Arc-7 Ch-16

At the edge of the floating island where the airport was constructed stand two contrasting spaces: a pleasure district built to welcome tourists and adventurers, and a village that continues to live much the same life it always has.

Between these settlements, separated from both, exists “that thing,” and the atmosphere it gives off is unmistakably abnormal compared to its surroundings.

Elves, as a race, possess a natural inclination to revere nature, yet alongside the development of the Holfort Kingdom, they gradually began to place greater importance on economic principles.

Rather than continuing a life of honest poverty in ramshackle dwellings cobbled together from wood, soil, and cloth on a remote floating island, they eagerly spent the money earned under noble patrons to obtain residences built in the kingdom’s style, using iron and stone.

However, “that thing” was fundamentally different from residences meant for peaceful daily living.

The absence of forest in the surrounding area was not merely because a river nearby provided a reliable source of drinking water.

The densely grown forest had been deliberately cleared, its trees repurposed as construction material. The earth was excavated, and river water was diverted into the trenches, securing drinking water while simultaneously forming defensive barriers.

Moreover, watchtowers assembled from timber stood clearly visible even from afar.

“That thing” was undeniably neither a settlement nor a village. The words fortress or stronghold were far more appropriate.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

The only thought occupying the young elf’s mind was that he wished this tedious duty would end as soon as possible.

Beside him, another elf in the same position carefully suppressed a yawn so as not to draw the gatekeeper’s attention, silently waiting for time to pass.

Although described as young, this was only relative by elven standards. In human terms, his age was already one where even great-grandchildren of great-grandchildren could exist.

No matter how long-lived elves might be, time spent in meaningless idleness was akin to torture. Even so, abandoning his assigned role would only invite severe reprimand from the village chief, leaving him no choice but to endure.

This was not how things were supposed to be.

Thinking this, he swallowed a sigh.

Some time ago, war had broken out between human nations. During that period, the village had prospered briefly as many elves went out to work in service to human nobles.

Humans were beings who aged and died within a mere few decades. If one handled them properly, it was possible to return with enough money to live comfortably for some time without concern for food.

Those good days came to an abrupt end. Apparently, the cause was a war involving those humans worshipped as heroes, though the precise circumstances remained unclear.

First, the village chief and several other elves were captured by the kingdom’s soldiers and thrown into prison.

It seemed that through an investigation conducted by a human known as a saintess, the village chief’s illicit schemes were exposed.

Shock at the thought that it could not be true, resignation that it was only to be expected, and confusion over what would become of the village now. These three emotions mingled uneasily among the elves.

Misfortune did not stop there. Almost immediately after anxiety spread through the village, war erupted.

“If the foreign nation that despises exclusive servants such as elves and demi-humans wins, the number of elves going out to work will decrease.”

Most elves regarded the war with no more concern than that, treating it as a distant fire on the opposite shore.

They had no intention of taking up arms to defend the kingdom, nor did they possess the loyalty required to fight for their masters. On the contrary, some, like shrewd merchants, even leaked information to foreign powers in hopes of making one final profit.

Yet contrary to the expectations of elves and demi-humans alike, the kingdom narrowly escaped destruction.

According to what they later heard, the ones who had captured the village chief were none other than the saintess and the hero who saved the country.

Perhaps because they were individuals of exceptional caliber, they were able to see through the village chief’s schemes. There was no lingering hatred among the elves, only resignation that the only path forward was to accept reality.

Some time after the war, elves and demi-humans suddenly found themselves driven into a corner.

Within the kingdom, nobles who had fled before the enemy and knights who betrayed their lords were brought to trial.

Their status and honor were stripped away, and they faced exile or imprisonment. In the worst cases, they were publicly executed without mercy as a warning to others.

Even nobles were punished without exception. In such an atmosphere, expecting leniency toward different races such as elves or demi-humans was out of the question.

Beauty of appearance and the abundance of magical power were torn apart as easily as thin paper in the face of fury born from betrayal.

Within the kingdom’s upper councils, discussions even arose suggesting that elves and demi-humans should no longer be treated as exclusive servants with protected rights, but instead be captured and handled like beasts of burden.

What rescued them from this desperate situation was, once again, a human saintess.

