Chapter 148
Chapter 148
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Ember
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Marquis Alex realized shortly after entering the elf forest that his assumptions were wrong.
He hadn't thought it would be easy.
But he hadn't expected to camp out and venture this deep into the woods.
Fortunately, there weren't many monsters.
At most, just goblins.
"An environment teeming with monsters isn't exactly a great place for elves to live either."
James.
He had hired a veteran elf hunter who boasted of successfully hunting elves three times.
He had come thinking it would be a breeze with their overwhelming forces.
But as they delved deeper into the forest and the nights spent camping piled up day after day, the mage Marquis Alex instinctively sensed that this hunt wouldn't be easy.
On the third day since entering the forest, James halted the troops.
"What's wrong?"
Marquis Alex asked, puzzled by James's actions.
"Going any further is dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
"If we proceed, we'll enter the scouting range of the elf rangers."
"Aren't we here to catch those elves?"
Kyle asked, furrowing his brow.
"Pardon? What kind of reckless talk is that? It's a common mistake made by novice elf hunters."
"What do you mean? Are you saying that even after seeing our forces?"
"Sigh. I know your forces are impressive, my lords. I've never gone elf hunting with such a formidable army."
"Then why?"
"Those bitches never engage head-on. Even if you repel them briefly, the elves will keep multiplying and swarming endlessly. Do you think you can handle elves constantly pouring in from this forest? And elves have their powerhouses too. If they join in..."
Elves lived for long ages.
It didn't make sense that none of them were strong.
".......Then how do we catch elves from here?"
"We'll catch young elves. Of course, 'young' for them still means older than us. Haha."
"Young elves?"
"Don't you know? Young, hot-blooded ones with their recklessness... The kind who go off doing exactly what the adults tell them not to. Elves are no different."
"Are you saying we're supposed to wait here for those adolescent elf brats who might show up anytime?"
"Yes. Of course, staying too long in one spot is dangerous too."
"........."
Marquis Alex wasn't fully convinced, but he decided to heed the words of the experienced man for now.
And soon enough, James's words were proven right.
Within a single day, arrows came flying out of nowhere, piercing the heads of two slave porters and killing them.
"Oh.... In just one day..... We're in luck."
"This.... is the work of those... young elves? Not rangers?"
"If they were elf rangers, an arrow shower would have poured down."
This.... was the recklessness of young elves who didn't know fear.
Most captured elves were like this.
There were two elves firing arrows stealthily.
A few slave porters or soldiers had died because of their prank?
They didn't know there was a 7th-circle mage and a sword master, so they dared such fearless acts.
Marquis Alex used slaves as bait to set a trap.
It was James's idea.
Slave lives versus an elf.
No comparison.
They dug the trap and caught one of the two elves, though regrettably, one escaped.
She was aura user level, but an elf's agility in the forest lived up to its reputation.
They could have caught her if they pursued to the end, but...
James vehemently dissuaded them, so they ultimately let her go.
He mentioned the elf rangers.
The captured elf was a beautiful elf with brown bobbed hair.
"Oh.... I think I get a bit why your brother is so obsessed.... This beauty doesn't fade...."
Kyle stared at the captured elf as if entranced.
"We need to leave the forest quickly. Before the escaped elf brings the rangers. If we delay.... it'll be hard to escape."
James urged them.
"What about a hostage play?"
"Hostages don't work on elves. They've been burned before...."
James said with a wry smile.
Kyle looked like he wanted to catch one more, but Marquis Alex placated him and decided to retreat to Erpu for now.
Seeing the escaped elf made him realize dealing with elves in the forest would be trickier than thought.
The forest was the elves' domain.
Marquis Alex was a mage.
He knew better than anyone the advantages of one's home turf.
As James said, if powerful elves joined, things would get tough.
Marquis Alex pushed for a forced march to exit the forest quickly.
Even so, at the forest's edge, they were ambushed by elf rangers.
Arrows rained from all directions.
