Along the way, I asked the girls why they had come to the school.
I thought I would be warned, but Roca tells me easily.
[Our country is at war.]
Roca says as she walks backward, looking at us following behind her.
[There is still a fierce battle going on between our Kingdom of Rugal, located to the east of this empire, and the barbarian Kingdom of Chiaro De Luna, located to the north of it.]
The Kingdom of Chiaro De Luna is known as the land of magic. In that country, people with a talent for magic tend to be born, and those who cannot use magic are not only looked down upon but in some cases, they are even stripped of their titles. It is truly an absolutism of magic.
In contrast, the Kingdom of Rugal is ruled by a tribe of beasts. It is not surprising that the two countries are at war.
These two countries were originally one. However, the two countries split up when discrimination against beasts became prevalent. Since then, the two countries have fought many battles.
[Still, just a few years ago, peace talks were going on. But now we are in a state of war, with both sides refusing to listen to each other. There have been several major wars in our history, but this one – this one will last until one of us is destroyed. It’s a problem.]
Roca says it as if it were someone else’s problem. But despite her jovial manner of speaking, her eyes are not smiling.
[I’ll add to …… that Roca is a king.]
[I’ve heard that in the land of the beasts, the king is a beast who has the blood of a lion from generation to generation, but is that different now?]
[All the lion’s royalty is dead.]
[What? It’s ……]
[It’s not just lions. Tigers, bears, wolves, foxes, royalty, and their families are all dead. Except for Roca.]
I think the situation is more serious than I thought.
Are they fighting without royalty? Against that magical superpower.
[If it were true, I would have wanted to fight, too. No, I had to fight. I had to fight to inspire everyone on the battlefield. Even though I am a fox, the lowest-ranked bloodline among the beasts, I am the king now that all the other royalty has died out.]
Roca continues to walk backward with her hands folded behind her head.
The fact that She walks around without bumping into any passersby, which is no small feat, shows her keen sense as a beast.
[But the people around me wouldn’t allow it. The reason why I attend the academy is that I have been able to learn the language of the people. That is the reason why I attend the academy.]
[It’s hard, isn’t it? To want to fight but not be able to. You have the power.]
[……It can’t be helped. I am strong, but among those who are fighting on the battlefield now, some people are far more powerful than I am. I am certainly greater than anyone else in Rugal, but at the same time, I am only a half-strength beast on the battlefield right now. If mistakenly hunted, Rugal will lose its leadership and continue to fight until it is annihilated……. So said my mother. I don’t know if she expected to die right after that.]
Those who are stronger than Roca? I am very interested. It would be a real shame to let them die in vain on the battlefield.
However, the empire’s acceptance of these women is …….
[Is the empire going to support the Kingdom of Rugal?]
[I’m not sure. Yes, that seems to be the case. I heard that they will help us with all their might as soon as the arrangements are made. I don’t know if it is true or not, but I must train myself even harder for the time to come.]
[So Shaula is Roca’s bodyguard, is that right?]
[Yes, I am. But before that, I am a slave of Roca! Wherever the Lord goes, I will follow her, even through fire and water! I will follow her wherever she leads! I love you, Roca!]
[Don’t talk nonsense on the main street, you idiot.]
[That’s what I love about Roca! …… Well, you don’t need to know that. I mean, could you please not stare at Roca anymore? It’s a stain on you.]
[I don’t know if I can stare at you?]
[I’ll gouge your eyeballs out.]
It seems that the loyal wolf girl hates men.
As I stared at Shaula with these thoughts in my mind, Roca said.
[But, I’ve heard that the empire is safe. I’m glad I came here but for what it’s worth, that doesn’t seem to be the case.]
[Yeah? What do you mean?]
[Don’t you know? There have been a lot of missing elves lately. And a lot of them.]
After all, it seems that the girls have already heard about the disappearance of the elves.
[I’ve only recently heard about it myself. What’s it like?]
[I don’t know much about it because I’ve only heard rumors, but I’ve heard that elves are disappearing without a care in the world. Regardless of whether they are male or female.]
[…… men, too? That’s a little surprising.]
[There are too many of them to be mere disappearances. That’s probably why they’re confused, but I don’t understand why they want elves so much. Moreover, since they disappeared in such a concentrated manner, it is safe to assume that the same person is responsible for their disappearance.]
Elves’ women are beautiful and men tend to be drawn to them.
However, elves’ women are very noble. I have heard from Rena that some resent them and kidnap them because they don’t want to deal with ordinary human men. I wonder if it is worse now since it was like that even when elves themselves were scarce.
But this is limited to abductions that typically look at elves as sex objects. If there were male elves involved and they disappeared in masses, the line would be thin.
[And you know what? I’ve always wondered if they took so many elves, where the hell did they take them ……? Hmmm? Oh, it smells so good over there!]
Roca cuts off her words mid-sentence and says her long tail wagging.
