Chapter 76 – A Legendary Tribe!
“A hu-human… No, these ears…”
She had pointed ears and a slender frame…
I had heard stories about such people.
Her features matched those of elves, who were said to live quietly in the depths of the forest.
Elves rejected any and all connection with humans, and had not been seen for thousands of years.
Iria put her ear to the elf’s chest and listened.
“Sir Joshua! She is still breathing!”
“So she is merely unconscious then. I will cast healing magic on her right now… Though, I don’t know if it will be enough.”
There were deep wounds on her back. She must have been cut with a large blade.
However, even these wounds cleanly disappeared after I cast my healing magic.
I didn’t know that my healing magic was so effective…
However, while the wounds healed, her consciousness did not return.
“We’ll just have to wait and see… Celes, can you carry her to the village?”
“Baaah! Leave it to me!”
And so we decided to take the elf back to the village.
Once Celes had carried the elf to the tent, Iria and I picked her up and laid her down.
I then left her treatment to Melk, who could use healing magic.
“Melk, I’m counting on you.”
Melk nodded.
“You take it from here. While it smells good, it cannot be eaten.”
Celes had thought the elf was a peach… And she did have a sweet peach-like smell.
Was it a perfume? Or perhaps elves just ate peaches all of the time.
I then left the tent and told Mette and the others about what had happened at the river.
“Tribe of pointy-eared people… I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
Apparently, Mette and the Kijins did not know about them. It was the same with the Mopes and werewolves.
However, Ecleshia was different.
“Oh, the long ear tribe. I’ve heard of them. They are supposed to live in the White Leaf Forest, which is to the east of our Ent Forest.”
“So you have never seen them before?”
I asked, and Ecleshia nodded as she looked at the elf sleeping within the tent.
“I always thought that they existed only in myth. I never thought they were real.”
It would not be surprising if there were others aside from Cobis. Though, they would surely not be as bold as he was.
And then Iria said,
“If we defeat these slave hunters, we may be able to get them to join the alliance.”
“Indeed. Once there are no slave hunters in the area, fewer humans will even attempt to hunt there.”
As for us, having more allies would be beneficial in many ways. We would be able to detect the movements of humans a lot easier.
Iria nodded.
“If you think we should go and help, we have no objection.”
“Thank you, Iria. However, it’s not as if we have confirmed that it was slave hunters who attacked the elves. And we don’t really know where they live. We will have to find out more before making a move. I suppose I should ask Asuha and the others.”
At this time, there was too much that we didn’t know.
If we headed to the north and encountered a great army, then we would take heavy damage.
It would be best to wait until the elf recovered enough to talk, and then have Asuha and the Tegus scout from the sky.
Perhaps they could tell us if the forest really was burned.
Ecleshia answered.
“If you do need to travel through the forest, we Ents will guide you. As long as we are protected from flames, there is nothing that can scare us.”
“Very well. That’s what we will do then.”
And so I decided to spend my time making tools and furniture for demihumans as I waited for the elf to wake up.
Bonus chapter, because it’s my birthday. Hope you all have a good day! Thanks for reading.