Chapter 69

It took only a few minutes of heading toward the Elf village before the terrain became a problem.

“These tree roots are making it impossible to walk.”

The southern side of the Great Forest was a densely overgrown area, particularly thick with timber. Because there was absolutely no room for humans to venture in, the roots overlapped in tangled layers, creating a different kind of difficulty compared to rocky terrain. I hadn’t realized an untended forest could be this grueling.

“Lord Ryu, these trees are only this thick near the heart of the forest. The Elf village is located in the shallower, middle region. The path will become easier to navigate soon.”

That was welcome news. I was honestly starting to think walking on top of roots forever would be a nightmare. However, someone else was struggling far more than I was.

“You hear that, Ouka?”

“I heard! …Haa… haa…”

Since Ouka was still a child, she had to scramble over the roots as if she were rock climbing. It looked precarious, so I tried to help at first, but Tiamat stopped me, saying, “This, too, is part of her training.” Ouka had said she wanted to close the gap between our abilities, so she was working hard without a single complaint.

By the way, Ril handled the roots by lightly hopping over them, Karin flew between the branches, and Tiamat walked just as I did.

“Still, this is my first time coming to the southern side.”

“That is true for most people. High-ranking Spirits usually maintain a barrier around this area.”

Usually, a mist-like barrier covered this entire region to prevent anyone from approaching the center. It was as good as announcing that the Spirits lived nearby, but I suppose it was necessary for defense.

“Is it true that Spirits are actually born from nature?”

“So it seems. From what I have heard, they are born from the trees, water, wind, and the very earth itself. Though the person who told me didn’t seem to fully grasp the details either.”

Hmm. I didn’t get it either. I’m just a human who couldn’t even exist without two parents; I have no idea how these nature-ghost things work!

After walking a bit further, the forest finally opened up. This was likely the middle region, which meant the Elf village should be close. Thanks to the clearing, we could finally walk on actual ground. Ouka was out of breath, but she settled down after walking on flat land for a while.

“Tiamat. You said the Elf village was in the shallower part of the middle forest, right?”

“Yes. We are almost there, Ouka.”

“I understand.”

Tiamat showed concern for Ouka, who had used the most stamina. However, we aren’t the type of people who can finish a journey normally.

A Spirit with wings like a green butterfly appeared out of nowhere and began tugging on my sleeve. The sound of a dog barking in the distance turned out not to be my imagination. It seemed the Spirit had come personally to ask for help. That “dog” was likely a type of Spirit as well.

“Looks like a direct request for backup from a Spirit. I’m going.”

“What should we do?”

“Go on ahead to the Elf village. The opponents are humans, so I can handle it easily. Also, we don’t know if they’ve spotted the village, so stay on guard just in case. Well, I’m off.”

“”““Take care!”“““

Hearing everyone’s send-off, I took off running. I didn’t even need the Spirit to guide me to reach the destination.

Two men were there, cornering a dog that had a stone balanced on its head. I took off both their heads in an instant. Looking at the clothes of the two men who had died so effortlessly, I noticed they wore outfits embroidered with some kind of crest. I didn’t recognize the emblem yet, but thinking it might serve as a hint, I tore that section of the cloth off and tucked it away.

The Spirit interacted with the dog to calm it down. However, I could still hear more barking; they were likely being gathered in one spot. The sound of so many cries grated on my nerves.

When I moved further in, I found three horse-drawn carriages. Looking closely, it wasn’t just Spirits; Elven women and children were being crowded into one of the wagons. I used Magic Detection to scan the area—six guards and ten hunters.

I decided to leave the ones trapped in the wagons for later. First, I would hunt down all the hunters. Since they were moving in pairs, I simply repeated the process five times.

While I was killing them, I noticed they all wore the same crest. At worst, this could involve a criminal guild or some outrageous noble. If that was the case, no matter how much I protected them, it wouldn’t mean anything if I were alone. For now, I just had to save the people in front of me.

I quickly killed the six guards watching the carriages. I made sure to blow the corpses away so the children wouldn’t have to see them. I couldn’t exactly show something that gruesome to kids.

First, I smashed the lock on the cage holding the Elves. They looked terrified when they saw me, so I waited for them to come out on their own. In the meantime, I broke open the Spirits’ cages—or rather, they looked more like insect cages—and let them go.

The Spirits were a mixed bag; there were insect-like ones, beast-like ones, and even reptile-like ones. Of course, the beast-like Spirits had been kept in iron cages.

“There, go on. Get moving.”

As I spoke and released them, an Elven child looked up at me.

“I… will help too…” they said in a small voice.

I handed over a key I’d taken from a guard and said, “I’ll leave the other side to you.” Bowing repeatedly, the child began releasing Spirits from the other carriage.

Once all the Spirits were free, the one who had alerted me returned with the dog. The Spirit was flying around acrobatically in joy, and the dog was yapping happily.

“Well then, it’s okay for us to head to the Elf village, right?”

I asked the Spirit just in case, and they tugged my sleeve again, so I took that as a yes. Now, how was I going to explain all this to the Elf elder?