Ear Clapper, Elf Smacker

Roze was starting to really doubt trusting in Gideon. She turned to him with a scowl, his bad acting having put her on the spot. He blatantly ignored her.

“Oh no, Roze! It seems like you forgot! Beating one dark elf means a feud with them all! It won’t end until you beat every single one of them!”

You have got to be kidding…

Roze felt like strangling Gideon, especially after he winked at her to emphasize the hint. She growled and rubbed her temples before finally giving in to the flow.

“You, elf girl! What’s your name?”

She stepped into the light and toward Roze, standing almost a head shorter. Her petite body made Roze feel guilty about being angry at her, only to discard that thought when she realized that elves grew on a different time scale.

“Milipitas.”

“Take me to your tribe, and I’ll settle this right away. Tell them that I won’t run or hide. Got that?!”

The girl, Milipitas, nodded. She grabbed her whistle again and blew on it several times in succession.

“There, my sisters have stopped the charge. I will guide you to them. But if you try to escape, the hunt will be on once again!”

As soon as Milipitas turned around, Roze made hand gestures of frustration at Gideon, who shrugged at her with a sly grin.

“You! You knew that was going to happen!”

“Far too many times. Enough to know that it’s better for you to take the lead.”

“Is this what you meant by not wanting to cause trouble?! Well, this is trouble for me!”

“Calm down. I have a good plan for dealing with them. It’s something you are perfectly capable of.”

“You better explain everything this time!”

v

The human pair started to follow Milipitas, who was shaking her head at the conversation. She didn’t know how the magician girl had beaten her. It had happened in an instant. But facing off against an entire tribe was foolish. The man had cowered where he slept, staying out of it. Fortunately, he would be spared the wrath of her sisters in knowing one of their own was defeated. She could care less if he tagged along or not.

It took almost another day to arrive at the home of the dark elf hunter tribe. Along the way, Milipitas honored her promise not to take revenge herself. She had already made the call. Regardless, any plan they could come up with – one facing off against an entire village – would be hasty and foolish. Even if the weak-looking human boy helped, taking down one or two would give her an excuse to stab him in the back.

Milipitas felt quite confident as the village came into sight. Standing on the rooftops were her clan sisters, weapons drawn and waiting for the battle to start. They looked thrilled, eyeing the human pair as the day’s entertainment. A collective holler sounded as a prelude of their enthusiasm. A horn was blown to start the hunt, the first group of ten advancing forward while licking their lips.

Roze readied her wand, while Gideon ran away toward cover like a coward. It felt disheartening to see humans abandoning their own, but from what she had seen, they didn’t possess much solidarity.

Even with ten strong huntswomen racing toward their target, Roze stood her ground. The leader of the group marched ahead, the others taking either wing to form an arrow formation.

Suddenly, Roze bought her palms forward and clapped them together, hard.

“Accelerare!”

An ear-splitting echo rippled through the area, the spell accelerating the sound and fanning it outwards. The huntswomen clutched their ears in agony, not expecting such an attack. It was so much that they dropped their weapons and collapsed.

Elves possessed remarkably good hearing, such that they could pick up the high-pitched whistle from a day’s travel away. But that also came with a downside – extremely loud noises were their bane. It was part of the reason they preferred living in remote communities away from human civilization.

Milipitas gawked in disbelief as Roze casually walked over and smacked one of the elves trying to stand. It barely had any strength, especially in comparison to the built, muscular huntswomen that prided themselves on being strong like monsters.

However, that was not the point. It was a clear message from Roze not to mess with her. It was a smack of superior ground, aimed to humble them before her.

One of the elves grew angry at this insult, gripping her bow. However, Roze simply clapped again, barely having time to recite the spell.

Another loud boom rocked the entire group, particularly the defiant one. The sound was so disorienting that several passed out cold where they were.

v

“Are you going to run in and hit them all?” Roze asked while in transit to the hunting village.

“Uhhh, I coooould. But dark elves are all women, you know. It doesn’t feel right in my book. You’re going to have to be the one to show them who’s boss.”

“What? How am I supposed to accomplish that?”

Gideon pointed at his ear and then at Milipitas. Just to throw off the elf’s suspicion since she was likely listening in, Gideon started singing badly while clapping.

“I can make your hands clap~~~”

“Hey you! Cut it with that racket!” Milipitas yelled back at them while covering her ears.

It clicked to Roze what the plan was right then.

All she needed to do was make a loud noise and send it toward the elves with Accelerare. While the magic worked for shooting even sound across long distances, the intensity of the noise wouldn’t increase.

However, it was the perfect cover for Gideon to make his move during Time Stop.

Back at the present, Roze eyerolled at how stupidly effective and simple the plan was. The first group of hunters had been subdued easily, drawing the attention of all eyes on her now.

The dark elves would be cautious now, but their focus went to the wrong person. As even more of them charged forward, Roze repeated the clap and chant.

Time stopped. Gideon rushed out from his hiding place along the edge of the woods. He ran over to the nearest elf and clapped very loudly right against her ears. The number he did would magnify into a single sharp sound once time went back to normal.

This took a bit more effort to do than simply whacking them with his sticks. However, he had a good reason for this. The better the fighter, the more insight one would have if Gideon were to strike directly. Not to mention, the lack of armor that they wore meant they would feel its direct contact. The disconnect would blow his cover.

A previous cycle taught him not to be careless about his abilities. Roze did not strike with sticks like he did, so he had been found out. As a result, he decided that not touching them at all would yield a better outcome.

Hiding back in his spot by the bushes, he reverted time to normal. A quick look at his countdown showed that he had lost almost an hour in that run. Yet, it was worth doing.

Like a flashbang assaulting their ears, the charging elves all tripped to the ground, disoriented and writhing in pain.

Roze walked forward, adding a smack to add insult to injury to each of elves she passed by. It made all who was left concentrate on her instead of Gideon. Her steps took her straight up to someone that looked like the chieftain. Unlike the others, she wore a decorative hat of giant feathers.

Roze pointed her wand forward.

“Is that it? Are you still going to try to kill me? You pride yourselves on being strong, but what do you do when someone is stronger? Definitively stronger than your entire tribe combined? Cast away this pointless pursuit! Peace is what I have come here for!”

The chieftain jumped down from her perch, walking forward with a massive axe in hand. The contour of her bare muscles gave off the impression that she could rip a person apart, limb by limb.

Roze readied her wand again, in anticipation of taking her down. But then, the chieftain stopped a few paces from attack range. She laid down her axe and bowed to Roze. All at once, the other elves hopped down and did the same.

“I am Chieftain Corazon. We are humbled by your greatness and mercy. As an isolated tribe that is shunned by many, we value strength and hold a grudge against those who seek to harm us. However, our traditions recognize the strong but noble, those who fight for the sake of reason and compassion. By extending a wish for peace despite your overwhelming advantage, we concede to you. Please tell us your name.”

“It’s Roze.”

Roze was caught off guard by this. She turned to Gideon, who flashed her a thumbs-up and beckoned her to proceed. She cautiously walked forward with an extended handshake to seal the peace offer.

Corazon took her hand with a tear in her eye, and with a sudden strong pull, Roze fell against her hard chest in a tight but warm embrace. It was good that the dark elf tribe could be placated in such a way, but all the sudden skinship threw her in for a loop.

It distracted her so much that she didn’t notice until they parted that she was now wearing the funny hat that Corazon had before. Her fears were confirmed moments later.

“Let’s hear it for our new leader, Chieftain Roze!”

She was so going to Accelerare some balls into Gideon after he explained himself.