episode_0013

Thud –

After the sound of rusty iron, a lean man resembling a scarecrow is thrown into a place that resembles a prison.

“G-groan… Gah… G-guh…”

He appears quite emaciated, as if he has been through torture.

Seeing his almost battered body, the dwarf felt a sense of pity and approached him, offering the man some water.

“Poor guy, squeezed dry yesterday and again today… Hoo, those ear-twitchers are undoubtedly the lackeys of the demons.”

“Gah… Ugh… Guh… This time, I really almost died. If I had been a bit later… Guh… I would have met my ancestors.”

“You don’t need to tell me that. Just by looking at your pitiful state now, Belldom. Have all those mighty muscles of yours evaporated?”

Glancing down at his own body for a moment in response to the dwarf’s words, the elf man soon turned sorrowful, then began to sob as the prison departed.

“Sob…! All my robust and rugged muscles have turned into flab…”

“Belldom, calm down first and stop those tears. Remember what you said about muscle loss.”

“Right, you’re correct. Thanks, Stroheim. If it weren’t for you, I would have pushed myself even harder with this severe muscle loss.”

Sniffling, the elf slowly composed himself, glanced at the meal on his spot, then asked the dwarf a question.

“But where is Kotas now? He went out with me this morning, why hasn’t he returned yet?”

“Don’t worry about that traitor. He’ll probably manage to survive on his own. Isn’t he an orc known for his stamina rather than his loyalty to us?”

“A traitor… Well, even if he wasn’t intrigued by the word ‘feast,’ he could have been somewhat useful. That part is a bit disappointing.”

“Somewhat useful… I doubt that. Even if he had joined us, he would have only delayed our inevitable capture. I wager my masterpiece on it.”

Despite unleashing firepower capable of destroying a medium-sized city, they only managed to burn a few trees.

Although confident they had dealt a significant blow to the elves, it merely resulted in singeing a few strands of hair.

Even if that orc fellow, who loved feasts, hadn’t betrayed them, would the future have changed?

Having finished his thoughts, Stroheim shook his head and spoke.

“The only one we should rely on now is Karl. If he hasn’t entered the prison yet, it means someone is aiding him. If he falls prey too…”

“Even a fool like me understands that much. We’ll end up meeting our end in the hands of those lust-driven lunatics. If that truly happens, our noble journey will have been in vain.”

“Karl better come through… Sigh, thinking this way makes me regret. If I had known they were this crazy, we should have unleashed all our firepower from the start.”

“Weren’t we already at maximum output?”

“There’s one thing we haven’t used. That damn ‘excellent means of conversation’ I called him. Unfortunately, he’s currently in the clutches of those cursed ear-twitchers.”

What kind of dangerous item must that crazy dwarf be talking about?

Belladom briefly pondered the power it held but soon shook his head.

It will show more than what one can imagine.

Revealing immense pride in his dwarf race.

‘By the way, why were only I and Kotas dragged away, excluding that dwarf? Is there a special reason?’

As doubts arose, Belladom and Stroheim sensed multiple beings approaching the “prison” from afar.

‘Is it Kota? He must have been squeezed much more than I was, so I should give him some comforting words.’

What would be good? Perhaps including a light joke would be nice after all.

Bellum briefly pondered the words he should say, even though he had to force a smile.

However, with his sensitive and large ears, he soon realized that the person approaching wasn’t Kota.

“Kota is barefoot… The sound I hear now is from military boots. In that case…!”

Has that darned fellow been captured too!

Bellum and Stroheim, listening to the approaching sound of boots, looked towards the entrance with puzzled expressions.

‘I thought it was the last flicker of hope, but it’s extinguished so easily!’

‘Did I expect someone to rely on? After all, the purpose of this journey was to ‘find the divine seed.’ I was just having unnecessary expectations.’

They hung their heads in disappointment creeping up on them.

However, as the rusty creaking sound of the gate opening echoed and the sword entered the “detention center,” they cheered at his clean appearance without any torture tools.

“What, Kota! Did you come to rescue us!”

“I believed in you! Pascal! You’re really living up to that name today!”

A glimmer of hope settling in the gloomy detention center.

Other captives began to look at him with hopeful eyes, but then…

“No, I’ve been captured too.”

With just those two words, Kota shattered everyone’s hopes.

—–

Inside the detention center.

The captured horses by the elves started to cast pitiful glances my way, their youthful eyes filled with life.

