Ch.202The Anguish of the Dark Elves

The next morning.

What greeted us as we woke up and emerged from the tent was the sight of Mina lying flat on the ground.

“Last night I was truly terribly rude how dare I approach a man with three partners please spare my life at least”

“Alright, alright, calm down.”

“Nobody’s angry, okay?”

“Really? Ehehe~”

As soon as she heard Jessica say that no one was angry, Mina jumped up, stuck out her tongue slightly, and gave a detestable smile.

Ah… I feel like giving her a good flick on the forehead.

“That Spiritus must have been quite something. One shot was enough to make a dwarf get drunk, cause a scene, and then pass out.”

“Well, yeah… It’s normally used as an ingredient for cocktails or fruit liqueurs, and it’s rare for someone like Mina to drink it straight.”

“To down it in one go… Is your stomach okay? Any hangover?”

“Nah, I’m fine! If anything, having such a strong drink after so long cleared out my system.”

“What are you, a sewer cleaner… Anyway, Spiritus is banned for the time being.”

“Eh~ How cruel to let me taste something like that and then ban it~”

“Yeah, right, you drunkard. If you want to drink it again, fix your drinking habits first.”

“Tch. Fine.”

Despite her dissatisfied expression, Mina backed down obediently, aware of what she had done.

After finishing breakfast and packing our belongings, we carefully drove the carriage, paying close attention to the condition of the replaced wheel.

According to Mina, who made it, she tried to match the specifications, shape, and weight as closely as possible to the other wheels, but since the wood used was different, the balance might be slightly off.

With about 100km to our next destination, and another 280km to return to Moon Lake afterward, we needed to pay careful attention to the carriage’s condition.

Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any more ambush spiders like the ones that had caused critical damage to our carriage wheel, and after leaving the forest, the open view helped us continue our journey safely.

Of course, by “safe” I don’t mean we weren’t attacked by monsters or wild animals, but rather that we could spot enemies early and quickly subdue them by taking advantage of our attack range.

“At this rate, we should arrive around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.”

“Yeah, we’ve picked up decent speed since leaving the forest.”

We were traveling through a remote area with no traces of carriages having passed through before, but the vast, flat terrain with almost no gravel or bumps allowed us to maintain considerable speed despite our heavy load.

When approaching a dark elf stronghold—given their proficiency in stealth and night vision—”arriving at the destination while the sun is still up” is crucial.

Except for Phyllis, night reconnaissance is out of the question, and if we camp with a bonfire, we risk being discovered by the dark elves.

To address this issue, we had planned to stop about 30-40km short of our destination for the night, then arrive and conduct our search the following day… but being able to cut even one day off our travel time and arrive during daylight is quite encouraging.

There’s no guarantee that the dark elves, already driven away by the Hydra and having lost Calliope as a fighting force, won’t abandon their stronghold again and flee elsewhere.

‘The chance of missing them by just one day is low, but still, I should do my best with what I can.’

