its eye.
The cyclops’ glint.
That was the true identity of the second ‘full moon’.
“Verche, why did you—– huh?”
“What manner of—-“
Her parents, who had come rushing in due to her shriek, inadvertently stopped dead in their tracks.
Well, of course they would.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
This was the white birch forest. The land of rest for the Witte clan, protected by the barrier of the tree spirits. A demon like this should not have appeared there.
No, setting aside the ‘appeared’ part…. it would’ve been impossible for them to not realise its presence the moment it crossed through the barriers.
“Fa, father! Mother! Quickly, run away now!”
“Ri, right! Come now Mom, quickly!”
“Wait, just what is happening—-“
“Just run!”
After she watched her father escorting her mother outside, she started to flee the house as well.
The reason why she started to move only after her parents left the house was not borne out of filial devotion or courage. She was simply paralysed by the sense of dread that she recalled, and for that reason couldn’t move immediately at that moment.
‘Mo, move, movemovemovemove! An, an Elven hunter like me wouldn’t be tied down by something like fear——-!’
Leaning on her trembling legs, Verche tumbled out from her house.
As if it was waiting for that to happen,
“GUH, HAH, HAH, HAAAAA!”
With its fist, the giant sent the house where she was born flying.
“Wha…..!?”
In the aftermath of the impact, Verche’s body was easily blown away to dance in midair.
As she was feeling her top and bottom switching again and again, she frantically attempted to correct her posture to brace her fall.
She broke her own fall. She hit the ground with her back, and rolled several times to reduce the impact before she rose back up.
That flexibility and reflexes of hers were nothing less than the fruits of labour which she had honed in the hills and fields as a hunter.
“Bastard, how dare it did that to our house….!”
She converted her fury to fuel her fighting spirit and suppressed her fear as she scowled at the soaring giant.
She was still shaking, but not to the extent that she couldn’t move because of it. She had no bows nor arrows with her, but unlike that time before, now she had her father and her fellow villagers with her. ‘I won’t be afraid this time!’, she gritted her teeth strongly.
Right there, her father, who had jumped out of the house ahead of her, rushed to her aid.
“Are you alright, Verche?”
“I am… more importantly, father. Where’s my bow?”
“Must’ve been blown off with the house…. Damn it, I did have to move on the spur of the moment there, but to think I didn’t to take it out with me….!”
Well how about that. Father and daughter, both hunters, neither with a bow.
Now that it had become like this, she either had to fight with magic, which she wasn’t accustomed to, or to ask for other’s reserves.
As her enemy was a formidable now, it was clear that she was at a disadvantage. But Verche had not fall into despair just yet. The fact that it was able to breach the barrier without triggering a response and straight invaded the village was incomprehensible to Verche, but she was in her own stronghold now. She could unite with the villagers who must’ve been in their way after they heard the commotion, and strike it in one go with their superior number. Cyclops would be a difficult enemy to fight alone, but its assets were limited only to its giant build and its superhuman strength. If it were encircled and shot by spells and arrows from all directions, it would surely go down.
“What was that noise? …………………….!? CY, CYCLOPS!?”
“A DEMON! A DEMON IN THE VILLAGE!!”
Screams rose from a house nearby. The commotion had been noticed by people.
“Father, others are coming. Let us join up with them and fight it.”
“Right, got it……… Mom, please go and alert the detached houses outside the village. I don’t see how they wouldn’t notice this, but there’s always a case of one or two carefree idiots.”
“Dear, Verche……!”
Cruel as it might be, Verche’s mother had no combat capabilities. She was a gentle lady who did not resemble her husband nor her daughter in that way. Just like her father had said, it was better to keep her away from the line of battle under the pretext of liaison.
Verche’s father turned his face away from his wife, who seemed to about to cry herself, and raised his voice to call upon the villagers.
“Hearken! As you can see, we’ve got a demon in our hands! As of how it did get here, I have not the slightest idea. But as the proud ones of the Witte, there’s one thing we need to do! Exorcise this thing who stands outside of the providence, and protect the peace of this village, this forest!
Those with a bow, get yourself ready – those who know magic, start chanting!”
“OO, OOOOH!”
Being an experienced hunter, Verche’s father’s voice calmed down the restless people around them in no time.
While Verche was still sinking deep emotionally at that sight, she sent her mother away.
“Now, Mother. As Father has said.”
“Very well….. Verche, take care. Take care of him too.”
“I’ll keep that in mind….. Go, now!”
She watched her mother’s departure before she stared back at the giant as it stood there, illuminated by the moonlight.
The cyclops wasn’t moving. It opened its mouth, both ends of it having its fangs showing as it gazed at them.
…… It was laughing.
Realising that, Verche’s mind was burning yet again.
‘What is so funny? That the small people went into a panic, does it find that fun?’
‘I’ll make sure that it’ll regret its arrogance later’, Verche firmly swore.
“….. Apologies for my clumsiness, but please lend me two bows! Ours were struck in the surprise attack. Has anyone got some in reserve?”
“What, an unarmed master huntsman is out of the question…. Someone, has someone got a spare bow?!”
“I’ve got one with me! What about the other bow!?
“Unfortunately, I’ve only got what you see.”
“Ours is a family of mages. So, sorry, but we don’t have one.”
Now, the troublesome thing was there was only one spare bow.
Verche said,
“Then please use this, Father. The thing that was taken from me hasn’t been returned, anyway.”
TL Note: What Verche is trying to say here is that her bow is still taken and hence she felt that she was still being banned from using it, and hence is a lower priority when it comes to taking up the bow.
“You stupid daughter. If we’re talking about the right thing here, of course there’d be no way that a father would let his daughter go unarmed.”
“Back at you, Father. You’re the leader around here, so you’ll have to have one. You’ll have to set an example for these people as well.”
Taking that into consideration, it would be the best for her father to take the bow here.
Also, Verche was a nobody among the Elves. However, even if she would fight only with the mana force which she was born with, she still would not be a burden.
As a known outstanding hunter to the people, and as a person whose position had already been established among these gathered mass, it was a given that her father should be the one who take the bow.
“Here, your bow.”
“Alright, I’ll gladly take it then……… Verche, it looks like that now you think things through before you say anything, huh? As you haven’t been going on a hunt for a while, probably that rush of blood of yours has calmed down a bit.”
Her father said, as he pulled the string of the bow he just received to inspect its condition.
“You jest. Now, more importantly—–”
“Yes. Looks like it’s about to move soon as well, huh?”
Most of the non-combatants have escaped, and preparations over here were about to be completed as well.
Like it was pleased, the cyclops narrowed its single eye.
“GUH, GUH, GUH…..! GUHUHUHUH…..!”
Rumble, rumble.
While laughing and causing tremors, the giant took a step forward their way.
‘It’s walking?’
It didn’t come running nor it was pouncing at them, it just walked their way. Slowly.
This action, they couldn’t decipher the meaning behind of it.
While they indeed were smaller in size compared to it, their numbers was superior, and on top of that all of them were either skilled in the arts of magic or the bow. And yet it still approached them with such leisure, truly the height of folly.
Verche could hear the sound of teeth grinding in anger.
It could’ve been her own, but it could’ve been the other Elves as well.
“That monster, is it making a fool out of us?”
“…. Then, it’s convenient for us. Let’s finish it in one go.”
“As a reward for belittling us, we’ll take your life in exchange!”
The Elves’ morale rose up.
“This is a good chance, but don’t chase it too far. The Elders will come to our aid sooner or later. As long as we can stay alive until then, our victory is guaranteed.”
“Got it.”
“Though, it is indeed vexing that it is scorning us…. Everyone, crush it down! Have its one single eye behold our pride!”
“”OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH—!!””
At that word of command, arrows and spells were flying all over in the night sky.
Verche also joined in by casting an offensive spell she had learned many years ago.
Giants, especially cyclops, were in fact weak against magic. Their intelligence is low and their spirit is also unripe, both factors mean that their mana force is virtually zero. That also means that it doesn’t possess an evil eye commonly seen in other monocular monsters. Regardless, its vitality is still formidable, and a lone mage would have a hard time taking it down unaided.
However, the spells that were being casted here were cast by none other than a clan of Elves, proficient in magic. And more than ten of those elves were casting the spells at the same time. No matter how sturdy its giant body was, it wouldn’t offer that much resistance against a volley of their spells.
——- Or, that should’ve been the case.
“………….. Eh?”
There, at that moment, Verche saw it.
Just before the barrage of spells landed, a thin, clear light film enclosed the cyclops.
The spells exploded. But they exploded before they reach the cyclops’ skin. Just before that.
The arrows were all repelled. There must be something at play in the air before they were being released from the bows.
As a result,
“GUH, GUH, GUH……….”
—– it remained unhurt.
“Impossible!?”
“Wa, was that…. a magic barrier!?”
“‘Magic Shell’ on top of ‘Protection’……………!?”
“No way! Don’t giants lack intelligence?! There’s no way that they can use magic!”
The monster’s single eye sneered at the Elves’ loss of composure due to the incomprehensible reality.
Rumble.
And then, it took yet another step.
“EEEK….!?”
“Do not falter! Even if it can defend against magic, it won’t be able to do it forever! Keep striking!”
Verche’s father threw a word of encouragement at his faltering companions.
Well, what he said was correct. They just had to somehow disarm its magic protection and take the giant down.
“You mages, is there anyone among you who can dispel that protective magic!?”
“That… considering that it could even stand guard against spells with such scope and intensity, I predict that the protective spell was cast with a mana force so powerful that it allowed its barrier to do that. We can try to dispel it, but that force must be dampened to a certain extent first.”
“So, in the end there’s no option but to continue! …… One more time, let’s do this!”
“”OOOH, OOOOOOOOOH!””
They mustered their weakened willpower to try another all-out attack one more time.
As she joined their attempt, Verche thought to herself,
‘Strange…. I can’t see Chaga’s figure anywhere.’
That friend that she parted with awkwardly two weeks ago. He wasn’t there.
No, setting that aside, considering the current scale of emergency, the number of people who gathered there was too terrible. The people she saw there were residents who lived around that place – those who were already around when the cyclops attacked. Reinforcements should’ve arrived from some time ago, and the village’s strongest war potential – the Elders, shouldn’t have taken this serious state of affairs so leisurely, too.
“GUHU, GUHU, GUHUHUHUHUHU!”
As it intensified its sadistic smile, the cyclops took another step.
Rumble.
As if to shake off their very own fighting spirit, the earth trembled.
The more it approached, the more overwhelming its figure became. A drop of its saliva fell from its mouth and hit the ground with a sound
One of the young Elves screamed in horror at the sight.
“He, hey… HEY!? WHAT ARE THE OTHERS DOING!? THE ELDERS!? WHAT ARE THE ELDERS DOING AT TIMES LIKE THESE!?”
“Yo, you there! Calm down!”
While Verche’s heart was still being shaken, she rebuked the heartful cry that voiced the youth’s question.
The youth however, shakingly, began to fall back.
“HOW CAN I BE CALM AT TIMES LIKE THESE, VERCHE! WH, WHY DO YOU THINK WE CAN WIN AGAINST THIS MONSTER WITH JUST US!?”
“Someone, calm that person down! ……. Its barrier hasn’t been dispelled yet!?”
“No, no good! The spell is not wearing down enough! CRAP, JUST WHAT KIND OF RIDICULOUS MANA FORCE WAS USED TO CAST THE SPELL, ANYWAY!?”
There was screaming mixed in the mage’s reply as well.
As the monster continued to ridicule their powerless, its giant figure blocked the full moon once again.
A giant shadow fell, in the Elves’ vicinity.
“GUH, GUH, GUH, GUH, GUH………..!”
“No breakthroughs, huh………… Retreat, retreat at once! As you lead your way outside the village, try to join up with the others!”
Her father did issue that instruction, but she wondered if he really believed that there was any chance of success in that. His expression was stiff, and cold sweat ran through his intrepid face.
No reinforcements appeared at all. Even their moral support, the village’s strongest mages – the Elders, were especially absent for some reason.
Then, as if to answer that question which had been flickering for some time now,
——– BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM……….!
The Elves’ long ears caught a noise that resembled a distant thunder.
“Wh, what!?”
“The cyclops’ attack—– no, it’s not. That sound was too far away…..”
——– BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM……….!
Another explosive sound from another direction.
Then, at the same time, at the opposing side of the cyclops’ figure, flames rose from the edges of the village.
“Co, could it be…..”
As she trembled with fear, Verche finally was able to comprehend the meaning of all of this.
“It’s not just here…. are you saying they’re all over the village…!?
This chapter was a bitch to translate. A very bad case at that. Can’t believe I spent all that time edging on being insane just because of lemmas and irregular grammar. Well done sensei.
Next chapter should be released somewhere before my wedding.
Here’s your discord channel. Feel free to drop by and you might be able to hasten the translation just by pestering me for one every day.
Do your thing Deskie. Hah, I did it! Edited.
Oh and also. Credit to Kandovan for partially translating this chapter. Your effort is much appreciated.
Chapter XXI – His and Her Circumstances
“Urgent comm from Opus 03. Urgent comm from Opus 03. Requesting reply from command. I repeat——–”
“…………. This is command, Opus 01 speaking. Reception is exceedingly satisfactory. Please go ahead and state your message, Opus 03.”
“What, so it’s Uni? Is Master currently occupied?”
“Indeed. As of present, he’s currently overseeing several projects. Directing command is provisionally entrusted to me at this time.”
“Then, convey this message to Master, ‘an unexpected big game has appeared, I need reinforcement, so at the very least, please send the Opus Series over here’.”
“… How baffling. Hasn’t it been confirmed that there’s no threat in the relevant area that you can’t handle?”
“No, Uni. It’s not that it’s out of my hands. I just need more hands around here. Get it?”
“….. I see, I’ve grasped your circumstances. I will convey your message to Master without fail and get that green light for you. Please continue to carry on your original duties until the next contact.”
“Understood. Opus 03 will continue to engage in the original mission until another order is issued. Over.”
“I wish you success. Over.”
“Good grief, just stop being rash, Verche. To think you went out alone to hunt and got lost in the black forest while you were on it…”
“You’re noisy, Chaga. It’s not like I went out because I wanted to.”
Verche, who had just been released from the long, long lecture from the Elders, turned her face away from her male friend who had came to nag at and vehemently argue with her, and he did it worse than the Elders.
If one were to glance skywards, they’d notice the dazzling shine of the sun that was about to reach its zenith in the midsky. If one were to look around, they’d find roof-thatched houses of mud scattered about around the trunks of the white trees.
Birds were singing as they sat perched on the roofs of the houses and the barks of the trees, telling one’s ears that the serenity that they felt was by no means a silent thing.
The peaceful atmosphere around the place had a certain rigid order about it, despite its tranquility.
This place was the village of the Witte clan, where the Elves that inhabited the white birch forest resided.
Verche had parted with Drei after the dawn of that night had broke, and returned to the white birch forest. She had wanted to introduce Drei, her benefactor, to the village-folk, but Drei refused. She said that for Elven people, surely bringing strangers into their villages would be an offence. It would certainly be a big deal for those in the Witte clan if an adventurer—– well, actually, their slave——- were to approach the immediate vicinity of their barrier. Considering that it wasn’t once or twice that those adventurers had wrought devastation to the forest when they come to forage for herbs.
Of course, unlike unintelligent beasts, they’d only grab what they need and leave some left after, but that was only because destroying the place where those herbs would grow en masse would prove to be unfavourable for them. Should a time come when a villager would need to grab these herbs that have been harvested before by those adventurers, the herbs would end up completely wiped out. After that, there would be nothing left to do but to accept the fact that they were gone and cry themselves to sleep about it. The villagers had experienced this over and over again. While Drei did save Verche’s life, the prospect of how welcoming they would be remained doubtful.
“— So, Verche. Absolutely don’t mention anything about me to the villagers, alright?”
She made that promise with Drei as they looked at each other in their eyes.
The Elders did persistently ask her about how she went about spending a night outside the white birch forest’s barrier, to which she insisted in her answer that she hid herself in a naturally-occuring shaft there. She wasn’t sure why she had to hide her encounter with Drei to that extent, but a promise was a promise.
“Hey, Verche.”
She sighed as Chaga called her out. For some reason she became restless as she recollected the events that happened the other day.
“Sorry, I was a bit out of it.”
“Could it be that you’re tired? …… Well of course you are. You spent a night in a scary place like the black forest all alone, after all.”
Chaga said with a gloomy look on his face.
Verche indeed felt fatigue catching up to her. But the cause of her fatigue was because she was lectured a while back. In fact, back in the forest, she was enjoying herself as much as she would in the village, probably thanks to Drei.
“Rather than that, I’m feeling bitter since the Elders forbade me to go out hunting for a while. They went as far as to take my bow away.”
“Eh? Do they normally do that?”
“‘Use this opportunity to act ladylike, like any other women”, they said. They made a fool of me, huh.”
