episode_0034

When I came out of the forest and reached the road leading into the village, I saw a woman fidgeting.

When she saw us coming out of the woods, she seemed to be debating whether or not to act like she knew her, but as we approached, she came running towards us.

“Well, I… . Are these people sent by Isella?”

“Yes, Isella asked me to come.”

The woman swallowed her saliva and nodded with a nervous expression.

“Definitely… I have something to ask you. It’s really urgent.”

“Yes, please say so.”

I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be a normal thing to ask Isella.

“My husband… I was hired as a mercenary to guard the top, and was attacked by bandits.”

The woman who was speaking calmly reached the end of her sentence and her voice trembled and she began to cry.

“Well, I understand what’s going on.”

I calmed the woman down and looked at Arna.

Arna crossed his arms and looked at the woman with an expression of uncertainty, then made eye contact with me.

“Sister, let’s go to the village first.”

“Uh, yes.”

So we entered the village with the woman.

Since the woman’s husband was not the only one attacked by a group of thieves, the atmosphere in the village was a little chaotic.

“For more details, you can talk to the village chief. Besides my husband, many villagers were captured.”

“Yes, leave it to us first and relax. The older sister here is also an elf like Isella. We will solve it.”

When I said this while holding Arna’s arm, Arna smiled awkwardly.

So the woman lowered her head and took Arna’s hand.

“Really… Thank you.”

I haven’t even started yet. Well, it feels like an elf would definitely do it.

“What should I call you?”

“This is Arna. Aunt Isella’s nephew… .”

“Ah, ah… I see. I heard a lot about it. My mom talked a lot about my nephew. Oh, my name is Serena.”

“Mom?”

Serena naturally said that Isella was her mother and was surprised and laughed awkwardly.

“Aha, indeed. My mother passed away when my younger brother and I were young… Isella helped us a lot. From then on, he told me to think like my mom, so I’ve been calling him mom.”

“Ah… . I see.”

Arna smiled, but her expression became a little strange.

And soon we arrived at the village chief’s residence.

It was a fairly large place, similar to the size of the village, and at this point, I think they should be called lords rather than village chiefs.

“It’s here.”

Serena took the lead and opened the door and entered.

Several people were gathered in a small conference room inside the village chief’s house. Among them were Cheshire and Larissa.

“Oh, you two are here too.”

Cheshire came out first and greeted us, while Larissa just waved indifferently from behind.

Looking at their expressions, it looks like they were dragged out forcibly.

Aside from that, I don’t know if it was a collection of people in the village who seemed to have abilities in their own way, but I don’t know who they were, but they seemed quite amazing.

Cheshire introduced us to the chief.

“Chief, he is the elf I mentioned earlier and worked as a warrior for a foreign country.”

Oh, you’re introducing it that way?

The village chief sitting in the middle of the conference room was a man who appeared to be slightly past middle age, with age-related wrinkles on his forehead.

He seems like a person with a rather rough appearance and a bit of personality.

“If you are an elf… This is not the person who often helps me.”

The village chief spoke in a deep, wary voice, then stood up and politely extended his hand towards Arna.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Yurus, the village chief.”

“Ah, yes. This is Arna. If you are someone who continues to help… Are you talking about Isela?”

“Ah, yes. As expected, you know someone.”

“Yes, she is my aunt. I think something came up this time and they left it to me instead.”

Village chief Jurus nodded and clapped his hands as if he understood with an exaggerated gesture.

“Ah, I see. Anyway, I’m really reassured that the elf is helping us.”

Am I not interested?

As I was scratching my head in embarrassment, Yurus’ gaze turned to me.

“Ah, the person next to me is… You said you were a hero?”

“… … Yes.”

Asking someone if they are a hero and answering yes is an awkward feeling that I still can’t get used to.

However, unlike Arna’s time, the reaction to my origins was cold.

A suspicious look in his eyes, as if he had seen many scammers, such as warriors and such.

The doubts of those gathered here flew towards me.

“Jihoo… It’s mine.”

In that way, Arna froze people who had doubts about me.

In fact, there was no more accurate explanation of my position.

“Ah, ah… okay. Excuse me.”

“So don’t do it carelessly.”

“Of course. I didn’t even think about that. Haha.”

Yurus suddenly lost all of the solemn expression on his face, smiled kindly, and walked away, laying out the map on the conference room table.

Arna also felt that people were thinking of me as a strange fraud.

I gently held Arna’s hand and whispered.

“Thank you, sister.”

So Arna smiled and lightly pinched my cheek.

