Chapter 134
Chapter 134
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: The Fruit Offering Backfires
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The next morning.
"He even took the interpreter with him."
"...Yes."
The news that Victor had brought Erika along and relocated the bucket reached the elves.
"..."
"Ha. Lady Benedetta only uses telepathic communication— what's the point of an interpreter?"
"Hm... Maybe he's trying to provoke a reaction from us."
"Yes, that seems more plausible."
While Vittorio fell silent, the officers began exchanging opinions first.
"What if there's a human who can hear telepathic messages...?"
"Is he writing a storybook or something? What nonsense."
"Right?"
Their main thought was that a High Elf, who couldn't even casually speak to elves, would never bother using an interpreter to converse with humans.
"Hey."
"Yes?"
Vittorio called out sharply to the messenger who had just delivered the news.
"She didn't summon you last night either, right?"
"That's correct."
"...This won't do."
After confirming with a fierce expression, he scanned the officers still chatting among themselves and rose from his seat.
"Supreme Commander?"
"This is no trivial matter."
Vittorio tried to set the mood with a low voice,
"Are you still on about this?"
but the officers' reaction to his grave declaration was lukewarm.
"Do you really believe Victor and Lady Benedetta had a conversation?"
"Yes."
"I remember you dismissing humans as worthless, and now you're overh hyping them."
"You're saying humans can do something even we can't manage easily?"
The hardline officers, led by Salvatore, pushed back instead.
"That's why we need to take action. Our great Lady Benedetta Benedetta Bianchi is being toyed with by humans."
"Can you take responsibility for that claim?"
"Of course. You know everything else, so let me tell you what I discovered today."
"...Today?"
"Yes. The orcs' blood, which used to be absorbed immediately, lingered on the ground late into last night. But strangely, after Victor's group left, it all vanished."
"..."
"Coincidence? Let's acknowledge what's real. The humans have definitely changed Lady Benedetta Bianchi."
"Hah, hah..."
Seeing this as his last chance to regain some authority, Vittorio pressed on, persuading them patiently.
"...So, you're going to confront her?"
"No, that's not it."
He immediately rejected Salvatore's words,
"I failed to identify that milky liquid, but I confirmed she accepts tributes every day without refusal—she clearly likes them."
"..."
"Blocking her favorite tributes would be too risky. So..."
He picked up the fruits that had been set aside on the desk for comparison.
"Let's prove we're better than the humans."
"Tributes..."
"The liquid Victor brings has an odd texture and a faint sweetness, but that's it. If she likes it for the taste, let's offer these much sweeter, tastier fruits instead."
"..."
For someone who had been plotting to attack allies from behind or abandon them, this was an unusually mild proposal—just offering fruits to win her favor.
"That seems... acceptable."
"We had trouble disposing of them anyway since there weren't enough to share."
"She seems to absorb things scattered in her territory, so let's smash them and spread them on the ground. Pick the good ones and collect their juice separately."
"Understood."
Even the officers who had doubted Vittorio's competence nodded in agreement for now.
"Gather all of this?"
"To offer to Lady Benedetta Bianchi as tribute."
"In that case... Does she like fruit originally?"
"Not sure, but what elf hates fruit?"
"True enough."
The elves gathered the procured fruits in large quantities and headed to Benedetta's territory.
"We're lending them the bucket."
"Do we really have to go this far?"
"It's nothing."
"..."
After much deliberation, Vittorio went so far as to deliberately fill a bucket used by the imperial army with fruit juice.
"Halt."
Vittorio arrived at Benedetta's territory, personally carrying the bucket alongside elves laden with armfuls of fruit,
"..."
cautiously advanced alone, and telepathically conveyed his intent to offer tribute.
-Swish.
"..."
"Tribute?"
Benedetta emerged from the tree with a faint smile and addressed Vittorio in the common elven tongue.
"...Yes. We've gathered substantial fruits."
Vittorio, flustered that Benedetta hadn't responded telepathically, replied in the common elven tongue as well.
"What's in the bucket?"
"I heard you prefer liquids, so I selected the freshest fruits and squeezed their juice."
"...I see."
