The Elf Bride

Unfortunately, the sunny skies of the previous day had given way to a thick cloud cover.

We left the town early and followed the road west, using Dimensional Step to teleport

over the mountains. We soon found ourselves atop a small hill, a vast sea on the other

side. The water reflected the dark gray of the clouds above, giving it a rather ominous

appearance. Nevertheless, the change in scenery lifted my spirits a bit.

"Well, we finally made it to the sea."

I put my hands on my waist and let out a loud breath. Above my head, Ponta caught a

gust of wind blowing off the water and floated up into the sky for a better view.

I looked over my shoulder to find a still-ashen-faced Ariane trying to maintain her

balance.

"Are you still feeling ill, Ariane?"

She wobbled over and sat on a nearby rock before popping the cork from her water

skin and taking a long gulp.

"I'm feeling a lot better, thanks to your detoxify spell. I appreciate it."

She claimed to have forgotten much of what had happened the night before, retaining

only a few fuzzy memories of the events and no recollection of what she'd said. With

no idea whether it might work on a hangover, I'd decided to try one of my Monk class

detoxify spells on her. Apparently, it had been successful.

I gazed at the endless expanse of blue that lay before us. Ariane walked over to join

me. She spoke quietly, her eyes crinkling in a smile.

"This is the first time I've ever seen the ocean on this side of the continent."

She pulled down her hood, letting the sea breeze blow back her hair. The fresh air

seemed to do her some good—she was already looking a lot better.

I turned my gaze north.

"So, now all we need to do is follow the coastline, I suppose."

The only problem was, now that we were on the far side of the mountains and back

on the road, we'd have to contend with the occasional traveler. Once again, we

wouldn't be able to use Dimensional Step however we pleased.

We stepped off the road and, after making sure there was no one watching, started

teleporting alongside it. Moving away from the road slowed our pace a bit, but it was

still far faster than walking.

However, going out of our way to keep out of sight also increased our chances of

running into other people trying to keep out of sight. As we walked down a hill through

some shrubs and wild grass to get to a better teleportation spot, we ran across a large

group of people. Or, rather, a small group surrounded by a much larger group, both in

defensive stances with weapons drawn.

The group in the center consisted of five well-groomed young men, all outfitted in high

quality leather and metal armor, probably mercenaries. They were each armed with a

shield and a sword, which they used to keep the men circling them at bay.

The eleven men surrounding these mercenaries, however, looked like a much more

rough-and-tumble crowd, dressed in leather armor and tattered cloaks. Judging by

their style of dress and the way they were acting, they could have been an older group

of mercenaries intimidating a bunch of newly minted ones. But the sinister grins on

their faces, and the way they sized up their opponents, suggested they might be

bandits.

Mercenaries or bandits, I supposed it made little difference.

I glanced over at Ariane, asking her the unspoken question. Should we get involved, or

just move on?

I could see another hilltop on the far side of the road, so it would be no problem to

teleport away as if we'd seen nothing. But it pained me to ignore those in need. I'd

have dived right in without a second thought if these men had been intimidating

women or children, but when men squared off against each other, it was harder to

summon up such sympathy.

I decided on a compromise. I picked Ponta up by the scruff of the neck and handed it

to Ariane.

"Kyi?"

Ariane smiled, wrapping Ponta in a tight embrace. The smile widened across her face

as she brushed its head and neck.

I set my bag down. "I'll be right back."

I jogged down the hill toward the group of men and called out to them, trying to sound

as bright and sunny as I could.

"Well, hey there! I hate to bother you, but I was wondering if I could ask for some

directions."

All the men's heads swiveled to looked at me. One of the men in the outer circle

immediately started yelling.

"Oy! Are ya here to join yer friends?!"

Before he'd even finished, two of his comrades broke away from the circle and began

running toward me, swords in hand. The blades didn't look particularly sharp. I didn't

even bother to pull out my shield and simply blocked them with my gauntlets. The

mythical-class Belenus Holy Armor was truly impressive and could easily absorb

blows like these. I didn't feel even a twinge of pain.

Looks of surprise washed over the men's faces as their blades bounced away futilely.

Their surprise turned to anger as my cloak billowed out, revealing the armor

underneath.

"Whoa, he's fully armored?!"

One of the men began moving around me, looking for a place to strike. I grabbed his

blade and squeezed, crushing it into a useless lump of metal.

"Aaaaugh! My sword!"

My fist caught his chin, dropping him to the ground where he stood, his eyes rolling

back into his head.

"Damn you!"

The other man spat angry epithets as he searched for an opening, lunging in to stab

my neck. I seized his sword and pulled him toward me, headbutting him. Blood

erupted from the man's face as he doubled over on the ground, groaning.

Even though they'd gone down easy, the fact that they'd both changed their method of

attack so quickly told me I was dealing with an experienced group.

I let out a dramatic sigh as I looked down at the two men at my feet.

"I was hoping to handle this amicably, but it looks like you're not going to leave me any

choice…"

I looked back up to find the older mercenaries attacking the younger ones. The latter

stood back to back, swords and shields in hand, as they fended off the onslaught.

They may have been young, but they were certainly talented.

The men surrounding them began panicking as their prey fought back harder than

they'd anticipated, though it was clear that the men in the middle couldn't hold out

forever. It was like watching a game of chicken: Who would blink first?

I called out again.

"I hate to bother you, but is no one interested in fighting me?"

Once again, all eyes turned toward me.

The older men exchanged glances, uncertain of what to do about me. The young men,

however, took advantage of the moment and redoubled their efforts.

One man's finger was severed, causing him to drop his sword. Another was knocked

to the ground by a shield. A third was stabbed in the eye.

The attackers were definitely talented, despite their age. In response, they moved as

one, like a well-trained mercenary unit. Still, of the eleven men originally forming the

circle, four were out of the fight entirely, and a fifth—the man who'd lost a finger—

didn't seem too keen on sticking around. Now that the numbers were no longer in

their favor, the attackers began drawing away.

The young mercenaries, however, weren't about to let this opening go. They launched

themselves at the remaining men, each picking a single opponent. The one man lucky

enough to not be targeted immediately tried to turn tail and flee.

His luck, however, was about to run out.

"Alas, you cannot escape."

The man found me squarely in his path, arms outstretched, blocking his exit. He

stopped in his tracks, a frightened look on his face as he took in the massive two-meter

knight standing in front of him. He changed direction in an attempt to duck past me,

but I easily pivoted back in front of him.

"Alas, you still cannot escape."

The man's expression changed from fear to dread. He probably felt like I did any time

a random encounter in an RPG found me suddenly facing off against an impossibly

powerful enemy. There was nothing worse than being unable to escape from a battle

I knew I could never win, especially when I had only myself to blame for forgetting to

save right before.

"But there's no saving in real life!"

In situations like this, people were usually limited to one of two choices: fight or flight.

This man made the wrong choice.

"Get outta the waaaaay!"

He swung his blade wildly as he lunged at me. I easily dodged this straightforward

attack, which came more from a place of desperation than actual skill. I thrust my fist

into his chin, sending him sprawling back onto the ground.

I turned my attention back to the young mercenaries, where the last of their

opponents was throwing down his sword and surrendering. The fallen mercenaries—

or bandits, or whatever they were—glared at me as they were tied up.

One of the young men walked over and took a knee in front of me, bowing his head

and offering his thanks.

"Sir Knight, I would like to offer you my sincerest appreciation for coming to our aid.

Thanks to you, we were able to apprehend these bandits."

So, they were bandits after all.

"There is no need. I am but a simple mercenary."

The man looked up at me in surprise, his eyes taking in my armor. He glanced up the

hill at Ariane. After a moment, he nodded to himself and stood back up.

"I see. Ah, excuse my manners. I am Axe, the leader of this troop. Thank you again for

your assistance."

Judging his polite manner, it seemed like he thought I was some sort of noble trying to

conceal my identity. He may have been young, but he clearly had a proper upbringing.

"Apologies for my insolence, but would you allow us to keep these men here? Of

course, I'd be more than happy to offer you a reward."

"We were simply passing through. We have no intention of taking what is yours."

Axe looked surprised at this. "A-are you sure? Someone would almost certainly buy

them for a tidy sum at the Nohzan slave market in Lamburt."

That was no doubt true. In addition to beastmen and elves, any slave market would

probably deal in criminals as well. Tax cheats probably also filled their stalls.

"Hm, and this Nohzan you speak of, they'll buy all of these bandits?"

Axe looked out over the ocean. "Nohzan is actually the name of a kingdom on the far

side of the Gulf of Bulgoh. The slave markets there have recently been sending ships

to Lamburt and buying up criminals en masse."

I had to imagine that anyone buying enslaved criminals in bulk would have a hard time

selling them. Most people wouldn't want one in their home. My guess was that the

country was carrying out some sort of public works project—like land development,

or large-scale mining—and needed a lot of manual labor. I had no idea what a criminal

went for on the slave market, but it couldn't be all that much.

"We'll be fine, thank you."

I turned to take my leave.

"Thank you again!"

I waved over my shoulder as I made my way back to Ariane, who was busy playing

with Ponta at the top of the hill. I found them nose to nose, staring into each other's

eyes.

"Sorry for the hold up, Miss Ariane. Let's get going."

Ariane stood up, cradling Ponta in her arms.

"Bandits?"

"Seems so."

I picked up my bag and resumed the trek toward Lamburt. The cloud cover had grown

thicker, and the sky was starting to darken.

"Hmm, looks like it might rain."

"We should probably look for an inn as soon as we get to Lamburt."

After multiple jumps using Dimensional Step, we finally caught sight of a sprawling,

seaside town. It was surrounded by two massive waterways connected to the gulf. I

spied several small paddleboats moving about. The walls around the town were only

around five meters tall, rather short compared to what I'd seen elsewhere.

