Ch.146Scrapping the NPC (1)

“What’s going on! Why hasn’t the Order returned?!”

“They crossed into the beastfolk territory, and since Miho went with them, they surely went to where Chikuyo is. If they had subdued their opponent and were returning, they should have been back by now.”

“Even if they’re pursuing a fleeing enemy, not a single messenger returning is abnormal. Perhaps we should have sent the Knight Commander…”

“That’s out of the question! If we send the Knight Commander, who would guard the Grand Elder?!”

“Hmm. An unharmed human who killed Er Jim has already entered Siltra. I’m also against sending the Knight Commander, who guards the weakening Grand Elder.”

“Then we should lodge a formal protest with Aigram? If that human causes more harm to elves, we might even be able to place that human city under Siltra’s control.”

“No, more than that! What if they’re actually using this human to declare war on us?!”

“…Indeed. We could frame it that way. Good point. We’ll use that in our future protests.”

“Hmm.”

The three elven elders had gathered until late night, repeatedly discussing the unprecedented situation in Siltra.

The topic was about a human adventurer who had killed Er Jim and spread “false” rumors about them, who had infiltrated Siltra with Green Dol. They had immediately dispatched the Order of Knights, but were somewhat flustered as the knights hadn’t returned even at this late hour.

After much discussion, they were reaching the conclusion that even if the knights had been defeated and killed, they could gain more benefits from the situation.

As they were arbitrarily inflating the story…

“Anyway. If the Vice Commander and the knights have been defeated, then now…”

“We should request spirit units from the demon tribe and send letters to the beastfolk to dispatch warriors.”

“I’ll inform the 1st Unit Commander to serve as temporary Vice Commander and reorganize the remaining knights into a new pursuit unit.”

“Then I’ll send a separate messenger to the beastfolk chief. There’s a possibility that Miho and Chikuyo have sided with that human. We must ensure they don’t get unnecessarily swayed.”

“Good. Let’s do that and meet again after completing our tasks.”

The relatively young-looking elder elves nodded to each other and rose from their seats.

The elder council meeting, which should have ended in the afternoon, had continued into the night due to the emergency.

As the meeting temporarily concluded and each elder prepared to leave to attend to their duties…

“It’s getting late. Why don’t you just go to sleep? Or if you prefer, have a drink with me.”

“?!”

“…Green Dol.”

When the three elves turned their heads in surprise at the sudden voice, they saw Elder Green Dol with black hair, black eyes, and ears magically altered to look elven, holding a bottle of alcohol and watching them from beside the entrance.

“Why are you here?!”

“What were the guards doing to let you pass?!!”

“Ha. It’s the middle of the night. I saw them standing guard for the elder council, looking tired, so I shared a drink with them and sent them home.”

“Unbelievable. You call that an explanation?”

Green Dol shrugged his shoulders as if uninterested in their words and began to slowly approach them.

“Green Dol. What are you thinking! Not only did you bring a human into Siltra, but you also took him into beastfolk territory!!”

“Regarding your actions, our elder council is discussing not only removing you from your elder position but also imposing severe punishment.”

“Hmm. Strange words. Siltra sent a letter that was practically a declaration of war, and Aigram sent him as quickly as possible. Moreover, didn’t you ask for the ‘suspect’ to be handed over to ‘Siltra’? Isn’t the beastfolk village also part of Siltra’s territory?”

“You know how sophistic your words are, don’t you?”

“Sophistic. Sophistic, you say… After you sent Er Jim, my master, to kidnap beastfolk for human trafficking and rape to cultivate hatred, everything coming from your mouths sounds like sophistry to me.”

*Shing!!*

As Green Dol slowly approached, the elder at the front drew his sword. Green Dol, as if expecting this, rolled his bottle on the floor, drew his own sword, and continued walking toward them with a shuffling gait.

Seeing this, the other two elves shouted in surprise.

“W-what are you doing?!”

“Green Dol!! You! Don’t tell me you’re in league with the human…!!!”

“Please stop saying strange things. Elder Lit Gwon drew his sword first, so I merely followed suit.”

“Yes, you approached with hidden killing intent, so I drew my sword without thinking. What exactly are you planning with this outrageous act?”

Green Dol didn’t answer Elder Lit Gwon’s question and thought to himself.

Originally, he hadn’t intended to go this far. More precisely, he hadn’t planned to resolve this through violent confrontation.

On the day he met Jack, he recalled stories of humans from thousands of years ago who were so strong that even elves couldn’t match them.

But Jack was clearly similar to or stronger than himself, and despite knowing he was an elf, treated him with great respect and had an earnest, good personality.

As they continued to meet and form a relationship, he realized that Jack was one of the humans from the world entering the “singularity” they had spoken of.

And he wasn’t the “object of hatred” they claimed he should be.

That’s why he had bet on Jack.

He thought that if Jack came to Siltra and, despite being stronger than elves, got along well with them due to his good nature, then even if the “singularity” came, they could find ways to maintain better relations with humans than in past generations.

Yes, that’s what he had thought, but…

“Do you not intend to answer?”

“The human I know, Jack, is indeed stronger than long-lived elves, as you fear. My master, Er Jim, could be said to have died by his hand.”

