69 - The Twelfth Question

Raindrops fell in the deep forest.

A single raindrop bursts as soon as it hits the ground, followed by a series of small raindrops.

A group of green-robed men move through the outskirts of the forest, surrounded by a white, smoky drizzle.

The visibility in the cloudy forest is poor, but the man at the front of the group thinks that this is a good thing. The rain, which hides their footsteps and their appearance, is welcome but not unwelcome.

Of course, it is possible to win without planning such a surprise attack. I sincerely believe that there is no way we can fall behind. However, the thought that it is better to be careful than to be cautious made them choose to act in a covert manner.

After all, what is about to take place is a battle for the prestige of the nation - or rather, the pride of the race. They are here as representatives of all the peoples living in the Sea of Trees. At least that's what the man believed.

I'm sure it was the same that day, he thinks.

As he walks, he thinks of the proud hero of Noblewood.

The image of Sarawyn Welt-Noblele Leaf, the chief hunter who led an advance party of the most elite hunters and went to build a bridgehead in preparation for war against the humans.

His (or her) hero, who was unanimously given the mission by the council of elders, would have also carried out a swift raid on the city, even if the opponent was an "unclean", and would have done his job without letting his guard down at all.

Why did it come to this?

Why were they forced to do such a thing?

My understanding of the situation is still far from satisfactory. But I knew exactly what I had to do. The man suppresses his seething emotions and continues his march, keeping a calm exterior.

"Stop right there, Noblewood elves!

Suddenly there was a voice hurled at the green-clad group.

The group stops, and the man at the head of the group pulls off his hood and looks at the owner of the voice.

Both of his exposed eyes are glowing with a dangerous light.

"You are the 'filth' of LATESTWOOD. ...... How did you know we were here?"

A call from a well-meaning collaborator. A group of suspicious individuals are approaching the city. ...... From the looks of it, they don't need to be questioned, but we'd like to give them a warning."

Wenli, the former chief of warriors of Rattestwood, the only one standing in front of the murderous group, spoke with a resolute tone in his voice.

"Ahead of you lies the city of RATESTWOOD, our country. If he had no business in our city, he would not appear in such a place. Nevertheless, I question your intentions for showing up here, fully armed."

An elf rushed to the man who was questioned.

When told of the identity of the woman standing in his way, the man replies with a scowl that reveals his contempt for her.

You dare to question us as if you were a mere warrior leader?

"Do you think you need credentials to question a group of suspicious people?"

"Nonsense. If you want to have words with us elves you should at least bring the queen with you. That would be the least you could do.

The words of disparagement against the half-elves are the purest expression of feelings.

The man has no doubts about what he says. He was simply stating the obvious. He truly believes that half-elves are not even qualified to speak to elves in the first place, and that it is a breach of civility not to send the queen here.

Wenli understood this and became aware of an instantaneous surge of righteous indignation.

"Is that ...... what they said, those who tried to cut off the messenger? ......!　It is hardly the words of an outlaw who responded with a blade to an opponent who reached out to him to find a way to make peace!"

"Shut up!　How humiliated do you think we are just to exchange words with you!　Don't you even have the intelligence to guess what that feeling is!　Then cut yourself right here, right now!　That is the civility you "filth" should show us!"

There is no such civility!　What do you ...... think you are, we half-elves?

"Filth!　You are nothing but a stain on the forest and the elves, disgracing them by your mere existence!　How many times do I have to tell you!　How many times do I have to tell you to understand!　You are nothing else!　You are not even wanted to be born, you are not accepted by anyone else, you just live on the sly, living in fear of the monsters of the Abyssal Forest,----, and nothing else.

The man who had been in a rage suddenly became calm as if he had been doused with cold water.

In his endless rage, he remembered a fact that he had almost forgotten for a moment, and his tall, rounded back trembled with a smile that leaked out.

"...... Yes, that's right, isn't it? You had other important duties to perform. You had a role suited to half-elves, reproducing as food for the faery dragons that would feed us Noblewood's great desire.

"......, you are still doing that kind of--!"

"Not yet, not yet. It has been decided from the very beginning. That's why we let you live in a corner of the forest. For decades, we have allowed you to live in a corner of the great sea of trees. And now that it is harvest time and you are about to fulfill your role, you have the audacity to turn on us. ......!"

