Chapter 163
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: Taming the Elf Girl (3)
Ilensia clung to me without a word. Then, she attempted a certain act.
“…”
“…”
My little cutie could pull it off because she was small, but it was bound to be awkward for a grown girl to imitate that nuzzling.
The girl, though embarrassed, persisted. Compared to Aruru's displays of affection, it was a drop in the bucket, but it still created a peculiar scene.
She flinched whenever we touched a little too much. I couldn't help but flinch along with her. Reaching her limit, Ilensia couldn't hold back a comment.
“Now I'm sure of it. That fox must have no sense of shame.”
“…”
Hmm, you might want to hold off on the trash talk. For some reason, I feel like someone's watching from behind us. Given my cutie's usual behavior, there was a very high chance she was hiding and watching.
In any case, nothing crossed the line. As if she just wanted to be held, she quietly buried her face in my chest.
Her affection level skyrocketed… and finally surpassed the threshold. Soon, Ilensia's traits were given as a reward. The agile movements and archery of an elf… both were S-rank traits that would be very useful.
Gently stroking her head, I looked up at the quiet night sky. Everything had been resolved. Now, there would be no more discord in the party.
* * *
The next day, a surprising event occurred just before breakfast. Ilensia apologized to everyone.
“I think I've been too rude to you all. I won't do it again.”
“Huh??”
As if the heavens were splitting apart, everyone's eyes went wide. Then, they all turned to look at me in unison.
*What in the world did you do to turn a girl so full of herself into a gentle lamb?* That was the gist of their gazes, but since I was just as surprised, I simply shrugged.
In any case, since the elf girl had taken the first step with a humble attitude, they had to respond in kind. Everyone began to treat Ilensia with smiling faces.
“It's fine. It's not really something you need to apologize for…”
“We were insensitive too, so we're also at fault.”
I smiled faintly in satisfaction. The sight of the girls' budding friendship was incredibly heartwarming. I wasn't asking for anything grand.
I just hoped they would maintain the relationship they had now. Just then, the color drained from Aruru's face.
“That elf is apologizing… I can't accept this!”
“Hey, why are you picking a fight again? She finally worked up the courage…”
“Enough! Show your true colors! You're just pretending to be nice in front of us so you can seduce Jace behind our backs, aren't you?”
“You… surely you didn't secretly watch what happened last night, did you?”
“You were clinging to him so tightly… Ah, I let it slip!”
“…Fine. It seems I have to settle this with you once and for all. You're just a fox who gets away with everything because you're cute!”
“…”
And so, a chase began. I didn't even sigh. I'd had a feeling this would happen.
Well, this much should be fine. Those two bickering is less a daily occurrence and more a universal truth. In a way, it was almost comforting.
With our camaraderie now much improved, we continued our adventure.
* * *
In the depths of the Demon King's Castle, Ageron moved a chess piece. He captured a white piece with his black one, signifying the fall of one of the Imperial Army's fortresses.
It wasn't a major victory. The Imperial Army had chosen to pull back their front lines, meaning they weren't yet ready to face the Demon King's grand army.
Thus, while they gained minor advantages here and there, Ageron's mood didn't improve in the slightest. It was because of the tragic news about Barroc.
It wasn't that he was enraged by a comrade's death. The feeling wasn't entirely absent, but such emotions were a luxury for the living. Having lived for ages as one of the undead, Ageron was colder than anyone.
There was only one reason for his displeasure. He had lost one of the Four Heavenly Kings before anything had truly begun. Their forces had been significantly reduced. It went without saying, but the Four Heavenly Kings were a crucial part of their strength.
For the Archlich, who was nothing but bones, the painful loss was truly agonizing. But on the other hand, it was nothing.
It was merely the death of one of the Four Heavenly Kings. It might have been different if it were the first time in history, but it was just a recurring event. In the end, the core of the Demon King's Army was the Demon King himself.
The Demon King's greatness was immeasurable. If one had to assign a weight to his importance, he would be about eighty percent of the entire Demon King's Army. In other words, even if all their forces were annihilated, as long as the Demon King existed, it wasn't over.
Barroc's death was not important. Even the slight feeling of regret vanished quickly. More importantly, he had to focus on the Hero's party.
Two Heroes. That fact alone gave him an ominous feeling that this time would be different. Barroc's defeat had turned that premonition into certainty.
They should be eliminated before they grew stronger, but there was no suitable way to do it. At least two of the Four Heavenly Kings would have to be dispatched, but Ageron had to command the army, and Mukur was busy chasing the previous Hero.
‘As for the last one, Lucan…’
He was already dead, having met his end at the hands of Cedric, the traitor to humanity. It had been a legitimate duel, observed by the Demon King himself…
In the end, it was decided that Cedric would become a new Heavenly King and absorb the forces of both Barroc and Lucan. There were some concerns about giving so much authority to a mere human, but since it was the Demon King's decision, there was no significant dissent.
Ageron believed that proving his skill was enough. In any case, for now, he had no forces to send to dispose of the Hero's party.
Cedric needed time to consolidate his forces, and even after that was done, Ageron was reluctant to send him. After all, he had already been defeated by the Hero. Of course, the situation was quite different now, but the feeling of unease remained.