The town also boasted a huge port, where countless ships were docked. Even from

here, I could see many boats coming and going. I did note, though, that most of them

were small- to mid-sized, with very few large ships in sight.

The reddish-brown roofs of the town contrasted starkly with the green fields

stretching across the surrounding hills and the expanse of blue ocean beyond. Sadly,

the dark skies dulled the town's bright colors, detracting from the dynamic scene.

The closer we got to Lamburt, the more people we began seeing.

We soon found ourselves in a long, snaking line leading to the town's southern

entrance. We followed it at a slow, even pace across a large stone bridge and up to the

gate, where we paid a fee and entered the town.

The wind carried with it the sounds of people and carts bustling through the streets.

The stone buildings throughout looked clean, as if they'd been rather recently built,

though the alleys seemed to cut through them at random, giving the town a somewhat

disorderly feel.

Down one alley, I caught sight of many people in tattered clothes sitting on the ground.

It seemed like there was a pretty large disparity between the rich and the poor here,

and that created the possibility of strife.

After proceeding down the main thoroughfare for a ways, we came across several

large buildings facing the town square, with various stalls out front. One of the

buildings' doors had been left open, and a constant stream of people flowed in and

out. Inside, I could see row upon row of shops, with customers milling about,

inspecting goods. It appeared to be some sort of fixed market, like a department store,

making it different from the other markets I'd seen so far, but it was instantly familiar

to me.

Ponta squirmed in Ariane's arms and started sniffing the air as all manner of exciting

smells wafted our way.

"Shall we take a look around?"

Ariane nodded.

A large, middle-aged man's voice cut through the crowd, clapping his hands together

and trying to draw in customers. It looked like he was selling some sort of juice

squeezed from an orange-colored fruit, though the liquid itself was a dark red.

"Excuse me, sir. I'll take two."

"Thank ya kindly! That'll be two sek."

The shopkeeper offered us a warm smile and grabbed several fruits, tossing them onto

a cutting board.

"Two silver coins? That's pretty expensive."

"Not at all, Sir Knight! If you return the cups, I refund half the price."

After cutting the fruit in half, he put a wooden cup under the juicer and began pressing

down.

So, the cup was included in the price?

"If I may ask, do you know the way to the local noble's estate?"

"Hmm, well, you'll want to take the road running in front of the market past the first

waterway. That'll get ya there."

The man put a piece of straw—which I assumed we were meant to drink through—

into each juice-filled cup and handed them over. I paid him.

"Are you here to meet the lord's new bride?"

I tilted my head to the side. "New bride?"

This seemed to take the shopkeeper by surprise. "Oh? Haven't you heard? The lord

took some elf to be his wife…"

Ariane and I exchanged a knowing look. Her eyes went wide, and her hood almost

slipped off her head. She hurried to pull it back down.

"We haven't heard. Could you tell us more?"

The man crossed his arms. "I, umm, of course. About a month ago, I think, the lord

invited all the local nobles together for a wedding ceremony. I only caught a glimpse

of the bridal carriage as it rolled by, but the elf inside was quite fetching."

Ariane interrupted the wistful man. "Was she wearing anything around her neck? A

metal collar perhaps?"

She was referring to the so-called mana-eater collars, items that prevented the wearer

from using magical abilities, which was particularly disastrous for elves. Every

enslaved elf we'd found had been wearing one.

The shopkeeper shook his head. "Hmm, nope. I didn't see anything like that. Her hair

was done up real pretty though."

I caught Ariane's eye. She seemed to be completely at a loss as to what was going on

here.

Personally, I wasn't confused. If this lord had invited other members of the nobility to

his wedding, an unadorned metal collar might have raised suspicion. The way I saw it,

there were two possible explanations: either he had some other way to keep the elven

woman under his control, or she'd decided to marry him of her own volition.

"Was the groom named Lundes du Lamburt, by chance?" That was one of the names

written on the elf purchase contracts.

"No, Lundes was the previous lord of Lamburt. This was Petros, his son."

"Lamburt is under new leadership?"

"That's right. It happened about a month ago."

Ariane and I exchanged another look.

***

After asking some of the other marketgoers about the marriage and receiving similar

information, we made our way to a corner of the square where I handed one of the

cups of juice to Ariane. She took it and put her mouth to the straw. I followed suit,

sliding the straw through the gap in my helmet. My mouth filled with lukewarm liquid.

It had the sweetness of orange juice, though it was slightly more acidic. The hay straw

was pretty convenient. It was nice to be able to drink something without taking off my

helmet.

"Do you think what they said is true?"

Ariane held her cup in one hand and Ponta in the other. The spirit creature was

desperately trying to get at the cup, but Ariane kept a firm grip on both of them.

"If it is, then the most likely explanation is that Lundes du Lamburt bought an elf and

that elf became Petros du Lamburt's wife."

The question was whether she'd been forced into the marriage.

"I find it hard to imagine Petros going out of his way to invite the nobility to a wedding

with a slave, since it's illegal to enslave elves here."

But if she had been forced into it, then there was another possibility…

"Are mana-eater collars still effective if they're placed around an ankle or some other

part of the body?"

If so, that would have allowed Petros to hold a public wedding without revealing his

secret.

However, Ariane shook her head. "They really aren't that useful unless they're around

the neck."

"Hmm. Then it seems less likely that she was forced."

Ariane shot me a look, but she said nothing, sipping at her juice in silence instead.

Something about her eyes told me she felt uneasy. I understood of course. We'd come

all this way to rescue a kidnapped elf, and now it sounded like she'd married the son

of the man who'd bought her.

But trying to guess the truth of the matter wasn't a productive use of our time. It'd be

better to talk to the people involved directly. The way I saw it, there were two ways to

make that happen.

We could do what we always did and sneak into the estate, find the elf, and talk with

her. Or, we could go through official channels and ask for an audience with her.

Even if she had married Petros of her own free will, it was unlikely she'd flat-out refuse

to meet with an elven messenger. Rather, it'd be a pretty clear indication that

something was wrong if she did.

I offered both options to Ariane. "What would you like to do?"

She closed her eyes, thinking it over. Up until recently, she would have chosen the first

option without a second thought. However, I had the feeling that our recent meeting

with Carcy was pushing her to at least consider the second option.

Despite being an elf, Carcy not only lived in a human town, but he was even accepted

by many of the humans around him. I could only imagine what a shock that must have

been to Ariane's worldview.

She opened her golden eyes. "We'll go to the estate, and I'll request an audience as a

messenger."

"In that case, I suppose I'll pose as your bodyguard again?"

Despite the gravity of the situation, a grin teased at the corners of Ariane's mouth.

Once we'd finished drinking, I took our cups and began making my way back to the

shop to return them. Just then, a loud yell erupted from somewhere in the middle of

the busy square. I turned toward the noise to see a burly, middle-aged man arguing

with a mother and her two children. The people around them backed away, apparently

not wanting to get involved in the argument.

"It takes a lotta guts for trash like you to come here and start stealin' from people!"

The man sent spittle flying about as he screamed.

"That's not what happened! My daughter knocked it off the table and was trying to

return it is all. She would never steal anything!"

"Shut up! You lowly refugees are all the same. Nuthin' but excuses!"

The man appeared to be some sort of greengrocer. The mother and her children—a

baby boy clutched to her chest and a young girl at her side with puffy, red cheeks—

weren't exactly dressed to impress. Their clothes were tattered and dirty. The woman

bowed her head over and over to the shop owner as she desperately tried to defuse

the situation and calm her crying children at the same time.

I couldn't just stand idly by, so I called out to the man.

"There's no need to hit a child."

The man's face was beet red as he turned to yell at me. "Shut yer face! Who the hell do

you think you are, butting in like…" He cut himself off as soon as he caught sight of me,

turning white as a ghost and starting to shake.

I approached the man slowly, hands on my hips, purposely pushing back my cloak to

expose my armor. Ariane let out a loud, dramatic sigh from behind me.

"N-no, you misunderstand, S-Sir Knight! This brat here was stealing my…"

The man's eyes darted about as he rambled incoherently.

I put a little force into my voice, drawing the man's attention back to me. "How many

did she steal?"

"O-one…"

I cut the man off. "Let's try again. How many?" This time there was even more menace

to my voice.

The man groaned. "N-none. She didn't steal anything." He managed to choke out a

response before darting back into his shop to hide.

I may have been a bit forceful, but I had no regrets about what I'd done.

I knelt before the young girl and waved my hand over her face.

"Heal!"

A soft light emanated from my hand, wrapping around her cheek before dissipating.

The young girl's face flooded with relief, and she forgot all about her crying.

"Th-thank you, Sir Knight."

The girl's mother bowed her head in appreciation while still trying to comfort her son.

I nodded my head up at her before handing the two empty juice cups to the young girl.

"I have a special present for you, little lady. See that man over there? If you return these

to him, he'll give you a little spending money."

I pointed out the man from the juice shop, who gave me a wry grin in return.

The girl looked from the cups to her mother. Her mother bowed her head to me again

and took the girl and the cups off to the juice shop.

A polka-dot pattern began appearing on the stone tiles of the square as fat rain drops

fell from the dark clouds above. The people around us began hurrying away.

"We should probably go find an inn," Ariane spoke up from behind me.

It looked like we would need to put off visiting the estate until tomorrow. I let out a

sigh and stood up.

"You're right. We'd best get out of here before it starts coming down harder."

Ariane and I made our way through the sprinkling rain, asking anyone we ran into to

point us toward an inn. It had grown dark by the time we finally found a place to stay.

The next morning, the cloud cover from the day before had completely blown away,

leaving clear blue skies in its place. The breeze brought with it the salty smell of the

ocean, a unique scent that seemed to fill every corner of the port town.

I opened the shutters covering my room's window and gazed out at the bustling

streets below. It was already rather late in the morning.