Says the man. He has dared to watch the half-elves settle in a corner of the forest for this very purpose. The reason why they have been allowed to live in a part of the Sea of Trees, even though it is a very poor environment near the Abyssal Forest, is so that they can be bred as food when the fairy dragons come back to life. And the half-elves are nothing more than livestock to be fed by the fairy dragons, he asserted without any hesitation.

No one in the crowd of more than a hundred elves standing behind the man raised an objection.

For the elves of Noblewood, it was a simple fact, an unshakable value, and a common sense that it should be so.

Incompatible values and disagreements.

Wenli, who was told this unabashedly, could not muster the strength or even the significance to refute it, and could only stand there in a state of stunned amazement.

The man nodded his head in satisfaction, wondering how he had interpreted the silence,

"--But that's enough. You no longer need to serve as sustenance. It was probably a mistake to have included the existence of the Unsullied in the plan in the first place. Even a wise man of long life makes mistakes from time to time. Let us admit it. It was a mistake to try to farm low quality livestock and feed them to the fairy dragons.

"...... what are you doing at this point?"

"It means that a half-elf "defilement" could not revive the fairy dragons. That is why a great disaster has happened. Unbelievable news was to be delivered. Do you know how I felt then?　No, you don't understand. The fairy dragon was destroyed, the advance party became collateral damage, and the hero entrusted with the mission, Sarawin, the chief hunter, was returned to the forest by the hands of the "Unsullied". My state of mind!　You people!　You don't understand!

Ignoring Wenli's questioning, the man reveals his feelings. His voice soon grew passionate, and finally he let out a cry.

"Yes, yes!　We don't need you anymore!　There is no reason left for you to live!　Even without the use of such inferior food as you have provided, our guardian dragon has made a complete comeback!

Like a conductor in a fever, the man raises one arm.

At the same time, a high-pitched scream echoed.

Wenli's eardrums shook with the distinctive screams he had heard on the outer edges of the capital, which had fallen into enemy hands about two months earlier.

And then, emerging from the drizzling rain that covers the forest, is the winged dragon.

Wenli's eyes widen in astonishment, and she looks ahead to see the guardian that the gods have left behind for the elves--the <>.

"------"

At that moment, Wenli's consciousness was tainted with a blank.

The guardian dragon for Noblewood is a vindictive enemy for Rattestwood. To see it again would be a shock to most people. However, this is not the only reason why her thoughts are tinged with blankness.

Wenli knew. She had been told this information in advance by Camilla, who had launched an information war against Noblewood with the full force of the Sixth Legion. Noblewood had brought up the relics of the past without any mercy.

So I was prepared for this. I knew in advance that I would once again be confronted with the sight of the abominable dragon. Nevertheless, the factor that stunned Wenli, who had already prepared herself for this, was the physique of the fairy dragon she was about to see in person.

The fairy dragon that Wenli knew - the one that once attacked Rattestwood - had a morbidly fleshy body. It was a winged dragon with an eerily thin body, made up of only bones and skin, with only a little flesh added to it. To her, it was a fairy dragon.

But what about the dragon hovering in the air right in front of her eyes?

The morbidly slender body has been transformed into a thick, massive body, and the body that was all skin and bones has been transformed into a massive, heavy frame.

The thin hind legs, which may not even be able to support its own weight, are now more than two times thicker and stronger than I remember, and there is no trace of the fleshy appearance of the past. There was the majestic figure of a giant dragon with a body so majestic and powerful that it could have been a different kind of dragon.

And the moment Wenli looked directly at it, he realized.

That was its true form.

As a being of Elven blood, Wenli instinctively understood that the majestic figure he was seeing now was the fairy dragon of Elven mythology that had regained its full strength.

--And now, six of them.

The crowd of fully restored fairy dragons is flying leisurely in the sky of the Sea of Trees.

"............ Are you insane? Are you ......"

Wenli grunts, forgetting even how to speak on behalf of the Ratestwoods.

Once her people were dragon food. Though the blood of the elves in their veins is thin, the sacrifice of many half-elves is made up for by sheer numbers. The number of her companions who were sacrificed cannot be counted in hundreds or even two hundred. Wenli, who had carved the names of his people on tombstones, knew this fact very well.

But even so, the individual at that time had a lean physique, all skin and bones. Now that he had actually seen the complete body, he could understand that it was far from its true form, an incomplete, emaciated physique.

Then, how many hundreds, if not thousands of thousands of purebloods (elves) did it take to fatten up six fairy dragons like this?

I've given up all hope of sanity.

The man told him as if to throw up.

