Volume 1 - CH 9.1

For the three days between defeating the bandits and arriving at the great forest area of Leshiana, I felt very uncomfortable while spending the endless road in the narrow carriage. There were seven of us in the carriage, four of whom were related to me, so we occupied more than half of the small space.

In addition, Natalia was wary of anyone who wasn't me, Elle was glaring at Natalia as she approached me, Lucia was hiding behind me as the other than three heroes looked at her coldly, and the bleak human relations were making the atmosphere in the carriage worse.

At one point, I even thought about taking refuge next to coachman.

「Speaking of which, what are you going to do after you arrive in Leshiana?」

「I don't know. No one has ever come out before, so we'll just have to deal with it on the spot.」

「Even though you're an emissary of the country, that's very appropriate. ......」

When Elle muttered with a sigh, which seemed to bother the other humans, especially Alec. He showed a frustrated expression. Please think about the occasion when you say things like that.

I've already seen Natalia, the Wood Elf, so I'd say I've accomplished half of my goal, but Alec is really trying to carry out the king's orders.

I'm also interested in seeing the High Elves, so I'm in favor of going to Leshiana. It would be interesting to find out why they call themselves elves but live so short lives.

In addition to that, I would like to take a look at the magic pools, which must be quite large, since all the surrounding veins are gathered in Leshiana. It must have something to do with the High Elves.

「I don't think humans are welcomed in Leshiana, but don't be offended, okay?」

Natalia doesn't seem to feel the bleakness of the carriage, but she's smiling to herself and clinging at me. Because of the thin fabric of her clothes, I can feel her breasts very well. Thanks to this, Elle's mood is worsening.

「I've heard rumors that humans are killed, but I wonder if that's actually true.」

「People who enter without permission will be killed, but if you enter through the proper entrance, you won't be killed. The only thing is that there are no lodgings like in human towns, so please be careful about that. If you don't want to stay out in the open, you can always stay at my house.」

Natalia suggested to me in a happy voice. However, if I stay at her house alone, she will surely attack me. I'd like to include Elle at least, but if she's in a bad mood and causes a problem, it will interfere with the mission.

「 .......I'll think about it」

「Yes, you're welcomed.」

A married woman shouldn't lightly ask out a man when her husband might still be alive. I thought inwardly.

Because I was left her the dark yesterday, she's been clinging to me. What would she do if I really had to stay in her room?

※

We stopped the carriage before Leshiana. No carriages were allowed from here, so we had to continue on foot. The coachman said he would be waiting for us in a nearby town.

As we watched the carriage leave, we started to go into Leshiana, but Natalia grabbed my hands and stopped us.

「Wait, you can't go in there, they'll attack you. The entrance is this way, come on, follow me.」

I followed Natalia's lead and after a while she stopped. It seemed that this was the entrance, but there was nothing of the sort.

「This is the entrance. I'll take you to the village where I live first, and you can follow me. Don't stray from the path, okay?」

Even though I was told that this was the entrance, I couldn't understand how it was different from the previous place. I thought Sagami might be able to help me with this, so I looked over at him, but he was shaking his head. The other people reacted the same way.

Not caring about our confusion, Natalia walked into the forest, followed by Elle. We hurried after her, trying not to lose sight of her, but the lack of a path made walking difficult at best. The elves were moving along as if they were walking on a normal road, but I was barely able to keep up with them.

「Master, are you okay?」

「I'm not okay. How can you walk in such place without hesitation......」

「Even if you ask me why, ...... elves can walk normally even if the foothold is a bit bad.」

「What an enviable ability. ......」

As I look at Elle, who has stepped back and is walking alongside me at my pace, I feel a little annoyed at her nonchalance. Elves are probably too useful for many things.

I looked behind me and saw that Lucia was lagging far behind. For a young lady who grew up in the city, it was tough to get a good foothold in the forest. I knew that if she kept going like this, she would collapse before we reached our destination, so I went to her side.

「It must be pretty hard for you, are you going to be okay?」

「Y-yes ...... I'm fine ...... *pant*, *pant* ......」

She doesn't look okay by any means, but I can't just let her leave here. She still has a lot of value.

I have no choice but to carry her on my back. No matter how light she is, the weight of a human being is still a lot to bear. Dripping with sweat, I managed to make my way forward with desperation.

We continued at a fast pace through the forest, and after a while we came to a place where the forest opened up a bit. This seemed to be a village. There were several huts made of wood, and we could see some elves.