It seemed the saintess had employed a young elf boy as her exclusive servant. Furthermore, that boy was a half-elf who had been despised within the village.

Through the saintess’s advocacy, despite her association with a scorned mixed-blood, elves were spared from total enslavement. Instead, they were granted household registrations as citizens of the kingdom, and formally recognized as a tribe constituting part of the realm.

Problems surfaced immediately.

Until then, elves had maintained a relationship neither too intimate nor too distant with the kingdom. Because they were not citizens, they had been exempt from taxation and labor obligations.

Once welcomed into the kingdom, however, such preferential treatment vanished. Even when they attempted to address the newly emerging difficulties, nothing could be done.

Exclusive servant positions, once the most lucrative source of income for elves, were outlawed. Most of the underground merchants involved in human trafficking were already arrested and exposed during the postwar purges.

Above all, elves who had survived by clinging to human society lacked both the will to work and a sense of service.

Jobs that yielded little after taxes, labor that consumed only physical strength, and the humiliation of being employed by despised humans.

And yet, they also lacked the pure and steadfast character of elder elves who lived contentedly as they were. Life in the glittering royal capital, swirling with desire, offered stimulation that rural existence could never provide, even over a lifetime.

Eventually, as a sense of suffocation spread through the village, certain elves began to act, raising the banner of reform.

They had served humans not as lovers, but as butlers and stewards whose abilities were recognized, continuing their service for many years. Relying on connections with nobles they had known during their service, they planned the village’s development.

They borrowed vast sums from a newly established financial institution of the kingdom and succeeded in transforming elves and nearby dungeons into resources for tourism.

Now visited by numerous nobles and adventurers, the village flourished, appearing from the outside to have achieved unprecedented development in elven history.

However, conflict is inevitably born whenever culture advances and new tools are introduced.

To elves, the time it takes for a human infant to grow into a boy is no more than the passing of a few seasons. Elves centered around the former village chief, unable to adapt to such rapid change, formed the conservative faction.

Disputes increased as their views clashed with those of the elf who pushed through reforms and became the new village chief.

The human adventurers who visited the village were rough and ill-mannered. Upon seeing beautiful elves, they treated them little differently from male prostitutes or courtesans.

As a countermeasure, a pleasure district was established, but even then, the lives of elves remained under constant threat from visiting humans.

Moreover, stark disparities in status and wealth emerged among elves. The rich grew richer, while the poor remained poor indefinitely.

It did not take long for this suffocating atmosphere to transform into hatred and rage.

Around the time an air of imminent explosion began to pervade the village, an unexpected visitor arrived and brought change.

It was the former village chief and his faction, who had been imprisoned for nearly twenty years after their schemes were exposed by the saintess.

Apparently, after a certain amount of time had passed since the war, voices calling for amnesty for the families and relatives of the imprisoned began to arise across the kingdom.

The former village chief was no exception and was granted amnesty, possibly due to the efforts of pro-elf nobles or the new village chief.

Upon their return, the former village chief and his followers immediately began persuading the elves.

“Now is the time to reclaim the pride of elves.”

“Are you not ashamed of living by flattering humans and accepting their charity?”

“Superior elves are those who rightfully hold dominion over this land.”

To elves whose frustration grew daily as humans encroached upon their village, the former village chief’s words were as intoxicating as a drug.

At that time, the former village chief told them all this.

“I know a way to turn the world upside down.”

Without knowing what that way entailed, many elves left the village and joined his cause.

Both conservative and reformist elves undoubtedly harbored the same anxiety about their futures.

In less than twenty years since the war, the kingdom had changed this drastically. What would become of elves from here on?

There was even a real possibility that the elven race itself could disappear due to the kingdom’s policies. That was precisely why they believed they had no choice but to follow the former village chief and leave the village.

The elves who gathered in a location separate from both the village and the pleasure district began constructing a new settlement under the former village chief’s leadership.

However, this was nothing more than the beginning of forced labor far harsher than the life they had left behind. To begin with, the elves of the village, who had known the former village chief’s character for many long years, should have been fully aware of what kind of person he was. And yet, after merely a decade of imprisonment and the rapid transformations that followed within the village, they seemed to have forgotten it all.

That man had used the money he earned while serving as a personal attendant to claw his way into the position of village chief through nothing but cunning and deceit.

