prologue (1/2)
Four ht sky
The only other lighting in the area was the red, flickering light of a bonfire at a spot with good visibility on the side of a highway running alongside a dense forest
At the ti around the bonfire
”This tih”
A youngliquor fro down his throat
”That’s true Wethat seeure out what kind of er?”
A girl wearing a robe who had her staff leaning against a nearby tree asked the girl sitting next to her as carefully looking at an old dagger as she held it up towards the light of the bonfire
”Hic imbued in it but…as far as what kind it is, I’et an appraisal somewhere e return to town”
When the girl said so apologetically, her long, pointed ears twitched as ifwith her words
”That so~ If an elf doesn’t know, it can’t be helped”
”Hey now, rather than elves who are users of spirit icians that use ancient ic like you?”
”Eeh? But I’m not well suited to that kind of delicate work”
”That’s true You’re specialized in firepower after all”
At the words of the young
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Adventurer
There are people called thus
They will do anything asked of them if they accept a request and at times they are excavators that enter places such as labyrinths where they defeatup the treasures hidden within
The ones currently surrounding the bonfire alongside the highere also adventurers They had heard about a labyrinth being discovered two days on foot from the town that they were based in and were currently on their way back fro that labyrinth
As expected, it was not possible to reach the depths of the dungeon in one trip, but even so, they were able toThey were even able to find a dagger iic This was considerable luck even for mid-ranked adventurers like them
That’s right They were mid-ranked adventurers
They o Since then, they steadily accuained a bit of fame in the town they were based in
First, they began fro medicinal plants at the outskirts of town requested by the doctor and hunting wild anio, they began to undertake jobs that involve fighting such as escorting a peddler and the exter waste to the fields
It was then that the news of a labyrinth being discovered arrived Furthermore, it was not that far from the town
Having heard that news, they promptly took on the labyrinth to try out their luck and skill, and were able to obtain some success
It was their first ti a labyrinth and it was successful As such, all the party members were in joy
Because of that, their vigilance had faded Even though they were outside of tohere it was definitely not safe, not to httime
The success of the adventure caused the with their elation
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And then, it came suddenly
The first to notice was the elven girl Her long ears caught wind of so by
Followed by the dull sound of so pierced
The elven girl turned around reflexively towards the sound, and sed her breath as she let out a soundless shriek
Before her eyes was the youngfrom his brohich wasn’t there before
No, it wasn’t sprouting froh it
Several ister what had happened
The body of the leather ar over face up
As if that sound was the signal, arrows rained down in the surroundings of the girl and her companions
”Wh, what!? What’s going on!?”
Tightly grasping her staff against her chest, the s
”God da!? Ho, how dare you kill-!”
Theman stood up and braced his shi+eld and sword But the nextand sla man’s face
It was a hatchet Receiving the thrown hatchet to the face, the young s before falling
”Hii!!”
The elven girl let out a second short shriek before theher on her feet
”What are you doing!? We’re running!!”
”B, but-!”
”Those two can’t be saved anymore!! They are already dead!! If we stay here, we’ll also-!”
After saying so with a bitter expression, thethe hand of the elven girl
Into the forest ruled by the darkness of night
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She suddenly realized that she was alone
Theher hand as they ran, but after escaping into the forest, she was the one that ran ahead of the other
Inside the forest was a place familiar to the elves Furthermore, elves had the ability to see in the dark, so the forest at night was barely any different fro the daytime
That’s why she ran inside the forest while guiding the irl
But as she ran desperately in fear of pursuers froirl who should have been following her was nowhere in sight
Did she get separated so too fast for her? For humans unable to see well in the dark, it was impossible for theht without even carrying a light
Having two of her companions killed in the blink of an eye in a sudden attack and the fear of those evil hands reaching herself hadn’t left her any room to think about that
”Wh… What to do…? If I don’t search her…”
Cos as she muttered
Just as she was about to go back the way she ca around rustling
Following, the irl was overco her appearance
But that was immediately replaced with horror
Thea few steps, irl in a low voice
”Run…away… E, even just…you… Ru…way…”
The irl then fell forward and collapsed
The elven girl’s eyes which could see well in the dark clearly caught sight of the dagger which was piercing the back of the collapsed irl
”Eh? Wh, what…? H, hey…?”
The sudden situation caused her brain to stop registering what she saw
As she was flustered unable to do anything, three irl had appeared from with torches in hand
”Oh! Here you are We finally caught up with ya”
”Oh? So the last one was an elf? This’ll be great”
”Yeah We’ll be able to get so her as a slave”