38 – Request for Support
Ebi bowed her head slightly as she sat down.
It looked like she was offering a deep bow, so I hurried over and lifted her forehead.
Her humble and courteous appearance was really nice to see, but receiving a bow was a bit against the etiquette.
“Oh, long time no see. What’s wrong? Why are you so sad?”
I sat down in front of Ebi and asked her about the purpose of coming here.
Ebi lowered her head again and pleaded with me.
“I was wondering if I could ask for your help, so I came to see you.”
“My help?”
“Yes. I know it’s rude, but please, I beg you! Please save our Cheongcheongyeongwol!”
Ebi finished her words and trembled slightly, holding back her tears.
What on earth was the problem that made her so miserable?
I put Pii on my lap and asked Ebi.
“Please stop crying and tell me what’s going on. I’ll help you as much as I can.”
I was determined to help him no matter how serious the problem was.
As a druid candidate who had received the blessing of the wild, I couldn’t ignore the request for help from the beastmen.
When I promised to help and asked for more details, Ebi wiped his tears with his sleeve and told me what had happened.
“This fall, there are unusually many monsters. But in our Blue Moon Village, we don’t have enough warriors to fight them. It’s so hard to survive this year that I had to come and ask for your help.”
“You don’t have enough warriors? Why?”
“I’m sorry to say this, but our beastmen males have a natural wanderlust. When they reach adulthood, they roam the forest and look for a village to settle in. But in recent years, the number of males who settle down has decreased significantly. And as a result, the number of warriors has also decreased….”
“So the kids who left home didn’t come back. Did you figure out why?”
“Yes… We suspect that the males who left were captured by slave hunters.”
They couldn’t make it through the hunting season because of the slave hunting.
It seemed that those damn humans had done something again.
I wrapped my head with a throbbing headache and looked at Siz.
“Siz. As the hunting leader of the high elves, what do you think?”
Siz, who had been listening quietly, clicked his tongue and answered.
“It looks like the Lake of Leylines is done for.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Even if they make it through this hunting season, it will be hard to stock up on food and resources. Most of them will starve or freeze to death in the winter.”
Siz’s words seemed to hit the mark, as Ebi’s rabbit ears drooped sadly.
Seeing that, I held up my chainsaw and winked at Siz.
It meant, ‘Can I go to the Lake of Leylines and help them?’
“`text
Siz chuckled lightly and answered nonchalantly.
“I won’t stop you if you want to go. Elves and beastmen are not enemies, after all. Nor are they allies, though.”
He gave his permission more easily than I expected.
I widened my eyes and showed a ‘what’s going on?’ expression.
It seemed I was not the only one surprised, as Pii, who was sitting on my lap, spoke to Siz.
[Hmm? That’s unexpected. I thought Siz would try to dissuade you.]
Siz, who was leaning against the wall, crossed his arms and replied.
“Hmph. Didn’t I promise you last time? If you ever have a reason to go to the leyline lake, I’ll let you go without a fuss.”
[Wow. I thought you would drag Gaul around to give him some combat experience during the hunting season.]
“If the leyline lake is dangerous enough, it will be a more fierce hunting ground. I have no reason to stop him if he wants to fight on his own. He just has to come back after the hunting season is over.”
Siz seemed to really mean to let me go to the leyline lake.
But there was one thing that bothered me.
Siz didn’t seem to have any intention of accompanying me.
I asked Siz why.
“Are you not coming with me?”
Siz nodded as if it was obvious.
“Why would I go there? I’m the hunting leader of the high elves. I have a lot of things to worry about here if there are many monsters coming.”
“So you want me and Pii to go by ourselves?”
“Yeah. We don’t have the loyalty or the resources to send you any support. I won’t stop you from going on your own, but don’t expect the elves to help you.”
He sounded a bit cold, but I understood Siz’s position.
“`
As the hunting captain of the high elves, I had to prioritize the safety of Eldenore.
Unfortunately, it seemed like I had to go to the Leyline Lake alone.
Then, Pii, who climbed up on my shoulder, chuckled and spoke to Siz.
[Siz. What are you going to do if Gaul doesn’t come back after we send him alone?]
What was this nonsense?
As I listened to Pii’s words, Siz frowned and replied.
“What? Why wouldn’t he come back?”
[That’s obvious. It’s because of the different treatment! People always stick to the side that takes care of them! What if Gaul falls head over heels for the gentle and virtuous women of the Leyline Lake?]
“Hmph! He’s a druid candidate. He has to come back as long as the Temple of Nature is here.”
[Druids are not only guardians of nature, but also of the wild, you know? There’s a Temple of the Wild in the Leyline Lake, so why can’t he settle there?]
“Ugh!”
Siz closed his mouth at Pii’s words.
It seemed like druids could live in the Leyline Lake just fine.
Should I leave Eldenore and move my base to the Blue Moon Valley?
