Foreigner's Mistake

Book 6: Chapter 71: Shock ~ 11

Led by Bauers, an elf elder, Satoru and others walked into the village.

In the center of the village sits a huge tree of incredible size and height, called the World Tree, and the surrounding area is covered with trees. There are no buildings like you would find in a human town. The elves are friends with the trees, and they live on or in them.

Elder Bauers explained this to Satoru and the others who were looking at them curiously. Unlike human society, the concept of stores does not exist. Some say they don't trust money, but basically they function in a spirit of mutual aid in their village.

They walked to the World Tree, avoiding the popular places. Bauers explained that it was not good for people to be seen in this village, and Satoru agreed with him. They build small societies, maintain their integrity, and live in exclusivity that's how the elves have lived. This is why they made the decision to expel Liz from their village, even though they knew it was heartless. It is understandable, but difficult to comprehend.

Satoru caught a glimpse of a rare sight leaking through the trees. There seemed to be more elves than usual hanging out around the base of the trees.

There are more people - or elves - than I expected. That's a lot.

Satoru had been told that there were 800 elves, but the number of elves he could see seemed quite large for the size of the village itself. Bauers nodded to Satoru, who honestly expressed his doubts.

It seems that a disaster is about to occur outside the forest, so they are temporarily accepting people from neighboring villages.

......ohh

DisasterSatoru thought to himself. Bauers didn't make a clear, but he doesn't think it's enough on a national level to call for the evacuation of these neighboring villages. He had expected this, but perhaps the Academy of the Wise was behind it.

My Lord

(I know.)

Leia seemed to sense this and called he. He doesn't need to be told that.

They called it a disaster and gathered elves in a place only elves can enter this fact is heavy. If Satoru had not been able to find Reine and Liz, he would not have been able to enter this village so easily.

In other words, the Academy of the Wise was just getting in Satoru's way.

It seems that the warning Satoru gave to Sheryl was meaningless. Although they claimed to have no intention of hostility, they were working behind the scenes like this.

After the labyrinth is cleaned up, it will be better to denounce them. And then, as declared, until the Chalk Tower is destroyed....

Let's just get this over with. Hey, take me to the entrance of the labyrinth.

As soon as he reached the base of the world tree and saw a few old elves greeting the Elder, Satoru said so.

No, I thought you might want to recover from your journey first.

I don't need that.

Satoru ignored Bauers' attempt to say something else, and turned to his companions and guide who were following behind him.

Rico, Minerva. You'll be staying behind this time. Please.

Rico gulped and agreed, but Minerva puffed out her cheeks in an obvious manner.

What~? Minerva can't follow you~?

As long as Satoru was with them, there was little chance that Rico or Minerva would be in danger, no matter how dangerous the location. It's just that it's low, but it's not zero. In Satoru's shadow, there are two beings who are of different dimension in terms of strength, the Immortal King Leia and the Magic Doll Solor. While those two were fine, Rico and Minerva were not. Rico was convinced, but Minerva seemed to have a hard time accepting it. Rico pulled Minerva's hand.

Minerva. Don't be too selfish.

But~ ......

Minerva gazed at Satoru with an air of loneliness. Ever since Minerva had become his traveling companion, she had never left his side, except for the morning and evening hunts when she was in flying dragon form. When she was in human form, she was almost always by his side. This is the only time that they have to separatedIts lonely for Minerva.

However, it would not be in Minerva's best interest to be too attached to Satoru. If Minerva gets pregnant as she wishes, what will happen next?

I'll be back soon. Take care of Liz for me.

I will. Minerva, too, right?

Minerva nodded reluctantly at Satoru and Rico's consolation.

Uuhh~ ....... Okay~

However, she could not shake the feeling that she was lonely. Satoru had no choice but to give Minerva a kiss on the cheek.

Thanks for that.

Of course, Satoru give Rico a kiss as well. It would be unfair to kiss only one of them and not the other.

