Chapter of Spirit Verse: Elven Consideration

“By the way, where is the elder?” I asked Meela.

“Elder? Me?”

“Err… I mean, the previous one elder.”

“Oh! The Old Elder!”

“Yes, her.”

And we were already starting with the confusion…

“Old Elder… was with us earlier.”

“Huh? And where is she now?”

“I do not know.”

“...”

Well, at least we knew she had been around a while ago, right?

“Did you lose her in the forest?”

“No, we did not. Old Elder would never get lost in a forest.”

“Nn, that would have been quite surprising if she did. But where did she go then?”

“She mentioned wanting to see this structure. She set out when we arrived.”

“... You mean she is in the fort?”

“I believe so.”

Well, that’s a surprise. She had left behind her fellow elves to explore the fort on her own? Well, that was a bit surprising. However… was it really fine for her to be doing that? Unlike the other elves, she was technically now with the mercenaries, right?

“Well, if she walks around here, I’ll probably see her later…”

“That would be probable.”

“Nn. So, what will you do? Are you going to wait for the captain?”

I turned my focus back to the elves. They were the more immediate issue, compared to the elder. The old elder.

“Mm. Will he be available soon?”

“I don’t know. He just returned to the camp because something happened. I don’t know when he will be back. He should come back sometime, though.”

“Oh, we must have missed him then. That is unfortunate.”

Rather than missing him, there wasn’t an actual chance to meet him. He didn’t return through the forest, after all.

“Very well, our query is not one that needs to be answered in a hurry. We will return to the forest and scour its scenery until the eve breaks close.”

“Nn, good luck.”

“Thank you.”

Meela turned to her fellow elves, saying a few words in their elvish language. Like that, the elves returned to the…

What the hell?! The trees are moving aside?!

That… certainly wasn’t what I had expected. I probably should have expected something like this but it still caught me off-guard. After all, who would expect a tree to make space for you to pass by?

Elves are amazing…

The Elder had once mentioned that it was the forest itself that was accommodating them. I thought that she meant that trees would grow fruits for them when they wanted to or stuff like that. I definitely didn’t expect the trees to move by themselves, solely to let them pass through.

I watched as the elves disappeared into the forest. Behind them, the trees that had moved aside—or rather bent to the side and moved their branches out of the way—returned to their original positions.

“How does a tree even move in the first place?”

They didn’t have muscles or anything. It was the same question that made me wonder how I moved. I didn’t have bones and the like either, after all.

Well, I can worry about the trees some other time. I’m technically working right now.

But now that the matter regarding the elves was dealt with…

“... Guess I’ll explore the immediate surroundings. Maybe I’ll find the Elder while I’m at it.”

“That shan’t be necessary.”

“Woah?!”

The voice from my side took me completely by surprise.

“Miss Elder? Don’t surprise me like that…”

“Ahaha, apologies. I was waiting for the others to depart.”

“Huh? Then, you were watching?”

“That I was.”

The Elder smiled wryly.

“Why did you not join us?”

“Mmm… Because I did not want to interfere with their choices.”

“Nn? What do you mean?”

I tilted my head, confused by what she told me.

“They would surely ask for my opinion or seek confirmation from me. But if they do that, they can’t become independent from me.”

“... You somehow remind me of a mother trying to teach her children to let go of her.”

“That’s not too far from the truth.”

The Elder chuckled, amused by my comparison.

“They will be fine without my guidance. I left them behind, after all. They’ll have to.”

“I see.”

I looked once more to the gate where the elves had left through. They sure didn’t seem like they had any problems deciding things, though. Then again, that might also be driven by their desire to be with the mercenaries. Even if it was a little surprising.

Whatever… I’ll leave that problem to the captain…

That was far too much for me.

“So, Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“I have to admit that was a little surprised to see you here. Where did Miss Fenna and Mr Merim go?”

“Oh… Well, something happened at the camp it seems, so they had to go back and take over for the captain. And I’ve taken over for the two here. Though I am honestly no less surprised that I’m here…”

Not like I could change that now.

“Oh, is that the case? I see… In that case, I assume it would be better to talk with you about this, seeing as you have taken over.”

“Nn? Talk about what?”

“About this forest.”

“The forest?”

The Elder gave a slow nod.

“Do you not think that this forest is a little strange?”

“... Nn, a little, yes.”

