Chapter 312: Bread and Dagger (10)
Chapter 312: Bread and Dagger (10)
Clang!
Ice shards scattered into the air with a sharp metallic ring.
Clear light reflected off them, scattering brilliant hues into the surroundings. Had I been a man of finer sensibilities, I might have lost myself in the ethereal beauty of the moment.
But right now, I didn't have the luxury of being moved by aesthetics.
The moment the ice spikes flew, the man had lunged at me.
It was an abrupt battle.
Initially, I had only come looking for the merchant who had scammed Emma. I never intended to cross blades with him.
I could have easily compensated Emma for the financial loss myself. What truly interested me was the fact that this merchant dealt in rare materials from the North. If that were the case, he would likely be well-informed about the current state of the northern regions.
If he proved difficult to talk to, that was fine too. I would simply have to educate him so he’d never dare look down on Emma again.
But to think the merchant was actually an elf.
Whish!
A dagger, thrust with the speed of a lightning bolt, tore through the air with a sharp whistle.
In response, I swung my hand axe.
The trajectory was a straight line—the simplest of forms—but its power and speed were devastating.
Sparks flew, accompanied by a shrill screech of metal.
It was the sound of the elf’s dagger being deflected. Without missing a beat, I drove my foot into the elf’s abdomen.
Thwack!
I felt my foot sink deep into the elf’s peritoneum.
His body folded like a shrimp before he was sent hurtling through the air, slamming into the wall with a heavy thud. He then slid down to the floor in a heap.
This was a result that had already repeated itself several times.
The elven mage seemed to have a decent grasp of close-quarters brawling. Against a lower-year student from the Academy, he might have stood a chance.
But I was a powerhouse, qualitatively different from some random riffraff. There was no way I would lose to someone who was mediocre at both magic and martial arts.
The only reason I hadn't finished him off yet was simple.
I let out a deep sigh and spoke.
"Why don't you just give it up? Did I ever say I was going to kill you?"
"…Humans are all the same."
The elf bared his teeth and growled like a wild animal. His lustrous gray hair almost looked like a mane.
"How did you find me? Is it the Imperial Intelligence Agency? Not even the professors at the Academy noticed my true identity until now."
That was unexpected.
I figured if I could notice, the professors certainly would have, but apparently not.
Then again, if an elf wanted to stay in the heart of the Academy, they had to be that thorough.
Elves were the enemies of humanity.
It was an ill-fated bond that had lasted since ancient times.
Elves worshiped and protected nature. Humans, on the other hand, had no qualms about exploiting and destroying it.
Because of that, the conflict between humanity and elves had a long and storied history. There were even records of elves attacking people just for cutting down trees.
That long-standing friction eventually escalated into war.
In truth, the outcome was practically decided from the start.
Ever since the dragons bestowed magic upon them, humans had become the undisputed dominant species of the Continent. Their sheer numbers were on an entirely different level.
Humanity eventually planted the flag of victory in the Great Forest, the homeland of the elves.
The elves of the Great Forest were forced to abandon the World Tree and scatter.
However, there was nowhere on the Continent that human footsteps had not reached—save for the northernmost tip of the Continent, a land ruled by snow and ice.
They had been enemies for such a long time. There was no way an elf would like humans, and the feeling was mutual.
An elf living right next to the Academy? It wouldn't be strange at all to arrest and deport him immediately. That was likely why he was resisting so desperately.
To him, the only options left were victory or death. In that case, it was better to struggle until the very end.
That kind of resolve burned in his eyes.
Of course, from my perspective, it was just frustrating.
"I am part of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, but…"
"I knew it!"
The elf gnashed his teeth as if his suspicions had been confirmed.
Since the Academy branch of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau was under my command, it wasn't technically a lie. Furthermore, reporting the existence of an elven spy was the duty of an Imperial subject.
However, the reason I felt so stifled was that I personally harbored no particular ill will toward elves.
Elves, who lived for hundreds of years, might feel differently. And the Northerners, who had clashed with elves for generations, probably still held a grudge.
But for the rest of humanity, there wasn't much reason to hate elves. While a general atmosphere of loathing and exclusion existed, there were certainly people like me who didn't really care.
Therefore, depending on the circumstances, I was willing to protect him.
I can just leave the surveillance to Senior Neris or something.
In fact, I was actually somewhat glad to find him.
The love letter from the future mentioned the existence of an 'elf.' If that was the case, consulting an elf would be the fastest way to resolve that matter.
That was why I was still handling him with kid gloves.
Granted, blood was starting to trickle from his mouth, but the fact that his limbs were still intact was proof of my mercy.
Though even that had its limits.
I wanted to leave a favorable impression if possible, but if he kept this up, I wouldn't have much of a choice.
"I'm making one last proposal. Let's stop fighting and talk—"
"Don't make me laugh! What kind of trick are you trying to pull now?!"
That was the elf's response to my ultimatum.
At this point, I felt a strange sense of dissonance.