As I nodded and pondered, Pii tapped my head and said.
[And Gaul’s taste is gentle and virtuous women. It’s a good opportunity since there are not enough men in the Blue Moon Valley.]
“…What opportunity is that?”
[Huh? Don’t you know that the beastmen are polygamous? Harem, harem! It’s a good thing to build a family and settle down!]
“What, what the hell!”
Siz shouted in confusion at Pii’s words.
Seeing that, I hugged Pii and jumped up from my seat.
Then I helped Ivy stand up and said to everyone.
“We’re leaving right now. I want to go to the Vein Lake as soon as possible… I mean, we have to go help them as soon as possible.”
[hehehe. You seem motivated?]
“Yeah. Totally.”
Who would refuse the opportunity of a harem?
I was burning with enthusiasm that I never had before and tried to run out of the guest room.
That’s when Shiz, who was grinding his teeth and fidgeting, grabbed my neck and said.
“Two months! No, no! Just hold on for a month!”
“What? Why all of a sudden?”
“……Then I’ll finish the work here and go help you.”
“And let’s return together when the work is done?”
“Y-yeah. Do you have a problem with that?”
Shiz seemed to worry that I would be captivated by the beastman harem.
But even though he said that, the safety of Qingqing Moon was more important than the harem, so I had no reason to refuse Shiz’s help.
It looked hard to protect a city by myself, but if Shiz helped me, I could do it.
I nodded and accepted Shiz’s promise of support.
“Okay. Then I’ll trust you and hold on as much as I can.”
Shiz finally let go of my neck, satisfied.
That’s when Pii, who was sitting on my shoulder, giggled and whispered softly.
[hehehe. I successfully hooked him. I knew he would come if I did this.]
It seemed that the remark he made earlier was a bait he threw to get Shiz’s support.
Pii was really wicked sometimes.
I chuckled and grabbed the hand of Ivy who was standing next to me.
“Ivy, did you hear? Let’s go right away.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Ivy shed tears of gratitude and bowed endlessly.
She stopped crying after she got on Rudolf’s back.
The leyline lake located in the east of the great forest.
We should be able to arrive there without delay if we were with Rudolf.
* * *
“Commander! A drake has broken through the defense line and is heading this way!”
“Another lintbloom is coming from the west!”
A beautiful city located on the leyline lake, Cheongcheongyeongwol (靑淸映月).
A dark shadow fell over the face of the woman who was in charge of the commander (戰士長) there.
It was a terribly dark shadow of despair, mixed with fatigue and resignation.
“I will exterminate them all here! Everyone, get in formation and prepare for battle!”
“B-but, commander! We don’t have enough troops to stop them!”
“Do you think we can give up then?”
She had not had a proper rest for three days already.
Her eyes kept closing, and her whole body’s muscles were screaming in pain.
But she couldn’t leave the defensive line for a rest.
As autumn approached the continent, countless monsters had attacked the lake of ley lines for its water.
She had to stop all the monsters here at any cost.
If the last warrior chief, herself, was breached, the clear water of the lake of ley lines would be stained with blood.
“They’re coming! Drake and Lintbloom are here!”
“If this place is breached, it’s all over! Fight with the resolve to die!”
She lifted her head and glared at the front.
Two huge monsters were running towards her, shaking the ground.
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She had to face two of them at the same time.
The situation was so hopeless that she felt darkness in front of her eyes.
‘I’m going to die today.’
To be honest, she had no confidence in stopping them.
If her body condition was good, she could have stopped them easily, but she was exhausted both physically and mentally from the continuous battles in the past few days.
She and her subordinates would probably die here.
If the defensive line was breached, the Blue Moon City would not be safe either, and the glorious splendor of the lake of ley lines would end today.
‘How regrettable.’
How could she not feel bitter about ending her generation?
Her head hung low, feeling too ashamed to face the wild god and the ancestors.
The silver moon’s fang, Kaia Rigaile.
The warrior chief, who was beautiful and strong, was driven to the edge of the cliff, both physically and mentally.
“They’re here!”
“I’ll take care of the one running from the front.”
“Ho, by yourself?”
“Yes. You deal with the other one.”
Since it was the last time, he would take a monster with him as a companion to the underworld.
He would sacrifice his life to save his subordinates in front of him.
She took a deep breath of mana in the air, with a determination to die.
As mana seeped into her exhausted body, the wildness that had been pushed to the edge of the cliff raised its head.
“You can’t do that, chief!”
“Don’t worry about me and do your part!”
How many people could he save by burning his life force?
What kind of power would he unleash by inviting the god of wildness into his body?
She began to recite the spell that would be the first and last of her life.
It was a heartburn, a spell that would explode all her mana at the cost of her life.
But at that moment,
―――――――――!!
From the depths of the great forest,
A roar that he had never heard before sounded.