Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Pebbles and Leaves (1)
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“……Pebble.”
The child finally responded. He seemed relieved to learn that Darion had pointed ears like his own, marking him as an elf. Of course, strictly speaking, they weren’t the “same” kind of elf…… But there was no need to get into those details with a kid.
He was probably too young to harbor any hostility toward elves. That was a good thing. I could communicate with him through Darion. Whew, this guy was turning out to be useful after all.
“Darion, ask him the questions I asked before.”
Darion nodded and turned back to the child.
“Where did you come from?”
“Here.”
“Are you from this village?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know what happened here?”
“I don’t remember.”
The young dark elf, Pebble, began to sniffle again.
“Ask where his parents are.”
“Where are your parents?”
“They left.”
“Where to?”
“I don’t know.”
In the end, Pebble burst into tears again.
“I was just hiding, Pebble. I hid in the haystack in the barn to surprise Mama and fell asleep. But then, when I woke up……”
“When you woke up?”
“No one was there……!”
Waaah! Pebble wailed loudly. It was heartbreaking to watch—even I felt sorry for him, seeing him sob like that. I relayed what Pebble had said to Lloyd and El. Lloyd’s expression remained grim.
“Don’t cry, Pebble. We’re not bad people. We might even be able to help you find your parents. If you help us, that is.”
I spoke to him in elvish. Pebble’s eyes widened in surprise at hearing the language from a human like me.
“Eat this apple first. You can’t think straight on an empty stomach.”
“That’s what my mama says……”
“You’ve got a good mom.”
Pebble, still sniffling, began crunching into the apple. Whew, he seemed calmer now. I cast [Breath of the Forest] again, wilting the vine barrier that had surrounded him.
“Lighten up. At least we’ve got a ‘lead’ now.”
“……”
“If you’re still worried, I’ll have Ayla keep watch.”
I whistled, summoning Ayla and ordering her to stay by Pebble’s side. She was a dark elf, sure, but just a child. It was practically impossible for a kid barely reaching my waist to overpower a massive shadow wolf like Ayla.
No matter how you sliced it, Pebble popping up like this in a village where everyone had vanished was a crucial clue. Not just for this village, but maybe even for the secret behind the previous burned one.
“From what Pebble said, there were no signs of the villagers fleeing.”
They’d been living their ordinary daily lives, same as always, and then poof—gone in an instant.
“This isn’t some bizarre TV surprise……”
To leave behind just one clueless kid and make an entire village disappear.
I’d already ruled out black magic. Any spell big enough to encompass the whole village wouldn’t have left Pebble behind. And there were other issues too. Moving every dark elf in the village would’ve required massive mana, yet there were no traces of it anywhere.
That left just one possibility.
“The dark elves left this village on their own.”
But what kind of parents would abandon a child this young and just leave?
The more I thought about it, the more lost I felt.
Back to square one. Guess I’d have to hunt for new clues in the next elf village.
“I can’t keep dragging this young dark elf around with me……”
It’d be safer to hand him off to the next village. We’d have to set out again at first light……
“Everyone, head in and get some rest. I’ll watch Pebble.”
I sent the others off to bed and sat by the campfire with Ayla and Pebble. When he seemed hungry, I warmed up the leftover stew and bread for him, then sank into thought.
“What if the next village is the same?”
I hated to imagine it, but it was possible. This was already the second village like this. No guarantee the third would be fine. Or the fourth, fifth……
“What if all the dark elves are gone……?”
But why? And how?
My hair felt like it was going to fall out from frustration. Pebble paused his frantic stew-eating to stare at me curiously.
“……Just eat your food.”
In the end, dawn broke. Another day gone without answers.
Lloyd rode his horse as usual, El drove the carriage, and Darion, Pebble, and I climbed aboard. We hurried toward the third village, just like the day before. Hoping this time we’d find a proper dark elf village.
Of course, it was all in vain.
“Grrrk, grr, grrrrk!!”
“Gaaahhh!!!!”
This time, zombies appeared before we even reached the entrance. The only unusual thing was that they were “dark elf zombies.” Wait, dark elves as zombies? Shouldn’t they be too strong to fall to that?!