“Okay, then I will briefly explain this incident.”

The village chief unfolded the map and pointed with his baton to the western meadow, a little distance away from the village.

“The upper carriage that left our village was attacked by a group of orc bandits in the western grassland.”

“Orc thief… .”

Cheshire gulped and muttered.

“This is the first time since an elf wiped out all the orc bandits who tried to attack the village about 100 years ago.”

“100 years ago… If that’s the case, it’s worth attacking without knowing it.”

A prisoner man spoke, and Eurus nodded.

“Neither they nor us here will be alive from then on.”

That’s usually the case. People who live to be 100 years old were not common even in the modern times when I lived, and I know that the lifespans of races other than humans, such as beastmen and orcs, are not very different.

Only elves could live that long.

But coincidentally, Arna was also a young elf who did not exist at that time.

Cheshire responded with one word.

“That too, they probably thought there was nothing they could do if they didn’t attack the village directly.”

“I also agree with your opinion.”

Eurus pointed his baton at Cheshire with style.

“But according to the testimony of a merchant who survived and returned, there is a story that a new leader has appeared.”

“Yes? A leader?”

“You said it was your first time seeing a demon, so first of all, it looks like he is not a famous wanted person.”

Then he again pointed to the forests marked on the map.

A demon I’ve never seen before, a leader… . hmm… … .

“Anyway, we have to find their base as quickly as possible. Because we have to save the captured people rather than the things.”

“These days, since no one wants to make a deal with orc thieves, the slave trade won’t go well… Kidnapped humans are likely to be used as food.”

“As expected, people from the academy are different. As Cheshire said, you don’t know what the thieves will do, so you have to save the people as quickly as possible.”

There are three locations marked.

It’s fortunate that it’s in one of the three places, but it may be hidden somewhere else.

“Then Arna and I will go this way.”

I pointed to the center of the three places.

If the likelihood of being anywhere is similar, it is better to go to a stop where you can quickly join somewhere else. No matter how you look at it, Arna has the best power here.

“I was planning on asking that even if it wasn’t like that, but what do you think, Arna?”

Yurus politely asked Arna’s opinion, and Arna frowned and nodded.

“If Jihoo tells me to do it, I will do it. Don’t ask again.”

“Ah, haha. I see.”

How can you lift my shoulders like this? It was such a good thing to have someone watching my back.

“Then let’s split the number of people into each of the remaining two places.”

“Chief. This woman must come with me.”

Cheshire held up Larissa’s arm and raised her hand.

Larissa’s delicate arms, held by the orc’s large hands, felt pitiful.

“Didn’t you say he was a wizard? Just in case something happens, I’m going to share it with you… .”

“That’s true, but she’s a woman who can’t be controlled very well.”

“What are you saying! This orc!”

“As you can see, yes.”

The village chief immediately agreed to Larisa’s harsh words and divided the people into groups.

Just like in Cheshire, those gathered here exchanged their opinions, quickly formed an efficient team, and were ready to leave.

The investigation to find the location of the bandits was divided into two groups, with the remaining members searching for volunteers and mercenaries in the village and preparing for battle.

Before leaving, Cheshire added one more explanation about the thieves.

“Those guys are the ones who raise giant wolves and lead them around. You can engage in mobile warfare by riding wolves like cavalry, or you can use them like hunting dogs to attack.”

He said with a nervous expression, raising his glasses that were slightly falling down.

“There is no comparison in their barbarism, but since they use deception in their own way, it is best to never try to resolve the issue through dialogue.”

He took out a round object. It was a flat, round object with a few button-like things on it.

“First, we split up to investigate, and when we discover something, we send a signal to people and villages scattered elsewhere to request support and fight.”

And gave one to each team.

This signal, made with magical power, had the function of notifying the situation by pressing a button.

When you press “, a blue signal appears. If damage or unspecified horsepower is detected, a red signal will go off.”

Cheshire pressed what he was holding.

So, a blue light came out from the signal in my hand and spread out, showing the direction of Cheshire.

“If someone presses the signal like this, it will tell you where the person who pressed it is. Never press this for fun, and only press it when you find thieves. If an exceptional red signal comes in, we will provide support immediately.”

After hearing all the explanations about the signal, we left the village chief’s house.

I was a little anxious because it seemed like a big deal, but since Arna was there, I would do anything.

Of course, I’ve dealt with a lot of orc thieves like that, so it’s okay. It’s probably not much different from the Demon King’s subordinates.

“Before you leave, there is something else I would like to give you. Let’s go to our store for a moment.”