It looked like a simple cafe. It seemed to boast freshly baked pancakes.
[All right! Let’s eat first! Let’s go!]
[Hey, Roca, you just had breakfast.]
[I have another sweet tooth! Come on, Shaula, you too! You’re paying for everything! You’ll pay for Theo too!]
[…… yes yes yes]
Shaula looked at me with cold eyes as she approvingly said this.
If I order anything, I’m going to get cut to pieces. I’m not particularly hungry, so I’ll just listen to what the girls have to say.
Roca leads the pack after an elegant meal at a café.
She looked at the meat and dessert stalls, as if she hadn’t eaten enough, and also looked at the stores selling various kinds of souvenirs. Whenever she saw something of interest, her long tail wagged.
In this way, they look like mere tourists.
[Shaula, let me ask you something.]
[Are you still trying to pry something out of me?]
[No, I understand where you’re coming from. And I don’t want to get too deep into it. …… have you ever heard of the term ‘last drop’?]
Her red eyes remained glued to the back of Roca’s head.
[Well?]
[Oh, I see. …… that’s fine then.]
[I’m not sure what you mean by that, but it makes me curious. What, are you talking about a delicious cup of tea or something?]
[No, I’m not sure what the word itself means, but it’s supposed to be some kind of metaphor or cloak for the elves themselves.]
[Elf drops? …… Aha, that’s something nice. Makes me want to lick all kinds of drops off of pretty elves.]
Shaula says with an ecstatic expression.
Maybe I made a mistake asking this girl. ……
However, if you read the full text and let it be heard, or.
I told her the contents of the grimoire written in that ancient script.
[It’s kind of like–what do you think?]
[I have no idea what you mean.]
[I know that the disappearance of elves has happened in the past.]
I was surprised when Roca, who had been engrossed in the spectacle earlier, suddenly broke in.
She was listening attentively.
[In the past? What kind of stuff?]
[I don’t know exactly what happened, but my mother told me a story when I was very young. It was only that long ago, thousands of the elves’ army had disappeared, every last one of them.]
There is no doubt in that book that the elves seem to have disappeared.
But this is the first time I have heard of the disappearance of an army of elves. And thousands of them disappeared? Isn’t that a big deal?
[Because of its proximity to the fairy tale, the story may be exaggerated. However, it is said that the elves went to a great power for a certain purpose. Well, the great power is the Elberian Empire.]
[War? But it must be a big deal just to have an army of that size sent into the country.]
[Conquer monsters, they say.]
[…… monster? The elves came to the empire, right? Why would the elves defeat the monsters of the empire?]
[I don’t know. But I do remember that the creature had a rather special characteristic. I only remember that it was interested only in elves, killed only elves, and ate only elves. …… It was a monster that could not live without eating elves. ……]
[How did a monster that only eats elves end up in the empire ……. I’m sure there were no alliances with elves yet at that time. There would have been very few elves in the empire.]
[I was curious about that too. I asked her why such a thing existed in the empire, but she laughed and said, “I don’t know anything about that.”]
[Does the story end with the disappearance of the army of elves they sent?]
[I heard that after that, the empire was in a lot of trouble because of God’s displeasure or something.]
In summary, an army of elves went to exterminate a monster living in the empire and disappeared – or perhaps more accurately, they were turned back, and as a result, the judgment of God fell on the empire.
Certainly, there is a match with that ancient book of letters.
However, the book only says that it was a foolish man who kidnapped the elves. There was no crap about monsters.
[Roca. Does anyone other than your mother know that story?]
[I’ve heard this story often, especially by the old beasts, to frighten the noisy kids. Shaula must have heard it once or twice, right?]
[……I think I heard some of the jibber jabbering on about that, though. I hardly remember it anymore.]
[I’m sorry, Theo. As you can see, Shaula is a fool, and I am also a fool, so I don’t know anything more than this.]
[Yes, no, that was very helpful. Thank you.]
[What is it, Theo? Is something bothering you, like the recent disappearance of the elves?]
I tell them what happened.
[Oh, I didn’t know special students had such privileges. ]
[What’s the point of having that lousy library if it can’t …… interest me?]
[For once I agree with Shaula. I’m sick and tired of boring classroom lectures.]
The girls seem to have completely lost interest.
Well, that’s not unreasonable. Just because something is written in an ancient script does not necessarily mean it is true. However, in this case, Roca’s story can be interpreted as double proof.
If the story told by Roca is true, it is a big deal. It is definitely in the country’s history. No, it is a matter that must be in the history of the country.
What does it mean that it is not mentioned at all in the history books of the empire, even though it has been passed down in the fairy tales of other countries?
I’m sure there are discrepancies between the story and some of the book’s content, but this is too good to dismiss with a laugh. I may want to look into it further.
Whatever the case, it was a blessing to hear from these women.
After that, I accompanied Roca on her whimsical walks, and before I knew it, it was almost dark.