Refugees from the Forest
The taxi had to be called to the middle of the elf village. The moment the brilliant light faded, Griel appeared, collapsed on the ground.
“Aaaagh!!!” Griel let out a bloodcurdling scream, writhing in agony from her arm. The sound was so horrifying that even the elves who heard it trembled. The spine-chilling shriek pierced straight into their souls.
“L-Lady Griel!”
“Oh no, what happened to Lady Griel…!?”
“D-Don’t tell me Lady Griel was defeated?”
“That’s impossible… The Nebulers couldn’t possibly harm her!”
“Is that really important right now!? We need to treat her immediately!”
“Herbs!?”
“Damn it, we haven’t gathered any recently.”
“Shit!”
Under normal circumstances they would have had some on hand, but since they hadn’t collected herbs lately, the village had none left for emergencies. The elves panicked, unsure what to do. If only the ice spirit had been available, but she couldn’t be summoned for the time being. She had exhausted all her power blocking Albert’s attack and had entered hibernation.
Just then, a massive branch from somewhere slowly leaned toward them.
“M-Mother!”
“Mother is moving!”
It was the World Tree. However, its condition was far from good. It trembled violently, its leaves withered like a plant starved of nutrients. It looked like it was barely clinging to life.
The World Tree’s branch weakly touched Griel’s body. A faint light glowed, and her wounds began to heal. It wasn’t perfect due to insufficient power, but it was enough to stop the bleeding.
“Ah… It worked!”
“She’s alive!”
After treating Griel, the World Tree slowly returned to its original position. Griel’s eyes fluttered open.
“Where… am I?”
“Lady Griel! You’re in the village!”
“The village…”
At that moment, memories from before she lost consciousness flooded back. She had gone to purify the Nebulers, the disgrace and shame of her race, and then that human had interfered…
“……”
Griel bit down hard on her lip. Why…? The Nebulers are filthy creatures that corrupt Mother… So why did he stop my purification? Why!?
Purification was a sacred ritual. Only by killing every last Nebuler could Mother’s corruption be cleansed. She had been so close to finishing it. That damned human’s interference had ruined everything.
“Why!! Why are you getting in my way!?”
Madness began to cloud her eyes. To save Mother, she had to kill the Nebulers and complete the purification. Her obsession had gone beyond mere fixation, revealing a terrifying insanity. As the World Tree became corrupted, the influence spread to the connected elves as well.
For Mother… For Mother… I must kill the Nebulers… Wipe out every last one of them.
Every single one, regardless of age or gender. Even their bloodline had to be eradicated. But…
That human is strong…
The human was powerful. She didn’t want to admit it, but in her current state—missing an arm—she couldn’t imagine defeating him.
For purification… I need power… Power…
Her gaze shifted to the remaining elves, or more precisely, to the power they held. She licked her lips. Even if one elf’s power was insignificant, if she could claim all of it, she could become two or even three times stronger than now…
For purification… I need power… This is all for Mother’s sake… So…
“You’ll gladly sacrifice yourselves too, won’t you?”
“L-Lady Griel…?”
“W-Why are you suddenly acting like this!?”
“For the sake of purification… For Mother, lend me your strength.”
While Griel moved with madness in her eyes, in the World Tree’s garden, the dead leaves of the towering World Tree rained down in a flurry. It was as if only a few leaves remained before the end…
* * *
“So that’s what happened…”
The Dark Elf elder had heard the full story from Ivy. That Albert had come here for soap. That he had saved her and was the first to notice the village’s attack.
“And so… you signed the contract?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
The Dark Elf elder glanced at Albert. The man before him looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties by human standards—quite young. Yet…
He’s terrifying.
He had witnessed it with his own eyes. The sight of this man toying with the High Elf elder Griel, someone none of them could even touch. It was burned into his eyes, his mind—his very soul.
Just sitting there, his presence is overwhelming… It makes you wonder if he’s even human.
“What about that dwarf over there?”
“Ah, he’s my sla— I mean, a worker in my territory.”
“You! You were about to say slave just now, weren’t you!?”
“……”
“I see. Even a dwarf…”
The elder turned his gaze to Hot.
“I heard dwarves hide away from humans…”
“Hah! You think I came here because I wanted to!? This bastard suddenly showed up with a dragon and kidnapped me!!”
“A d-dragon? Kidnapping?”
Albert spoke with an incredulous expression.