Avian was an elf, but he was also someone who had lived among human society for over ten years while running a business. That was more than enough time to dispel some misunderstandings about humans.
Of course, deep-rooted hatred between races couldn't be washed away so easily. Still, he should have realized that blind distrust wasn't always necessary.
But Avian's current attitude was strange. It was a display of mindless hostility and hatred.
In the end, it meant peaceful dialogue was off the table.
I let out another long sigh.
If he insisted on doing this the hard way, I had no choice but to oblige.
I gave Avian a silent signal. A brief look that said, Come at me if you dare.
Provoked, Avian bristled and conjured spikes of ice. It seemed he had been stalling for time to prepare this.
There were about six of them—quite a lot.
Avian seemed to sense that this exchange would be the last. He crouched low, as if preparing to give it his all.
And in the next moment, six streaks of blue light flashed.
The ice spikes, fired in succession, drew a straight line toward me. I threw my hand axe as if I had been waiting for this.
Crack, crack, crack!
The hand axe, having intercepted one spike, shifted its trajectory twice. While three ice spikes were neutralized in an instant, I charged through the glittering ice dust.
With an upward kick, I sent one flying ice spike into the air.
I caught the remaining two ice spikes, one in each hand. I felt the sensation of my palms sticking to the ice as the sudden cold took hold.
It was perfect for suppressing a reckless elf.
Just then, Avian’s all-out thrust lunged toward me.
I exhaled slowly, concentrating my senses. In a world where time flowed agonizingly slow, I aimed for the exact moment his thrust and my body intersected.
I spun my body.
It looked as if Avian’s strike had pushed me aside. Slipping into the elf’s embrace as if winding around him, my two hands slammed down on his outstretched arm.
Splurt!
Blood erupted.
Avian couldn't even scream. He must have been feeling excruciating pain from the ice spikes driven into his upper and lower arm.
But this wasn't enough to completely incapacitate him.
I pressed down on Avian’s arm and drove my knee upward into his elbow.
Crunch!
With a sickening crack, the joint shattered, exposing white bone.
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
You should have listened to me earlier.
As my hands warmed up, the ice spikes slipped out. It didn't matter, since they had already served their purpose of piercing Avian’s arm.
Without hesitation, I slammed my fist into Avian’s face.
Smash!
His nasal bone collapsed, and his body was lifted off the ground.
Not missing the opening, I mounted Avian’s fallen body.
What followed was one-sided violence.
Thud, thud, thud!
Every time my fist connected with his face, blood and white teeth flew into the air. Since I was pinning his arms down with my knees, Avian couldn't fight back.
Even though I was holding back as much as I could, it still looked like this. If I had hit him with full force, he would have lost his life long ago.
In the end, Avian was a living creature too. There was no way he wouldn't submit when faced with the threat of death.
"…S-stoh (Stop)!"
His pronunciation was mangled, the air whistling through his broken teeth.
Only then did I halt my swinging fist.
Tears were streaming down Avian’s face.
"I-I surrener (I surrender)! I'll surrener, so…"
Only after hearing those words could I let out a sigh of relief. I was worried about what I’d have to do if he held out until the end.
The tension left my shoulders. My relaxed muscles radiated the heat of battle as my body cooled down.
Avian was sobbing, tears flowing freely.
Looking down at him, I spoke in a pitying voice.
"…You should've done that from the start."
And that was it.
Thump.
My fist struck Avian’s temple.
Avian’s entire body went limp.
In a small building attached to the temple, known as 'Sun's Rest.'
Having arrived unannounced at the Saintess's residence, I dropped a blood-stained sack onto the floor with a thud.
The Saintess just stared at me with a blank expression.
"…Could you treat this person?"
At my words, spoken while awkwardly scratching the back of my head, the Saintess let out a hollow laugh as if she couldn't believe it.
Even so, I was grateful to see her opening the sack.
The Saintess was fundamentally a kind person. She never turned away a patient in need of help.
And soon, I had to endure her scolding.
"Kyaaaaaah! How could you turn a girl into a bloody mess like this?!"
She clearly didn't doubt for a second that I was the culprit.
The saddest part was that she wasn't wrong, so I had nothing to say in my defense.
A sigh escaped my lips. Just as I was about to slowly explain the situation—
"There's a reason for all th— wait, hold on."
I suddenly caught something in the Saintess's words and had to ask back with a bewildered look.
"…A girl?"
"Yes, a girl! No matter the circumstances, how could you do this to such a frail child…!"
I immediately snatched the sack from the Saintess's hands. Then, I turned it upside down and shook it out.
The Saintess gasped at my rough handling, shaking her head in disbelief.
Of course, I didn't care about that at all. It was because a fact I hadn't known was revealed before my eyes.
"…She really is a girl?"
And a girl who looked like she had barely reached adulthood at that.
I couldn't help but smack my forehead.
So the transformation magic didn't stop there. Avian had even been faking her gender.
Well, not that it would have made me hold back any more than I did.
After all, I was a proponent of gender equality.
It was the start of a strange connection.