After all, you couldn’t hear any birds or any other animals out there. The only sound was the rustling of the leaves in the wind. It was a little creepy at first but it didn’t seem like there was any particular problem with that. After all, it probably had been like this for so long that it had even gotten known as the ‘Sleeping Forest.’ That’s why I had shoved it into the back of my mind.

But if the Elder now mentioned this…

“Is there a problem with the forest?”

“In a way, I would say there is.”

“Nn?”

The Elder frowned a little, searching for her next words.

“This forest is too quiet. There are no monsters in the forest but there are also too few animals. A forest like this should be brimming with life, with the sounds of birds wooing each other or the denizens of the ground searching for their next meal. Yet, you hear so little it is… disturbing. I have seen many a forest but even so, this one feels… odd.”

“... Nn, I agree it’s odd.”

The Elder nodded once more.

“Furthermore, there are no fairykin residing in this forest.”

“And… that is odd?”

Last I heard fairykin weren’t exactly common.

“Yes. After all, this forest should be a very… Mm… How to say it… a very comfortable place. There are no monsters, the mana is abundant and the forest itself is welcoming. I can even feel the presence of spirits in it. That alone should be a great enough reason to live here. Yet, there are none here. It does not even seem like any lived here in the past.”

“Nn…”

If she put it like that, it did seem odd. Not like I could make any proper judgement about this since I still didn’t know how common fairykin were… That said, there was something I did know.

“Miss Elder, could the reason maybe because of… Well, the fort?”

“... The fort?”

“Nn.”

“... Ahhh, I think I understand. The presence of warmongering humanoids.”

“...”

Yes, the warmongering humanoids…

“Also, I think the forest wasn’t as big before. I mean, this fort wasn’t surrounded by forest when it was built, I think? I recall someone saying that.”

“You make an interesting point there, Yumi… However, while a forest may expand, its heart rarely changes. Even if it was smaller, it shouldn’t be a problem for fairykin to reside here. In fact, our former home might be far smaller than this forest.”

This one was bigger, huh… It’s hard to imagine, though.

“And if fairykin had resided here, I can assure you that most would ensure the humanoids wouldn’t do their warmongering here.”

“... I mean, if those trees came at them all the time, I can imagine that being a bother.”

“Hehehe, that you can be sure of. But Spirit Trees are not the only means of defence the fairykin have. But that aside, I cannot imagine the fairykin letting them do what they wanted here. However, I can imagine that it was a reason to avoid the forest afterwards.”

“Nn…”

Basically, there had to be a reason they hadn’t come here even before then?

“Nn… but maybe… it’s simply that none happened to come across this place? I mean, apart from it being… a little eerie, there’s nothing wrong with it, right?”

Plus, if there was something wrong, wouldn’t the people in Auria know? They apparently largely ignored the forest, but it’s not like nobody ventured inside. Like the bandits… or that craftsman’s son.

“That is… true, I suppose. But I would rather like to know what is going on in this forest. It might be nothing but if there is something that keeps away us fairykin, it would be better to know it sooner than regret it later. And if it turns out to be nothing, I will happily be the fool who worried about this nothing.”

“That’s a fair point, I guess.”

“And so, I would like to be permitted to survey the forest.”

“...”

Wait, she was asking me for that?!

“You are after all the person in charge here, right now?”

“... I mean, I am.”

But this wasn’t what I expected to do here right now.

“Err, didn’t the captain give you something to do?”

“He asked of me to watch over my brethren for a while, lest they attempted something stupid.”

I’d rather not have them do anything stupid either, to be honest. Those walking trees were scary.

“He did add that it would be fine to do it on the side, watch them when I had time, so I believe it is fine for me to do other work in between.”

“I see.”

In other words, she was actually quite free. Then, would it be a problem if she surveyed the forest? Probably not. In that regard, it was probably fine. But…

Can I even give her that kind of permission? I mean, I am the one in charge, so… I guess I can? But I kind of don’t want to give her permission just like that either… What if something happens? Even if it wasn’t going to be my responsibility, I don’t want her to get hurt.

She was going out there specifically to find out if there was something dangerous. If she actually found something, then… Well, that wouldn’t be good. The Elder was by no means weak, especially in a forest.. Of that, I was assured. She protected me from Yumelia even. But she was still only one person…

Only one person… Ah, I have an idea.

There was an easy way to lower the danger.