Benedetta extended one hand with a slightly disappointed look,
"What are you waiting for? Hand it over."
"Ah, yes!"
Vittorio approached with his head bowed, handed her the bucket, and retreated backward.
"We'll scatter the other fruits inside the territory."
"Fine."
Benedetta turned away, eyeing the bucket suspiciously.
"You heard her? Everyone, begin!"
"Yes!"
At this, Vittorio confidently ordered them to scatter the fruits throughout Benedetta's territory.
"As expected, Lady Bianchi holds the real power."
"Obviously."
-Splat! Splat!
The elves muttered softly out of Vittorio's earshot while smashing the fruits and tossing them onto the ground.
"Over there too, around the forest edges."
But Vittorio wasn't satisfied with that.
"Is this okay?"
"It's fine—spread it."
"Understood."
The elves, who had started by placing fruits only on the outskirts, gradually moved inward, even scattering them among the growing plants.
"It's a shame—can't I eat just one?"
"Steal tribute meant for the High Elf?"
"N-no, never mind."
"Good."
Thus, the elves continued scattering fruits for several minutes.
"Argh!"
"Ugh!"
"Gaaah!"
A sound closer to a mental scream than telepathic communication reverberated through the elves' minds.
Unable to endure it, the elves closest to Benedetta began clutching their heads and collapsing first.
"Urgh... What the hell, all of a sudden..."
Vittorio, who had held out thanks to his distance and strong mental fortitude, hurried toward Benedetta's summons.
-Squish, squish, squish, squish.
When Vittorio reached the tree where Benedetta resided, it slowly began to open.
"Huh? Ack!"
Before it opened enough to reveal the interior, a pale arm shot through the gap and grabbed him.
"You?"
"Guhk, keh, kheh..."
With only her upper body emerged, she gripped his throat in utmost fury and lifted him to eye level.
"Is it you?!"
"Ugh, y-yes, hek..."
Vittorio barely managed a reply amid his disorientation.
-Thud!
"Guh..."
"Take it. And..."
Benedetta irritably hurled Vittorio aside, pulled out the mostly untouched juice bucket from within, and set it before him.
"Don't ever bring this again."
She warned him verbally while telepathically ordering the surrounding elves to remove every bit of soil stained with the juice.
"...Yes."
Vittorio replied in a deflated voice, picked up the bucket, and left her territory first.
"Ugh..."
Benedetta, retreating back into the tree, groaned in pain while clutching her shriveled skin on her feet.
"It hurts, it hurts so much..."
The elves had called it tribute, and it was in the familiar bucket, so Benedetta had immediately dipped her feet into it.
However, her feet, which functioned like plant roots for nutrient absorption, suffered from the juice's acidity. The high sugar content nearly drew out her own moisture via osmosis, robbing her of nutrients instead.
Moreover, as Benedetta urgently pulled nutrients from surrounding plants, those tainted by the juice withered in an instant.
"..."
Soaking her feet in pure water helped recovery somewhat, but Benedetta now harbored resentment toward Vittorio for what amounted to an assassination attempt.
"[Did you bring it?]"
"She's asking if you brought it, right?"
"Yes."
"Tell her yes."
"[I brought it.]"
"[Give it to me. Now.]"
This led to the exact opposite result of Vittorio's original intent, making her even more reliant on the safe, delicious rice-wash water.
"What happened?"
"...Never enter Lady Benedetta Bianchi's territory with fruit. Ever."
"...Pardon?"
"It's her order."
"Ah, understood..."
Fortunately for Vittorio, the elves were too wracked with pain rolling on the ground to witness him being grabbed by the collar.
"...I have to do something."
This was the worst scenario imaginable for him: incurring the wrath of their strongest asset.
"...Supreme Commander Vittorio has arrived."
"Hm?"
He went to Victor's tent,
"You took that liquid to Lady Benedetta Bianchi again yesterday, right?"
"...Yes."
-Thud.
"Please, share some of that liquid with me!"
He knelt before the seated Victor and clasped his hands in supplication.
"Hmmm..."
Victor looked down at him, suppressing a leaking chuckle.