234

I walked along the path leading to the village, guided by a group of elves.

I tried searching for a presence behind me, but there was nothing.

Apparently, he had not approached as far as the river.

The major was probably waiting at a suitable distance for my signal.

From the materials I had found, I knew that the five senses of the Ultimate Lifeform were not very different from those of the Type Goliath it was based on.

On paper, the other side was supposed to be superior, but apparently making those senses too sharp might also create disadvantages. To summarize, I still clearly remembered that the content had been a rambling, excuse-filled mess along the lines of, “I-It’s not like we can’t make it any better than this! We only settled for this level to eliminate possible defects that might maybe exist!”

Leaving the contents of the materials aside, it seemed he did not possess hearing several times sharper than mine, so now that I had come this far, I could safely open my mouth.

“There is something I should say first.”

At those words, several of the elves walking ahead looked back at me.

Azure remained facing forward, but since none of them changed their walking speed, I assumed they had grasped the situation to some degree.

“My goal is to eliminate the other one… the black Argos.”

There was no reply.

Everyone continued walking through the forest in silence, and I could somehow tell that their vigilance toward the surroundings had grown much stricter.

As expected, they were probably wary of the major.

I had thought they would be able to detect an approach with magical sensors if someone came near the river, but from the look of things, perhaps they could not necessarily find him with certainty.

“What is your relationship with him?”

Azure, walking in front, asked without turning around.

“Unfortunately, I will limit those who are allowed to know that. I have my own circumstances.”

If it became common knowledge, it would place further disgrace upon the Empire.

That would be inconvenient for the Council-State.

They could not leave behind a seed of anxiety that might lead to the same situation as the Empire’s final days.

“Are you not hostile to each other?”

An elf whose name I did not know glared at me, but I brushed it off with a calm face.

“I am simply trying to eliminate him one-sidedly.”

“Why?”

“Because he is dangerous,” I answered immediately.

I did not lie, but I did not explain the details either.

I could see that they were irritated, but there was nothing I could do about this.

(There’s no point telling the rank and file, so it can’t be helped. Unless it’s an elf with the authority to move a spirit weapon user, even spending time talking would be a waste.)

If I spent too much time and passed the scheduled hour, the major would judge that I had failed and attack.

When I considered not only negotiations, but also the time needed to recover the spirit sword and search for a new wielder, there was no room to do anything useless.

For that reason, I hurried them a little, but that ended up giving them even more unnecessary distrust.

“I know it is difficult to ask you to trust me. That is why I will first tell you where a spirit sword is.”

“True. If the sword returns, some may trust you.”

Azure glanced at me and said that, but unfortunately, the sword I meant was not that one.

When I explained that, he gave an obvious sigh.

Incidentally, none of them knew that I had secured a spirit sword in Canaan.

Apparently, perhaps there were no elves who knew the details of that battle.

“The spirit sword I obtained in the Kingdom of Canaan is hidden near the underground facility I previously destroyed. If several people search for it, they should find it quickly.”

At my words, the group of elves nodded to one another, and three of them broke away and ran in the direction of the river.

Right after I prayed in my heart, “Please don’t let the major find you,” the presences of the three vanished with a flicker.

I could not help looking back, and Azure said one thing to me.

“It is difficult to accurately grasp our position in the forest. Moreover, they are Corner’s elites. They will not be found.”

Goodness, as expected of elves.

Since they had once driven the Empire into a corner, it seemed that when they were elites, even I could lose sight of them.

They were terrifying as enemies, but if they were allies, they were nothing but reliable.

Though I still did not know whether they would become my allies.

I had not the slightest confidence in my negotiation skills, but this was the great gamble of a lifetime, so I might as well win it splendidly.

“I am sorry. I do not have that authority.”

At the village’s outdoor assembly ground, after everyone unrelated had been cleared out, my first move was unexpectedly crushed, and I dropped my shoulders with my mouth hanging open in a daze.

After arriving at the village, the one I named as the person I wanted to negotiate with was Number Six, Rusheru Forshna.

What I sought was a spirit weapon user, and since Number Six held a high position in Forshna, one of the Three Great Clans that possessed the bow user, I had expected she would respond to my request.

But this was the result.

To hear my story, we waited for some important figures from several clans to arrive. Then, with everything in place, I bowed my head to Number Six and said, “In order to subjugate the black Argos, I want you to fight alongside me. I ask for the cooperation of your greatest fighting force, the spirit bow user,” only to be flatly refused, just like this.

“Ah… then whom should I ask?”

I glanced at the sturdy male elf from the same Forshna clan, or so he seemed, sitting firmly beside Number Six.

Perhaps he noticed my gaze, because the man beside her answered with his arms folded.

“No one. If it were an ordinary wielder, that would be one thing, but there is no one in this village who can give an opinion to the Spirit’s Chosen.”

Apparently, the Spirit’s Chosen was not merely someone who could use a spirit weapon well.

Since my source of information had been Klaze-kun, there seemed to be something only the upper ranks could know.

“Then I want to speak directly.”

“That is impossible.”

The one who said that was one of the three old men sitting together.

“To the Chosen, this matter is trivial. It is not a reason to move.”

“That is right, that is right,” the remaining two nodded as well, and the faces of those present clouded at those words.

Even without understanding what it meant, I could tell that the Spirit’s Chosen was not an existence they could simply rejoice over.

