Chapter 127 — Please Protect This Land (4)
Chapter 127 — Please Protect This Land (4)
Roan's face brightened.
He barely stopped his hand from eagerly reaching for the box and instead cast the Detect Evil spell.
It was a divine magic spell he had recently learned from Helen, one that revealed all things wicked.
"Good..."
Thankfully, there were no traps.
Aina had insisted that "a proper forest elf would never entertain such a cowardly notion," but I have to look after my own body, don't I?
The box was just the right size to hold a single scroll. Roan picked it up with one hand and quickly left the cave.
If someone had delivered a message, they would naturally want to watch who retrieved it.
There was a high probability that someone was observing Roan from outside the range of his Detection skill.
Currently, Roan's Detection radius was three hundred meters.
Much of his visibility was blocked by the forest, but according to Aina, forest elves could detect outsiders coming and going by sensing scents and footsteps from several hundred meters away.
Since using mana in this area was dangerous anyway, that fact actually worked in Roan's favor.
Even if someone was picked up by his Detection, he only had to escape the area quickly without worrying about hostile magic.
Especially since Roan's speed wasn't inferior to that of a forest elf.
Roan hurried back to the castle, called for Aina, and opened the box. It was a precaution in case some unknown magic was at work.
"Left by a forest elf?"
"Yeah."
"...This is good paper. Not just anyone can use it."
Inside the box was an old-fashioned scroll. Even before it was unrolled, Aina spoke as soon as she saw it.
"Looks like the guards relayed it to the elders."
"Guards? The village guards?"
"Mm. Although we call them guards, their role is similar to your knight orders. They're elites who protect the elders and other high-ranking people and prepare for major dangers to the village."
"So they aren't ordinary soldiers."
"Right. Forest elves don't really have an occupation called 'soldier.'"
Since every forest elf could handle a bow and sword to some degree, it seemed they had no need for a separate soldier class.
Roan carefully unrolled the scroll and examined its contents. But once he finished reading it, his expression darkened.
"...What does it say to make you look like that?"
Curious, Aina craned her neck toward the scroll in Roan's hand.
"...Ah. Well, I suppose that figures."
Aina fidgeted, lacing her fingers together as if feeling awkward.
— We lack the trust needed to listen to each other's stories. The demons will live by the ways of demons, and the forest elves by the ways of forest elves, nothing more.
Do not defile this forest where the Goddess rests and keeps watch.
"They're firm."
"The village is conservative. Because it has something to protect. Still, since it's the elders' reply, the fact that they responded at all... means there's a grain of positivity in it, at least."
"That's positive?"
"I think so. Leaving that note meant the guards knew a demon would come... and nothing happened, right?"
"Is that a good sign?"
"If the forest elves had been determined, Your Majesty would have already been dragged away."
Roan's eyes narrowed.
"I'm confident I wouldn't be bested by forest elves. In fact, a forest elf was utterly bested by me in that cave, not the other way around."
"...Ugh, ugh...."
In an instant, Aina's face turned crimson all the way to the tips of her ears.
Unable to meet Roan's broadly grinning eyes for some time, Aina cleared her throat several times and composed herself.
"Ahem, hem. Ah, anyway. If they'd intended to capture Your Majesty, they had plenty of options, from physical traps to a mass ambush. You know that too, don't you? Setting aside whether they'd succeed, they certainly could have decided to try to capture you."
"Hm."
"They read the lack of hostile intent in the letter you left. That means they've accepted it."
"Hmm, is that so...? That's a little disappointing, though."
Roan rested his chin in his hand and sank into thought.
The sound of slender fingers tapping against the desk at a steady rhythm could be heard.
Around the time Aina, who had been gazing down at his hand and briefly thinking, 'What would it feel like to hold that hand...?' was startled by her own thought.
Roan asked her,
"What does Goddess Laurecia mean to the forest elves?"
"A protector, a friend, and the only being they can trust."
"But isn't the Goddess a goddess? Mm... I mean, unlike for us or humans, she has no physical form. Isn't she just an abstract concept?"
Recalling that the lifespan of a forest elf was close to a thousand years, Roan added one more remark.
"...Now, at least."
"Even forest elves older than me argue that."
Aina shrugged.
"There are stories that thousands of years ago, the Goddess herself fought alongside us. But who could believe that?"
It was somewhat ironic that the long-lived forest elves, of all people, denied their own myths.
"They say that back then, there were even dragons and earth fairies, but now the only traces of them left are ruins and relics. If even those were gone, I doubt anyone would even believe they once existed in this world."
"...I see."
"As scholars say, the story of the Goddess could simply be symbolic in the end."
"Are you suggesting that the Goddess's proxy was turned into the Goddess's manifestation in the stories?"
"Yeah. It's a plausible theory, isn't it?"
"Mm..."
But then Aina let out a short laugh.
"However, even though some of the younger generation says that, the reason we can't deny the Goddess's story is that in the end, forest elves still live in the Dark Forest."
"...Ah."
A short exclamation escaped Roan.
The Dark Forest was a mysterious place.
A vast forest that had been maintained for thousands of years.
Strangely, the climate near the forest had exactly the right amount of rainfall and sunlight to suit the forest.
If you moved just a few dozen kilometers away, the climate changed as if you had entered a completely different world.
That was also why demons and humans both feared the forest elves yet still tried to settle near the Dark Forest.
Because it was far more comfortable to live.
It was also said that if anyone other than a forest elf ventured deep into the Dark Forest, they would lose their way and vanish without finding the exit. In the game, that was depicted as being afflicted with the Confusion ailment.
