Chapter 71: Volume 6 - CH 67

The hut that stands quietly in a corner of the Academy of the Wise belongs to the Patrolmen's Task Force Caution Team.

The task force, which had been a window-side department for the past hundred years, is now surrounded by a unprecedented hustle and bustle unlike any in recent years, thanks to High Mentor Graham Coogan's call. The members of the team were surprised to see the report of the evacuation order to the elves that appeared on the message tablet that could be sent and received every other second. If what the report said was true, then in this short period of time, the group with the pair of stone tablets had peacefully led nearly four hundred elves to evacuate to the World Tree Village deep in the Dark Green Forest.

Some of them even said that they had found and processed villages that were not on the map. Due to the nature of message boards, they cannot be very long, so it is difficult to embellish their credit and make the report larger than necessary.

「Raymond, you're really something.」

However, since it was Raymond, there might be some exaggeration――Sheryl had made a cold-hearted decision. The number of people reported is obviously large, but there is no problem in paying for it if it is this much. In the future, if someone tries to take advantage themselves with her for this, she can make fun of them for false the report.

But of course, even if she deduct the cost, the fact that he was able to handle so much in such a limited number of days was honestly worthy of praise. It seems that Raymond is more sincere about his work than Sheryl thought, and has a firm grip on the subordinates currently under his command. Sheryl muttered to herself "I should should change my opinion of my fiancé, even though he was not to my liking" . It was indeed embarrassing to mention more about her fiancé's abilities to her subordinate any further.

「Confirmation of the response of 『Giant Killer』. Let's see, ...... is around here.」

Sheryl's raised her eyebrows as she looked at the place the magician had marked on the map. I'm sure that place is...

「...... Wait a minute.」

Sheryl is also a full-fledged magician and can use 【Detection】. However, since the distance to the target is great, the amount of magic power needed is also high, so she doesn't want to use it too easily, but since she know the general direction, the magic power consumed is less than usual. She's not going to let the magician who just detected the 『Giant Killer』 use 【Detection】 again. Sheryl had no choice but to use the 【Detection】 herself. The item she was after was not the 『Giant Killer』. It is an elaborately designed ring on her right ring finger, with a different letter engraved on it.

It is an engagement ring, and the name of the person wearing the ring with the different letters is Raymond Dantes.

She narrowed down the direction and made use 【Detection】. Sheryl groaned as she compared the terrain in her mind, the approximate distance, and the map in her hand.

「.......It's close. I'll have to tell him to stay away.」

There's no village on the map. However, the fact that Satoru was there and Raymond was in the vicinity meant that it was probably a village that was not on the map that had been reported. Sheryl groaned as she realized that Satoru and Raymond were probably less than three miles away from each other.

Just as Derek, the second-in-command, was about to speak up, someone entered the building.

「So, how's it all going?」

「High Mentor!」

Sheryl was surprised, but even more surprised were the team members. They have been told that the person they were chasing is the result of a call from the High Mentor, but seeing the High Mentor himself like this tells them that his story was not false. If you're a regular patrolman, you only get to see him greet the New Year once a year from a distance, and it's not often you get the chance to see the High Mentor at such close range.

「Sorry for the trouble, everyone.」

The High Mentor slowly shakes his old body and calls out to the team members. The team members seemed to be moved and shaken by the direct encouragement from the head of the Highest School.

「Those words are too good for us」

On behalf of the team, Derek, the second-in-command of the team, bowed his head politely. Graham Coogan, one of the best magicians living in this world today. He is old indeed, but the strength in his eyes is still there―Derek knows he is being rude, but he values it.

Derek noticed that Sheryl, the leader of the team, was becoming a little skeptical about the people they were pursuing. He felt that maybe the High Mentor was too old and misguided.

The magical tremors that had occurred in the city of Ares the other day without warning were believed to be the work of the High Mentor. The disturbance has died down after the official announcement that the High Mentor was so happy to have completed his longtime research that he forgot to warn the surrounding nations, partly due to old age, but considering the age of the High Mentor, who is 74 years old, it can't be helped. He doesn't want to be pushed around by an old man.

