ch72

The priestesses’ secret method was more effective than expected, and after leaving Gal in another room, I headed to the room where the High Elves were gathered.

“Ahahaha! Seriously, I thought I was going to die for real! What was that? Totally unbelievable.”

“Saras. This isn’t something to laugh about.”

“Ouch! Sorry! Sorry, Anya!”

The commotion could be heard from the doorway.

Entering the room, I saw Pallas sitting cross-legged, looking sulky, Saras laughing heartily, and Anya pinching Saras’s side or hitting him with her staff.

“Araya. You’re here? Is the story over?”

“Ara~ya~”

Saras, who was being scolded by Anya, greeted me with a smile as I entered the room.

Anya, who had been scolding Saras, turned her head sharply as soon as I entered and rushed to hug me.

Of course, due to our body types, it ended up with me being hugged.

“…Anya, I can’t breathe.”

What was as wonderful as Anya’s kind heart was gently compressing my breath.

But my sister, knowing that I wouldn’t die even if I didn’t breathe for a while, gave her long-lost sibling a passionate display of affection.

‘…It’s been a while.’

Perhaps feeling guilty for causing Anya, with her tender heart, so much trouble, I gave up resisting and obediently handed over control of my body to Anya.

After a long, intense hug, I looked up at Anya, who was now teary-eyed.

“Why are you crying when we’ve just met after so long?”

“…You idiot. You moron. Who’s fault do you think it is? Always getting into dangerous situations. And just cutting off contact like that.”

“I’m sorry. But I’m healthy and well, aren’t I?”

“…Are you really okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m really okay.”

“…Huh?”

Anya, who had been examining me with a blank expression as I spread my arms to show that I was fine, tilted her head as if surprised by something.

“…Huh? Huh?”

Leaving Anya, who was making strange faces and repeating ‘Huh? Huh?’ like a broken record, I looked at Saras.

Saras was still smiling with his eyes and waving his hand.

Unlike the forceful and rigid impression he had when we first reunited, he now exuded a somewhat languid atmosphere.

But if you were to ask which was his true self, it would be the latter.

Fundamentally, he wasn’t as arrogant as Gal, but Saras’s true nature was to be very laid-back, as he was now, about things that weren’t of interest to him.

“Honestly, you seem to be doing pretty well considering how worried I was.”

“…Don’t even mention it. It was a very humiliating experience.”

“Still, you’re lucky to be alive after facing such a monster.”

Saras put a snack from the center of the room into his mouth and mumbled.

“If that’s what you thought, what were you thinking picking a fight with Gal in the first place?”

“Exactly! Honestly, I heard he was dangerous, so I tried to kill him, but I almost got killed instead? I honestly didn’t know he was that ridiculous. It was completely unexpected.”

“That wasn’t like you, Saras. Everyone else could have been caught up in it.”

“…I’m reflecting. Anya scolded me until just now. I didn’t expect my trump card to be neutralized so quickly…”

“Well, Gal is an existence outside the norm. It’s not fair to blame only Saras. I’ve been through it too.”

“Seriously, how can you be so unscathed after being attacked by such a monster?”

Saras asked, genuinely curious.

I shrugged and said.

“I wasn’t completely unscathed, but I was lucky.”

If it hadn’t been for Gal’s whims, I would have certainly died.

After that, the conversation with Saras was just a lot of chattering, a conversation with little substance.

When I forcibly ended the conversation with Saras, Pallas, who hadn’t unfolded his legs the entire time, was looking at me with a sulky face.

He had been in the room the whole time, but since I hadn’t spoken to him, he looked a little sulky.

He could just talk to me himself.

“You look much better than the last time I saw you, Pallas.”

“…You’ve become stronger.”

“Of course. I’m going to keep getting stronger until I die.”

“…I thought I had caught up to some extent.”

“Hehe. I can’t let you catch up so easily.”

Pallas fidgeted a little and then opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.

“That guy didn’t do anything serious to you, did he?”

“Well… I fought him once at first, but after that, we just got along fine. I’m okay.”

“…That guy was saying strange things earlier.”

“…Please think of it as unavoidable for both of us. But it wasn’t a bad situation. Just look at the clothes I’m wearing now, they’re made with a lot of care, right?”