In that attack, only nine soldiers survived, and all slave porters were wiped out.
If not for himself, a 7th-circle mage, and his disciples, the soldiers would have been annihilated too.
Fortunately, the pursuit stopped once they left the elf forest.
Yet one elf glared at them with eyes full of resentment until the end, unable to let go.
It was the one of the two elves they had let escape.
From that elf's fierce gaze, he could keenly feel the anger and sorrow of losing a friend due to one mistake.
"Do you think that elf will come?"
Kyle asked.
At Kyle's question, Marquis Alex recalled the elf's eyes brimming with resentment as they exited the forest.
"Didn't you see her eyes? I know that look well. She won't give up. She'll show up before us eventually. And we'll divide the elves one by one as planned."
"But what if she doesn't come...."
Kyle's words carried regret over catching only one elf.
"If she doesn't come.... I'll hand the elf over to you once the experiments are done."
"As expected of the marquis, such magnanimity. Then I'm at ease. Finally, I'll taste an elf. Those humans who have them treat them like treasures.... Pathetic. I might become one myself. Haha."
Marquis Alex recalled the arrows pouring from the forest.
He had seen Kyle charge in rage, but they vanished like ghosts.
It was too obvious they were buying time, so no pursuit.
It was a frustrating series of events where he could only block arrows with shields.
James was right.
They were leagues above the young elves.
Now he understood why elf hunt success rates were so low.
Still, the hunt could be called successful.
A few soldiers died, but they caught an elf cheap.
"She'll probably come once we leave the city?"
"If she has any brains."
"It would be great if she brought more friends...."
"That would be perfect. After getting one-sidedly beaten, I'll show the elves what a prepared mage is capable of."
While resting at the inn, they monitored the elf hunters' movements.
I didn't do it myself; Luna and Ayla had been diligently gathering intel by roaming around.
Their faces grew darker with each passing day as they collected information.
The marquis and the count.
High nobles had arrived.
He wondered why the hunters wore unified attire; it turned out to be knights and private soldiers of House Crowe.
House Crowe was a noble family that wouldn't let a bird fall nowadays.
The second son of that house, Count Kyle, was a sword master.
And Marquis Alex, a 7th-circle mage, with his disciples.
Both held their noble titles earned through ability, without lands.
The incoming intel wasn't good news, so their faces were bound to cloud over.
Then the two, who had been out gathering info, returned with a green-bobbed girl.
He spotted familiar earrings on the girl's pointed ears, concealing them.
She seemed to be an elf too.
"Luna!! Ayla!! Why is a human here?!"
The girl burst into anger upon seeing me the moment she entered the room.
That reaction felt familiar somehow.
Similar to Ayla's when we first met.
Elves seemed more hot-tempered than expected.
Now that he thought about it, maybe Luna and Priscilla were the odd ones, and this was normal?
"Ember... This person isn't human."
Luna calmly replied despite the girl's interrogation.
"R-Really...?"
At Luna's explanation, the flustered green-bobbed girl named Ember stared at me intently with her green eyes.
As if she could learn something by looking....
Then she approached and sniffed me.
Her fresh, grassy scent tickled my nose too.
Suddenly, he felt a prickling gaze.
Ayla was glaring at him with axe-like eyes.
His face must have softened unwittingly.
"Ahem."
At Ayla's gaze, he cleared his throat reflexively.
"I-It really smells different from humans....... S-Sorry...."
The girl, who had been examining me, blushed and bowed her head.
My scent was different from other humans?
News to him.
He was human, though....
Of course, he didn't voice that truth.
Fortunately, his pride in being human wasn't that strong.
He was even willing to endure if they called him an orc.
According to Luna, they had brought her back because she was loitering alone near the mansion where the captured elf was held.
"She was going to charge in alone.... Geez...."
Another elf like Ayla.
He glanced at Ayla unwittingly.
Ayla blushed under his gaze.
"W-Why...?"
And so, one reckless green-bobbed elf girl joined our elf rescue party.