Volume 9 Chapter 2 Visitor ②
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Volodya! I’ve missed you! Now, let me avenge my master’s right arm! Vera!” I shouted.
”Y-yes!” Vera answered.
The moment I saw that unforgettable elven figure, my entire body tensed with rage.
I drew my sword, enchanted all the throwing darts with magic using rapid incantation, and deployed a magic shield while shielding Vera behind me.
”Stop it, Soyuz! He’s a guest of the guild!” the flustered branch chief snapped as he stood to intervene.
A hand erupted from the floor—the earth spirit, a gnome—grasping the chief’s foot and holding him back. Vera must have summoned it thoughtfully.
”Out of my way! I’m not the coward I used to be!” I snarled, glaring at the elf before me, my killing intent blazing.
The elf smiled faintly, a trace of sadness in his eyes. He murmured without drawing his sword.
”I see. You know my brother’s name. It seems you truly are the right person.”
”…Brother?” I asked, brow furrowed.
”Yes. Apologies for the delay. I’m Mikhail. Brother of your ‘enemy,’ Volodya.”
”So… you’re that guy’s brother. But you’re still from the village—the one that sent an assassin after my master. That makes you an enemy too, doesn’t it?” I challenged.
Yes. Even if this man was Volodya’s brother, he still hailed from the village that targeted my master. That made him an enemy.
”Hey, Soyuz, enough! He—” the branch chief began.
”Shut up, Godonov.” I cut him off with a glare sharp enough to freeze him mid-breath.
Turning back to Mikhail, I saw him still standing, his sad smile unshaken.
”That understanding is wrong. Our village has already been destroyed… by that same Volodya.”
”What!?” I gasped.
* * *
Once I cooled down, I apologized to Mikhail for drawing my sword.
After the branch chief—the bald jerk—thoroughly scolded me, I finally sat down to talk with him.
”So, why was I summoned?” I asked.
”My sole purpose was to defeat Volodya, who destroyed our village. I followed his trail, but along the way, I uncovered something I couldn’t ignore,” Mikhail explained.
”Something you couldn’t ignore?” I pressed.
”A human organization is hunting elves and half-elves. Investigating them, I realized they might be the true enemy.”
His words sparked thoughts.
”Could it be the ‘Apostle of Rebirth’? Do you know anything about them?”
”I don’t know the details. But humans are breaking the ancient pact by hunting elves. My brother’s transformation and the village’s destruction can’t be unrelated.”
I nodded, the pieces clicking together in my mind.
”Do you think they brainwashed Volodya, making him attack the village?” I asked.
”Yes. Without that, he wouldn’t commit such a terrible act. If those people destroyed the village, revenge is justified. I cannot ignore the breaking of an alliance. But I can’t face this alone—especially with human ties involved. So I brought this matter to the Realm of Man’s Adventurers’ Guild. They introduced me to you. I was surprised. I never expected to be connected to you, Lucia’s disciple.”
”Heh. This elf even researched that I’m Lucia’s disciple. He’s cautious,” I muttered.
”Well, setting that aside,” Mikhail continued, “If his story is true, this might connect to the Vera incident. If they’d use half-elves as breeding stock to strengthen monsters, capturing and brainwashing elves fits their pattern.”
”I see. Hey, branch chief, do you think this is connected?” I asked.
The bald branch chief nodded slightly.
”Likely connected, Soyuz.”
”Understood. I’ll team up with Mikhail to pursue this,” I said.
”Mhm. I’m counting on you.”
”Got it. Mikhail, I’ll leave this to you,” I said, extending my right hand.
I couldn’t deny the unease of teaming up with someone from the village that sent an assassin after my master, but—
”Nice to meet you. Call me Mikhail. No need for ‘watashi no’—just Mikhail,” he said, taking my hand.
His grip was thin and delicate—almost like my master’s.
* * *
”Let me ask again. Are you sure Volodya destroyed your village?” I asked.
”Yes… He seemed off, but it was definitely my brother.”
”Hmm. So, if Volodya was brainwashed, why did he destroy the village? Did you have conflicts with humans?”
”There were minor conflicts, but every village has those. No reason for humans to hate us enough to destroy us. And for it to be destroyed by kin—using such brutality…”
I couldn’t understand.
It was impossible. If my master had done it, I might grasp her hatred if exiled or fleeing.
But Volodya? Even brainwashed, could he destroy the place he was born and raised?
Wasn’t he the one chasing my master for breaking village rules?
Now that I think about it—
I know nothing about my master, nor about Volodya.
All I know is that ridiculous strength, that twisted personality, and an otherworldly beauty. That’s all.
She hardly talked about her past, except that she adventured with Vintenica Mama.
I never heard a word about the elf village.
Perhaps the root of this incident lies there.
It might help to know her connection to the village, especially Volodya.
”Hey. Could you tell me? Why was the master exiled? And what about her relationship with Volodya and the conflict?”
”Conflict, you say? That’s one way to put it. Shall I explain?”
Mikhail’s story unfolded.
Over a hundred years ago, when the master lived in the village, she already caused trouble—breaking the ‘no interaction with humans’ rule, frequently visiting the Realm of Man.
That might have been tolerated, but then she took in an elf who begged, ‘I want to see the human town too.’
”That elf, Est, was especially close to Lucia and my brother Volodya’s fiancée. Longing for the human world, she ventured into the Realm of Man with Lucia’s guidance—and fell in love with a human.”
Love between races—among elves who cherish bloodlines, the greatest taboo.
I learned Volodya and Mikhail were sons of the village chief.
The fiancée of the next chief, Est, had fallen for a human.
”My enraged brother captured Est and interrogated her, but she was already pregnant with a human child. Giving birth to a human is the greatest taboo. She was to be purged.”
The master intervened and helped her escape.
I pictured the scene as if I had seen it.
”My father, the village chief, had his honor shattered, and my brother was furious. With his own hands, he set out to punish the two. It’s tragic, especially since my brother and I were both taught combat by Lucia, the best in the village.”
”I see… What happened to Est?”
”She died after giving birth. The child was taken by Lucia, but its whereabouts remain unknown.”
I understood the conflict between the master and Volodya—and why the master was exiled.
What remained unclear was why the village was destroyed.
If elves were kidnapped, it would make sense.
But a massacre suggested something else.
Not mere resentment.
Could it be a failed brainwashing?
There wasn’t enough information.
And if I couldn’t even track Volodya—
”Hey, Mikhail. Can I visit where your village was?”
”Normally, it’s taboo to invite humans to the elves’ land.”
”That may be true, but we adventurers have a saying: ‘If you hit a dead end, return to the starting point.’”
If information is scarce, search every detail. Use everything available.
Only those who have done everything can afford to give up.
Notes:
• Volodya – A mysterious and powerful elf, never seen by Soyuz before, who seeks to purge Lucia. He exudes killing intent and is strong enough to intimidate Soyuz.
• Mikhail – Volodya’s brother and a guest of the guild, seeking to defeat Volodya for destroying his village.
• Vintenica – She is a tall, slender magic user, appeared as the new mistress buying six boys, wearing a deep purple robe with her right half face hidden by a white mask, half beautiful young woman and half eerie with blood-red lips, mysterious and slightly frightening.
• Est – An elf who fell in love with a human, leading to conflict with Volodya and her eventual death.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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