After stretching to loosen up my body, I grabbed my neatly folded black cloak and

slipped it into my bag. I decided it would be better not to wear it, since I would be

posing as Ariane's bodyguard. Sometimes, standing out had its benefits.

Ponta sat patiently as it watched me go through my routine.

"Welp, now the question is whether or not they'll meet with us. You coming, Ponta?"

"Kyii!"

Ponta hopped up and, with the help of a gust of magical wind, glided up to its rightful

place atop my helmet. After making sure the fox was firmly in place, I left the room.

Ariane stepped out of her own room at almost exactly the same moment, dressed in

her familiar charcoal-gray cloak.

"Good morning, Arc. You'll certainly draw some eyes like that."

"If I'm playing bodyguard, I may as well look the part."

We made our way outside.

We'd wandered quite a ways from the south gate we'd entered through the day before

and now found ourselves closer to the central gate. We took the street in front of the

inn west to the first waterway. From there, we followed it south until we hit the large

bridge that led into what was apparently called the old district.

Unlike the new district between the first and second waterways, here, the town

consisted of a collection of ancient stone buildings that had somehow stood the test

of time. They were much larger than those in the new district, the streets much wider.

We made our way down the main thoroughfare and up a small hill, where we found

ourselves at a gate built into a large wall. Beyond, I could see the outline of a massive,

imposing castle. Several guards stood in front of the gate, watching over the area.

As we approached them, the guards snapped to attention.

"We seek an audience with Lord Petros's wife."

One of the guards stepped forward, his eyes taking in my entire frame before settling

on my helmet. I quickly realized why he found the sight of me so odd and reached up

to my helmet to remove Ponta, though the strange look on the guard's face didn't

change.

"And where do you harken from, sir?"

"We are messengers from the Great Canada Forest."

The guard furrowed his brow. Before he could respond, however, another guard came

running up and whispered something into his ear.

The first guard shot me a steely glare. "If you are an elf, as you claim, then please

remove your helmet and state your name."

Ariane pulled back her hood.

Her long, snow white hair spilled out, dancing in the sea breeze. The guards swallowed

hard as her pointy ears, amethyst-colored skin, and golden eyes came into view.

Surprised gasps erupted from several nearby townsfolk as well, who had been

watching the exchange.

Ariane's voice rang out clearly in the now-silent street.

"I am Ariane Glenys Maple, a messenger from the Great Canada Forest. Please allow

me to see the lady of the house."

The guards exchanged looks, frozen with indecision, until one finally managed to pull

himself together and speak.

"Notify the lord!"

"Y-yessir!"

Another of the men hurriedly climbed through a small door and disappeared. Ariane

pulled the hood back over her head.

A short time later, a call came from the other side of the gate, followed by a deep

clunking sound as it slowly raised. The guard from earlier stood on the other side,

saluting.

"Lord Petros has agreed to meet with you!"

Upon hearing this, the line of guards in front of the gate parted to make a path for us.

I relaxed slightly. Even though I'd suggested this plan, I hadn't thought it would be this

easy to arrange a meeting.

An older gentleman stepped toward us, offering a reverent bow. He fixed his gaze on

me, speaking in a slow, easy tone.

"I take it you are the bodyguard?"

I nodded, and the man waved us in. I let Ariane go in first, and I brought up the rear.

The older gentleman led us through a large garden and up to the front door of a

towering castle. He gestured us inside, and we found ourselves in an entrance hall.

Almost no surface had been left unadorned, from the decorated pillars and joists, to

the dazzling chandelier hanging from the roof, to the large paintings mounted on the

polished marble walls.

We took one of the staircases that sat at either end of the room up to the second floor,

where we continued through another door and down a hallway overlooking a smaller

garden. We eventually reached a large room, where the older man left us to go call the

lord of the estate.

The room was impressive and filled to the brim with luxurious, high-quality

furnishings. Compared to what we'd seen in Branbayna, this place was downright

palatial, clearly a sign of the financial power its occupant wielded.

Ariane sat down in one of the chairs while I stood behind her with my arms crossed,

in my best imitation of a bodyguard. Foreign diplomats always had an air of

importance about them, so I figured this would look appropriate… or at least, I hoped

it would.

A door opened in front of us, and a young man and woman entered the room, followed

by the old man from earlier.

The young man had wavy, blond bangs that fell in front of his eyes. He brushed them

out of the way as he greeted us with a gleaming, toothy smile. I assumed this was

Petros du Lamburt, the lord of the estate. He walked toward us with a casual, even gait,

reminding me more of an actor than a noble.

As soon as he reached us, he spun around elegantly on one foot and stopped, facing

us.

What the hell?

Before I even had a chance to think about what I'd just seen, the man spoke.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting. I am the lord of this town, Petros du Lamburt, twenty

years old and newly married!"

Petros threw out his arms in a grand gesture and offered up another wide smile. He

looked like the kind of prince you'd see in a comic marketed to little girls. I was more

interested in the odd addition after his self-introduction though.

Ariane, still in a state of shock at his behavior, stood up as Petros walked over to her.

The lord of Lamburt pivoted on his heel, took her hand, and gazed into her eyes.

"And you must be the beautiful little messenger I heard about. Welcome to my estate."

A loud cough echoed through the room at the conclusion of Petros's greeting. It had

come from the tall, slender, pale-skinned woman he'd entered with. She was wrapped

in a deep green evening dress that nearly brushed the floor. Between her green-tinged

blonde hair, elongated ears, and green eyes, she was quite obviously an elf.

As far as I could tell, she didn't seem to be here against her will. She silently

approached the young Petros from behind, a warm smile on her face, though there

was something chilling about her presence. Petros turned around leisurely to shoot

her a charming grin.

"Ahaha, excuse me, Toreasa. You are, without a doubt, the most attractive woman in

the land! But I can't help but recognize the beauty of other women. It is simply like

admiring a lovely flower to me."

As he continued moving about like a performer in a musical, he dramatically took

Toreasa's hand and brought it to his lips. Assuming this wasn't all some sort of

affectation, he made for quite the bizarre fellow.

Toreasa seemed used to this behavior, though, and simply gave a small shrug, bowing

her head.

"Thank you for traveling such a great distance. Honestly, I can't believe a messenger

would come from Maple just for me. My name is Toreasa, though I am now known as

Toreasa Darine Lamburt."

As she spoke, she approached the chair directly across from Ariane. Petros cheerfully

slid it back for her to sit before seating himself beside her.

I thought for a moment about pulling out Ariane's chair for her as well, but she sat

down before I had the chance. She didn't seem to care about such things.

"Greetings. My name is Ariane Glenys Maple. And this is my bodyguard, Arc."

I bowed low. "It is an honor to be here in your presence."

Toreasa watched me with great curiosity. I didn't think she'd spotted Ponta, since the

fox was currently curled up in my bag, but something had certainly caught her eye.

"Wow, wow, wow. To think… an elven knight. You truly put the human knights to shame!"

Petros's eyes narrowed slightly as he regarded me anew, a grin spreading across his

face. Ponta popped its head out of my bag.

Toreasa seemed like she was about to say something, but Ariane spoke first.

"I apologize for being so blunt, but I heard a rumor that you and Lord Petros had gotten

married."

Toreasa's expression changed almost imperceptibly, a faint smile gracing her face, as

if she'd suspected that this was the true reason for our visit. She looked over toward

Petros.

"Yes, it's true. We held a wedding ceremony about a month ago. There was quite a lot

leading up to that though."

Petros and Toreasa joined hands and rested them on the table in an easy, natural

motion. They gazed deep into each other's eyes, as if they were alone in the room.

Ariane tilted her head, seemingly as confused—and uncomfortable—as I was. It

certainly didn't seem like this was a forced marriage.

Ariane shot another question at Toreasa, breaking up the loving atmosphere.

"We came here in pursuit of a band of men who have been hunting elves. Until we

heard about your wedding, we were under the impression you'd been captured."

The couple unclasped their hands and shifted in their seats.

"I see. So, you're no messenger after all. You're a soldier on a rescue mission." Toreasa

didn't seem all that surprised. "Well, it's true that I was captured by slavers and

brought here to Lamburt."

Her gaze drifted off into the distance. Petros let out an uncomfortable laugh, smiling

awkwardly. But his expression quickly turned to one of concern for Toreasa.

"My father, the previous lord of Lamburt, was the one who bought her. I was absolutely

stunned to learn that my own family would so flagrantly violate an international

treaty."

Ariane shook her head. "So then, what happened to your father?"

"He is currently confined to another section of the castle. When I found out he'd

broken the law, I took over everything. It's probably not proper to speak so casually

about such a scandalous affair, but seeing as how you're a messenger sent from my

wife's home country, I see no reason to hide the truth."

Petros looked troubled as he explained the events leading up to their marriage.

Apparently, Toreasa had been brought to Lamburt approximately one year ago, and

Petros's father, Lundes, had purchased her from an underground slave market. When

Petros discovered what Lundes had done, this began a power struggle between father

and son, until Petros finally overthrew Lundes on the grounds that he had violated

international law. From what I could tell, Petros had made no attempt to hide these

events from the other nobles. Otherwise, it would have been quite difficult to keep

Toreasa by his side.

"So then… why did you two marry?" Ariane still looked puzzled.

Petros stood from his seat, gesturing theatrically as he spoke. I wouldn't have been at

all surprised if he suddenly burst into song.

"That's quite simple! The moment I saw this enslaved woman, it was love at first sight!

It was as if I'd finally met the person my heart was calling out to…"

"Teehee! Oh, Petros…"

Toreasa gave an adoring sigh as Petros continued to wax romantic, her cheeks flushing

a deep shade of red. She reached out to take his hand. The elderly gentleman beamed

from the back of the room. I couldn't help but feel like I was part of some elaborate

musical. Would I be the next to launch into soliloquy? But the two stars were in a world

entirely of their own, seemingly unaware of the rest of us in the room.

