Aggressive Welcome

“Over here, we’re almost there.”

Following the directions of the elf bandit, who was still tied up, we ended up at a cave deep within the forest, where the towering trees even made it difficult for sunlight to pass through. The resemblance to the bandits’ cave from Liz’s village unsettled me greatly, but we had to keep moving forward. Fortunately, and strangely enough, there was no security.

“Don’t they have guards?” I asked curiously.

“Not at this point,” replied the elf girl.

As we ventured into the cave, I was surprised to see that it looked like any ordinary cavern. Unlike the bandits’ cave from before, here there seemed to be no one at all, and as we walked deeper inside, that thought only grew stronger.

“Hey, you’re not leading us into an ambush, are you?” Liz asked.

The place grew darker and darker. If we kept going, it wouldn’t be long before we were practically surrounded by total darkness; it would be the perfect setting for a surprise attack.

“I’m a girl of my word, just keep moving.”

Despite our doubts, we had no choice, and we had already come this far anyway, so we kept walking, though always on guard.

The path was troublesome and difficult. It had so many uneven spots that it wasn’t rare for Liz and me to stumble from time to time, something that only got worse as the scarce light from outside faded away.

As expected, at a certain point the darkness was absolute, so much so that I couldn’t even see my own hands right in front of my face. But then we noticed something in the distance. A light—or rather, several lights—illuminating the path, which appeared to be blocked by enormous wooden gates. This wasn’t like the makeshift bandit base from before; these people had clearly been living here for quite some time. At the top of the gate structure, a pair of elves carrying spears kept watch over the area.

“Eh? Who goes there!?” shouted one of them as he saw us approach.

How was he able to see us even in the dark? Could it be that elves have better night vision? That would explain how our guide had been able to lead us here without too much trouble, and why there were so few lights along the way.

On the other hand, the appearance of the elves guarding the gate was the same as our prisoner’s: gaunt and frail—they really must be going through hard times.

“Release our comrade if you don’t want to die!”

“No, no, wait!” our guide interrupted. “They’re guests! They could be of help to us, we just need to speak with the chief and—”

“Have you gone mad!? How dare you suggest exposing our leader to these pests!?”

“Ouch…” I muttered suddenly. That was definitely hurtful.

“That’s enough! Kill them!”

At the command, both guards leapt down from the gate and charged at us with their spears as they landed. Liz dealt with one of them using a basic spell, while I deflected the other’s spear with my gauntlets and struck him down. However, the fight had only just begun.

“What the hell did you do!?” our guide screamed.

“They started it!” I shouted back, pushing the girl aside so I could fight.

The gates swung open, and more armed elves began to pour out, ready to attack us. As they closed in, Liz and I responded with magic and blows, respectively. Just like the ones that had attacked us in the forest, they were incredibly light and fragile, but their overwhelming numbers were a problem.

“It’s the mage from the report, go after her!”

Realizing the immense threat Liz posed with her ranged attacks, they prioritized taking her down, but I didn’t let them get close no matter what. Still, it was only a matter of time before Liz ran out of mana and we found ourselves in serious trouble, so I had to act fast.

Channeling the mana in my body, I guided it into my arms and began striking with even greater force. The glow of my arms was the same as that of Master Draum, my guild instructor, and it was so bright that the other elves recoiled in astonishment.

“Mana… him too?”

“Stop, I’m telling you they—!”

“Shut up, traitor!”

“Ah!” the elf girl screamed.

Damn it, this is going terribly, and to make matters worse, I could already see archers in the distance preparing their weapons to strike from afar. Knowing it would be practically impossible to dodge the arrows, I had only one option left. I knocked out a couple of elves and hurled one toward Liz.

“Liz, cover yourself!”

“W-what!?” she exclaimed, startled by the suddenness of the situation, but she quickly recovered and followed my lead.

A rain of arrows descended upon the field, embedding themselves in the bodies of the elves we used as shields. Wasting no time, I hurled the body I had been holding toward the archers, breaking their formation. I did the same with the one shielding Liz, though it wasn’t as effective.

The elves around us looked horrified at my brutal fighting methods, but I didn’t care and quickly prepared to keep fighting alongside Liz. The elves surrounded us, closing in. We were definitely in trouble.

“What the hell is going on here!?” someone shouted in the distance.

At the sound of his voice, all the elves grew visibly tense and even parted to make way for the person approaching. From afar, at the end of the crowd, an old man with long white hair and beard, clad in equally white robes, advanced slowly but with firm steps.

“Chief!” cried the elf girl. “Please, stop this, these people—!”

“Silence!” the old man roared. “How could you bring humans into our hideout!? Do you not understand the situation we’re in!?”

At his shouting, the girl finally fell silent. His voice was deep and intimidating, and though his body was hunched, he radiated an aura of authority and respect.

“Are you the leader of the elves?” I asked bluntly. The elder’s face twisted into a scowl of irritation and rage. Clearly, we weren’t welcome here, but we had no choice.

“What do you want, human?”

“I need to speak with you. A radiant girl in white sent me to find you.”

“Girl… in white?” he questioned in doubt.

“Yes. She told me to seek out the elves, because they would know how to help me save the world.”

If the mere mention of the girl in white had already left the elf doubtful, then my request afterward left him utterly speechless. He muttered things I couldn’t quite make out, but the last thing he said was clear enough for me to understand—though it was not the answer I had hoped for.

“Save the world, you say? Don’t make me laugh!”