“Nn, I understand. I’ll allow it under one condition.”

“A condition?”

“Nn.”

The Elder’s eyes grew wide. Was she that surprised about this?

“Taddick and his group are currently out there and taking a look at the forest around the fort. When they come back, you can ask him if they can accompany you. Only if Taddick gives his permission and they accompany you will I allow it.”

That way, there would be as little of a risk as possible. Also, if there was a problem with that arrangement, Taddick would surely say something, too. After all, they were the ones who had gone into the forest. And the Elder herself was probably a welcome addition, too.

“... You sure thought that through, Yumi.”

“I’m trying my best, you know?”

I really didn’t want to mess this up… but I also understood why Korwen sent me here. I would have liked to get some proper instruction first but… Well, the situation was a little unexpected for me, but as long as I tried to imagine what Korwen or the others would do, it was… manageable.

And, honestly, I was shifting responsibility to Taddick in this case. Or more like, I was relying on him

“Your best… is it? Hehehe, I see. Very well then. That condition I can accept.”

“Nn, that’s good.”

One worry less. Or rather, that was the last worry I had to deal with, right now.

“Do you know when Mr Taddick shall return?”

“No. I’ve only come here a while ago, too.”

“I see. In that case, we shall wait.”

Not like there was anything else to do.

“By the way, Miss Elder.”

“What is it, Yumi?”

“It didn’t seem to me like Meela and the other elves were particularly bothered by the state of the forest.”

“Yumi… Do you believe my love-addled brethren can make a proper judgement, right now?”

“...”

Wow, that was… blunt.

“I do believe that trying to live here with the mercenaries is the safer option. However, I very much doubt that this was a consideration they gave much thought.”

“... You’re really blunt, aren’t you?”

“It is but the unvarnished truth. They have little else in their heads right now.”

Sure, but there were better ways to phrase it, were there not?

“But that’s fine for now. They will calm down with time when all the new experiences, all the new feelings, become their new normal. They can enjoy their time.”

“You think so?”

“I very much do, Yumi. After all, Meela is quite a smart girl.”

“Huh… Sounds like you trust her.”

“I wouldn’t have given her the position as their elder if not.”

The Elder chuckled, a warm smile spreading on her face.

“Although, she is also one of the few that more or less know how to read and write.”

“... Really?”

That was hard to imagine, considering that she still had some trouble with speaking.

“Yes. But I should probably clarify that I mean in our language.”

“... You have a script for your language?”

“We do. Admittedly, only few of us ever make use of it. There’s simply never a need for it.”

They were rather insular. And long-lived, too… Plus, their lifestyle revolved around being catered to by the forest…

“Once in a while, we may send messages to other elven tribes. But that is the task of the elder.”

“Then being able to read and write is necessary for them?”

“I cannot speak for all of my brethren but it should be.”

The elder smiled wryly. She probably didn’t quite believe that it was the case for all of them…

“But other elven tribes… Do you know of the others then?”

“... Unfortunately, no. There might be some others around but if they are, I don’t know of them. Elves have become rather rare and the last time we received a message was… very long ago.”

“I see…”

Probably too long ago…

“... Doesn’t that make being able to read and write kind of pointless then if you only used it for sending messages?”

“Why do you think none bother to learn it?”

“...”

Well, if you knew it wouldn’t be of any use, yeah…

“It’s simply a tradition that has stayed. However, there might be more uses for it in the future, considering our new life. At least, I have seen a few of my brethren wanting to learn it now. Or at least, they want to be able to read your language.”

“Huh.”

That was… Well, quite nice to hear?

“Either way, change has come. Time will tell whether it was a good one.”

“Nn, I hope it was.”

“So do I, Yumi. So do I.”

---

We continued our small talk for a while before sitting down at the temporary camp. There wasn’t much to do for us, since we were waiting for Taddick and his group to come back. And it sure took them quite a while before we finally spotted them coming through the gate…

“Taddick.”

“Oh, Yumi. You’re here, too?”

“Nn, I am.”

Taddick led his group towards us, greeting us with a surprised expression.

“Sure didn’t expect you here. Weren’t you down with the captain and the others?”

“Well… Something came up so I’m up here, standing in for Merim and Fenna.”

“Standing in? Mm?”

Taddick scratched his head, hearing my words.

“... Did the captain tell you to?”

“Nn.”

“... I see.”