Well, that’s understandable.

What they thought was hope quickly turned into despair in an instant.

It might be natural for them to harbor resentment towards me, the one who caused this change.

However, these gazes weighed heavily on me.

If it were pretty elven women looking at me, it might be different, but feeling the intense stares of rough-looking men with unkempt hair above and below made me uncomfortable.

“Ugh…”

I involuntarily retched.

But even in this oppressive atmosphere, there were things that had to be done.

Only by doing so could I put an end to this wretched existence in the forest.

Kiing –

As Kota entered the detention center, a mana storm signifying the completion of the contract swept through the forest.

This meant that the “Elves” couldn’t attack me and the priestess until we left the forest.

Of course, attacking the elves in any way would immediately void the agreement, but since I had no intention of attacking directly, the contract would apply until we left the forest without any issues.

“It was a strange deal, but thanks for fulfilling it cleanly. So, witch? Aren’t you going to let us out of the horse detention center now? It’s important to us.”

“Don’t rush me. I was already thinking of getting out of this filthy place as soon as possible.”

It was a place where all sorts of smells mixed together, emitting a nauseating and damp odor.

It might not be as bad as rotten tofu, but the stench was enough to give a splitting headache.

Would anyone want to stay here for long?

Especially seeing the men, emaciated from endless seed exploitation, swaying their lower bodies, no man would willingly want to witness that.

Shaking my head, I faced the elf looking down at me with a sardonic smile.

“By the way, I can’t figure out why you’ve been looking at me like that since earlier. Do you have some ulterior motive?”

“It’s a misunderstanding. I’m just glad the contract ended smoothly, and I obtained the ‘special sympathy’ you mentioned. I’m curious why you said such things.”

“Ah, I remember hearing something similar somewhere before. The noble beings of the forest race are known to speak ambiguously.”

“…”

The sardonic smile shattered, replaced by a fierce anger.

“Why, does it make you feel a bit worse when the truth hits you in the chest?

But you guys are that kind of race, aren’t you?

A race that makes contracts without ever suffering losses by exploiting the flaws in interpretations.

In some ways, they are more demonic than demons themselves, those wicked beings who leave their conscience and pride outside the forest.

Sporting the same sardonic smile as the elves seemed to have, the elf whispered softly into the elf’s ear, looking dignified.

“I’m sure you’ve prepared all the tricks already. Since ‘Elves’ can’t attack, they’ll have other races or monsters do the attacking, or they’ll unleash magic and arrows until you’re dead as soon as you step out of the forest.”

“…!”

“You didn’t know? Well, that’s a bit disappointing then. Why would I bother coming all the way to this filthy and vulgar place on my own accord?”

If the elf in the original work wasn’t a vulgar race, they probably would have handed over the protagonist from the start and fled with the priestess.

There’s no need to create trouble by harboring resentment.

However, the elves in the original work are crazy individuals who even outwit the wicked demons.

Unless you retaliate with equally insane actions against their madness, your chances of surviving them almost converge to zero.

As we quietly whispered and distanced ourselves, the dignified elf chuckled and changed his expression.

“Indeed, you’re not stupid like a witch. But what to do now? The place you’re in can be considered the heart of the Great Forest. Even if you understand, there’s nothing you can do, right?”

“If there was nothing you could do, you wouldn’t have come crawling in here in the first place, you idiot.”

“…What?”

“You came here because there was some possibility. Still don’t get it?”

Pulling out the bag that Stroheim had received as an excuse for wanting to research in the prison, I threw it to Karl and shouted loudly.

“Karl! Throw that to Stroheim!”

“…Were you planning this from the beginning?”

“Of course!”

A situation where no one can use their strength due to mana suppression tools.

However, among the captured centaurs, only one person can exert strength in this situation.

That is none other than…

“Hoo, I didn’t know I would bring this out here.”

Stroheim, the dwarf scientist who uses ‘weapons’ based on ‘science’.

Since he doesn’t use mana or aura at all, only he could exert power in this desperate place.

“Ha! Thanks a lot!”

Rip.

Taking the bag, Stroheim promptly tore his perfectly fine pants to shreds.

Then, pulling out the large and beautiful gun attached to his lower body, he shouted at the elves.

“Well, elves!!! What do you think of this robust, long, and magnificent item?”

The elves’ response to this was beyond imagination.

“”It… It was intended!!! I-It was definitely top-notch!!!””

It surpassed all expectations.