Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Pebbles and Leaves (4)
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"Hey!"
I shouted toward the small shadow beyond the bushes. But the shadow vanished in an instant. It was almost like teleportation.
-Sniff! Sniff sniff!
Ayla rummaged through the bushes, sniffing around. I searched with her for the source of that strange noise, but we found nothing. It didn't seem like a monster, so who the hell was it?
With a nagging feeling, I couldn't bring myself to head back to the village right away and kept searching the area for a while. Before I knew it, the sun was starting to set. Night falls incredibly quickly in the Dark Forest. I grabbed the alcohol and hurried back to the village before it got completely dark.
'Who could it have been?'
It was a very small shadow. Like a child's...
'Could it be Pebble?'
The Dark Elf kid who had disappeared with Darion from the previous village. Had that one followed me all the way here?
"......"
To sort out my thoughts before bed, I soaked in hot water for a bath. With fragrant herbs floating around and Pippi with me, the fatigue of the past few days seemed to melt away.
My body felt much lighter, and my mind seemed to work better too. I leaned back against the wooden tub, staring at the ceiling as I pondered.
"...I wonder if the village chief knows something."
Even if he does, would he tell me straight?
Relations between Elves and Dark Elves were bad, but under the name Lüset, they lived together as kin and comrades. So it wasn't uncommon for Dark Elves to step up if something happened to Lüset...
'So, if he just came clean about something happening to the queen and asked for help...'
Wouldn't the chief cooperate?
It might be the easiest and quickest path.
'But for some reason, it just doesn't sit right with me.'
I recalled the village chief's face from earlier that day. That expression, cold as if he had no emotions at all.
The village had prospered since the queen fell asleep a year ago. And while all the other villages had mysteriously been wiped out, this one was fine...
Once I started suspecting, every little thing seemed suspicious.
"...Well, tomorrow I'll bring some alcohol and talk to him."
I muttered quietly to reassure myself.
-Peep?
Pippi tilted its head curiously.
"You should come with me too."
-Peep?
"Whenever something happens, you always protect me."
I stroked its tiny head. Pippi flapped its wings vigorously, as if promising to guard me.
"Good. Then I'll count on you tomorrow too."
-Peep!!!
* * *
The next day.
Luisa came by first thing in the morning. I went for a walk around the village with her. It was a good opportunity, so I asked her,
"Luisa, I was picking fruit around the village to try making that alcohol you mentioned."
"Oh! Great idea. Make sure to give me a bottle as a gift. You only got into our village thanks to me, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. We'll talk about that later. Listen. In your village, they don't let kids outside the fence, right?"
"Of course. Only Elves who have undergone their coming-of-age ceremony can go beyond the fence."
"But someone was watching me. A very small shadow. It wasn't a monster. It ran away instead of attacking. And as you know, the monsters around here never run away."
"......"
"If no kids in the village can wander outside, then what I saw was..."
"...Not a owl fledgling, was it?"
"If it was, Ayla would've smelled it right away."
"Hmm..."
Luisa stroked her chin for a long time before shrugging.
"In the Dark Forest, anything can happen."
That's it? I glared at Luisa, but she seemed to have nothing more to say.
Well, nothing I can do about it. For now, maybe bring up the village chief.
When I said I wanted to bring the chief some alcohol as a thank-you, Luisa was thrilled. As if she were the one receiving the gift. She really likes the chief that much?
'Maybe I really am suspecting a perfectly peaceful village?'
The thought crossed my mind...
'Whatever it is, I should check it out first.'
I headed to the chief's house with Luisa. Unlike yesterday, two Dark Elves stood guard at the door. Once we passed them, I saw the chief meditating inside.
"Good morning."
The chief just nodded. I placed the mountain strawberry wine, cherry wine, and wild peach wine I'd made myself in front of him one by one.
"I wanted to repay you for letting me stay here, so I prepared these."
"Chief, you can look forward to it? This guy's alcohol is really good."
The chief slowly opened his eyes. His mysterious purple eyes looked at me for a moment. After confirming the three bottles in front of him, he said to Luisa,
"Luisa, take this alcohol to the village tavern."
"Got it!"
Luisa bounced out happily with the alcohol, leaving just the chief and me in the house.
-Gulp.