Ariane watched this all unfold with a look of astonishment. Then she shook her head,

as if returning to herself. When she spoke, her voice was strained.

"And you're okay with all of this?"

She must have been worried at the thought of another elf living among humans. Had

we not already met Carcy, I'm sure she would have been downright distraught. The

differences between species ran even deeper than I'd known.

For example, there was a huge disparity in the lifespans of the husband and wife that

sat before me. If I recalled correctly, elves lived for something like 400 years. Petros,

on the other hand, would be extremely lucky to reach one hundred. Actually,

considering the barbaric state of medicine in this world, making it to the age of sixty

would probably be impressive. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Petros would

almost certainly pass away first. Was that part of what Ariane was getting at? Surely

Petros and Toreasa had already considered this…

As I watched the two of them stare into each other's eyes, I knew how Toreasa would

answer Ariane's question.

"Of course. This is the life I chose."

Ariane still looked troubled by all this, but she also seemed to accept Toreasa's response.

"I see. Well, if you're happy, then there's nothing more for me to say. It would be my

honor to pass a message along to your parents or family, if you'd like. Where do they

live?"

"I'm from the village of Millest."

Ariane repeated the name, as if trying to remember where she'd heard it before. "Mill…

est. Millest combined with several other villages bordering on human settlements to

form one large village. It no longer exists."

That was right. I recalled Ariane's mother, Glenys, telling me something similar.

Toreasa seemed taken aback by this. Sensing her sadness, Ariane changed the subject.

"Lord Petros, you said your father was confined to the castle. But what became of the

slave market?"

Petros crossed his arms and frowned. "Yes, well… the main people involved in the

underground slave markets have already been punished. However, many of the slavers

escaped our raid and made their way outside the town walls. Some have even set

themselves up as bandits. It's a mess I'm still dealing with."

Petros's story reminded me of the group we'd encountered attacking the young

mercenaries. Ariane turned back to look at me, as if thinking the same thing.

"Just yesterday, we ran across a group of young mercenaries who managed to defeat

and tie up several bandits."

Petros nodded. "I received a report that around a dozen men had been captured. That

still only puts us at about half of those we're looking for though." He let out a loud sigh

and slumped deeper into his chair.

Toreasa leaned over and whispered something in his ear. His face brightened in

surprise and he nodded firmly before sitting up straight as an arrow.

"I have something related that I would like to discuss with you. Actually, I have a favor

to ask of you."

"Wait," Toreasa cut in. Her face was serious as she turned toward us. "This is my

request, so I would like to be the one to ask." She lowered her voice. "I would like you

to find someone for me."

Ariane perked up, suddenly interested.

"Perhaps it's unreasonable for me to ask something like this, but since you two have

come so far just for me, I hope you'll consider it."

Toreasa looked at Ariane hopefully. Her green eyes brimmed.

Ariane returned Toreasa's gaze. "Who do you want us to look for?" She sounded

suspicious yet willing to hear the other woman out.

"When I was first brought here, a chambermaid told Petros about what his father was

up to. Her name is Frani Markham. She disappeared three days ago, and we have no

idea where she may have gone."

Toreasa's eyes implored Ariane for assistance.

"And you owed a debt to this… Frani woman?"

Toreasa responded with a single nod of her head. "I am truly indebted to her, of course,

but she was also my very first friend when I came to Lamburt. When I was in hiding

while Petros wrested power from his father, she took care of my every need. She was

my confidante."

"Is it possible she was captured by the bandits you mentioned?"

Petros immediately rejected Ariane's theory. "We believe that that is incredibly

unlikely. However, there have been many merchants coming to Lamburt from across

the sea to buy enslaved criminals, and, in some cases, people have even been

kidnapped and taken away on their ships."

The face of the whimsical bard, who had only moments ago professed his love for

Toreasa, had taken on the somber bearing of a lord.

"I don't understand humans. Enslaving elves isn't enough? Now you enslave your own

people?"

Toreasa nodded her agreement with Ariane.

Being the only human at the table—or so he thought—Petros could offer nothing but

an uncomfortable smile in response.

"And is it your belief, Lord Petros, that the chambermaid was taken by one of these

kidnappers?"

Petros nodded, wearily.

"That's what I assume. With the underground slave markets driven out, the town is in

chaos. Various gangs are vying for power, going so far as to drag merchants from

across the ocean into the fray. This is all my fault of course. I may have overthrown my

father, but I still don't have full command of all our forces yet, which has hindered our

ability to look for Frani. Toreasa wanted to conduct a search on her own, but the

situation in town is too dangerous for me to allow that."

If this Frani had been abducted by kidnappers from another country, they would have

to leave Lamburt by ship, which suggested one obvious place to look.

"If you know people are being kidnapped and exported through the port, what's

stopping you from inspecting each ship before it leaves?"

Assuming she actually had been kidnapped, this seemed like the easiest way to find

her. Unless she'd already been taken across the ocean.

"Our trade ties are tenuous as it is. We can't afford to risk that without at least some

proof of foul play. Besides, inspectors can be bribed to keep quiet. I've temporarily

prohibited any ships from entering or leaving the port, but I doubt I'll be able to keep

it up beyond tomorrow."

Toreasa's face darkened at this. Petros took her hand in both of his and stroked it

gently.

Even as the lord of this town, Petros knew he couldn't just indiscriminately inspect

ships that belonged to foreign nobles. The only other option was to watch for any

suspicious freight being loaded onto the ships, but that would also prove difficult if he

didn't yet have complete control of his forces.

For me, the question remained as to why a country across the sea needed so many

slaves, even going so far as to kidnap people. I had to imagine it was some sort of

massive public works project… or war.

"Why is Nohzan buying up so many slaves abroad?" I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

If this had been a contrived story plot in a novel, then there would be some sort of

massive conspiracy underlying all these kidnappings, but it didn't seem like that was

what we were dealing with here.

Petros knitted his brow and shook his head. "Nohzan isn't the one gathering up all the

slaves. It's the Holy Kingdom of Hilk. They claim they're doing so to give sinners a

chance to atone for their transgressions, but I think they're using them as laborers in

their mythril mines."

"Ah, mythril mines?"

I was quite familiar with mythril, a magical metal that existed in the game. It was a

mid- to high-class material there, and it seemed to be held in similar regard here. But

even if the criminals were being used as laborers, something still didn't sit right.

Criminals or not, importing slaves from across the sea seemed like it would cost a

fortune in transportation alone. I couldn't imagine there was much profit in it.

I voiced my concerns to Petros, and he agreed.

"Temple knights from Hilk are apparently making their way through Nohzan, visiting

towns and buying slaves along the way. Once they gather enough slaves, they ship

them off to the mythril mines. The western part of Nohzan is currently suffering

monster attacks on a massive scale, so they're willing to buy magic-resistant mythril

weapons at a high price."

I understood. In that case, the merchants' transportation costs would be offset by the

higher premium on slave labor, which in turn would incentivize them to acquire slaves

by any means. It also meant that Hilk was bearing the brunt of the transportation

costs, at least upfront. Though it sounded like they were eventually passing that on to

the people of Nohzan.

"To make matters worse, people have been fleeing western Nohzan, crossing the

ocean, and coming here. But many of the refugees end up getting kidnapped and sent

back to Hilk as slaves."

I remembered the day before and the way that man had treated the mother and her

young children. It seemed like a rift was beginning to form between the citizens and

the refugees.

Toreasa spoke up again, her eyes pleading. "I've heard that dark elves have better sight

and hearing than we do. I beg you, help me find my friend." She bowed her head.

Petros, despite his noble status, bowed his head beside his wife.

"I have heard much of the prowess of elven warriors. I will reward you handsomely if

you provide your assistance."

Ariane turned back to me again, her golden eyes asking for my input.

"I will go along with whatever you choose, Miss Ariane."

I was more than willing to provide my help, so it truly was up to Ariane. The look of

determination in her eyes told me she'd already made up her mind.

"I don't know if we'll be able to find your friend, but we'll certainly try."

Toreasa and Petros were both overjoyed to hear this.

They told us what they knew of Frani's situation before the chambermaid had

disappeared three days prior. Even with every ship confined to the port, there were a

lot of places in Lamburt she could have been taken to in that time, and that was

assuming she was still in town.

The two went on to describe Frani's notable features. When they'd finished, Ariane

made to stand. But before she could, Petros put up a hand to stop her.

"I imagine you're not very familiar with human towns."

Petros looked back at the older gentleman who'd stepped up behind him and

whispered something into his ear. The man bowed in acknowledgement and quickly

left the room. A short time later, he returned with a well-dressed man.

The new arrival stood beside Petros's chair, his gaze fixed on Ariane. He looked

surprised for a moment before a soft smile appeared his face.

"This is Gio Clintos, second-in-command of my knights. He will serve as your guide."

Once his introduction was complete, Gio bowed with curt military professionalism,

the smile still on his face. He looked to be in his early thirties, with short-cropped, light

brown hair and an ever-present smile—absolutely nothing like the brutish figure I

would have envisioned as a commander of knights. He looked more like a civil

administrator to me. However, he was quite tall, and very muscular.

"As the lord kindly stated, I am Gio Clintos. It is an honor to meet you." After

introducing himself, he stepped back behind Petros.

"With Gio at your side, you will have no problem getting into places that would

otherwise be restricted. Now go, and please find Frani."

Petros and Toreasa looked pointedly at Ariane, grave expressions etched on their

faces. How much of that gravity got through to Ariane was unclear, but she nodded

firmly.

Gio accompanied Ariane and me out of the castle. Ariane glanced up at me once we

were back in the town proper.

I tilted my head and returned her gaze. "Something on your mind?"

