Chapter 29 – The Second Child is a Mystery

Tureis was a young man living in the Elven forest.

He was born into a family that was by no means wealthy, but he was fortunate to be blessed with magical power.

His parents placed their hopes in him, giving him all the love they could and the best education they could afford.

As a result, he was blessed with a good job and earned a salary that was exceptional for someone of his background.

He believed this was all thanks to his parents and gave most of the money he earned to his household.

But even that wasn’t enough to cover the school expenses for his younger brother and sister.

They were just as talented as Tureis and had the drive to make him want to support them.

Just as he was wondering what to do, the lizardmen attacked.

And Gaikaku Hikume’s Conjurer Knights were the ones who defeated them.

If that had been all, he probably wouldn’t have thought much of it.

But there were many elves serving under him.

For an ordinary elf, this was an incredible opportunity.

A human, even if they weren’t elite, had a chance to become a Squire Knight.

For other races, however, the only path was to become a Full Knight, a dream unattainable for anyone but the elite.

But the Conjurer Knights had non-elite elves in their ranks.

It was no wonder that people thought, This means we have a chance, too.

Tureis was one of those who thought so, and he made a bold approach to Gaikaku.

He reported this to his family as well.

“Lord Gaikaku Hikume remembered my name! This might mean he’ll call on me if a vacancy opens up!”

“Is that so, is that so… You’re a brilliant boy. I’m sure you’ll do great things if you join a knight order.”

“That’s right. Rumor has it that if you join the Conjurer Knights, you receive instruction from the commander himself… If you could learn the surgical arts he performs on elves, you could make a great success of yourself with that alone.”

His parents were overjoyed.

They surely expected their brilliant eldest son to achieve even greater things.

“That’s my big brother! I’ll work hard so I don’t lose to you!”

“Yes, and I’ll study my hardest, too! Then I’ll repay Mom and Dad for everything!”

His younger brother and sister also respected their older brother.

They were fired up, eager to follow in his footsteps.

“Dear… Our children are so brilliant… They’re almost too good for us.”

“Yes, truly. All of our children are brilliant…!”

The first child, Tureis, went without saying, but the third child, his younger brother, and the fourth child, his younger sister, also possessed superior talents.

It was like a miracle that parents with only average abilities could have such gifted children.

Ah, may these days full of dreams continue forever.

※

Meanwhile, at the Forest Chief’s manor…

Having stayed past visiting hours, Aspi returned from the hospital.

She came home looking very happy, but the atmosphere inside was abysmal.

Preparations had been made for a celebration, but now they were already being cleaned up.

She hurried to her father’s side.

“Father, what in the world happened?”

“Aspi… Did Lord Gaikaku not tell you anything?”

“N-No… Did something happen with Lord Gaikaku?”

Aspi looked bewildered, knowing nothing.

Seeing this, Dikes felt a sense of relief.

I see. He spared my daughter by not saying anything to her…

It seemed he had truly done his best regarding the mission and all related matters.

He gave a small prayer of thanks that his daughter hadn’t been hurt.

“I heard that Etacarina had regained consciousness, so I thought we would hold a small party to express our gratitude to Lord Gaikaku. But he said he had been away from headquarters for too long and returned.”

“What?! But…”

“The knight orders as a whole have been busy from the start. We should probably be grateful that he stayed as long as he did.”

In reality, it wouldn’t have been a major issue even if they had abandoned Etacarina.

A handmaiden had put her body on the line to protect her master’s daughter; no responsibility would have fallen on Gaikaku and his unit.

The fact that he stayed behind to heal her showed considerable mercy.

“Of course, he said he would undertake Etacarina’s next surgery, depending on her wishes.”

“I see… And I wanted to thank him…”

“Indeed. Let’s send him a letter later.”

He tried to maintain a gentle facade, but inwardly, Dikes was seething.

Damn it all, how could this happen…!

Just as Gaikaku had said, because the slave trade was legal, it was on record.

Several girls had been sold about ten years ago, and their names, along with their families’ permissions, remained.

In other words, it wasn’t a misunderstanding. They had been sold by their families.

How was he supposed to express his gratitude to them now?

If I punish them, perhaps the girls would feel some relief… but they haven’t committed any illegal act, so I cannot punish them. And to do so after learning they had joined a knight order would be utterly hypocritical…!

He couldn’t punish them because it was legal.

And because of that, he couldn’t help but harbor a festering resentment.

He said he hoped this would be prevented from reoccurring, but what he meant was for us to never speak to them again… At this rate, my forest will be seen as nothing but a den of ingrates…!

