Preparing for the Expedition
Shamu and I were preparing to head to the Fire Dragon Mountains.
Shamu is in the royal capital, waiting for news from the succubus who are gathering information in the empire, and gathering those who are available.
I built a dormitory on the first floor of the mansion for the succubi and let them rest.
The faces of the gathered succubi were all tense and burning with anger. They were so restless that I felt like they were about to jump out, so I asked Rain, Lida, Ginko, and Ayako to train the succubi. I was hoping that this way they could suppress their feelings even a little.
Maria and Fran, the housekeeping team, are busy with the increase in the number of succubi. Silk would normally join them here, but this time it's just Maria and Fran because she's in the capital to assist Shamu.
The servants, Sill and Erina, have not come.
It was because of reporting Cal and Sora clan. If they found out about Cal's appearance and the current state of Sora clan, they would become furious, and if things were to go wrong, they might even say they would join the fight.
That could be to the advantage of the enemy. If the elves who joined the battle were also kidnapped, we would be blindsided. I was concerned about this and kept the dark elves in the dark.
However, it is often said that rumors cannot be prevented. Rumors spread among the dark elves when they saw the succubi heading to the 5th floor, and Sill and the village chief came to ask me about the situation.
I had no choice but to explain the situation to the village chief and have him meet with Cal. When the village chief saw Cal in pain, he burst into tears and was speechless for a while.
"Dark Elf Village Chief... Are all the Dark Elves still alive?"
Cal asked the crying village chief, and the village chief finally opened his mouth.
"Yes... the number of elves has decreased since the time when we were split up, but now we are all living peacefully under Light-sama. We have also been introduced to Strea-sama. I was able to meet you... I also found out the whereabouts of Roda clan, and I can't help but feel grateful to Light-sama... Now, with the addition of Asu clan, my dream of having all the elves will come true..."
"I see…"
Cal had a sad look on her face at the village chief's words, and the village chief and I had a bad feeling.
"Village Chief-dono… the Asu clan… has perished…"
What came out of Cal's mouth was information that we didn't want to hear.
From there, we asked Cal to tell us more about the story.
A few years after the elves split into four, the Asu and Sora clans happened to meet again in the Demon Forest. They had been communicating with each other for a while, but one day, a part of Asu clan ran away. According to the story, Asu clan was attacked by an army of humans, who took them away and killed them. By the time the warriors of Sora clan arrived, the village of Asu clan had been burned to the ground. That was 180 years ago, apparently......
Hearing this story, the village chief burst into tears again. Cal also looked at the village chief with tears in her eyes.
There was no further conversation that day. I let the village chief and Sill stay at the mansion and we had a discussion the next day.
The village chief seemed to have calmed down, but his eyes were extremely cloudy. The village chief is still burning with a desire for revenge, and has asked the men of the village to join him on this expedition to the Fire Dragon Mountains.
"Village Chief... I understand the resentment of having your own people killed. However, this expedition is to save Sora clan, not go to war with the Empire. Besides, I don't want to involve all the Dark Elves in danger. I want you to understand how I and the succubi feel."
The village chief seemed to be going his own way, but this time I managed to get him to understand by not backing down and by my desperate persuasion. Instead, I decided to ask the dark elves to help take care of the succubi.
While everyone was busy moving around, there was one person who looked sad and out of place.
It was Sylvie.
She had been looking at Cal with a sad expression ever since the day she arrived.
"Sylvie... if it's painful to watch, you can go back to your room."
I put my hand on Sylvie's shoulder and told her so. However, Sylvie shakes her head.
"I want to do something... I want to do something for that Onee-chan."
Unusually, Sylvie said that clearly to me out loud.
"Thank you... In that case, could you please stay with Cal? You know how to use light magic, right? I want you to pour light magic on her and make her feel better."
I entrusted that request to Sylvie. Then, Sylvie nodded in response to my request, and she immediately walked over to Cal, held her hand, and began pouring in her light magic as if praying.
Cal looked at me in surprise, so I answered out loud.
"That girl wants to do something for Cal. I'm sorry, but could you hang out with her for a while?"
"For me..."
"Yeah. I'm going to ask you to help Lilfi too. Sylvie? Can I ask you to help that Onee-chan as well?"
I pointed to Lilfi and asked Sylvie, and she nodded back. I patted Sylvie on the head and said [Thank you], before leaving the place.
When I teleported to the capital, Shamu and Silk greeted me, but their complexions didn't look good.
"What's wrong?"
When I asked the two of them, I received some bad news.
"Bad news. The [Hero] party and A-class adventurers will be joining Diggins Fortress in the Empire's exploration of the Fire Dragon Mountains.''
Silk told me.
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