The Great Forest (2)

There are Elf slaves in this world. They definitely exist, but there was no reason to take the risk of capturing Elves. They learn magic from before they are born. They communicate with spirits and commune with Mana. They live for hundreds of years like that. The magic of the Elves, who overturn the land and create mountains, was the product of a long time communing with nature.

To capture such Elves and make them slaves… it certainly has its romance, but it’s not a very wise act. And more than anything. It’s not like there aren’t humans who are prettier than Elves.

“Parnium. Thank you.”

The silver-haired Elf twitched her ears, expressing her joy.

This Elf may look weak and naive on the outside, but as I’ve confirmed, she has a monstrous amount of Mana. I couldn’t even guess how many years she’d lived until she told me herself. It’s such a selfish race, being beautiful and long-lived. You could say their low reproductive drive is their last bit of conscience.

For reference, the Elves’ magic system is extremely skewed towards earth attributes. The Elves’ desperate efforts to protect the World Tree by carving barriers for five hundred years have developed in that direction.

“Friend. Follow me. I’ll guide you.”

“How do you know where we’re going?”

Shuriel looked at the Elf, who was preparing to guide us without even knowing our destination, with a pathetic look. The Elf in front of her was so naive that you couldn’t believe she’d lived for hundreds of years. Shuriel seemed a little embarrassed, as if she was seeing an Elf like this for the first time. Even by my standards, she was an unusual Elf.

“Good point. But it’s okay. You can tell me now. No problem.”

The Elf stared at us intently, as if telling us to hurry up and tell her our destination. Not blinking once on her pure white face was a little creepy. You could say she wasn’t human. She’s not human, but it was strangely unpleasant. I scratched my cheek and said.

“Um, Ms. Elf? Um. What should I call you?”

“Lanya. That’s my name. I’m telling you because we’re friends.”

“Okay, Lanya. Let me ask you something.”

“Sure. Only within reason.”

“…I’ve heard that the atmosphere among the Elves has been chaotic lately. Can you tell me why?”

The head priest said that if the Elves, who don’t express their emotions well, looked like they were about to rot, something unusual must have happened. More Elves are leaving the barrier, and the frequency of interrogating outsiders approaching the Great Forest has increased, so something must be happening.

The silver-haired Elf frowned and pondered for dozens of seconds. Was she wondering if she could tell us? We waited patiently for an answer, and the Elf opened her mouth exactly 27 seconds later.

“…The spirit of nature is fluctuating. It’s unstable. But it’s not something the Mother Goddess did. It’s the work of an outsider. We have to find them and kill them.”

“Hey.”

As soon as Lanya finished speaking, Shuriel jumped forward and gathered everyone’s attention.

“It’s a Demon.”

Demon. Shuriel answered reflexively. Lanya, hearing Shuriel’s words, narrowed her eyes and asked.

“Demon?”

“It’s the work of Demons. The twin Demons, Cordill and Fordill.”

“…!”

Demons with the epithets ‘Knight Slaughterer’ and ‘Magic Exiler’. Lanya frowned fiercely when she heard that the cause of the incident was Demons. The enemies of the Elves who burned part of the World Tree five hundred years ago. Even if they were not a generation that had experienced the events of that time, the hatred for Demons, imprinted in their genes, burned in the Elf’s heart.

“Quickly. Explain.”

“They’re Demons who absorb the spirit of the earth and turn it into barren land. They already caused a ruckus in the Empire and fled here.”

“Countermeasures. Needed. What should we do?”

Shuriel snorted and replied.

“What else? We have to catch them and beat them to a pulp. They’re useless even if we spare them.”

“…I agree. You guys are good friends after all.”

The fact that they had a common enemy broke down their mutual wariness. They say if you want to build rapport with someone, badmouth the person they hate. You could see it as the same context.

So there was no reason to hesitate any longer. Shuriel unfolded a map and showed Lanya the expected travel route. Areas where magical energy was detected, and areas where it wasn’t. If you connected the areas where magical energy was detected, a movement path that seemed to be heading somewhere appeared.

“I investigated the magical energy in the Great Forest area. Since there are no traces of them going outside, they must still be hiding inside the barrier.”

“I know. We’ve also investigated the magical energy. But this alone is not enough.”

“Why?”

“Purification. The Mother Goddess eliminates all magical energy inside the barrier. If they went into the city, it would be difficult to track them.”

Lanya had vaguely guessed that the cause of this situation was Demons, but she didn’t think they would come inside the barrier, which is protected by the blessing of the World Tree. The Mother Goddess’s blessing purifies all magical energy. If they couldn’t properly emit magical energy, they would be no different from strong humans.

But what they overlooked was.

“Magic Exiler Cordill.”

They exile all magic that manifests within the sanctuary. Even divine power is not spared. If the World Tree’s purification mechanism is similar to magic, it will exile even that.

To set up a sanctuary, they would have to absorb a considerable amount of spirit… The reason why the spirit of nature is fluctuating must be because of that.

“Magic, Exiler?”

Lanya tilted her head and asked again. The twin Demons had never acted outside the Empire. The Elves, who have little information exchange with humans, would have no way of knowing the twin Demons’ abilities.

“I’ll explain on the way.”