“W-what?!!”

“Y-you, don’t tell me…!!!”

“However, he’s not the kind of human you worry about. Rather, he’s a good human, full of compassion and skilled at conversing with people.”

“What are you trying to say?”

*Tap.*

As their swords clashed, close enough to cut each other’s throats at any moment, Green Dol looked at the elder blocking his path and spoke, the unusual gleam in his black eyes fading.

“Salt Non, the young elf who let us through, wasn’t at the guard post. What did you do to him?”

“Foolish question. What we did to a ‘criminal’? As an elder, you should kno—”

*Swish!! Clang!!!*

“Ugh?!!”

“I suspected this, so I deliberately came ahead without telling him. You truly are hopeless old men.”

Green Dol immediately swung his sword, and Lit Gwon retreated in surprise at the much faster and heavier sword strike than he had anticipated.

The two elders behind also drew their swords in alarm, but Green Dol merely shook his head at the sight.

“He should be alive. Jack greatly dislikes it when someone he has shown even the slightest affection to dies.”

“Have you truly lost your mind!! Green Dol!!! Why would a mere criminal matter…!!”

“He does matter. He wasn’t a criminal to begin with, and as far as I know, Jack is a human who always tries to befriend those he believes he can communicate with. And he’s a human who doesn’t let those who hurt his people go unpunished.”

Salt Non, who properly “communicated” with us and helped us. I don’t think Jack had any special feelings for him.

But if he became an outcast overnight, labeled a criminal just for letting us through…

“So I can only hope this ends with just your deaths.”

He will surely consider everyone who killed Salt Non as his enemy. If that happens, this might not end with the simple “quick replacement of leadership” that Green Dol had hoped for.

Having considered this from the beginning, Green Dol swiftly swung his sword at the three elders. Countless silver trajectories danced through the dawn in the large mansion where the elders resided.

*

“If you leave any of the food Chikuyo made, you’ll all become monster breeding stock.”

“Y-yes!!”

“I-I’ll eat it!! I won’t leave a single grain!!!”

“Munch munch!!!”

In the end, Green Dol didn’t return by morning. And I tied up the female elves who had cried because of me in the corner of the house.

Hmm, but what should I do? The sense of depravity is no joke. Ah! [Tag: Elf, Bondage]!! Aaagh! I can see their eyes!!

“Jack? What are you doing?”

“Ah, sorry. Hey, you all, if you try to escape and damage this house, I’ll throw you to the monsters right away, got it?”

“Yes!!!”

Miho’s words snapped me out of my stray thoughts as I turned my head, and there stood a woman with flowing silver-white hair looking up at me.

“I’m about to leave now. But Miho.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you think it would be better for you to stay here?”

“No. I want to go with you!”

“No. You said you don’t have good memories in the village…”

“That’s not true! I’m fine! Let’s go together! Besides, how will you explain things without me?”

I had said that out of consideration for her, remembering how she had told me she didn’t have good experiences in the beastfolk village due to her condition, but she flatly rejected my words with facts.

…Sigh, if you’re okay with it, I guess I have no choice.

So I headed toward the entrance with Miho, and…

“W-wait!!”

Chikuyo, who had volunteered to guide us and had been ready in her kimono since I was feeding the elves, blocked our way.

“The sun hasn’t risen yet. Are you leaving already?”

“Yes. I don’t know what’s keeping Green Dol, but I have a bad feeling. In situations like this, I think it’s best to finish what we can quickly.”

“Th-that’s true, but…”

“Sis, what’s wrong?”

As Chikuyo fidgeted in front of us, seemingly stalling, she placed her hand on her chest, took a quiet deep breath, and spoke.

“The reason I live here alone… I’m too embarrassed to explain it, but could we wait until after sunrise to leave?”

“Huh? Didn’t you originally live here?”

“Yes. When I left, our house was still in the village. But sis, what’s this all about?”

“Ugh… Even if it’s you, Miho, I’d prefer if you didn’t ask? I’d rather you never knew about it. Is that okay~?”

Despite her deep breath, she was clearly embarrassed, her face flushed and ears twitching. Seeing her like this, I thought it best not to pry and simply nodded in agreement.

Well, it might truly be something difficult to talk about. I’ve been told not to dig too deeply into such matters.

So we waited at the house until sunrise before heading to the beastfolk village.

“Oh, Miho?!”

“What a surprise!! Miho! It’s been so long! How many years has it been?!”

“Who’s that man beside you? A human? Wow… he looks incredibly strong.”

“Sniff sniff! Sniff sniff!! Could it be? Is this human Miho’s husband?”

…What’s all this?

Upon arriving at the village—a cluster of small buildings huddled together—we were immediately surrounded by beastfolk.

But, Miho, their reaction to you is more…

“Miho, about what you told me before…”

“Well, people didn’t exactly dislike me? I had many bad experiences, but I wasn’t particularly hated.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Miho was loved wherever she went~”

Chikuyo spoke nonchalantly. She clearly heard what I was worried about this morning but didn’t give me any hints.

Looking at the beastfolk who were enthusiastically welcoming us by sniffing our scent, I thought that this time, things might go according to my plan.