Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Endurance - 5
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"Please, spare me just a moment of your time!"
A man burst urgently into the inn room and called out to me.
"What is it?"
"W-well...!"
I unconsciously ended up glaring at him.
It wasn't on purpose. I was simply still harboring the gloomy feelings I'd sensed recently around Celia.
I hadn't even been able to play with the kids for long before having to head back inside. I wasn't in the mood to smile.
"If possible, you'd be better off calling the person in the next room."
Elenor could walk around on her own to some extent.
She was hiding her identity because she disliked drawing complicated troubles, but even so, she was a princess.
Just seeing her armor and the ornate carriage that had just pulled up would allow anyone to guess her status.
There was no way there'd be another monster like an Orc Lord, and even if there was, there'd be no need to call on me.
"Th-the elf traveling with you..."
Something felt off.
To me, they were endlessly awful hero party members, but they weren't the type to openly stir up disputes or incidents.
Setting aside Nerwen's racist notions, she was capable of hiding her personal views.
If her patience hadn't frayed from all the mishaps along the journey, she wouldn't have hurled such harsh words at me.
"She seems capable of handling it herself."
I trusted her to a certain degree. She didn't strike me as someone who'd start trouble first.
"No, sir! She's... disrupting the village ritual and aiming her bow at us—the atmosphere is incredibly hostile...!"
"Ritual?"
This was a rural village. We had been steadily moving farther from the capital, and this place was far shabbier than any we'd visited before.
There didn't seem to be any shamans or priests around who'd perform rituals, and even a mage would struggle to stay briefly in an inn like this.
"Let's go check it out."
The journey hadn't been grueling or exhausting, but traveling by carriage was never easy. Days were muggy and stifling, nights brought chills as sweat cooled on the skin, and boredom gnawed relentlessly at the mind.
I grabbed my clothes and holy sword and followed after him. On a hillside slightly removed from the village center stood a crude altar.
"Is that it?"
"No, a little farther up..."
Following his footsteps higher, I found Nerwen surrounded by villagers.
But the mere fact that she was aiming an arrow at civilians made it blatantly clear who held the power here.
"...What is this, Nerwen?"
She clearly locked eyes with me, yet she didn't lower her bow right away.
I slowly stepped forward and positioned myself directly in front of her arrow.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The instant Nerwen saw his face, she realized things had gone terribly wrong.
"Explain."
Strength drained from her entire body. Her bow lowered naturally.
It wasn't the first time she'd aimed at him. She'd never harbored killing intent, but in the heat of battle, she often had to direct her shots toward his side.
Yet she always had conviction. Even if a target loomed right beside his face, her arrow wouldn't deviate by a single inch.
She could feel the bowstring taut against her cheek, and as long as her fingers gripped the arrow, nothing would make her miss.
But now, that certainty was gone. The slightest anxiety on her part, and that arrow might plunge straight into his heart.
And what unsettled her more than the lost conviction was the very thought of Enel's death.
If the arrow struck him and he turned his anger on Nerwen, she might not survive it.
If fortune turned sour and her shot pierced his heart perfectly, that would be an absolute catastrophe.
Nerwen lowered her bow.
"H-help us! That elf was trying to snap our village's sacred tree!"
His expression darkened further. But Nerwen's furious eyes couldn't bring themselves to gauge his mood.
"Don't spout nonsense. With your dim-witted eyes, that's all you can see...!"
The massive tree rising midway up the slope had branches intertwined in a grand, majestic canopy.
"Th-the gods will rage! This harvest ritual is ruined!"
"Fool. I was merely going to fashion arrows from it—that's just a tree. Don't meddle in an elf's judgment, you barbaric humans!"
The farmer's words struck at Nerwen's pride.
People saw elves and thought of peerless archery and ethereal beauty. But those weren't traits unique to elves.
Humans had master archers too, and while a different principle, massive mechanical crossbows could outmatch elven marksmanship in raw power and range.
Races where every member was flawlessly beautiful like elves were exceedingly rare, but humans and other kindreds boasted their share of stunning individuals.
Yet when it came to trees and life itself, no other race could rival their mystical rites and insight.
It was like challenging dwarves on metallurgy—grounds for grabbing collars and brawling. Questioning an elf on trees wounded her pride deeply.
"That's some pretty offensive language."
But Enel wasn't in a position to afford such leniency.
"Were you saying that about me?"
"Ah, n-no. I just... meant..."
"I'm human too, so why? You can call that man a 'barbaric human scum,' but you can't bring yourself to say it to me?"
One couldn't treat the goddess-chosen hero cavalierly. Even beyond that, Enel had revealed his inherent nobility throughout the hero's journey.
But setting aside such trifles, Nerwen couldn't refuse him. Couldn't defy him. Couldn't act against his wishes.
She had sworn the oath, yet an even vaster compulsion bore down on her.
"Ugh..."
He shook his head slowly.
"Enough. We'll discuss the details privately. For now, apologize."
"Wha...t?"
The villagers before her were utterly ordinary folk.
Not born noble elves, even petty nobles with humble titles wouldn't stoop to apologize to such people.
"Can't do it?"
She hadn't erred. She wasn't some strict vegetarian or life absolutist, but as an elf, she naturally held affection for trees.
They were the ones felling it, not her. It wasn't a sacred tree—just a tree.
"You can't bow to the likes of humans, is that it?"
His gaze chilled moment by moment. The villagers, initially relieved by his arrival as reinforcements, began to sweat as the air grew heavy.
"Well, you've never done it before, so of course it'd be tough."
As his eyes briefly left Nerwen, she let out an unwitting sigh of relief.
Losing his trust immediately stung, and being called incompetent grated on her.
But anything was preferable to this moment dragging on.
"I'll demonstrate."
"Wha...t?"
"Watch closely. Like this."
He bowed courteously toward the villagers.
Without a trace of shame, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"My apologies. I failed to keep my companions in check and caused you trouble. We have a mage and a priest with us, so we'll find a way to restore it somehow."
"Ah, er, thank you..."
If he'd seemed even slightly approachable, they might have vented more fiercely over the disrupted ritual.
But challenging the elf had already pushed their arrogance to its breaking point.
Had even one of them been clear-headed from the start, they never would have pressured an elf—dozens of times stronger than any human—like this.
Their standoff hadn't lasted long, but the killing intent radiating from it was no joke.
The farmers averted their eyes. Even several armed with sickles and hoes couldn't imagine overcoming him.
"You don't need to do that!"
Nerwen cried out, as if pained herself, unable to watch.
But Enel rose nonchalantly and pressed her.
"See? Now apologize."
And that gaze reduced the elf—who had dominated them all moments before—to trembling like a deer before a predator.
"I-I'm a great warrior of the elves...!"
"You swore an oath."
Nerwen bit her lip.
She'd expected she couldn't always do as she pleased. That she'd handle hardships, even some humiliations.
But this? This she hadn't foreseen. Bowing before lowly inferiors when she'd done no wrong.
"I did it."
"Ah, I see!"
But refusing here might prompt Enel to cast her out without mercy.
He might tolerate her now due to the promise, but once they reached the World Tree and secured the intel, she'd be discarded.
Nerwen bit her lip, holding back tears.
Injustice and humiliating despair crashed over her, but no one here would take her side.
In the end, she lowered her head.