Chapter 221: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Barbarian Princess 1

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Guided by Lady Orphan, I stepped into a small pit dwelling. The earthen floor was bare dirt, with a simple hearth made by stacking stones… just as its exterior suggested, the interior was primitive. The room was filled with smoke to the point that it stung the eyes, and I found myself blinking repeatedly.

“Sorry it’s such a ramshackle place.”

Lady Orphan said this with a slightly apologetic look. Well, it certainly was ramshackle. To be blunt, it was a building that suited a self-proclaimed member of royalty far too poorly.

That said, it wasn’t an unpleasant space. The floor had been properly cleaned, and along the walls various tools—farming implements and weapons alike—were neatly arranged. Among them was a long chest with a particularly eye-catching design. On its surface were finely painted motifs that looked like hunters and their prey. It was an impressive piece of furniture, strikingly out of place in such a simple hut.

“Have a seat.”

Pointing to a straw mat cushion, Lady Orphan spoke. When I obediently sat down, she handed me an unglazed clay cup. Then she added several pieces of firewood to the hearth, where embers smoldered, and sat down on a mat herself.

“This stuff’s a bit strong, so I recommend diluting it with water.”

Saying that, I poured liquor from my metal flask into her cup. What I’d brought today was whiskey, a specialty of Avalonia. For elves accustomed to alcohol closer in strength to shōchū, this would be quite potent.

“Hm. Yeah, that does smell strong.”

Lady Orphan sniffed the aroma of the whiskey and nodded. She then scooped water from a nearby jar with a ladle and poured it into her cup. She didn’t pull something like saying, “Don’t mock me, a little strength’s just right,” and then suddenly downing it straight in one gulp.

The Lady Orphan I had seen on the battlefield earlier had fought with the bold ferocity one would expect of an elven commander. But the Lady Orphan before me now seemed calm and thoughtful. If I had to say which was closer to her true self… It was probably this latter one. A cautious person pretending to be bold wasn’t particularly difficult, but the reverse was far harder.

“You too, here.”

“Ah, thanks.”

Since Lady Orphan held out the ladle, I had her add water to my own cup as well. I was usually a straight-drinker, but a water-diluted whiskey wasn’t bad once in a while.

“…Hm.”

After silently putting the ladle away and taking a sip of her diluted whiskey, Lady Orphan let out a small, impressed sound. It seemed to suit her taste.

“It smells like smoke. I don’t usually drink this kind of alcohol, but it ain’t bad at all.”

Pulling her lips away from the cup, Lady Orphan said this after exhaling softly. Illuminated by the hearth’s flames, she looked as beautiful as a fairy.

“I’m glad to hear that. I’ll send you a bottle of the same brand on the next regular delivery.”

“No, that won’t do. I’ve got nothin’ to give back. If we just keep takin’ handouts, we’ll end up useless, like spoiled elves.”

She meant something like, “If you’re given too much charity, people become weak,” didn’t she? Elven dialect really was tricky. When I nodded with a troubled expression, she softened her face just a little.

“So what country’s this liquor from? Your country?”

“No. It’s an import from a large island nation to the northwest, called Avalonia.”

“I see… Avalonia. Ain’t a country I’ve heard of. I’m already over two hundred years old, and yet my world’s still so small.”

With a pensive look, Lady Orphan took another sip of her diluted whiskey. The firewood in the hearth popped sharply.

“Say, Sir Albert. Us elves, so starvin’ yet still unable to stop fightin’ among ourselves… We must look awful foolish to you folks, don’t we?”

She came straight out with it. At a loss for words, I raised my cup to my lips.

“I keep findin’ reasons to fight the usurper army, but my true aim’s just one thing, population reduction. Compared to the amount of land we can farm, there’re still too many elves. Starve to death, or die in battle. Those’re the only two choices left for me to force on my subordinates.”