She looked away. After a moment, she spoke in a low, timid voice. "I'm sorry for always

dragging you into my own personal business."

Personally, I had no complaints about her decision, though I felt a certain degree of

guilt about the fact that I was looking forward to playing detective.

"Our objective merely changed from finding Toreasa to finding Frani."

My nonchalant response caused Ariane's lips to curve up ever so.

"Thank you, Arc."

Even if it was just a small gesture of appreciation, her smile still warmed my heart.

Men truly were like animals, when you got down to it. If a pretty woman asked for a

favor, we'd jump at the chance to help. Deep in my heart, I felt that perhaps I finally

understood that famed, third-generation thief.

***

Lamburt was located on the Gulf of Bulgoh, its port poking out into the middle of the

water. This was the closest spot between the Rhoden Kingdom and its neighbor across

the sea, the Nohzan Kingdom. If you were to head due west from the port, you'd find

the island known as Bis, which traditionally served as the center for trade between

the two kingdoms.

Looking out across the sea from where we stood in the port, I could just barely see the

outline of the island on the horizon. Gio explained that it was about a two-hour trip by

boat.

Two immense piers jutted out from the port, where numerous ships of all shapes and

sizes were docked. Since Petros had prohibited any ships from leaving or entering,

however, there were pretty much no ships anywhere else.

There were quite a few soldiers in the area, keeping an eye on everything, though their

work ethic seemed questionable at best. As soon as Gio had appeared, however, they

quickly got themselves in line and went back to their duties.

It had been two days since the travel restrictions were put in place, and it seemed

unlikely that they could reasonably continue much longer. Nevertheless, the port

seemed vibrant and full of life, though I could still sense an uneasy tension in the air.

Among the crowds around the port, I spotted a large group of people dressed in dirty

clothes grouped together, somewhat detracting from the serene, seaside scene.

Ponta also seemed to notice them and hopped down from its usual place atop my head

to wrap around my neck like a scarf.

Gio spoke in a low, troubled voice, his eyebrows deeply furrowed.

"Due to the troubles the Nohzan Kingdom has been facing in the west, there's been a

massive influx of refugees, leading to an increase in crime in Lamburt. The current

movement restrictions on the port have done something to limit the flow, but the

number of refugees will likely increase again as soon as it's lifted. To make matters

worse, there have been sightings of ghost ships off in the bay, causing the residents to

panic even more."

His usual calm demeanor returned as he began leading us through the port.

"Is the Nohzan Kingdom doing nothing to prevent people from leaving?"

Considering that the refugees had to cross a great expanse of water just to reach

Lamburt, the danger they were facing must have been on an immense scale. It was

hard to imagine that the country was simply doing nothing. It suggested that the king

had little control over the country.

"From what we hear from the refugees, temple knights from the Holy Kingdom of Hilk

are coming in to deal with the monster crisis, but it's all they can do to hold back the

tide."

Considering their proximity to Nohzan, Hilk was in no position to ignore the monsters.

But were they the only country trying to quell the problem?

I asked Gio about this, but he only shrugged in response. Apparently, he didn't have

any additional details.

Unlike the world I'd come from, where information was at everyone's fingertips, most

people here seemed to have a very limited understanding of the whole picture.

Gathering and recording massive amounts of information was a huge undertaking, so

it was likely that only a select few had a full understanding of what was going on within

another country's borders.

Or maybe Gio was just being tight-lipped about the whole situation. Either way, I had

no means of learning any more.

Petros had mentioned that the Holy Kingdom of Hilk was buying up all these slaves.

But I couldn't help but wonder if mythril mining was their true purpose. Sure, they

would need slave labor to speed up the production of mythril-based weapons, but the

sheer cost of it all still didn't make sense to me.

I continued mulling this over as I turned to Ariane. She was fidgeting a bit beneath her

cloak, her hood pulled low as usual.

"Did you find something?"

She put a finger to her lips, her golden gaze locked onto me. "Several people have been

watching us for a while now."

I tilted my head within my helmet, careful not to move too much, and looked around.

I spotted a suspicious man watching us, just as she'd said, though he kept his body

carefully turned away. I couldn't see anyone else however.

Were all elf warriors able to pick up on such things? Or was it unique to dark elves? Or

just Ariane?

In any case, her senses were far more fine-tuned than a human's.

But what was the purpose of watching us? Sure, we might stand out a bit, but I couldn't

recall anyone keeping an eye on us in any of the other towns we'd visited. Perhaps it

had something to do with Frani. Perhaps they were spies, working with a group of

abductors… But who even knew we were looking for her aside from Lord Petros and

Lady Toreasa?

I turned my gaze toward Gio, walking in front of us.

As the second-in-command of Lord Petros's knights, he was probably closely watched

by those involved in the underground markets. Perhaps he was the one our shadows

were keeping an eye on.

I stopped and looked over at Ariane. "Do you think they're watching Gio?"

Ariane shook her head. "No, their attention seems to be focused on us."

I was impressed that she could tell. No one would ever get the jump on her. But this

still left the question of why we were being watched.

Gio realized we were no longer following him. He turned around and walked back to

us.

"Is something the matter?"

Ariane gestured with her eyes. "We're being followed."

Gio was about to turn his head to look, but he stopped himself, instead letting his eyes

wander across the scene.

He lowered his voice. "Is that so?"

Ariane nodded. "I don't know what they're hoping to do, but they've been following us

since the port."

Gio frowned. "We can't say for certain that they're involved with the people who took

Frani."

"Where exactly was she last seen?" I asked.

Chambermaids generally spent the vast majority of their time within a castle's walls.

I didn't know the specifics, but I had to guess it would be rather difficult to abduct

someone like Frani. If she'd disappeared while in the castle, that would change our

search entirely.

Gio stared at his feet. "It's all my fault." His voice dropped even lower, as if he were

choking on the words. "I asked her to run an errand outside the castle walls. I could

just as easily have asked one of my soldiers to do it, but she told me she had some

errands of her own. That's why I asked Lord Petros to allow me to serve as your guide.

I want to help find her. It's the least I can do."

"Hmm. In that case, would you mind leaving us here?"

The already-melancholy Gio looked as if he'd been punched in the gut when I said this.

His eyes darted between Ariane and me.

"Why?! I want to help—"

Ariane put up a hand to silence Gio's shocked tirade.

"We're going act as decoys to draw the men away, isn't that right?"

I nodded. "You're rather well known around this town, Gio, so it would be best if you

left us for a bit while we draw the people following us in."

"B-but…" Gio mumbled a bit, struggling to find words.

Ariane spoke in defense of my plan. "We don't have much time, right? We need at least

some sort of information to work with."

The tone of her voice left no room for discussion. Gio hesitated a moment before

nodding, letting his head hang.

"I understand. I'll make my rounds through the port area and show my face in some

popular spots."

"All right then. Let's meet back here in an hour."

We parted ways with Gio. After walking for a bit, I turned to Ariane.

"Do you think they'll fall for it?"

Ariane shot me a cool, challenging smile. "If the two of us together don't work, then

we'll just have to separate."

Granted, Ariane and I could both easily handle a fight on our own. But I hoped we'd be

able to lure one of our followers in together. Either way, we couldn't afford to let our

guard down.

Ariane and I wandered around the port, occasionally stopping to talk with ship's

hands or other people milling about to ask if they'd seen anyone matching the

chambermaid's appearance. It seemed like some people had the information we were

after, but they either gave vague responses or wouldn't talk to us at all. They probably

wanted to avoid all the infighting Lord Petros had alluded to.

Coming up empty-handed, we decided to lead our watchers down to the warehouse

district at the southern end of the port. There was a fair amount of foot traffic on the

main street running along the front of the district, but this dwindled to a trickle as

soon as you went even one street beyond that. The warehouses back here were quite

far from the docks and looked rarely used.

A few homeless people sat by the side of the road and eyed us suspiciously, but

otherwise kept to themselves.

I broke the silence. "So, how did we do?"

Ariane's golden eyes glinted eerily in the depths of her hood, and her lips curled into

a smile.

"There are six people approaching us from behind. Another ten or so are coming in

from parallel streets to surround us."

I looked up to see a group of men in the distance, sneers on their faces as they watched

us approach. Behind, I spotted another group blocking the street we'd just come down.

The homeless people I'd seen earlier had vanished. They must have sensed the

violence in the air.

All told, it looked like we were surrounded by as many as twenty men.

"Well, this certainly is a lavish welcoming party."

Ariane let out a dramatic sigh. "And yet, it doesn't look like any of them will present

much of a challenge."

This elicited a derisive sneer from one of the men ahead. "Why doncha say that to my

face, so I can beat the hell outta you two? You think your helmet can take summa this?"

The man wielded some sort of blunt instrument that looked like a mace. As he jeered

at us, the men around him burst into bouts of laughter.

A sinister-looking man with short-cropped hair spoke up, licking his lips. "That one in

the armor might be an elf, so don't rough 'im up too bad! And whatever ya do, don't

leave any injuries on the lady. She's the one we're after!"

He didn't look like the type of person who might head up an abduction ring. But I'd

bet he was sent by the person who did. Regardless, now we knew that they were after

Ariane.

"Hehehe! Can you believe our luck, boys? A dark elf, here in our town! I'm excited just

thinking about how much we'll sell 'er for!"

"I'm gettin' excited, too, but in a different way, if ya know what I mean!"

Ariane drew back her hood eliciting even more jeers and leering stares from the men

surrounding us.

She was rare, even among elves. It made sense that these humans, who saw elves only

as a commodity, would be drawn to her. I'd allowed myself to slip into a false sense of

security, to forget how dangerous this world could be, thanks to how well the humans

in Branbayna and even Lamburt had treated us.

"At the end of the day, I guess all humans are the same. I'll make you regret coming

after me."