Even recalling those words was hard to stomach in itself.
Had they rebuked her for the fact that she was still an inexperienced hunter, then she could still understand. She did chase the prey too far and ended up getting lost and all that, so in those respects she was indeed not prepared enough to go hunt alone. The adults, however, refused to admit that Verche was a hunter from the get go. And despite of that, those pieces of meat she got as a proof that she had brought a large game by herself – they happily took them all for themselves. They really did made a fool out of her.
For her, it was vexing that they took her bow away as well. She had been using that bow for the last ten years, it was her beloved bow. That bow was the very same bow that had taken down a large bear – three metres in height – a long time ago. It was easy to handle, and most of all, she was attached to it. Unlike the pieces of meat that she wouldn’t be able enjoy now, surely they’d return that bow someday, but it was hard to bury the feeling that they had taken something that was almost like a part of her body. She felt depressed the moment she realised that she’d continue to feel that miserable for a while from now on.
“Well that’s too bad. I had wanted to show you what I’ve got during the next hunt, but I guess we’ll have to postpone that for a some time.”
“What are you saying now, Chaga. You’re bad with bows, and your legs are slow.”
Verche replied without hiding not one bit of her exasperations. The whole thing was useless, even if Chaga said it only to console her. Chaga hadn’t been of much use during the times they went out to hunt together. Magic was his forte, so he could heal her if she got injured, but never had once had Verche badly injured herself during their time out. Regardless, this overprotective boy would use hyperbolic spells just to treat even the most trivial of injuries – even though she’d always tell him that “spit is enough to treat it” every time she got one.
“Ta, haha”, probably Chaga was a bit hurt as he laughed lethargically, but suddenly a look of self-confidence returned to him.
“Hang on now. Yesterday, I finally have got this promising thing that’d probably be of use to you.”
His ears twitched as he tapped his chest while he uttered those words.
From the way he said that, it was clear that he had pretty much succeeded in this endeavour of his. It was impossible for his archery or trekking skills to improve that much in a single day, so most probably, it must be that he had buffed himself with some sort of a new spell.
Come to think of it, now that he said that it was yesterday, it coincided with the day when Verche went out alone to hunt the large boar. At that time, she did feel that it was strange for him not to tag along, as it turned out he probably came up with something peculiar and concentrated his efforts in it.
“Eh? If you say that far, then I guess I’m a bit interested. By all means, I’d like to see this ‘promising’ thing myself.”
“Thought you’d say so. Why don’t we go to the plaza then.”
As soon as she said that, Chaga stood up and ran off ahead of her. Verche had to trot to keep up with him.
‘He said that he came up with something that’ll be useful during the hunts, right?’. It could be said that she felt half-expecting and half-anxious about this, moreover for some reason she recalled that thing that brought excitement to her index finger. As expected, she loved hunting after all, she reaffirmed that feeling once again.
As she was chasing his back, she could feel that her gloom was clearing up a bit.
…. At that time….
“Hey, Chaga seems to be on to something!”
“Heard it was some sort of a spell to help our hunt!”
“Reaaallly? That Chaga?”
“Chaga said he’s about to show it soon!”
Before they knew it, curious young Elves had gathered in the plaza. While Elves prize the concepts of tranquility and order, as one might expect, passion and vigour are things that youth in general cannot repress.
There were about ten of those onlookers. Every one of them was young, younger than a hundred years old, there were two girls with known eccentric interests among them.
Feeling uncomfortable due to the gazes of the surrounding eyes, Verche gently whispered,
“Hey, Chaga. People are watching, is this okay with you?”
“It’s fine. It’s not an offensive magic that’ll hurt anyone anyway.”
“No, that’s not what I mean….. I’m worried that you’ll get nervous and screw up the spell.”
“….. Verche. You, just what do you think I am—– no, just don’t say anything. I do have a rough guess.”
Chaga let out a deep sigh at Verche’s doubtful gaze.
“What are you two whispering about~?”
“So the spell demonstration thing is a pretext? This is actually going to be a confession!”
“But, just then, Verche said something first, right?”
“So, Verche confessed first?”
“Yeee, what passion!”
Somehow the conversation between the strangers went into a strange direction.
Verche shouted at them without holding her voice back.
“Shut up, all of you! As if I’d say something like that!”
“”Eeeeeh~””
“Just, what are you all getting so disappointed for…. Anyway, look, the bow and the beasts are my love, alright? I’m not missing out on my own love affair!”
“Liaar-! There should be meat along those lines!”
“Meeat, meeaaaaat! Meat-loving Vercheeee!”
“Eeei! If it’s meat then don’t you people eat it as well!?”
Among the uproar that rose all of a sudden, Chaga coughed.
“Err… can I start now?”
“Yeah, right. There’s no end to it if I keep responding to these guys anyway….”
She took a distance from Chaga who was preparing his spell, all the while feeling that even more fatigue had racked up inside of her.
The village youth, in wonderment of what he was going to do, also switched their points of attention to Chaga.
“Well then, here I go, okay? ‘Oh, brethren of my covenant. Thou hath accepted thy price, therefore in haste shalt thou appear in my presence’…..”
He continued to recite various chants for a while after that.
If what Chaga said a while back was true, then he had just learned of this spell yesterday. To achieve the perfect intended result, it can’t be helped that he had to recite the full chant of the spell.
The people around them also suppressed their voice as they watched Chaga intently. If they were to interrupt the spell here, there may be an unforeseen bad effect due to the accidental discharge of the spell.
Eventually, the spell reached its culminating chant.
“‘Come forth, my servant! —– Summon Familiar’!”
The moment he finished his spell and concluded the hand gestures, the ground shone.
With the use of his mana, the increasing light drew a magic circle on the ground. The space on its centre was bent, and something came out of it.
It was a beast. A beast of the forest, with a darkened ashen grey fur.
A wolf appeared there.
When the light dissipated and the magic circle vanished, what remained there was a single wolf, its eyes were closed and it kept its head down, as if showing them its submission.
“Oooh! What is this!?”
“Could that be…… summoning magic!?”
“Awesome! Gran and her folks must’ve taught you the spell!”
“Well done, Chaga!”
As the crowd showered him with praises, Chaga was all bashful while playing with the tip of his ear.
Then, he faced Verche’s way and showed her a smug smile.
“So how is it? I’ve a made a contract with a wolf from the forest, and it’s now my familiar. This guy’s nose is good, and it’s enough to take down a small game alone. Of course, it’ll be hard for this guy to deal with the big games that Verche usually hunt, but it’ll do just right as a beater.”
TL note: A beater is “someone that drives a game towards its hunters in a hunting party”, according to Wiktionary.
“…….”
Verche kept her silence as she glanced at the wolf.
The wolf familiar, unbecoming of a beast, was showing them its submission as it meekly kept its rump on the ground. It didn’t approach her and stick its tongue out to familiarise itself with her, nor did it bare its fangs at her like she normally would expect, it just remained there motionlessly. It was almost like the creature before her was not a wolf, but in fact another being entirely.
Chaga peeked at Verche’s expression, wondering that she probably found it strange.
“What is it, Verche? You’re all silent and your face is scary.”
“Aa, aah. It’s nothing.”
“Nothing…. so you have no response to that? Sigh, even though I’ve really had a hard time learning the spell and controlling the child and all that….”
“It’s not that, I find this surprising, and I think it’s amazing. I can’t use this kind of magic and this child will surely be useful during a hunt………… I think.”
———- But, she wasn’t happy at all with it.
That was Verche’s true feeling.
This beast was taken away from its herd, stripped of its instincts, and it wagged its tail at the hunter. Rather than a wolf, it was more like a dog. No, it was more like a gargoyle, just with flesh and blood. Even in its unnatural state right now, it should at least have been able to defy the obligation to obey the Elves.
She was being finicky and on top of that, petty. She knew that. Chaga busted his butt to learn the spell for her sake, and he obtained this familiar for her sake as well, for her to be not able to at least show him she was honestly happy for those gestures were just…..
Meanwhile, one of the girls among the onlookers approached them with an interested look on her face.
“Hey hey, may I touch this child? The child won’t bite or anything like that, right?”
“Ah, yes. It’ll defend itself if you hurt it though. But if you’re just stroking it…”
“Whoa, you’re right-!”
What Verche saw there was the wolf keeping itself calm as it was being stroked by the village girl. And it didn’t end there. It actually drew its forefeet onto its belly and lied down on its back, showing her its belly. For a hunter who did face wolves repeatedly during the times they had threatened the village, it was nothing sort of an unbelievable sight.
‘Chaga…………. This thing, is absolutely not a wolf.’
Even looking at it made her sad.
Wolves were among the most beloved beasts to Verche. Yes, they did threaten her village from time to time, and they had been the match of her bow for so many times now, but regardless she respected their gallantry, their strength, their cunning, and their ability to be affectionate to their packs. It was for that reason that after she hunted them down, she’d never fail to eat their meat. The youths in her village found their meat to be smelly and unsavoury, so she would eat them alongside the earnest, old-fashioned adults, who believed that it was a courtesy to their proud prey.
But this familiar, this thing that used to be a wolf. She didn’t feel anything like that towards it. Should it drop dead, she didn’t think that she could deem its remains as ‘meat’.
———- Because this thing was no longer a wolf, it’s a tool.
———- When it dies, of course it won’t turn into meat.
———- When a tool is broken, what’s left of it is just junk.
She thought of those things, and when she deemed that she couldn’t regard the thoughts to be wrong in any way, Verche sank even more into her sorrow.
“Verche, you’ve been like that for a while, what is it? ………… Could it be that you’re not happy with it?”
“No, it’s not—-”
‘It’s not like that’ was what she had wanted to say, but she couldn’t bear to finish her words.
If she were to say that, the pride that Verche held up until now, the memory of her battles against the beast she hunted. All of that would be a lie.
“Surely she’s just worried that it’s too quiet and thus won’t be able to be useful during hunts?”
“Hahah, yeah, probably that!”
“Could it be that Chaga’s timidness infected his familiar as well?”
As such did the onlooker youths misinterpreted the sorrow that Verche showed.
It seemed that Chaga was quite angry at those words.
Unlike the usual mild-mannered man that he was, he bristled up and raised his voice.
“It’s not like that! If I order it properly and pour my mana into it, its bodily functions will improve as well. Let me show you. Its moves will be much more amazing than wild wolves, here, now, I’ll show———”
“CHAGA!”
Inadvertently, Verche had restrained him with a harsh tone.
She didn’t want to see this wolf to be treated like a toy any longer. And such thought made her to raise her voice.
Chaga stared her way, bewildered.
‘Why would Verche use that tone with me?’, the fact that he couldn’t comprehend that was written all over his face
“Chaga, I’m glad that you’ve been putting effort so that you can be useful during our hunts. But… you’re doing this the wrong way.”
‘Now I said it’, Verche thought as she wallowed in regret.
Surely what she said hurt Chaga. He was proud of his spell and had learned it with great pains, just to have it repudiated by her. Thinking that, even she who had spent a long time associating with him couldn’t help but to feel bitter about it. But, regretful as it was, it was necessary.
The longer she watched Chaga treat the wolf like a tool, surely the more painful her thoughts would become. That way, the more she would want to speak harsher then than she would now. And thus she had to tell him right now, she had to tell him about how she felt about hunting and the beasts. She held that thought in her mind and continued speaking,
“Ver, Verche? What are you—-”
“Just, listen to me…………. It will be useful during our hunts, I have no doubt about it. I have seen a lot of beasts over all these years, so I can tell. It’s still young now, but in time it’ll grow and it’ll be stronger than it is now. But even if I were to use this on a hunt, I’m sure that I wouldn’t be happy about it.”
“Why… are you saying that?”
Chara replied peevishly.
The onlookers also showed their confusion at this dubious turn of events.
“Don’t you pity this child? It was taken from its pack, bound by magic——–”
“It’s not like that, Verche…. I established a equal contract with this wolf. In order so that it won’t starve when it fails to catch a prey, I supplied my mana in lieu of its food. In order so that it won’t be hunted, it obeys us. Where does pity enter here?”
“The fact that it obeys us. Being obedient to those who is not the leader of its pack, that is just not how a wolf lives.”
“I can’t understand what you’re saying here, Verche….”
She was bitter with her shoddy choice of words.
‘So I have to put it in a simpler way for him to understand. There’s just no way to put this more softly, huh.’
As she thought of that, she strenuously wrenched her face and wring out her words.
“Besides, Chaga, this is different from the way how Elves do things in my mind. Elves are an equal party to nature. Sometimes things don’t work out, we hurt each other, we kill each other. To that end, that is why we hunt. However, it is because that we stand in the firing line that we know that there is pride and joy in the act of hunting. To force a being of nature to obey us and stand in the frontlines on our behalf is not how Elves hunt.”
Verche’s brain recalled a certain glitter of silver.
There, yesterday, around the neck of the benefactor who saved Verche’s life, the thing that she wore there.
The proof of the bond obtained in exchange of the destruction of her clan.
But, that—— at the same time, to Verche, was surely the fruit of two mutually exclusive ideas.
‘I’m sorry, Drei….”
On top of the guilt of having trampled on Chaga’s kindness, there was another guilt piled up inside her.
“Asylum in exchange of obedience. That is… the same as attaching a collar on it. I can’t attach a collar on those who are equal to myself.”
Those conflicting words also disavowed her benefactor’s way of life.
“That is why… Chaga. If you can, can you please release that child from the spell and return it to its pack?”
“……..”
The expression of Chaga was full of bewilderment and grief.
The efforts that he had made this far, and its result, were now being slashed and dumped because she thought the other way.
Had Chaga done the same thing to her, surely she’d be angry, surely she’d be sad.
But if she couldn’t say that. If she didn’t say that. Verche felt that she’d lose the sense of her own self.
Sure enough, to that, Chaga quietly opened his mouth.
“Verche.”
“What.”
“If. If I were to return this wolf to the forest, and then if it were to attack the village, would you hunt it down?”
“… I would hunt it down.”
“You’ll hunt it down, you’ll kill it…… and you’ll eat it?”
“I would eat it.”
“Why? Even though wolves taste bad.”
“If they were to kill us, they’d do the same thing as well. Thus I’ll do the same thing. To respect it as an equal.”
“…. But you hunt birds and deer as well.”
“When Elves die, our remains will return to the forest and fertilise the vegetations. They eat that.”
“You’re not being reasonable, Verche.”
“I’m not trying to. It’s just providence, Chaga.”
And without complying with that providence, Elven hunters – she, couldn’t hold herself true. Verche firmly believed that.
Chaga haggardly shook his head several times.
“As I thought, I just don’t understand, Verche….”
“…..”
“I just don’t think that binding it with magic is crueler than hunting it down and eating it.”
“…… Is that so.”
When that word was muttered, she realised that they had failed to reach a consensus.
At the same time, she concluded that the views between the two in regard of the act of hunting were at odds with each other.
Then,
“Then, enough.”
“Verche?”
“…. I won’t ever hunt with you again.”
She couldn’t hunt with those who didn’t share that line.
It wasn’t a matter of skill, nor was it a matter of compatibility.
The matter was about the pride of the Elves that resided in the white birch forest.
…. Because their point of view differed there, she could no longer go out hunting with him.
Verche turned away from him and started walking.
“W, wait!”
She could hear Chaga’s voice at her back.
As she passed, one of the onlookers on her way exaggeratedly jumped aside.
Then, she left the plaza that way.
That day, her bow was taken away, and she had to let go of her companion that she had been indebted to.
“Chaga, don’t be so hard on yourself now.”
“Well, I guess it’s understandable after he got shot down that harshly, though….”
“But doesn’t this make it clear? That hunting freak is just not your match, you know.”
“Hey, don’t put it that way, alright!?”
The onlooker youths were now unanimously counselling Chaga, who was left behind in the plaza.
‘They’re just doing whatever they want’, Chaga thought.
‘Even though they were pesteringly mocking me a while back’.
He had been thinking as selfish as they were in a way, and he found it to be unsightly.
He couldn’t sincerely take in their consolations, and he couldn’t take in the other party’s notion. Perhaps it was that side of him that struck Verche’s nerves.
“Anyway, don’t you think that she shouldn’t have behaved that way?”
“Thought so as well. I just can’t understand what she did then.”
“As I thought, that kid is just out there.”
“She’s a woman, but she spent all her time hunting, so, well I guess I kind of saw that coming?”
The two Elven women sure said some fine things when the intended person is not around.
Chaga wasn’t a fan of these kind of people.
Though he had that kind of mask on him too, so it wasn’t his place to comment anything about it.
As he thought, he’d prefer someone who could say it like it is to the person’s face.
Someone like………….. Verche.
“Verche……….”
“Kah! Even though we already said that much, you’re still on about her?”
“Chaga is really sick in his own way too…”
“He’s just helpless.”
Even though they said that, Chaga liked what Chaga liked, so it couldn’t be helped.
Chaga had always liked Verche from a long time ago.
