High Elf and Sword Princess
Translated by Mlzkzr
Edited by Mlzkzr
Since we could not just stand there and talk forever, we moved inside the dojo.
The picture of Kaeha, who is the master of the dojo, looking around with the most curious look on her face is so amusing that I can’t help but burst out laughing.
Well, even if she had seen the blueprints of the dojo, she wasn’t able to witness its completion, so it can’t be helped.
“Long time no see. Acer-sama. Today, I wanted to borrow the power of Acer-sama to rescue my captured brethren, so I asked Cleias about your whereabouts, and he introduced me to Kaeha, who guided me to you.”
Airena, a female elf acquaintance of mine who bowed deeply as soon as she sat down, began the conversation that way.
She says that apparently some of the nobles of the Kingdom of Ludria secretly capture and own elves as slaves.
It’s a story that’s easy to understand, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it was really possible for a human being, even an aristocrat, to do such a thing, but Airena must have sensed my doubts.
“The elves you know, Acer-sama, are either eccentrics who have become adventurers, including me, or people from the deep forest, right? The common elves who live in ordinary forests outside of the Great Pruha Forest Sea aren’t as used to fighting as we are.”
She smiles a little troubledly and says those words.
It seems that even if they can talk to the spirits, whether they can successfully borrow their power or use it in battle is another story.
That’s why it’s not impossible for humans to capture elves by force.
In other words, these nobles must have used their private armies to raid the forest settlements in their territory and captured elves who were not good at fighting.
Many people don’t even realize what was happening to the closed elven settlements.
“Also, captive elves are regularly forced to take drugs that rob them of their sight and derange their senses in order to sever their connection with the spirits. It is a method to take away their connection to the spirit that is our stronghold, to fill the void, and to make them recognize humans as their Lord and Master. ……to,to train them things”
If she was embarrassed, she didn’t have to say it, but Airena struggled to squeeze those words out.
As I thought.
Certainly, if their connection of recognizing spirits were severed, the elf’s mind would be in a very unstable state.
From the elf’s own sense, it is the same as being cut off from the world.
And if they make a connection there as the elf’s only other one, they can build whatever kind of relationship they want, huh.
Whoever thought of it was very knowledgeable and clever about elves, so much so that I was unintentionally impressed by such impudence.
Elves are a less varied race, but they are well-dressed in appearance.
Their lack of change may also seem counterintuitively appealing to those who are constantly changing.
I don’t understand the feelings of people who want things like slaves, but I could understand that there must be a demand for it.
“The government is probably aware of this situation. But still, they don’t move because the nobles involved in this situation are too big and can’t be punished lightly.”
The people involved in this case are big-name nobles, such as marquises and counts, who have large territories in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Ludria.
By taking the initiative and spreading the trend of secretly owning elves without being punished among the nobility, there will eventually be a movement to officially create a law that allows people to own elves as slaves in the Kingdom of Ludria.
Therefore, this case does not simply end with secretly helping the captured elves.
In order to break this trend, the marquises and counts who started it need to be held accountable and punished, and the matter needs to be taken care of to the extent that the state makes a public apology to the elves.
Humans forget their pain as generations change, so if the elves, with their longer lifespan, are to avoid the same plagues again, they must inscribe the sufferings they felt on the country.
“…… That’s why you need my power, not yours.”
Airena’s power is enough to save the kidnapped elves.
She is an active seven-star adventurer and her influence on the human world is far stronger than mine.
But in order to take care of this case, Airena’s influence alone will not be enough.
First, we will cause destruction in that marquis’s or count’s territory that is big enough for all to see, directing the wrath of the elves, and then we will rescue the captive elves in the process.
Next, all the elf settlements within the Kingdom of Ludria will condemn the incident and move to the forests outside the country.
Since elves often live in forests where natural forces are strong, once they go away, monsters will take advantage of the vacant and unmanaged land and multiply and increase in number.
What will happen as a result is the overflow of monsters that has increased out of the forest.
Knowing that, they won’t want the elves to leave the forest.
They hate changes in the environment of their beloved forests more than anything else.
Therefore, it will take my words as a High Elf to convince the elves to migrate and to convince the forest they were settling in to accept it.
And for large-scale destruction, my power as a High Elf is needed.
The situation is so serious for the elves that they have to resort consulting to deleterious high elves.
“I understand. Airena, you don’t have to bow your head. If this was the case, then I can no longer live in this country, but that is the same for all elves, including you. It’s not your fault.”
I accepted such consequence and nodded at Airena’s request.
But Kaeha, who was sitting next to me, widened her eyes and changed the complexion of her face at my words.
“Wait a minute, I, I haven’t taught Acer anything yet. I still haven’t done anything to repay you for the last three years, or even for the time before that!”
Kaeha grabs my left arm and spits out those words strongly.
Kaeha looked like she had grown much calmer in the past three years, but up close, the intensity of the emotion reflected in her eyes was the same as before.
As I glanced to the side, Airena was keeping her head down.
In other words, Airena must have let Kaeha lead her to this place without telling her the detailed circumstances, or at least nothing about the conclusion of this matter.
Therefore, it was not only to me that Airena was bowing, but to Kaeha as well.
I think it’s inevitable.
What is important to Airena is to save as many elves as possible.
For that, she desperately needed my help.
But I do resent Airena a little for getting me into this situation.
“It’s not like that, master. Your sword from earlier is burned into my eyes. My guidepost has been shown again. In three years without you, I will aim for that guidepost again, just as you have arrived here now.”
I say this with my own right hand on Kaeha’s hand, as she holds my left arm.
Yes, it never occurred to me that I haven’t been taught anything, that I wasn’t getting anything back.
I have already gotten more than I invested.
Right now, I have no complaints about leaving this place…… I wouldn’t go so far as to say that, but my complaints aren’t that big, and I’ve already swallowed them up.
“But even so, if you think you’re not good enough, please go further down the path of the sword. And pass it on to your disciples or to your children.”
After all, I am a high elf and have plenty of time to live.
At the time the remaining heat has cooled down, I can show up again in a flash and learn the continuation of that.
“I don’t know if it will be in ten years, thirty years, or fifty years from now. If you aren’t around then, one of my children, grandchildren, or disciples will teach you.”
Kaeha’s hand that grabbed my left arm increased its power.
Honestly, it hurts.
But that pain made me realize just how much she had been looking forward to seeing me again and teaching me how to use the sword.
“I understand. I promise to further sublimate this sword and succeed it to the next generation. But, that’s no good. ……I won’t permit it. I am your teacher. ……That’s why, please come back while I’m still alive.”
At those words that seemed squeezed out, I let go of Kaeha’s hand, then turned to face her and bowed deeply.
Kaeha’s sword was burned into my eyes, and her words engraved in my heart.
What a lucky fellow I am.
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