What If the Strongest Villain from the Original Story Became the Protagonist's Ally? - Chapter 81 - Elf Race, and Study

“What do you mean I’m the key?”

Iris, relaxing on the bed in my room, turned her golden eyes toward me and asked.

Her head-tilting gesture was adorable.

“Just what I said. This time, the ones I want to reach out to are—the elf race.”

“The elf race? You mean those elves?”

“I don’t know which elves you are referring to, but when we talk about elves in this world, there’s only one group. The ones who love nature and live alongside it.”

“Why would you want to bring in the elf race, who are demi-humans?”

“Because the forest where the elves make their home lies between the Empire and the Kingdom. If war breaks out, they’ll inevitably be dragged into it whether they like it or not. I want to form an alliance before they’re either destroyed by the Empire or enslaved.”

“I understand the reasoning. But expecting the exclusionist elf race to readily accept our proposal…”

What Iris said was correct.

Elves basically tended to dislike races other than their own.

This was because they lived in environments incompatible with others who didn’t live in harmony with nature like they did.

There were other reasons too, but that was the general situation—there had been almost no interaction until now.

That’s why Iris was worried. While she agreed with making them allies, there was no guarantee they would actually become our allies.

However, only I knew.

That if we didn’t form an alliance with them here, tragedy would surely come in the future.

To cut off that tragedy beforehand while also bolstering our forces, we absolutely needed to bring the elf race to our side.

“They’re certainly stubborn. Just asking them normally would only get us dismissed. They’d probably say something like they can prevent the Empire’s invasion on their own.”

“Right. I can only see a future where we get rejected.”

“But there is hope. That’s you, Iris.”

“…Connecting to what you said earlier.”

“Exactly. You have the special ability to command spirits. The elf race is a people who worship spirits. I don’t think they’d treat someone chosen by spirits poorly.”

“That… does make sense. They’d at least listen to what we have to say. But—”

“Yeah, I know. It’s meaningless unless they accept our cooperation.”

“Do you have any other approaches?”

“Hmm… there’s no negotiating material more reliable than Iris, but well, leave that part to me. I’ll figure something out.”

“That’s so vague… it makes me worry.”

“When push comes to shove, I’ll use brute force. What, I’m the strongest, so it’ll be fine.”

If their lives were threatened, they’d understand even if they didn’t want to. That they had to cooperate with the Kingdom—with Iris.

If it came to that, I’d go back to being the original villain.

“For now, Iris, please tell His Majesty about this conversation. We’ll leave the royal capital soon and head to the great forest where the elves live. We won’t need that many soldiers.”

“We won’t? Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

“Actually, bringing a lot of people would be more dangerous. It would provoke the elves.”

“Ah… I see.”

Iris quickly understood the meaning of my words.

Since we weren’t going to wage war, being surrounded by many soldiers would make it impossible to even have a conversation.

At worst, there was even a possibility they’d strike first.

“Understood. I’ll tell Father myself. I’ll go right now.”

“Is that okay? It’s your precious break time.”

“I don’t mind. After hearing Yuu-san’s story, I can’t just sit still.”

“…I see. Let me know when it’s decided.”

“Yes! I’ll work hard to wrangle that permission!”

Saying that, Iris energetically left the room.

Watching her go, I collapsed onto the bed.

Sniff sniff

I pressed my nose into the sheets and inhaled.

“It smells like Iris…”

Just as I was doing something perverted like that—knock knock.

Someone knocked on the room’s door.

“Come in~”

“Papa.”

The moment I gave my reply, the door opened with a click.

The one who entered was my beloved daughter Nana.

“Nana? What’s wrong?”

“You seemed to be talking about something with Iris-sama, so I was a little curious.”

“You’re at that age too.”

“I’m still a child.”

“Just kidding.”

Nana looked displeased at my words.

I guess even children want to be seen as appropriate for their age?

When I was a child, I remember wanting to grow up quickly.

When you become an adult, you end up wanting to go back to being a child.

“I had something I wanted to discuss about the future, so that’s what we were talking about.”

“What kind of topic?”

“Soon, I think we’ll be heading to the great forest on the border with the Empire’s territory.”

“The great forest? Why would we go to such a place? War?”

“Not war against the Empire. Though it is related to the war.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re going to meet the elf race living in the great forest. Do you know about them, Nana? The elf race?”

“Uh-uh. I don’t know.”

“Then I’ll teach you as part of your education. The elf race is one of the races that closely resembles humans. They’re what are called demi-humans.”

“Demi-humans?”

“Races that are like humans but different from humans. You could think of them as half-human. Though they’re not human.”

“Mmm… it’s difficult.”

Nana tilted her head with a “?” floating above it.

That’s still a difficult term for a child, isn’t it? I understand. I’m starting to confuse myself about what I’m saying too.