Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Elf Princess Vene (1)
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“Ice Age!”
With Laura’s clear incantation, the surroundings were instantly blanketed in freezing cold.
“Haa…”
As expected, the moment she used her magic, Laura’s energy drained, and she staggered.
I quickly supported her back and checked the power of her spell.
The forest that had been perfectly fine around us had turned into a frozen wasteland in an instant.
A deer that had the misfortune of passing by had been flash-frozen.
“Wow, impressive as always.”
“Hehe… Ice Age is the best…”
Laura leaned halfway into my arms, gazing contentedly at the might of her magic.
I carefully hoisted her onto my back.
“So, satisfied for today?”
“Yeah…”
“Then you’ll do proper training at dinner time, right?”
“Got it…”
If Laura were a lousy mage who could only use Ice Age, I’d have kicked her out of the hero party.
But since she was versatile and could handle all sorts of other spells too, I periodically took her up into the mountains to satisfy her magical cravings.
Now quite accustomed, Laura wrapped her arms around my neck and asked,
“So, what’s for dinner tonight?”
“Baguette with jam.”
“Again…? What I can’t understand is, why put jam on a baguette?”
“Because it’s delicious.”
“Weird!”
“If you’ve come to Daven Territory, you have to follow Daven’s laws.”
“I’d rather just eat it plain.”
“No can do.”
Spreading sweet strawberry jam on a baguette is so tasty.
Unfortunately, Laura, who lacked any sense for fine cuisine, complained every time.
If we end up traveling, we’ll have to eat it daily, yet she doesn’t know this flavor.
Such a pity.
Chatting amiably like that with Laura, we arrived at the lord’s castle.
The lord’s castle, always so peaceful, was for some reason in an uproar.
“What’s going on?”
I grabbed a passing head butler who caught my eye and asked.
“What happened?”
Seeing my face, the head butler brightened up.
“Ah, there you are! We were just looking for you because an extremely important letter arrived.”
“Let… letter?”
I felt a sense of déjà vu.
Was the final piece of the hero party puzzle finally arriving?!
I rushed to the office.
Rainy and Yumi had already arrived and were poking at an elegant letter envelope.
“You’re here?”
“Yes, I am.”
Rainy, who had been scrutinizing the envelope, handed it to me upon seeing me.
The seal was intact, so it seemed they hadn’t opened it yet.
“Wonder what kind of troublemaker’s coming this time.”
“Even you know you were a troublemaker, Holy Lady.”
“…Well, I wasn’t exactly normal.”
Surprisingly, I tore open the letter.
‘A leaf?’
What appeared was not quite the stationery I’d expected.
Incredibly, even after a long time had passed, the leaf still brimmed with vitality, inscribed with elegant handwriting.
[Hello. I am Makael, Emperor of the Elf Empire.]
‘Elf Empire…?’
Everyone who read the letter wore strange expressions.
No one said it, but we were all thinking the same thing.
[Our Elf Empire is currently facing an unprecedented crisis. Demon King forces have been sighted across the forest where the elves live.]
It seemed the Demon King’s army, now seriously stirring, had extended its claws even to the elves living peacefully in the woods.
[The Demon King army’s goal is clear. They’re after the World Tree, of course.]
The elves’ forest on the western continent.
At its center stood the World Tree, which brought bountiful harvests to the surrounding lands simply by existing and repelled droughts.
As a result, monster waves never occurred in the western region, making land prices exorbitantly high.
Evidently, the Demon King’s forces aimed to eliminate this guardian of property values.
[Our elf kin have lived under the grace of the World Tree, so we bear the destined duty to protect it with our lives.]
This was famous lore even neighborhood kids knew.
Because of this destiny, elves supposedly lived their entire lives in the forest, never venturing out, guarding the World Tree.
[In fact, all 34,132 elves have sworn to fight to protect the World Tree until death.]
Hmm, such tear-jerking loyalty.
I wished the Church’s priests would learn some faith from the elves.
[However, our High Elf Council thought realistically. Is it right for our entire race to go extinct like this? Is it right for the elves, with our thousands of years of history, to vanish into the annals?]
The elves’ anguish seeped through the words.
[Thus, after long deliberations, we decided. We’ll save just one. We’ll somehow preserve the elf race’s bloodline.]