But Derek was relieved to see that his fears were unfounded, judging by the strength in High Mentor's eyes. He offered the High Mentor a chair, and stood up and unfolded a map showing Satoru's recent activities.

「The target is now in this position.」

「Mm........I've heard the report from the team leader, but he's moving fast.」

「Indeed. It's troubling.」

Derek tells him without fear. Of course, he has a high level of respect for the High Mentor, but he understands that it will not do him any good if he is too respectful and hesitant to do his job.

Sheryl showed the High Mentor the message tablet with Raymond's report still written on it. The High Mentor squinted and read the words, and groaned.

「Sir Dantes seems to have dealt with it quickly, but he may have left something out.」

「That's not Sir Dantes' fault. It must have been very difficult to figure out where they were outside the village. Can't say we blame him for finding the hidden village.」

In fact, even the High Mentor did not expect Raymond to be so dedicated to his mission. He changed his mind about his character and nature, but it seems that he has a certain amount of ability. The fact that he responded well as a messenger to his plan should be praised.

The question was whether or not Satoru had been in contact with the elves.

If they are in contact, and if Satoru is trying to get close to the World Tree Village through threats or requests...

「I hope the Elders of the World Tree Village are aware of our intentions.」

The High Mentor rubbed his beard and groaned. Sheryl doesn't know the contents of the letter that was sent to the Elders of the World Tree Village. However, she did notice that the letter was probably written in a roundabout way.

What we want most now, that's.....

「Are you buying time?」

「Indeed...... I would like Sir Dantes to do another job for us.」

Sheryl shook her head hurriedly.

「It's dangerous now. He seems to be quite close to the target.」

The High Mentor only looked at Sheryl, who looked panicked. If this calm girl is in a panic like this, I assume that the target must be in a very close position to Raymond.

「We need to figure out what we're going to do.」

He know that Raymond Dantes has a certain amount of ability, but it is still too risky to hit Satoru directly. On the other hand, there are not many ways left to buy time.

For the time being, the High Mentor himself wrote on the message tablet that Raymond should stay where he is and be very careful not to make contact with the target, since he is nearby. In the next koku, the High Mentor's handwritten orders sent directly. It would be an encouragement to Raymond, but Sheryl was a little lost. She wondered if she should add a strong "Stay Away" rather than a half-hearted "Be careful". The High Mentor knew this, and Sheryl wondered if he had any idea why he didn't write it down, but she didn't have an answer.

「We need to earn five more days.」

In five more days, the 『Holy Sword Clan』 should be able to reach her. It's not like the 『Holy Sword Clan』 will get to here any faster if they were in a hurry, but they can't stop feeling impatient.

What to do after the clan arrives, and how to deal with Satoru? Graham Coogan's mind was already occupied with these thoughts. He hadn't given any thought to the pawn that was Raymond.

He would later come to regard this as a matter of grief.

＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊

『Hey―Danna-sama. Can I go out to eat?』

「Yeah, sure」

『'Kaay. I'm off.』

The conversation with Minerva in the flying dragon form is based on 【Telepathy】, just like the conversation with Leia in the shadows, so even if he speak in a whisper, it will still be understood. If you are aware that you are talking to them, they will understand. To the casual observer, it looks like Minerva is only let out guruguru noise

The mother and daugher, Reine and Liz looked on curiously as the Flying Dragon, which had been lazily following behind Satoru, took a few steps, flapped its wings a couple of times, and took off. Neither Satoru nor Rico showed any sign of concern.

「.......Errr, that Flying Dragon.......was it called Minerva? Where it is going?」

Satoru tilted his head lightly at Liz's look at Minerva as she flew away.

「Oh, she's going to pick up his own food」

「Hee~. ...... that Flying Dragon's so smart」

Liz smiled in admiration. She nodded in understanding. The fact that Minerva is a Flying Dragon that understands human language is not something that should be easily revealed, though it had been somewhat neglected because of their resemblance to Satoru's mother and little sister.

