Chapter 219: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Welcome Party

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It was only after the western sky had begun to turn red that we finally succeeded in pushing back what appeared to be a unit from the so-called “New” faction. Their actions could only be described as barbaric, an elven warrior band through and through, but when it came to morale and training, they were at a level that could only be called peerless.  It had been a fierce battle.

As for the casualties, the “New” side had suffered twenty-eight killed in action, seven seriously wounded, and one captured. On the other hand, the “Legitimate” side had ten killed and twelve seriously wounded. Since they were on the defensive, the impression was that the “Legitimate” had maintained the upper hand throughout the fight. Incidentally, we of the Liseben army emerged completely unscathed.

Normally, the ratio of dead to wounded settles at about one to two. What was with this extreme death toll? Did that mean there were literally that many people who fought until they died…? And then night fell. In the village square, elves and birdfolk gathered and began a feast. Officially, it was supposed to be a welcome party for us, but it was probably also meant as a way to blow off steam after the battle.

“Just what kind of delicate, manly swordsmanship was that? I am truly, deeply impressed.”

“Indeed. That was a splendid blade path. Would you not teach us how you did it?”

“With just a single swing, you split those detestable usurper soldiers clean in two! Is there anything more exhilarating than that? No, there isn’t!”

“So, Albert, what kind of man are you really? Are you even a man? If you want us to be sure, why not whip out your dick for us?”

Seated in front of a small campfire, I found myself completely surrounded by elves, clustered around me like grapes on a vine. It seemed my swordsmanship had struck a chord with them. They bombarded me with questions and praise… Well, it didn’t feel bad at all. After all, the elves looked fairy-like and lovely on the outside, so much so that I almost felt like I had suddenly entered a popularity boom.

“Stop it, you lot. Don’t embarrass yourselves with such behavior.”

At that point, Lady Orphan arrived and chased the elves away. Though they complained, they didn’t resist and simply dispersed. It was a bit disappointing.

“I apologize for the trouble, Sir Blondin. …And it’s not just them. There was also what happened earlier today.”

Bowing her head, Lady Orphan held out a wooden bowl to me. It seemed she had brought food.

“I merely brushed away sparks that landed on me. Please don’t worry about it.”

Smiling and nodding, I checked the contents of the bowl. …Inside were elf potatoes, and just a tiny amount of what looked like beetle larvae or something similar. The rest was a massive quantity of leafy greens. Whoa. This was something else. Other than this soup-like thing, there was no food. Even so, the elves and crow birdfolk were overjoyed, saying, “Tonight is a feast.” I had known about their food crisis, of course, but this was worse than I had imagined.

“Hm, this is quite tasty.”

My personal rule was to gratefully eat whatever I was served. I scooped up one of the mysterious larvae with my spoon and put it in my mouth. It was creamy and rich. Whether they had properly cleaned out the innards or not, there was no earthy taste at all. It wasn’t bad. The problem was simply that there were far too few potatoes and bugs—the actual calorie sources.

Most of the soup’s mass and volume consisted of a strange kind of grass. It didn’t even seem to qualify as vegetables or wild plants. It was horribly fibrous and grassy-smelling. It was probably nothing more than ordinary weeds with no poison in them. With food so scarce, they must have added it just to bulk things up.

“……”

Sonia and the Star Guide-sama were staring at the larvae with utterly strained expressions. It seemed they had trouble with the idea of eating insects. Well, Galea didn’t have an entomophagy culture, so it was understandable. …I, on the other hand, had been the kind of person who could crunch down on bee larvae or grasshoppers without a second thought even in my previous life.

“I’m glad you like it.”

Smiling slightly, Lady Orphan took a bite of the potato soup herself. There was a deep melancholy in her smile. Her noble, sorrow-tinged face, illuminated by the firelight, was so beautiful it looked like a painting. Well, the fact that she was eating larvae did create a bit of dissonance, but still…

“Castellan-dono, may I pour you a drink?”

A hume woman carrying a wine bottle approached and bowed to me. Though she was a hume, her appearance was slightly different from the hume living in Galea. She was likely a descendant of Liseben’s indigenous people. At the very least, she clearly wasn’t someone abducted from settlements on our side.

“Oh, thank you.”

When I held out my favorite cup, the woman poured the contents of the bottle with reverent movements. Of course, this wasn’t elven local brew. It was wine we had provided. From what I’d heard, Legitimate Elfenia no longer produced alcohol at all. Given their food situation, using precious supplies to make alcohol would have been unthinkable.