[Having decided, we pondered which region on the continent was safest.]
[That’s when Baron Daven’s territory caught our eye.]
[The baron is unmarried, too, so sending my daughter to marry him seemed perfect. So we did.]
[It won’t be bad for the baron either. Objectively speaking, my daughter is extraordinarily beautiful.]
[We’ve sent a dowry along, so please treat her kindly.]
“…”
“…”
Everyone who read the letter together gaped in shock.
I, in particular, could confidently claim to be the most dumbfounded.
“Crazy…?”
Even in a medieval era where political marriages between total strangers were common.
Deciding a marriage this abruptly and unilaterally was truly rare.
“Hey, we’re not accepting this, right?”
Amid everyone’s shock, Laura was the first to speak up.
“This is marriage, no less. Marriage. The sacred rite where a man and woman vow to spend their lives together.”
“Right…”
“And for something like that, of course we refuse this high-handed push, yeah?”
“But… if I refuse, will it even work? It’s from the Elf Empire, after all. I’m just a lowly baron.”
“Weren’t you saying it’s doomed to fail anyway? And Elf Empire? It’s empire in name only—smaller than our territory even.”
Indeed, the Elf Empire called itself an empire to preserve elven pride.
But its actual power was below even the Mastain Duke house ruling the north.
“Still, for a low noble like me, refusing a lady’s hand is tough…”
That’s when Rainy, who had been deep in thought, chimed in.
“Hey, you losing your mind because she’s an elf?”
“Not like that…”
“Then think realistically. As a hero party, where’s the time for marriage?”
“Hmm… true.”
“Even if she comes, put off the marriage. We’ve got to deal with the Demon King first.”
Rainy’s words were certainly persuasive.
We had to set off on a journey to defeat the Demon King right away—marriage?
No time for that.
“Yeah, yeah, our family’s influence will back you up, so when the elf arrives, we’ll just gently dissuade her.”
“An elf or not, marrying some woman you’ve never met before is awkward, right? Yeah?”
Before I knew it, the two women had closed in, teaming up to persuade me.
Since both Rainy and Laura were hero party members, I needed to take their opinions seriously.
So I nodded.
“Yes, you two make a good point. Can’t marry before beating the Demon King. And the princess probably doesn’t want to marry a guy she’s never seen either.”
That’s what I thought until then.
***
Three days after receiving the letter.
“L-Lord… my lord, a carriage is in sight!”
Coincidentally, the same soldier who’d announced Rainy’s arrival came running in a panic.
“Oh, she’s finally here?”
It wasn’t time for merchant caravans, so the only one coming to this territory was the princess.
I instructed the head butler to prepare a welcome and headed out of the castle with Rainy and Laura.
A former holy lady and a duke’s daughter were more than sufficient to receive a princess.
Standing beside me to greet the princess, Rainy quietly muttered,
“Raden, don’t worry. No matter what bundle of trouble shows up this time, we’ll whip her into shape.”
Laura nodded silently in agreement.
Apparently, the two had reached some secret accord without me.
Well, it lightened my load, so that was good.
Rumble rumble.
Just then, a carriage made of woven vines approached where we waited.
True to the nature-loving elves, even their carriage was unique.
I had no idea how it worked, but I wanted to ask for a ride later.
Creak.
The carriage halted before us.
The vine tendrils parted slowly, revealing the woman riding inside.
“Gasp…”
“Crazy…”
The moment we saw her appearance, Rainy and Laura swallowed hard.
“Whoa…”
Even I, knowing it was rude, couldn’t help but let out an exclamation.
The princess stepped lightly to the ground, glanced around, and smiled with gentle benevolence that cleansed the soul.
“You must be Baron Raden?”
“Yes…”
Hearing my reply, the princess smiled softly and clasped both my hands warmly.
The cozy warmth from her hands made my body melt languidly.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Vene, First Princess of the Elf Empire. I look forward to getting along well from now on?”
Vene greeted us in a soft, soothing voice that healed just by hearing it, tilting her head cutely.
Unlike Laura or Rainy, she was utterly normal and the epitome of a heavenly woman.
Overwhelmed by terror at her demeanor, I was certain.
This woman.
She’s a demon spy.