Vol 4 Chapter 14 (1/2)

Rain poured fro the road into a river

The sky was dark and overcast, which made it hard to tell where the potholes were under the water Every time a wheel sank into one, the HMV would lurch heavily

Once they got bogged down in ed that carrying on in the rain would be too dangerous, and so he turned off the HMV’s engines to take a break

“The rain around here’s really heavy Even though it was clear in the , it ended up like this in an instant”

After hearing Yao say that, Ita on

The noise of the engine was gone, and only the splashi+ng of raindrops remained

Ita the rain pooled in the roof canvas to wobble around The sides of the HMV were open to the elements, so the wind and rain blew in fro the sides open was just nice

The rain ca and the interior was not too soaked The passengers watched the storm outside their s and waited for it to stop

Itami took a map and a compass from his backpack, in order to confirm their next direction

“Our current location is PDG・34・RE249487311”

Because the latitude and longitude of the Special Region was not determined yet, the mapmakers drew arbitrary lines on the aerial recon photos for use in navigation

Along the way, Itami asked Yao about the route she had taken to Arnus, in order to learn what lay ahead of them

She set out froe, then curved south around the base of Mt Colro, passing through the Terilia Plains, then going past Metabal, Greut

Itami drew a curvy line that connected all the places Yaothis route to Yao’s home

It was not far in a straight line, but the mountains and valleys in the way meant they could not travel that way However, the path Yao had taken instead went in a great big curve around the countryside, which hy she had taken a month to reach Arnus

“It couldn’t be helped, I was chasing the rumors of the Men in Green If I’d known you were in Arnus fro, I wouldn’t have detoured so much”

Rory and Lelei stared mutely at Yao

If what she said was true, thatrues, and then after that she would have reached Arnus a month later From that point of view, the time she spent in Arnus would have been very short

“We’re now on the Terilia Plains,” Itami said as he checked the location off on the map

“After that, I went around the base of Mt Colro in order not to be noticed by the Dragon, and then I followed the streaoing, it’s difficult in both directions”

They could only travel by daylight, and they could not move quickly where there were no roads

Although it was called the Terilia Plains, it was not nearly as flat as it sounded Itae boulders everywhere forced him to steer around them, so in the end, they only moved a little faster than normal

Ita it would take to get there

Two thirds of the cargo bed was taken up by fuel cans and crates containing LAMs (110e quantities of explosives, all sorts of equipment, ammunition, food and water

There were other things as well The girls had piled things onto the HMV like they were running away from home, and currently, Tuka was asleep on a thick fur blanket in the crevices between all the other iteht, but Itami knew he did not have much time left

Tuka had gotten worse ever since they set out froht about it How could Tuka’s father operate a coe conflict in her heart

Because Tuka would occasionally be toric Thanks to that, they could speak about things that they could not let Tuka hear

“Yao The Dragon was sighted in the Schwarz Forest, right?”

Itami indicated a point on the map, and Yao nodded She traced a circle around that point with her finger

“Strictly speaking, its territory appears to encompass the entire southern area, which also includes the Schwarz Forest”

“That big?”

“If you want to find the Flaon, head south froon hunts in the same place We can ambush it there”

The Lordo

“Our objective is to let Tuka avenge herself on the Flaon, not to save your people”

“However, the people there knohere the Flaon’s lair is”

“That’s true,” Itami nodded Then he decided to head for the ravine where Yao’s tribe was

Yao smiled in satisfaction, and Itah him

“Let ht there If the Dragon can fly around freely, we’re at too e”

“Then what should we do?”

“Right now, the plan is to set up an ambush in its nest The specifics will depend on the local terrain”

“What terrain would be good?”

“For example…”

The Dragon could not turn freely in narrow spaces If its nest was not a place like that, they would have to pick another battlefield, lure it there, and destroy it

“If you need a decoy, let et my people to help”

Yao spoke lightly, as though it was really that simple

“Soe about all of this Why didn’t you just run away?”

Much like how Coda Village’s residents had abandoned it There was that choice

Yao answered, “Humans can do it, but Elves cannot”

Elves could only live on land that suited them

Humans could move around and build streets and settlements, but elves could not They could not leave the Schwarz Forest that they were accustoh for them just to hide in Lordom Valley

“Travelling is fine, though”

Yao s herself

Ita able to travel on a boat, but not being able to live on it Some people could live on the sea, but they could not Much like how humans could only live on land, Dark Elves could only live in the forests

Coood care of the forests at the foot of Arnus Hill To her, it must have been a necessary environment

“Still, is this all right?” Rory asked as she looked at the sleeping Tuka

Of course, they could not tell Tuka the true purpose of this journey All they had said so far was that they were heading south, towards Yao’s village

“Ah I was planning to bring her in front of the Flaon, then tell her ‘This is the enemy who killed your father’”

“She’ll definitely beher”

She would be But the fact was that using Tuka’s fantasy and pretending to be her father was already tricking her, in a sense Ita this now, after everything we’ve been through?”