Shuriel felt like the story was dragging on, so she said they should move first. Lanya looked like she wanted to hear it right away, but she silently followed Shuriel’s words. Keeping her held back would not be good for either of them. Shuriel says.

“Which of the Four Guardian Gates is closest?”

“…The Red Wolf Gate in the east.”

Four Guardian Gates.

The only gate that allows entry into the barrier, and the symbol of the four races that rule each district. The closest gate here was the Red Wolf Gate located in the east. The territory ruled by the Red Wolves. Lanya turned around, her flowing silver hair fluttering.

“Friend. Follow me.”

* * *

Demi-humans cannot be distinguished by the word ‘demi-human’. They only group the countless divided species under the single word ‘demi-human’, but if you divide them in detail, there is no end to them. There are more than twenty races living inside the barrier alone.

Naturally, since tribes with different personalities gathered in one place, there was no way to properly unify opinions. However, since every tribe was drawn to the safety of the barrier, they chose coordination over fighting. They couldn’t just fight savagely for the rest of their lives.

The desire for settlement and the yearning for civilization were strong enough to suppress the instincts of beasts.

The method they chose was an oligarchy that partially inherited the tribal alliance system. They put forward the tribal chiefs of the four most powerful tribes as rulers, and developed the country while keeping each other in check.

You could say it was somewhat democratic, but as expected, they followed the law of the jungle as they inherited the instincts of the wilderness. Minor tribes were not even given the right to vote for the tribal chief. However, it didn’t seem like they were being persecuted, so they didn’t have any major complaints… If you’re weak, you have to be careful.

-Is that a human?

-Looks delicious.

-Shut up, you idiot. That’s rude.

-There’s an Elf too.

And to the demi-humans, humans were just a delicious-looking minor tribe. Except for Mana awakeners, the power of individual humans is weak. Without tools, humans have a hard time even catching a goblin.

“There’s a lot of fur flying around.”

I grumbled, picking off the hair on my clothes. Maybe it’s because their ancestors were furry beasts, but their hair was flying around a lot. Shuriel did the same, waving her arm once to brush off the fur.

“I see why this place isn’t a popular tourist destination.”

With fur flying around and every demi-human you see smacking their lips, only someone with a strong heart could come here. Shuriel emitted murderous intent at a demi-human who was smacking his lips, chasing him away. Lanya didn’t even turn her gaze to the fleeing demi-human and said in a languid voice.

“We’re here. Where are we going now?”

“We should find a place to stay first. Do you have any recommendations?”

“…Sorry. I don’t know much about inns.”

“It’s okay. I’m grateful that you guided us this far. More importantly, are you going to keep following us?”

“For now. I’ll help you investigate.”

There was no reason to refuse when a local offered to help. We didn’t complain about Lanya joining us. So we had to find a place to stay first. It was a little late since we arrived at the Holy Myhal Temple around early evening.

“I’m worried about whether there will be fur flying around on the bed.”

We walked along the road, worrying unnecessarily.

The surroundings were full of demi-humans. Maybe it’s obvious since it’s a city of demi-humans. My heart was pounding as everyone we saw perked up their red ears and looked at us.

‘They said they’re a cannibalistic race.’

It was a slightly different kind of pounding.

I’ve been cooked alive before, but I’ve never been eaten alive… I was a little curious. However, I was wary of Shuriel’s reaction. It was also illegal. My conscience pricked me to pursue pleasure by turning an innocent demi-human into a criminal.

‘…I’m conflicted.’

Violent sex that pushes you to the brink of death is good, but sometimes you want to enjoy primal pain. And when else would I get this opportunity? If I’ve come to the land of demi-humans, shouldn’t I try it at least once? Telling me not to say crazy things? Well. The world is crazy, not me.

-Tuk.

While I was putting on a poker face and running my delusional circuits in my head, I felt a hand grabbing my sleeve.

“Hmm?”

“Excuse me.”

Triangular ears sticking out between his hair, long gray hair that seemed like it would drag on the ground. His tail had stripes of gray and black mixed together.

“Raccoon?”

Looking at the black around his eyes as if he had makeup on, it was obvious that he was a raccoon.

“Do you know the Ra-Kuni tribe? Not many humans know the Ra-Kuni tribe…”

The demi-human, who identified himself as a proud young man of the Ra-Kuni tribe, looked a little young. However, unlike his youthful face, he was very tall. Slightly smaller than Shuriel. I sent a look to Shuriel and opened my mouth.

“So, why did you call us?”

“Are you perhaps looking for a place to stay?”

A place to stay. I am looking for a place to stay where fur doesn’t fly around. I nodded. The tall raccoon boy smiled brightly at the mention of finding a place to stay and replied.

“Then how about our inn?! We even have a bath and a laundry room!”

A bath and a laundry room? That’s a little tempting. Inns with baths are rare. Shuriel and Calbert also showed interest as if they were surprised. We exchanged opinions with our eyes and nodded. Lanya didn’t seem to care where we went.

“Okay! I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. We also have a vegetarian menu for the Elf next to you…”

“Wrong. I like meat.”

“…What? Ah, well. Anyway.”

…An Elf who eats meat.

Well, they’re Elves who cut down trees and build barriers, so who would say anything if they eat meat?