「Hmm. Well, yeah.」

Nodding lightly, Satoru and Rico entered the cabin, guided by Reine. There were two rooms, maybe even a second floor, with a ladder on top. The wood is made from logs, and stone walls around the fireplace. It's a bit like a log cabin. The image is similar to that of the Onji's house , a story he saw in an anime when he was a child about a girl living in the Alps. However, it looks a little shabby.

With familiarity, Reine poured some herbal tea into a wooden mug and offered it to Satoru and Rico. They accepted the drink, though they were a little hesitant. Reine looked to be in her mid-thirties. It was normal to think of her as Liz's mother, who looked thirteen to fourteen years old, but there was nothing more difficult to understand than the age of an elf. He was afraid to ask a woman her age, so he couldn't ask.

「I'm going to clean up the field.」

While offering a chair to Satoru and Rico, Liz turned around. Her long black hair danced softly――The sight of her is somehow dazzling.

「Oh, let me help you.」

Rico, who had almost sat down, sat up.

「Eh, but....I don't think it's a good idea to have our guest help me. ......」

「It's okay. Don't worry about it. Satoru, please tell Reine-san what happened.」

With Liz's back pushed, Rico went out with her. She glanced at Satoru and winked at him. Satoru just smiles.

「Uhh......So, what brings you two here?」

Under the gaze of Reine, who was standing at the watering hole cooking despite having one limp, Satoru opened his mouth with some hesitation, feeling afraid.

「We want to go to the 『Dark Green Forest』 ...... or more specifically, the 『Labyrinth of the World Tree』.」

「My, I see. 『Labyrinth of the World Tree』, huh?」

「Yes, well.」

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Reine responded without any sign of surprise. Satoru's appearance was that of an adventurer. He was also carrying a very heavy-looking sword, which was currently propped up on the wall. Rico's outfit was also well-traveled, and Satoru looked like a skilled adventurer, controlling a giant Flying Dragon like Minerva. It was no surprise that a skilled adventurer would want to take on one of the most difficult labyrinths in the world, the 『Labyrinth of the World Tree』. The story of the 『Labyrinth of the World Tree』 is secret and not as famous as the difficulty, but it is highly likely that a skilled adventurer will contain that much information

The labyrinth itself is frightening and dangerous, but the treasures that can be found there are also highly valuable. This is one of the reasons why the number of adventurers who risk their lives to challenge the labyrinth has not decreased.

However, there are some problems that make it different from a normal labyrinth.

「You can't enter that forest without someone with elven blood in their veins. ......」

Reine smiled with a slightly troubled face.

Not only her appearance, but even the soft atmosphere she has is so similar to Satoru's late mother's that he was at a loss for words. She was in her mid-thirties, a shadow of his mother who had passed away earlier in life. The problem is that she looks the same age as his mother. Even though his mother has been dead for more than eight years, she still looks exactly the same as she did in his memories.

「We don't have much to offer, but you can have a meal. I don't know if it will suit your taste.」

「Thank you, and I'm sorry for the trouble.」

Satoru bowed his head. He couldn't help but think of his mother's face, but there is a part of him there that she doesn't feel like a stranger.

"It's no trouble at all," smiled Reine, her face kind and gentle.

「I didn't see any other people around. I used magic to search for them and found that there were people here. ......」

「Huh? Wasn't there anyone in the village?」

Satoru shook his head. He knew that there was a small village a short distance away when he came here. However, there was no one there either. Reine's house was a little far from the village, near the forest. She probably doesn't have much interaction with the other residents. That's why she didn't notice that they had disappeared.

"Oh my," Reine said, looking a little troubled.

「Why do you live in such a remote place?」

Satoru can imagine, but he dared to cut to the chase. It would be dangerous for a young mother and her daughter to live alone in the depths of a remote forest like this. Although there were not many monsters, beasts were common. The building made of logs looked sturdy, but it would be dangerous against large beasts such as bears, let alone wolves.

In response to Satoru's frank question, Reine tilted her head without losing her smile.

