The Stranger's Name
For a long while after hearing the name of that unlucky-looking adventurer swordsman, Orobas of the Four Heavenly Kings was left so speechless he couldn't string two words together.
Just to be sure, he asked again.
"Is... is your name really Eric?"
"....."
The swordsman gave no answer, but he nodded, confirming that what he'd said was true.
Hearing the name Eric, Orobas had of course thought of the Hero Eric—but the idea that the Hero would be trapped in a dungeon like this, looking half-dead, seemed so far-fetched that he decided it must be someone else with the same name.
"What were you doing here?"
".... We... we came on a commission..."
"And the rest of your party?"
"....."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a woman emerged from a crack in one of the walls, supporting another woman as she dragged her out. Their appearance was already closer to beggars than anything else—so wretched it was hard to tell whether they were an adventurer party or a pack of beggars.
"You want to get out of this dungeon safely, don't you?"
"..... Yes."
Having already decided to spare them, Orobas seemed to have a clever idea. One corner of his mouth curled up as he smiled.
"Hmm... If you crawl between my legs, I think I could let all three of you leave this place unharmed..."
"....!!"
Now that things had come to this, Orobas wanted to vent the humiliation he'd suffered at the hands of the elf Lowell of the Hero's party on these people, if only for a bit of stress relief. Even if none of them was an elf like Lowell, watching humans on the same side crawl between his legs ought to give him some sense of accomplishment and a little consolation...
"Well... if you don't like it, you can just die here?"
Was it because those who wielded swords had such fierce pride? When the adventurer swordsman didn't answer readily, Orobas was about to turn his back and ignore them, whether they died here or not—
".... Hah... I'll do it."
"What?"
"I... I'll do it! So please, just spare our lives."
He answered in a loud voice, then suddenly dropped to his knees, planted both hands on the floor, and prepared to crawl at any moment. Seeing this, the two human women sobbed and turned their heads away, as if they couldn't bear to watch.
The swordsman's hands, pressed flat against the floor, trembled violently—whether from fear of meeting one of the Four Heavenly Kings or from rage at the humiliation, it was hard to say—but the backs of his hands were wet with what looked like tears.
One step... then another...
The adventurer swordsman crawled between the legs of Orobas of the Four Heavenly Kings, tears of resentment flowing even harder, but whether from long starvation and exhaustion, the moment he emerged on the other side he collapsed to the floor as if he'd fainted.
Watching this, Orobas of the Four Heavenly Kings seemed to think he might have gone a bit too far. He hoisted the unconscious adventurer swordsman onto his shoulder and turned toward the upper floors.
"Hey... what are you doing? Aren't you going to get up?"
The two women of the same party, who had been watching the swordsman faint, were simply sitting on the floor, clinging to each other and crying. Unable to stand it, Orobas of the Four Heavenly Kings dropped his voice and called them to their feet.
"I'll take you as far as the first floor. After that, you carry this guy out yourselves. Don't die stupidly inside the dungeon. Cleaning up corpses is a pain."
"What?"
The two women didn't understand why someone who looked like an officer of the Demon King's army would go so far as to escort them to the first floor of the dungeon, but with their food already completely gone, staying behind meant only death. So they rose and followed him.
"I'm letting you live and sending you out, so once you're outside, tell the other adventurers. Don't even think about approaching this Kubera Dungeon. If anyone shows up after this, this Orobas of the Four Heavenly Kings won't let them off easy. Make sure you pass that along clearly."
"Y-yes.... Yes!!!!? F-F-Four Heavenly Kings...!?"
"What? You mean you didn't even know who I was? You've never heard of Orobas of the Four Heavenly Kings, so dearly beloved by the Demon King himself?"
Orobas of the Four Heavenly Kings wanted to snap at these adventurers who still hadn't recognized him, but the two women looked so terrified that he simply kept walking.
"Count yourselves lucky today. On any other day, you'd already be dead. Got it?"
The two women watched the back of Orobas of the Four Heavenly Kings as he led them toward the first floor. They were afraid, but at the same time they were grateful to have been mistaken for a simple adventurer party and shown this kindness. If he had known they were the Hero's party rather than an adventurer party, there was no telling what Orobas would have done—and even imagining it made the two women shudder.
Perhaps because of the Four Heavenly King leading them from the front, not a single monster approached them on the way from the third floor of the dungeon to the first, and so they reached the area near the first-floor entrance sooner than expected.
"Heh... Looks like humans came swarming in to rescue you, calling themselves your comrades."
