Floor 31: Whale Hunting (2)

At the squad leader's command, the subjugation troops hastily set down their anti-elven rifles and scrambled into motion.

Incidents kept unfolding one after another, yet I had no opening to intervene—so it genuinely felt like I was watching from the sidelines as an uninvolved third party.

Even for a parachute-assigned subjugation commander… isn't this going too far?

I couldn't help but think so. Then, something flickered through my mind.

Could earning the trust of the subjugation troops also be part of the trial I'd been given?

The chain of events since I'd entered this floor all seemed to point that way. Demonstrate my power against the attacking elves and win their confidence.

No—wait. Maybe there are two options here.

If I could resolve the ambush peacefully, it might even open the door to dialogue with the elves.

Kill the elves, and I'd gain the troops' trust at the cost of any chance at negotiation ever again.

It seemed this one raid would determine which path split ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠open before me. I finished the calculations in a handful of seconds. Just then, the squad leader, still running, twisted his head back and shouted.

"Commander! Let's move!"

"Ah—right, of course."

For all my reputation as a figurehead, apparently he wasn't about to abandon me completely. Whether fighting elves or mediating between them, I still needed to get moving.

Without a backward glance, I pounded the earth and followed the squad leader's sprinting form.

"Left flank! Ten o'clock! Concentrated fire!" Gunfire followed the squad leader's bellow. An elf weaving between the trees to dodge the barrage came sharply into focus.

It was not what I had imagined.

Their ears were pointed, but there was nothing beautiful about them. And they were gaunt beyond anything I'd expected—less the paragons of beauty that fantasy stories promised, more walking skeletons draped in skin.

Tat-tat-tat-tang—!

The gunfire continued without pause, the rough cracks of the rifles echoing along the mountain range. It was loud enough to sting the ears.

The weapons differed somewhat from the guns I knew on Earth. Each shot carried the destructive power of a rocket-propelled grenade; in exchange, the muzzle velocity was a touch slower.

Small explosions bloomed in the wake of the gunfire. Boom-boom—! Thick-trunked trees took the hits and half-collapsed.

Yet even against these weapons, the elves slipped through the barrage with absurd ease.

Their speed bordered on superhuman territory. The elves who had been distant specks when I first arrived had already closed a good stretch of ground.

They carried no firearms of their own. Sprinting uphill, they loosed arrows in the gaps between each dodge.

But none of the arrows found their mark. Warning shots. Their goal wasn't to hit anyone—it was to close the distance.

They're clever.

I don't know whether the subjugation troops noticed, but the elves' movements were plain to my eyes. Around fifteen of them, exceptionally agile, were playing decoys. Moving as a swarm, they cut sharply this way and that—left, right, without a moment's rest—forcing the troops to spread their barrage thin. And through those gaps, the remaining elves individually crept closer.

Elves favor close-quarters weapons, and with agility like that, they'd actually make decent sparring partners, wouldn't they?

A slight, almost laughable cockiness welled up in me. Maybe it was because I hadn't met a proper combat opponent lately. My body itched for it. But I smothered the impulse.

As always, this was a moment of choice.

Any closer and it would come to melee. Realistically, this was my only chance to mediate the raid.

No casualties yet.

Since their initial appearance, the elves had focused entirely on closing the gap. Perhaps that tension was getting to him, because the squad leader roared himself hoarse.

"Focus and shoot, you bastards! If they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠close the gap any further, we're all dead! Squads five and six! Prepare to detonate the mines!"

"Preparing to detonate the mines!"

We were near the front lines. They'd laid mines and such in anticipation of an elven assault, it seemed. Given the order to prepare for detonation rather than to detonate outright, they were probably manually triggered rather than automatic.

The battle was tipping toward crisis, and my mind spun fast.

First, stop the fighting.

Sure, if I intervened now, the troops' morale and trust in me would crater. But I was, on paper, their commander—a single blunder wouldn't erase my relationship with them entirely. As long as an opportunity remained, I could buy back their faith with my strength anytime afterward.

If I fought the elves now, though, I might never even get the chance to talk.

Never do what cannot be undone.

I poured mana into my voice and roared.

"Hold fire! Hold fire!"

My shout drowned out the gunfire, echoing up the mountainside until it reached not only the subjugation troops but the elves as well.

The troops stared at me for a moment, baffled expressions on their faces. Still, they didn't stop firing entirely—the gunshots merely grew intermittent.

Scowling, the squad leader screamed at his men.

"Hey, you bastards! Who said slow down?! Keep shooting! Right side! One hundred twenty meters! Aimed fire!"

Tat-tat-tat-tang—

The savage gunfire continued as if I were invisible. The absurdity of it wrung a hollow laugh out of me.

Haha. Now I'm actually starting to get angry.

I inhaled roughly and roared.

"I said hold fire!"

The instant the words left my mouth, the world around me flashed blinding white.

Lightning split the clear sky. Thunder cracked, and a bolt of blue lightning slammed down onto my axe.

And then, no more gunfire rang out.

The troops stared at me with dazed faces—and the elves were no different. Frozen mid-movement, I could feel gazes peeking out from behind tree trunks.

One display of force. Now the situation was flowing around me, me at its center.

Residual sparks crackled along the axe's head. I called out to the squad leader in a low voice.

"Squad leader."

"…Y-yes, sir!"