Wow. This self-proclaimed imperial princess was really laying it all bare. I’d expected something like, “Help us restore our house,” but… it seemed Lady Orphan’s objective lay elsewhere.

“But as long as the fightin’ goes on, the time we can spend tendin’ fields keeps shrinkin’, and we ain’t got the spare strength to open up new farmland. No matter how much population reduction we do, the fields keep gettin’ destroyed by the fighting, and then the food shortages come back again…”

“……”

“This vicious cycle’s been goin’ on for decades. That’s what Elfenia is now. If things keep goin’ like this, Elfenia’ll be gone in less than ten years. ‘Legitimate’ or ‘New,’ it won’t matter.”

After pouring all of that out in one breath, Lady Orphan looked a little worn down and drained her cup in one go. As she sighed, I poured her more whiskey.

She really did have a remarkably clear grasp of their situation. Despite living a life where tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed, she maintained a high-level perspective. Her claim of being a descendant of royalty, a child of the empress herself, might well be true. At the very least, she was no ordinary person.

“Dyin’ of hunger’s worse than bein’ cut down by an enemy’s blade on the battlefield. Believin’ that, I’ve kept sendin’ my people to fight. But…”

She pressed her lips together, then tipped back her cup of whiskey. Unsurprisingly, the undiluted whiskey was too strong for her. She coughed violently and hurriedly drank water straight from the ladle.

“…Pardon me. Anyway… I just can’t stand this situation. I can’t stand it at all.”

“……”

That had to be agonizing. I understood the pain of losing subordinates all too well. Unable to find words, I let out a sigh.

“I’ve heard from the usurper army that you’ve been burning their fields. If your true goal is the survival of the elven people themselves, I don’t think that’s something you should be doing.”

Here, I decided to press Lady Orphan a little. I could more or less tell that she wanted to ask us for help. But lending aid to people who burned the fields of their own kind came with serious resistance.

“It’s true, we’ve done that before. Like you say, it’s a vile tactic. But even if the real goal’s population reduction, I can’t say that straight to my people’s faces. If we’re gonna fight, we need to plan to win.”

“…Yeah. Ordering them to just go die would be far too… Far too…”

I was a commander myself. I understood that feeling well. If death in battle was unavoidable, then it was a commander’s duty to make that death as meaningful as possible. Driving subordinates into a strategy that was nothing but pointless slaughter was something no true leader could do.

“We’re at a disadvantage, and the strategies we can take are limited. I feel bad for the ‘New’ faction, but right now, the first thing I’ve gotta think about is the subordinates and common folk who follow me.”

“…I see.”

It was an ugly reality, but one I could understand. If necessary, I too stood in a position where I might have to carry out scorched-earth tactics within my own land. There were times when a soldier had to fight, no matter how much infamy it brought.

“There ain’t nothin’ left for us to do but keep fightin’ until we’re wiped out. We’ve come so far that we can’t fix this on our own anymore.”

“……”

“…And all of it’s because I ain’t got what it takes. It’s shameful, but I can’t deny it. Tell me, Sir Albert. If it were you… D’you think you could do somethin’ about this?”

“That’s…”

I grimaced, feeling as though I’d bitten down on sand. But she leaned forward sharply and grabbed both of my shoulders.

“Even if it’s somethin’ we can’t do ourselves, outsiders might be able to. You’ve got food, and you’ve got knowledge from outside this peninsula. …Even if it’s work I can’t do, ain’t it somethin’ you could?”

As soon as she said that, Lady Orphan straightened her posture and pressed her forehead to the ground. It was a full prostration.

“Please… Save us elves.”

“Orphan-dono! Stop! Please raise your head!”

I hurriedly tried to pull her up, but Lady Orphan resisted with a frozen, iron-hard expression.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll cut my own belly. I don’t care if my honor’s stained. You can sell me off as a slave for all I care. So please—please—save the elven people…”

Ah… My stomach started to hurt like hell. What the hell was I supposed to do now?

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー