Volume 6 - CH 12

Chapter 12 – Brotherly Affection To Sister

Sorano, who was sleeping in a tent in the camp, woke up in the middle of the night. She lifted her upper body and looked for a presence in the surroundings and found there was no sense of discomfort in particular. Suddenly, she heard the cry of a bird from the outside. It was the cry of a rare Hollow Bird. At that time, the face of a certain elf came to Sorano’s mind. Hence, Sorano left the tent carefully so as to not wake up Kohaku and the others.

Early that morning, Sorano took Kohaku to visit Eto’s tent and told Eto and Amou to follow her as there was something that she wanted to say. It was, in fact, rare for Sorano to say such a thing. Because of that, Eto wanted to ask what happened to her, but for the time being, he decided to just do what she said. Eto and the two then followed Sorano into the woods on the eastern side of the camp.

As the group went deeper into the woods, they were able to find mushrooms, edible wild plants, and medicinal herbs. That was natural. Because this season where autumn was about to change to winter is the time to be thankful for the blessings of the abundant forest. But today, Sorano, who usually collects ingredients astutely, just goes deeper into the woods without paying attention to those things.

After walking for a while, the group arrived at a place where the trees were separated, just like a little square.

“Sunny.”

Stopping in her steps, Sorano looked up at the top of the tree and called the name of someone. And then, a big shadow fell from the tree towards Eto and his group. Without minding the surprised gazes of Eto and the two, the shadow quickly raises his body.

The true identity of the shadow was an elf man who looked good with his short golden hair. He has a well-structured face. His muscular body and agile movement that he showed earlier allowed the group to feel the extent of his fighting power. There was a bow hanging on his left shoulder and a sword on his waist. He wore black sleeveless clothes that fit his body and dark brown trousers with a wide hem.

Then, the elf called Sunny looked at everyone there with his green eyes.

“So you are Eto, huh.”

Sunny then approached Eto while giving him a strong gaze, which made Eto and the other two become more vigilant in an instant. That was until Sorano smacked the man’s back of his head in a flash. Then, the man collapsed forward violently, while saying “My neck, my neck…”

“I told you many times last night. We have caught the human who enslaved me. Eto and the other two have been re-investigating my case and are working to free me from being a criminal slave.”

Sorano grabbed the man’s long ear and spoke right outside his ear.

“Eto, this guy is my brother, Sunny. He came to find out what was happening at the fort, because south from here is the territory of the elves.”

Relaxed after hearing Sorano’s explanation, Eto thought, “They don’t look alike.”

“Sunny. This is Eto, Kohaku, and Kohaku’s father, Amou. Say hello properly, it’s embarrassing.”

Sorano then began to introduce the members of their party, with her face slightly reddened.

“Uu, alright. I am Sunny, Sorano’s brother. Eto, thanks for saving my sister and working to free her from being a criminal slave. Really, thank you. And I want to pay back this debt of gratitude even if I spend my whole life doing it. However, my sister is still a child, so as her brother, I won’t accept you dating my sister!”

After Sunny excitedly said something like that, Sorano once again struck Sunny’s back of the head. And this time, she hit him harder than before, to the point Sunny hit the ground with his face, making Sunny hold his nose in tears.

“What are you talking about, Sunny. I am not a child.”

That’s not the problem, that’s what Eto thought, but that exchange made Eto know that they’re good brothers and sisters.

After that, the group had breakfast with Sunny in the woods using the ingredients they had. Apparently, Sunny has been looking for Sorano when he heard Sorano had been taken away when he was away from the village.

“I made a request to human adventurers to gather information about Sorano, but all I knew was that Sorano has become a criminal slave and that she had trouble with a noble and was not in the Margrave territory. If she really was with a noble, I’m sure I can get her back even by force.”

Sunny said with sharp eyes and gritting his teeth. Still, Sunny didn’t give up and requested for continuous investigation, but the difficulty will increase if the scope of the investigation expanded to other territories. Thus, in the end, he got no further information about Sorano. At that time, Sunny was already in Veil, but he was at a loss because he had no clues about Sorano’s destination.

“You have no idea how relieved I was when we received a letter from Sorano last month. I thanked Goddess-sama for granting my wish.”

Sunny seems to be truly grateful that Sorano was alive and well. He also seems to have tried to pick Sorano up at the Royal Capital immediately, but was stopped by their Chieftain.

After reading the letter from Sorano, the Chief found out that Sorano was looking for a witness who knew about the incident and herself well. He also knew that there was a schedule for the trial procedure. That is why the Chief convinced Sunny that he should be ready to respond in the village when Sorano wants to get in touch with himself or Sunny.

“I was told that Sorano would be troubled if I wasn’t there when you wanted to get in touch with me. So I was told to stay in the village until the next letter arrived.”

And yesterday, a villager who was observing the situation of the knights attacking the fort reported that he saw Sorano there. After Sunny asked if it was really Sorano, he ran out of the village without even hearing the Chief who was stopping him. Upon arriving at the knights’ camp in the middle of the night, Sunny sent a signal that they had decided when he played with Sorano when she was a child. And that signal was the cry of a Hollow Bird.

“I always thought Sorano would surely understand that signal.”

Saying that, Sunny’s face burst into a smile.

“There must be a better way to call me.”

Sorano sighed and stared at the forest behind.

“So, how long are you guys going to eavesdrop?”

As Sorano called out into the depths of the forest, the figure of elves appeared from behind the trees. They carried a bow on their shoulders and a dagger on their waists, just like Sunny. Eto saw that Kohaku didn’t notice the presence of the elves, and not only that, even Amou immediately shook his head.

“The woods are the territory of elves. Those who are easily found are not allowed to leave the village.”

Sunny said with pride. And it was very similar to the gesture that Sorano often does.

“Eto. I don’t think we’ll be able to repay our gratitude to you with this, but we, eleven elves, will help you attack the fort.”

Sunny said with a grin.