He’d always feel rejuvenated every time he saw how Verche moved like she was having the time of her life every time they go out on a hunt. Her profile that seemed to be about to burst every time she drew her bow, it was almost as if she was the goddess of the forest, it was beautiful.
She was a stubborn one, and since he was a drag she’d always scold him harshly over that, but she was never cruel to him, and she would never turn him away during her most prized moments that was hunting.
But, it seemed that today it had finally came to an end.
Chaga had made her angry and hurt her. He believed that what he did, he did for her sake, but it instead hurt the pride of a hunter that Verche held dear.
Even though he was the one who had wanted to keep seeing that sight when she was out hunting the most.
“Cheer up, Chaga. I don’t think what you said back then was that mistaken, alright?”
“Right, right. We hunt to protect the forest and the forest and the village. No need to add unnecessary aesthetics there.”
“What she said back then was her own savage reasoning to justify herself when she kill a beast with her bow.”
Chaga also felt that he wasn’t in the wrong there.
The number of beasts that got driven from the black forest and wandered into the white birch forest had been rising from year to year. People from the outside world had been opening the woods and pushed down the monsters to its deeper reaches, destroying the beasts’ habitat in the process. If this were to continue, the burden of the village’s hunters would increase. For that reason, using familiar to help them hunt should be seen in a positive light.
There was nothing wrong with his line of thought. He could say that with conviction.
———- ‘Really, though?’
Verche’s words still lingered in his ears.
— ‘“Asylum in exchange of obedience. That is… the same as attaching a collar on it. I can’t attach a collar on those who are equal to myself.”’
Elves are an equal party to Mother Nature, and thus we can’t bind it down, she said.
— ‘“Don’t you pity this child? It was taken from its pack, bound by magic——–”’
— ‘“The fact that it obeys us. Being obedient to those who is not the leader of its pack, that is just not how a wolf lives.”’
She wasn’t happy with how the beast was forced to yield, she said.
When he recalled those words, the conviction that he was in the right began to fade away.
In terms of hunting, her ways would always be the correct way.
The beasts, too, knew her ways well.
“…………….”
The wolf that Chaga had summoned as his familiar continued to maintain its posture in standby, waiting for his orders.
‘Just what does he think about this?’
‘Do you agree with me and reason, that it’s better for you to obey me and live, or do you instead agree with her and providence, that it it’s better for me to kill you instead?”
The wolf’s eyes were cold and inorganic, like a mirror it continuously reflected Chaga’s question back at him.
“Well, this is unusual. You fought with Chaga, and on top of that, you went home all dejected like this.”
So said Verche’s father at the sight of her depressed self, sinking into the bed of her room.
In his teasing tone was the certain air of his interest in this unusual occurrence.
Verche’s father was an excellent hunter, but sometimes he’d show a childish side that was unbecoming of an elf his age. Normally Verche would reply his jovialness with a wry smile, but she wasn’t in the mood for any of that today.
“So according to what I’ve heard, you fought because you disagree with his views, in regards of hunting?”
“…. Yes.”
There was no spirit in her answer. Like a bow whose string got cut.
During the one hundred years time she spent living, this was the first time she sank in her feelings like this.
Her body was all heavy, as if she couldn’t move at all, however various thoughts kept going round and around in her head, she felt like fainting.
Even before her superior and her mentor in hunting that was her father, she didn’t even have the energy to raise and show her face.
Ignoring his daughter’s poor manners, the father said,
“But indeed. I thought that all you’re doing is just playing with your bow all day long, which is unlike most women – but it turns out that you do have quite the firm principle when it comes to hunting. You don’t hate the beasts, and you respect them as an equal opponent. That is indeed how an Elven hunter should be. I think that your attitude is a splendid one, one that I can’t even see in the young men nowadays, you know?”
“Father….”
He was praising her without exaggerating it.
Those words should’ve made her happy.
But for some reason. Her feelings didn’t lighten at all.
As an Elf, as a hunter, Verche had always acted the way she thought was the right way.
But what had been the result of that? Yesterday, she chased her game too far and was humiliated for it, she was rebuked because of it, and she had her bow taken away from her. And now she had a fallout with her long-time hunting companion and friend.
Though not very much so, now she felt that she couldn’t think of herself as a splendid hunter.
Even when she calmed her thoughts and reviewed the circumstances composedly, she would return to feel as bad as before.
Besides, she could understand Chaga’s reasoning.
Recently, the number of beasts had been increasing, and a lot among even the most proficient hunters were at loss with what to do with it. If she were to take this into consideration, while it does go against nature’s providence, that power was necessary to help the hunters to protect the village.
—— She had crossed the line.
The act of killing is terrible. Eating the meat of a beast without reasoning that it is delicious, all the while when the act of eating it is not actually necessary to keep on living is even crueler to the beast. Thus graciously forming a contract with a beast and gaining its obedience should’ve been the more compassionate choice compared to killing and eating it.
—— She had crossed the line yet again.
But the line that Verche had crossed so far into was different than theirs.
That was the reason why she trampled on Chaga’s kindness.
“Well, I guess it’s a good opportunity, eh, Verche?”
When she was deep into her thought, her father said something strange.
‘Opportunity? What opportunity.’ Will he say something like those hard-headed old people, that she may use this chance to be more feminine from now on? But, her father had just praised Verche’s attitude towards hunting. She felt it would be something else.
“I’ve always thought that you and Chaga aren’t much of a match. There’s a difference between your hunting skills and his, and then there’s too much difference between your temperament and his, too. When you have your confiscated bow back, shall we find another partner for you?”
That proposal was unexpected.
Certainly, Chaga had been a burden to her. He was piss poor both in the matters of handling the bow and pursuing the prey, and she didn’t think that he was at all enthusiastic about hunting in the first place. Just like a chick would follow its mother, the man had just wanted to stick to Verche’s back.
Instead of an unreliable partner like that, of course pairing her with another hunter would be the sensible judgement here.
From the beginning, she’d often pair up with someone else during large hunts with the villagers. Due to the Elders’ decision, those with meagre skills in hunting would not be allowed to participate in mountain hunts. All Chaga did so far was to accompany her in her small-scaled, personal hunts.
“…………….”
But still, she’d always continue to pair up with him.
No matter how far Verche would rush in, Chaga would always come along without fail, even though she’d always shower him with warnings and scoldings, he would always meekly accept them.
Other men wouldn’t do that. Yes, their strength and their skill in archery would surpass him. But from Verche’s viewpoint, all of them had no outstanding characteristics besides that. And despite that, the moment Verche carried a hunt and outshone them, they would always grumble in discontent, saying things like “even though she’s just a girl”. If she had the chance, she had always wanted to criticise them back, saying “even though you’re a man” to them. No matter how weak, small and miserable Chaga was, considering that he was able to hold on to his willpower only, wasn’t Chaga the manlier one here?
“……. Don’t, want to.”
And thus she gave her father that answer.
The ones that Verche could approve of were mostly older men, and they had a wife or a lover of their own. For someone young like Verche to approach them would be reproachable, both from the viewpoint of the village’s law, and the viewpoint of her own morals.
So, how about hunting with her father instead? Well, he already had a partner that had hunted with him for a long time now. It was unlikely for him to let his partner go for his daughter, and besides, their hunter pride wouldn’t allow it.
And even if though by some miracle, she was able to pass those impossible hurdles, she would still want to pair up with Chaga instead.
After what happened yesterday, she could finally understand. The one for her was definitely Chaga. She’d move too fast during a hunt, and because she was young she’d have too much impetus. That was why she chased her game too far and went astray into the black forest. In exchange for his poor hunting skills, his thoughtfulness and cautiousness made him appear like the wise of the forest. It was because that remained behind her that she was able to hunt safely until yesterday.
Besides, the first one that could admit that she was good at hunting was him. When she stole the march and brought down that bear, when others criticised her for being reckless and foolhardy, he instead praised Verche for her wit and bravery. Even though he wasn’t familiar with the fundamentals of hunting, he could understand the context of amount of preparation and plan she had to strain when she brought down the bear, just by hearing her story.
Chaga was the one who understood her the most, and he was her best friend.
And yet, the way he engaged with Mother Nature, which is important to her as a hunter of the Witte clan, differed greatly from her.
And that was why she would never pair up with Chaga again.
Even so—- Verche did not want to pair with anyone else but him.
“Verche, you…”
The father’s ears drooped in perplexion at his daughter’s answer and her stubborn look.
“Look, you didn’t hear it from me, but your bow will be returned to you soon, alright? Because of the recent state of the forest, they just can’t afford to leave a hunter of your calibre alone.”
“Is that so?”
“Why would I need to lie? ………. However, there’s a condition attached to this. You are never to hunt alone. The grans and gramps do complain a lot about you, but for some reason they also hold your skills in high regard. And then, about this matter. Alas, an excellent young man had rushed outside all alone and as a result died a dog’s death recently, all they want is that the same thing doesn’t happen to you.”
In other words, they want someone to keep an eye on her.
“In that case, I’ll apologise yet again, but all the men that can be paired around my age are way too superficial to me. Taking example of what happened yesterday when I was being rash due to my ardour, they would without a doubt tag along with me. Not only would I die, my hypothetical partner would also die.”
Losing both of the village’s skilled hunter at the same time would be the last thing they want.
And that was why, Chaga, who wouldn’t let her do so, is absolutely necessary to Verche.
“Just why can you think that far now but you can’t think for yourself when you go out for a hunt? This kid….”
“It’s probably thanks to father’s blood. Your partner would complain ‘like father like daughter…..’ from time to time.”
“That bastard, just what kind of nonsense has he been spouting at my daughter.”
Then, her father returned to the original topic.
“Well, what’ll you do now? You’ll be called in if the village were to hold a mass hunt, but they won’t let you hunt outside of that. And unless you temper yourself by hunting, your skills will gradually rust. Eventually you wouldn’t be as useful during hunts and you wouldn’t be much of a hunter either.”
‘So find a partner somehow’, said her father.
Verche’s answer was resolute.
“Then, I want to be paired with Chaga one more time.”
“Huh?”, her father’s eyes went round. His ears twitched in doubt from what it had heard.
So Verche repeated herself.
“I want to be paired with him once again.”
“Don’t be stupid… Didn’t you just say that your opinion and his regarding hunting differed greatly and thus you parted with him today? But you still want to pair him regardless, once again, did you really say that?”
“Yes. I did say that. I did say what I believed was right to Chaga at that place. Eventually he’ll be able to understand my viewpoint. When he does, I wish to be paired with him again.”
“I don’t understand…. Why do you insist on Chaga? That man—–”
“That man is necessary to me.”
She realised so as soon as she said that.
‘Ah, when I hunt, if I have my bow and arrow in my hand, and him on my back, then I don’t need anything else.’
Had she just said that from the beginning, Chaga wouldn’t have done that pitiful thing to that wolf.
After he heard her daughter’s answer, her father exaggeratedly looked up to the heavens.
“Hey, Verche……… Absolutely don’t say anything like that outside, alright?”
“Of course. It’s something that I should know alone and alone only.”
“No, that’s wrong. That’s not it, that’s not it……”
He said, as he shook his head several times.
Her father’s gesture at this time was strange, and thus Verche tilted her head for a bit.
He restored his dignity by clearing up his throat. His looks changed from an amiable father to an experienced hunter in a flash.
“Well, whatever. If you’ve decided on a partner that you want to pair up with, then I won’t tell you to search for another one. However, I’m also a hunter of the Witte clan. I have no plans to entrust my cherished daughter to some mage who does not revere Mother Nature and binds down the beasts in submission. The spell goes against Elven providence, and for that reason Gran does not teach it to the children. I will not accept Chaga unless he admits his mistake and returns the wolf familiar to the forest. That is my condition.”
“That……. I understand.”
She could understand what his Father said, but nothing could enter her emotionally burdened self-awareness at this time.
Chaga had wanted to do something for the village and Verche, which was the reason why he obtained that spell, knowing that the spell was not in line with the Elven teaching. Unlike the folks who simple-mindedly rejoiced at the sight of that spell, his feelings in regard of that spell was not that half-baked. Verche could also understand his rational rebuttal against her conviction.
He might be timid, but he still wad a proud man of the Witte clan. Could he really accept what she said back then? No, in the first place, could he forgive Verche for saying that she would never go on a hunt with him ever again? She parted ways with him in front of those onlooking youths. Due to her opposing views, she had repudiated his kindness and the fruit of his endeavour while the public was watching. His pride could have been hurt, and his trust towards her could have already vanished too.
‘If…….. if I were to propose us to pair up again, and he said no, what should I do then?’
As that thought crossed her mind, her feelings that had just gotten steady earlier trembled, her body turned heavy, and her head was assailed with an uncomfortable giddiness yet again.
From what Verche knew, Chaga’s eyes were always calm and gentle. But when she tried to recall him now, only those sorrowful and bewilderment-stained eyes came into her mind. What if he were to say something like, “let’s just stop all of this” with those eyes? No, as a matter of fact, Verche might have exhausted his affection towards her and he might not give Verche such a gentle refusal. It could be that the next time they meet, he would deem her as a selfish woman, and thus his eyes would see her with scorn and repugnance.
She imagined those eyes, and it overlaps with the monocular eye of the cyclops that was looking down at her.
….. It was scary.
It was as scary when she was about to be killed by that monster yesterday, or probably it was scarier than that.
Her foundation, which she had thought to be unshakable up until this moment, was starting to crack and crumble.
She felt that her heart was contracting badly, and the entirety of her body was being folded into layers.
“Well, there’s no need to fuss over about the answer you just gave me. Just tell me if you change your mind. I can at least ask my hunting colleagues to assign their sons to go with you in turns. Just think about it slowly. After all, we’re Elves. We’ve got plenty of time.”
After he said so, her father left her room.
In that room where she had been left alone, Verche was unconsciously hugging her knees.
Her feelings were depressed to no bounds, her long ears drooped to its lowest point.
“What should I do.”
There was no strength in her murmurs.
The vigour to resist her father’s suggestion to find a new partner had dissipated, she was back into being a bow without its string.
She didn’t want to hunt with anyone but Chaga.
However, she was afraid to see Chaga once again.
No matter how hard she thought about it…… again and again, the answer just wouldn’t come.
“Rather, should I wait for Chaga to come and say something?”
That thought was the very definition of timidness itself.
However, since it seemed to be the best policy at this time, it just couldn’t be helped.
“Anyway, this had just happened. No matter how quickly I can prepare myself of what’s to come, it might not apply the same way to him. So let’s wait. There’s plenty of time, anyway.’
That’s right, just like what her father said. There was enough time to postpone her decision as long as she wanted.
“No, this is no good……!”
She panickedly shook her head.
That was not how a hunter waited. Hunters would lay in wait in their prey’s path in order to ambush them. That is how a hunter waits. Knowing that, the way she was now was like a rabbit that burrowed itself to the ground out to fear of its opponent. It was absolutely not a choice a hunter like Verche would choose in the forests.
It was the right move for her to wait. But it was necessary to have a set time limit and plan an action should that limit passes.
Otherwise she’d keep waiting indefinitely, she feared that she wouldn’t be able to bear it without ending up being bonkers.
“Let’s give it…… a month.”
Considering her own temperament, she thought that was the limit for her to keep waiting.
One month. Chaga should’ve been able to come up with something in a month. Surprisingly, he did have a stubborn side to him, so the chances for him to change his pet views were slim, though at least it would be possible for him to be able to digest her opinion during one month.
What if Chaga wanted to meet her before a month? What should she do then?
“Uuuh…..”
Various things flooded her mind, she felt like her head was about to explode.
She was feeling restless, and her hands were all fidgety. When she thought that she wanted to do something, something evoked in her mind, preventing her from moving for some reason she could not comprehend.
“Well, I’m not qualified to laugh at Drei like this.”
She remembered about the benefactor that saved her life yesterday.
When she was talking about the adventurer that bought her, she saw that Drei couldn’t keep herself calm, just like how she was now.
It was as if———-
“Eh, no no! I don’t think of Chaga that wa…..”
Verche shook her head to dismiss the idea that appeared in her mind.
She admitted that she wanted Chaga back as her partner, but that’s about it. That was why she wished that he’d stop doing things like making a wolf into his familiar and for him to choose the same way of life like hers, where he’d deem all creations of the forest to be an equal friend to him. Otherwise, she’d remain to be sorrow as she was now, and her father wouldn’t have him back as well——— as a hunting partner, of course. There was nothing else to it. Supposedly. Definitely.
‘…. I’m thinking too much about this, my thoughts are soaring toward a weird direction.’
………….
While holding that swaying feeling that was beyond her control, Verche spent the night wide awake.
In the sky beyond her window, the moon was not in sight. A night of new moon when only stars would grant their light.
Under that night sky, what was Chaga doing? She wished that he’d think about the two of them and the direction that they were going to take from this point onwards, just like she was doing now.
And also Drei. What was she thinking at that moment, separated from her companions, all alone in the forest?