Well, you couldn’t exactly argue with zombies. I handed Pebble to Darion and climbed onto the carriage roof, grabbing my bow and arrows. I nocked an arrow made from silverwood—the same kind I’d used in the cursed lands—and drew back the string. The taut sensation sent a thrill through me.
“Swoooosh!!!!”
“Thud!”
“Keeek……!!”
The arrow flew like the wind, piercing a dark elf zombie’s skull. While Lloyd and El hacked away at the ones up front, I picked off the zombies charging from afar, shattering their heads one by one.
“Thud!”
“Thwack!”
“Thump!”
The holes in the zombies’ skulls from the silverwood arrows blackened and burned. Infused with purifying power and my renewed mana, they packed a serious punch. What used to be arrow-sized holes were now walnut-thick. Seeing zombies that kept crawling even after being sliced up drop dead from a single purifying shot made my improved skills feel real.
Ayla barked and herded the zombies to give me clear shots—woof woof for two over there, woof woof woof for three that way. With Lloyd and El holding the front safely, and Ayla and me relentlessly blasting zombie heads, the fight ended quickly.
I hopped down from the carriage roof and knocked on the window. Darion poked out his pale face.
“I-is it over?”
“Yeah. Stay put with Pebble until cleanup’s done.”
“Y-yes……!”
El, Lloyd, and I gathered the zombie corpses and set them ablaze. I wanted to bury them properly, but that was insane with undead. Cremation it was.
“Damn it, what the hell is going on……”
I spat a curse and slumped to the ground. The unexpected battle had drained me. El flopped down beside me and sprawled out. I tossed her a stamina potion and checked on Lloyd. He was wiping down his sword, not a hint of fatigue.
“Monstrous stamina.”
I chugged my own stamina potion. Felt like drinking red ginseng extract.
Come to think of it, ever since my mana’s nature changed, I tired out faster. Sure, it was way more effective against undead…… But if this kept up, it’d be a problem. Was this just the adjustment period?
“I need to pray and meditate consistently.”
As the potion kicked in, I stood and headed back to the carriage to check on Darion and Pebble.
“Creeeak.”
“Darion.”
I called his name as I opened the door, but something felt off. The curtains blocked the sunlight, making it dark inside. What? Had he drawn them so Pebble wouldn’t see anything gruesome? Darion wasn’t that thoughtful. Puzzled, I stepped in.
“……!”
Darion was gone.
* * *
“Darion!”
“Darion Silvanus!”
“Mr. Silvanus!”
We dropped everything and started searching for Darion. I couldn’t fathom how he’d vanished from inside the carriage. He’d stuck with us all the way to the third village—no way he’d decide to head back now. And his horse was still there. A highborn noble like Darion walking all the way to the capital? Unthinkable.
Which left……
I glanced at Pebble, collapsed inside the carriage.
Right. Only Pebble and Darion had been in there. When I opened the door, Darion was nowhere, and Pebble was on the floor, out cold.
Had he seen something?
Or……
Had he made Darion disappear?
Suspecting a child didn’t sit right. But……
Pebble was the one left behind in a village where all the dark elves had vanished.
We’d scoured the place and missed him. Even Lloyd on watch hadn’t sensed him.
That alone was suspicious enough. And now Darion, who’d been with Pebble, gone without a trace?
“……”
At this point, not suspecting Pebble would be weirder.
I stopped calling Darion’s name into the forest and approached the carriage, looking down at the unconscious Pebble. His face was drained of color, eyes closed.
“Pebble.”
I’d already used Recovery, but he wouldn’t wake. That was odd.
“Wake up, Pebble.”
“……”
“I need your help.”
Whispering softly, I placed a hand on his forehead. He twitched slightly. He must’ve felt my mana. More convinced, I pressed on.
“……You know where Darion is, don’t you?”
Pebble’s eyelashes fluttered. So, he wasn’t really out. Carefully, I dropped a vine seed on the carriage floor and shook his shoulder, pretending ignorance.
“If you don’t get up right now……”
“……”
“You’ll never see your family again.”
“……”
“Because……”
“……”
“……I’ll make sure of it.”