Chapter 25 – The Power to Convey, The Power to Receive

Riding in a still-unmodified Lives, Gaikaku led his subordinates down the road.

Its top speed wasn’t anything special, but the ability to maintain a constant pace was, as expected, a powerful advantage…

The Conjurer Knights’ advance party arrived at the forest governed by Dikes in the afternoon two days later.

“…Ugh.”

“Ah, I hate this, I hate this… I was so happy we didn’t have to see any other elves lately…”

“This is just going to be a harsh reminder that we’re at the bottom of the barrel…”

“I’m the one who’s always saying that.”

“Being told that by another race is one thing, but feeling out of place surrounded by your own kind is a whole different story…”

“That’s enough, let’s go… When it comes down to it, we’re the undisputed victims this time.”

Though complaints arose from the artillery squad, this was no time for that.

Five days had already passed since the hostage crisis began.

They had to resolve the situation as swiftly as possible.

As they parked the vehicle outside the forest, the elves of this forest approached them.

The air about them was tense, a clear sign that they were on high alert.

“You must be the knights who’ve come to our aid… That crest, the Conjurer Knights… Are you the ones who defeated Avior?”

“…”

“Am I wrong?”

“No, that is correct.”

The slightly pop-style design of their banner was, indeed, painted on the body of the Lives.

But being identified by it made Gaikaku feel a bit sentimental.

However, he had no time for such thoughts. Gaikaku quickly shifted his focus.

“I wish to see the Forest Chief, Dikes-dono, at once.”

“Yes! Dikes-sama is awaiting you as well… This way!”

Being a Knight Order, Gaikaku and his troops were quickly guided into the forest.

Normally, they would go through the trouble of identity verification and the like for another race to enter, but the situation had become so dire they couldn’t afford to bother with such things.

With the ferocious Lizardmen having run rampant, the buildings in the forest were in a pitiful state.

Though restoration work had begun, the atmosphere was incredibly grim, as the incident was not yet resolved.

Before long, Gaikaku and his party had arrived at a large building: the Elven Defense Force headquarters.

There was no point in everyone going in, so Gaikaku entered alone.

Those left behind were exposed to a few stares, but there was no malice in them.

Rather, their eyes shone, filled with something like anticipation.

This is awkward…

Incidentally, they themselves were the rock bottom of their kind.

Lacking the ability to meet those expectations, they looked uncomfortable.

The one man who could meet those expectations entered the defense headquarters’ operations room.

Inside was a male elf with bloodshot eyes, a slender sword hanging from his waist.

Since elves are a physically weak race, the fact that he could wield an iron sword, however slender, was a sign of his extensive training.

His level of skill was palpable.

“I am Dikes, the chief who governs this forest… I am endlessly grateful that you have come to our aid. I never imagined you would arrive so quickly…”

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am the Knight Commander of the Conjurer Knights, Gaikaku Hikume. By rights, I should greet you according to ancient ceremony, but… I believe resolving this incident should be our highest priority.”

“Indeed…!”

Dikes’s bloodshot eyes burned even brighter, his thin, small hands trembling.

“It is no lie to say you came quickly. But these past few days… every second has felt like a year…!”

“Your daughter is in a critical situation. That is to be expected.”

“What’s so damned frustrating is thinking I could have done something! If I had been more on top of things, they never would have ravaged my forest in the first place…!”

“Dikes-dono.”

Gaikaku removed his hood.

What was there was the face of a human.

It was a remarkably calm, dignified face, overflowing with intelligence. His eyes stared straight ahead.

Faced with him, Dikes began to feel a sense of shame for his own frantic state.

“Let us save the damnations for later. It should still be too early to answer to your people for your responsibility or your resignation.”

“…You are right. My apologies.”

After watching him calm down, Gaikaku put his hood back on.

“If you would be so kind, I would like to see a map of the manor and be told what is known.”

“Of course… I will show you the manor’s floor plan and a map.”