When the elves saw us appear, they showed their caution. They didn't attack us out of the blue, but they glared at us as if they hated us. The atmosphere was unapproachable.

Amidst the subtle tension, Natalia ran towards them. The elves were surprised by the unexpected appearance of the person, but they immediately welcomed her with shouts of joy.

「Everyone, I'm home!」

「Natalia! Thank God, you're safe!」

「What happened to the others?」

「I don't know. There was no one left where I was being held. ......」

「I see. ...... Speaking of which, what happened to Levin?」

「I don't know that either. He might have been sold, or he might be dead. ......」

The elves are exchanging a lot of information. From what I can gather, Natalia, her husband Levin, and a few other elves were part of a trading party when they were attacked by Adriana and her men and were all captured.

Because of this, it seems that hostility towards humans has increased, and trading has now been suspended. They didn't immediately kill us when we came through the entrance, but some elves were following us when we entered the forest so that they could kill us at any time.

I hadn't noticed the guards at all, but if they could move so lightly in the forest, I guess they could easily act covertly. I'll be a little more vigilant.

The elves seemed to have finished their talk, and some of them approached us. I'd like to think that the fact that they all have their weapons at the ready is just a precaution in case of emergency.

Alec and Sagami also had their hands on their weapons in case of emergency.

「Wait, those humans carried me all the way here. And that sorceress is the one who saved my life by defeating Adriana. They are not here to harm us.」

Hearing Natalia's words, the elves lowered their weapons. They were still wary of us, but they seemed to be listening to us.

「I'm sorry, I haven't greeted you yet. I am Alec Roy Gilfreyer, Baron of the Kingdom of the Henrient. The men behind me are my companions. We have come to Leshiana to form an alliance with the elves who live here.」

「An alliance between humans and us? I would advise you not to dream so foolishly.」

Alec's expression tensed at the elf's remark. I think you're a little too quick-tempered. You're in an unwelcome position to begin with, so you should just let what they just said slide.

「In order to win agains the Demon Empire, I will make even the dreamiest of stories come true. I would like to speak with the ruler of this forest, can you show me around?」

「You've come on your own, and you can find them on your own. Just don't cause any trouble here」

The elves refused Alec's request and moved away. Apparently, it hadn't turned into a fight, but the elves here definitely didn't like us.

Alec put his hand on the hilt of his sword, making a clinking sound. Let's just hope he didn't cut them.

As the elves left, I tried to use my <Memory Reading>, but to my surprise, none of them knew where the high elves were. I had memorized the locations of the other settlements, so I had no choice but to search randomly for elves who knew where they were.

※

The sun was about to set and we needed to find a place to sleep, but there were no elves willing to let us stay. I heard that it gets quite cold at night in this forest, so I ended up negotiating with Natalia to let us stay here.

「There is only one bedroom for me to use, but I think I can sleep two people in the living room and one in the kitchen. The rest is storage. If you don't like it, you can stay out here.」

「Then how about this, me, Sagami-dono, and Yard-dono use the living room and kitchen, and the others use the storage room?」

「What kind of nonsense are you talking? If you're a man, be a man and stay in the storage room. Leave the house to the girls.」

「Unreasonable ......」

「Well, Alec-dono. I think it's the act of a gentleman to give this place to the ladies. Besides, it's nice to have a place to sleep.」

In the end, it was decided that the maid and Elle would take the living room, Lucia the kitchen, and the rest in storage room. Alec looked unconvinced, but Sagami seemed to be fine with the storage room.

Dinner was served by Natalia. However, the food was tasteless, probably because very little seasoning was used. We ate the food as if we were gnawing on raw vegetables and headed for the storage room.

Even though it was a storage room, the door could be closed, so the cold was quite mitigated. However, there were no blankets. We had to lay out straw and sleep wrapped in straw, which made Alec's mood worse than ever.

I guess Sagami is used to this kind of situation, and he is making a bed out of straw. After all, soldiers are smart like this.

Just as I was about to make my own bed, Natalia called out to me.

「Yard, you're not sleeping over here, okay?」

「Hmm? What do you mean?」

「What do you mean? ...... Well, come here for a second.」

「No, I'm fine here.」

「This is my house, okay? Just follow me.」

I decided that she wouldn't back down if I tried to be stubborn here, so I quietly followed her into the house. The women had been provided with a blanket, so they seemed to be a few degrees warmer than the storage room.

I crossed their room and entered the bedroom. There was no other place to sleep inside, just a single bed. She closed the door and her cheeks were already flushed with excitement. She put her hand on my chest and gently leaned down.