「――It's just as you imagined. Because Liz is persecuted.」

Satoru took his breath away. On the other hand, he also thought, "I knew it".

Liz hasn't come back yet. She's probably outside talking with Rico, and he can hear their happy voice from a little distance. It's not as if they are being persecuted, but as Leia told Satoru about the half-elf girl in Reyeld, the first town Minerva stopped in after her 【Mimicry】, the racism must be deep-rooted.

Satoru finally realized the meaning of Rico's wink, saying that Rico was deliberately talking with Liz outside because she expected that they would have to have a complicated conversation. Satoru thought to himself that he had been misled by the appearance of Reine and Liz and had become quite panicked. Leia and Solor, who have been hiding in his shadows since a while ago, have not said a word.

「That's exactly why I was living here. Before I came here, I was living in the World Tree Village. I was kicked out from there. I managed to find a village that would accept me, and through the kindness of a caring old lady in the village, I built a house here. It's already been a year now.」

Stopping her cooking, Reine sat down across from Satoru. She is smiling, but there is a hint of tiredness in her face. She must have gone through a lot of hardships after being kicked out of the World Tree Village and settling down in this house.

「That girl, ...... Liz, is a mementos of my husband.」

Reine began to speak little by litte.

「This means that your husband is ......」

She smiles a small, lonely smile.

「Yes. He passed away last year.」

So it's like that, huh―Guess that's why she was kicked out from the World Tree Village (?). Reine's smile faded and she turned her head to stare at her hands on the desk. She is an elf, but her flesh is thin, and she has calluses on her palms from doing unfamiliar farm work. It was the aftermath of a hard day's work.

「As you can see, I am an elf. And my husband was a human. Even though I knew that our passage of time was different, it was hard for me when he leave me. We finally came together.」

Tears well up in the Reine's eyes, who speaks softly. In this world, it's the other way around... Satoru thinks to himself

Satoru's mother died when she gave birth to Arisu. The death of his mother was too much of a shock. His father committed suicide seven days after his mother's death, leaving the child behind. In this world, the father died first―He even thought about it, but then he thought again, "no, I think it's different".

The only difference is that both Reine and Liz look like Satoru's relatives back home.

「He was a leather craftsman. Originally, humans were not allowed to live in the World Tree Village, but that man won the trust of the elves in the village through his unyielding efforts. He lived to be 62 years old. I think that's a reasonably long life for a human being.」

Reine clenched her hands on the desk with a sigh. Satoru wonderer how much trouble he had to go through to win the trust of the elves, a different race of humans with a strong sense of exclusivity. He must have had the courage to laugh it off, even if it was discrimination that Satoru could not stand. It was this aspect that attracted Reine to him. And because he wanted to be with Reine, he endured any discrimination and continued to stay in the World Tree Village.

It is said that the average lifespan of a human being in this world is less than 60, so if he lived to 62, it was probably his lifespan. The father of this world did not commit suicide― No, that's not it, Satoru said to himself.

Reine smiled weakly at Satoru. Her gaze was as if she was looking at something nostalgic.

「You look vaguely like my dead husband when he was young. He wasn't as big as you, Satoru, but he had a certain atmosphere. I'm sure that girl felt the same way. It's true that she's not afraid of people, but she's still traumatized by the persecution she's been subjected to, so she doesn't often talk to people on her own.」

The moment Satoru met Liz, she approached him on her own. Indeed, if you have experienced persecution, it takes a lot of courage to talk to others. Satoru has no experience of bullying, nor has he been bullied in the past, but he remembers the sight of the bullied boy in his class in the upper grades of elementary school who was too frightened to talk to anyone.

Satoru looked like Liz's late father, which is probably why she felt a certain familiarity with him and was able to talk to him herself. Alice and Liz, who are very close in appearance ―― although their circumstances are different, it seems that they are each having a hard time. Satoru bit his navel in regret.

