Judging by how the dwarves had nearly panicked and instantly tightened their village's defenses when I visited by Teleport, I suspected the elves' response to an intruder wouldn't be much different. So I decided to walk to the elf village nearest my lair. That village was nearly 5 times farther from my lair than Palten's village was. The reason the elves lived so much farther from my lair than the dwarves probably lay in the differences between their way of life and the place I lived.
Dwarves were a race that lived with ore and stone. Even with the danger of a dragon near the mountains, they couldn't abandon their metals and jewels, so they clustered together near mountain ridges rich in good veins of ore, near the ‘jackpot,’ so to speak. Elves, on the other hand, were guardians of the forest and friends of the trees, a race that lived among forests, trees, flowers, and water. Since they served as the forest's caretakers, they lived scattered apart rather than bunched together.
They also devoted their attention to managing, preserving, and protecting the forest. And my lair was directly above an extinct volcano—Gnome told me yesterday. An extinct volcano. No wonder there was hot spring water.—In other words, volcanic activity had left it in a desolate granite region, sharp as spears, without a single leaf on a tree. Naturally, the dwarf villages were close and the elf villages far away.
I tied back my long red hair, which reached the middle of my back, and headed slowly toward the elf village in black trousers, a white shirt, and a black leather jacket. By ‘slowly,’ I meant flying between the trees with magic, so it was certainly faster than walking or running.
Hmm, if I just march boldly through the entrance, won't arrows come flying at me the moment I arrive? They said every elf was a crack shot. Oh, forget it! When have I ever been a fellow who thinks things through before acting? Besides, I'm hardly going to die from a few arrows like that. Just go, go!
I'd been flying like that for quite a while. I'd magically marked the dwarf and elf villages on my map, so at least I didn't need to worry about getting lost. I flew along looking at it, without the bother of stopping to check the way or climbing above the trees to check my position. Hmm, I've used flying magic more than once or twice, but it gives me a thrill every time?
The elf village marked on my map was smaller than my lair. Without the arrow and lettering pointing to that tiny, tiny dot, like a fragment of a crushed sesame seed, I'd probably have had to stop and stare at the map through a magnifying glass for ages.
As I mentioned before, the map displayed the limits of my visual range. My position and the elf village were less than 5 centimeters apart on the map, but that distance just wouldn't shrink.
Aaaaargh! This is infuriating! Should I just Teleport?
Just as my temper was getting the better of me and I was seriously considering Teleport, my ears picked up some creature's voice.
“Waaaaaah! Waaaaaah! Hic! Mommyyy!”
A lost child, all the way out here? I nearly lost my balance in midair for a moment, but grabbed a nearby tree and managed to steady myself. Unless my ears were deceiving me, that was definitely a lost little child crying for its mother. Yes, a little child. Normally, meaning before my reincarnation, it wouldn't have been particularly strange, but this was the forest within my territory. The dreaded forest said to rival an empire in size. Finding a child crying after getting lost in it was strange indeed, so I changed direction and flew toward the voice.
“Mommyyy...... Aah!”
Before long, I encountered the owner of that voice. Just as its owner was about to howl ‘Mommyyy!’ again at full volume, my sudden appearance apparently caused a startled, peculiar finish to the refrain. Hmm, just as I thought! The voice belonged to a child.
A lost child.
A lost ‘elf’ child.
An elf child made sense. That explained being in this forest, but how had this ‘child’ ended up so far from the village? Whatever the reason, I decided to calm the startled child down.
“There, there, what's wrong? Why are you crying like that?”
“Hic...... Hic! I, I'm lost. I want to go home, go hooome! Waaaaah!”
Urgh! Admiring the child's simple, clear statement of intent, I scratched my head as I looked at the crying child. I guessed, no, I was certain, that this child had left the nearest village, the very one I was heading toward, and gotten lost.
Still, this elf child had wandered out of the village without a care and somehow survived all the way here? When I told the monster villages to leave the elf and dwarf villages alone, did they withdraw of their own accord?
It was autumn now, so most insect monsters would be prowling around with fire in their eyes, ready even to slaughter their own kind to build up nutrients before hibernation. Quite a feat, making it all the way here alive.
I set those thoughts aside and decided to do something about this bundle of tears first.
“All right, all right, where's your home? Hmm? Tell me. Where's your home?”
“Over theeere...... That way.”
The direction the child pointed matched the elf village I was heading for. So there was at least a sense of direction. Why hadn't the child gone that way? Ah...... This was a child. A child couldn't be expected to make such a rational judgment. Holding the still-sniffling child, I changed my original plan to fly. For this child's sake, I should Teleport? Coordinates set, mana flow located! Now! Move!
“Teleport!”
“Wow, this really is lovely?”
“......An intruder!”
“An intruder! What were the guards doing?!”
I scratched my head with an embarrassed look. Why did elves and dwarves react exactly alike? I'd settled the child in my arms and used Teleport to move in one go to a spot that looked just right for the elf village's central square.
I hadn't deliberately aimed for the central square. I'd simply Teleported to the middle of the village and ended up there.
In an instant, elves surrounded me, leveling bows and swords in a state of extreme vigilance. Like the dwarves, their expressions mixed open contempt, surprise, and a little fear toward this brazen intruder who'd broken through their defenses and appeared in one leap.
In an atmosphere where, if their stares took physical form, I'd have been stabbed to death in an instant, I sighed and spoke.
“Would you call your chief for me?”
“Who are you?! Who are you to ask for the chief?! And that child......!”
