Sisterly Reunion, Complete with Perpetrator and Victim
We made our way toward the Elf Village along the path through the forest. It wasn't paved or anything, but the undergrowth was neatly cleared, so it was easy enough to see where we were supposed to go.
"Hero, if the Holy Sword is too heavy for you, I would be happy to carry it."
"Ah, I'm fine, really."
I turned down Valeri's offer. Sure, the Holy Sword slung across my back was heavy, but with her armor, her sword, and her pack all weighing her down already, I couldn't bring myself to hand her my baggage on top of it all.
Though honestly, can this thing even be called a Holy Sword...? In the end, the Goddess's light landed somewhere it absolutely shouldn't have...
At my refusal, Valeri fidgeted awkwardly. She'd been shooting me hesitant glances all morning.
And the reason for that was probably...
"Hm hm hm~♪"
...this girl, glued to my side and humming since the crack of dawn.
Because of what happened last night, I'd had a hard time prying Fresia off me. Apparently, my shift in attitude had made things awkward for Valeri.
"Oh, that reminds me..."
I opened my mouth to break the tension.
"The Holy Sword still isn't finished, but when I actually swung it yesterday, something felt... off, didn't it?"
"Yes. 'Off' doesn't begin to cover it — I would call it magnificent. That tremendous slash of yours! Even my own master could never have managed it!"
Talking about the sword seemed to brighten Valeri right up again.
"The sword itself didn't change at all, but perhaps the power that was meant to dwell within the Holy Sword instead dwells within you, Hero."
A power dwelling within me, huh... Though the place it actually settled was...
"The place it actually settled was your DICK, though!"
I scowled at Fresia's bright and cheerful declaration.
"And whose fault is that...?!"
"A-ah..."
When I snapped at her with a glare, Fresia put a little distance between us.
"B-but I'm sure we can find a solution at the Elf Village! Right, Fresia?"
"Yeah! 'Course we will! Our Elf Village is full of amazing mages!"
Fresia pounced the instant Valeri tried to mediate. All I could manage in response was a thin sigh.
Even if there were a mage at the Elf Village who could fix this... how exactly was I supposed to explain it? Ah... wait, wouldn't the elves at the church have already reported it? The rumor might've spread already...!
As I spiraled deeper into sighs, a dull thundering sound reached my ears — like hoofbeats.
"Hero!" "Hero!"
At the two of them shouting, I looked ahead — a wild boar was charging straight toward us.
"WAAAGH!"
"Fresia!"
"Leave it to me!"
In an instant, Fresia wrapped her arms around my waist and leapt backward, while Valeri drew her sword, gripped it two-handed, and took her stance. The boar closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
[Spinning Slash]
Valeri leapt forward and tilted her body horizontal in midair. From that position, she swung her blade and spun through the air.
Squelch!
Skreeeee!
Valeri's sword carved clean through both of the boar's eyes, and the beast froze in place, letting out a shriek of agony. Valeri touched down as she watched it thrash about in a frenzy, then immediately took her stance once more. This time she extended the swordpoint forward and drew her arm back.
[Single-Point Thrust]
Valeri drove the blade precisely into the back of the boar's neck. At last, its cries fell silent and—
THUD!
—the massive body toppled onto its side.
"Nice one~!"
"That was amazing, Valeri!"
At our praise, Valeri scratched her head sheepishly, though she couldn't keep the grin off her face.
"Ahaha. Not at all! This much is just the basics, really, haha."
With an embarrassed smile, Valeri planted one foot on the boar's carcass and pulled her blade free from its neck.
"One of these is nothing—"
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!
The hoofbeats grew louder and more numerous, and Valeri cut off mid-sentence to look behind her. From the very same direction the first boar had come, three more were now charging toward us.
"Oh no!"
Valeri hastily took up her stance again.
"Wait, no! Valeri! Fresia, do you have any kind of weapon?!"
"Uh, um, let me see!"
Fresia frantically dug through her tool bag. Then she pulled something out.
"A wall-climbing piton."
"Don't need that!"
Fresia plunged her hand back into the bag and produced something else.
"A lockpick for opening doors."
"Why is it all thief gear?!"
"Because I was a thief!!"
"Fine, I guess it's up to me...!"
I reached for the sword on my back. And in that exact moment—
FWIP FWIP THUNK!
A storm of arrows came flying and struck the boars dead-on. The two in front, caught in a rain of arrows, folded at the forelegs and skidded forward through the dirt.
SCHLAK!