Ariane's golden eyes burned with rage. She drew the Sword of the King of Lions from

her waist. The men sneered. Either they'd forgotten that elves were incredibly gifted

fighters, or they were overconfident in their own abilities.

I let out a sigh, pulling the shield off my back and muttering to Ariane.

"I have some questions for these guys, so try to not kill them all."

She seemed eager for the upcoming fight. I wanted to make sure she showed some

restraint.

"No promises."

Usually, I was the one charging into situations without thinking. She was more like me

than she'd probably care to admit.

"Let's do this!"

Ariane took off in a run, a smile on her lips, quickly closing the gap between her and

the man closest to her. A moment later, the man's cries were echoing through the

street.

She moved past him, toward the rest of the group, sweeping her sword across. An

instant later, three severed legs dropped to the ground. Before the other men could

even respond, she was already closing in on them.

Her sword moved faster than anything I'd ever seen. I couldn't tell if it was because

she was throwing all her might into the attack, or because the Sword of the King of

Lions lent her some unseen strength, but the men were no match for her.

Two of them, who'd been stabbed in the arms and chest, doubled over in pain.

Moments later, another man took the broadside of her blade to his temple and

dropped like a stone, his eyes rolling back into his head. A group of them rallied,

rushing Ariane at once, but she was already darting away from them, focused on

another trio.

As I listened to the angry screams reverberating through the street, I gripped my

shield and advanced toward a large, brutish man in front of me. His face was a mask

of murderous rage as he swung his weapon about wildly.

"Shield Bash!"

This was an incredibly basic skill from the Soldier class, which involved smashing your

opponent with your shield. However, the mythical-class shield I had, combined with

my immense strength, turned it into an incredibly powerful attack.

My shield glowed ever so slightly as it connected with the man, sending his weapon

flying and him rebounding into five other men behind him, carrying them all into a

brick wall.

Two of the men's arms bent at strange angles, while another man, who'd ended up at

the bottom of the heap, had twisted his neck in a way that looked quite unnatural.

"Sorry! I totally didn't expect that!"

They couldn't hold it against me if it was an accident, right?

I glanced around for my next target, muttering about not knowing my own strength,

and realized that the thugs were all running away from me. Among them was the

brutish man with short-cropped hair who'd been talking big just a few moments ago.

"The rest can go, but you're staying with us!"

My eyes locked on his back as I took off in a mad dash after him. This time, I was careful

to hold back as I hit him with my shield. He still went flying.

"Gyaaaaauuuuugh!!!"

The man let out an eerie scream as he tumbled through the air, landing splayed out on

the ground like an upturned umbrella. He lay motionless.

I decided to avoid using my special fighting skills against normal human opponents in

the future. Or at least, against those I wanted to survive.

I grabbed the man by the scruff of the neck, wringing a scream of pain from him as he

pleaded for his life.

"Pleeeeease, stop! Spare me! I beg you, please, spare me!"

"Shut up, you prattling little thug."

Ariane made her way toward us, staring at the backs of the fleeing men.

"What do you think, Ariane? Should we kill him? There are plenty of others who might

be more willing to talk."

I looked at the pile of men groaning behind her, many of them missing limbs.

"Are they even alive, Arc?"

Ariane gestured with her chin toward the men plastered to the wall.

"It just… kind of happened. Anyway, at least I found someone who might be able to tell

us what's going on."

I held the wailing man out toward Ariane. Her golden eyes narrowed, as if weighing

his worth. Blood dripped from the lion's head engraved on the hilt of her sword,

making her gaze even more intimidating.

A warm, wet stain formed at the crotch of the man's pants.

I decided to try the kind of interrogation I'd seen in police shows on TV. Didn't they

always do a good cop, bad cop routine?

I whispered softly into the man's ear, never letting go of his neck.

"Listen, you don't need to be so scared. All you need to do is answer a few questions

truthfully. But, uh, I should tell you now that you don't want to make this lady angry.

You've got four tries to get the answer right. Each time you answer wrong, she'll be

chopping off a limb."

His face went pale and he began shuddering as I spoke, making me wonder just how

well I was playing the good cop.

Ariane shot me an annoyed look.

I whispered into his ear again, in as friendly a manner as I could, while holding out his

right arm.

"First up, a question for your right arm. Did you come from Nohzan to buy slaves?"

Ariane rolled her eyes, but lifted her sword above the man's arm all the same.

"Eaugh! Y-yes! We came from a slave market in Nohzan!"

The man squirmed, desperately trying to pull his arm away as he answered. I nodded,

lightly patting his cheek before moving onto the next question.

"Great. Next up, your left arm. I'm sure you'll get this one. Have you ever abducted

anyone from this town?"

I yanked the man's left arm out. Ariane moved her sword over to it, tracing the tip

across his flesh.

"Yes, we have! But it's usually only refugees who don't have places of their own here!

Please, ya gotta believe me! We were just out to make some quick cash!"

"I see, I see. So, just to be clear, you're saying that, on occasion, you do actually abduct

people who live here?"

I brought my helmet even closer to the man's face. His eyes widened, darting back and

forth.

"O-only a few times! If we'd focused on citizens, we'd have been easily figured out! I'm

tellin' ya the truth!"

"All right then, on to the next question. Of the few times that you abducted citizens, did

you happen to see a woman who looked like a chambermaid? A woman named Frani

Markham?"

I spoke the words slowly, massaging the man's stiff shoulder to try and get him to

loosen up. His back was soaked with sweat.

"Never heard of her, honest! A chambermaid, you said? There's no way someone like

that would come wandering down 'ere!"

The man looked pleadingly between Ariane and me, tears in his eyes as he sniveled.

"Well, we'd like to see for ourselves. Where do you keep the people you've abducted?"

"Everyone's already on a ship. They're g-gonna make sail first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Will you take us there?"

"Are you mad?! They'll kill me!"

I ignored the man's pleas and instead turned and began dragging him by the neck back

toward the port. Ariane sheathed her sword and followed us.

We made our way from the warehouse district to the piers where the ships were

docked. Fishermen stared at the man flailing about helplessly as we walked past.

"Stop your ship at once! You haven't been granted permission to leave port!"

Several soldiers were yelling at a ship off in the water, slowly making its way past the

piers and out toward the sea. When the slave trader dangling from my hand caught

sight of the ship, his face went white.

"Dammit! What're they doing?! Are they just gonna leave me behind? They ordered

me to go out and pick up the elf, but as soon as things went south, those yellow-bellied

pigs turned tail and ran!"

The man continued yelling all manner of slurs at the escaping ship. I tapped him on

the back of the head and he went limp, like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

The men he'd worked for, now that their secret was out, would be branded as

criminals by Lord Petros and the Rhoden Kingdom itself. It made sense for them to

run… But of course, I couldn't let them get away.

"Ariane, keep an eye on this one for me, will you?"

I dropped the slaver at her feet and raced off at top speed toward the ship.

It had to weave in and out of the ships still docked at the pier, which kept it from

gaining speed as it tried to escape.

I could probably have reached the ship in an instant by using Dimensional Step, but

there were too many eyes on me.

I leaped off the pier and onto a nearby ship, then jumped from that one to the one next

to it.

Each ship shook violently as soon as I landed, causing the crews to scream and shout

as many of them were tossed into the sea. I offered a quick apology each time—in my

mind at least—before bouncing off again, traveling from ship to ship as I closed in on

the fleeing vessel.

By the time its crew spotted me, shouting among themselves, it was too late.

I jumped onto the docked ship closest to the escaping slaver and, using it like a

springboard, vaulted high into the air toward the ship's bow, where I clung for dear

life.

One of the crew drew his weapon and came at me. However, before he had a chance to

strike, I grabbed his arm and flung him, sending him crashing into the sea.

I hopped onto the deck of the ship.

Men's heavy footfalls echoed across the deck as they tried to figure out what was

happening. One of them spotted me and let out a scream of terror.

"It's him! He followed us!"

He must have been one of the men who'd gotten away in the warehouse district. He

was wide-eyed, sweating bullets, as they say.

"Hurry up and kill the intruder!"

A large, hairy man shouted at the cowering crew to get them under control. My best

guess was that he was the captain, though he looked just like a run-of-the-mill pirate.

Some of the men calmed down enough to draw their weapons and rush toward me. I

pulled my shield off my back and braced myself for the oncoming human wave.

"Shield Bash!"

Between the initial shockwave and the sheer force of the attack, most of the men were

thrown straight off the ship and into the ocean. Screams of pain and surprise filled the

air as, one by one, they plopped into the water, sending up spray.

The remaining men seemed to realize that they were no match and abandoned ship,

leaving me and the hairy captain alone on the deck.

"I don't know who the hell you are, but I'm not gonna go easy on ya!"

The tip of his sword shook as he screamed, spittle flying everywhere.

I approached him silently. He matched me, retreating step for step as fear took over

his face.

I swung my shield wide and used Shield Bash to smash through one of the ship's masts.

A split second later, it snapped in two, showering the deck with splinters. The rigging

went taut as the mast leaned precariously to one side, then the whole thing snapped

off and splashed into the sea. A huge plume of water shot up.

A mix of screams and cheers erupted from the port.

I looked around, wondering if I'd overdone it.

The ship's captain cowered at my feet like a frightened animal. At the very least, I'd

stopped the slavers from escaping. Whether or not they'd face jail time was up to

someone else.

***

The slave traders' ship was pulled back to the pier, broken mast and all. Many people

were found locked in the its hold. Just as the man we'd interrogated had said, most of

them were refugees, though we also discovered a young woman who lived in Lamburt.

The captain and his crew were arrested on the spot by Lamburt soldiers.

"Could you at least give me a heads-up before you go and do something like that?"

