In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 281

Chapter 281: The Widow Elf and the Stampede

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I, Vanka Orisis, was in trouble. The battle had begun at a completely unexpected moment. Of course, regardless of how the negotiations turned out, I had intended to continue fighting the “legitimate faction.” However, I had absolutely no intention of dragging Liseben into it.

This utterly ridiculous civil war was nothing more than rust born from the elves themselves. Even the humes, the birdfolk, and the other races living in this land. I had been proceeding with purges in a way that would involve them as little as possible. Yet now we were causing trouble even for foreign nations. It was unbearable. The shame alone was enough to make my face burn.

“Hey, hey! What are you doing fighting on your own!? I never gave such an order!”

“But, Vanka-don! If we don’t get rid of that poisonous male, things are gonna get bad! Those spineless old fools are losing their heads over a man’s charm…!”

I tried to stop the advancing pack of idiot elves, but they refused to listen. Elves often ended up like this before a battle, but this was far too much. The elves of old had at least thought about things in their own battle-crazed way… but these ones now were like beasts that could think of nothing but snapping at the prey right in front of them.

But this incident… How had things ended up like this? Naturally, I had issued no attack order. In fact, I had strongly commanded them to remain on standby. And yet, here we were with this rampage. I could not understand it. Of course, my subordinates were all first-class idiots. After all, following orders required at least some degree of intelligence. It was entirely possible these fools lacked even that minimal level of intellect…

“Dalaiya…!”

But no, that was probably not it. The culprit was most likely Dalaiya. That black-hearted schemer… She was my childhood friend whose talent for plotting was second to none…! That woman always put on the face of a powerless, long-suffering soul while secretly pulling strings behind the scenes. This time was probably the same.

Her goal was likely to purge those dissatisfied with peace. Her objective was nothing more than the continued existence of the elf bandits, so she could not care less what became of a nation like the New Elfenia Empire. She would feel no hesitation about splitting the organization apart.

…Well, to be fair, I did not care about New Elfenia either.

“Honestly… really now.”

With a complicated feeling in my chest, I followed behind the parade of fools as we moved through the forest. I was so exasperated I felt like going home and sulking in bed, but that was not an option. If I left them alone, there was no telling what these idiots might do.

What worried me most was Blondin-dono. That large dragonewt knight was acting as escort, so he was probably fine,  but we were dealing with elves here. Elves were basically harmful creatures whose greatest specialty was fighting. There was always the possibility of the worst happening. And the fate of a man captured by elves was only one thing. Before it came to that, I had to somehow rein these fools in.

“Vanka-don, looks like they’re trying to rendezvous with the riverboat. I hear that ship’s got some troublesome weapon on board.”

One of the idiot clan chiefs under my command asked me that. If they wanted my opinion, they could at least pretend to follow my orders or consider them. To ignore my instructions entirely and then calmly ask for my thoughts… What kind of thick hide did they have on their faces?

…Well, it could not be helped. It really could not. Anyone with a proper head on their shoulders had already been purged by me one after another. The only ones remaining in my faction were the worst sort of fools, the kind who mistook their bloated egos for pride.

…And now it seemed some idiots with the moral sense of insects had joined them, people who thought attacking Liseben would somehow earn them a man.

…Was this a parade of fools? My head was starting to ache. This was beyond hopeless. A group like this would be better off wiped out entirely. Yes… If only Blondin-dono would think so.

“Most likely, yes. That ship carries what they call a cannon… a weapon like a large crossbow that uses fire to launch iron arrows. They’re probably planning to use it to launch a counterattack.”

Though inwardly exasperated, I gave that answer.

…Though, frankly, I had probably just said something wrong. If they intended to counterattack with that cannon, they should have been trying to lure us toward the river port or the riverbank. Yet Blondin-dono had not chosen the route that went straight to the Elfen River. I could not imagine that man making pointless movements, so he was probably acting with some kind of plan in mind.

Of course, I did not share that speculation with the idiots. A plan? Fine by me. If it allowed Blondin-dono to safely return to Liseben, that would be wonderful. And if he planned some kind of counterattack, that was also fine. It would thin out the idiots, at least.

“Run, run! If you dawdle, the prey will escape!”

I hurried my subordinates along for no real reason. Even elves would grow tired running through the forest. My plan was to exhaust these fools before the battle began and thereby assist Blondin-dono. The idiot elves responded to my command with savage shouts.

“Shouldn’t we be moving a bit more carefully, Vanka-don? There might be some kind of trap waiting…”

One of the clan chiefs said that. Well, there was a ninety-nine percent chance there was a trap. Whether it was Blondin-dono or that dragonewt knight called Sonia, they both seemed quite skilled in warfare. There was no way they would act without a plan.

“A trap? Excellent. Is it not the elven way of life to smash straight through such things?”

“Just as Vanka-don says!”

“Avoiding a man’s trap isn’t manly! Let’s crush it head-on!”

The idiots eagerly agreed with my idiotic claim.

…Fools. The elves of my youth would have calmly used enemy traps against them and turned them back. They never attacked blindly without thinking.

…But that was a story of the past now. And so, we continued our thoughtless pursuit. It was practically a rampage. No—rather, it was a rampage. In other words, it was a grand march of maddened beasts. And the price of that recklessness came in a way none of us expected.

“…Oh?”

A strange whistling sound cut through the air above us. Feeling uneasy, I looked up. Through the gaps in the trees, I saw something. Numerous small objects were flying through the air, trailing white tails behind them. They looked like a great school of tiny fish.

Is this Blondin-dono’s plan?

Thinking that, I followed the flying objects with my eyes…

“Ugh!?”

The moment they fell, multiple pillars of fire shot up. A heartbeat later, a tremendous rumble and blast wave struck us. The force was overwhelming, and I was sent tumbling pathetically onto the ground. Through my blurred vision, I saw the small birds throughout the forest take flight all at once.

“What was that!? What just happened!?”

“I dunno! Maybe some kind of strategic attack magic!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! There ain’t any caster capable of magic like that among the rebels or even the Liseben forces!”

My subordinates shouted in confusion. Rubbing my eyes, I somehow managed to stand.

…There was no doubt. Blondin-dono had done something. I felt my face twisting into the shape of a smile.

“…Magnificent.”

I had no idea what had happened. But there was no question that an extraordinary explosion had occurred. I forgot even to brush the dust from my poncho as I stared toward the epicenter. That rumble. Those pillars of fire. It was like a volcanic eruption. The memory of the day Mount Rana erupted flashed through my mind.

“Ah… ah… what an incredible thing.”

That eruption had thrown the elven nation into utter chaos. Surely this eruption would bring the same result. Whether it was magic or some kind of tool, I did not know. But that did not matter.

“…I see. So that was it. Blondin-dono… Are you the one who would bring about our destruction?”

How wonderful. I could not suppress the laughter bubbling up inside me. With this power, perhaps we would not have to rely on something so tiresome as mass starvation from food shortages to fulfill my husband’s dying wish.

“U-fu… ufufufu… so this is what they call fate. I see… ufufufu…”

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