While thinking about the woman she had met yesterday and the man she had parted with today, Verche spent her time waiting for the next day to come in anxiety.
If things turned out poorly, it was possible for her to spend her nights like this for the whole month.
————- Of course, that was not meant to be.
It’s coming in three days. I know, I know, I told you it was going to be done in February. I’ve been taking more translation commissions recently and I’ve finished the last queue today. My focus is back on the project now.
I’m starting a family of my own soon at the end of the month. So that’s a contributing factor as well.
You literally can’t eat my apology to soothe that uneasy heart of yours. But have some anyway.
If you want to know how’s the translation going. Drop me a line in NU.
P.S. Sorry for the disappearance throughout Feb, Deskie.
Will ask Deskie to proofread. Ha, it’s done!
By the way, thank you for the guy who proofread the last two chapters for me too. I’ll ask him to implement your changes as well.
And yes, I failed my own milestone again. I have no words. Sorry.
Following another guy’s suggestion, maybe I’ll set up a discord in the near future. Who knows I might have a kind translator hanging around there and so I don’t have to wait for my source to answer my question whenever I get stuck.
Chapter XX – The Girl of the White Birch Forest (2/2)
“Shoot! I chased it too far!”
Her carelessness made her distort her face involuntarily. In the first place, the large boar was foreign to the white birch forest. It stayed there for a while, but surely its origin was the black forest. As it endured being shot and pursued by Verche, it retraced its steps to its previous nest. She was too absorbed in the hunt, and as she kept pursuing it without realising such, she had already wandered outside the barrier of the Elves.
She just had to return to the confines of the barrier as soon as possible. The peace of the Elven Forest had been kept solely by keeping invaders away using the spirits’ power as a ward. Although beasts sometimes would intrude into the barrier, monsters with demonic attributes would be repelled by it. But it wasn’t like that for her now. Verche had just ventured into the Demon’s Forest alone without any divine protection. Surely, a little Elven girl like her who found herself outside the barrier would be an easy prey to the monsters. After all, she had just walked into the den of monsters with a scent of another forest that would be unfamiliar to them, all while leaking a large amount of mana from her body.
“This is bad, I have return quickly…..!”
Verche, who realised the sudden reversal of events where she became the hunted instead of the hunter, promptly steered her body the other way and started running. It was regrettable that she had to leave the big boar behind, but she had no time to be fixated about it. She had hunted that prey, sat down to pray for it, and leisurely buried herself in her own thoughts – she had already spent too much time since she entered the Black Forest. The fact that she still hadn’t been attacked until now was a miracle in itself.
Well, of course, she was still Verche, who had hunted the large beast that originally dwelled in this forest. In the usual, head-to-head scenario against mediocre monsters, then Verche wouldn’t fall that far behind. However, this was the territory of the more powerful monsters. Hunters would normally battle these monsters in their hunting places, but it was the other way around now, it was her who’d be targeted by those who came to hunt in this forest instead. If one were to assess her chances in this place, the word “disadvantaged” would be a lenient remark. Adding to that injury was the fact that her arrows were also running out, after all she had used most of them to bring down the big prey. If she were to run into a battle now, she’d find herself running out of them right away.
‘Quickly, I have to return to our forest quickly.’
However, there it was, as if to ridicule that thought of hers,
“Eh…..?”
—– Rumble, rumble.
Along with an earth-shaking noise of footsteps, a shadow hung about Verche.
What appeared before her was a green-skinned giant that was so massive, it was like a hill being lighted from behind. A cone-shaped horn grew from its hairless head that was higher than the trees of the forest, its monocular eye shone ominously as it looked down on its pitiful prey.
The Cyclops.
Unlike the Gigas that wield the power of various attributes and exhibit extreme strength, it was a monster that could rival those in the giant clan merely by relying on its straightforward brute strength and strong vitality alone – an incarnation of violence itself.
Even highly-ranked adventurers would have a hard time if they were to take it down solo, and even with a party, they’d only manage it barely. It was that much of a formidable opponent.
Verche, on the other hand, was all alone in this place. And she was only a hunter, not an adventurer. Her chief opponents were beasts, not demons. Even if she had all of her arrows, she still wouldn’t be a match for it.
“Eeep, aah….”
Verche cowered in fear as the giant’s eye met hers.
She wouldn’t fall far behind against mediocre demons, she believed that.
But, what about this thing that stood before her eyes? This extraordinary giant who could kick a bear about just by using its toes. Its swollen, steely muscles that would make shivering noises every time they were moved. Every part of the creature was overwhelmingly, atrociously sturdy. Within the many demons that reside in this forest, there was no mistake that this one sat among the very top.
Verche’s legs were shaking. Her hands that was supposed to be readying her bow and arrows by now were unconsciously locked in a tight fist. She wondered, could it be that the noisy clattering sound she had been hearing since a moment ago was in fact made by her own teeth?
While her body was tied down in trepidation, her mind was somehow calmly looking down at the unsightly thing before her. It was her means to escape the reality, merely a defence mechanism to escape the fear so that she would not go insane because of it. But the only thing it protected was her heart that was getting saturated by the second. Against the assault that’d strike her flesh any moment now, that mechanism would be as useful as a paper shield.
—- Rumble, rumble.
Perhaps deliberately, the giant started to make slow steps towards Verche.
“GUH, GUH, GUH………”
A muffled voice leaked out from the cyclops as it brandished its teeth. Its curiously-shaped red tongue stuck out and licked its jagged teeth, which looked like a mountain of needles.
It was laughing. It licked its own chops to make a point.
‘Am I, going to be eaten?’
A feeling of repulsion emerged out of that recognition.
It is the nature of all living beings to kill and eat other beings. Verche herself had caught and eaten the meat of her many preys as a hunter. But there should have been a sort of harmony in what she had been doing as she followed the order of the forest. Like, the great cause of maintaining the equilibrium of the ecosystem, the pride of hunting her preys with respect, and the gratitude towards the prey that would become her sustenance.
This demon wouldn’t feel any of that. It wouldn’t remember any of its eaten prey, or even the taste of how it brought down it prey. It’d just play with its opponent until they were in the verge of dying, and then eat them while enjoying their frightened look. And the only thing it was going to do with the vitality it gained from eating its prey would just be more of its strength-dependent rampaging about. What was left after that would only be destruction and chaos.
She didn’t want to be killed by that kind of monster. If she had to be slain here, she’d rather fall by the claw or the horn of some beast. If she were to be pierced by a deer’s antler or torn by a bear’s claw here, then that wish would’ve been granted for her. Even that large boar’s tusk would’ve been fine. If she were to become their sustenance, then considering that those beasts were part of the forest’s harmony, that would’ve been good for her. That way, she’d return to the circle of nature’s providence, an ambition of any Elf. That path would be sealed for her if she were to be killed by a demon, as demons were riddled with miasma and were outside the circle of providence. Elves believed that there would be no rest for those who got eaten by them after death.
“No.”
A trembling cry leaked out of her paling lips.
Perhaps that was her cue before she wrung out an explosive shout with all the remaining air in her lungs.
“HELP, SOMEONE HELP MEEE!!”
Her scream echoed in the back water forest.
At that moment, who exactly did Verche have in her mind? Was it her parents, who raised her? Or was it the adults of her village, who had been holding her back and shunning her? Or perhaps, was it her supposedly unreliable male friends?
In any case, that voice she raised on this place, far away from the white birch forest, would never reach them.
However,
“—- Don’t move.”
Her cowering body shivered at that voice, a voice she had no recollection of.
‘Wh, who?’
Even though that question could still appear in her mind, her whole body remain paralysed as she couldn’t move a single muscle.
“Don’t move”, her instincts that was honed by years of hunting told her to follow that exact order.
Verche wagered everything she had fostered up until that time.
Just as she figured, she would later feel the presence of the owner of that voice approaching her from behind.
“Hey, you blockhead giant over there.”
The person who got near Verche’s back spat out that careless remark at the giant in front of her.
The translucent voice that went through Verche’s ears belonged to a woman. However, her rough choice of words and her manner of speaking was practically unheard of among the modesty-championing Elves of her village. Verche was a strong-tempered woman herself, but as far as she remembered she would never choose such a scathing choice of words herself.
‘Anyway, does this someone… who seems to be a woman, understand the gist of what’s happening here?’. They currently were in a staring contest with a towering giant. Their numbers might have increased – Verche was alone and now there were two of them, but that wouldn’t mean a thing in this utterly desperate situation. Knowing that, the woman still provoked the giant in front of them.
“E, err….”
Her usual strong voice was nowhere to be found. What Verche leaked out was a pitiful voice she would’ve never thought she had in her.
The woman behind her didn’t seem to mind Verche, she instead spoke another word to the Cyclops.
“—- Leave.”
Verche’s long ears twitched at that moment.
The presence of the woman that she felt on her back had blasted up explosively.
The upsurge of mana was so powerful, it filled Verche who stood on her front with dread.
Her intimidating aura was like that of a lioness who had just woken up from her nap. She unleashed whatever things that she had forcibly suppressed until that time all at once. It felt exactly like that.
‘Th, this person…… what magical prowess! Even the adults of the village don’t have this much. Could it be that she’s stronger than even the Elders!?’
She had a hard time believing that. But, she was convinced that that was indeed the case at the same time.
The person behind her really did possess that overwhelming kind of magical prowess.
Probably it was a given that she didn’t see the giant in front of her as a threat, and then, indeed,
“GIH, GAH, GAH…..!?”
Perhaps the one-eyed giant felt the power of the woman who just appeared as well?
Even its towering figure that was as tall as the forest’s trees leapt out, as if it was just struck by thunder.
Its giant single eye went round, confusion was apparent in it as it took a step back. The tremors from its step were enough to make Verche tremble, here the giant was expelling white breaths as it winced in a rough manner.
Yes, it was frightened. To Verche, the evil giant just got intimidated by merely a show of mana, and was now shaking in fear.
“I’ll say this one more time. —— LEAVE!”
“OOOOOOOOOOGGGGG…..!”
As a settling point, the cyclops raised an angry war cry – no, a yelp as it ran away.
Rumble, rumble, rumble, the noise of its footsteps was ten times – or even more than that – faster in tempo compared to when it was approaching Verche.
She could hear an arrogant snort from behind her.
She didn’t even exchange a single blow with it, and yet she splendidly drove the giant away.
“Was I, saved……..?”
She muttered so as she felt she had just woken up from a bad dream.
She wandered into a forest that she had never entered before, encountered a demon that couldn’t be compared with the beasts that she had hunted so far…. and then she was saved by someone with a huge magical prowess that she had never sensed in her life.
If this wasn’t a dream, then what could this be?
“Hey.”
“YE, YESH!?”
Verche turned around quickly after the woman behind her called her out – and she found herself astounded by what she saw.
The woman disregarded her state and continued on.
“I’ve more or less saved your life. Shouldn’t you at least offer a word of gratitude?”
The woman who said that was truly beautiful, no matter if it was from a man or a woman’s viewpoint.
Silver hair, brown skin, a well-shaped nose that matched her almond eyes. Her figure was a combination of mature voluptuousness and youthful tightness, with magnificent curves, which typically could not be seen in a naturally thin Elven woman.
She was wearing an eyepatch to conceal her left eye, which seemed to have received some sort of injury in the past, but even with that drawback she was still undoubtedly a peerless beauty.
“What is it? Is there some sort of a law in your clan that forbids you to talk to those with a different skin colour than yours, white Elf?”
Setting aside her glossy silver hair, her ears were as long and sharp as any Elf’s.
Combined with her dark, brown skin, there’d be only one clan in the continent with that sort of characteristics.
“A dark, elf?”
At Verche’s dumbfounded murmurs, the woman replied with a laugh.
“Verche of the Witte Clan, you say.”
The dark elf woman muttered such as if she had remembered it while grilling the cut meat over the fire.
Surrounding them was a magic formation comprised of arranged small rocks to repel demons. On its centre was a tent with the branches of the overhanging trees as its frame. As hard as one might believe, they were actually camping in the depths of the Demon’s Forest.
“Yes…. and who might milady be?”
While smelling the delicious aroma of the meat of the prey that she had brought down and watching it being grilled, Verche asked her back. She had wanted to return to the White Birch Forest as soon as possible, but she’d need guts to traverse this demon-infested Black Forest alone. And unfortunately the day was about to end as well. In the end, she decided to spend a night with this woman with her prey as a compensation.
The fact that Verche could tag along with the woman this way showed that there was no particular hostility between the Elves and the Dark Elves. Rather, the humans, who’d oftentimes intrude into their territories to take their wealth or even themselves to be sold as slaves, would fit the ‘enemy of the elves’ narrative more. Sayings such as ‘the elves are divided by light and darkness and they fight each other’ were only some arbitrary conceptions of the ignorant humans. Their ancestors had chosen the place they’d dwell in, but besides the barrier-protected forest and the in-however-way-protected desert, they didn’t have that much of a difference. In the first place, since the places they dwelled in were too far from each other’s reach, for them to meet each other would be a rare occurrence, thus the story that ‘the two races fight each other’ was nonsense.
The woman took her eyes off from the grilling wild boar meat and opened her mouth.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t dropped my name yet. I’m Drei.”
“Hm? Is that it?”
Verche found it rather queer for the woman to directly drop one name like that. Indeed, it was her first time seeing a Dark Elf, but she knew that they share a common ancestor. She was told that the Dark Elves were as proud as the Elves, and that they took honour in their clan’s name. When they were asked to introduce themselves, normally they’d mention their clan’s name as well.
To that question, the woman who introduced herself as Drei said,
“My entire clan was invaded by the humans and got wiped out. This one before you is the last among them.”
Then, she abruptly went back to grill her meat. There wasn’t any colour of emotion in her answer. There was no sorrow in regards of her family and friends, nor was there hatred in regards to those who destroyed her clan. She thought that someone would’ve at least have that in their tone when they speak of things like that, but there was nothing like that in Drei’s response.
—- Perhaps her heart had already worn out.
Verche’s intuition told her so.
This wasn’t something that Verche would want to imagine, but what if people were to attack and destroy her village and she ended up being the last one among them to live? Of course she’d be grieving about it. She’d also loathe the perpetrators. However, she wondered if she could continue living while harbouring such feelings indefinitely. After all, Elves do live for a long time. And for the one who’d keep living while harbouring that heartbreaking resentment for the rest of their life, such lifespan is too long. It wouldn’t be strange if that feeling went numb sometime along her long life.
“I’m sorry, somehow, I seem to have asked you an unpleasant question………”
“Oh, don’t mind it.”
She replied without even turning back, as expected, there were no emotion in those words as well.
Verche felt that she had just accidently touched Drei’s old wounds. While Drei didn’t complain about her pain, she couldn’t be settled with just letting that slide. There was an awkward silence between them for a while.
As Verche couldn’t bear the awkwardness, she opened her mouth again and tried to change the topic.
“Err, what might you be doing in this forest?”
“For us long-eared people to be in the forest, of course there’s only one thing to do. I’m hunting. I’m hunting a prey that’s a bit larger in size than yours, though.”
Drei jokingly replied while letting out a mischievous stifled laugh.
Verche felt that the atmosphere between them had gotten a little bit lighter.
“Miss Drei, are you an adventurer?”
Adventurers. Once in several years, a group of them would always venture into the White Birch Forest without fail. Most of them were humans, but sometimes among them there’d be the earth-smelling dwarves and the half-Elves as well. Some of the elves who had grown tired of their village with a longing to venture the outside world would sometimes leave the forest and become adventurers too. Though the fact that these Elves would hang around a group who’d occasionally lay waste to the forest of their brethren was something that Verche couldn’t comprehend.
Anyway, ‘adventurer’ was the only occupation Verche had in mind that would hunt demons instead of beasts. And for her to be alone instead in a group, there must be something special about it.
Drei then said while playing with the base of her empty hand,
“Well, kind of.”
“Kind of?”
“The man who bought me was an adventurer.”
She said that in a way that made it seem to be a frustration to her.
“Bo, bought!?
“Hey hey, don’t shout all of a sudden. The grilled meat almost fell.”
‘Here’, she said as she served the grilled meat on top of a large wildflower’s leaf. Verche received it timidly as Drei continued the earlier topic.
“It’s not that surprising. For a demi-human who had their clan destroyed, of course they’d have no choice but to end up as a slave. Besides, couldn’t you tell just from looking at me?”
“Munch, munch… what do you mean looking at you?”
‘Don’t talk while you eat’, Drei said exasperatedly. Well regardless of what she said, it had been a while for Verche since she tasted her last wild boar meat. And besides, if she didn’t eat the grilled meat right away, it would be disrespectful to the spirit of the boar as well. Regardless, she found the meat to be delicious. It was seasoned well too. The spice that was applied to mask the meat’s odor could have been brought from the outside world. It was the first time for Verche to smell such fragrance, but she felt that it went perfectly with the fatty meat, so she rather liked it.