On the surface, he behaved as though he maintained amicable relations with the kingdom’s nobility. However, in places hidden from human eyes, or when only elves were present, he openly displayed blatant contempt. Every single elf in the village was aware of this.

Perceptive humans saw through the former village chief’s true nature and deliberately kept their distance. The only humans he associated with were nobles who themselves were engaged in unsavory dealings.

Even so, it would be incorrect to describe him as a benevolent leader to his fellow elves.

Toward elves of low status, elves lacking in ability, and elves burdened by poverty, he made no attempt whatsoever to conceal his disdain and revulsion.

In short, he was a man who regarded only himself and those close to him as special, a man who could not find satisfaction unless everyone else was placed beneath him.

Was such a man truly concerned about the future of the elven people? They should have realized the answer long before being swayed by his honeyed words.

Axes and saws were used to clear the forest. Hoes and ploughs were used to break open the earth. Every bit of that labor was carried out entirely by elves.

If the dwellings had followed the old traditional style, perhaps it would have been acceptable. However, elves who had grown accustomed to life in the royal capital chose to model their houses after human residences. Even so, they refused to hire human craftsmen from the kingdom.

“Humans cannot be trusted.”

Under that slogan, every task had to be carried out by elven hands alone. No matter how long-lived the elven race might be, or how superior they were in magic, when it came to technology they were inferior to humans.

Men who had never once participated in construction work were drafted without exception. Women, physically weaker by nature, were either forced into labor as well or assigned as caretakers.

Moreover, no delays were tolerated under any circumstances. Every time progress was reported to the former village chief and his group, the response was a torrent of shouting and verbal abuse.

The dissatisfaction and frustration born from exhaustion and unfamiliar labor gradually fermented into rebellious feelings toward the former village chief and his followers.

This situation was no different from that of the village itself. No, in terms of treatment, conditions here were even worse.

Several elves, anguished by the state of affairs, confronted the former village chief and his group regarding their treatment. That confrontation marked their end.

Or perhaps the former village chief and his group had anticipated such resistance from the very beginning. The following morning, the mutilated corpses of several elves were discovered at the work site.

The former village chief and his group insisted it was an unfortunate accident. However, to anyone with eyes, the culprit was painfully obvious.

The bodies were riddled with wounds inflicted by violence. Some even bore clear signs of torture, along with gunshot wounds.

From that point onward, all will to resist was utterly crushed.

The example set by the former village chief and his group was more than sufficient. The survivors had no choice but to obey, trembling in fear.

They dug earth to form sandbags. They processed felled trees into logs.

Water from the river was diverted into the excavated ground to form a moat, and logs driven vertically into the earth became a palisade.

What emerged was a grotesque fortification. Countless elves had lost their lives to build such a thing, all for the sake of intimidation and example.

Even if they were consumed by futility, the lives already lost would never return. At any moment, they themselves could have become corpses just like the others.

Even after the fort was completed, the former village chief and his group did not release the elves. Instead, surveillance only intensified, intended to prevent the secret from being exposed at all costs.

Watchtowers were erected, and the eyes of surveillance never rested, neither outside the fort nor within it.

In an environment where reporting one’s comrades was encouraged for the sake of personal safety, most of the elves stationed here still had no idea what the former village chief and his group were plotting.

The former village chief and his group frequently left the fort and returned around sunset, repeating this pattern day after day.

Judging by the time they were gone, it seemed unlikely they ventured beyond the floating island. However, with the growing presence of humans in the village, what exactly were they doing?

He pondered the matter for some time, but no answer came. Eventually, he cut off his thoughts.

From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the young elf assigned to gatekeeper duty alongside him.

Within a fort saturated with suspicion and paranoia, even the slightest questionable behavior would be reported immediately.

In a situation where no one could trust anyone else, the only way to survive was to extinguish one’s own heart. The best course of action was simply to wait, allowing time to pass in silence.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG

Suddenly, a loud metallic sound rang out from above. An elf stationed in the watchtower was signaling an abnormality.

For an instant, panic surged through him, and he wondered whether his thoughts had somehow leaked out. After a brief moment of reflection, he shook his head and dismissed the notion.

There was no possibility of that. Judging from the tone and rhythm of the metallic strikes, someone must be approaching the fort.

