Ch.34Elven Heim (5)

“Mmm-wooo-. (That was dangerous.)”

“Right? Who would’ve thought they’d prepare something like that at the end… That person had many unique abilities too. Could they be a participant?”

“Mmm-merrr, moooo. (Probably. But that’s not what I meant.)”

No matter how much the pact made me instinctively want to protect her, if I, with my 16-meter body, had just swung my arm, Mary would have been torn apart.

And if I hadn’t heard her voice? I would have charged forward and Mary would have been shattered to pieces.

“Mmm-merrr. (I can’t let that happen again. I don’t want to lose a friend because of my mistake.)”

“Friend… hehe… Yes! Still, if you lose control and go berserk again, I’ll step forward to stop you like I did this time. Oh, and can you show me your wound?”

I sighed at her words saying she’d do it again next time, and showed her my left arm. The other wounds had healed somewhat, but the injury I’d inflicted on myself in my rage hadn’t healed at all.

“Your skin is blue! I’ll heal you right away!”

The green light emanating from Mary’s hands began healing my wound. Of course, due to my size, the healing process was slow, but I could feel it getting better little by little.

While she was climbing onto my shoulder to heal my wounds there, I sensed something—a feeling that something was targeting us. I wrapped my hand around Mary, who was healing my shoulder, to protect her.

Mary was startled by my sudden protective gesture, but she seemed to think there must be some meaning to what I was doing and continued healing.

As the healing continued, the feeling of being watched grew stronger. The gaze didn’t seem friendly at all, so I remained ready to protect Mary at any moment…

Then a person with long ears appeared. A slender build with long, long ears. The bow on his back revealed that he was an archer.

While I was tense at the sudden appearance of the elf, Mary, who was peeking through my fingers, extended her hand excitedly and shouted.

“Elrom! It’s been so long!! How have you been?”

The man called Elrom, upon hearing that voice, realized he wasn’t mistaken and let out a deep sigh of relief.

“Mary! I came here after decades and was surprised to see you with a Minotaur. Is he your bodyguard?”

“Nope! He’s a friend! This is Khan! Khan, the elf right in front of us is Elrom! He’s a friend I used to play with when I came here decades ago!”

Mmm-wooo

When I raised my hand to greet him, Elrom muttered that he never expected to receive a greeting from a Minotaur and bowed his head in return.

“But what brings you here? I’m really sorry, but we’re currently at war with the human empire… I’m afraid we can’t offer proper hospitality.”

“That’s okay! The Queen asked us to meet High Elf Lassis and Khan! I brought a letter of recommendation!”

Thinking this wasn’t an ordinary matter—the Queen, famous as the Fairy Queen and a sage, wanting to meet me and Lassis—he contacted someone with magic to ask for permission.

The name of the Fairy Queen carried significant weight, as the superior who heard about it invited me into their kingdom despite my being a monster.

* * * * *

The elven kingdom was even more devoted to natural beauty than I had imagined. While humans decorated their cities with artificial structures, elves followed an architectural style that coexisted with nature without harming it.

The massive trees, which seemed to have lived for hundreds or thousands of years, were much taller than me, and elves were watching me from above.

Every time I took a step with a “thoom-thoom” sound, the ground shook slightly, which young elves found amusing as they walked near me, while those who appeared to be parents tried to stop them.

Since this was where elves lived, spirits could be seen occasionally. Water spirits were watering flower beds, and earth spirits were leveling the ground and tilling fields.

Some houses were shrouded by darkness spirits, making their interiors pitch black despite the sunlight.

“Amazing, isn’t it!? Our kingdom is tiny compared to this village, so when I first came here, I was really amazed!”

As I nodded in agreement while conversing with her, the World Tree finally revealed itself before my eyes.

This majestic and enormous tree looked several times larger than when seen from outside. Perhaps what I saw from outside wasn’t the World Tree at all, as this gigantic tree extended its branches beyond the clouds in the sky.

Amazed by its appearance, like a bridge connecting heaven and earth, I asked Mary if what I saw outside was indeed the World Tree, and she relayed my question to Elrom.

“Hmm? Hahaha, that was indeed Mother’s tree. However, Mother is shy, so unless you come this close, she doesn’t reveal her true form.”

“So that’s how it is! When I came with the Queen last time, I didn’t come near Mother Tree, so I didn’t know!”

While Mary and I were admiring the majesty and grandeur of the World Tree, someone leaped out from it. Before we could properly react to this person who instantly appeared before us, they tightly embraced Mary.

“Oh my, you cutie! Have you come to see me!? Oh my, you’re so skinny! I have cookies made from Mother’s fruit, shall I give you some? How did you get here without saying anything?”

Something, no, someone… Despite being told they were old, this… The person was acting like a grandmother who came out to greet a beloved grandchild she hadn’t seen in a long time.

I was disappointed, having expected a dignified and calm High Elf.

Still, the movement she showed earlier was real. Not by wrapping mana around her body or using spirits to move, but pure physical ability. Though she was now treating Mary like a grandmother doting on her grandchild, if I had faced her as an enemy… I couldn’t help thinking my head would have been cut off in less than a second.

“Ahem, ahem.”

At that moment, Elrom, who had been guiding us, cleared his throat to draw the High Elf Lassis’s attention. Of course, she ignored him and continued rummaging through some dimensional space, saying she would give something to Mary…

“Lassis! Stop! Stop! The reason I came here today is to present the Queen’s recommendation letter and introduce my friend to you!”

“Friend? What? You don’t mean this thing, do you?”