For some reason unbeknownst to me, Taddick started rubbing the bridge of his nose. It didn’t look like the situation sit well with him.

“Well, what’s done is done. If that’s what the cap decided, then who am I to question it?”

He shrugged his shoulders after he came to his own conclusion.

“Anyway, you did nothing wrong here. Did you have any problems?”

“Well… Apart from being thrown into this without prior notice? The elves were here and the elder is, too.”

“What did the elves want?”

“... They want to live here in the fort as well. I told them that that’s something the captain has to decide so they wanted to come back later.”

“Okay, wonderful, that’s not our problem anymore.”

Glad that I had done the right thing then.

“As for the elder…”

I turned to her, prompting her to state her request.

“I wish to survey the forest. Something about it unsettles me and I want to know what it is.”

“Let me guess: You want us to come with you?”

“That is correct.”

“Mm… That’s fine by me. Having you around should help us out and we were going to take a look at the forest either way. As long as it doesn’t interfere with any other work, of course. Yours or ours.”

“Thank you very much.”

And another one out of the way. Honestly, that was quite a relief. Taddick hadn’t shown any hint of disapproving.

“Was the idea to accompany us Yumi’s?”

“That is the case.”

“Mm. Good call.”

He nodded, approving of my decision.

“Did anything else happen?”

“No, not really. The other two groups went back to exploring the fort.”

“Well, nothing else happening is good.”

“Nn, it is.”

For my nerves, mostly.

“How did your search go, Taddick?”

“... Can’t you see?”

With his voice becoming agitated, he spread his arms to show off all the twigs and leaves that had gotten stuck everywhere. The mercenaries behind him were still busy getting rid of anything that had found its way in between their gear.

“Trees, trees and even more fucking trees. Seriously, who would need to trap this area with all the shrubbery? The forest is doing that job on its own already. But no, we had to find old hunting traps, too.”

“Hunting traps?”

“Yes. This shitty stuff.”

He pointed at the ground. Or more accurately, at his left leg. I hadn’t even noticed before but there was something like a wire stuck in his greaves. Not to mention that the greaves seemed full of scratches compared to the one on his other leg.

“Spirits take me how that thing even worked but it sure was a pain in the ass.”

“Leader was stuck in there for a whole quarter-hour!” a mercenary added from behind.

“Yes, I was. I’ll let you take point next time.”

The mercenaries laughed out loud at Taddick’s threat. Didn’t look like they were really worried about him doing that. Or they didn’t care.

“Seriously, at least we haven’t found anything too dangerous. Seemed more like it was supposed to catch game rather than people. We found two others and disarmed them. Didn’t find any others in the immediate vicinity.”

“That’s something, at least… But maybe we should be a little more careful about old traps…”

“Ahh… Couldn’t agree more.”

Even if it was only supposed to catch you, walking into a trap was nonetheless dangerous.

“If I may…”

“Nn? What is it, Miss Elder?”

“We elves should have no trouble finding those traps. It might be worth asking my brethren to look out for them.”

“Mh, that might be an option… I’ll let the captain know and we’ll see what he says.”

I couldn’t imagine him turning that down, though. They could get rid of a potential source of danger. And that was definitely something Korwen would approve of.

“If you join us, can you find the traps, too?”

“I can.”

“Probably the best news I heard today.”

Taddick sat down and began to remove his greaves slowly so that he could remove the wire that was stuck on them.

“Tsk, how in the blazes do I get rid of this thing. Ahh, come on! Today’s just not my day!”

“Ahaha…”

Neither was it mine. But at least I didn’t have to deal with traps.

“There we go. Who the heck would set a trap in a forest like this anyway? There aren’t any animals to catch…”

“You didn’t see any?”

“Not even one. Eerie, that’s what it is. The elder is saying it unsettles her? Well, it unsettles me, too.”

“Nn. It is creepy.”

But that did indeed raise the question of why someone would set traps there…

“... What if they were actually used against people, after all?”

“Nah, the fort has been abandoned for longer than this trap was around. Even I can see that.”

“Nn… Maybe the bandits set them?”

“Mm… That could be. Bandits tend to be dumb as hell.”

“...”

Yeah, they might not be bandits if they were smart enough. Probably.

“Either way, they’re in the way so we need to get rid of them. If the elves can clean the forest up, that’d help a lot.”

Taddick stood up after he unravelled the last piece of wire from his greaves.