The man, his eyes shaking with madness, spoke under a sky filled with dancing dragons that had sacrificed everything they had, not to mention the elves of the neighboring Oldwood, their own non-combatants, unnecessary soldiers, young priests, and everything in between.

"Yes, yes. We are already mad. Since that time a hundred years ago, since that day ...... when our queen was maimed by those ugly humans, since that day when she took her own life in despair - since that day a hundred years ago when we were defeated and humiliated in the worst way by humans, we have long since lost our sanity!"

They had it etched in their minds.

The queen, the most beautiful of all the elves, her beautiful crown twisted in hatred and broken day by day. And they had seen with their own eyes how the beautiful queen, unable to bear the humiliation of being defiled by humans, had fled to her death.

That is why the Noblewoods have turned to vengeance with all their might.

However, even if they immediately launched a war, it was inevitable that they would be defeated again once they went out into the wilderness. However, if too much time is left, the humans, who greatly outnumber the elves in fertility, will increase their power, and the opportunity for revenge will be lost. At the very least, Noblewood would not have a bright future as it took on the combined forces of the humans alone.

Power was needed. Overwhelming force. They needed a violence that would allow them to unilaterally overrun the enemy without giving them a chance to counterattack.

Of course, such power was not something that could be obtained immediately. Nor is it something that can be achieved through personal study. In the midst of the agony of not being able to find a solution, someone casually muttered

<

It was a sweet whisper.

I was reluctant to let the fairy dragons, who were supposed to be protectors, take revenge, but my hatred for humans overcame my conflicts. The elves of Noblewood followed the whispers and worked to unseal the ruins where the fairy dragon was sealed.

The priests who had been holed up in the tree were rushed out, and the whole family gnawed at the ruins, eager to unseal the fairy dragon on behalf of vengeance. Everyone worked together and did everything in their power.

All in order to make up for the humiliation of that day.

To incinerate the abominable past and avenge our late queen.

--But...

"Our cause!　After a hundred years of humiliation and endurance, our plan was foiled in a single night!　And that too at the hands of you filth, who are abominable and fearless...!

I can't forgive you. I couldn't accept it.

I could have forgiven him if he had been stopped by the elves of another country who foolishly claimed to be in harmony with humans.

It would have been acceptable even if they had run out of strength halfway before completing their plan and had to leave their dead bodies in the wilderness as a result.

But they say that it was the "Unsullied" who destroyed their plans.

It was a drifter who helped them.

How can we admit to such a fearless fact, that our plans have been shattered by a faction of the "Unsullied" who were just surviving miserably in a corner of the forest?

We will complete our revenge this time. ...... but first, you. First, you will exorcise the "filth" and use their blood and atonement as a signal to start the war and wipe out the ugly humans!　That is the only path we should take!"

The hunters lined up behind him picked up their weapons.

They were the few exceptions among the people of Noblewood who were not dedicated to the fairy dragon.

The hunters, who were expected to be as good as the first team, looked at Wenli with their bestial eyes.

"Now give me the Gentiles who helped you!　We know. We know of the underlings who have aided you, who have taken the lives of my brother Sarawin-Welt-Nobleleleaf, the fairy dragon and the chief hunter ...... by foul means!　If you try to hide it from me, I will burn the entire area around you to ashes until I find it!"

As if to show that he was not a threat, the man - Selwyn Welt-Noble Leaf, the acting chief hunter, put his left hand out to one of the fairy dragons flying in the air. The giant dragon let out a high pitched but powerful cry in response, and its wings lit up with a green magic light.

Wenli came to his senses and recalled the plan he had been told in advance. <.

As Wenli was about to send the signal as agreed upon, he suddenly remembered 's past words and actions. She wondered if she should really call on a man who was so reckless and had no fighting skills, and more than anyone else, she wondered if she should trust her fate to him.

But there is no way she can change her plans at this point in time.

Her hesitation lasts only a moment.

Wenli, determined, takes a deep breath to say the words that will signal her to go...

"Yes, I jumped out at the call and came right away!　I am Robin, the who visited the Ratestwood!　Greetings, Noblewoods!

--The jovial kid, who can't read the air, leaped into the air as usual.

The dwarf emerges from the bushes, introduces himself, and spins around between the two opponents. Then, as soon as he comes to a stop facing the acting chief hunter (Selwyn), he strikes a pose and says, "Yeah, yeah. He then pauses, facing the acting chief hunter (Selwyn), and says, "Yay." He also makes a peace sign, as if he is trying to make a point.