As a matter of fact, Minerva fell out of phase with that simple act.

Take care

Bauers sighed deeply as he watched the exchange from the corner of his eye. He had no choice but to call his own granddaughter to show Rico, Minerva, and Liz around.

Please come this way.

After seeing the three off, Satoru looked at Bauers meaningfully. But Bauers didn't seem to be trying to say anything in particular. He only made eye contact with the old elves who greeted him, but did not say anything special.

Honestly, Satoru could not read what the old elf was thinking. From his interactions with the younger elves, he could tell that Bauers was not so much discriminated against as he was bitter about it. As the one who manages the entire village, he had no choice but to eliminate any outsiders who might disrupt the balance. It may have been the right thing to do as the leader of the entire village, but the choice to expel Liz and Reine must have been a hard decision for him to make, and Satoru can imagine that from the exchanges they've had so far.

However, Bauers himself is an elf. Satoru had been told by Sheryl that elves have a lot of pride, so he honestly didn't expect Bauers to be so condescending.

It was a surprise to Satoru that Bauers asked him to defeat the Demon that they could not defeat, He might be reasonable enough to be civil, but he would not go so far as to humble himself to a human being, even though Satoru imagined he would.

It was true that Satoru had cleared the Labyrinth of No Return

It is a strict fact, but at the stage when Bauers first mentioned defeating the demon, that was just talk. It would have been normal to think it was a lie, as Dietta did, but Satoru did not. Although he had shown his disbelief, he had accepted it honestly.

He can understand if you can see the strength of your opponent, as the patrols of the Academy of the Wise did. However, Satoru had dealt with this Elder without a moment's hesitation, and there was no sign that Bauers had used any of the covert-type arts that Sheryl had used. He only used wind magic to save the young man who had been struck by Satoru and flown high into the sky.

In other words, Bauers believed in Satoru's strength based on his story alone, and stopped the outbursts of the young people many times. As the head of the village, he could not have made such a rash decision. It is possible to speculate that there was some other reason to know about Satoru's strength. The fact that he has accepted the temporary evacuation of the elves around the forest. He is indeed a cunning old man, and Satoru doesn't think he will let he catch his tail easily, but Satoru is not going to let his guard down in the slightest.

Bauers walks without hesitation through the large hollow of the World Tree. The World Tree is still quite large, since a person can walk through it like this. Despite the lack of light in the terrain, the tree was faintly bright, probably due to some kind of magic. They walked for a while and stopped in front of a hollow that was enshrined like a simple altar. The entrance to the cave itself was covered with a wooden lid, so it was impossible to see inside.

Ingolshenes uses this pit to receives offerings. Perhaps we can get close to its roost.

Hoo....Satoru amazed. It seems that this pit is not the official entrance to the labyrinth. It would be easier if he could take some shortcuts.

If it'd just come at the demons directly, I'll take this shortcut. [TLN sorry bit hard to translate this line ]

He take off the lid and took a quick peek inside. The pit is darker than ever, and the bottom seems to be quite deep. Heavy air was coming from deep inside. The size of the pit was about ten feet (three meters). Satoru would have no problem jumping down.

About a hundred years ago, there was a group of people who jumped from this pit. On that occasion, the Demon directly intercepted them.

Satoru immediately put his foot on the entrance of the pit and looked back at Bauers.

What happened to that group?

They were wiped out, leaving me alone. This left arm of mine is also at that time. Ingolshenes was so enraged that we had to sacrifice a girl every year for 50 years to appease its wrath.

I see.

Bauers had also fought directly against the Demon Ingolshenes, and had been beaten to a pulp. The missing left arm was ripped off during the battle, and Ingolshenes let the foolish elf live as an example. He had gathered the most skilled elves of all time to challenge this labyrinth, but the result was a disastrous defeat, and to add insult to injury, they had to sacrifice an elf girl every year, whose birthrate was low.

