38: The Young Man and the Dark Elf(?) (1/2)

“It’s over there… one of our merchants said he saw the ogre around that forest. I’d like you all to slay the ogre in this forest.”

Led by the imperial spy posing as a merchant, Rudel’s party proceeded towards the forest of the strengthened ogre. Having circled around beforehand, the imperial soldiers and Mies had come to observe the experiment. The strengthened ogre that would move just as ordered lay in wait for Rudel’s party… it’s power far surpassed a standard ogre, boasting speed and a high resistance to magic.

For such an experiment where victory was already assured, Mies could only reluctantly watch. It was an official mission from the empire so she was unable to be negligent.

But in the airspace above Mies and Rudel, a dragon and elf were taking a nose dive.

◇

Rudel and co proceeded through the uneven ground of the forest, remaining wary of their surroundings. When an ogre- a beast said to boast a rough temperament- was supposed to be here, the forest was much too quiet. On top of that, they couldn’t help but feel something was strangely off. Basyle was the same. Through her info she had investigated the night before, she definitely did hear rumor of the ogre.

But even so, the merchant who put out the request was strange. While saying he was afraid, he was still taking an extended stay in the village, and she couldn’t feel any impatience from him. When it came to merchants, time was money, so when he should be at such a loss…

“Rudel-sama, stay on your toes. If worse comes to worst, please consider abandoning this request altogether.”

Keeping fleeing as an option wasn’t cowardly. But abandoning a request impacted one’s credibility. Even with that in mind, they had to consider running away. It was a considerably shady request, it seems… that on his mind, Rudel climbed a sudden slope when something fell from above.

“What is it!?”

Eunius immediately reacted and took a stance with his sword, Vargas held up a large shield and stood in front of everyone. There, the ogre they were requested to take out was trampled under the foot of a dragon, and on its back was the figure of one in the garb of a knight.

The scene shocked all. No, only one was enthralled… it was Rudel.

“It’s a wind dragon! Lilim-sama too… and she’s all black!”

On the back of the Wind Dragon, Lilim was dark… she had become a dark elf, and had changed to an extent that no one would be able to recognize her had Rudel not pointed out. More than that, everyone gathered,

(How could you tell?)

The question came to mind.

The surprised party’s eyes drifted to the ogre the Wind Dragon had taken out in an instant. A dragoon had taken their mark. This wasn’t particularly strange. But Lilim was clearly acting peculiar.

“Phh fufufu! This vilest of fiends has been burnt to cinders in my flames of darkness!”

… The ogre there had been crushed to death by the dragon. There were definitely no flames involved, and even if it was supposed to be cinders, the body was clearly there. For some reason, Lilim was covering half her face and striking a cool pose.

“She didn’t even use any magic, right?”

Eunius looked at everyone to confirm, and everyone nodded. Rudel tried to stick up for her, but in this situation where she clearly didn’t use any magic, he reluctantly gave a nod.

“More than that, I can’t say for sure that’s Lilim the dragoon. If Rudel says it, then there’s no doubt about it, but I have heard before that dark elves are dangerous.”

Luecke said as he hardened his guard.

“I’ve never heard that Dragoon Lilim was a dark elf. So that in mind, would you care to answer…!?”

The moment Basyle tried to get this situation in order and called out to Lilim. Rudel suddenly cut at Basyle.

No, to be more precise, he cut at Lilim who suddenly approached. The knife in Lilim’s hand let off sparks against Rudel’s blade.

“Wha!? That’s way too fast!”