“It’s my collar, here.”
Drei said so as she pointed her own neck. Just like what she said, it was fitted by a silver collar. To Verche’s sense of aesthetics, the accessories did not match Drei at all. It was too thick and rugged to adorn a woman’s body, and there was no craftsmanship to be seen there. And to top all that, silver was seen to be a crude material for elves. Rather than precious metals, elves would rather prefer pure agate or jade to use as their adornments instead. For them, stringing these agate and jade and hanging them on their necks or adorning them on their embroideries were the considered to be refined instead.
Let silver and gold be the preference of the wicked humans or the dwarves – whose hobbies it was to unearth these minerals— instead. Elves were already born with a shining hair of gold ever since they were born…………… that is indeed, the beauty of the Elves.
She had heard that Dark Elves preferred quartz instead of agate or jade, but as expected, they probably steered clear from the precious minerals as well.
“This is a proof that I’m a slave to those hairless apes. There’s also a spell attached in this collar, the kind that would force me to obey my owner.”
‘Hairless ape’ is a derogatory term coined by the long-living race to call the short-living humans. The Elves considered it to be a coarse profanity, so they don’t say it often unless they came to a point where they couldn’t bear their anger anymore. Through that word, Verche came to discover Drei’s unending grudge. However much her hatred had been numbed, the undying feeling was certainly still in there. For some reason, Berthe found herself to be saddened by it.
Drei continued to talk while she grilled her portion of the meat.
“And well, I was sold like a thing in a city market where these hairless apes would come and go. From what I heard, it seems that I was bought at a price much cheaper than what the market deemed to be my worth. For some time, starting from my left eye, and indeed, the entirety of my body was riddled with severe scars. You can no longer see any of them now though.”
“……………”
Words were lost on Verche. She had diverted the topic in an attempt to ease the awkwardness, but apparently she had poked the hornet’s nest yet again.
Fortunately, it seemed that the story didn’t carry that much of a weight to Drei. Setting aside the ones who sold her, it seemed that she didn’t hate the ones who bought her off them.
The atmosphere between them didn’t show any sign that it was easing up though.
“Hey, hey, you look like you’re going to cry, stop it. In any case, I feel that it was a good thing that I got bought now. Though I’m not saying this to make that guy happy.”
“So you’re saying that don’t hate that person who bought you? I mean, after all, because you’re a slave, Miss Drei is being forced to go to a dangerous place like this—–”
“Are you mocking me, Witte kid?”
Drei let out a light sneer.
“Just what part of this forest is dangerous to me?”
She had a point. She was a mage who could drive even a demon like a cyclops away just by intimidating it. That monster was among the ones competing for the apex of this forest’s food chain. And since she could handle it so easily, of course for Drei the Black Forest would be nothing but a hunting ground.
“My, my apologies.”
“Huhu. I’m just kidding. You White Elves sure are a serious bunch.”
“Dark Elves’ jokes are harsh.”
“Oh, you pack quite the punch, kid.”
Drei said as she turned over the meat.
“Well, I’ll return to my story. I’m having a lot of fun now. Sure, my clan was extinct and I was cursed to be the one to remain alive, but now I’ve got……………. companions.”
“Companions, huh?”
‘The one who bought Drei was an adventurer. Then, what she meant by companion must be that adventurer’s party.’ Verche thought.
“Yeah. These people and I are all united in hearts, strength and lives for one identical cause…… There’s a single insufferable idiot among them, though.”
“May I know what kind of people they are?”
“…. Well, I don’t mind telling you. But this is related to my trade so I can’t tell you the specifics, is that fine?”
Perhaps that was the general prudence of those with such job. Verche did hear that sometimes there would be a dispute in regards of quest rewards among the adventurers and they may kill each other over it. To Verche, all of it seemed shallow, but apparently there were people like that in the outside world. Weighing that in, Verche could understand that telling her companions’ cards to other people wasn’t quite the right thing to do for her. Nonetheless, she was still curious about these people that Drei so unpretentiously declared as her companions.
“Including me, there’s four of us. The amount of women and men is equal, so, two each. The first one among them is, what to say. The insufferable idiot I told you a while back. He’s the newcomer among us. The man is seriously good-for-nothing. He’s frivolous and loud, but despite these qualities, for some reason he would get depressed over some small things, honestly I don’t know what to do with him. But there’s no doubt that he’s a person with skill. And in the areas of his specialisation, he’s a better spellcaster than me.”
“Eeeeh!? He’s better than someone like Miss Drei!?”
“If it’s in the areas of his specialisation, then like I said, yes. Of course, if it’s outside that, then I’m exceptionally better than him.”
She said as she stuck out her abundant chest.
It was still hard for Verche to digest though. One could simply tell that Drei was an excellent mage merely through her mana. And for someone to be able to exceed Drei even in one field only, it was apparent to Verche that that person must’ve been incredibly skillful.
Even from the point of an Elf, nobody like her, it was clear that these two were high in their rank. Just what kind of things did her party usually fight against, anyway?
“The second person is a woman. Another dreadful person…. She’s as skillful in swordcraft as in magecraft. Of course, her skills in both field is top notch.”
“…. You’re joking, right? First class in both magic and swordsmanship?”
It did sound like a joke. Magic was a profound field. Even for Verche, who was blessed with magical proficiency since birth, it wouldn’t be possible for her to be engaged in both magic and the bow and master the two of them. The path of magic wasn’t so lenient to let one to be able to master the other path while they were still walking on its path. She thought that she must’ve been among some kind of a long-living race, but,
“Sounds impossible, right? When I met her the first time, I doubted whether she was really human or not. In truth, she actually does possess superhuman ability.”
‘Unfortunately it seems that she’s indeed a human’. The thought of it rendered Verche speechless.
While humans certainly did live for a short time, there was a lot of them, and Verche did hear that sometimes, someone with a mutational monstrous attainment would appear among them. Perhaps the person that Drei told Verche about was one of those.
“To put it bluntly, I don’t know the bottom of the things that she can do. If there’s a group of people that I can never win against, she certainly belongs in that group.”
Of course she’d never win, Verche thought. If they were casting spells against each other then Drei had the edge, but the other party was a first-class sword practitioner as well. The spellcaster would be forced into a defensive battle of spell exchanges, and once this person surpassed the spell exchange and was able to get close to the spellcaster, the spellcaster would end up being cut down. At worst, even a dragon could be a safer opponent compared to this person.
“Well, there’s no chance that it would ever happen though, me fighting her. She is serious in nature, and she’s not the type who can betray her own allies. While she sometimes gets so strict to the point that others can’t breathe, she wouldn’t deliberately make others feel that way as much as she can manage. Yes, simply put she’s just an incredibly reassuring person under the same banner as mine.”
“You sure hold her in high regard, no?”
“What, did you think that I was a self-important woman who’d always look down on others?”
“No, nono, absolutely not! Well…. So what kind of person is the last one?”
Verche pushed the conversation ahead in a panic.
The last person… he was probably the adventurer who bought Drei. Drei told her that there were four of them including herself, and up until that point she hadn’t brought up the person who bought her. So who was this person that retaught a Dark elf who lost her entire clan the joy of living? Even Verche was greatly interested interested in what kind of person he was.
Just as Verche thought, Drei suddenly was at loss of words.
“Him, huh…………..”
Then her gaze wandered to the empty space. The knife on her hand that she used to cut the meat up until a while ago was now being restlessly fiddled with.
“I wonder what I should say about him…. I guess he’s, someone I can’t quite understand.”
“You can’t understand?”
“Yeah. Just, what is he thinking? No, that’s not it. I can tell that just by looking at his face. I just can’t understand why would he think the way he does.”
She grumbled, rather than an explanation of what kind of a person he was to Verche, it was more of an incoherent summary of her thoughts – a soliloquy. And of course, since Drei put it that way,
“O, oh….”
Verche couldn’t dish out any other response but that.
“In the first place, he didn’t think that deeply when he decided to buy me. It seems that the only reason he bought me was simply because he was able to buy a bruised dark elf for the cheap. But, just, why is it? Even when I’m being useful, he just doesn’t seem to be happy about it. Sometimes he’d scold me, he’d say things like, ‘don’t push yourself’, or, ‘are you gonna be fine alone?’…………………….. I honestly don’t understand. Normally speaking, shouldn’t he be a bit happier with what I do? It was you who brought me into this, you know?”
“I, I see…….”
For some reason the direction of her speech just went weird.
Verche could somehow recall a similar tone like this somewhere before. Where was that again? Ah, yes, there. She remembered that this was the same complaining tone used by a woman she was familiar with who lived next to her house that got recently married a while back.
While Verche was pondering about it, Drei kept talking.
“He’d always avoid a situation where there could be only the two of us, and he’d just talk in a light way, the usual thing between companions. Does he not think that it’s fine for us to talk in a more earnestly intimate way? So?”
In the end she hugged her knees while gazing downwards. Her eyes seemed to look redder now, but probably it was caused by light of the bonfire?
Verche felt like she was all smiles due to the ticklish sensation inside of her.
Perhaps she did indeed show it on her face, as Drei turned her way with a pout.
“What’s with that face?”
“No, it’s just that, I feel that Drei really holds that person dear.”
“Of course. He’s my companion. Anyone would hold their companions dear…….. right?”
She disorientedly diverged her gaze as she said so, but it seems that her lips still had some dissatisfaction that they wanted to express.
That gesture was so childlike, Verche inadvertently smiled.
Drei might have been a mage that even the Elders in her village couldn’t match, and she might be one hundred years older than Verche, but somehow the cute points of the woman in front of her haven’t faded yet.
Perhaps a little bit annoyed by it, Drei snorted.
“Anyway, that’s enough from me. Now let me hear your story.”
“Eh, me?”
“Yes. Whatever’s fine. It’s enough to kill time. Speak.”
Even though Drei said that, Verche didn’t have anything to say. She was born this way, devoting herself to the act of hunting. She didn’t have any topic that the girls of her same age would have in their mind. And besides, wouldn’t the story of her hunting be a bore to an adventurer who was out to hunt bigger things?
“Come on now, speak. Or should I cast a spell that’ll let your tongue speak smoothly instead?”
“No, please stop. Got it, I’ll talk!”
Pushed by Drei, Verche helplessly began to blurt the things she had in mind.
She talked about the exciting sensation when she held her bow for the first time, and her first prey, the adults and her fellow girl friends in her village who’d unsympathetically complain about her hunting, she talked about a lot of things.
What she brought to the table was some trifling topics, but Drei would seriously listen to every single thing she said closely and attentively. Perhaps she had wanted to talk with someone as well.
And then before Verche realised it, the night had already grown deep in the Black Forest.
I could’ve finished the whole chapter, I really could’ve done that. But my mind can’t take it anymore for tonight.
Nonetheless, a promise is a promise. Two chapters in December. One chapter before New Year’s Eve. I had to release something. So here you go. Here’s half of the chapter. Consider it the prologue or something, since it’s practically the early chapter of Volume 3.
The rest of the chapter will be released in the upcoming days. I’d like to finish by the 1st, but there’s a good chance that you won’t see it until the 4th.
To those who’d prefer me to release full chapters instead, don’t worry, I won’t make this a habit.
Enjoy.
P.S. I couldn’t get over it. Oof.
Sychev.
Chapter XX – The Girl of the White Birch Forest (1/2)
The Federal Monarchy of St. Gallen, one of the great four countries of the continent, is also known as the “Country of Woods and Soldiers”.
The vital points of the country are torn by a black forest, where all kinds of trees would embrace its scattered plains, where its lords reside, from all sides. Its transient union has only been going for the last two hundred years, which makes the country a remarkably young one, even among the history of the continent.
With the Heidebreicht Dynasty of the Great Kingdom of Grandonburg, the house that founded its capital in the Eastern Plains, Gallerien, as the head of the federation, a system was placed to arbitrate the interests of the federated medium and small-sized states and the aristocrats under their banner. It must be said that the risk of running such system is that the country would be much more brittle, even compared to its neighboring country Arquell, where its centralists and its decentralists are currently quarrelling.
However, St. Gallen sees a certain level of stability, and its influence ranks alongside the other great powers. What is the source of that?
—- It is their strength.
In the continent of Ithuselah, where many creatures that pose a threat to humanity, like monsters or demihumans, still remain, forests are where magical beings reside. Forests are where evil insects, magical beasts, undead, and demons run rampant, and demons – they’re literally a nest of devils. The ancestors of the people of the great eastern power that is St. Gallen settled in these forested lands, and stood their ground in the conflicts against fellow humans while they waged their struggle for survival against the monsters.
And their history of endless conflict gave birth to a martial country where the strongest great king would rule over its princes. A powerhouse which, while held in contempt by the other countries as a land of savages and the unsophisticated, could never be made light of in terms of strength. Such is the Federal Monarchy of St. Gallen.
However, while the strength of the people who live there has increased, it doesn’t mean that the demons there have grown weaker.
—- The rule of the jungle reigns supreme, it’s all a survival of the fittest.
Does the life that has been polished by the severe laws of nature shines for the very reason that it is in a state of a fierce struggle? As humans cut down trees and clear the forests, the monsters that live in the remaining sea of trees get even stronger. Sometimes they would eat the invading humans, other times they’d eat their fellow forest-dwelling brethren over a territory struggle. It’s like a curse, handed down to them over and over again since time immemorial.
Humans would fight their fellow humans, humans and monsters would fight each other, monsters would fight their fellow monsters.
A country spread over a quiet forest, yet coloured by the history of conflicts, St. Gallen.
In this land where many unexplored places still remain, numerous powerful monsters continue to live.
Bow in one hand, and quiver on the back. Follow the game, and run through the trees. She’d go through the woods like the blowing wind, and surely that way the branches would never raise a sound. This moment of gallantly hunting was, more than anything, the most joyous moment for her.
Despite what the adults back in her village said, this was something she couldn’t let go of.
‘Besides, this is for everyone’s sake’. Verche gave the elevating spice-like feeling of guilt behind her thoughts such an excuse. If she was hunting the beasts that wreak havoc and disturb the tranquility of the forest, then it could be said that she was there to protect the forest’s harmony and peace. And thus, it could also be said that she was fulfilling her duty to her clan.
As she was thinking so, her long ears twitched as it sensed the sign of an approaching game. The girl was, indeed, an elf. The length of her ears were different than the humans’, and her skin had a beautifully fair complexion to it. Her bow-and-arrow carrying arms and ground-traversing legs were slender and as supple as an antelope. Save for her excitement-tinged perfectly round eyes, she looked like the image that the people of the world would conjure if they were asked to imagine how an Elven girl would look like.
Normally, Elves don’t have a taste for blood. Battles would upset the well-ordered forest that they maintain. However, the young Verche, who was about to reach a hundred years old in age, didn’t fit the trope. While the other daughters of the clan were learning craftsmanship and embroidery, she made merry and hunted with the boys’ clique instead. Moreover, she could also bring down game twice the size of an average man. There was also that one time when she brought down a bear all by herself.
She was certainly an eccentric one. The gossips in her village would backbite her, saying things like “probably the blood of a human got mixed in there”. She also had people who said that she was such a savage they couldn’t believe that she was a fellow elf. But unfortunately, her ears were as long as the other people, and she was even proud with how fine the shape of her ears were. And every time the other people would say that to her, she’d refute with these words,
‘This is also one way of being an elf.’
‘Elves are beings of nature’. She’d follow the rights in that course and correct the wrongs. That meant that sometimes her heart would rage like a storm, and she would thrash her adversaries hard like a thunder. For her, one of the aspect of being ‘natural’ was being able to express such things.
TL Note: “Nature” and “Natural” has the same kanji.
It was never Verche’s intention to imitate the tree-cutting, forest-burning humans who would just kill senselessly. It was just that she brought up her name before anyone else when the village said that they were in need of a hunter, and she’d also hunt particular big games only. She took pride in being a protector of the forest where she was born and the village where she grew up. The fact that the people around her couldn’t understand this was the source of her frustration.
‘………….. There it is!’
She caught the shadow of her game in front of her and licked her lips. That particular conduct had also got her chided by the adults, citing that it was immodest, but never once did she try to fix that habit.
Her game for that day was a large wild boar that recently wandered into the forest. It had severely destroyed several flock of medicinal wildflowers, probably due to extreme starvation. Among humans, the ones known as “adventurers” would also come occasionally to the village’s outskirts to pick rare herbs. However, they’d normally leave about three out of ten in case that they need to collect them another time. In that respect, this boar was more ill-natured than humans.
To Verche, this boar was an unacceptable invader. There were calls in the village for a massive hunt to bring it down. No formal order had been issued yet, but it was just a matter of time until they actually issued one. So she slipped out of the village under the pretense of practicing her archery, and then the large boar came to complement what she had partly expected.
‘Well, apparently its intuition is better than I thought.’
