「Are you okay?」

They are not conscious, but they appear to be alive. The person who had fallen was covered deeply with a hood. A magic circle was carved into the ground beside the fallen figure. Perhaps they had used it to summon the Demonic Rat. I supported their back, and when I lifted them up, I saw that she was a girl about my age.

「Yuan, Recovery Magic」
「Understood」

From the looks of it, there’s no significant trauma, so it looks like she’s unconscious for another reason.

「Abnormal Condition Recovery・Treatment!」

The Lower Level Recovery Magic・Recovery heals external wounds, while the Abnormal Condition Recovery・Treatment heals internal wounds, so this is more effective.

If it involves trauma, I will need to use intermediate or higher level magic, but this seems to be sufficient. My magic wraps the girl in light and heals her. The light subsided and after a while, the girl opened her eyes lightly.

「Mmm…」
「Are you okay?」
「This place is… ?」
「Underground passage?」
「Underground… ah!」

She flails a little in my arms and tries to get up.

「Wa, slow down a second」
「Get off of me!」
「It’s okay. We’re adventurers」

The outburst was a bit of a relief. The girl seemed to have no strength in her body and went limp in my arms again.

「What are you doing here?」
「………………..」

She didn’t seem to have any intention of answering my question and her face was blatantly turned away from me.

「Guuuuu」

Instead, her stomach responded back to me. The girl understood this, and her cheeks became increasingly red.

「This area seems to be safe, so let’s have lunch, even though it’s a little early. Would that be okay with you two?」
「Un」
「That’s ok」

The girl hadn’t noticed them and turned her head towards them in surprise. And with that momentum, the hood that she was wearing came off.

「Ah……」

Shia-san and Snow-san exclaimed in surprise when the hood came off and her entire face was visible.

「「Elf!?」」

The girl hurriedly put the hood back on, but it was too late. I could perfectly see her pointed ears and her hair, which was somewhere between golden and green. Right now, this is where it’s at, but it must be beautiful hair if cared for properly. The girl began to tremble, perhaps frightened at being seen.

「It’s okay. We don’t mean you any harm」

Just in time, there is a table where I can take the food out of storage and ask Shia-san to arrange it. We had lunch prepared for us when we left this morning, so it was a warm meal. It’s luxurious since I usually just use dried meat and other portable food. Perhaps attracted by the smell, the girl stares at the food. She’s still lying in my arms, though, so I can’t see her.

By the way, since this room is small, I use blocking and cleaning magic to prevent the smell of sewage from getting inside. I don’t want to eat in that kind of environment.

「What will you do?」

At my question, the girl looked at me. She had been distraught for quite some time, so this was the first time she had made proper eye contact with me.

Her clear jade-colored eyes moistened and she nodded quietly.

「Now, let’s eat… but first, Cleaning Magic・Clean Wash」

I feel sorry for the girl if she stays dirty for any length of time, and she needs to be cleaned up before she eats her meals. We have a barrier to protect us from dirt, but just in case, I’ll give us clean wash. It’s just a matter of mood, though.

「Go ahead, eat」

The girl nodded at my words, picked up a piece of bread and bit into it. From there, it was quick. The girl gobbled up her meal happily. Maybe she was really hungry. The girl took a small breath as she gulped down the fruit juice.

「Um, thank you very much」
「It’s okay. And, if you want to thank someone, you should thank that one」
「Djuu!」

The Demonic Rat raised its hand and greeted the girl. It really a clever Demonic Rat.

「Um, to a… monster?」
「Dju!?」

The girl looked at the Demonic Rat and tilted her head.

「That Demonic Rat has led us all the way here」
「If that is the case. Thank you, Demonic Rat-san」

The girl stroked the Demonic Rat gently, which made it let out a small squeak, as if it was happy.

「So how did you end up in a place like this?」
「Name before that」

That’s true. We didn’t even know the girl’s name, and we hadn’t introduced ourselves yet. It just wasn’t the right time, though, because the girl was preoccupied with eating.

「Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Kiaraluka. As you’ve already noticed, I’m an elf」

She lowered her hood in resignation. Thanks to the clean wash, her body was now clean and her hair was shiny and beautiful again.

「I’m Yuan. And this is Rinshia-san from the Shadow Wolf Tribe and…」
「Snow Cuone」

When I was having trouble introducing Snow-san, she introduced herself. I don’t know how much I can disclose about Snow-san.

「Then, Liarari…… Luka-san, how did you end up in this place?」
「If you find it hard to say, please call me Kiara」
「Sorry」

When I looked at her apologetically, Kiara-san smiled at me.

「Don’t worry about it. So, as to why I was here…」

It seems that Kiara-san was kidnapped once, but somehow managed to escape. It was good until she escaped, but the underground passage was like a maze, so she wandered around without knowing the way out.

「I have done something about water with magic, but…」
「You had no way to get food」

It seems that she tried her best to survive for a little while with water, but there was a limit to her hunger, so she hid herself here where she could somehow protect herself and performed the summoning with her last strength. Her memory of that seems to be fuzzy, so she was on the edge.