“If that’s the case, we’re all accomplices,” Lelei said

“Well, it can’t be helped She can scold us all together,” Rory grinned, before patting Itami’s shoulder

The Schwarz Forest was a vast domain that was often called “a sea of trees”

It was far deeper than anyone could have iined In its furthest reaches, fallen tree trunks were covered in piles of rotting leaves, and over theround overlapped each other so thickly one could not see the ground, while above the tree canopies It was like stepping into a different world

Of course, walking through here on foot was a difficult task, to say nothing of actually driving a vehicle in They had no choice but to go around it After ress toward the South, they decided to rest for the night The next day, they followed the edge of the forest ard, before finally reaching Lordom Valley

The Dark Elves were hiding in the caves here

At a glance, this looked like pretty good terrain for a fight

Like the naest, the flat land was sliced open by the flow of a river into a narroisting ravine If they could get the Dragon to descend into the bottoht be able to carry out an ambush on it However, this place was far too narrow for the Dragon to squeeze in

Come to think of it, this place was a place for the Dark Elves to hide If the Flaon could fit in here, they would be done for

The bottoe and sood spot for fishi+ng However, there was no way for the Dark Elves to gather enough food from this place They would need to leave the Valley eventually, and the Fla on that

In addition, the sudden, torrential rain would raise the level of the river until it seeped into their caves They had to struggle every day so their possessions and food would not get washed away It was a hard life

“Please, stop here”

Yao aiting for Itami and the rest on top of a cliff Hardly affected by the round after the rain, she ni through a narrow passage which could only fit one person, she descended another slope and reached the bottom

Itaine

And just at thisher ar “banzai” as she stretched Then, like a child, she rubbed her eyes in a very adorable way

However, she irimaced and said, “the petrol stinks”

Tuka was sleeping amidst the petrol cans and the ammunition and explosives boxes, so it was only natural she would say that The HMV did not have glass except for the windscreen, so when in motion, the air from outside would ventilate the interior However, when the vehicle was stationary, the fuh it was not harmful

“Did you have a good rest?”

“Mm, I did”

After Tuka said that, she dismounted

Then she stretched again, taking in a lungful of the fresh air outside

After surveying the landscape, Itaot off the vehicle Since this was Flaon territory, he had to be prepared That said, 762ainst it Still, he surveyed his surroundings with his binoculars He paid close attention to the sky

“Where is this place?”

In response to Tuka’s question, Itae here”

“I see, so we’re here at last We can finally get rid of that Dark Elf”

Tuka’s opinion of Yao was difficult to explain in words As for Yao, she was hoh of relief

“But to think, she lives in a place like this…”

Tuka nervously looked down into the ravine, at the river flowing far, far below her

Elves loved the green of the forest, but there was none of that to be seen here

The valley only had rocks and sand The closest thing to vegetation here were a few shrubs and the weeds that covered the ground

“Why did they choose to live here?”

It would seeet about how Yao and her people had been attacked by the Dragon She had coon from her mind Therefore, all Itami could say was, “Who knows? There should be a reason for it”

Even while he was talking, he did not fail to watch the sky

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Suddenly, seven to eight dark elfbows, and they surrounded Itami and the others

“Yao, you have returned at last But have you forgotten e sent you out?”

This was a cave at the very bottoht could not reach Yao was on one knee, lit by the diht of the nearby lanterns She was surrounded by seven of her tribe’s elders in a horse-shoe shape Face toward the ground, she carefully replies, “No, I have not forgotten”

“It has been two months since we sent you forth Many of our people have died in this time We have lost contact with the others who scattered to other lands”

“We had started to think you had given up your quest after not having co”

Yao looked up to the three ht a Man in Green back, in order to help defeat the Flaon”

“Ohhhh!”

The elders exclaimed as one

“Well done Mm Well done”

“Then, then where is the Man in Green?”

“I left the them here would cause unnecessary trouble,”

Yao’s answer made the elders frown Then they asked her in a surprised tone, “Why did you not invite the way should not be made to wait It is rude”

“Indeed A lack of etiquette will reflect poorly on our tribe”

The elders rose at once and made to leave the cave But Yao darted in front of the, “Please wait, please wait,” as she prepared to explain the situation

“What is the reason for this?”