“Much obliged, much obliged. It’s life-giving water after decades.”

“Indeed. We can’t thank you enough, Sir Blondin.”

The elves sipped their single cups of wine little by little, tears welling in their eyes. This was really bad. There was almost no food, and of course no luxury goods whatsoever. No wonder they had grown so belligerent. I felt unpleasant and let out a sigh inwardly.

In any case, unless the elves’ political situation stabilized, Liseben territory wouldn’t hold either. And frankly speaking, this wasn’t something they could resolve on their own. One way or another, intervention from our side was unavoidable.

“By the way, there’s something I’d like to ask. The ones we fought during the day… Those were the usurper army you speak of… The faction calling themselves New Elfenia, correct?”

For now, I decided to ask the thing that concerned me the most. Even if it couldn’t be helped, we had fought side by side with the “Legitimate” quite thoroughly. If those barbarians were soldiers of New Elfenia, things could get diplomatically messy.

To begin with, was this attack intentional? The New faction must have confirmed the existence of the wyverns as well, so sending troops for harassment or interference wouldn’t have been strange… But the scale of the attack felt too large for that. Hm…

“Yes, that’s right. We’ve been at war with those folks for a long time. …Though, as you can see, our situation isn’t good.”

Lowering her voice, Lady Orphan answered. She likely didn’t want others around to hear this kind of talk.

“Now that our location’s been discovered, it’d be best to abandon this village soon. We’ll become a wandering people once more.”

Guerrilla warfare, huh. It seemed the Legitimate side was clearly at a disadvantage in this elven civil war. The fact that they were so openly friendly toward us compared to the New faction… Was that because they were seeking outside help?

“Is this usurper army truly that powerful?”

“……”

After sipping her larvae soup, Lady Orphan nodded quietly.

“I heard from Lady Lyutikainen that your Liseben lies to the north, correct?”

After glancing at Lyutikainen-kun, who was drinking among the elves, Lady Orphan took out a sheet of paper or rather, a thinly stretched piece of tree bark, from her modest chest. On it was a map of the entire Liseben Peninsula. As natives, they had far more information on it than the maps we possessed.

However, unlike Lady Dalaiya and the others, the Legitimate faction seemed to know almost nothing about us. Well, the Legitimate clearly had very few troops. They probably couldn’t even send people as far as the area around Carrera where we were stationed.

“When you say north, that’d be around the Northern Mountain Range, wouldn’t it? That area’s close to the usurper army’s sphere of influence. You folks have fought them too, haven’t you?”

The place she pointed to was indeed around where Carrera was located. It was very far from where we were now—Mount Rana Volcano.

“That’s true. Liseben was frequently attacked by elves. Though, it was only very recently that we even learned they were calling themselves New Elfenia.”

“Hm…”

With one eyebrow raised, Lady Orphan drained her wine. Then, looking somewhat regretful, she stared at the small amount left at the bottom of the cup. She clearly wanted more, but… The amount of supplies we could carry by wyvern was extremely limited. Unfortunately, there were no refills.

“This is just my guess… But didn’t an envoy from the usurper army come to your place?”

“…They did. They certainly did.”

There was no point in lying here. I nodded, then handed my cup to Lady Orphan. She almost accepted it, but then her face twisted in a flash of intense self-loathing and she refused it. …It seemed I had done something rude. After quietly apologizing, I continued.

“We were investigating various matters to verify the truth of their words when we encountered you.”

“I see…”

With a pensive look, Lady Orphan murmured. The New faction also suffered from food shortages. She must have already guessed what they were asking of us. If food began flowing from Liseben to the New faction, the Legitimate would be pushed into an even more dire situation.

“That’s good then. Could you tell me the name of the envoy? Was it Logs, or perhaps Halfan?”

Logs and Halfan, huh. Neither name rang a bell. I shook my head and answered.

“It was Lady Lind Dalaiya.”

“…That’s a shock. The leader herself came out?”

…Leader? Seriously?

“She called herself an elder of New Elfenia, but…?”

“Well, she wasn’t lying. She is indeed an elder… But about a year ago, she staged a rebellion. She killed the usurper empress and took over as the head of the usurper army.”

Whoa. That was exactly when the elven attacks suddenly dropped off. So the elves changed their policy because their leader changed… No, wait—seriously? That damn loli hag lied about her position!

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