Thankfully, I had only ventured as far as the cave at the border between the Dark Forest and demon territory, but if I had walked even a little deeper, I wouldn't have been able to take a single step without Aina.
"So the forest itself is the Goddess's protection."
"That's right. We who use magic can tell. It's a miracle that can't be achieved by ordinary magic."
"Then what if the Goddess were to protect us demons... or if there were some kind of proof that I've received a portion of the Goddess's power?"
Aina's eyes went wide.
"Would that make the forest elves willing to talk?"
"Like the kind of miracle when you revealed the ruins or made the crystal glow...?"
"Mm."
"Mmm, if it's something like that, I think anyone would be moved by such a magnificent spectacle."
Aina propped her feet up on the desk, rubbed her chin, and leaned far back in her chair.
It was a precarious posture, as if the chair might tip over at any moment and send her crashing backward onto her head.
Yet, as if performing a stunt, she balanced herself and seemed to be leisurely weighing the situation.
"...But the ruins and the crystal... we can't show those to the forest elves yet, right?"
"Right."
If the forest elves discovered that something beneficial to me was close to them.
If negotiations went poorly, the forest elves could seal off the ruins or the cave. In other words, they could take a hostage.
And if that happened, I wouldn't be able to withdraw quietly.
It could truly turn into all-out war.
"We can't use holy power, so we don't really have a way to perceive Your Majesty's power the way Helen does.
If a demon can use the Goddess's power like a human priest—no, even stronger than that... I think it'd certainly shock the elders."
"Hmm."
Roan's expression brightened.
Until Aina spoke her next words.
"That's assuming Your Majesty could reach the village alive, that is."
"...Alive, you say."
When Roan frowned at her terrifying words, Aina averted her gaze as if embarrassed.
"I'm sorry to say this, but forest elves hate even letting humans into the Dark Forest. They hate demons even more. To meet the elders and talk, you'd have to go into the village, and to reach the village...."
"I'd have to get past the guards."
"Yeah."
Aina hesitated, watching Roan's face as he appeared lost in thought. She seemed to feel sorry for him.
"This isn't the fault of all demons or humans, but... the village is, well. It's important to the forest elves, and also an extremely vulnerable point."
"I can imagine. They keep the elderly and the young together in one place, so that would make sense."
"Yeah. There have been quite a few attempts to take advantage of that to raid the village."
"What...?"
Roan's expression shifted from surprise to something far more menacing.
"...They weren't just trying to steal valuables."
"That's right. Well, from a human perspective, forest elves have exceptional looks and can use magic. There were plenty of stupid bastards who figured that if you raised them from childhood, they'd make excellent slaves."
Aina let out a sigh and leaned back deeply into the chair opposite Roan.
"That's why the village guard force shows no mercy."
It was an undeniably understandable reason.
So while they were courteous enough to deliver a reply,
if anybody approached further, they wouldn't be let off so easily. Was that it?
Having confirmed the forest elves' letter, Roan sent Aina back and let out a deep sigh as he leaned into his chair.
"Nothing is easy."
A low groan escaped him naturally.
The matter with the count,
the matter with the forest elves.
In the end, it was all a question of whether trust could be established.
How wonderful would it be if capable people could join forces, all eating well and living well together?
'What a waste of time this is.'
Roan felt a deep sense of frustration.
More than anything, it pained him that his very existence was an absolute object of distrust outside demonkind.
Both demons and he himself, who was called the Demon King.
How much time would it take to wash away that stigma and become someone worthy of another's trust?
He had a few things he could attempt to see if he could earn the Goddess's favor, but he couldn't be certain until he tried.
Roan buried his face in his palms, drew a deep breath, and then shook his head.
He needed to clear his complicated mind a bit.
'For a moment... let's do something else.'
Lying on the desk were several books he had brought from the library at dawn.
The three recommended volumes that seemed related to Fiora.
"...This is, mm."
One of the three was somehow odd.
『The Sword of Demonkind』
『Ancient Swordsmanship and Magic — Development of Martial Arts』
『The Unknown Land, the Story of Rayorun』
"Rayorun?"
Why was Rayorun appearing here, of all places?
Rayorun was a large island nation far to the west,
beyond Merde. Because Merde stood in between,
in Evirgio you couldn't even see goods from Rayorun; we only knew the name.
I'd heard it was a closed-off country that hardly traded even with Merde.
The book was unexpectedly thin and used large print.
It felt less academic than the two earlier volumes.
It looked a little more entertaining.
With a light heart, Roan picked up 『The Unknown Land, the Story of Rayorun』.
Carefully turning the worn pages, the story Roan discovered was an unexpected yet very familiar one.
"...Hm?"
A story about the Goddess...?
It seemed no myth in this world could be told without involving Goddess Laurecia.
Since she was the Mother of All Things, after all,
and the highest deity.
Was it a similar logic to how everyone in Greco-Roman mythology was somehow related to Zeus?
The content was similar to the books he had already read while searching for clues about the crystal and helping the count.
Goddess Laurecia sought allies to fight with her in order to stop a demon that coveted this land.
Renowned warriors from among the noble dragons, the earth fairies, and the forest fairies joined the Goddess's war and fought fiercely against the demon.
If this book differed from the others, it was that this story was told from the perspective of Rayorun.
— The legends of Rayorun recount that the yokai, who had been deceived by the demon in distant Rayorun and sought to attack the Goddess, were instead swayed and converted by Goddess Laurecia. Their leader, Fiora, then joined the Goddess's expedition.
And, as all readers know, the expedition ended with the demon being sealed, and everyone except the forest elves followed the path to annihilation....
"Wha...?"