‘I'll have to send them…’
The Hero's party was likely growing stronger even as they spoke. Even if eliminating them was difficult, he had to at least hinder their progress.
The demons and monsters optimized for assassination. Using the assassination squad's specialties—potent poisons and traps—they should be able to tie up the Hero's party for quite some time.
The assassination squad was under Mukur's direct command, but as the commander-in-chief of the Demon King's Army, Ageron had some authority to interfere.
After laying out future plans and schedules, Ageron fell into thought. It was about none other than the Demon King. If the Demon King were to act personally, humanity would have been annihilated long ago.
But the Demon King had never once made a move. He simply greeted the Hero's party when they came to find him in his castle. As if he were waiting for someone to kill him…
He didn't know for sure, but perhaps it was the loneliness of an absolute being, or weariness from a life of ennui. Of course, it might just be a fanciful notion. This cycle had been repeating for nearly a thousand years. If the Demon King truly wished for his own death, there had been plenty of opportunities.
It was an unfitting attitude for a king who ruled over demons, but Ageron could understand the Demon King's sentiment. The same thing had repeated for so long that he, too, was beginning to long for the rest that death would bring.
Perhaps it was the fate of an Archlich who had lived as long as an elf. He had reached a state where life itself had become tedious.
It was because he had missed the chance to end it. Now, he was merely continuing to live out of inertia… Still, he had no intention of letting his life end in vain.
Ageron owed the Demon King an eternal debt of gratitude. Therefore, he had to eliminate the humans who opposed his master. Hoping this would be the last time, Ageron began to earnestly prepare an all-out offensive.
* * *
The adventure proceeded smoothly, but it wasn't exactly romantic. We had to camp out every night, and even just washing up was a chore. For someone with modern sensibilities, every day was bound to be inconvenient and arduous.
The princess was experienced and used to it, but the others still struggled. They were especially sensitive during this time, so they were busy watching my reactions.
“You stink. Go wash up.”
“Ugh, what nonsense is this fox spouting!”
My little cutie was just teasing the elf girl out of boredom, but at the word "stink," everyone stopped and started sniffing themselves.
“…”
“…”
Feeling self-conscious, none of them would meet my eyes. Hey, you don't need to worry about it that much, do you? It's not like they haven't washed at all; they've been using water spirits to stay clean whenever they get the chance.
Of course, it might be a bit lacking, but it was still quite clean. Even knowing this, they started to subtly distance themselves, just in case.
“How about we rest for a day in a city and restock our supplies?”
“I agree.”
“Me too.”
In the end, it was unanimously decided to rest in a nearby city. Well, we tried to, but we ran into some trouble because people recognized us.
-Could that be…
-I remember seeing them in the capital. It's definitely the Hero's party!
-The Hero? Aren't they supposed to be fighting the Demon King's Army?
-I don't know about that, but this is a rare chance, so I'm going to get a closer look!
Naturally, a crowd swarmed us. People cheering mindlessly, others questioning why we were here during a war… We had no choice but to escape the city as if we were being chased.
Tsk, I had a feeling, but reality was different. In the original story, they just stopped at an inn and slept fine without any trouble!
We just wanted to rest, but we were almost held up all day. After learning our lesson, we decided to stay quietly at the academy.
Home really is the best. It wasn't our home, but we'd spent so much time there that it felt like it. The academy's facilities were more than adequate, so we decided to spend one day a week here to recover.
After recharging our energy like that, we set out on our adventure again. Dungeons and event locations were scattered across the continent, but we didn't need to visit all of them. We just had to plan the shortest route and grab only what was necessary.
And so, as we were heading towards a certain mountain range, a thick fog suddenly began to roll in. It grew so dense that we couldn't see an inch in front of our faces. Esterize muttered, bewildered.
“This is strange. Fog isn't supposed to form in this area…”
No matter how you looked at it, this wasn't a natural phenomenon. A certain fact suddenly came to mind. Assassins ambushing the Hero's party from within an artificially created fog… It had to be them.
Their individual levels weren't high, but their nature as assassins made them incredibly tricky. Didn't they launch surprise attacks not just during the day, but even when the party was camping? There's a saying that you don't even bother a dog while it's eating, but these scoundrels shamelessly ignored that unwritten rule.
Their main characteristics were their demonic skill with poison, hidden weapons, and traps. As long as we were careful of those things, they were basically welcome sources of experience and miscellaneous items. Right. It was about time for them to show up. I gave my companions a simple warning.
“Everyone, be careful. We might be attacked soon.”
“Attacked? By who?”
“Probably some small fry from the Demon King's Army. There's no way they'd just leave us alone.”
We shouldn't take this lightly. Assassins are skilled in stealth and use all sorts of methods to eliminate their targets. And while I say they're relatively weak, the assassins belonging to the Demon King's Army are well above A-rank.
If they utilized the element of surprise well, they could inflict significant damage even on an S-ranker. If you faced them without knowing the strategy, you'd be completely overwhelmed by their combination of poison and traps, but since I knew how to counter them, there was nothing to worry about.