When Orobas came up to the first floor and saw traces of humans who seemed to have camped there until moments ago, he made that remark. The two women, hearing his voice that was simply meant to be amicable, kept startling and twitching their shoulders.
"Well, this should be far enough for you to manage on your own, right?"
Sensing that there were humans outside the dungeon entrance, Orobas dumped the swordsman he'd been carrying over his shoulder onto the floor and approached the two women following behind him.
"When you get out, make sure you tell your comrades clearly. If they set foot in this Kubera Dungeon even one more time, I'll kill them without mercy. Understood?"
"Y-yes... Yes!"
Having received their firm answer, Orobas of the Four Heavenly Kings turned to head back downstairs. He vanished into the darkness and disappeared from their sight, but after walking a short distance he stopped and looked back once more, lost in thought.
Come to think of it... the Hero's party was also said to be a three-person setup.... Nah... no way.
Not long after leaving the Leoba Kingdom and crossing into the empire's borders, we arrived at the villa where the eighty-eight elves would stay, and cries of wonder erupted from every direction.
"Woooow..."
"We're staying here?"
The place was less a villa than something closer to a grand mansion or a palace. As magnificent and splendid as the building itself was, the natural scenery stretching out behind it was just as breathtaking.
Surrounded by green mountain ranges, yet with white snow like clouds settled on the peaks, and below that a vast lake fed by melting snow.
To these eighty-eight elves who had left the Elven Forest and come out into the human world, it was nothing short of paradise. Already, several elves were racing across the wide lawn, rolling around and playing.
"Godmother, what do you think?"
What did I think?
Even ordinary elves were going wild with delight. For a High Elf like me, there was hardly any need to ask. High Elves are far more sensitive to the natural environment than regular elves. In a pure place, we feel almost intoxicated with well-being, while in heavily polluted areas the adverse effects hit just as hard—our moods sour and our condition suffers more often than not.
"It's wonderful. The view is beautiful, and it's so clean..."
"I've already sent someone to check on the situation at the Imperial Palace, so rest here for a few days, then we'll set out together."
Honestly, I was exhausted too. The long journey from the Moncrito Kingdom all the way here by carriage had left me so worn that even the sound of carriage wheels rolling now seemed enough to give me a headache. I didn't know if Alex was being considerate of me or not, but if we'd gone straight to the Imperial Palace without resting and ended up under investigation, I might have wiped out the Demon King and the Goddess alike.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"Ah... not at all. If you wish, Godmother, I can speak to my father later and have this villa given to you."
"No, that's all right. You don't need to go that far. Besides, I don't even know how long I'll be staying here..."
The villa really was so beautiful and fine that I could almost want to settle here for good. But I still hadn't received any response from the Goddess, I might have to defeat the Demon King, and someday I might have to return to the world I originally came from... I didn't want to form too deep an attachment to this place.
"Th-then later, after we defeat the Demon King... when everything is over... where will you go, Godmother? Will you return to the Elven Kingdom?"
"Well. I don't think I'll be in this world, probably."
"What?"
The words slipped out of me before I could stop them. Alex startled and immediately asked me again, and only then did I realize my mistake and hastily correct myself.
"Ah, I mean I don't think I'll be in the human world. I'll probably return to the Elven Kingdom, right?"
"Ah... yes..."
"Why?"
"Ah... it's nothing.."
Alex looked like he wanted to say something, but when I asked again he finally gave up and closed his mouth. Curiosity pricked at me and I wanted to press him further, but he hurried away before I could.
The next day, I tried to spend a long-overdue vacation here, just as Alex had said, and shake off all the fatigue of the journey so far—but things didn't go as planned...
"Lady Lowell, please instruct us!"
Among the eighty-eight elves, Cariel stepped forward as their representative, going so far as to kneel before me as she made her request. It seemed they were determined to move with me from now on... From my perspective, it was nothing but a nuisance. I could handle the Demon King and his Four Heavenly Kings perfectly well on my own. I had no desire to drag them along and look after them. But I couldn't exactly say it to their faces... that they were dead weight and shouldn't follow me...
"Please instruct us so that we will never become a burden to you, Lady Lowell!"
For a moment I was startled, as if Cariel had read my thoughts—but when I looked into her eyes, they burned with the intensity of someone ready to take down the Demon King single-handedly.
"All right. But if it gets too hard, or if you decide it's not for you, return to the Elven Kingdom whenever you want."
"Yes!!"