CH 7

“We don’t know either. We ran away just to survive…”

Typically, beastmen are known for their unique beast-like senses and instincts, excelling at both hunting and fleeing. Their exceptional abilities make them unparalleled pursuers.

However, the fact that they were easily caught by Eldmir is partly due to his extraordinary and superhuman senses, but also because they are currently within the realm of the Elven Forest.

Although they were aware of this, Eldmir still nodded in agreement. Considering that Eldmir’s group managed to get close without being noticed, it is understandable that the beastmen may not be aware of their presence.

“If we are guests, what can we do for you?”

The young Beastman girl asked boldly, though still maintaining her wariness.

Eldmir became curious about the beastmen, as there was not much he knew about them. Are all beastmen as talkative as this girl?

“We can take you where you want to go safely. At least as long as you’re guests within this forest.”

“To take us?”

“We are being cautious, but there’s no need to be so guarded. If we hadn’t intended to treat you as guests, we would have done so long ago. It’s not that difficult.”

In response, the girl flashed her teeth again.

Eldmir scratched the back of his head momentarily, causing an unintended reverse effect.

“Mother, isn’t it supposed to be understood when I say it like this?”

“Son, just stay still.”

“Yes.”

Elysia stepped forward in place of Eladmire, speaking in a warm tone.

“Everyone, we do not intend to harm you.”

“Hmph! Even if we look like this, at least you should be scared of two animal-eared freaks like us…!”

“Kelis.”

As the young beastman girl was about to continue her sharp retort, the wolf warrior interrupted her.

The girl called Kelis stopped talking and stared at Elysia and Eldmir for a while.

The wolf warrior, who had grabbed Kelis’s shoulder and pulled her back, bowed his head apologetically.

“I apologize. It would be appreciated if you didn’t take the words of hot-headed youngsters seriously.”

“Teia!”

“Be quiet, Kelis. This is their territory, not ours.”

Kelis closed her mouth with a dissatisfied expression.

Seemingly anxious about Kelis’s reaction, several other cat girls nearby grabbed her hand.

Lost in her thoughts, Kelis looked at those girls and tightly bit her lips.

“As I said, as long as you respect the forest’s etiquette, we will treat you as guests. You called yourself Teia. My name is Elysia Arhitea. I am a guardian of the forest and a child of El Lyradelle. And now, I am the Sentinel who will guide you through the forest.”

“We don’t want guidance. We would appreciate it if you simply ignored us and let us pass.”

Teia’s words made Esiria chuckle wryly.

“That is impossible.”

“…What do you mean?”

Elysia opened her arms wide.

“It seems like you haven’t given much thought to the fact that this is the Elven Forest. Did you say Teia? The Elven Forest does not simply refer to a habitat where elves live. It’s not that simple.”

With that, her words ended.

“A scent of beasts, they said, but it turns out to be the smell of wolves and cats.”

It was quite abrupt.

“Cats are the cubs, but wolves and cats together? The combination is strange, isn’t it?”

It flowed quite naturally.

“Whatever it is, intruders are not allowed in this forest. We only need to fulfill our role as sentinels.”

It was the natural order of the Elven Forest.

“What?!”

Teia’s confusion burst out, and at the same time, Elysia shouted.

“Brothers!”

Elysia spoke to the elves, who emerged like shadows from behind the trees in the forest.

“These are not intruders but guests. Are you trying to oppress those who uphold the forest’s etiquette with force?”

Three Sentinels, with their hoods turned over and their faces covered, stared at Elysia in response.

They were Sentinels from a different village, and they had no friendly expressions towards Eldmir.

One of them stepped forward.

“You are Elysia, the Sentinel of the neighboring village, Le Ruel.”

“Yes, that’s right. From the sound of your voice, you must be Istein.”

They recognized each other without any formality.

Nodding his head hidden under the hood, the person called Istein spoke.

“They are our prey, Elysia. Why do you call them guests?”

“Prey? That’s not true. They are not non-elves. Are you claiming that the wounds on the wolfkin warrior’s body belong to our elves?”

Upon hearing this, Elysia and the other elves looked at the wounds on the wolfkin warrior’s body.

“Certainly, we didn’t inflict those wounds on them. We are not the ones chasing those beasts either.”

“Then…”

“That doesn’t mean they are not our enemies. We have also been in conflict with them.”

Istein pointed to Teia.

“That wolfkin warrior. He’s the one who sank his filthy fangs into the throats of three Sentinels from our village. Just because we weren’t the ones chasing them doesn’t mean we shouldn’t chase them now.”

His voice carried faint traces of hatred and animosity.

The three Sentinels simultaneously drew their bows.

“We have been fulfilling our duty as sentinels of the forest, and now we have an obligation to carry out that mission. Did you say they are guests who respect the forest’s etiquette, Elysia? Long before that, they were been our enemies. They cannot become our guests.”

Contrary to the previous expression of hatred towards the Beastmen, this time their voices were emotionless and stoic.

It was the voice of beings who had lived as Sentinels for hundreds of years, solely committed to fulfilling their duty as guardians of the forest.

Elysia seemed at a loss for words, her expression was puzzled and confused.

Eldmir had anticipated this scene all too well and let out a sigh inwardly.

He really didn’t want to step forward here.

Istein pulled back the bowstring.

The sharp arrowhead was aimed at Teia’s heart.

The wolf warrior and the girls from the Catkin tribe all bared their sharp fangs simultaneously.

