◇◆◇
Weaving through the dark of the night to approach the forest, Gi Ji Arsil saw the giant fields being cultivated on the other side of the walls. Gi Ji’s eyes opened wide. These were the same fields that Mattis once plowed at the Gi Village, but they were much bigger. Gi Ji did not fully grasp the importance of these giant fields, but he knew that their being here was not a good thing. On top of that, there were no trees past the walls. The land was being changed to fit the humans.
It had only been a meager 40 days since the king swore an oath with the humans not to fight, yet the humans had already changed the land to this extent. The ability of the humans to accomplish so much in so little greatly shook Gi Ji.
“As expected…”
The humans had no intentions of keeping their promise with the king; they would not wait until the promised time.
Gi Ji believed the humans needed to be weakened before they could set up a foothold here, but was this really the right choice? Gi Ji wasn’t sure. While Gi Ji was caught up in his thoughts, he heard the footsteps of a human clad in armor.
Gi Ji took out his dagger and stifled his presence.
“…Who goes there?” The soldier asked to Gi Ji, who was currently concealing himself.
Gi Ji did not have the time for doubts. If he just ran away like this, there wouldn’t be any point to him sneaking here in the first place.
He had to at least cross swords with the enemy.
Thinking that, Gi Ji decided to cut down a soldier first before running away.
As Gi Ji jumped out quietly, the soldier took out his sword. Sparks flashed as their weapons clashed.
“Identify yourself!” The man asked again.
Gi Ji’s surprise attack had failed. Cold sweat slid down his back.
“Enemy attack!” The soldier cried.
Sensing the human soldiers gathering, Gi Ji concluded that there was no point to further fighting.
It was unfortunate, but he had to retreat. Scouting out the enemy was one thing, but if he were to fall to the humans here, then he would truly be throwing mud on the king’s orders. Gi Ji made a run for it.
He weaved through the darkness, dodging the arrows that came his way, then he jumped for the stone wall. His hands raised him up, and within a single breath, he managed to get past the walls. But before he could get down, an arrow managed to find its way into his back.
Pain jolted through his body, but he didn’t have the time to writhe. He dragged his body back to the forest.
◆◆◇
The night was still dark when I decided to make my way back to the goblin camp. Along the way I felt someone watching me. When I turned around, there was no one, only the presence of a person under the countless shadows of the trees.
An assassin?
No, the killing intent is too weak. I wanted to move my body anyway, so I decided to run toward that presence.
“Who are you?”
Unsheathing the long sword by my waist, I gradually closed in on that presence. But then arrows came shooting at me from the gaps between the trees.
“Tch!?”
Shifting my body to the side to dodge the arrows, I ran toward the direction the arrows came from. I swung my sword to cut away the branches blocking my path. When the path was cleared, several more arrows came shooting at me. My eyes worked well even in the dark, but it was still a challenge to dodge arrows coming from the shadows of the leaves. The most I could do was knock down those arrows with my sword.
After knocking the arrows down, I felt the presence move toward the part of the forest where there were giant trees. I didn’t have a way to attack from a distance, so I had to near the presence first before I could win. I knew I was at a disadvantage, but I still pursued.
“—!”
There were countless trees between me and that presence. There was no guarantee the arrows would even hit me, but—
Sparks flashed as my sword knocked down another arrow. I couldn’t see the face of this mysterious person, but I’m starting to have an idea who this is. When the person ahead turned around for a moment, two arrows were nocked at the same thing. That was an elven technique.
“—Winds!”
When I heard a spell chanted, a strong wind came blowing from up ahead. When I looked up a small figure was flying.
Planning on running!?
“My body is like a cloud of dust!Accel”
I blew up ether behind me as soon as I saw my mysterious assailant flying.
Reach him!
I was about to swing my sword, but when I saw the frightened face of my mysterious assailant, I stretched out my arms instead and boxed the ears of the small elf, then I looked toward our would-be landing spot, which was a giant tree.
“Nu!?”
That’s not good! For a moment, the future of us crashing into the giant tree flashed through my mind.
“Winds protect me!Wind Break” The little elf chanted, causing a wind to blow us away from the tree, safely down to the ground.
“Well then, what excuse do you have, little girl?” I said.
“How about thanking me first,” she said.
I thought it was a familiar face, but as it turns out, it’s Shure’s daughter. If I recall correctly, her name is—
I asked the little elf with my sword pointed at her. Unlike when I first met her, her gaze was as calm as a tranquil lake. Is this the real her?
“While you did save me just now, didn’t you also attack me a while ago?” I said.
“But I wasn’t aiming for your life!” The girl inflated her cheeks and pouted. “I just wanted to see how strong you were—”
She went quiet as I moved my blade across her skin.
“You know a joke like that wouldn’t fly, right?” I said.
If I put just a little bit more power into my sword, blood would begin to drip from her skin. Wanting to know someone’s strength is something only an equally strong person has the right to say. A girl who doesn’t know her place doesn’t have the right to say those words.
Such conceit wouldn’t do for us goblins or even the elves.
I should kill her while no one is watching.
“You’re serious, huh,” she said.
The girl seems to have noticed my resolve as she looked me in the eye.
“We don’t have the luxury not to be, after all. The humans are approaching and my dream is still far off. It would be absurd to think I have the time to play around.” A brutal smile appeared on my lips as I said that. No, that wasn’t a brutal smile but one of self-derision.
I didn’t have the time to play, and yet I actually hesitated to kill this girl. No matter how beautiful, enemies must be put to death.