He answered a beat late, his face slack with stupor.

"Didn't I order you to hold fire?"

"…That's correct, sir."

"Did my order strike you as funny?"

My eyes locked with the squad leader's. Confused pupils, wavering—he was the one who looked away first. He bowed his head low.

"I apologize."

"From this moment on, I will not tolerate unauthorized commands."

The words weren't meant for the squad leader alone. As I spoke, I swept my gaze across the troops arrayed behind him. Every one of them dropped their eyes before our gazes could meet.

I figured stopping the fight would earn me some scolding…

But before overwhelming force, nothing of the sort. An unexpected windfall.

With my declaration, silence settled over the slope. The troops kept their muzzles pointed forward, glancing my way for cues, while the elves did not move a muscle from their positions.

I spoke quietly, toward the bottom of the slope.

"Let's talk."

A long beat of silence. Then several elves stirred urgently between the trees. Whether they were conferring over the sudden development or not, I could make out hurried murmuring with my sharpened hearing.

I turned my eyes to the sky. The Sky Whale that had first appeared was already long gone; beyond the eastern horizon, its tail undulated softly, up and down.

Then, from somewhere in the distance, an elf shouted.

"Why would we suddenly 'talk' with you?!"

Both sides' ears were open to this conversation. I couldn't very well say I wanted to discuss a way to deliberately lure the whales elsewhere.

"I am the subjugation commander. I wish to speak with your leader, alone."

"We have nothing to say to despicable nature-destroyers!"

Despicable nature-destroyers. So this was what it meant when people said dialogue was impossible. Well, as subjugation commander, this misunderstanding was inevitable—and it wasn't as though I could deny it here, anyway.

"The Sky Whales are already gone. I want to speak with your commander to stop this needless fighting."

"Shut your mouth, you treacherous wretches! How many times have you stabbed us in the back like this? And you think we'd fall for it again?"

Ah. So that kind of thing has happened before.

Granted, from the developers' side, promising dialogue and then betraying people was common practice even on Earth. I glanced back at the subjugation troops. The longer this pointless exchange dragged on, the more questions crept onto their faces too.

I held you back because you're strong, but what exactly are you doing right now?

I could read it plain from the squad leader's face. Hmm, what should I do here?

As I deliberated, commotion rippled from across the slope, and a clear voice rang out.

"Very well. Let's talk."

The request of my savior—who had just rescued me from a psychological crisis—was simple. To guard against any betrayal from either side, both forces would withdraw a considerable distance. Only the two commanders would meet in the empty middle ground to talk.

It was exactly what I wanted, so I agreed with an inward smile.

Just as I ordered the troops back and started to walk, the squad leader spoke up cautiously.

"…Commander, please be careful. Those things might stab you in the back this time too."

"Heh. Well, sure, I'll watch myself."

A hollow laugh slipped out. Since when did you start caring about me? A moment ago I was invisible; now he was worried sick. Not that I minded—maybe he just didn't want to lose a powerful ally?

I turned on my heel.

The moment I began moving, an elf stepped out from the opposite side. A pale-skinned elf woman with long brown hair, a bow slung across her back and a longsword hanging at her left thigh.

In the space where our gazes brushed, I could see the elf taking me in as well. I found myself mildly curious what assessment she was forming behind those eyes.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I smiled, aiming for the friendliest expression I could manage.

"Thank you for opening this dialogue. I am Kwon Suhyeok, subjugation commander."

"I'm Roxanne."

As she answered, her gaze fixed itself on my left hand. What? I followed her eyes—nothing special there. Just my gauntlet, and the ring of Dawn Breeze worn atop it.

"As I thought—you have received the blessing of the wind. Far greater than any mere spirit…" Roxanne, mid-murmur, jolted violently. She sucked in a ragged breath, eyes going round.

"Good heavens—a god's blessing…"

She could tell the blessing rested on the ring just from looking at it? I was a little taken aback, but then again—elf was as elf did.

"Impossible. There are only two gods ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in this world. The god of wind… don't tell me—"

"Yes. It is the blessing of a god from another world."

Roxanne's mouth fell wide open. She opened it so far, in fact, that I found myself thinking she was quite the expressive one, even in this situation.

Soon enough, she flushed red—apparently she'd decided she'd made a spectacle of herself.

"I agreed to speak because I sensed the power of the wind in you at a glance. It seems I chose well."

"I should be the one thanking you."

Roxanne studied me with piercing intensity. What a relief, I thought. The atmosphere was better than I'd expected. So the power of the blue Dawn Breeze could work its magic even here. It made the conversation considerably easier.

"What exactly are you? How does someone blessed by a god of another world stand among the followers of the God of the Unceasing Furnace?"

"My apologies. That I can't tell you."

Explaining it all would have been an ordeal—and I had no desire to, anyway.

Roxanne wore the expression of someone with a mountain of questions. Naturally. Another world, another god. Even I would have been curious.

As if suppressing her curiosity, she bit her lip lightly. But then she gave a small, clean nod.

I wanted to steer our drifting conversation back on course.

"Let's return to the matter at hand. I only wished to tell you this: I have no intention of harming the Sky Whales."

"I see. Though for the subjugation commander to have no thought of harming the Sky Whales…" At the mention of the whales, Roxanne's eyes regained their composure.

"Honestly, I find it hard to believe. What is it you wish to say?"