Desperately hoping to discover the dark elf stronghold at this destination, I cracked the reins to increase Ancestor’s speed even more.

~~~ Dark Elf Stronghold ~~~

Around the time Will’s party was diligently approaching their second destination, four dark elves were sitting together with gloomy expressions at their stronghold, engaged in conversation.

Or more precisely, only three were talking, while the fourth sat in a chair like a doll, staring blankly into space with unfocused eyes.

“We’ve truly reached our limit. I believe it’s time to make a decision.”

“Hmm…”

The tall man with sharp eyes spoke in a heavy voice, but the two men sitting across from him couldn’t bring themselves to answer readily, crossing their arms and letting out anguished groans.

Though the tall man felt frustrated by his comrades’ attitude, he neither rushed them nor showed anger.

He understood well what was causing their hesitation.

After a brief silence, it was the man with a larger build than typical for dark elves who finally spoke.

“Calliope 218 is a strong warrior. Even if tortured by humans, she would never reveal our location.”

“I agree on that point. However, realistically, there’s no way to rescue Calliope 218, and we have no news of our other kin scattered in the swamplands. In this situation, carrying such a burden—”

“Chronos 366, that statement is disrespectful.”

“…I think it’s meaningless to protect this unconscious woman while guarding this place.”

The tall man, ‘Chronos 366,’ glanced at the doll-like woman sitting in the chair and expressed his frustration after being reprimanded by the one-eyed dark elf.

“Betel 294, Armu 312. You both know it too. Even if we hold out for 10 or 20 years, hunting wild beasts to survive, that woman… Iris 036 will never awaken as a priestess of the Great Mother.”

“However, we cannot hastily abandon Iris 036 when we have no news of our other kin. Her ‘divine rank’ is 36… far superior even to legion commanders.”

Chronos 366 couldn’t find words to refute the opinion of the large man, ‘Armu 312.’

[ Divine Rank ]

This concept was not only of utmost importance in dark elf society but also the reason they couldn’t abandon Iris, who had spent five years in a near-mentally disabled state.

All dark elves, regardless of age or gender, have a three-digit number following their name. The lower this number, the more revered they are as being closer to the “god” the dark elves serve.

In fact, the potential abilities and growth possibilities of dark elves are dictated by this number, their ‘divine rank,’ and the position an individual can attain within dark elf society is strictly limited by it.

Those in the 300s can be assigned special missions,

Those in the 200s can command dozens of warriors as leaders,

Those in the 100s can lead an entire legion as legion commanders.

In this context, Iris, with her two-digit number—an astounding divine rank of 036—would normally be of such noble status that the three men here wouldn’t dare even raise their heads in her presence.

Yet for some reason during her awakening process, she remained in a state where she showed no response to anything beyond minimal survival activities like eating and sleeping, and learning knowledge.

It was comparable to a situation where the last heir to the throne of a fallen nation was found but remained unconscious.

“Betel 294. What are the chances that we could safely move westward with Iris 036 and find another settlement of our kin?”

“Less than single digits, I’d say. We can avoid humans by maintaining sufficient distance as we do now, but if elves or beastkin discover our traces… there’s no way to guarantee the safety of Iris 036, who can’t even walk on her own.”

“So in the end, we have no choice but to continue ambushing elves who mingle with humans, hoping for the awakening of a comrade with a divine rank in the 100s…”

“And it was the failure of such an attempt that led to Calliope 218’s capture by humans.”

“……”

A heavy silence descended upon the room once more.

Calliope 218 had been a woman with exceptional combat abilities even within this group, and with her loss, the morale of the remaining dark elves had hit rock bottom.

Even Betel 294, who shared the same 200-level divine rank, showed a clear difference between 218 and 294.

Moreover, Armu 312 was a materials processing specialist rather than a warrior, so his combat abilities were inferior to what his divine rank might suggest, and Chronos 366, though skilled in magical techniques, lacked combat experience.

Even if the three combined their strength, they couldn’t guarantee they could replace Calliope 218, leaving them without any clear solution.

The prolonged silence was broken by a small-built female dark elf who came running in from outside, out of breath.

“B-big trouble!”

“What’s the matter, Serka 484?”

“Humans! Human adventurers in a carriage are approaching!”

“What!?”

The three men could hardly believe the urgent report from ‘Serka 484,’ who was in charge of external reconnaissance.

It seemed impossible that humans, who built their cities in distant places, would come all the way here.

“Are you sure you didn’t mistake them for elves or beastkin?”

“There was a black-haired man with a gun, accompanied by a young girl. The girl might be a dwarf, but the man is definitely human.”

A black-haired man with a gun.

That was the clearest evidence confirming that the individual Serka 484 had spotted was indeed human.

Black hair doesn’t exist among elves.

Beastkin might have black hair, but they don’t use guns.

If it had been a dwarf, she couldn’t have failed to distinguish them by their appearance.

“Hmm… this might be an opportunity.”

“An opportunity?”

“The fact that humans have come this far might mean they have a way to survive the black mana. What if we capture them and attempt an exchange for Calliope 218, who’s being held by humans?”

“Good idea. But given our limited forces, capturing just one should suffice.”

“Lead the way, Serka 484. We’ll ambush them before they discover the entrance to this place.”

Having prepared for battle, Betel 294, Armu 312, and Chronos 366 followed Serka 484 to eliminate the intruding adventurers.

Left alone in the dim stronghold, Iris 036 continued to stare into space with emotionless eyes.