Gio approached me and Ariane, his eyebrows knitted in concern. I could tell he was

annoyed by the vein bulging in his forehead. Arresting criminals was the purview of

the local knights and soldiers, so I understood why he might be upset at some stranger

doing his job.

Ariane, however, looked puzzled. "They're all criminals, aren't they? What's the harm

in capturing them?"

"We humans have rules! I… I'm sorry. Thank you for your assistance. I would like to

offer my gratitude on behalf of Lamburt."

Gio's thanks still carried a certain bitterness, a deep frown on his face.

Ariane's eyes narrowed. When Gio wasn't looking, she whispered to me.

"Arc, there's something strange about him. Right after we parted ways, another

person, unrelated to the slavers, started following us. I think they may have been sent

by Gio."

I frowned. How suspicious was that though?

Gio had been assigned to guide us—two people who'd just shown up out of nowhere—

when suddenly we asked to be left on our own. I could see why he might want

someone to follow us around and see what we were up to.

But if he had ordered a knight or some other soldier to shadow us, then they almost

certainly would have joined the fray once we were attacked in the warehouse district.

Since that hadn't happened, the next logical explanation was that some other lackey

was following us on Gio's orders. But it still felt like I was missing something.

I glanced at the slave ship's crew as they were dragged away by Gio's soldiers. "Well,

we caught the slave traders, but we didn't find Frani."

Ariane nodded absently, her golden eyes fixating on something.

"Arc, there's another ship that looks suspicious." She tugged on my elbow, pulling me

along with her.

"What's so suspicious about it?"

"The people aboard have been watching us for a while."

"We don't know that these people are slavers, Ariane. We can't be so brazen about

going aboard."

"What if we have proof that there are prisoners aboard?"

Ariane looked oddly confident as she moved through the crowd, heading toward a

black ship docked at the far pier.

It was a merchant vessel, far larger than the slave trader I'd just been on. As we drew

close, I could see many of the crew members watching us suspiciously as they moved

out onto the pier to block our path. By the time we reached the ship, a blockade of ten

had already formed up in front of us.

"What's yer business with our ship?"

We were approached by a large, shirtless man, his muscular, scar-covered arms

gleaming in the sun. He hawked up a glob of phlegm and spat, glaring daggers at us.

Rather than answering his question, Ariane held her open palm up to her mouth and

blew on it, then whispered something I couldn't make out. A moment later, a faint glow

appeared in front of us, then dissipated.

Ariane looked back at the muscle-bound man and shrugged her shoulders.

"We just thought this was such an interesting ship. We were hoping to get a closer

look!"

"If you've got no business, then get outta here!" Clearly annoyed at Ariane's feigned

cluelessness, the scar-covered man took a step toward us as he yelled. "Yer disrupting

our work. And take yer friend with ya too."

Suddenly, a well-dressed man—possibly a merchant—stepped from the group.

"Now, now. May I ask what interests you about this Deoin Corp vessel?"

The man looked at us intently, a warm smile plastered to his face.

"Oh, nothing in particular. Not quite yet anyway."

The man's eye's narrowed suspiciously at Ariane's reply.

A familiar voice called out. "Ariane! Arc! Wait up!"

I looked back to see Gio running down the pier toward us.

"Is something the matter, Sir Vizio?"

"Ah, Gio. No, it's nothing. It just seems that these two here have some sort of business

with our vessel."

The merchant—Vizio apparently—shrugged dramatically, a disingenuous smile twisting

across his face.

Gio stepped in between Ariane and Vizio in an attempt to smooth things over. "Miss

Ariane, this is a Deoin Corp vessel, carrying out business on behalf of Count Ornaut

from the Nohzan Kingdom. It has nothing to do with the recent… unpleasantness.

Besides, we've already finished inspecting it." He scolded Ariane, though her attention

was focused elsewhere.

So, this vessel had to be handled with care because it was backed by a foreign noble.

We probably wouldn't be able to enter without some sort of evidence.

As Vizio and Ariane glared at each other, a sudden gust of wind blew up and the faint

glow from earlier appeared again beside Ariane. No one else in the area appeared to

have noticed it. They were too busy squinting against the wind.

Moments later, the glow faded again and Ariane turned back to the merchant, speaking

as if the entire conversation up to this point had never happened.

"There are people being held captive aboard this ship. I would like to be allowed to

inspect it."

Vizio grinned sarcastically.

"As Gio here already stated, this vessel is from the Nohzan Kingdom and…"

Before he could name his supporters, however, Ariane pulled back her hood, causing

the man to abruptly cut himself off.

A loud commotion arose among the other men as they discovered there was an

amethyst-skinned woman with pointy ears in their midst.

"I am Ariane Glenys Maple, of the Great Canada Forest. Assuming you speak of the one

and only Count Ornaut of the Nohzan Kingdom, then I ask you, is he truly prepared to

stand against the elves?"

Ariane's golden eyes bored into Vizio. Her defiant statement seemed to have shaken

the merchant, judging by the grimace on his face.

"If there's nothing improper going on here, then I ask that you grant me permission to

board your vessel."

Vizio's face purpled with rage at the sight of Ariane's smile, as if she'd personally

insulted him. He screamed back at her.

"And what the hell gives a barbarian like you the right to talk to me that way?!"

The men grew tense at this eruption.

In a normal situation, it would have made no sense for someone like Vizio to let a

stranger board his ship. In a normal situation, it would have made no sense for

someone like Ariane to make such a request in the first place.

However, this wasn't a normal situation, as evidenced by the curious grin on Ariane's

face.

In an instant, she dashed toward the scarred man, leaped into the air, and bounded off

his head like a springboard.

"Get back here, hag!"

Ariane deftly darted across the pier toward the ship, leaving a crowd of angry and

confused men behind. Vizio stood there stunned for a moment before screaming at his

men in a shrill voice.

"Stop that elf immediately! And you! What's going on here, Gio?! We agreed that my

ship wouldn't be inspected!!!"

The vein in Vizio's head was bulging so much it looked like it might burst. He rounded

on Gio, who was growing paler by the minute.

The second-in-command of Lamburt's knights began backing away slowly, glancing

nervously around at the men closing in on him.

I glared at him. "Well… I guess you knew more than you were letting on, eh, Gio?"

His response was so rushed that I could barely make out what he was saying. "Don't

worry about that right now, Arc. Please, stop her! If she keeps this up, who knows what

sort of turmoil this will cause with the Nohzan Kingdom! We need to make sure that

doesn't happen, no matter the cost!"

Taking Vizio and Gio's words together, I had a pretty good sense of what was going on.

But that didn't mean I couldn't have a little fun with them.

"Absolutely! I'll put a stop to her immediately!"

I took off at a run, following closely behind the crew members who were already

pursuing Ariane. Other soldiers around the port were also converging on the area,

drawn by the sudden racket.

Ariane bounded about the ship like an acrobat, dancing circles around the shouting

men. She'd already knocked a few into the water; others were out cold on the deck.

I made my way onto the ship, still under the guise of helping Vizio's men.

"Ariane, you need to get ahold of yourself!"

I made a halfhearted attempt to jump after her. Ariane easily sidestepped me before

flipping again and landing on the capstan.

I fell to the deck with a resounding crack, splitting the thick wood wide open, and

tumbled down into the cabin below.

I could hear Vizio's shrill voice from somewhere above.

"My ship!!!"

"Kyiiiiiii…"

Ponta had tumbled from my neck during the fall. It slowly got to its feet, shaking its

head all the while.

I readjusted my helmet and glanced around as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. At

my feet, I found a bundle of long, thick rope. It was only then that I noticed just how

big the cabin seemed for a ship this size.

Since Ariane was convinced that there were people being held captive here, I figured

I should trust her judgment and begin my search of the inner holds.

"We're here to rescue you! If you've been kidnapped, please respond!" I called out as I

made my way through the ship, but I didn't run across anyone other than a few armed

crew members who tried to attack me. It was possible that whoever was imprisoned

here thought my calls were some ssort of trap.

After knocking out the crew, I continued my search of the ship, trying a different tactic

this time.

"I am here on behalf of Miss Toreasa! Frani Markham, please respond if you're here!"

This time, I received a reply.

"I'm Frani Markham! Are you really here from Miss Toreasa?"

Following the sound of the voice, I found a grate built into the floor of one of the other

cabins. I could see fingers poking up through the holes.

Convinced that the rescue attempt was, in fact, real, other voices joined Frani's.

"Help!"

"Help us!!!"

I easily sidestepped the two crew members guarding the grate and used my sword to

cleave the padlock in two. Several relieved-looking people flooded out.

A woman with black hair tied back in a bun, wearing the livery of the servants I'd seen

back at the castle, looked up at me with large, shining eyes as she approached me.

"I… I'm Frani Markham. Are you the knight sent by Miss Toreasa?"

"My name is Arc. I am no knight, merely a mercenary honoring a lady's request."

It was clear from the look on her face that she didn't believe me.

"We don't have long. Everyone, follow me!"

I made sure to keep Frani safely behind me as I kicked down the cabin's door and

stepped out into the hall.

Several crew members tried to fight me as I led the prisoners through the ship, but a

swift punch was enough to knock each of them out.

Once we'd made it to the stairwell leading back up to the main deck, I stuck my head

out for a peek to find that Ariane was the only one still standing.

"Only you could tear through a ship's deck without even needing to use magic, Arc. Did

you find Frani?"

Ariane's hair fluttered in the ocean breeze, her amethyst skin shining in the sunlight.

She made her way toward us, a bright smile on her face as the crowd on the stairs

behind me gawked at her, some cheering, others choking back surprise. It didn't look

like she'd suffered even a scratch.

"Ah, yes. This is Frani, the one Miss Toreasa was looking for."

Frani stepped forward and bowed her head as I introduced her.

Ariane looked relieved.

"Great! I'm glad we were able to do some good for a fellow elf."