In a moment of tension, Eldmir suddenly intervened between them.

“Hold on.”

Pointing at Teia and then speaking to Istein.

“You might have encountered this guy before, but these little ones haven’t, right?”

“Who are you? You seem like a young elf who hasn’t undergone adulthood yet, and now…”

“First, answer my question. As long as there’s still a coherent sentence coming out of my mouth.”

Eldmir smiled.

However, that smile was by no means gentle in nature.

It exuded the aura of a fierce beast.

Feeling this, Istein hesitated for a moment, taking a step back.

And Teia, standing behind Eldmir, felt the same.

“…No, we haven’t encountered them.”

Istein responded obediently, sensing something from Eldmir.

“Oh, really?”

“But does that matter? Young elf, whatever the case, it doesn’t matter. These creatures are invaders in our forest, and we have an obligation as Sentinels to protect the forest from them.”

“No, that’s different.”

Eldmir pointed at the Catkin Tribe girls.

“According to your logic, at least these girls aren’t our enemies.”

“What nonsense.”

Eldmir inwardly swallowed his frustration at Istein’s words.

He had rushed in without thinking, but this was the first time he had encountered elves from another village.

And yet, he found himself immediately in confrontation with them.

Communicating with unfamiliar beings in such a confrontational manner felt incredibly awkward.

Eldmir was slightly tense.

“Answer, young elf.”

However, now was not the time to be tense.

Eldmir calmly retraced the fleeting thought he had just had.

He needed to give concrete form to that momentary idea and express it in language.

First, we need to maintain this bluff.

Relaxing his tension and standing tall, Eldmir spoke up.

“That warrior has been in opposition to you from the beginning. That’s true. If he has always been our enemy, then there’s no way he can be our guest.”

The Catkin Tribe girls behind him murmured with unease.

Eldmir reassured himself inwardly.

Both for himself and for those girls.

“What about these little ones?”

“…What do you mean?”

“You said you hadn’t encountered them before. So, obviously, they haven’t fought against us. They haven’t become our enemies yet.”

Certainly, these little ones must have come briefly from another village.

Then they must have encountered the orcs on the way.

“I think they still have the qualifications to be guests.”

Of course, it was a nonsense argument.

It was nothing more than a kind of nitpicking that couldn’t be called logic.

Nevertheless, Eldmir still lifted his bow.

“Protecting guests is also my duty.”

“I don’t understand your intentions.”

Istein removed his hood, revealing a handsome man with thick blond hair pulled back and a heavily wrinkled forehead.

“Young elf, are you trying to embrace our enemies? Betraying your own kind.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, brother. I’m simply trying to distinguish between enemies and guests.”

“…I really don’t understand why you’re doing this.”

Agreed.

Why on earth am I doing this?

Eldmir grumbled inwardly.

“According to your words, you want to spare the girls and hunt down only the wolfkin warrior.”

Even though it seemed like Eldmir was forcing the sacrifice of the wolfkin warrior, he nodded.

Saving the rest is better than nothing.

He can’t fully betray his kind, but compromising at this level is the best he can do.

It’s not that he doesn’t feel bad about it, but some things are just inevitable.

“That’s right.”

“Nonsense!!”

Then a sharp cry echoed.

“Don’t hand Teia over to anyone! Are you telling us to sell out our own kind?”

It was Kelis’s shout.

“Don’t underestimate the Beastmen!”

“Kelis!!”

Teia buried her face in her hands in response to her outburst.

The cry was loud enough to shake the surrounding area.

Kelis’s ears and tail drooped in surprise.

As she carefully looked up at Teia, the wolfkin warrior said with a stern expression.

“Stay put. You’re not the one to intervene.”

“But… But Teia…”

“If my life ends it all, it’s a cheap price to pay. Remember, Kelis, your lives are the top priority. That’s my goal.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, but Teia ignored her and turned to Eldmir.

“If it’s my life you want.”

At that moment, Eldmir felt something stirring within him.

He struggled to find the right words and emotions for a moment.

“…If the other sentinels agree.”

He clenched his fist.

“Brothers of the forest. Will you agree? The little ones are not responsible for this. Our enemies are only the wolfkin warrior.”

“I really can’t understand.”

Istein pressed his lips tightly together.

“Young elf, they are the Beastmen. They are not worthy of your respect. I don’t know what moved your heart, but they are potential enemies. Regardless of being girls or anything else, they are nothing but potential enemies.”

As if he were simply expressing the thoughts he held just a moment ago, Eldmir chuckled unconsciously.

“I thought the same way.”

Eldmir glanced at Elysia for a moment.

Then, he recalled the complicated and entangled thoughts he had just considered.

What changed his mind?

Why did he turn his emotions around?

Eldmir kept thinking.

Why, what, and how.

He started untangling the complex threads one by one.

The primal era.

The golden age when all races were in harmony.

An unimaginable time for himself.

The racial war.

The war that all races waged to achieve unification through bloodshed.

The fall of the elves.

The reconciliation with the beastmen.

─ Ah-ha.

The moment he found the answer, his thoughts accelerated and returned to their original flow.

Eldmir, who returned to the original course of his thinking, smiled inwardly at the answer he found.

Why did he make such a big deal about it?

It was an arrogant thought that did not suit him, who was once just a gaming addict, but at the same time, Eldmir began to think that he could pull it off.

With a smile, he said, “Dreaming of the primal era isn’t something only I do, right?”