The one who answered was a female elf warrior with quite a solid stance. From her sword grip and several other angles, it was an excellent warrior's ready stance. One that made her intentions all too obvious, too. Her expression was wary and angry, but being an elf, she was beautiful all the same. Haa...... Is there another race like this under the sky? I spoke to her.
“My name's Rainisis. This child was lost, so I brought the child back. Now, would you call your chief for me?”
“How did you get in here?”
That rigid insistence on answering a question with a question. Can't you tell by looking? Magic. I widened my smile and spoke.
“I came in by magic. Now, would you call your chief for me?”
“What's your purpose?!”
I felt this question-and-answer session wearing my patience out. For an instant, I felt a powerful urge to smash this entire place to pieces and had to pull myself together.
Ahh...... Whatever I do, I suppose I'm a Red Dragon through and through. To think something so trivial could exhaust my patience and gradually fill me with the desire to destroy everything.
I put a hand on my chest and took a deep breath. Calm down, calm down. Even if she's arrogant and ill-mannered, she's a beauty, isn't she? If I lose my temper once, this place will vanish without a trace.
Calm down, Rainisis!
With one vein bulging on my forehead above my beaming smile, I spoke.
“I've got something to discuss with your chief. Would you call your chief for me?”
“Get out! This isn't a place for some human to come and cause trouble! Put that child down and get out!”
That thoroughly ill-mannered, uncultured, insolent way of speaking, without the tiniest speck of courtesy. Ahh, is she really an elf? I heard elves were polite?
Even if I'd appeared in human form and was keeping my aura concealed, leaving them unable to know or even guess my identity, wasn't this going too far?
I realized I'd reached the limit of my patience. I can't put up with something more than 3 times! No, I won't! If they won't show courtesy, I don't need to show any either?
“Do I look human to you?”
“Wha......at?”
Well, well? So you're going to talk down to me right to the end? I frowned slightly and unleashed my Fear. I spread it within a small, limited area.
Before that, of course, I cast a spell to protect this innocent child from fear.
As the Fear carrying my power spread, I saw the elves' already pale faces bleach as white as paper. Wearing expressions of ‘Urgh!’ as though their chests had suffered a tremendous blow, they slowly lowered their weapon-bearing hands. The female elf who'd given me such a hard time was especially pale, looking as though she resented herself for remaining upright instead of fainting.
I thought it would be better to fill them with a little more terror. That way, they wouldn't treat me as a pushover later. I put my aura into my Fear and unleashed it once more as I spoke.
“When I approached you politely, you should've responded in kind. You start swearing and throw me out without a thought? Do you think that's how elves should behave? Besides, I was taking my time coming here, but this child was lost, so I came in one leap to get here a little sooner. Are you testing my patience over that? Why do you think I bothered coming all the way here when I could crush a village like this? Are you hoping I'll personally taste how tender elf meat is?!”
WHOOOOSH—!
A wind carrying searing warmth spread in all directions, whipping the elves' hair and clothes about. Their morale had been ebbing, and at that instant they all dropped their weapons and prostrated themselves on the ground. I swept them with a cold look, then pointed to the female elf with whom I'd had that non-conversation.
“You! Get up!”
“Y-yes!”
With an expression that seemed to say ‘I'm dead now,’ she somehow moved her trembling legs and stood. But unlike her earlier bold glare, she bowed her head low and lowered her eyes to avoid my gaze completely.
I swept back the hair that had slipped slightly forward, tidied it, and spoke.
“I'll give you a chance to make up for your earlier mistake. Go get the chief.”
“I-if you're going to kill me, please take only my life. My father's done nothing......”
What nonsense is this? So that bitch was the chief's daughter? No wonder she'd acted so full of authority.
Was she throwing her weight around just because she was the daughter of a chief, who to elves was nothing more or less than their representative? Looking at this elf overflowing with filial devotion, spouting nonsense and repeating ‘If you're going to kill someone, just me......,’ I bared my teeth and spoke.
“What's all this back talk?! When I tell you to fetch him, fetch him! Surely you know who I am!”
“Y-yes!”
Giving the same answer as before, she hurried away at a run. Oh dear, careful, you'll fall. If you'd gone when I first asked, I wouldn't have had to raise my voice, and wouldn't that have been better for you too? Why go out of your way to give elves a bad image? Had something happened here too? Suddenly curious about what had happened, I singled out the elf nearest me. The one I pointed to was a male elf with a magnificent mane of blond hair. Hmm, male or female, every elf is beautiful?
“Hey, you with the blond hair!”
“Yes? Do you mean me?”
He raised his head and asked me, his expression plainly showing his fear. I really disliked such a cringing, spineless look, so I let my eyes drift around as I spoke.—In truth, the instinctive terror caused by Fear would keep him from acting boldly even if he wanted to.
“Yes, you. Why are you so oversensitive, here and among the dwarves too? Do slave hunters come in here regularly or something?”
“Yeees...... They do. Just recently, humans came in and the children!”
He clenched his fists and began to grow angry, then realized I was standing before him and quickly stopped. Even so, his anger was perfectly clear, and I sighed.
So they too were victims trapped in a sense of persecution after suffering serious harm at human hands. But what explained that rude attitude?
I sighed. Well, I'll find out when I speak to the chief. The rest haven't done anything wrong, so I should send them off. I stopped releasing Fear and spoke.
“Everyone, get up. Go back to whatever you were doing.”
The elves slowly rose and dispersed, watching me warily.