23

A small cave on the cliff.

Its surroundings were concealed with felled trees, so from a distance no one would realize there was a cave here.

I had already been living here as a base for sixteen days, supplementing what I lacked by making things, and life was reasonably comfortable.

Emeriēdo?

The frontline city?

Yeah, that existed.

But now, I no longer cared.

To put it bluntly, they had abandoned science.

Seriously, the idea of civilization regressing was absurd.

I had been so wary of cannons and guns that I felt like a complete fool.

They did have ballistae installed.

They were the exact same ones I remembered, still in service.

Monsters might evolve, but aside from special cases, they basically didn’t progress.

So it wasn’t unreasonable that equipment remained the same to deal with them—but shouldn’t they at least have developed new weapons and technologies to minimize casualties?

Well, maybe they had tried and simply failed, so it might be harsh to judge them—but honestly, I was disappointed.

And though I wasn’t entirely certain, I doubted the Kingdom of Canaan had any means to stop me.

If I seriously invaded, I was confident I could reach their capital with ease—that was how little I rated Canaan’s current strength.

To be frank, I had once held some expectations for the Kingdom of Canaan.

Among the nations bordering the Empire, they had been the only ones to use science, and their technology had not been poor.

It was only that the Empire had been overwhelmingly advanced; Canaan itself had not been a backward civilization.

That was why I had been wary, thinking they might have greatly advanced their technology by reverse-engineering things they found in the old Imperial territory.

I had restricted my actions accordingly.

But now, I could say there was no need to restrain myself against Canaan.

Not because I was disappointed, but because objectively they posed too little threat.

True, their relations with Seizeria had improved, which gave me a little concern, but I doubted mere reliance on magic over science could resolve territorial disputes between nations.

Their magical technology had surely advanced—after all, they were flying airships.

It was possible they were using relics or old tech, but since other nations also made them without success, it wasn’t impressive.

I had seen a battle at Emeriēdo against monsters—the number of magicians was clearly higher, confirming this.

The problem was quality.

Even from afar I could see their poor form—every one of them just stood in place chanting.

Even with my ignorance of magic, it made me sigh.

So magicians had become substitutes for artillery—that was Canaan’s current strategy.

If it were me, I would ignore the vanguard and charge straight for them.

There were many things I could say, but perhaps the fairest interpretation was this: by once balancing both science and magic, and then discarding one, they had exposed the immaturity of their system and slowed their development.

In the cities, in the caravans, I saw no trace of “science” anywhere.

It hadn’t vanished completely, but I no longer cared.

I no longer had expectations for this country.

So I went to the Republic.

And what awaited me there was devotion to “nature worship” beyond anything I had heard.

At first I raged—“The Empire lost to these people!?”—but once I saw the elves fight, I understood.

I wanted to shout, “What kind of absurd race is this!?”

It was the kind of unfairness that would make you slam the arcade cabinet if it were a game.

Normally, magic required chanting, making it slow to activate.

That was the risk, and its destructive power rivaling Imperial weapons was why other nations had managed to fight on even terms.

But the elves cast magic without chanting.

And not only was it stronger than human magic, it had no visible limit to how many times they could use it.

Even I understood immediately.

“Oh, these guys are dangerous.”

That was why I was now hiding atop a cliff near what seemed to be the Republic’s border river.

I had crossed the river a few times to investigate, but their security net was tight, making it hard to go deeper.

Still, I had discovered several settlements—some small, some the size of towns.

After ten days of observing elven activity, I confirmed the safety of my current base.

To be specific—the elves never crossed the river. In other words, this river was almost certainly the border as they recognized it.

As long as they didn’t expand east, they would never come to this concealed hideout.

The only real problem was that when using fire, I had to be careful about time and place.

But honestly, that was my only real complaint.

Because here, I had entertainment.

As the time came, I lay prone at my observation point and stared toward the river.

Before long, elven children came running to it.

They were followed by about ten more kids, ages eight to twelve, then a little later, an adult elf arrived.

They came every day at the same time—probably for swimming lessons.

There were four boys and six girls, and the adult was a female elf.

Sometimes there was another adult, and on those days they seemed to have classroom lessons too.

After the adult said something, the children raised their hands cheerfully and began undressing.

One by one, they entered the river, showing no concern for my presence.

There were boys too, so they didn’t matter.

The main attraction was the adult elf.

She looked like a beautiful blonde in her early twenties, with long straight hair.

When she undressed, her large chest swayed under a white slip.

I called her “Number 6,” and since she came every day at this time, I always waited here for her.

Both children and adults wore thin white slips into the river, and of course when wet, they became transparent.

The thin fabric clung to the skin, leaving nothing hidden.

Sometimes the boys would mischievously grab her clothing from behind and lift it.

The way her breasts bounced free made even a monster like me satisfied.

“Good job, boys—keep it up!” I cheered silently.

At this distance, my farsight ability was more than enough, but I still wanted to see closer.

Wishing with desperate fervor, I pushed my farsight to its limits—and my ability evolved.

Basically, by straining myself just to see breasts up close, I succeeded.

The power of lust was amazing.

As for Number 6, perhaps because she was gentle, she often fell victim to the boys’ pranks.

In fact, it was clear the boys looked at her that way and constantly watched for chances.

So for about an hour, I enjoyed the view as if watching a TV show, occasionally cheering in my head.

Afterward, I went hunting, had breakfast, then lightly patrolled the area.

There was actually a goblin nest not far from this river.

Naturally I exterminated it, but since there could be others, I kept sniffing around the area at this time to check the ecosystem.

By noon I returned to my base and again lay prone at my post.

This time I was lucky—just as I arrived, the elves reached the river.

(One, two, two again, three… and four.)

Five elven girls undressed and entered the river, splashing each other playfully.

They looked about fourteen to eighteen—beautiful girls bathing naked. This was, in fact, the “women’s bathing spot.”

There was a men’s spot elsewhere, but here I could watch elven girls bathing at set times—that was the best thing about this hideout.

In the late afternoon, adult women came as well.

Sometimes Number 6 was among them, so I couldn’t miss it.

The way they stripped naturally, blending into nature, seemed to embody “nature worship” itself.

By thoroughly exploring the river, I had found five bathing sites and created three peeping spots.

Since the times of use varied slightly by location, there were up to seven peeping opportunities in a day.

Unfortunately, some overlapped, so I couldn’t see them all.

And of the five bathing sites, two were men’s—I wasted a lot of time before realizing that.

But through my peeping, I learned not only about elven breast sizes but also roughly the population of nearby settlements.

I estimated about two hundred elves lived here, not counting those in towns.

So I continued my observation from this base, gathering intel on elves.

Ah, time for the second spot.

I wanted to keep watching here, but today the trio of “Number 5s” should be there, so to confirm their alternate-day routine, I had to go.

Even as a former Imperial soldier—even as just a recruit—I would fulfill my duty by thoroughly observing the elves, the greatest threat.