Mary nodded vigorously with a bright smile, confirming that’s exactly who she meant, to High Elf Lassis who was pointing at me.

Lassis gave me a dubious look, but Mary took a letter from her bosom and handed it to her.

After quickly reading the letter, Lassis commented on how cute the round handwriting was and how she wanted to meet the Queen again soon, then carefully stored the letter in her dimensional space.

“So, this cow saved our cutie and the Queen?”

“That’s right! Bad guys came to the forest and many of our friends who protect the forest were injured or killed, but he fought at the risk of his life and drove them away!”

“Hmm, between these attackers and others, perhaps we need to clean things up… Some don’t seem to know about the alliance between the fairy folk and us…”

Speaking as if humans were nothing, she casually mentioned “cleaning up” and gave instructions to Elrom.

“Call the elders. We didn’t pay much attention since it only happened once every few decades, but considering our cuties were attacked, we need to remind the world once more.”

“Yes! I will contact the elders.”

Without even glancing at Elrom who disappeared after those words, Lassis looked at me. She observed my body as if appraising me.

I stood still since there was nothing particularly lacking about my body, but then I suddenly remembered the holes in my horns and hurriedly covered them.

“Huh? Ahahaha! What’s this? Are you embarrassed because your horns have holes? A Minotaur is still a Minotaur. You think differently from us. Anyway, come in. Mother has given permission, and I’ll look after you until the elders arrive.”

“Moo-ooo-? (Aren’t the elders coming soon?)”

“They’ll probably arrive in about a month, Khan! Both elves and us move slowly unless it’s extremely urgent!”

Huh, so this is the leisure of long-lived species. Well, for elves who live for a thousand years, even a month must seem short.

“Anyway, you get stronger the angrier you get, right? But that power becomes too strong for your body to handle.”

When I nodded at her words, Lassis took a moment to think. Mary was also praying with her hands clasped together, hoping for a good solution.

“Well! Let’s start by hitting you.”

Before I could react with a “Huh?”, her fist struck my jaw.

THWACK———

* * * * *

The lantern swayed in the wind. In the flickering light sat five people.

One was a commander with a dignified mustache.

He was tapping his finger on the table impatiently, clearly displeased about something.

Another was a girl who appeared to be less than 10 years old.

She was leisurely sipping cocoa, enjoying herself.

One was a man with chains wrapped all around his body.

He seemed unbothered by them as he sat with his eyes closed and arms crossed.

Another was a slender man feeding a baby reptile that appeared to be a dragon subspecies.

Though still young and weak, if it grew to maturity, it would surely display the power of dragonkind.

The last was a lizardman with a reptilian mouth and green scales covering his entire body.

It was unclear why such a being was among humans, but he sat quietly as if meditating with his eyes closed.

As the silence persisted, the girl finally spoke up, unable to bear it any longer.

“How long are we going to keep quiet? If you called all of us here, didn’t you have some plan in mind?”

At her words, the man and lizardman who had their eyes closed opened them, and the man feeding the baby creature also turned his attention to the commander.

“Well… The reason I called you, the Special Operations Unit directly under His Imperial Majesty, is because of the Minotaur and the Disaster Harlot. Our soldiers last observed them clashing and then departing on friendly terms. What do you think?”

“Does that mean the Harlot and the cow have joined forces?”

To the question from the chain-wrapped man, the commander quickly corrected himself.

“Ah, sorry, Battle Maniac. The Harlot went somewhere outside the forest, while the Minotaur entered the forest.”

“Then, even if they haven’t joined hands, there’s a possibility they won’t be hostile when facing us. Is that cow also a participant?”

“There is… a possibility. A hostile… monster… leaving without… resolution… is unnatural.”

The four nodded. If people like themselves could band together, there was no reason others couldn’t do the same.

“Then, shall we deal with the Harlot first? If we use this little one as bait and all of us move in, wouldn’t it be over quickly?”

When Battle Maniac placed his hand on the girl’s head, Ghost’s slashing attack fell, showing her displeasure. He quickly withdrew his hand with an “Eek,” but the sound of chains and weapon clashing rang out, indicating a slight cut.

“The Harlot was caught that way before, so she’s unlikely to fall for it again. Rather, how about we split up and enter the forest to lure them out?”

“Enter the forest? I agree. I’ve been itching for action lately, and I’d like to see how strong these elves really are.”

Chain agreed with Tamer, the man raising the dragon species. Ghost and the lizardman also seemed to agree, silently nodding their heads.

“Then I’ll expect you to penetrate the forest and bring back the target. Of course, if the Harlot appears, shoot this into the sky. It’s a flare made under His Imperial Majesty’s orders—it will rise high and emit a red flash that will be quite visible.”

The commander took out a long red cylinder from a box behind him and handed one to each person. They received them and tucked them away.

The Harlot was a formidable opponent whom they couldn’t guarantee victory against in a one-on-one fight. At least two of them would be needed for a safe hunt.

“And if the Minotaur appears, don’t engage it for now. I’ve requested information from our homeland, so we’ll proceed based on that when it arrives. If there’s nothing, Lizardman, I’ll trust in your hunting skills.”

Everyone nodded at those words. There had been cases of people who overestimated their strength and died recklessly without proper information.

“So, run wild for now. The elves are slow to act anyway, so it will take at least another month before they mount a proper response. You may go now.”

With those words, the four members of the Emperor’s Special Operations Unit left, and the hypnotically swaying lantern went out, filling the tent with pitch-black darkness.