[No title provided]
Thwack-!
The elf swung the rock in her hand with all her might.
Thud-!
The elf kicked with all her strength.
The revenge of the elves, unjustly captured and enslaved, was brutally savage. They already despised humans, after all. It was as if they were pouring out every ounce of pent-up resentment they'd harbored until now.
But even that didn't last long. Gidric, enduring their fury with his entire body, had been dead for quite some time.
Franz said to Hera,
"So, that token of trust is the real deal, huh?"
"Indeed. Only elves would know, but this is undoubtedly my brother's."
Hera's grip tightened fiercely on the necklace. Her expression was colder than ever.
Franz just felt sorry for her. Betrayed by her own family and closest friend, pushed to this point.
Anyway, they couldn't dwell on the past forever. It was time to decide on the path forward.
"Hera, what are your plans from here?"
"You're right.... For now, I plan to return to the Great Forest and set things straight. Now that I have proof."
Hera was spot on—eliminating the root cause had to come first. Rescuing elf slaves over and over would be like pouring water into a leaky jar if they just got sold off again on that end.
But.
Is it really that easy?
Hera's brother had likely seized real power through incitement and fabrication by now. Meanwhile, Hera was probably branded a traitor to her kin, laden with false charges.
They had decisive evidence and witnesses, but that only worked if the other side was willing to listen. You could shout a hundred times at someone plugging their ears, and it wouldn't get through.
Assuming the worst-case scenario, of course.
Logically, the evidence and witnesses should be enough to restore order in the Great Forest. But could they rule out the worst?
And if they didn't... Hera's only choice would be...
To become the villainess who drags the world to ruin.
Franz hoped the elves weren't that pigheaded and spoke up.
"When do you plan to head out?"
"Not right this instant, but at dawn?"
"Then let's grab some shut-eye."
"Pardon? You're not heading back?"
Hera's head tilted slightly to the side.
Strictly speaking, yeah, he should head back. The request only covered rescuing the elf slaves.
But if he left and Hera turned villainess in the meantime, things would get way messier.
So, what choice did he have?
"Might as well see it through to the end since I started helping."
Sticking around, he'd just be too anxious to sleep anyway.
At Franz's words, Hera gave her predictably old-fashioned response.
"Franz, I appreciate the sentiment, but I can't incur more debt. The request ends here, so feel free to return."
"Forget it. This is just me being nice. Leaving like this would bug me."
With that, silence fell between them for a moment. Soon, Hera's sigh broke it.
"You seem set on this. Do as you will, then."
Hera gave up and turned toward the elves, muttering just loud enough to be heard.
"If only all humans in the world were like you...."
Franz shrugged and thought,
If everyone in the world was like me...
Didn't sound like a particularly great world.
Hera found a suitable room in Gidric's mansion and entered. The other elves came along. She'd said they could sleep separately, but they were still too anxious to part ways.
And so, long ears clustered together in one room.
Then, someone spoke up. It was a small, young elf.
"Lady Hera, why did you come to save us...?"
"Why, you ask...?"
"Because just a while ago, Chief Heris said you were colluding with humans... Mmph?"
Before she could finish, a hand clamped over the little elf's mouth.
"Ahaha, sorry about that. She's still young...."
"I see...."
Hera gave a bitter smile. The kid had voiced it, but wariness lingered in the other elves' eyes too. No, it was better when they said it outright—at least then she could protest her innocence.
What the hell went wrong?
Was it leaving the Great Forest? Or saving the world? The answer to her long-standing dilemma remained elusive.
Hera addressed the elves.
"I don't know if you'll believe me, but this was all my brother Heris's doing."
The elves blinked in confusion, their ears twitching up and down to express it.
"First, look at this."
Hera pulled the necklace from her pocket—the token of trust from Franz.
The elves' ears began flicking wildly.
"Huh...? That's the chief's..."
"The bald pig who kidnapped you had this. You know what that means."
"So the chief really...?"
Hera nodded slowly.
"If I'd sold you like the chief claims, why would I come rescue you?"
"Sell, rescue, sell again, and the money rolls in hand over fist... Mmph?"
"S-sorry...."
The one muffling the little elf bowed deeply in apology. Pure as ever—that's kids for you. Though Hera couldn't laugh about it.
"Anyway, that's the situation. Tomorrow, I'm heading to the Great Forest to right these wrongs. I'll drag that traitor who sold our kin from his seat and judge him."
The elves exchanged glances, then spoke up in unison.
"C-can we help with anything?"
"Yeah, we'll help."
"I-I'm pretty good at throwing rocks...!"
For the first time in a year, she felt warmth from her kin. Emotion welled up in Hera's throat, tears threatening to spill.
But she swallowed it all down and replied.
"Stand by my side. I promise no such tragedy will happen again."
Now it was time to pay back the betrayers who'd sold their own.
Early dawn, before the sun had risen. The sky was a deep indigo.
Franz's eyes snapped open at the mana fluctuations nearby.
Knew it.
The mana signatures belonged to Hera and the elves. He'd figured Hera, hating to impose, would leave extra early—and he'd nailed it. Old elves really were sticklers for propriety.
Franz bolted from bed and headed outside to the elves.
"Franz...?"
Hera shook her head in exasperation at the sight of him. Franz shot back without missing a beat.
"Come on, even if you're in a rush, sneaking off like this?"
"You've already done more than enough."
"Not a debt, I said. Return a favor with a favor—why keep turning it into something I gotta collect on? Folks might think I'm a loan shark."
Then a little elf toddled up to Franz.
"Loan shark! Bad guy! Human! Bad! Don't bully Lady Hera!"
"Hear that, Franz? She says you're a bad guy."
Hera burst out laughing—pfft—.
Franz felt a surge of annoyance. Not the treatment for someone who'd helped so much yesterday.
But he let it slide. Kids say the darndest things, and more importantly, Hera's face was completely different from yesterday.
Yesterday she looked ready to drop dead.
If her mood was better, the odds of world-ending villainy dropped too. Good was good.
"Hey, you planning to walk the whole way? The Great Forest is pretty far from here."
"What choice do we have? No carriage around."
"What're mages for if not this?"
Franz snapped his fingers lightly. A complex magic circle began etching itself at their feet.
Teleporting multiple people at once wasn't easy—huge mana drain, way more intricate setup.
But for Franz, it was a breeze.
"Alright, everyone gather up. We're off."
With Hera in the lead, the elves hesitantly stepped onto the circle. Franz snapped his fingers again, and they all vanished.
They reappeared right at the edge of the Great Forest.
Trees towered densely, some scraping the heavens. One in the distance actually touched the sky.
Always impressive here.
Franz inwardly admired the long-unseen sight of the Great Forest.
"Whoa? Th-this is the Great Forest."
"For real...?"
"My eyes aren't messing with me?"
The elves gawked, ears flapping excitedly up and down.
That was when it happened.
"Who goes there!"
"Touch the elves and you won't live!"
Elves appeared in the distance.