Chapter 143
Chapter 143
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Encounter with Slave Hunters
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After treating them to pork belly, I could feel their guard toward me had eased even further.
And I learned various things about them.
The fact that there were only females among the elves.
Truly a desirable race.
So that's why humans go crazy for them...
They seemed to live for about a thousand years and were born from the Tree of Life.
No one knew the location of the Tree of Life.
Not even the elves themselves.
Elves said that once they left the place, their memories of it gradually faded. Only a faint recollection remained that they had been born there.
It was a question that seemed like common sense in this world, so the way they looked at me changed subtly.
"We should arrive tomorrow."
Priscilla said with a bright smile.
Unfortunately, our companionship was drawing to a close.
I prepared the final camp with them.
"We've only been receiving all this time, so let us treat you this time."
Fire generated from Luna's hand transferred to the firewood.
Looking at her mana pattern, it seemed similar to mine... or maybe like Merlin's.
Thinking it was a good timing, I asked her.
"Were you a mage?"
"Luna is a magic swordsman."
Ayla said proudly.
I had asked Luna, but I didn't know why she was the one boasting... Still, seeing her like that, it was clear that being a magic swordsman wasn't common.
Logically, excelling in both sword and magic was no easy feat.
Priscilla was a spirit user.
Ayla's mana flow was similar to the enhancement-type awakeners from my original world.
"And you?"
"Uh, just a ranger..."
In response to my question, Ayla's voice trailed off shyly. Her appearance with a bow and dagger matched the answer I had roughly expected.
"Ayla is an Aura Expert."
Luna wrapped around her friend, who seemed a bit lacking in confidence.
An Aura Expert meant someone capable of handling sword auras.
Luna could wield both sword and magic.
Priscilla could use the rare spirit arts.
Compared to them, she might seem ordinary, but honestly, being able to manifest mana alone made her a strong ability user.
When I asked Priscilla if I could get a book on magic or spirit arts, she said elf magic and spirit arts could only be learned by elves. And they couldn't be shared with outsiders.
Having learned that I liked meat, Luna had caught a small wild boar and brought it back. With a serious face, she said,
"Humans."
"Humans!?"
Ayla's face twisted as she jumped to her feet.
"They look like slave hunters."
Tension flowed among the elves.
And they glanced at me.
Why were they looking at me...?
"What should we do?"
"Kill them!!"
When I asked, Ayla suddenly switched to savage mode.
Ignoring her, I looked at Priscilla and Luna.
Unlike Ayla, they were calm, but their eyes had sunk heavily.
"Un-ho, I'm sorry. We have to deal with them."
Priscilla's words were more rational than Ayla's, but it amounted to the same thing in the end: killing them.
"Is there a mage among them?"
I asked Luna.
"Yes."
"Can I follow?"
"Th-that's..."
"I won't interfere, so in return, could you spare the mage for a bit? I have business with him."
"......Okay."
Good thing I'd raised their favor with food all this time.
I figured a mage would be knowledgeable, and he might align with my purpose in coming to this world.
I moved with them to where the slave hunters were.
The distance was about ten minutes.
Ten minutes by elf speed, that was. For an ordinary human, it would take an hour through this forest.
In a clearing, the slave hunters were setting up tents and preparing camp.
There looked to be about a dozen or so.
(How do they know they're slave hunters?)
(There's only one reason to bring that many troops all the way here.)
(......)
Being here made them slave hunters?
Meaning there was no other reason to be in this place unless they were?
I decided not to help and just watch quietly.
They hadn't asked for my help, and it didn't seem like they needed it.
The attack began with Ayla.
She quietly hid in the tree branches and loosed an arrow.
The arrow embedded in the head of a man wearing light leather armor.
"Attack!!"
"Elves!!"
They immediately recognized them as elves.
It meant no other beings in this forest could perform such an attack besides elves.
Still, they were trained, quickly forming a defensive formation.
Ayla's fireball then assaulted them.
"Shield."
The staff of the mage in the center glowed, creating a transparent barrier in front.