「Fufu, if you've come this far, I can expect it right ......?」

「No, you're the one who asked me to follow you, aren't you?」

I'm in the mood to take her up on her offer here, but I feel that if I do it with her now, it will reflect badly on Elle and the two heroes. Especially Elle seems to be no good. she was in a very bad mood even when I was stuck with her in the carriage, and I don't know what would happen if I did it with Natalia.

Besides, it would be better not to be unfaithful until we knew whether her husband was alive or dead. Human resentment is a terrible thing. Unfortunately, she's not worth the risk of being stabbed at any moment.

Well, those two things are just preliminaries. To tell the truth, it is troublesome to hold a woman who is persistent like Natalia. I'd rather have a woman who I can hold without hesitation. Woman of her type is annoying because she acts like a wife once she is in your arms.

「You have a husband, don't you? And you're only asking me out because of your temporary feelings.」

「Don't say that, just hold me.」

「I'm sorry, but I didn't come here just for fun either. I don't want to take any unnecessary risks.」

「...... Okay, I understand.」

She quickly pulls away from me and collapses on the bed. I can't see her expression because her face is pressed against the bed, but from the way her shoulders are shaking, it looks like she's crying.

「I'm sorry, I don't want you to see my face, so please leave. ......」

I nodded at her words and left the bedroom. As I closed the door, I could hear her crying, as if she had finally stopped holding back.

It was to be expected that she would cry. It was her intention to turn back at this point, so I pretended not to hear her and walked away from the door.

If her husband is still alive, it's going to be quite a mess. I feel bad for the man I haven't seen yet, but I hope he's not alive.

I suddenly felt a gaze on me and looked in that direction to see Elle and the maid staring at me. I thought they had come out right after I entered, but now I heard Natalia crying, and they seemed to think she had been dumped.

The maid looked at me with contempt, as if she was looking at an enemy of women, but Elle's gaze was somehow happy. I wondered if she believed that I would not accept her invitation.

Under the gaze of both of them, I headed for the storage room to escape. When Alec noticed I was back, he gave me a sympathetic look, which I took as a sign of displeasure, and lay down on the bed I had just made.

※

The next day, we were to leave early in the morning, and to my surprise, Natalia insisted on going with us.

There was not a trace of tears left on her face, and I knew it was an act.

「I think it would be better if I go with them so that the other elves won't misunderstand.」

「What are you talking about, Natalia? Why should you do anything to help the humans?」

「That's right, Natalia. I will not allow you to go with these people.」

「Don't you feel bad for Levin?」

As expected, the other elves were very opposed to her, but she just listened to their words without a care in the world.

As for me, I think it would be more convenient if she came, but there are a few people who are opposed to her coming along. I was expecting Elle to be against it, but to my surprise, Sagami was also against it.

I didn't see any sign that he disliked her or anything, but I wondered if there was something inconvenient about it, so I secretly spoke to Sagami.

「Why are you against her coming with us? It would be safer with her in the forest. I was expecting you to agree.」

「Hmm, I'll tell you what, Yard-dono. The reason I'm against it is because I suspect that you and she are not on the same page.」

「...... You mean that. Sure, she asked me out, but that's kind of an elf habit. And I've told her that I won't be getting to know her like that during this mission.」

「Even if you are good, she is the problem. I know the habits of elves, but I've heard that they are so difficult to control with reason. Don't you think it would be too late if something happened? Her husband is probably still alive.」

「...... What?」

「Please do not tell anyone else about this. The name of the elf I spoke to about Leshiana was Levin, his name is the same as her husband. I don't know how he ended up in Royal Capital, but since there's a chance he's still alive, I can't just sit back and watch her be unfaithful.」

「Indeed. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the elves that was sold was her husband.」

What a coincidence. If it really was her husband, was I on the verge of adultery? I'm glad I didn't get carried away by the mood of the moment.

But then again, there are many problems with taking her with me. I don't want to do anything to her, but if she attacks me in my sleep like Elle did, I might not be able to resist. I don't think I can expect her to be chaste because there are other people around.

「I can't just abandon someone who saved my life! Just leave me alone!」

While I was talking to Sagami, there seemed to be a change on the other side.

Natalia screamed loudly and then ran off into the forest. Some of the elves chased after her, but they could not seem to catch up with Natalia's speed. Eventually, they would be able to outrun her.

We decided to leave before she came back. I feel bad for her, but after hearing Sagami's story, I don't think she should come with us either. Elves are stronger mentally than humans, but when they're in heat, they're not to be trusted at all.

※