As if it caught whiff of Verche’s thirst for blood, it started to flee at full speed. Despite of its size, it turned out that it was as timid as a cow, but indeed, that very sensitiveness was necessary for beings that reside in the forests.
“…… But, you’re still too slow.”
For Virche of the Witte clan, this white birch forest was her very own territory. The large boar might have shown her its absurdly healthy legs, but if she were to predict its escape route and make it there ahead, then it’d be easy to catch up to it. The animals known as ‘boars’ actually do worry over the little things more than one would’ve thought. It may be said that it’s in their temperament to avoid the unknown. If they were to be chased, they’d definitely follow a certain route since they were afraid of straying into places they’re not familiar of. And through prior observations, and the surrounding terrain, Verche had already figured out its escape route. If she were to take the path through the dense grove of trees, which was difficult for the boar to take, then going ahead and cutting its escape route wouldn’t be that hard.
Sure enough, Verche, who changed her course and cut through the woods, found the boar facing sideways in a clearance in the grove of trees. It was just as she had calculated. But no matter that she could overtake it, it was impossible for her to just charge directly at that giant figure with her full force and put her own self in there. The best policy here was to aim for the game’s tender spot and shoot it in the flank from the sideways.
She immediately took an arrow, nock, and shot. For Elves, bows and arrows – which they had already grown accustomed to in their childhoods, are like an extension of their limbs. Not to say that Verche’s archery skills were already known to be remarkably good, even among the youth in her village. If an ordinary person were to see her shot from the sidelines, they’d feel that the just as she reaches for her quiver….. at that time, an arrow would’ve already been shot before they knew it.
—– The boar raised a shriek.
“……. It’s stubborn.”
The game, who had just gotten shot, kept running as it swung its head in agony. Elven bows are one kind of a magic tool. If one were to get hit by an arrow shot from these bows and become careless, that arrow would pierce even deeper into them. And to think that the boar could still do that even though it was hit with one of those arrows, it appeared that its stubbornness was as large as its body size.
Verche jumped out from the trees to the beast’s path. And then shot consecutively at the escaping boar.
The first arrow, the second, the third – all of them hit the mark. But they were shallow hits. They weren’t enough to kill it. Its thighs were shot, so its speed fell, but the game was still running away. Verche felt irritated at her own inexperience while she admired her opponent’s survival ability. Now, her entire soul wanted to bring it down and make that strong existence part of her flesh and blood.
“I won’t let you escape—–!”
The Elven girl decided to pursue after the bleeding game until the bitter end.
After that, the boar ran around for another half an hour before it fell. Meeting one’s end as the escape miserably ends, buttocks swinging, all while lying down on the soil and covered with mud, would surely seem like an ugly death to any other people. But a hunter would never think so. Especially Elves who reside in the forests. It had lived the life given by Mother Nature, and it had met its end through a fierce struggle. Such is nature – its sanctity made people bow their heads, and its numbing beauty, overflowing.
“Cough…… You were a splendid piece of game.”
With her face flushed by the fatigue from the pursuit and excitement, the enraptured Verche muttered so. Her hatred towards the lying boar for the destruction it had wrought upon the forest had already vanished like the mist. She fixed her hair that got stuck on her cheek due to her sweat, then she knelt beside the boar’s remains to pray for it.
To return its soul to the earth in peace, to thank the forest for having gifted her the great grace of provisions.
That’s right, provisions. While it might be unexpected, Elves do eat meat. But since they prefer to keep the forest as it is, they can’t farm their stocks as doing so might damage the forest. Thus, the only opportunity where they could get meat is through hunting. And they must have a certain feeling of sensibility when they eat the meat. Whether it was acceptable to eat meat in public was a different matter entirely. For Elves, being profoundly modest is a virtue.
“But what should I do now….”
After she finished her prayers, she played around with the tip of her ear as she pondered. How exactly would she report this to the people in her village? After all, she just went ahead and took it down on her own while the elders were still in deliberation whether to hunt it down or not. It seemed that she was in for a day-long scolding. And if things were to go that way, it was possible that the meat of the splendid game that she had hunted with great pains might not be allowed to enter her mouth at all.
After all, the adults in her village did not sustain themselves by eating the mist. They’d spin their words to preach the taboo of killing and extol the concept of modesty, but behind those words, they’d still wish for meat. It wouldn’t be strange for them to take the meat from Verche while telling her, ‘This is your punishment’. Verche didn’t want that. First of all, it was her who had brought down this giant game. She just had to secure her share of this somehow. She pondered on a way to do just that.
‘Better yet, why don’t I just hog the meat all to myself instead?’, she thought, but she later shook her head, saying ‘no, no’. She was being too immodest there. Elves who would feel ashamed of their avarice like her exist as well. And on top of all of that, this stunning meat would rot before she could finish it all by herself. Then why didn’t she just leave this splendid beast to rot? Out of the question. As a hunter, that was more unbearable for her than having her meat stolen.
“Maybe I should bring Chaga in….”
For some reason, the kindred youth who’d usually come with her to hunt, despite having inferior archery skills, floated into her mind. Chaga was a strange man. He was so faint-hearted, so timid to the point that his face would turn pale even at the mere sight of a game being drained of its blood. And his muscle strength was even inferior to her, a woman. Nevertheless, whenever Verche would go out with a bow, he’d always say ‘I’ll accompany you’ without fail. He was always a drag to her, and he didn’t seem to enjoy hunting at all. But why would he always come with her to hunt? Verche still couldn’t understand what he had been thinking up until now.
However, he did in fact hear most of her requests, and among the boys’ clique he had the best looks too. Chaga and his friends would surely be on board if she were to tell them ‘Let’s divide this meat and eat to our heart’s content’. After all, when it came to fine meats, the elders-centered adults would definitely relish upon it the moment they got it, and that was why the young ones, who’d just gaze at the sight from the sidelines, always starve for the chance to enjoy meat for themselves.
‘It’s a good idea’, she thought. ‘In this occasion, it wouldn’t be bad to leave the the adults out of this and have the youths eat up to their heart’s content.’ By not providing the honourable elders of the Elves their share, she did think that she’d do the game a disservice. However, it would instead nurture the promising youngsters who will support the village in the future, so it should be able to at least tolerate that.
While thinking an extremely selfish thought about the game that she brought down, she raised her face.
It was at that time.
“Eh……?”
Perhaps because she was too absorbed in her thoughts in regards of taking down the game and what to do after that, she hadn’t noticed the peculiarities in her surrounding, until now.
The trunks of the surrounding trees were dark, and the leaves that grew from their branches were so dark as well, it could almost be mistaken as black-coloured. It wasn’t the white, light-coloured, bright, motherly white birch forest. It was another forest that enclosed it. It was the great woods of St. Gallen that the humans would call the “Black Forest” — a den of monsters and beasts.
This is the end of Book 2 in the LN.
Next chapter in on the 31th, just before the new year’s.
Unedited. Have requested Deskie. Would like to formally invite sancturillore to edit too.
To sancturillore, please email this address if you have the time.
P.S. I currently do not have the time to instantly alter your corrections, I’ll be sure to ask Deskie to moderate and implement your contributions.
Enjoy.
Chapter XIX – Five Obstinate People Under the Earth
“…. Hrmm.”
In a private study – also commonly known as an atelier – set up within the lab, I, who have just finished touring around most parts of the facility, am indulging myself in my thoughts. Save for the lacking manpower and a lot of points that need improvement in terms of sanitation, this new laboratory has been running in an extremely smooth manner. Mining, smelting and refining activities; weapon development; pharmacology research; magic experiments. They’re all going well, but….
“It seems like that there’s a bit of an excess in resources…”
That’s right. Originally, the deposits lie far in the remote recesses of the mountains, and it would be difficult to develop them using ordinary means. In exchange, however, the reserves of ores they held were vast. To the point that Laubert wasn’t at all talking big when he said about it being comparable to the average annual revenue of the country. Though, that means, dig too much of it and the resources will pile up too much too, which will then result in a capacity shortage in the storage facilities.
Anyhow, the material known as ‘gold’ is a heavy one. Like, seriously heavy. Gold is about two to up to five times the weight of iron at the same volume. Though I read it from some sort of a book in the previous life, there seems to be a case of a whole floor giving in, damaging the building in the process, due to an excessive storage of gold. I’m not so sure if that kind of thing won’t happen in this underground facility, even when this place has been reinforce through alchemy here and there.
I have to figure out some sort of ways to make use of them. In the first place, I made this large vein into a lab because I had wanted to make use of the various materials excavated from the place. Experiments and productions that are currently being carried out are an extension of the research that I’ve done up to the present. I’d like to make use of the special quality of this facility and commence some extravagant research using this abundant gold and silver any time now. There’s not one single alchemist who can conduct their research under these favourable conditions, even in the research history that I read back in the academy. Isn’t it such a waste to leave these resources to rot?
Well then, how should I put these gold and silver into practical use?
How about arms and armour for Uni and the Opus Series? There’s a lot of things I want to do in this regard, but in truth, Victor and the officials stopped me from doing so. I understand that even their present equipment rivals, or even exceeds, the equipment of the strongest knights’ order in the kingdom. As it is, it’d be inevitable that the higher-ups will carp at me if things turned out badly and they were to discover these items, and with my current political circumstances it would be dangerous for me to be having any more of these problems. So to say, if I were to reason that the expansion of these armaments were for the sake of national defence, I’ll draw the enmity of other countries instead. If I were to do this, I’ll just bring ruin to myself.
Then, why don’t I use them as materials to be used for the lab’s environment improvement plan? No no no, that won’t do, that won’t do. The place would be all glittery and it would be hard to settle in. A lab coated with gold and silver would drive me crazy, I would die. It won’t be a suitable place to live for humans with properly working nervous systems. And besides, processing stones is much more economical than using gold. It’s not a problem of money, it’s just the problem of labour when producing these building materials with alchemy.
I had thought of making a large magic tool like the portal gate or the cooling device in the mansion, but it would be a waste of time to make these large things without a purpose in hand. The resources dedicated for my main research to probe into the concept of immortality is not to be sneezed at as well. Well, it doesn’t take that much, but I don’t feel like devoting the labour needed for the invention I’d fancy about.
Almost there, is there really nothing I can do with them? A practical and meaningful way to use these silver and gold—–
“—- That’s it. Why don’t I make a golem?”
Inspiration suddenly came up to me. That’s right, golem sounds good. There are, more or less, various ways to utilise them, and above all, I don’t have that much experience when it comes to making golems out of those materials. During my time in the academy, I’ve tried making golems out of diverse materials, but the Alchemy Department there was a destitute one. And as one might expect, I don’t have any experience of making golems using those precious materials. I might as well make the golem so elaborate to the point that it’s ridiculous just for the kick of it.
Hm? Now that I think about it, simply making them out of gold and silver would be boring. Rather, why don’t I make a gold-silver based magic alloy instead? Right, that sounds good. Let’s go with that.
When I decided so, for some reason there’s this indescribable feeling that I used to feel back in my childhood days.
Like I said, I’m an advocate of efficiency. But I’m a romanticist at the same time. If I don’t have a fragment of that romance in me, then I’ll end up just spending my time in vain when I reach immortality. If it’s indeed possible for me to reach immortality, then I’d like to keep this pure feeling at that time, and also all the way up until that point.
“Right, somehow I can feel motivation and creative urge rising and stirring inside of me!”
So this is the so-called ‘inspiration’? Ideal materials and swell ideas, and the explosive desire for action born when both of these factors combined. In my life, this feeling has often yields me great results. It’s a feeling like what I felt back when I performed my marvels on Uni. The ingenious idea of having the potential-laden Uni and utilising alchemy to polish that very aspect has given me my crowning work of all.
Surely, this time, I can make something magnificent. Shivering with the premonition of that masterpiece-to-come, I merrily work on the raw materials that will be the masterpiece’s basis first.
“Master……? Th, this is…..”
Perhaps out of her concern to the fact that I’ve shut myself in the atelier for quite a while, Uni sticks out her face from the entrance door.
Eh…. that’s strange? From what I know, unless I call for her directly, it isn’t often for Uni to enter without knocking.
“………… Ah, eh? Uni? Just now, did you knock?”
The voice that came out from my throat was hoarse, almost like it was ridden with rust. Hmmm? Did I catch a cold or something?
Upon hearing that voice, Uni’s face quickly loses its colour.
“…. Master. My apologies for replying your question with my own question, but when did you last go to sleep?”
And then she curiously stared my way.
“Aaah. Could it be that I’ve been shutting myself here for days?”
“Yes, today would be the fifth day.”
He, hum, is that so…..
What, five days!? Did she say it has been five days!?
I’m astounded in spite of myself. Now that she said that, I remember that I told Uni to make me whatever meals just for me to preserve myself and stay away from this place for awhile. I’ve been in such a rush in this creation of my personal pastime, that the reality that I’ve been here for five days slipped through me.
“…. You should’ve called when I was midway of it….”
I know I’m in the wrong here, but for some reason the words of complaint were rushing through my mouth.
“My apologies. But…….. I did call several times, but, errrr, every time I did so, Master replied, ‘I, I’m busy’”
Wow, now the fault’s completely mine.
And now that she said that, I kind of remember that there were several exchanges with someone from the other side of the door. But, as I thought, I couldn’t remember what I said then…. Eh? Back then, when Uni was recalling my replies, didn’t she hesitate, like there was something she couldn’t say? Could it be that I said something in a terribly harsh way that I can’t seem to recall now? Something like, ‘Keep your trap shut! My hands are bloody tied right now!’?”
Just imagining it depresses me. What am I, like some kind of a shut-in useless son shouting angrily at his mother for worrying about him? Oh wait, that’s exactly the case now is it.
“I’m sorry.”
“Master?”
I spontaneously go down on my hands and knees and lower my head. Just what is this remorseful feeling… my head’s all spinning and my mood is crashing down. It feels like I want to plant my head on this very spot of the floor right now.
“I’m sorry for being born. I’m really sorry for being alive…..”
“……. Ma, master? Are you going mad? Did Opus-04 bit you? Get a hold of yourself!”
As she said so, she grabbed me by the nape of my neck and dragged me outside the room. She dragged me as it is through the teleport gate bound for the residence. As I take that feeling in, my consciousness grows hazier——
——— And so, here we are.
“Are you a moron? No, Your Excellency, perchance, might you actually be intellectually challenged?”
“Give it a rest, Victor. The lord has already said that he’s reflecting, and the fact that he’s indeed sorry has already made clear, so let’s stop rebuking him over and over again now.”
And so on, the two among the top brass of my ranks of vassals has been persistently lecturing and continuously rebuking me. These two sure have some fine personalities. Especially Laubert, who smoothly delivered the killing blow while laughing.
TL Note: fine personalities may also be translated as “great guts”
“I already said sorry, alright? I’m reflecting. I won’t do it again.”
“Please say ‘I absolutely won’t ever do it again’ instead……….”
At my words, Victor makes the gesture of placing his hand on his forehead as if he’s enduring a headache.
If your head hurts that much I can fix it with lobotomy, though.
To that he said,
“Rather than a symptomatic therapy; I’d say I need a radical treatment more.”
And so I was cut off.
After that incident, I understand that Uni dragged me out, brought me back to the residence, washed me like how she’d wash the dishes, and left me to sleep for an entire two days. On paper it seems to be quite terrible, but the fact that I got away with just that is all I could’ve asked for. At worst, it’s not impossible for me to drop dead due to overwork after working for five days straight without rest. If I were to die because I got too absorbed in my hobby before I reached immortality, then why bother in the first place?
As I thought so, Victor shifted his gaze from me – who didn’t even grumble – to Uni, who’s refraining by my side.
“Madam Chief Maid, please do not spoil His Excellency too much. Surely there’s at least some will left in you to say something at times like these?”
“…. I am terribly sorry.”
Uni obediently lowers her head. Seeing my number one Opus being talked down like this makes me a bit irritated.
“Hold on there. In this matter, Uni isn’t that much at a fau—–”
“Yes, the primary offender here is His Excellency.”
And at that very moment Laubert pursued me. What a shrewd man. Although I’m glad he didn’t turn into an enemy, even as my ally he still gives me the tingles and I can’t help it.
“No, Master isn’t at fault here. The fault lies in me, who couldn’t fulfil the role of remonstrating my lord————-”
“Yes, ah, right…. That’s right. Please take care of His Excellency properly from this point onwards, Madam Chief Maid.”
As Uni stands up to protect me, Laubert’s face twitches.
Just what’s with this atmosphere… It’s not Uni’s words, but, did being around Charl really infect me with some sort of a strange disease?
“Well, putting that aside…”
“Please don’t try to end the topic, Your Excellency. But, well, certainly, this has been quite the fruitless discussion…..”
Victor agrees, while his face seems wants to say: ‘it can’t be helped’. Then let’s advance the topic right away.
“As I thought, it’s important to avoid losing the sense of time when shutting myself inside a large room where the sun doesn’t shine. No, it’s not only me, how was it for you when you were there, Laubert?”