He think it's a bit rash to say, "Let's leave it to humans to kill the demon".

Even now, we must offer a girl as an offering every ten years. If you could eliminate these demon, we would be relieved of those hardships, but ......

You're right to be concerned, though. It's unnecessary.

Satoru won't reveal this to the Elder, but if what Solor reported about the size of Ingolshenes' soul is true, Satoru doesn't think for a minute that he will lose. Surely he can do something to exterminate an evil demon that would accept a girl as a sacrifice.

Rico was relieved at Liz's reaction. There is a magic tool called a calling stone, but it is not common, and even if it were sold, it would be very expensive. If it were the size of a ring, the price would be a staggering amount. It seems that Liz did not have such an education, so she can simply use a very useful tool.

Liz?

Y-yes

The communication hadn't finished yet, and Satoru seemed to have heard Liz's voice. Liz reacts with a strange look on her face.

If the elves harass you in any way, or make you put up with anything, tell Rico.

Apparently, Satoru has a soft spot for Liz.

In her mind, Rico blurted out something small. To be honest, she was not satisfied. After all, the fact that she looked like his sister must have made him so.

However, it is not acceptable for a magical slave to distrust the Lord. As long as the Lord has asked them to do so, both Rico and Minerva are willing to risk their lives to protect Liz, regardless of their dissatisfaction.

All right........U-uhm

Hmm?

Please be careful. I'll be waiting for your return.

Yeah, There was a slight pause in his response, and Rico sighed. Satoru probably had mixed feelings about this. In any case, he was told by a girl who looked like his sister in the original world that she was waiting for him to return. I wonder if he felt as if his sister in the original world had told him so.

In any case, Rico was supposed to stay with Liz until they get out of this forest. Satoru will take care of the demon, pick up Reine, and once we're out of here, we're done with Liz - Rico tells herself that. But on the other hand, she also have a feeling that it will not be enough.

Of course. I promised you. I promise I'll come back safely.

Danna-sama will be fine. Because he's very strong.

Minerva laughed. Minerva's trust in Satoru is absolute. This is the reason why Rico thinks that Rico can't beat Minerva. Rico is a bit of a worrier, but Minerva has none of that. If Satoru were to say that he was going to split the heavens and the earth, she would probably just say, "Oh, really?" If Rico could behave a little more honestly like Minerva, Satoru would love her more, she thought without hesitation.

Minerva, be careful, too.

Minerva is fine. Minerva has a good nose, so Minerva can tell if she's been poisoned.

Minerva's words were so simple, but they were so horrible that Liz gulped. It's hard to believe that a proud and honorable elf would do such a despicable thing, but Minerva is sensitive to such things. Minerva's nose is a little dulled by Rico's menstrual blood on the third day of her period, but Minerva should still be able to detect the poison. Rico gave a small bitter smile.

I don't think they'll go that far, though. I'll try to be careful too.

I'm sure you will. Also, Rico. You should listen to what the Elder have to say.

Rico was happy to be instructed to do so by name. It made her feel that she was being useful.

Minerva once lamented the fact that she was not useful in the labyrinth before, and it was the same with Rico. In the town, there are many elements that can be useful, such as information gathering, shopping, and connections to guilds, but once you leave the town, Rico has few advantages. Satoru gave Rico a lot of credit for clearing the Labyrinth of No Return, but she wanted to be even more useful so that Satoru would not want to let her go.

Information gathering?

Well, that's about it. I don't care what they're thinking at this point. Unless they're messing with me, you, Liz, and Reine-san.

Satoru also seemed to predict that there was something going on in the village of the elves, including the Elder. However, Rico was confused for a moment when she was also told that she could ignore it.

Huh?

I think it has something to do with the Academy of the Wise and the whereabouts of Yarth. This region seems miss. You know, there's some information that only elves have.

Oh, that's right.