He grasped the club hanging at his waist, preparing for any unforeseen circumstance. Firearms were monopolized by the former village chief and his group.

The use of magic was also restricted. The only weapons permitted were blades modified from tools or newly fashioned blunt instruments.

Responding to the alarm, he scanned the surroundings. In the distance, he caught sight of a single human figure. The sluggish, plodding movement gave off an impression more akin to a domesticated cow or horse than a person.

The excessively slow pace irritated him. Part of him wanted to approach, but abandoning his post was not an option. When the figure finally drew close enough to be addressed, his appearance was truly wretched.

A stooped posture that constantly angled downward. Bowed legs that hindered proper walking. Disheveled hair. Ashen skin. A large scar across his face. Sharp, angular cheeks.

No matter how one looked at him, the impression he gave was nothing but ugliness. Furthermore, he wore a full set of old-fashioned leather armor. An antiquated sword hung at his waist, and he carried a large bag. That was all.

To an inexperienced adventurer, the sight might have seemed quaint. However, the excessive strangeness of his appearance inspired disgust before anything else.

He was neither old nor particularly young. To begin with, from the perspective of long-lived elves, humans could only be categorized as children, adults, or elderly.

What business did such an ugly man have in this place?

“Stop! Humans are forbidden from entering this area!”

For now, he issued the standard warning. Despite his hatred for humans, killing one would invite troublesome consequences. If the man had companions, and it became public that an elf had taken a human life, the situation could escalate rapidly.

Unfortunately, the former village chief and his group were absent today. Should he make an independent decision, he would be the one questioned later.

“Haa, so this be na dungeon, right?”

The accent was atrociously thick. On top of that, the man’s voice was muffled and extremely difficult to understand.

What kind of backwater was this man from?

Even during his time in the royal capital, where people from all regions gathered, he had never encountered an accent this terrible.

“I thought there shoulda been a dungeon that way, but after gettin’ lost, I ended up comin’ here.”

“…This is an elven residential area, not a dungeon.”

“So this place na be the dungeon?”

“The dungeon is closer to the village or the entertainment district. Leave at once.”

He appeared to be an adventurer, but his movements were far too clumsy.

Most likely, he was a former farmer who had been forced into adventuring by circumstance. It was difficult to believe he had undergone any proper training, judging by his sluggishness.

Given that even casual contact with humans could result in being branded a traitor, it was wiser to avoid unnecessary interaction with such a bizarre-looking man.

“But that’s one scary-lookin’ buildin’. What ya doin’ inside there?”

“This is an elven residential area. For your own sake, it would be better not to pry.”

“Anyway, I came here ta scout the island for earnin’ money. Ain’t there no treasure in this place?”

“There is no treasure! Leave immediately!”

An impatient comrade began waving his club threateningly. The method was crude, but it was effective.

Every few days, adventurers who had lost their way or wandered the floating island in search of treasure would arrive here.

If they left quietly, all was well. If not, it was the gatekeeper’s duty to drive them away by force.

“Wh-what the hell, ya suddenly doin’ that!?”

“Because of adventurers like you who trespass on forbidden ground, our livelihoods are endangered! Filthy humans, get out of here!”

“I ain’t doin’ nothin’!”

“A mere human dares to talk back!”

The human’s accent was irritating, but the comrades who flared up at the slightest provocation were just as aggravating. From what he could tell, the man did not appear inclined to harm elves.

In that case, persuasion would likely resolve the matter more quickly. He stepped between the two agitated figures and looked down at the hunched human.

“Human, leave quietly. If you attempt further involvement with us, we will have no choice but to drive you away by force.”

“…Understood. I’ll obey yer instructions then.”

“All right. Turn back the way you came and return to the village. Then ask someone there where the dungeon is.”

“If that’s what ya say, I’ll do just like ya said then.”

Apparently convinced, the adventurer turned around and began retracing his steps, following the instructions he had been given.

While occasionally glancing back in this direction, his retreating figure gradually disappeared into the forest. Only after he had completely vanished from sight did the tension leave his body.

He had been unusually docile and compliant for an adventurer. He was probably not a man with a bad disposition.

On the other hand, the comrade standing beside him still seemed unable to suppress his indignation, repeatedly trembling and spitting on the ground.