Still standing perfectly still, Valeri swept her blade across the throats of both skidding boars. Then she reversed her grip on the sword, slipped sideways around the last one limping up behind them, and drove the blade into its neck.
GWEEK!
With a short cry, the boar went still. Stunned by the scene, Fresia and I stood frozen, while Valeri — confirming that the boars had stopped moving — cautiously looked up.
The branches rustled roughly overhead, and moments later, several human figures appeared atop the thick boughs.
"Our apologies. It seems you were caught up in our hunt."
As the drifting leaves cleared, I could finally see them clearly — elves bearing bows and crossbows. A blonde elf with a deceptively youthful face picked up where the first had left off.
"You're...!"
"BIIG SIIIISTER~!!"
The moment Fresia's eyes met the elf's, she bolted forward, waving both arms in the air and bouncing up and down on the spot.
FWIP!
An arrow whistled past, stirring the hair beside Fresia's ear, and buried itself in the ground. All three of us turned to stone.
"Seize that imposter at once!!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
At the elf's command, the others leapt down from the trees in unison and began binding Fresia with rope.
"Wait! Guys! It's me, it's me! Fresia! I'm a princess too!"
The elves roughly wrestled down the flailing Fresia and trussed her up tight.
"W-wait a moment! Please stop!"
"That's right! Everyone, please calm down!"
Valeri and I tried to talk the elves down, but neither of us moved to physically stop them. Valeri seemed to be thinking exactly the same thing — because given the circumstances, we both understood perfectly well why Fresia was being tied up.
FWUMP!
With a soft landing, that blonde, fair-skinned elf dropped down among us. She stood about my height, and was clearly younger than either Valeri or Fresia.
"You would be the Hero and his companions? I am terribly sorry about those boars just now."
With those words, the elf bowed her head.
"Binding complete, Your Highness."
While we stood there dumbfounded, the elves finished hog-tying Fresia and dragged her before the princess.
"This is too muuuch, big siiister..."
"You?! You—WHAAAAT?!"
The face that had been so calm and solemn when she apologized to us a moment ago crumpled in an instant.
"Escort this imposter away! The rest of you, accompany me in receiving the Hero and his companions!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"I'm a princess toooooo~!"
Several elves hauled off the wailing Fresia and set out ahead of us. The remaining elves began busily collecting the boars.
Valeri and I stayed frozen. No — more precisely, we simply couldn't muster the courage to say anything. Because—
"I shall guide you to our home."
This elf bowing politely to us was Fresia's older sister.
Which meant she was the owner of—
—the very first pair of panties Fresia ever stole.
"I see. So you do hunt. I was under the impression elves didn't eat meat."
"How absurd. To love nature is to live as one with it. To follow the food chain is to be one with nature."
Under the guidance of the eldest elf princess, Histira, who treated us with such courtesy, we made our way toward the Elf Village. As we walked, she apologized for what had just happened and chatted about elven ways.
Then again, Fresia eats meat just fine. I'd always chalked it up to her being a total weirdo.
"To think that troublemaking little sister of mine was traveling with you. What a shock this has been."
The elves at the church had seen Fresia, hadn't they? Which would mean... the whole church incident never made it back to the princess?
"However did you end up tangled up with a girl like that, Hero?"
"Ah, that's... how do I put it... I'm the victim here."
"Pardon?"
At those words, Histira fell into a brief reverie — then her face crumpled all over again.
"Fresiaaa...! Honestly... I am so sorry. To think my sister put you through such indignity!"
"Ahaha... don't worry about it. There were, uh, worse things."
"Worse things?" "Worse things? What do you mean by that, Hero?"
Ah.
"Th-that's... nothing..."
"Hero! Something did happen, didn't it?! Please, I beg of you — tell me!"
Valeri started stamping her feet in agitation all over again.
"Nothing happened... don't worry about it..."
And here I'd worked so hard to bury it all in the back of my mind...
"Herooooo...!"
As Valeri all but wailed, and I desperately kept my mouth shut in front of her, Histira cleared her throat.
"Ahem. Everyone, welcome. I bid you welcome to the home of the elves — the Great Tree."
At her words, I looked up, and a breathtaking sight spread out before us. The forest, which until a moment ago had been packed tight with trees, opened up in an instant. It had no choice — trees so colossal they seemed to pierce the very sky towered all around us, trees that made everything we'd passed look like twigs. From the perspective of trees this enormous, I suppose the forest behind us might be the crowded part.
"This is basically..."
...an El—...?