Speaking of which. If this region is miss, they will have to move in search of Yarth's whereabouts. Rico hadn't heard directly, but she had heard that the Academy of the Wise had no idea where Yarth was. If so, there was no advantage to staying in this region.

Rico noticed that Liz looked a little sad. It seemed that she, too, was finding it difficult to separated with Satoru. But she didn't think it would be good for Satoru to take her with him. Even Rico was so reluctant.

Also. If you're going to gather information in the village, do it with boldly.

Boldly?

Yes. There are hardly any humans in the village anyway, so no matter what you do, you will stand out. Then you'd better be boldly.

There is no such word as "Boldly" in thief Rico's dictionary. But as Satoru said, even if you sneak around gathering information, you'll stand out just by being human, so there's no point in sneaking around.

Understood. Take care, Satoru.

Okay. I'll see you later.

Rico breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the art of Communication cut off.

At the same time, Rico felt Satoru's trust in her, which made her happy and made her smile unconsciously. For Satoru, it's not only herself and Minerva, but Satoru also considers Liz as something he doesn't want to lose. Of course, it was dangerous to be in the labyrinth, but Satoru trusted Liz to Rico and Minerva - proof that Satoru trusted Rico and Minerva.

Satoru also entrusted Rico with gathering information in places that were out of his reach.

I want to live up to Satoru's trust.

These words were swirling around in Rico's head.

Fortunately, there was only a piece of cloth separating the passage from the room they were in. If you look closely, you can see that it has a lid, but there is nothing to hide at this point. Rico listened to the sound of people talking from the passageway.

You're back.

Rico heard a voice saying "Elder," which meant that the person she was looking for had sent Satoru to the entrance of the labyrinth and had returned. Rico sat up. Minerva, who was stretching out her legs, looked at Rico.

Rico, are you going somewhere?

Mm, I'm going to the Elder.

Then Minerva will go with you.

Minerva straightened her legs and stood up.

Eh?

Rico was surprised at Minerva's unexpected comment. Rico was going to ask Minerva to stay here and protect Liz. Minerva smiled at Rico.

Minerva should not leave either Rico or Danna-sama. That's what Minerva has been told before. And if something happens to Rico, it is Minerva's role to protect you.

......Thank you

Minerva trusts Rico just as much as she trusts Satoru.

Rico realized this and found her tear glands unintentionally loosening. She hurried to hide her face, but she was sure that Minerva knew.

Minerva had taken care by Rico in many ways since she had become a human. Minerva knew that Rico had taken good care of her, instructing her in a way that was easy to understand and polite to Minerva, who did not know the common sense of humans. Rico was basically kind to her, but also scolded her at times, and Minerva really liked her.

When entering the town of Reyeld, on the way to Ares from thereEver since Rico realized that she was properly concerned about Minerva and took care of her, despite everything, Minerva knew that Rico was also someone to be protected.

Ever since Rico had been kicked out of Galhassan and moved in with Satoru, Rico had been working very hard. She felt that her hard work had been duly rewarded, and she was happy - which is why she burst into tears.

The relationship between the two was not clear to Liz. But she could tell that they had nurtured a bond in their own way. She felt that she should not become a burden to them.

Riko-san, I'll be fine. I've always been in this village. As Arne said earlier, we are good friends.

Rico's eyes widened at Liz's offer. As Rico had thought in their previous conversations, Liz is quite intelligent. If Rico and Minerva were to leave this place, even for a little while, it would mean that Liz would be alone. Liz knew that Rico was thinking that it would be a bad idea to leave Liz alone when she was told not to. Originally, this was Liz's home village. She had many acquaintances here. And now that the radical Dietta has collapsed, there is no one who would want to go to the trouble of finding Liz and messing with her.

Rico also smiled at her, sensing her concern. Somewhere in Rico's heart, she felt ashamed of herself for thinking that Liz was an enemy who would steal Satoru's heart.

All right, I'm sorry, Liz. Please take care this place.

Sure

She smiled back at Rico.