Between humans and elves, it had become impossible to tell which side possessed the better character. Did the former village chief and his group truly understand that situations like this were occurring constantly?

The more he imagined the future awaiting the elves, the deeper his mood sank into bleakness. He shook his head repeatedly, as if trying to drive away the lingering unease lodged in his heart.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

“Visual confirmation of departure beyond the limit of visibility has been confirmed.”

“So he is out of sight from that watchtower as well?”

“Yes. It is impossible for them to visually confirm us from that fort.”

“Even so, we cannot afford to lower our guard. After all, our opponents are long-eared elves. They may perceive subtle changes that we would fail to notice.”

While remaining alert to his surroundings, he concealed himself within a patch of shade that was difficult to observe from outside. The scouting accuracy of the sphere was reasonably reliable, but it was better to exercise double caution.

He spat out the cotton he had been holding in his mouth, wiped the dirt from his hair and face repeatedly with a hand towel, and finally felt himself relax.

He then removed the bulky gauntlets, shoulder guards, and greaves of the leather armor he had been wearing, leaving only the torso portion intact.

Next, he donned the adventure combat outfit that had been stored in his bag over the remaining armor, and alternately stowed the removed equipment inside.

In the span of only a few hundred seconds, he transformed from a filthy, grotesque adventurer into a nobleman enjoying dungeon exploration during his vacation.

The elves stationed on watch would never realize that the adventurer who had approached their fort moments earlier and the man standing here now were one and the same.

“As always, your disguise is impressive. Would your talents as an adventurer or performer not surpass those of a lord or noble?”

“It hardly sounds like praise when you put it that way.”

“That is not the case. The ability to make others perceive you as a different person through mannerisms and speech, rather than through hair dye or physical disguise, is a skill worthy of admiration.”

“When you explain it like that, it sounds sarcastic.”

Disguise was indispensable for intelligence work, yet it was not always possible to have the necessary tools readily available.

In such cases, mastering the technique of making others perceive you as a completely different person through facial expressions and speech, rather than relying on physical disguise tools, allowed missions to be carried out far more efficiently.

There was a large scar on his face. By deliberately drawing attention to that scar, he ensured that people failed to remember the precise arrangement of his eyes, nose, and mouth. This in itself was an excellent method of disguise.

It was surprisingly difficult for people to definitively identify someone as the same individual based solely on the presence of a facial scar. Moreover, by presenting himself as Earl Bartfort, others found it difficult to question him carelessly.

Additionally, this time his opponents were elves who judged others based on the quantity and quality of magical power rather than facial features.

By pretending to be a dull-witted, sluggish adventurer, he could induce carelessness in the elves. Just like humans, those convinced of their own superiority tended to lower their guard the moment they judged the opposing party to be inferior.

He had hoped that if circumstances allowed, he might investigate the stragglers who were not affiliated with either the former village chief or the new village chief. Unfortunately, things were not that simple.

“They have drawn water from the river to form a moat, and the perimeter is enclosed by an outer wall of logs and sandbags without gaps. On top of that, they have even constructed watchtowers so that anyone approaching would be noticed immediately. I had no idea the elves were building a fort.”

It was fortunate that he had instructed his subordinates, who had been waiting aboard the airship since the previous day, to pinpoint the location where the stragglers were living.

The location itself had been discovered quickly, but approaching it proved difficult. That morning, a report had come in stating that withdrawal had been unavoidable.

It was not a matter of incompetence on his subordinates’ part. It simply meant that the elves were far more vigilant and better prepared than anticipated.

Given that situation, the plan had no choice but to shift from simple reconnaissance to direct investigation by himself and the sphere.

As a result, the available action time had become extremely tight.

If he ended up being late for the scheduled dungeon entry with the children, Angie would undoubtedly become irritated, and the children would likely grow angry as well.

“I recommend long-range bombardment of the fort using the airship and armor.”

“Rejected, you idiot. Why do you always propose such extreme measures?”

“It is the conclusion reached after calculating the most efficient course of action. Even if we combine you with your subordinates, the probability of victory if all elves become hostile is extremely low, and the resulting attrition would be severe. Therefore, suppressing them first with military force and then conducting the investigation would allow for the greatest reduction in time.”