「As you can see, that girl is a half-elf. It would have been better if she had been born as either a human or an elf.」

Reine laughed in a troubled way. It is said that the number of children between elves and humans is 60% human, 30% half-elf and 10% elf. It is the misfortune of Liz that she should have come to one side or the other, but instead she ended up on the side of the 30 percent. She has a healthy spirit that doesn't let you feel it, but even so, she must have some difficulties just because she doesn't show it.

「She is not accepted by either human society or elf society. Orinially, only that girl was going to be kicked out of the village, but I came out with her. I knew that I would have to leave my husband in death.　But ...... loneliness is not something that can be filled so easily. I couldn't abandon that girl. For me, too, that girl was there to save me.」

After muttering that much, Reine looked up as if she had been snapped. She realized that she had been talking about herself for a long time, and blushed a little red. In the same way that Liz has admired her husband's face, Reine has also unknowingly opened her heart to a young man with a face and atmosphere similar to her late husband.

「Oh, somehow, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I made you listen to this aunt's boring story to a traveler.」

「That's not. ...... That's not, true.」

Satoru shook his head.

Ever since he was summoned to this world, Satoru has intentionally avoided touching many people. Rico is an exception to the rule. He felt that it would be dangerous to get too deeply involved in this world, which is why he intentionally avoided touching many people.

After all, in Satoru's hands, there is enough power to destroy the world, and change it. However, he does not want to use it to reign over the world. Whenever he saw people being treated as slaves in a large towns, he felt a small pain in his heart, but that didn't mean that he could take any responsibility for destroying it. After all, Satoru was going back to his own world. It would be too irresponsible to destroy the world just because he didn't like it.

The fact that he happened to meet a family that looked an awful lot like his late mother and little sister was nothing short of fate. How ironic that the God of this world would punish him for having the power to shake the world, but keeping it in excess.

This mother and daugher are so similar to Satoru's blood relatives that he just can't see them as strangers. The fact that these people are being forced to struggle outside of their reach shows the absurdity of the world, and it makes him feel frustrating.

Roine chuckled softly at Satoru's agony. She felt that the young man who was taking the matter so seriously, even though it was someone else's matter, was pleasant. His earnestness had something in common with her late husband.

Liz and Rico came back, giggling and laughing loudly. As expected, Rico, who had worked as a caretaker for children in Galhassan's Thieves' Guild for a while, seemed to have gotten along with Liz in no time.

How long has it been since I saw a girl who laughed without pretending? Reine nodded.

「Liz.」

「Yes, mother.」

「Liz, take Satoru-san and the others and go to the World Tree Village tomorrow.」

Satoru looked up as if he had been hit.

「Eh, but ......」

That was certainly our hope. However, Reine has one leg that is badly broken, making her unsuitable for moving. There may be some problem with Liz, a half-elf who is being persecuted by elves. Reine guessed Satoru's mind, which was hesitant to say anything about it.

Liz looked at Satoru and Reine, then nodded emphatically.

「I understand.」

Reine smiled gently at Satoru.

「It must be some kind of guidance that led us to meet here. Please don't worry about it.」

「Then, then, at least I'll give you something in return.」

「Just your feelings are fine.」

Satoru hurriedly took out the money bag that was hanging on his waist, and Reine shook her head from side to side.

She didn't say that because she wanted money. She just felt that this young man, who resembled her late husband when he was young, was not a stranger to her, and she wanted to do something to help him. Reine herself has a bad leg, which makes it painful for her to walk outside. So, it would be best to leave him with Liz. It would be no inconvenience for her to live by herself for a few days.

「I'm sorry for the small size of the house, but I hope you can rest here today.」

「...Thank you very much」

Reine's kindness was so heartbreaking and painful to Satoru. He bowed his head ridiculously politely and expressed his gratitude.

The sound of loud wings could be heard outside the house. Minerva must have come home.

『I'm back~. I brough back a souvenir~』

Satoru looked at Rico and point it with his chin. As if she knew what she was doing, Rico went outside and received a souvenir from Minerva.

「It looks like she have been hunting Magara. Let's grill this too, and make it into meal.」

Rico said lightly, paying attention to Satoru, who seemed a little depressed.

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