-Bang!
The fireball was blocked by the shield.
Following up, Luna drew her rapier and charged swiftly.
"Incoming!"
A mercenary swordsman in ornate armor rose with faint aura to block Luna.
-Clang. Clang.
Sparks flew with every clash of blades between Luna and the mercenary.
It was an intriguing sight.
'Sword aura mixed with lightning attribute?'
The man's face twisted during their exchange of blows.
His body noticeably slowed, likely from the electric shock.
"Th-this bitch is a magic swordsman!!"
Leaving desperate last words, his arm was severed by Luna's rapier in an instant, his throat pierced, and he died pathetically.
"Luke!!"
At that moment, a beautiful woman made of water flew in from the forest.
"A-a spirit!!"
The slave hunters' faces turned pale.
The water spirit swept over them.
"Huh?"
Drenched by the spirit's water but unharmed, they looked baffled.
-Crackle.
But soon, their legs froze solid.
Ayla gripped her dagger and mercilessly danced through them.
Her ruthless dagger swiftly slit their throats.
Ayla's eyes gleamed fiercely, just like when we first met.
The slave hunters were cleaned up in an instant by just the three elves.
They must rank among the strong even among elves.
Ayla seemed to have forgotten my words and tried to slit the mage's throat too.
I grabbed her wrist to prevent the mage's death.
She glared at me.
"Snap out of it."
"Huff! Huff!"
Panting roughly, she released the strength in her arm at my words.
The mage, on the brink of life and death, was drenched in cold sweat from terror.
The mage was an ordinary man in his thirties with slightly long brown hair.
"I have questions."
"...Wh-what...?"
He looked up at me with a face drained white.
"Do you know about the Abyss Erosion Labyrinth?"
"Ab-Abyss Erosion Labyrinth... you mean?"
He looked dumbfounded, as if hearing the term for the first time.
He didn't know.
Then I had no more business.
I signaled Ayla. She raised her dagger with cold eyes.
"Ah, I know it!!"
The mage shouted urgently.
"You know it?"
"Y-yes...... Th-that..."
I could guess what he wanted to say.
"If you know, I won't kill you."
Ayla's eyes turned ferocious at my words. She looked ready to explode.
Ayla flinched upon hearing my telepathy and sheathed her dagger.
The mage rolled his eyes for a moment before starting to speak.
Ten years ago.
A dungeon was discovered in a city called Slumber.
The dungeon was so vast it seemed endless. And the monsters inside were far more ferocious and powerful than those outside.
But catching monsters from that dungeon yielded mana stones.
Mana stones that were only mined in tiny amounts from rare mana stone mines dropped every time you caught a monster.
The city's lord rejoiced.
He originally tried to monopolize it, but the monsters were too numerous; far from monopolizing, they overflowed.
Swallowing tears, the lord opened the dungeon to mercenaries and adventurers.
Thus, Slumber became a land of opportunity for mercenaries and adventurers.
It was the natural result, since not only byproducts but mana stones came from the monsters.
Countless mercenaries and adventurers flocked to the city.
Currently, that dungeon was called the gateway to the demon realm.
Or the Slumber Labyrinth.
I wasn't sure if the place this mage was talking about was the Abyss Erosion Labyrinth, but with no other leads right now, this info was like rain in a drought.
Mana stones from monsters—it had decent credibility.
I'd need to gather more info in the city, but if no special leads emerged, it was worth checking out.
"As promised, you're free. Go."
"Th-thank you."
The guy fumbled to grab his bag, which had been his possession.
"Who said you could take that too?"
"Th-that's..."
I glared, and he stood there awkwardly clutching the bag, reluctance dripping from his face.
The fact he made that face meant there were good things inside.
So I couldn't let him take it.
"Looks like you have the leisure to carry that. Wouldn't it be easier without arms?"
"Eek!!"
At my words, he flung the bag down and bolted into the forest.
Once he was out of sight, I said to Ayla,
"My business is done."
At my words, Ayla's figure quietly vanished into the forest where the mage had fled.