“Let’s see. It feels like it’s always night-time down there, it does make me forget even things like ‘what day is today again?’. Though for a vampire like that man, it seems that he’s always healthy in a place like that
Certainly, Charl would be stronger in a place in a dark and sealed environment where the sunlight would be nothing but harmful to the inhabitants like that. But vampires are fundamentally like that no matter where.
“That said, I’d like to propose to adopt the sunlight to the environmental improvement plan, how does that sound?”
“Sunlight, in the undergrounds?”
“Yes, among the byproducts of our gold-mining, we also have quartz too, yes? If we use that and make them into glass tubes and stretch them, it’s possible to transmit the sunlight from the ground up to the deep undergrounds through the tube.”
It’s also commonly called as ‘optical fiber’. If this method succeeds, it’ll be possible to cultivate greens which require sunlight as a necessity in the undergrounds as well. It’ll also be possible to secure the necessary amount of sunshine for human body to work properly, and will also contribute to normalise the residents’ biological clock. Apparently, those advantages clicked with the clear-headed home affairs expert pair too.
“So even that is possible…. But if the sunlight reaches the undergrounds, then it’ll be hard on the vampires.”
“Of course, I’ll restrict the light to reach select sections only. Direct sunlight will damage some of the materials, and its effect on paper is not good either. Well, the current, rather humid and dusty, environment is also as bad in these regards, though.”
A little amount of sunlight won’t put Charl in pain, but he still won’t feel good about it. At the end of the day, this lighting plan is merely to refresh humans, and also, agriculture. Since the plan takes time and labour, as expected I have no intention to completely illuminate the undergrounds.
“Hmm, it’s indeed an interesting plan. If this can be realised, it won’t be impossible for that underground space to attain complete self-sufficiency. By any chance, Your Excellency, have you planned this out for quite some time now?”
“I just feel that I have to tackle things starting from this matter as early as I can. In truth, I had wanted to start by expanding the underground space first.”
“Then why don’t we start from there? If we want the environment to be more comfortable, then shouldn’t we by all means do that? Besides, I think that it’s easier to plan early where there’s plenty of room for expansion, rather than later.”
Laubert said. Since he knows the pain of going way under, his remarks was valid.
“There’s just a bit of a problem there…. See, we’re going to bring light from the outside, yes? Which means, the facility to let the sunlight in must be built on top of the lab.”
“Aah, I see….”
Imagine. In the depths of a remote mountain, there lies a mysterious facility of glass tubes, piercing the earth towards the undergrounds. Due to geographical factor, people won’t run into them that quickly, but when people do run into them, that sight will stand out. I mean, really stand out. Then rumours like ‘there must be some sort of a secret hideout below’ will spread like wildfire. In the unlikely event when people actually approach them, we’re out.
TL Note: “out” in the sense of baseball “out”.
And it just so happens that the development of the new mines for business in Marlin has just been tendered out. Depending on how much revenue they make, some prospector will want to look for a new vein throughout the region and they will come one after another. If someone among them made the wrong turn and broke into the mountain where the lab is located, it’s a given that the lab will be discovered too. And then the information will find its way to the capital, where my brother and Victor’s father remains.
“But that’ll only be a matter of time, right? And so, there’s this considerably large vein in Laubert’s report. This vein can also be pinpointed by the gold dust in the river bed. Let’s defiantly expand the facility as much as we wish here. It lies literally in the middle of nowhere, far in the depths of the mountains, it’ll take days for a small band of prospectors to discover it.”
“But since Your Excellency took the trouble to say all these things, I suppose there’s some kind of a good-for-nothing countermeasure in place there too, yes?”
As expected from one of the pair of famous young official who’s running these frontiers. What fine decisiveness and foresight.
“Yeah. There’s still time until the results of the mine revenue are out and prospectors begin to move, add to that the interval between them moving and them discovering the facility. With that, there’s enough cards to play in our hands. Though, as Laubert said, the plan is a good-for-nothing one.”
“Ah, figured so.”
One of the pair shifts his gaze toward heaven, and the other shifts his gaze the other way. As to who did what, well, it doesn’t matter.
As both of them seems to have lost their will to ask further at the same time, Uni came to ask.
“Then, Master, what is your plan?”
“Yes. Needless to say, Marlin is a hinterland in the frontiers. And for that, we do have an abundance of nature and plenty of pristine lands where humans’ hands don’t reach. Our lab is among those lands.
And that’s why I could do something like digging and drilling during the wintertime. I could do something like moving huge golems to excavate the grounds, since the land is so secluded to the point it was impossible to be found out by any single soul.
“However….. In a pristine secluded land like this, you’d think there should be at least one or two undiscovered dungeons, yes?”
Victor stood up, not realising he was making clatters and loud noises as he rose. His face turns so pale it’s almost worrying.
Not minding Victor, Uni nods.
“I see, so on top of the lab that’s substantially similar to a dungeon, Master is planning to make another new dungeon.”
“Another dungeon? I won’t do something so stingy like that. Two. I did say ‘one or two’ back then, didn’t I?”
“…. So the lighting facility will be placed on a dungeon, and the surrounding mountains will also help to achieve the purpose of camouflaging the facility.”
“Madam Chief Maid, why are you being so calm here?! We’re talking about dungeons here! Setting aside the covert place where the underground space where the lab lies, to think the very mountain will be turned into a dungeon itself! If those people in the capital were to catch a whiff of this, it’d be good if it could end with just a summons from the high court! At worst, a whole army of the strongest knights’ order and adventurers could come knocking, you know!?”
Still pale, Victor keeps rattling on about his objections. Well, of course he would. What I’m proposing here is basically picking a fight with the kingdom just so the underground lab’s environment can be improved.
However,
“No, I think it’s quite the good idea, though?”
“Laubert!? Have you gone mad? Did he perform another readjustment on you when you were down under?!”
Well, what he said was a bit rude. However, it seems that Laubert has noticed the merits of the plan.
“I’m in my right mind. Well, I wonder if a someone whose head has been tampered with can be right in their mind, though. Victor, you were saying about if those in the capital were to catch a whiff of this, but…… like His Excellency said, Marlin is one of the most remote regions, even in the southern parts of the kingdom. If someone were to learn that there’s a dungeon here, as long as they don’t know that His Excellency made it himself, it won’t lead to his impeachment.”
“What did you say?”
Indeed, Marlin is a frontier, and the location of my lab is among its most secluded place unprecedented by any human intelligence. If there were to be an undiscovered dungeon in such a place, it wouldn’t explicitly lead people to question my management responsibility as its lord. ‘As more people enter into mine development than ever before, they happen to stumble upon an undiscovered dungeon as well’. I can do with this answer.
“Well…….. that’s certainly….. no…. but, there’s still a problem there, Your Excellency. Even if you manage to tell people that the dungeon you constructed yourself is an unprecedented discovery, what about the materials used to construct the dungeon itself? If you want to fortify the mountain, then it’ll be fine if you deploy tree-type monster there, but the lighting facility will be placed there as well and it’ll be a considerably large artifact. If people were to use ‘Detect’ spell on it and figure out when it was built, then doesn’t that mean that we risk losing everything here?”
“As expected from Victor, you certainly make a good point. However, you do know that alchemists do have an alias, yes?”
“‘Swindler’, isn’t it? No, it’s not like I’m doubting Your Excellency’s skills though…”
“No, I’m not talking about that. It’s just that it’s the prevailing view…. Here, look.”
All of a sudden, a bundle of parchments were thrown at him. From the look of it, they look considerably aged.
“Oh. What is this…? Hmm, these seems to be two hundred years old, I see. It’s curious that nothing is written here, though.”
And, he skillfully appraised the parchments’ age. Actually, Victor has some magic potential with him. If it’s only basic spells, even him can use it. A spell like “Detect” would have great use in assessing fine arts that is indispensable for those of the nobility, so of course he’d know the spell.
For this time only though, his answer was way off.
“Those are parchments for official document use that I bought a while ago.”
“Ah, I see…. So, you’re not trying to pull one on me, yes? I know that Your Excellency is an eccentric person, but just who would buy a useless parchment like this?”
“You still don’t get it?”
“Don’t get what?”
I was just about to tell perplexed Victor the answer when someone interjected.
“No way… did you disguise a brand new parchment as a two-hundred years old by using alchemy?”
It was Laubert. What he said was correct, but I wish he had read a bit more into it. Even though I had wanted to make a joke about it with a posed look…
“He got it. So, your appraisal spell has just given you the wrong answer, how do you feel about it?”
“How!? ……….. The washed-up colour can indeed be forged, but, there’s no way it could fool an appraisal spell…..!”
Somehow Victor’s role is to be the surprised one here. Perhaps it’s because he’s just serious by nature.
“Well, I vamped up the parchment so it gave an impression that it is two hundred years old when it’s appraised by a spell. It’s possible that the alchemists of old used to profit by forging fine arts. If they did that, it’s possible for them to get filthy rich even if they couldn’t turn lead into gold. Hence the ‘swindler’ alias.”
I haven’t heard anything that could substantiate that account though. Well, alchemy is a minor field in this world. Just how many barristers at that time were wise enough to expertly prove that a fraud was taking place? In the first place, how many victims realised that they were scammed in the first place?
Uni gives an additional explanation to the shaking Victor,
“As there are many things that are irreversibly impaired over time, renewing old things prove to be a difficult task, it is however surprisingly easy to make new things seem old. It’s possible for another alchemist as skilled as Master to see through the ruse, but…”
“At the very least, you won’t find anyone like that in this kingdom. And I have the confidence to insist on that. So far, the only alchemist comparable to me that I’m aware of is the professor who used to be my mentor.”
And there’s no people with spare time who’d bother bringing an alchemist to appraise a dungeon’s building material, nor there’s people who’d put their trust in this field in the first place. Besides, Professor Graumann is a foreigner. Even if someone from this country were to request him to do so, he’s not obliged to comply. He’s also currently busy researching immortality as well, just like me.
“What a staggering amount of preparation…. For someone who has yet to reach twenty, it’s impressive that you’ve came so far on this path. Is there some sort of a secret behind it?”
Victor’s words were more of an expression of astonishment rather than a praise. Perhaps he never thought that alchemy—- a field that is, albeit a discipline in the arcane, minor— would have so much impact in this world, starting from the fact that he was brainwashed using knowledge from that field. And come to think of it, the fact that someone who’s not even in their twenties could master that field to this extent might’ve been a menacing one.
“From my point of view, it’s just that, it seems that the other alchemists are doing their research in a terribly roundabout way.”
There’s a lot of unseparated portions between “alchemy” and “natural sciences”. For some reason, the knowledge of medicine-making and chemical composition is included in the field of alchemy. In my previous world, it seems that before the age of Newton, alchemists were once viewed as scientists, it seems that this world has the same confusion as well.
So, as a person who have received a basic education in a world where science has made progress, I could tell the noise in the field and concentrate only on the “alchemy” portion. That is why my rate of progress was different than my fellow student.
If there’s another factor to it, then,
“Also, he performs more human experimentations than any other people, that counts too, I suppose?”
“I see.”
Victor nods at Laubert’s words. Seems like another rude remark was thrown in there, but well, Laubert was correct. The data obtained from human experimentation has been most useful. For you see, as the outcome of the research is aimed for humans, the research should also be actually experimented on human bodies. Once, there was a certain country that turned out victorious in a war, and they took the research data obtained from human experimentation from the defeated country. They didn’t take it to turn it into evidence in the court, they took it so they could make use of it and advance their own country’s medicine and weapon development. That harvested data was just that valuable and helpful. Well, it’s something that happened in my previous world, so my memory about it is all fuzzy.
As I think about those miscellaneous things,
“Master, you should return to the original topic.”
“Whoops, right, there’s still that. So, the point is, even if we were to make a dungeon in the depths of the mountains, the possibility of connecting that to me is minimal. It can instead obstruct people from discovering the lab, and that there is a plus.”
“I see, I understand that it may be good for Your Excellency as an alchemist. However, as the lord who governs this land, just what kind of dungeon – which is technically a monster’s den – will you personally make? If the monsters were to overflow from there, for a territory with inadequate armaments like Marlin, things will be rough.”
As a home affairs official, that opinion was becoming of him. However, I’m not negligent enough to forget about those parts.
“Since it’ll be built in a remote place, I feel that the impact on the people will be minimal, though? We’ll regularly thin them out so they don’t increase too much. Materials that can be harvested from them are valuable, you see. It’s convenient to have a ‘ranch’ nearby for research purposes as well, and it’ll also be a training field for the Opus series. We’ll be hitting two birds with one stone.”
“Then what will you do when the dungeon is finally discovered? Adventurers in search of new hunting grounds will rush in there. When that happens, I think that the risk of the lab being discovered will rise.”
“Victor.”
“Yes.”
“Have you been listening to me?”
He’s not an incompetent person who is just going to act all surprised at my proposal. I’ve consulted my policies and strategies with him many times. He’s a victim of what I’m doing here as well. Surely, when I say this, there’s no reason for him to still not understand this and ask me something like “then what are you going to do with the people who’s coming to investigate you?” or “how are you going to use these people?”.
Sure enough, he sighs as he answers.
“… The dead don’t talk. And the “material” you were talking about is not limited to the corpse of the monsters. Am I correct?”
“Well put. If I had to add anything to that, catching them alive would’ve been more preferable, right?”
Indeed. If people were to go missing in some kind of remote mountain while there’s nothing there, others may come to suspect the incidents. But, what if people were to go missing in a dungeon, or better yet, the near-deepest parts of a it? ‘Well, maybe the monsters offed them’. I can do whatever I please to those who can’t talk. And strong experiment materials will absolutely come, so I’d say this makes me want to shout screams of joy. Even if they end up dead, I can make them into a fresh golem, or maybe do something on a grander scale with Charl’s help.
“What do you think, Laubert?”
“Yes, I think it’s a good plan. Adventurers will come to the dungeon, so that’ll be a positive impact economics-wise. It’s also a good opportunity to establish new industries. Facilities they will patronise, like lodgings, smitheries, supply shops, entertainment….”
That idea didn’t cross my mind.
Ah, right, the dungeon itself is an industry. Now that I think about it, a dungeon is like a workplace for adventurers. If I make a place where they can work, then of course those seeking for work will come. This’ll be the birth of a new economy.
“And there’s also Marlin’s primary trade product, potions. If the adventurers were to buy and consume them locally, it’ll be considerably more profitable for us, see? There’s no intermediary margins for the wholesale merchants, and there’s no freight cost too. If we can get new customers ourselves, the merchants will be pressured to revise the transaction value of the potions. Ah, that’s right, in addition, how does mobilising the mass-produced slaves to manufacture equipments to be sold for the adventurers sound?”
With flowing eloquence, he keeps on proposing new policies. Perhaps since this man had been unemployed for so long, he becomes energetic as soon as he finds a place where he can make use of his talent. Well, if it’s useful for me, I don’t mind the way he is.
“Laubert, I see that His Excellency have mostly tainted you as well….”
Quietly remarked Victor.
At his colleague’s remark, Laubert leaked out a dry laugh.
“Well, we won’t be able to get away from the lord so long as we live, Victor. Might as well let yourself be tainted quickly.”
“A sensible judgement.”
“Thank you, Chief Maid.”
Indeed, indeed, familiarising yourself with your workplace is a good thing. You can work without being stressed that way. Victor, if you do a bit more of that, that headache of yours will considerably occur less often too.
“And so, in addition with the plan of the lab’s environment improvements, I think that we should also press forward with the plan to develop the dungeons in the outskirts. At the same time, there’s a lot of manpower required here. Pick up some people with magic potential among the new slaves bought for the copper mine development and send them my way. I will handle the construction and the structural alteration of the lab and mobilise the Opus series to collect monsters to be released in the dungeon.”
“Who will be the person in charge? If you’re sending out someone conspicuous, your brother and my father – the centralists’ information network will be involved.”
“It’ll be someone conspicuous though, I’ll be sending Drei out. With her evil eye, it’ll be easy for her to capture her prey, and she can quickly travel long distances by using teleportation magic. Besides, I don’t send her to the front stage, so even if she’s spotted, there’ll be nothing to tie her with me.”
“Right. If it’s a collared dark elf, then those who witness her, they’d think her to be nothing more but an outcast adventurer. Besides, people are starting to know about Madam Chief Maid and Sir Due being Your Excellency’s subordinate, and Sir Vampire is, well, how should I put this…”
“Well Sir Vampire is a Lord class. If people were to witness him, a band of A-ranked adventurers will be sent to suppress him. Even if he wouldn’t be discovered, his character makes sending him out impossible.”
Really, how did his personality become like that? Even I, who readjusted him, am the one most baffled here.
“I don’t have a problem if it’s Drei. She looks young, but she’s among the long-living species. She’s at least one or two hundred years old, and she must’ve already get used to acting alone in secluded lands.”
“I strongly recommend her myself too… I was just thinking of what to do if it was zero-four instead.”