「I never thought hunger could be so painful」
「I know. That’s why adventurers eat when they can」

Shia-san has always said that because she knows how hard it is.

「But I’m surprised you got away」
「Yes, because it was cheap, so I could resist it」

Kiara-san has a magic collar around her neck. This is a contract collar used by slavers and the like, a magical tool that makes it impossible to disobey the contractor when wearing it. However, the price is proportional to the effect, so if it is too cheap, it will not be effective for people with high magical resistance. It seems that Kiara-san has high magical resistance and was able to overcome the effects of the slave collar.

「Are all the people who are kidnapped wearing them?」
「Yes, that’s why it’s awful for everyone but me if they don’t do what they are told」

Terrible. It seems that instead of doing something directly, the collar is removed and the body is paralyzed to the extent of not dying.

「Can I have a look?」
「I don’t mind, but if you try to force it…」

It is likely to cause pain or, worse, the collar will explode, killing the one wearing it.

「It’s okay. I’ll be very careful」

A lot of magic tools have effects that depend on magic letters. If you tamper with those effects, you can do whatever you want. If this were an Ancient Magic Tool・Artifact Class, it might be impossible, though. As I said it was cheap, the construction was simple. It seems that if an order is disobeyed, the effect of shrinking or paralysis is exerted.

「I think I can do it」

If there is such a thing as stretching magic, I just need to rewrite it a bit. If I tamper with the magic text so that it expands instead of shrinks…

「Yes, I got it」

The collar stretched, and I was able to remove it.

「Yuan, amazing」
「Yuan is very skillful」

I like to change the effects of magic tools. It makes me feel like I’ve won a little! Kiara-san didn’t seem to understand the situation, but when I showed her the collar that had been attached to her neck, she finally understood and bowed her head deeply.

「Ah, thank you very much!」
「No, it turned out that the slave’s collar could be easily removed, which was a great help to us as well」

We’re going to be looking for a lot of kidnapped people. If we know that we can easily remove it, we won’t have to panic in a sudden situation.

「By the way, how did you all end up in a place like this?」
「That’s…」

We explained how it happened. Yes, the “we” part is still important. Snow-san is the one explaining things while I provide the rest. Unlike Shia-san who is not good at talking, I am just not good at explaining.

「I see…」
「So we’d like to know if there’s any information you know, if possible」
「If there’s anything I can do, I want to help!」
「But it’s dangerous?」
「I’m used to a bit of hardship. I’m still an adventurer… though my guild card has been taken away, so I can’t prove it」

Kiara-san also seems to be an adventurer. She’s D-Rank, though, and still a novice.

「What should we do?」
「Risk」

The fact that Shia-san didn’t say that she would leave it to me doesn’t bode well.

「I can protect myself. So please let me join you!」

I can see the strong will behind her eyes. Getting help and simply watching the outcome of the situation be resolved by others. I wouldn’t like that either. Maybe it’s the same for Kiara-san. Her fists are clenched tightly, her pointed ears are twitching up and down, and she seems to be full of motivation.

「Shia-san, Kiara-san has said so, and regardless of the danger, I will protect you with my magic」
「…… If Yuan says so」

Reluctantly, Shia-san nodded.

「What do you think, Snow-san?」

Snow-san was thinking of something else, but she gave me a nod.

「Are you sure you’re okay with this?」
「Yes!」
「I understand. Then, I’d like to be your friend for a while」
「Yes, I’ll do my best with Oneechan!」
「「「O-Oneechan?」」」

She said “Oneechan” in a high-pitched, cheerful voice.

「Um, does it bother you?」
「No, just a little surprised」

Shia-san frowned, but she didn’t say anything, and Snow-san looked happy, so it wasn’t a problem. I would at least like to hear the reason.

「We Elves are a race known for our camaraderie. Our people are like family」

The Elves were known for their longevity and for not wanting to get too involved with other races. However, it seems to be the trend these days for young Elves to leave their villages in order to broaden their horizons. Kiara-san is one of those people. She became an adventurer to broaden her horizons, but she never met anyone she could trust to be her companion. After all, it seems that a companion must be someone she can consider family. If you think about it, it may mean that we have gained her utmost trust.

However, I have one question.

「Elves are long-lived」

My question was answered by Shia-san.

「That’s right. There is a possibility that Kiara-san is older than us」

Elves are also famous for their slow growth. There’s even a funny story about a parent and child being mistaken for sisters.

「So, how old is Kiara?」
「Um, it’s a secret!」

Maybe I’ll be an oneechan, though only temporarily. Despite this incident, we decided to return to the surface. After all, according to Kiara-san’s information, the location turned out to be the basement of the lord’s mansion. I’m certain that we will be able to contact the Princess and the Resistance and coordinate with them.

It’s going to be a big day!

Author-san

A new character has appeared.
What do you think of Elves?
I imagine them to be smart or delicate.

I skipped the part about summoning, but I’m sure that will be explained in the next chapter, so please wait.

Thank you for always reading.