“This was not worth the pain, seriously…”

As he complained a final time, someone came up from behind him and called out.

“Leader, I am finished.”

“Oh, Sanna. You are?”

“Yes, sir! Please take a look.”

Sanna, who had come up to Taddick, handed him a large sheet of paper. I walked up to him so that I could take a look as well.

“Nn? Is that a map?”

“It is. Sanna made it while we were out.”

There was a large square in the middle of it, surrounded by small symbols reminding me of trees. There were some other lines and symbols on it that I didn’t know the purpose of, too.

“Mm, looks good. The captain’s going to like this.”

“I— is he?!”

“Yes. This will help a lot. Good work.”

“Y— yes, sir!”

Sanna saluted, a happy smile on her.

“Mh… the fort’s area is a lot larger than I expected,” mumbled Taddick after a while.

“Is it?”

“Yes. I don’t know the history of this fort but a fort of this size should be quite uncommon. It might have served as a logistical distribution point in the past. Makes you wonder why they abandoned it.”

“Because there was no use for it anymore?”

“Probably… Lafria and Krohmea haven’t been at war for so long they likely thought it wasn’t worth keeping it around. The cap should know the reason, though.”

Taddick shrugged his shoulders, dismissing the topic with that.

“Not part of my job to know about that. More importantly, Sanna…”

“Yes, sir?”

“I want you to fill out the fort’s inner area as well. The locations of the buildings are enough.”

“Understood, sir. Will be done.”

Taddick rolled up the map and returned it to Sanna, who saluted and then left to resume her work.

“The blueprints didn’t suggest the fort being this large… Either there are buildings where we are missing the blueprints from or the buildings are quite far apart from each other.”

“Well… looking at the yard…”

“There’s a lot of space…”

“Nn…”

But the yard alone didn’t have to mean anything. Well, Sanna would figure that out for us soon enough.

“Leader, we’ve finished cleaning up!”

“Oh, about time.”

“Nn?”

A mercenary had called out from behind again, prompting a smile from Taddick.

“Now then, it’s time to get back to work. Miss Elder, you can join us now if you want to.”

“That would be appreciated.”

“Same here. We’re counting on you.”

Apparently, they were going back into the forest.

“Oh, right, Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“First of all, you should check up on the other search groups. You know where they went?”

“Nn, I do.”

“Good. Try to keep tabs on their progress and make sure they keep working. Mercenaries like to slack off the moment you take their eyes off them. Right, you guys?!”

Taddick turned around for the last bit, shouting towards his group. Disapproving jeers could be heard from them in response.

“Anyway, that’s that. Also, it won’t really help you right now but I’ll make sure to give the cap a piece of mind. The guy’s smart as heck but sometimes he forgets that not everyone is like him. Don’t hold it against him for pushing this on you.”

“... I won’t. It’s, well… a little nerve-racking but it’s not like I don’t know why he did it…”

“... Gee, you’re too good of a good kid. It’s fine to get angry, once in a while, you know? Anyway, you’re doing a fine job. And I’ll make sure the cap’s not going to hear the end of it for a while. Or rather, his wife will do that for me.”

“... Take it easy on him.”

The last thing we needed was a depressed Korwen because he got scolded by Mrs Korwen.

“Ha, no way. You think I’d let a chance like this slip by?”

Apparently not.

“But really, all things said, you’re doing a fine job. Keep it up, Yumi.”

“Nn, thank you.”

Taddick nodded approvingly before gathering his group to set out again.

“Okay, you all, let’s get back out there! I remember the guy who wanted to take point, so go for it, I say!”

“That’s an abuse of power, leader!”

“There’s no abuse if I make the rules of what is considered abuse. Now get a move on or I will make you move!”

Despite the harsh words exchanged, the mercenaries were all merry and laughing as they were making their way into the forest. Moments later they were gone, save for some loud laughter that reached to me.

“Well… Now I’m alone again…”

Taddick said I should check up on the groups…

Well, guess that’s what I’ll do now… Let’s see… Which group should I check up on first…

Merim’s group was in the main building while Fenna’s was in the residential building.

The residential building, huh…

I was curious… I wanted to see the place we’d live in.

Guess that’s decided then.

Having made my decision, I left the temporary camp and made my way… to the main building.

I mean, I don’t even know which one is the residential building…

Life wasn’t easy, sometimes…

Rinne

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