“If we did that, I would end up making enemies throughout the kingdom and be finished.”

“Would that be problematic?”

“If it were only me becoming socially dead, that would be fine. However, I absolutely refuse to accept any method that would involve my uninvolved family or cause unrelated elves to lose their lives.”

“The image held by the people of the kingdom, who fear you and refer to you with titles such as ‘the villainous Knight,’ is vastly removed from your true nature.”

“Let them say whatever they want. I despise seeing people die more than I despise my poor reputation.”

“What is the reason you go so far to side with the elves?”

“Do you object?”

“It is pure curiosity.”

There was nothing particularly grand about the reason. Certainly, many elves were unpleasant, yet he did not wish for them to die.

There were elves like Kyle, Yumelia-san, and the assistant he had interacted with, individuals who were kind-hearted or who were grieving over the current state of affairs.

To ignore all of them and indiscriminately massacre everyone would make his stomach churn with disgust.

“It is purely emotional reasoning. I simply dislike the notion of deciding that all elves are evil and wiping them out. Besides, exterminating the elves does not necessarily mean the situation would improve.”

“That is why you rejected my proposal.”

“There are other reasons as well. There may be elves connected to my acquaintances, and there may be elves who currently hate humans but could change their way of thinking. I do not want to become an arrogant man who ignores such possibilities and takes lives regardless.”

“That is an irrational way of thinking.”

“That is what it means to be human. For you as well, would it not be putting the cart before the horse if you were to obliterate something related to the old humans with bombardment?”

“I see. Understood.”

Rather, had it even crossed your mind to blow it away?

At times, he wondered whether this one might actually be more emotional than humans. Perhaps that was merely his imagination.

In any case, he did not possess the authority to massacre elves.

The most he could do was investigate thoroughly and submit a report. The responsibility for whatever judgment the higher authorities might reach lay beyond him.

“Very well then. Hurry up and infiltrate.”

“You have no intention of accompanying me?”

“Going in there would be far too troublesome. It's not merely a settlement. It's a fort.”

Watchtowers, a water-filled moat, wooden barricades, sentries, and gatekeepers. Attempting to infiltrate such a heavily guarded fort without being noticed would require far more time and tools than were available.

Leaving the task to the one capable of accomplishing it was not wrong, even if that meant deliberately overlooking the fact that the other party was a Lost Item.

“Come on, hurry. I need to regroup with Angie and the others, so get moving already.”

“Your attitude is really unpleasant, but it cannot be helped. I will cooperate.”

While muttering complaints, the sphere turned toward the direction of the fort. Its floating spherical form gradually lost its presence, as if dissolving into the surrounding scenery.

“Stealth mode, activation.”

The presence of the completely vanished sphere became impossible to perceive. How high it would ascend and by what means it would investigate the interior of the fort was entirely up to it.

All that remained was to wait for favorable news.

He removed the portable dried meat stored in his bag and bit into it. Do your best, sphere, so that we can make it back in time for the meeting.

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Authors Note

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Sorry to keep you waiting. It has been a while since the previous update.

Due to organizing the story structure for the latest chapter of the adult version of this work (Syosetu), handling requests for other works, and various other matters, the posting was delayed longer than expected. I sincerely apologize.

[T/N- adult version been already translated , it's chapter 118.5

& If you usually don't check out artist link then I will recommend you do, specifically last one , it a Pixiv link so no worries.]

This chapter mainly focuses on the schemes of the former village chief, who serves as the primary antagonist of part seven and is the same village chief from the original work.

His actions are even more vicious than in the original, as his prejudice against humans has deepened further due to his imprisonment.

From the next chapter onward, these schemes are planned to be depicted gradually.r

Additional note: Thanks to the requester, illustrations were drawn by LuYue-sama, Yokoyama Koji-sama, and Hatsumi Aoi-sama for their respective requests.

Furthermore, a scene from this work has been adapted into a manga by Moninora.-sama.

Thank you very much.

LuYue-sama: Pixiv

Yokoyama Koji-sama: Pixiv (Adult content warning)

Hatsumi Aoi-sama: Pixiv

Moninora.-sama: Pixiv

I would greatly appreciate any opinions or impressions, as they would serve as encouragement for my future work.