One might argue that there’s no morality to speak of when you’ve already authorized the slave trade.

But even so, and precisely because of that, there were some matters he wished to handle cleanly.

There is only one thing I can do…

If he couldn’t punish them legally, his only option was to deliver a private punishment that wasn’t technically illegal.

As the highest authority in this forest, he decided to impose a series of insidious sanctions.

Those who sold the members of the Artillery Corps, including Tureis’s family.

From now on, they would face social retribution, as if being slowly and inexorably choked.

They would lose their jobs for trivial reasons, be sued for inconsequential mistakes, and have businesses refuse to trade with them on trumped-up charges.

Those who legally abandoned their daughters would now be legally excluded from society.

And there was not a single person in this world who would help them.

※

And so… the group that had left the Forest of Dikes around noon.

They soon began to prepare camp, and by nightfall, they were gathered around a fire.

To be honest, they hadn’t gone far at all; even at night, the Forest of Dikes was visible in the distance.

“Aha ha ha ha ha!! Ha ha ha!! Ha ha ha ha!!!”

The twenty members of the Artillery Corps were clutching their stomachs, laughing.

It was enough to make anyone recoil.

“Hee, hee hee hee hee, ha ha ha ha ha! Gyaaaa ha ha ha ha ha!”

They were all laughing so hard their abs were cramping.

“Serves you right… Serves you riiiight!”

“Congratulations on a life that’ll make you wish the lizardmen had killed you!”

“Checkmate! Their lives are over!”

“I’m so glad to be alive—aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!”

Even if they were her comrades, this was the height of vulgarity and depravity.

These were genuine smiles, wholeheartedly rejoicing in the misfortune of others, severely damaging the public image of elves.

How ugly people look when they laugh at the downfall of others.

One couldn’t help but think so, seeing their utterly vile, magnificent smiles.

“Sensei!! We’re so glad we followed you!!”

“Yeah, really… That was so… satisfying!”

“I want to get a vacation sometime! I want to see just what miserable lives they’re living!”

“Let’s do the same thing next time we go to my hometown!!”

“Me too, me too!”

“We’ll make them grovel in the mud, walk on paths slick with vomit, and in the end, they’ll choose death…!!”

“They’ll suffer just like we did… but no one will help them! They won’t even be bought as slaves…!!”

It was a bright and cheerful time, yet filled with nothing but darkness.

Proof that their own lives had been full of darkness.

“Well, it probably won’t come to that.”

Gaikaku, on the other hand, was relatively calm.

“That Dikes fellow seems reasonably competent. He’s probably already sent word to the other forests, telling them to confirm things on their end. We won’t get a surprise like this again.”

“Aww, really…? Well, even so, they’ll at least have to come bow their heads to us or try to suck up to us… There’s that!!”

The elves writhed with pleasure.

Was belonging to a knight order this gratifying?

Right, no wonder that fatty wanted to join.

“By the way… um… Sensei. This time, I, uh, was in a position where I could have been hurt. Would you have healed me then?”

The elf who had disguised herself as Aspi asked shyly.

“Of course.”

Gaikaku Hikume is not a doctor.

If he doesn’t think someone is worth saving, he won’t lift a finger.

“You followed my orders and faced danger exactly as I predicted. Saving you is a matter of course.”

That was how they knew he needed them, and that they were meeting his expectations.

And for those who had never been loved by their families, who had been sold off, it was an unbearably happy feeling.

“Sensei~! I was so happy this time~!”

“I feel like I’d do anything you want, Sensei!!”

“We’ll even do it all at once!! Though I’d really hate it!!”

“It’s not like my sex drive is particularly strong, nor am I a fan of multiplayer matches…”

The elves draped themselves over Gaikaku.

He, in contrast, looked annoyed.

“Funnel that enthusiasm into reproducing the supplies we used this time.”

It seems what awaited them was more tedious work.

Even if Tureis’s dream had come true, he likely would have ended up in the same situation.

“…Well, I’ll do my best.”

“Yeah…”

The elves’ motivation visibly plummeted.

Meanwhile, the Dark Elves observing this situation…

“I think My Lord would be better off as a doctor…”

“I agree…”

These were wise women who felt that, considering the world’s needs, he would be better off as a doctor.

In fact, the ones who were most shocked to hear the turn of events from Dikes were the doctors, the patients, and their families.

If things had gone well, they could have learned his techniques, and even if not, they might have been able to save patients with difficult-to-treat conditions.

Tureis and the others, who had completely crushed those hopes, would likely be denied all medical care from this day forward.