“Kidnapping? That’s a bit harsh. I clearly respected your will back then.”
[Respecting your will, my ass… Anyone could see that was a threat.]
“Respect my will!? With a dragon glaring at me like that, you said, ‘We’re recruiting dwarves to work with me~ Raise your hand if you’re interested~ Oh, and if no one volunteers, I might be a little disappointed~’!!”
Just thinking about it still made his body tremble. If Albert had been disappointed, who knew what would have happened…
“Judging by everything you’ve done so far, you would’ve beaten the dragon behind you, and then the dragon would’ve taken it out on us!”
A terrifying cycle of abuse would have begun. It was obvious even without seeing it.
[Oh! ^0^!!]
[As expected of a dwarf! You’ve got sharp instincts!]
[You already saw right through Albert! Amazing!]
“Come on, I wouldn’t do that. I’m a civilized person. If no one had volunteered, I would’ve just persuaded them to come along.”
“Not the kind of persuasion I know. It’d be your version of persuasion—physical.”
“Conversation is supposed to be enjoyable.”
“The only one enjoying it is you, and it’s violence.”
“Oh, your comebacks are getting better these days?”
“It’s what happens when you hang around you! Ugh!”
Listening to their exchange, the Dark Elf elder fell into thought for a moment. He roughly understood the situation.
Not bad… We were going to have to move anyway since our location was exposed. Under this human, we’d at least be safe.
“You two seem close.”
“We’re like family.”
“F-Family!? Like hell we are, you bastard!! Why would I be your family!?”
“Now, now, watch your wording. That could be dangerous.”
The elder couldn’t help but chuckle at Albert and Hot’s banter. He quickly cleared his throat and composed himself.
“If we come under you, can you guarantee our safety?”
“Of course. I always protect my sla— I mean, my people. Don’t worry.”
The Dark Elf elder narrowed his eyes.
“You were about to say slave again, weren’t you?”
“I was going to say worker.”
“Anyway, I understand. We already made a contract with your daughter, so we’ll follow.”
“Huh? Daughter?”
“Ah, did you not know? Ivy is my daughter.”
[┏(ºдº)┛]
[I never would’ve guessed that!]
He never would have imagined Ivy was the Dark Elf elder’s daughter. But it didn’t matter much. Whether elder or elder’s daughter, only one thing was important to Albert.
As long as they can make soap, that’s all that matters.
“Are you ready?”
“We’ll hold the funeral and depart immediately. We don’t have much to bring anyway.”
“Good.”
The funeral was over quickly. Dark Elf funerals didn’t involve burying the body. Instead, they cremated the corpse and scattered the ashes on a tree as an offering. As beings born from the World Tree, it was their way of returning to nature once more.
Other preparations were just as swift. Most of their belongings had been destroyed in Griel’s attack, so there wasn’t much to pack.
“You completely destroyed the barrier.”
The elder stared at the shattered barrier in disbelief.
“I saw it. He just stretched out his fist like this, and the barrier broke.”
“Unbelievable.”
It didn’t make sense. The illusion barrier protecting the village had been cast by the dragon living in Helbram Forest himself. And this man had shattered a dragon’s magic barrier with his bare fist? He hadn’t even targeted the core, from what he’d heard.
“You’ve done something absurd.”
“Was I not supposed to break it?”
“No, it couldn’t be helped. Even if you’re strong, trying to pass through or dispel it normally would have taken at least an hour.”
[Hah, that kind of barrier!? I could’ve done it in ten seconds!]
[If I had my authority fully restored, I could’ve done it in one second!]
[(ง •̀_•́)ง]
If he hadn’t broken through, the Dark Elves might all have been killed by Griel. The method was crude, but the result was perfect.
“I’d like to thank you once more.”
“Forget it. I only did it because I needed you.”
[You just needed soap-making slaves, didn’t you?]
[You’re planning to lock them up deep underground and make them work making soap, right?]
‘Obviously.’
Of course, he had no intention of actually locking them up. He was paying them wages, and they had worked hard for it. What goes around comes around.
‘I’m going to squeeze every last drop of value out of them.’
“By the way, how do you plan to get back to the territory from here?”
It was the first thing the elder said after leaving Helbram Forest. Monster Land and Helbram Forest were quite far apart; even by carriage, it would take several days. And they had no carriage.
“Don’t tell me we’re walking…”
“No need for that. We have excellent transportation.”
Albert grinned.