A very simple map was spread out on the conference room table.

It was a map of the area around the manor, and a simple diagram of the manor’s interior.

“To put it simply, think of my manor as being in the center of a plaza. There are no trees or houses around it, so anyone approaching is immediately obvious.”

“A rare location for an elven forest.”

“That’s precisely why it was a special house… and that’s what I find so accursed.”

One couldn’t help but wish there had been some kind of cover.

But such ‘what ifs’ were meaningless now.

“The manor… you can basically think of it as circular. Every room has windows, allowing one to see inside to a certain degree. But… the large tea room in the center has no windows. And my daughter and her handmaiden are likely there.”

“…The number of enemies?”

“Five… There may be a difference of one or two, but it’s about that many.”

“That is the only good news we have.”

As one would expect, there were no secret passages, panic rooms, or any other kind of emergency escape route.

If such things existed, the situation would have been resolved long ago. They wouldn’t have even needed to call a Knight Order in the first place.

That’s why it went without saying.

“Any demands?”

“No… They just make threats if we try to approach. We have already inflicted wounds on them; they likely intend to hold out until those heal. There are also food stores inside the manor… It’s not as if Lizardmen can’t eat them.”

“…What do you think they will do after their wounds have healed?”

“They’ll likely tie my daughters to their bodies and try to escape… If that happens, there will be no way to save them!”

Seeing the man tremble, Gaikaku fell silent for a time.

He waited for the man’s reason to recover on its own.

“Lizardmen have strong life force. If they stop the bleeding, get nourishment, and rest for a few days, most wounds will close along with their stamina recovering. It is safe to assume we are out of time.”

“Your insight is sharp… I believe so as well. No, it’s that they have no other move to make.”

It was a true stalemate, but for that very reason, the enemy’s options were limited.

Their side’s forces were overwhelmingly superior, which was precisely why the enemy had taken hostages and had been unable to kill them.

“Dammit all, even idiots can be cunning in their own way!”

“…”

“Even in my dreams, I thought about what I could do. But I couldn’t think of a single thing… Sir Gaikaku!”

At this, Dikes showed a face on the verge of tears.

They were the eyes of a man and a father holding back his sobs.

“With the skill that defeated the famed Avior… and the ability to resolve any situation as if by magic… Is there not something you can do?”

The problem here is that the Conjurer Knights’ main weapon—the “Light-Dot-Guided Magical Attack”—is completely unusable.

The reason is that the attack, while dividing the roles and burdens, is not significantly different from an attack by a first-rate elf.

Since the Lizardmen are wary of this, the sniping attack won’t get through.

Of course, it’s not impossible depending on the situation, but when using anti-Lizardman magical attacks, it’s unusable when considering the possibility of stray shots hitting someone.

“Let me be frank.”

But even so, Gaikaku had an idea.

In the day it took him to get here, he had somehow managed to formulate a plan.

“There is no plan that can guarantee their rescue.”

“It will be a gamble…?”

“Yes, but first, I’d like you to listen…”

Gaikaku began to explain the procedure.

It was very rough, careless, and above all, it would put the hostages’ lives in danger.

It was by no means something he could recommend with confidence.

“…Let’s go with that.”

But Dikes accepted the opinion as it was.

His face was that of a rational man. Which, conversely, was why there were so many unsettling factors.

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t mind. Either way, we had no choice but to go in by force. Your plan is better, as it has a chance of success. No… rather, in a situation this disadvantageous, there is no plan that can reliably retake hostages. It’s impossible.”

Dikes’s decision was a mixture of desperation and reason.

In reality, there was no such thing as a ‘guaranteed success’ operation under these conditions.

“And… regardless of the outcome of this operation.”

Dikes made it clear where the responsibility lay.

“You will not be held responsible.”

“That is incorrect.”

But Gaikaku denied it.

“Now that I have been dispatched, that will not stand. Unless you are saying that the Knight Orders are irresponsible organizations.”