Wenli was speechless at the clown-like behavior and opened and closed his mouth like a fish on land.

Then, for a few seconds, the air that had been in a state of excitement froze,

"---- what are you?"

In a whisper. A frighteningly quiet murmur escaped from Selwyn's mouth.

The expression on his face, which had been twisted into hatred just a moment before, was devoid of emotion.

To the casual observer, it would have seemed like the calm of a volcano about to erupt.

"Didn't you hear that?　...... Ah, I see. I guess elves are older than they look. Are they deaf by any chance?

The dwarf Robin tilts his head, asking a simple question. If this were an everyday scene, it might have been amicable, but here it is literally out of place.

Robin then opens his mouth again, after an unnecessary comment, "Well, I guess it can't be helped if you're an old man,

"Well. I'm the gentile you're looking for...... ah, the traveler. And I'm a client of yours at Latticewood. When you invaded before, I helped you out of a kind of one night's lodging and one meal, but it was your fault for bullying the weak and I don't blame you."

Robin nods his head and finishes what seems to be an explanation, as if a taller child were admonishing a younger child.

Wenli, standing behind him, is struck by a powerful dizziness that makes her feel faint.

Even a child like this is the head of a legion, a legionnaire, one of the eight highest points in Alkimaira, excluding the king. When the time comes, I am sure that he will show himself to be a dignified man worthy of his position. --She has been telling herself this for a long time, but when the time comes, she finds herself in this mess. She is filled with a feeling of wanting to hold her head in her hands, thinking that she should have persisted in her dissenting opinion even at the risk of death.

Even so, Selwyn somehow regained her nerve and tried to leave with Robin in her arms, but Selwyn reached her limit before Wenri could.

"This clown ...... is my brother!　Do you insinuate that Sarawin, the chief hunter, has been defeated!　Don't be a fool, aaaaaa--!!!"

Wind bullets released in a burst of radiant fury.

It's a fiery bullet of intermediate magic of the wind attribute.

The brilliance of the magic obtained at the end of more than a hundred years of training, in contrast to his raging inner mind, he constructs a flowing formula, and though he chants in abbreviated form, he rushes under the enemy with certainty of power.

The wind projectile, which caught the face of the dwarf with a carefree expression on his face, cracked and exploded as soon as it landed, and the released mass of wind caused chaotic destruction. A cloud of dust rises up, and broken clods of earth and debris from the trees scatter.

Eventually, the dust plumes were washed away by the drizzle, and visibility became clearer.

Selwyn, whose breathing is ragged with rage, raises and lowers his shoulders to confirm the devastation of the impact point, where no trace of the destruction is visible. There was the gutted ground and, as expected, the wreckage of five dismembered dwarfs.

Still chagrined, Selwyn tries to step on the corpse, and suddenly feels a strong sense of discomfort.

He noticed that the head of the dwarf, which had rolled down to his feet, remained in an oddly beautiful shape. Moreover, there is no blood from the cross section. There were no traces of bloodshed, as there should be in any living creature.

This is...

"Puppet"?　......No way, it's a small golem. ......!"

He quickly looks at the other parts lying around him. As expected, the scattered limbs were the same as the head.

The head that I picked up was of extremely elaborate construction and felt as real to the touch, but it was not a living thing. I have never heard of such a thing that can speak fluent human language, but this is a moving puppet, a golem.

Selwyn searches for the presence of the magician who might have controlled the golem, but there is no sign of him around. Before he knew it, even the "Unsullied" woman had disappeared. The other hunters, who had begun to search for the golem without being ordered by anyone, could not find the golem-user or even the direction in which the woman had left.

A single click of the tongue. Selwyn is about to exercise his command over the fairy dragon soaring overhead, trying to get it to look for his servant, when...

<<1253>, We have confirmation of a preemptive strike by our virtual enemy, Noblewood-- have we crossed the line, Noblewood gentlemen? >>

A cold tone reaches my ears.

It was the voice of a clown. It was the voice of the dwarf we had just crushed.

The hunters look around reflexively at the voice, which retains its own distinctive resonance.

At the same time, there was a distinct change in the sky. A group of fairy dragons all turned to the east at once. It was because they recognized an abnormally heightened magical reaction in that direction.

Six pairs of twelve eyes were looking through. There is the capital of Rattestwood and an invisible box-like building constructed on the outskirts of Rattestwood. And as the guardian dragon of the elves gazes, the one who appears in the depths of the box that has been made invisible is...