Uni is unexpectedly being harsh. I get where she’s coming from though.
“Well then, this matter is concluded. Let us figure out the details for these plans at a later time.”
“Right. Well then, let’s move along to the original important topic that Your Excellency pushed aside. First, about the progress of the copper mine development—–”
So, after I finished my job above, I came back to the lab.
“Well that idea is just out there now, isn’t it? ‘Making an underground dungeon isn’t gonna cut it, so let’s make another aboveground’, just what to say about this…”
“Still, quite an interesting job you have there, Master. I myself have been recently bored, for there’s no opponent to show my strength to.”
“Tsk, how enviable, Drei-senpai. I wanna go to the outside once in a while too…”
Those were the Opus series’ reaction to the new plan. Due doesn’t seem to be very enthusiastic about it, Drei seems to be brimming with motivation, and Charl is just out of the question. Uni is in favour, so if I’m going with the majority vote, that’ll be two ayes, one nay, and one invalid vote – the motion is adopted. Not that it matters though, since my order takes precedence.
By the way, shouldn’t Charl at least mind the fact that we’re going to bring sunlight into this place a bit more?
“But, Oubeniel-kun? I wonder if you’re biting too much than you can chew here. Just as it is, you’re wearing another hat as the feudal lord here, adding to that, you’re going to expand the lab and create dungeons. You also shut yourself in the atelier sometimes for some reason…. At this rate, our research will be put into a halt yet again.”
“How unusual. For this man to make a reasonable comment…”
“Wa, that’s cruel! Just what do you think I aaam!?”
Charl’s opinion certainly hits the mark.
However, there’s the matter of necessity.
“I get it, however, this is a necessary investment. It’ll be even more dangerous than ever if people were to discover this lab at this time. Also, as the environment of the lab interior is a rough one, wouldn’t it be better for us to improve things now, instead of postponing it for later? And besides, like I’ve explained before, the research profits from this too.”
“A ‘ranch’ for experiment materials, huh…. well at least there’ll be a plenty of people to spar against my sword, so I guess I can be happy about it.”
The one who said that was Due, whose resentment has been building up for having to stay in this place. I suppose he’ll be a bit sunnier if he can let off some steam. It is also my wish to be able to satisfy his peculiar preference of living on the edge as he duels people to death. I will surely get myself a lot of fine experiment materials.
“In addition, I’ll be expanding the number of the mass-produced slaves. In the first place, compared to the originally planned number, we’re pretty much really short of them right now. If possible, I’d like to at least increase them threefold.”
It’s mainly because Due’s purchase of Drei. But since I got myself an excellent piece thanks to that, it’s fine.
Then, at my remarks, Charl’s eyes shines
“So, you’re going to get me slaves too, yes? Virgins. Virgins!”
“Ah, yes. That…”
Of course my mood would be spoiled by that. He’d say something troublesome in an inappropriate time like this, even if he gets beaten up by Uni and the other Opus as a result. Does he want a virgin’s blood that much? Well he probably does. He’s a vampire after all.
“Just leave that perv of a vampire alone….. by the way, Master. Hearing the new plan almost made me forget to ask this, just what exactly did you do in the atelier the other day? You seemed to be so immersed in your work, to the point you didn’t reply when Uni tried to call you.”
And so Drei asked me about the matter that had started all this. Well, of course she’d be wondering about it. Her lord had basically changed class and messed about for five consecutive days.
TL Note: “class change” into a hermit (hikkikomori), it seems.
“Nah, well, about that…. It’s just that I was pondering about a way to use the excess material from the mineral section, and when I began the research that actually was my pastime, I unexpectedly got too immersed in it. Before I knew it, I got recklessly absorbed into it. I’m still reflecting now.”
“…. Then, Master, just what exactly did you try to make back then?”
Attentively, Uni smoothly advances the topic. Even though she was the one who was bothered with the most trouble in this matter, what a do-well slave. Perhaps I can understand why Victor said that she has been spoiling me too much.
I’m grateful for what she has done, therefore shy as I am, let me answer her here.
“It’s new kind of golem. Something different than those disposable golems used for civil engineering and mining works. Plenty of high-grade materials are used, and its design was made from scratch, for it was intended to be deployed permanently……. Upon its completion, this golem will be Opus-05.”
“Oh…”
“The opus won’t be something based on a high-grade experimental material like us, it’ll be literally born from nothing….”
There’s flickering heat in Uni’s eyes. The aura of “how wonderful Master is!” that she emits is, how to say this, making me bashful.
As a fellow mage, Drei seems to be immensely curious about the creation of this golem as well.
As for the men….
“Golems huh……. So blood won’t be flowing in its veins….. I know that I’m forbidden from tasting the blood of my companions, but this is………………… hah……”
Oi, Charl. Just why are you assuming that I’ll be making a female-type?
“This bat man is seriously without manners……. Well anyway, quite the hearty story you’ve got the, Milord. Making a golem out of gold and silver….”
“Ha? Who said that I was going to make it from silver and gold?”
I tilt my head at Due’s remarks.
He gave me a blank look in reply.
“Hah? No, didn’t you say it yourself? You said you were trying to figure out a way to make use of the materials mined here.”
“Ah, so that’s it…. Well I don’t plan to use the silver and gold to construct the golem’s body. It’s a new high-tech material that will serve as the basis for the golem. I made an alloy from those materials with alchemy and am planning to use that alloy….”
“In any case, it’s still quite the extravagant talk…. so, what kind of alloy did you make from melting those gold and silver?”
“I’m interested as well. At that time, among the specimens in the atelier, there was a metal I’m not familiar of…..”
Uni said. Well, she’s been my assistant for many years now. She’s sharp-sighted, not only for the matter of the run in the mill magic, but in alchemy-related matters as well.
“Oh, that? I think you’ve seen them before, though.”
“Have I?
“Yes, when I was studying abroad at St. Gallen, We should have seen an ingot like that at the Academy’s museum.”
I pointed that out to her. Even for me, it wasn’t something that’s so easy to make. I’ve only seen its successful synthesis once. Well, actually, I asked Uni to sneak in with me to touch the alloy thoroughly and take a tiny sample of it.
“…. What is he talking about? Do you know anything about it, vampire?”
“Weeell, I was at the academy at that time, but…. a rare ingot that adorned the academy’s museum, you say? If it’s something that can be made from existing material from this place, I guess he made mythril from silver or something?”
“Don’t ask me, it’s something entirely out of my expertise….”
While the other Opus couldn’t reach the correct answer, as expected, Uni, who could get near to the answer in the first place, quickly noticed.
“……… Master.”
“What is it?”
“That vermillion-coloured metal with that rainbow-coloured luster about it……. that sample, could it be……. an ‘orichalcon’?”
Her remarks made the air froze.
Next thing I know, with a noise that almost seem like a creak, Drei constrainedly faces my way.
“Ori, chal….. con? Could it really be that orichalcon?”
“A, AHAHAHAHA! M, Maid, you’re unexpectedly good with jokes! As if something like that could exist!”
“It’s annoying, but I’ll have to agree. By orichalcon you mean that famous legendary metal, yes? Even someone who’s not an expert knows about that. And then, you’re saying that you made that so you can use it for your golem? A fine jest, I’d say.”
And then these simultaneous attacks. Ah, as I thought, this kind of reaction hurts me.
Well, if it can’t be helped, I’d say it’s indeed can’t be helped. Orichalcon is that kind of metal. Its luster outperforms even gold, its elasticity is superior to silver, and it’s easier to process than copper. It is a legendary material, considered stronger than anything in this world. It’s an ultra-rare legacy material that can only be found in an archaeological excavation of a slightly prehistoric ruins of a civilisation as weapons or small ingots, which can’t be found in this era at all. That is what Orichalcon is.
If I were to hear that a certain alchemist somewhere managed to successfully synthesise it, I’d also not only doubt the information itself, I’d also doubt the sanity of the person who told me the information itself.
“Well you might say that, but it can’t be helped that I successfully synthesised it.”
As I said so sulkingly, the other three stopped dead in their tracks yet another time. The only calm one is Uni, who understand my skills more than anyone else.
“……….. Did you really synthesise it?”
“Didn’t I just say so?”
“Seriously?
“Seriously.”
“That’s impossible….. I can’t believe it…. Huh!? Did you perhaps send the maid to steal it from the academy or rob it from the treasure chest of the royal family?!”
“You want me to mess with your brain, Charl?”
Everyone’s still half-convinced even now that I’ve asserted it again. And in the chaos a certain someone would blurt out something that’s pretty much improper……… Wait, isn’t this just the usual?
I’ve grown tired of this skit, so I’ll continue talking.
“I understand what you feel, but calm down and listen to me. ‘Orichalcon’….. do you understand the meaning of the word in the first place?”
“If I were to remember correctly, it’s ‘mountain copper’ in ancient language………. Eh? Could it be—-”
Drei’s main job is related to magic, so of course she’d know. Because she’s already familiar with these things, she caught on quickly.
“Yes, that’s it. I had a sample of copper drilled for the pilot project, I did several trials and errors. And I finally got to synthesise it.”
“So……. does it mean, you can make orichalcon by mixing copper with gold?”
“If it were that simple, people would’ve been able to make it ages ago. Generally, you can only make a gold-copper alloy out of that. Its appearance and characteristic is different, and there’s only five percent of gold mixed in it.”
Gold is one of the most important substances in alchemy. Of course it’s also used to make the finest alloy that is Orichalcon in large quantity. There’s no way you can make that alloy with less than ten percent gold in it.
“However, the concept is close. Using alkahest, I was able to draw out the characteristics of copper and mixed it together with gold. By doing that, I was able to figure out that the properties similar to copper can be applied to gold. When I combined it further with silver, the silver’s properties were also added to the alloy. Hence the magically melded substance from the three metals. When I examined that material, I see that it was almost identical to the orichalcon I saw in the academy once.”
“Wait a minute, alkahest? Did you just say alkahest like it was nothing?”
“Yes I did. It’s a miraculous solvent to draw out the characteristics of gold…… well, it’s still not the finished product yet, so it’s not yet able to do that with gold.”
By the way, it’s staggeringly corrosive. Its reputation as a universal solvent isn’t just for show, it literally can melt just about anything. When using it, you will have to apply the correct amount on top of the material you want to synthesise. Failure to do so will result on it ruining not only the material, but its container as well.
People sometimes confuse it for aqua regia, but of course they’re two different things. In contrast to the imperfect alkahest I use, while it can melt gold, it can’t melt silver. Alkahest does not corrode a material by oxidizing it, it instead literally just melts and dissolves the material, which itself is a mysterious phenomenon. It’s a substance to draw out the spiritual essence of a material that dwells inside its physical elements. As it completely melts and dissolves anything to nothing provided that it has the same mass, rather than a chemical, alkahest is closer to antimatter. Well, if it were to follow the principle of annihilation between matter and antimatter, then from what I’ve done, the whole Ithuselah continent will be blown to bits without a trace, so of course it is not exactly antimatter.
Drei left her trembling mouth open.
“Doesn’t that count as one of the secrets of alchemy?”
“I guess. So what?”
“No, what do you mean ‘so what’…..”
“Drei-senpai, did you forget who this man is? He’s our master, Oubeniel, alright? He’s someone who could tamper with the head of a dark elf, or artificially make a Vampire Lord like me, alright? “
“It’s very convincing…. But It’s frustrating that I have to hear it from you……!”
And suddenly Charl was on his knees. Was it that much of a shock?
“It’s not something to be surprised about, yes? Alkahest is used to make the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, which is a necessary element to obtain immortality, but here we’re just using it to melt gold.”
“Philosopher’s Stone” is a tool that has been considered indispensable to attain the most arcane in alchemy since ancient times. I understand that it is used to create gold or the elixir of immortality. Of course, making it is also one of my goals.
However, I do not know how much effect it will exert as I never see the real thing. I would be stumped if I were to manage to make the real thing and it turned to be a fluke compared to its reputation. It is also a legendary existence that the famous alchemy pioneers could not reach. It’s also possible that I still won’t be able to make it when my lifespan runs out.
Therefore, it’s essential to learn about methods to extend my life using other aspects as well. A high-level experiment in regard of vampirisation, such as Charl’s augmentation, is among those efforts.
“Setting whether I can make alkahest that can melt gold aside, if the failure were on this side, I’d think that it’s weird even if I were to manage to successfully perfect it.”
“I don’t think that’s the problem, though… sigh, I got picked up by an utterly ridiculous lord…”
Due said as he scratches his head.
In the other hand, Charl appears to be spellbound.
“Still, Master sure is wonderful! Regardless of the alkahest improvement, you still managed to make orihalcon. The orihalcon! You managed to make something like that! When the orihalcon golem finally can be mass produced, you can even conquer this continent! Hey, hey, Master! When you have finally conquered the continent, can I have at least one country? It’s fine, right?
It seems that for some reason he has just conjured a preposterous diagram of future plans in his head. Though Due and the rest of the Opus series commented something like “again, this guy….” as they stared at him.
If I leave him as he is, his imagination is likely to go to a ridiculous direction, so first, I’ll correct that mistake for now.
“Don’t say something so ridiculous. Didn’t I tell you? It’s difficult to handle alkahest which is needed for a step in production of orihalcon. So I can’t mass produce it.”
“Eeeeeh.”
“Don’t ‘eeeeeh’ me. What’s impossible is impossible. With the exception of the high-end model that is Opus-05, we’ll be making the mass-produced version from silver-derived mythril.”
“But what about conquering the continent?”
“….. I’ve ran out of riposte already.”
“Besides,”
I separated my words. The important thing is after this.
“First, what happened to that ancient civilisation that was able to utilise its orihalcon abundantly? It was completely destroyed and there’s virtually no trace of it. Was it consumed by internal fighting while possessing technology that was too advanced in its age? Or perhaps it was destroyed by the demons in the crisis hundreds of years ago? Theories that explain the end of that civilisation varies, but whatever the true cause was, at the end of the day, the result remains unchanged. Save for some old ruins, they’re all extinct. They all died out and disappeared……… it’s not a joke.”
Yes, it’s really not a joke.
No matter how prosperous you get, it is all pointless if you’re dead.
That literally empty state where you can’t feel the heat nor the cold, where you’t feel joy nor pain.
That kind of fate, I sincerely pass.
“That’s why, it’s not enough.”
“………… HYIH!?”
“Orihalcon? If it’s only that, then it’s far from enough. Because this is the very proof that the ancients who lived thousands and ten thousands years ago failed to attain immortality. If they managed to attain it, then wouldn’t their splendour remain until this day? So, it’s too early to be festive just because of this. It’s nothing but a single rare metal, we’re still going to die that way…………………. What is it Char? You look pale.”
I had make quite the unusual long speech, but when I realised it, Charl seems to be strange. His face, which is already pale in the first place, has become even paler now, his face is almost ashen in colour.
…. Could it be that he doesn’t have enough blood? The amount of cultured blood that I gave him should be sufficient… Maybe he really needs the blood of a living virgin that he requested over and over again?
“A, A, AHAHAHAHHA! I was, being, ca, careless now, wasn’t I? That’s right. Master’s purpose, is to attain immortality, yes?”
“That’s correct. Don’t forget that. What I’m doing here to the very end is to plan so I don’t die…. After that, well, I figure out a hobby so I can enjoy that life itself. I don’t have the spare time for world conquest. Though whether that can be achieved or not is a different matter entirely.”
I shifted my gaze after I said so. For some reason, Charl is currently stuttering, just like him before his operation. Apparently he’s really in a bad condition. Somehow, I feel bad just by looking at him.
Hmm, have I been caring too much about the probability of him rebelling against me that it gave him excessive stress? Even though I’m troubled by his insubordination, I’m certain that he’s a necessary human resource for my research. As I thought, he’ll need some care.
Can’t be helped. Maybe I’ll splurge a bit and allot some slaves for him. Though if I were to say something here he’s just going to be carried away again, so I’ll be silent until I actually give him what he wants.
As I think about that matter, Uni abruptly gave me a bow.
“It’s good that Master hasn’t forgotten his original purpose.”
“Just what are you saying so suddenly, Uni? Of course there’s no way I’d forget now, is there?”
“Then, please keep good care of yourself so that you’ll be able to avoid being too absorbed in your research, harming your own body in the process.
….. It hurts if she puts it that way.
I already told Charl, but the reason why I kept going for nights until I collapsed was because I was too absorbed in my zeal when I was trying to make orichalcon.
Now that my do-well follower has said that, I’ll make sure that I’ll be careful next time.
Ah, Gifu Prefecture. Probably the most curious place on earth.
Anyway, I’ve returned from my travels.
There are two chapters scheduled for December. The last chapter of Volume 2 in the LN, and the first chapter and the opening chapter for a highly emotional short arc. I project that the arc will be finished to be translated by January, and then we’ll enter the highly anticipated, long and winded romance (ish) arc by Feb.
Look forward to it.
Sychev.
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