If I took those words as they were, it meant the Spirit’s Chosen would not get involved in this matter at all… but that also meant their greatest fighting force would not defend the village.

Could such a thing truly be possible?

And yet, from their reactions, it felt as though that was the truth.

Just as I was about to say, “Could that really be true?” an old woman stepped forward as if to stop me and asked a question.

“To begin with, what exactly are you?”

I had known I would be asked, and I had intended to answer.

But that was only if I could obtain cooperation from the person I wanted.

If we could bury the major, then it could be dismissed as, “Such a thing happened once.”

But what if we could not?

The village would perish, and the elves who escaped would think this:

If only the Empire had never existed, this would not have happened—and it went without saying where the direction of that hatred would turn.

That was why I answered with silence.

Because I did not answer anything, the old woman continued.

“From the information so far, there is no doubt you are connected to the Empire. I can also imagine how you crossed two hundred years of time. However. Unless we know what you are, there is no way we can fight alongside you.”

I had intended to tell them everything and stir up a sense of crisis in order to obtain cooperation.

However, what I needed was fighting strength at least equal to or greater than mine, not a crowd of nobodies.

There was no meaning if we could not win—and precisely because I had thought that, I ended up saying this.

“Before I answer that question, there is something I must ask. In this village, excluding the Spirit’s Chosen, does there exist a means that can kill me? And can that means kill me with room to spare?”

“I do not trust you enough to answer that.”

Yes, in the end, it came down to that.

The elf village had not been destroyed even by the early Chimera Project.

If there was fighting strength here that could fight the major, then I could think of nothing but a spirit weapon user.

What I had been counting on was a spirit weapon user, not the elves.

Realizing that only now, and moreover through my own question, made me hate my own stupidity.

(The elves did not trust me. I did not trust the elves’ strength.)

It was absolutely not a question one should ask a party from whom one was seeking cooperation.

I had failed.

I looked up at the sky and felt ashamed of my own blunder.

As long as I wanted to keep those in the know to the minimum and eliminate the impact on the Council-State, the negotiations would not come together.

Even if they did come together, there was no prospect of defeating the major. Rather, if the spirit weapon wielder did not participate, the possibility of defeat was far higher.

And if we lost, I could easily imagine that the risk would draw in the worst possible ending for me.

If I did not speak, things would not move forward.

But if I spoke, the future I feared most would become reality.

It would have been good if I could simply accept that the same was true even if I did not speak, but judging from the major’s personality, if he learned what was happening to his own body, there was also the possibility that he would take his own life before destroying the world.

Because I could no longer move forward, silence enveloped the assembly ground.

In the hushed assembly ground, I sensed several people heading toward us, so I turned my eyes in that direction.

The person who appeared there was someone I remembered seeing once before.

The elves around me also frowned at this intruder, and one among them—the muscular elf who had been beside Number Six—stood up and blocked their path without even trying to hide his displeasure.

“What have you come here for, Kashial?”

“The spirit sword once lost to us will return. In that case, as the representative of Zesat, it is only natural that I be here, is it not? Ah, the two behind me are guards.”

Kashial Zesat mocked the muscular elf in a belittling tone, as if to say that it was only natural with Argos present.

“We are discussing that Argos right now.”

“It is most likely a beast created by the Empire, yes? That is why I said it. The Empire should have been destroyed so thoroughly that not even its shape remained.”

Kashial came out picking a fight from the moment he appeared.

As expected, Zesat seemed to be a problematic clan.

The assembled people, with a few exceptions, were also making bitter faces.

“Now is not the time for such—”

“Be silent, little girl. This is no scene for you to push yourself into.”

Kashial cut off Number Six’s words.

“What matters now is how to deal with the black beast that seems to have been created by the Empire. If you can do nothing, then keep quiet.”

“Rusheru is recognized by me, and I have permitted her to be present here. Also, the one Argos named was Rusheru.”

“Hah, is your son’s scandal still dragging on? That must be hard for you, Tostalite.”

A situation like this was probably what people called explosive… but could they please bring the conversation back to me for a moment?

Overwhelmed by the atmosphere and flustered over what to do, I noticed at the edge of my vision that Number Six was clenching her fists tightly on her lap.

I did not know what had happened, and I had no intention of asking.

Even so, when I saw her like that, I found myself wanting to say a word.

“In other words, you are saying that you have a way to deal with the being who killed the Sword Saint and is now clearly a threat to the elves, Kashial Zesat?”

How exactly did he plan to challenge that major without a spirit weapon?

I would very much like him to teach me, I said with a smug look, though my facial muscles did not do their job.

“Of course.”

However, his answer was unexpectedly yes.

“In our long history, those called Sword Saints have been few. If it is an Imperial relic that could not be hunted down even with such power… then there is only one method we should take.”

Kashial looked around at everyone present and made a show of drawing it out, while I was on the verge of slamming the table and saying, “Hurry up and say it.”

If the premise was going to be overturned, then siding with Kashial was something I had to consider. Just then, the answer came from an unexpected place.

“The ‘taboo,’ yes?”

The one who said those words was one of the three old men who had been sitting together, the one who was awake.

Before I knew it, the other two were nodding off, but immediately after the old man said “taboo,” the faces of everyone around us changed all at once.

While even the guards widened their eyes, Kashial alone pulled up his cheeks and smiled.