“This is the reason the Men in Green refused to defeat the Flarave sin”

Yao told them what she had done in Arnus She paid particular attention to what she had done to Tuka, narrating it in extensive detail

“Fro you your reasons, as well as the purpose of what you did However, anted to ask was, is this matter really important?”

Yao was asked about her actions because the elders did not understand them She had expected to be rebuked for what she had done After all, Yao felt that she had coainst Tuka

But the elders did not care about that Thiswith her moral values

“So you are saying that this Itami person came to save that Elf”

“Yes This Itami is also one of the Men in Green”

“A wise and considerate person may decide to leave a friend to die if he deterer”

“However, a coer, perhaps even break the rules, to save a friend”

“Mm, he must be quite a man If he is unmoved by fame or fleshly desire, he may well be a person worthy of our trust Then, that Elf has coon?”

“Yes Itaon and tell her the truth”

The elders saw Yao’s tortured expression They sighed and looked at each other

“Yao, you seem unable to accept what you have done Were we in your place, ould have done as you did This was a necessary action to coardless of what people say, we must use any means necessary to do it That is the virtue of us Dark Elves”

“Indeed Even trickery is permitted You have done well, Yao”

After reflecting on Yao’s actions and her lack of morality, they heaped praise on her

“Do you find the actions you took to carry out your uilt is not yours alone”

“Indeed We ordered you to use any and all means to complete your task”

“You were si orders We will all share the responsibility with you”

The elders viewed Yao’s actions as representative of the entire tribe, and then they began discussing the appropriate compensation for this task

“However, all this was the result of my actions If compensation is needed, should I not be the one to offer it?”

The elders replied in depressed tones to Yao, as insisting that she should offer to be the compensation

“And what do you intend to do?”

With an eager look on her face, she replied, “Please leave it to me”

“As for you, casually betting your life is disgraceful It is not atone the easy, despicable way out, and that will only compound your sins”

“That does sound like so you would say Then, if you truly wish to atone, then you cannot choose an easy path You er, harder path, and you cannot carry that weight alone”

“Then what should I do?”

“Obviously, you on In addition, you must defend that Elf who is so precious to that Man in Green”

“Naturally, ill gather our warriors to help”

“Also, I believe the Man in Green left his army and ca to a ifts and our thanks to his superiors?”

“The gratitude of the Dark Elves alone will not be enough The Flaather theh to appease the wrath of his superiors”

“Mm I shall do this”

The elders decided on their plans for the future At the same tiht of

Yao’s way of thinking had been swiftly demolished by the elders At the same time, she also realised that she alone would not be able to restore Itami’s reputation, so she stood aside and waited

“Then, let us go welcome the Man in Green”

“Oh We shall go receive the Man in Green who once drove off the Flaon”

Tao followed the elders out of the cave

But at this moment, a shockwave came from a thunderous explosion in the valley

“shi+t! It’s the Flaon!”

The shouts of the Dark Elves rose from all around them

The Dark Elf roup to check theon His legs thrashed froe beast chewed and sed hiulp

“Aaah, ah, ah, aaaawaah, aah, ah—”

Tuka had seen the whole thing fro still in front of a Fla short of suicide

The other elves began fleeing for their lives, and soon However, their arroere useless against the Dragon’s armor-like scales

The Flaarded the Elves Instead, it focused all its attention on the frozen Tuka Then it opened its blood-stained ed at Tuka

Just as Tuka was about to consu echoed throughout the Valley

Like a black petal borne on the wind, Rory Mercury charged the Flahty bloith her halberd The on square on the jaw

However, even that on’s resilient scales Still, the heavy ion’s face away

It was as bizarre a scene as an ant uppercutting an elephant

And then, the Flaround It threw up a cloud of dust that flew everywhere The i like thunder

“So strong…”

The Dark Elves stared in awe

“duge-main”

Right after Lelei cast her spell, a series of rings ht formed in front of her

Lelei snapped her fingers In response, the powerful blast wave surged out in a straight line and struck the Flaon’s body

However, the ray of on’s scales and buried itself in the ground

The Flaot back to its feet with the help of its flapping wings It kneas at a disadvantage on land, and it kicked itself off the ground and soared into the air

Rory atteon’s breath drove her back down

The Apostle of E her halberd so forcefully that the wind of its passage cleaved the high-teon took advantage of her lowered guard and followed up with a swipe of its sharp claws

“Kya~an!”

Rory ed to evade the claws, but her son’s paw

She landed with both feet on the ground, her round as she slowed to a halt Then Rory grabbed her halberd in a power stance, wiped her face clean offrom a small cut on her lip

“Not bad”

The battle was a staleainst the other

Lelei created a second series of light rings The Flaot out from in front of her