I have an intrinsic fear toward beautiful things. Or perhaps it’s only a lingering effect of the fear I felt from Altesia’s beauty.
A beauty so great that it felt like I would lose myself. This girl is still lacking compared to her, but she is plenty beautiful.
“…In that case, I apologize, Goblin King.”
“That’s not enough. Aside from your apology, I need to be recompensed as well.”
The girl sighed. “I’ve heard of your kind before, but… You really are greedy.”
“We do not have anything; therefore, we are greedy.”
The girl became thoughtful for a moment, then she spoke. “Then how about I give you myself?”
“…Excuse me?”
The girl knitted her brows as she looked me straight in the eye. Those eyes were not lying.
“Rather rude, aren’t we? I’ve thought it through, you know. My father will be forming an alliance with you soon, correct?” The girl said.
I nodded.
“Then in that case, you’re going to need something better as proof of trust. Something better than mere words: action. If you take me as your bride, the elves will surely never betray you, and the goblins will prosper.”
A marriage to form an alliance. In human words this is what you would call a ‘political marriage’. This is one way to go about things, indeed. In fact, it was used many times in the past, a testament to its efficacy.
The only problem is whether this girl is saying this on her own accord.
“Did Shure tell you to say that? In order to make us easier to control?” I said provokingly.
He seemed like a doting father, but that might have been an act.
“The sylphs of the Rustling Forest (Forni) have not fallen so!” The girl said those words quietly but there was a strong will behind them.
She’s serious then?
“I may only be a little girl, someone who can’t even attend the sage’s council and ignorant of matters pertaining to other countries, but I won’t lose to anyone when it comes to my love for my home.”
Her glare remained on me, unmoving. No, it’s moving a little, but she’s doing her best to hide that. She’s not too bad, I suppose.
“Hmm… I’ll accept your apology, but I can’t take you as wife,” I wryly smiled as I thought of Reshia’s unhappy face.
“What a haughty goblin! Don’t you know goblins normally wouldn’t have a chance to marry an elf!?”
True, elves certainly wouldn’t ever consider a goblin as spouse material.
“Right. Anyway, don’t pull this sort of prank again. Warn the other kids too if you can.”
I sheathed my sword, but the girl seemed to have no intentions of leaving as she just sat there on the ground.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to go home?”
“I can’t stand up,” the girl said, her face red with embarrassment though she tried to hide it.
Seeing her like that gives one a feeling of superiority, but it didn’t change the fact that I now had to do something troublesome. Sighing, I picked the girl up.
“…This is humiliating,” she complained as she stifled her cries.
“There’s nothing unsightly in standing tall despite your fears. Although the reasons for your predicament aren’t praiseworthy, you being able to negotiate with me is. Being able to survive an encounter against someone strong is to be praised.”
“To think a goblin would console me…”
Well, she is being carried; a little embarrassment can’t be helped.
“But… thank you,” she said.
“It’s something laudable. Be proud of it.”
Shunaria honestly nodded.
◆◆◇
“I take it everything is ready?”
Several people were gathered in a dark room.
“Yes. We’ve made contact.”
“Then…”
When those words briefly ended, the figures vanished in the shadows.
A few days later, the alliance of the Rustling Forest (Forni) and the Windy Forest (Gastair) with the goblins was announced throughout the whole sylph forest.
The elven citizens who had no idea what was going on were greatly rattled.
“Have they lost their minds? The wise and honorable Forni actually formed an alliance with the likes of goblins!?”
“A goblin of all things? Demihumans I’d still understand to some extent, but goblins!? Has Falun Gastair gone senile!?’
Chaos and confusion spread among the elves.
“Impossible! What is Shure and Falun thinking!” Fenit Symphoria’s fertile body shook waves as he slammed his fist on the desk. His elven retainers could only look down on the ground as they waited for their master’s wrath to pass.
“Say something! What is going on!?”
No one could raise their head to answer their angry master’s question.
“Useless! Call the Sages’ Council. On my name, Fenit Symphoria, I will not permit this alliance with the goblins! We are the proud and noble elves, for crying out loud!”
“I-I’ll send a messenger at once then,” an elven retainer said with shaking voice before rushing out the door.
After the retainer elf left, this time Pale entered.
“Fenit! What’s going on? Forni has formed an alliance with the goblins?” She asked.
“It’s as you’ve heard. That bastard, Shure Forni, has lost his mind! As the still sane ones, we must have him executed!”
“Can you win?”
Even Pale has heard of Shure Forni’s greatness.
“Can I win? Is that something you need to ask!? Ha! Enough fool’s talk, please. Is there any reason to lose? There is no reason this Fenit Symphoria could possibly lose to some mad elf who formed an alliance with the likes of goblins, is there?”
Pale didn’t think so, however. A battle between elves was still a battle.
The elves did not have much experience with large-scale battles. If the war were to be fought solely of neophytes, the result would be up to luck, but Shure has allied himself with the goblins.
Back when Pale was still living with the humans, she heard of how the holy knight, Gene, met his untimely demise in the Forest of Darkness, the area east of where they sylphs lived. Somehow, Pale didn’t think things would go so smoothly.
“Alright.” Pale bit her lips and left the raging Fenit to himself. Right now she would have to fight for Fenit.
“I’ll have to do what I can,” she muttered.
She would have to visit her old friends and reach out to some decent elves.
“Selena… Please be safe.”
Shaking off the foreboding feelings haunting her, her beautiful face gradually turned into that of a warrior.