Once we'd explained the situation about Frani's kidnapping to the soldiers gathered

around the ship, they rounded up and arrested all the crew. Ariane and I watched from

the pier.

Gio, who'd been complicit in the traffickers' actions, was nowhere to be seen. He must

have made a run for it while Ariane and I dealt with the crew.

We left the rest to the soldiers and made our way back to Lord Petros's estate, where

he and Toreasa were waiting.

"Miss Toreasa!"

"Oh, Frani!"

Toreasa and Frani came together in a tight embrace.

Petros extended his hand out to Ariane.

"Thank you for assisting my wife and bringing Frani home safely to us."

Ariane looked back and forth between his hand and his face several times before

grasping his hand and shaking it.

"It was nothing… really."

She avoided eye contact as she replied, though Petros maintained his warm smile as

he invited us inside.

I didn't think it would be a good idea to sit on an expensive sofa in my full armor, so I

chose to stand at Ariane's side, continuing my role as her bodyguard.

An older man I hadn't seen before stood stock-still, almost a mirror image of myself,

next to Lord Petros and Toreasa.

Lord Petros had a slightly uncomfortable look on his face. "I'm quite impressed you

were able to figure out that Frani was being held aboard a merchant ship licensed by

Count Ornaut of the Nohzan Kingdom. May I ask where and how you uncovered your

evidence?"

Before Ariane could answer, Frani spoke up.

"I remember hearing a woman's voice calling my name while I was locked in the ship's

hold. I responded, but everyone around me insisted that no one had spoken my name.

I realize now that it was Miss Ariane's voice."

Lord Petros seemed greatly interested in this sudden development. Toreasa, however,

smiled knowingly.

"Aah, so you used a wind spirit?"

Ariane nodded. "Since I haven't entered into a compact with a wind spirit, I'm only

able to send my words about a dozen meters away."

"Still, that you could get a moody wind spirit to assist you without entering into a

compact is impressive indeed."

Ariane flushed and averted her gaze.

So what I'd seen Ariane blowing from the palm of her hand was actually a wind spirit.

It sounded like spirit magic allowed for radio-like communication.

"To think Gio was involved in the plot to kidnap Frani. I'm completely beside myself."

Petros let out a dramatic sigh, the grief plain on this face.

The older man stepped up from behind him and bowed low. "I am truly sorry for my

failure to properly supervise my men. I have caused you all undue hardship. As

commander of the knights, I, Herreid Ganconer, take full responsibility for what

happened."

The man wore his white hair brushed all the way back and had a mustache with the

ends curled up. Despite his fervent attempt to take responsibility for the events, Lord

Petros dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand.

"You are not solely to blame for this, Herreid. It is also my fault for not having fully

wrested control away from my father."

Herreid revealed that, even though Gio had managed to escape in all the confusion

earlier, the knights under his command had already discovered his hiding place.

"Was he just in it for money?"

"That was certainly a part of it, but it also seems that he wanted to bring safety back

to the town by handing as many of the refugees as he could over to the merchants.

However, the merchants took this even further and started abducting citizens as well."

Come to think of it, Gio had expressed some negative sentiments toward the refugees.

From what we could gather, Frani had just happened to stumble across Vizio and

others from Deoin Corp amid a transaction. Gio had sold her to the company as a

means of keeping her quiet. Vizio, for his part, had been more than happy to buy a

well-trained chambermaid for use as a slave. But it was thanks to their greed that she'd

come out of this safe and sound.

"Do you plan to pursue this issue with the count? I know we're talking about another

kingdom, but the fact that a company licensed by Count Ornaut would engage in such

barbarism is unconscionable."

Petros shook his head, a grim smile on his face.

"We will notify Count Ornaut that we have arrested some men working for Deoin Corp

with a falsified license. But I have no desire to squabble with foreign nobility. There's

also the fact that we boarded their ship without permission. The loss of the ship and

its contents will be a heavy blow for them, but I doubt they'll say anything about it.

Not if they want to save face."

Though Ariane's spirit magic had provided us with the evidence we needed, we'd

clearly overstepped our bounds by not following proper procedure. Then again, even

if we had, it was highly unlikely they would have allowed us to search the vessel.

"I know this won't make up for all the commotion we've caused, but I have an idea

about what you can do for the growing refugee population here in Lamburt."

Both Lord Petros and Herreid showed interest in my proposition.

I discussed the situation we'd encountered in the town of Branbayna on the way here.

Initially, Ariane looked confused, but perked up as I continued speaking.

Viscount Skitts du Branbayna had lamented that there weren't enough people to work

the land that Carcy had helped make farmable. It probably wasn't feasible to transport

all of them en masse, but, at the very least, it could be a solution for both Lamburt and

the refugees in need of a home.

"I didn't think it would be possible to increase their population. But you say there's an

elf living there now? Perhaps I should pay a visit to the viscount to discuss the

situation, to see what we can do about improving human-elf relations, and to invite

him to join Princess Yuriarna's faction."

Lord Petros spoke aloud, seemingly to himself, as he mulled over my suggestion.

Ariane's face lit up as he spoke.

She stood from the sofa. "This Princess Yuriarna you speak of… Do you mean the

member of the royal family?"

"Yes, the very same. The princess is one of the successors to the Rhoden Kingdom and

is the only one interested in improving relations with your people. My father was a

supporter of Prince Dakares, but, since marrying Toreasa, I have been considering

putting my support behind Princess Yuriarna instead."

Ariane listened with great interest. Meanwhile, I was busy trying to remember where

I'd heard the name Yuriarna before. But I couldn't quite place it. Figuring it wasn't a

productive train of thought, I put it aside for the time being.

Lord Petros promised to offer us any assistance he could in the future and gave us

letters of introduction with his royal seal, along with two copper travel passes for

Lamburt.

I imagined the letters would come in handy as human-elf relations continued

improving, and the travel passes would allow us to travel more easily. I drew enough

attention as it was…

Ariane interrupted my rambling thoughts with a sharp elbow in my side, bringing my

attention back to the room. Apparently, they'd finished talking.

After saying our goodbyes to Lord Petros, Lady Toreasa, and Frani, we left Lamburt

and used Transport Gate to return to the elven village of Lalatoya.

***

It was good to be back in the Great Canada Forest, home of the elves. Right in the

middle of these massive trees and random monsters was the lone village of Lalatoya,

Ariane's hometown.

We'd made our way to a hill overlooking the port of Bulgoh. There, out of people's line

of sight, I used my teleportation magic. After a moment of darkness, the world around

us came back into view, and we found ourselves in front of a familiar house.

It looked like a massive tree, but it was, in fact, one of the unique elven houses built

seamlessly into the forest. This amalgamation with nature was the home of Lalatoya's

elder, who happened to also be Ariane's father.

It typically would have been frowned upon for a human to enter an elven village at all,

and even more so to teleport directly to one of the homes inside.

However, since I'd already received permission from Ariane's father, it was easiest for

me to teleport straight here, as it was the location I had the strongest impression of.

The massive foliage above glimmered in the light of the setting sun, casting rapidly

darkening shadows on the house below. A soft glow emanated from the windows, cast

off by the magical lanterns inside, and the smell of what I could only assume was

dinner cooking caused a pang in my empty, nonexistent stomach.

Ponta let out a mewing noise as it sniffed the air from atop my head, also drawn in by

the enticing aroma.

Ariane opened the large front doors, stepping inside her home without a moment's

hesitation.

We walked through the entrance hall and into a large, open room, at the center of

which a massive pillar ran straight up into the ceiling. Walking along the outer

perimeter took us to a stairwell. Halfway up, we ran into an older man coming down.

The man looked to be in his late twenties or, at most, early thirties. He had long, greentinged blond hair, and was wearing the clothes of an elven cleric. This man was Dillan

Tahg Lalatoya—Ariane's father and the village elder.

Dillan's face broke into a wide smile at the sight of his daughter.

"You two returned much quicker than I anticipated. How did you fare?"

Ariane explained the events in Lamburt, including what we'd learned of Toreasa.

"I see. Well, if she's decided that she wishes to live among humans, then there's

nothing we can do about it. However, I'm deeply intrigued about this Princess

Yuriarna. If the Rhoden Kingdom demands justice from us regarding the assassination

you two were involved in, we should probably speak with her."

Dillan looked over the documents we'd received from Lord Petros.

"Also, while we were on our way to Lamburt, we stopped by a town called Branbayna,

where we found an elf named Carcy Held, a monster researcher."

"Carcy Held? The one who wrote those bestiaries? He's from Landfrea, if I remember.

I heard he left Canada a long time ago. He's in Branbayna now? I suppose we'd better

report this to the high elders."

Dillan's eyes fell on me, a certain gravity in his gaze.

"Where are you off to next?"

"The last slaver left is a man known as Drassos du Barysimon. According to Chiyome,

our next destination will be in the western empire, I guess?"

Ariane nodded in agreement, though Dillan simply frowned.

"Not only are the lands of the eastern and western empires vast, but I hear stories of

unspeakable things happening to any elves found there. I know how strong you are,

Ariane, but please, be careful."

"I will be. Besides, I'll have Arc with me. We should be able to handle whatever comes

our way."

Ariane gave my armor a light tap. Apparently, she thought quite highly of me. If I'd had

cheeks, I may have blushed. I didn't feel like I deserved such praise, but if my actions

were enough to earn Ariane's trust, then it was all worth it.

"Elder Dillan, I promise you that I will bring Ariane back to this village safe and

sound… er, again."

Ariane looked over at me, a smirk forming on her lips as she gazed into the depths of

my helmet.

"So, I guess that means we won't be getting lost anymore?"

Come to think of it, I had absolutely no idea how to get to the Revlon Empire. I tilted

my head to the side as Ariane elbowed me.

My inability to find my way around was going to continue earning me mockery.