“…You are right, my apologies. This is our joint operation… allow me to correct myself.”

Dikes had sought an ally to rely on, a reinforcement.

In that case, he could not possibly say there was no responsibility.

※

The Lizardmen’s recovery was not going as well as those outside imagined.

They were, after all, surrounded by enemies; there was no way they could sleep soundly and rest.

Their nutritional state was also far from sufficient. After all, elven food had no fat.

To the Lizardmen, it was as if they were being forced to eat large quantities of diet food.

There was no way their wounds would heal well on that.

They were grumbling and complaining.

“Aaargh… Hey, why don’t we tell the elves outside to ‘send us meat!’?!”

“If I were an elf, I’d mix a slow-acting paralytic into it. Then when it started to kick in, I’d attack and beat them to a pulp.”

“Ugh… damn it!”

The young Lizardmen were learning, idiotic as they were.

It could be said that because they were cornered, they had become cautious.

If only they had been cautious before committing their evil deeds, it wouldn’t have come to this.

Truly, foolishness is an unpleasant thing for all parties involved.

“…I’ll ask just in case, but what’s the status of the hostages?”

“Ah, I’ve got them locked up in the big room in the middle. They’re all being quiet since I gagged them.”

“Honestly, I wish the elves outside were this smart!”

They too were cornered.

But believing they had a chance of survival, they waited for time to pass.

For them as well, this siege was a test of endurance.

As if to wear down that endurance, a sound came from outside.

It wasn’t noise, but a musical performance. A piece using many instruments could be heard from outside.

“…Wh-what the hell?!”

“Hey, look outside! And I’m telling you, be careful of snipers!”

“I know! I’m just gonna open the curtain a crack!”

Since the volume was quite loud, the Lizardmen panicked.

Wondering what on earth was going on, they peeked outside.

There stood none other than Dikes.

Behind him was an orchestra-like musical troupe, all playing their instruments, performing a song.

“Listen, Lizardmen! I have a proposal for you!”

As the music subsided, Dikes raised his voice.

“Please, release my daughter, at least! In exchange, I will offer myself and my wife as hostages! I assure you, it is not a bad offer!”

His voice, from a considerable distance from the manor, reached the Lizardmen.

He must have been shouting at the top of his lungs.

His words felt like a mix of sincerity and theatrics.

“What do we do?”

“There’s nothing to do.”

“Yeah… Don’t mess with us! Next time you show up, I’ll kill your daughter! Now get lost!”

In response, a Lizardman shouted back without even showing his face.

“Ngh… Withdraw!”

Dikes, looking vexed, gave the order for the troupe to withdraw.

The elves quickly departed, and silence returned to the manor.

The Lizardmen let out a breath, dumbfounded.

It’s not that they couldn’t understand the sentiment, but there was no way they’d accept that offer.

“Seriously, I wondered what all the noise was about… coming out here to say something so stupid.”

“He must really love his daughter… otherwise there’s no way he’d say something like that.”

“That girl is our lifeline, after all. Whatever happens, don’t let her escape… and don’t kill her, you got it?”

“I know!”

The Lizardmen had reaffirmed the value of Dikes’s daughter, Aspi.

As long as she was here, they could still manage somehow.

As if they’d found a source of reassurance, their expressions relaxed.

And then, the daughters trapped in the central room, in the same manor as those Lizardmen.

Aspi and her handmaidens… could not hear the voice of her father, Dikes.

With the rooms between them, his voice simply didn’t reach.

But the most important thing had reached them.

Yes, the objective of conveying the plan to those inside had been achieved.

“Ojou-sama, that ‘song’ just now… you understand, don’t you?”

“Yes, b-but…! But!”

“Ojou-sama, please believe in your father. And in us as well…!”

Aspi was trembling, but her handmaidens were no longer trembling.

Because they now fully understood what they had to do.

“We will protect you!”