+ + +

"Remove the fixtures!　Increase the flow of magical element supply from the external magical ore furnace to maximum flow rate!

"First and second reactor cores activated successfully. Generator output has breached default. Disconnect the cables from the external arc furnace.

"Disconnection complete. Confirmation of completion of startup sequence No. 25 through No. 42. Then move to sortie sequence.

Invisible large box. Upon receiving the news of the first confirmed attack by the enemy forces, the workers of the VII Corps were hurriedly executing the prescribed sequence.

At the entrance of the large box, standing at the end of the rail extending from the opening, is a painted in azure and silver. The colors of the former are dark and those of the latter are deep. The latter, which occupied a large area, had a color that some people might have called the color of steel.

Sitting behind the < is a large magic furnace equipped with a large box. Under the direction of the worker in charge, magical elements are extracted from the magical stones stored in the tank and poured into the body of the <> at full throttle. The highly purified magical element was then directed through the mithril-made blood vessels to the heart of the , and eventually reached the two hearts built into the torso.

At the same time, the roar of the machine echoed. Some of us felt relief at the fact that the machine had been successfully activated, but the sortie sequence was still in progress. Following the instructions of the site supervisor, the procedure continues. The cables connecting the activation power unit to the are noisily removed one after the other, and the obsolete unit is moved to a corner of the large box along with a cluster of cables.

The bottom of the foot is locked. Prepare to eject catapult.

"Aye, sir!　Forward hatch open, deploy gravity lens for ejection!　And invisibility is lifted!

The catapult shuttle then secured the sole from the front and rear. < visually confirmed this and signaled to another worker who was standing by near the opening. He responded with a thumbs-up and opened the hatch.

At the same time as the opening of the enclosure is fully opened, the boy held in the chest of the <> receives an order from his master. The order came in response to the boy's report that the enemy forces (Noblewood) had launched a preemptive attack. As soon as the boy recognized the last sentence of the "Order," he felt an unmistakable surge of excitement.

The last sentence of the order. It was an echo of the speech he had heard that day. The king's order that spurs the will to fight. The boy longed for a single word, a mere four words.

<>

Upon receiving the order, the boy sank shallowly into the small box in his chest, a seat that was called the pilot's seat, and uttered a small but sure murmur, "Yes, King,

"Robin Harnaldwerg, commander of the Seventh Army Corps, we're off."

A calm voice spins a declaration. A moment later, at the signal of the site supervisor who confirmed that all preparations had been made, the with the boy inside began to accelerate rapidly toward the opening of the hangar (large box).

The electromagnetic catapult and the gravitational lens deployed in front of it propelled the blue-silver Titan at an explosive speed.

--To the naked eye, it had the appearance of a knight.

The flying < has limbs, a torso, and a head, all of which are covered with dull-colored armor. Its appearance, with its entire body covered in armor, could be described as that of a knight.

However, it was not a living creature, and its fleshless body had an inorganic aspect. Particularly remarkable is the chest armor, which protrudes forward so far that it looks like the tip of a huge spear.

The head mounted on the torso also differed from the humanoid form in that it had the appearance of a dragon. The two blade antennas extending backward resemble the horns of a dragon, and the built-in rails that extend 180 degrees in front of the head have the gleam of a single, dull, shining eye.

The chest, legs, and shoulders are extremely massive and large in total area, and the forearms are also thickly armored, while the body and upper arms are slender, and the head is disproportionately small.

In other words, the knight of the dragon's head, who is well-trained and lean, wears what might be called multi-layered plate armor with only the chest protruding, a movable thigh cover (tasset) hanging from the waist, multiple armored shin guards (greaves) integrated with iron shoes (sabatons), and finally heavy hand armor (gauntlets). The form of the forearms is like this.

It is a knight with a dragon's head made of gold and a golem.

A masterpiece created by the Seventh Legion, a group of craftsmen.

Restored from ancient weapons excavated from the ruins of old civilizations, it is Alkimaira's trump card and the most powerful decisive weapon, a fusion of ancient mourned technology and the latest in magical engineering.

The name of the weapon is...

Fafnir. - Now, two months late, it's time for our first battle. Let's go out with a bang and make our mark on the world!"

My heart howls.

The dragon-headed knight roars, driven by the legs of the alchimaira.

In the drizzling skies of the battlefield, the duel between the fairy dragon and the mechanical dragon knight begins.