“Tax—”
“No need to call.”
Before Albert could finish, Gaster was already standing in front of him, as if he had known this would happen.
“I figured you’d call, so I waited.”
“What, you were here?”
“Yeah. Looks like whatever you went to do went well.”
Gaster spoke while looking at the Dark Elves standing behind him. When his gaze landed on them, the Dark Elves felt a wave of terror wash over them. Their appearances were different, but their elven instincts told them the truth.
D-Dragon…
They had heard about the dragon from Hot, but they never expected to face one like this.
“Well, whatever. Then—”
“Wait.”
“Why? Weren’t we going back anyway?”
“That’s not the important part. You, go stand way over there first.”
“What? Why all of a sudden…”
“Quickly.”
“……Tsk.”
Clicking his tongue in displeasure, Gaster teleported away to another location. Albert then raised his hand and shouted.
“Taxi!”
With a flash of light, Gaster reappeared. Only then did Albert nod in satisfaction.
“If you were going to do that anyway, why tell me to move away?”
“Because…”
Albert gave a thumbs-up.
“Calling a taxi is half the fun.”
“……”
* * *
“I wonder when Oppa will come back.”
“Oh my, are you already missing him?”
“N-No, it’s not that. I was just worried he might cause some kind of accident while he’s out.”
“Hohoho, why do you assume he’ll cause an accident instead of being in one?”
“That’s because…”
When she looked at her as if to say, Do you even need to ask?, the nanny turned her head, unable to defend him. It was true. If anyone was going to cause trouble, it would be Albert. If he were the one getting into accidents, they’d have to worry about the other party instead.
“By the way,” Elena scratched her head in frustration. “We’re not getting any more people. Merchants aren’t even coming…”
A small sigh escaped her. Ever since Albert returned, the territory’s situation had definitely improved. But it still wasn’t enough. With fewer than a hundred residents, it was far too small to be called a baron’s territory.
“At this rate, it’ll be hard to stimulate commerce or collect taxes.”
“Isn’t it fine for now?”
“It is for now, but thinking about the future, it might get difficult.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Yeah. Right now we’re not collecting taxes from the residents thanks to Albert’s extra income and trade with the Flower Merchant Group, but we can’t keep this up forever.”
“We can’t keep shouldering everything forever. But collecting taxes…”
“The residents’ earnings are still too low. Job opportunities are limited too.”
“Exactly.”
Elena tapped the documents in front of her with a quill pen and let out a small sigh. The nanny glanced at her and tilted her head.
“The documents look… a bit messy? They’re not organized well.”
“T-That’s! I-I’m not very good at organizing documents… There used to be someone who helped me, and I learned from them, but I’m still clumsy…”
There had once been an administrator who handled the paperwork. He had served since her parents’ time, but had to leave for some reason a few years ago. Since she had always left such tasks to him, she was still inexperienced with documents.
“Well, paperwork is difficult.”
“Anyway, the current situation is good but not good. It would be nice if we had more residents…”
“No one’s coming.”
The nanny sighed as well.
“A territory next to Monster Land, with constant monster attacks…”
“And ruled by a fallen house.”
“My lady…”
“It’s fine. I’ve accepted it now.”
Elena smiled softly to reassure the flustered nanny. In the past, she hadn’t wanted to admit the territory had fallen due to pride, but lately she didn’t care anymore. Because Albert had returned. With him here, it felt like even a fallen house could rise again.
“No one would come to a territory like this. There won’t be any refugees who lost their homes either… And we can’t exactly go out and bring people in.”
“That’s a problem we’ll have to solve step by step, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s the lord’s job to solve it~”
To revive the family, securing more residents was an essential task. Residents were needed for a territory to exist, and a territory and its people were needed for a lord to exist.
“My lady.”
“Hans? What is it?”
“The young master has returned.”
“Oppa!? Where!?”
“At the training grounds.”
“Got it!”
At the news of Albert’s return, Elena shot up from her seat and ran out.
“Oh my, oh my, the young lady is always like this when the young master comes home…”
Watching Elena’s retreating figure as she hurried away, the nanny smiled softly, her expression filled with maternal affection, like a mother watching her daughter.
“They really do look good together.”
* * *
“Oppa!”
When she entered the training grounds, she saw Albert standing there with countless Dark Elves. Elena, who had come to greet him warmly, froze in place at the sight of the Dark Elves. Albert grinned at her.
“Take in the refugees!”