The heavy atmosphere made me swallow dryly without realizing it. He was just a kid, but why did it feel like I was facing a five-thousand-year-old spirit? A chill ran down my spine.
He definitely wasn't ordinary.
"You have something to say?"
The chief spoke to me first. So he had noticed. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and faced him confidently.
"...Do you know that the other Elf villages have been wiped out?"
"I know."
The chief answered so straightforwardly it was anticlimactic.
He knows?
His response left my mind blank, and I could only stare at him. The chief, looking at me with his icy purple eyes, gripped his staff beside him and stood up. He began walking slowly around the room.
"Six villages, all gone."
"......"
"So what?"
"......Dark Elf villages just like this one vanished without a trace. And you're saying it doesn't concern you?"
"......"
"You might think it's presumptuous coming from a human like me... but this doesn't seem normal."
At my words, the chief let out a "Ha!" of laughter. That small laugh grew into a bigger one, until he was laughing so hard he was coughing.
"That's why I want to know the reason..."
"......"
"Did the queen send you here?"
"...!"
I flinched, and the chief thrust his staff toward my throat. It was just a blunt-tipped staff, but the killing intent radiating from it was unreal. I held my breath, unable to speak.
"Answer me, servant of the queen."
"...I'm not the queen's servant."
"But she reeks from you."
"......"
"Answer honestly."
The tip of the staff poked my throat. I glared at him and opened my mouth.
"I came here because I wanted to know about 'Grisel.' I planned to visit every Dark Elf village. But from the first to the sixth, they were all 'wiped out.'"
"......"
"Except for this one."
"Ah."
The chief smiled faintly. For the first time, he gave off the air of someone his age.
"'Grisel' means 'pebble.'"
"I already know tha..."
"And it's also my name."
His smile deepened.
"Dianta made a mistake. Sending a mere human."
"...!"
As I belatedly tried to jump up from my seat.
-Bam!
The bastard swung his staff full-force at my head. A pro swing that would put athletes to shame.
I collapsed on the spot.
* * *
-Peck, peck, peck!
"Ah, ow ow..."
-Peep! Pippi peep!
The sharp sensation of a beak pecking my forehead, and the familiar chirps ringing in my ears. Thanks to that, I managed to lift my heavy eyelids.
-Pipipi? Peep!!
Our eyes met, and Pippi started slapping my face wildly with its wings. Ebebeb, ptui ptui!
"What're you doing?"
I pushed Pippi away and recalled what happened, touching the lump on my head. It was pretty big. Ah, no concussion, right?!
My head still throbbed, and I tried to use a healing skill in a hurry, but nothing happened. Damn, what's going on? Looking around, I spotted the bars in front of me and realized.
The thick iron bars were engraved with black magic that looked like what Dark Elves used. Probably a spell to suppress prisoners from freely manipulating mana.
Sure enough, when I tried to use a skill, the mana circulating in my dantian just scattered. Damn it, looks like I'll have to keep this lump.
-Piii!
Then Pippi flew up to the crown of my head and spread its wings over the lump. A warm energy spread, and the lump slowly subsided. I don't know how, but it felt much better. I stroked Pippi's head.
"Thanks, Pippi. You helped me out again."
With my head no longer throbbing and back to normal, I surveyed the surroundings with a clearer mind. Underground? It was dark, and I could hear water droplets falling from far away. The echo suggested this space was quite large.
'I never knew a place like this existed.'
What did they plan to lock up in such a massive prison? Even if they imprisoned every Dark Elf in the village, they wouldn't fill it.
-Sob, sob, hic...
-Mommy, Daddy...
-Honey, are you here? Honey...!
-Cough! Cough! Cough!
Then, as if to answer my questions, various sounds started coming from around me. Probably thanks to Pippi's healing, my head cleared up enough to hear them.
Most of the sounds were sobs.
And there were countless sobbing people.
There was no way all these were from the seventh village.
Which meant.
'The Dark Elves from the previous villages are imprisoned here.'
Excluding the first village where I found burned corpses and the third where I encountered zombified Dark Elves, it made sense if the rest were locked up here.
"......"
But why?
What the hell are they planning?
An inexplicable chill crawled up my spine.
'For now... the priority is getting out of here.'
I grabbed the bars and shouted.
"Lloyd! El! Ayla!"