“…Haa.”

Pallas said with a slightly pained expression.

“…He was so overwhelming that he reminded me of Mother. I was worried that you might have been captured by him and suffered terribly.”

“You knew that and you still picked a fight with him?”

“…I’m your brother.”

He turned his head away as if embarrassed by his own words.

Anya was looking at Pallas, who was blushing like a ripe fruit, with a pleased expression, but Saras pretended to vomit, making a disgusted face as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

The four of us talked and reminisced about the long-awaited reunion, and then I brought up the main topic.

“Can you help me?”

“The story you had with that succubus bitch?”

“You heard?”

“Well, why do you think we have big ears? It’s to hear the sounds of the world.”

Saras wiggled his long ears.

“But is that Orcs thing that dangerous? Enough that we have to step in ourselves?”

The identity of the energy that flew in from the east, one of the reasons I left the forest, had already been reported to the Elven Road.

However, the history of the Eastern Continent was too long to write down on paper, so it was omitted, so the other brothers only had information about the Eastern Continent, such as the struggle, and the knowledge that two Elder Loa who originally existed in the Eastern Continent had died.

I began to tell the story of the Eastern Continent that I had heard through Aliya.

Pallas listened indifferently while doing light training, but Saras, who was curious, and Anya, who liked stories, listened to the history of the Eastern Continent with sparkling eyes.

And finally, even the situation of Algul, who seemed to have overcome the curse of Ul Kanadiel.

When all the explanations were over, Saras nodded with a slightly serious expression.

“If it’s to that extent, I think we should move. If nature is completely destroyed, it will be difficult for it to recover on its own.”

“Will you help?”

“Don’t ask if you already know. After all, Mother created us to do this kind of thing.”

Saras sighed, muttered ‘This is going to be a pain,’ and said.

“So, have you thought about how we can help? Should we just take care of everything?”

“I’ll take care of Algul myself, so Saras and Pallas, take care of the three commanders who follow Algul. I don’t think the Forest Keepers can’t handle it, but if something goes wrong, there could be casualties. The Forest Keepers should only deal with the remaining ordinary Orcs.”

“Huh? Araya, what about me?”

“…? Anya, you have to stay here. There’s no way Anya can fight.”

Saras shrugged his shoulders and chuckled at my assessment of Anya, and Anya puffed out her cheeks, thinking she had been ignored by me.

I was flustered and trying to appease Anya, who was sulking, when Saras, who had been laughing, wiped away tears with his index finger.

“Well, you can think that way because you don’t know anything since you caused an accident a long time ago.”

“…What?”

There were many things I could guess, a contradictory situation where I couldn’t guess.

“Well, rather than explaining, let’s have you see it for yourself later. It’ll be the first time you’ve actually seen it, since Anya is considerate of you.”

“…It’s a battle where people kill each other. I can’t take Anya to such a dangerous place with such a vague assessment.”

“Anya is fine.”

“Yeah! I’m a very dangerous woman!”

Even Pallas stepped in to vouch for Anya in response to my concerns, and Anya agreed with great enthusiasm.

I admit that she is somewhat dangerous.

To men.

“…Whatever happens, there are other Forest Keepers, so it’ll be okay.”

“Is this Algul the leader of the enemy?”

“Huh? Um… well, the superficial leader on their side seems to be a human, but you can see him as the real leader.”

“Then I’ll take care of him.”

“…Why all of a sudden?”

“Gal Dragon. I know because I’ve compared myself to that guy to some extent. No matter how much it’s you, there’s no way you could have fought him and been unscathed. I can definitely feel that you’ve become stronger than before, but something more fundamental feels faint. I don’t feel the sharp senses that I used to feel from you. You’re not in perfect condition right now, are you?”

“…”

Is it because I achieved the harmony of spirit and entered the realm of harmony?

The energy of the Upper Dantian, the spirit, is disturbed and has not yet recovered properly.

I’m glad that Pallas has reached a high level, but this sensitive part is troubling.

I smiled a little bitterly.

“We’re not so desperate that an injured person has to overdo it. I’ll take care of Algul. You take care of the other guys.”

I looked at Pallas’s stubbornly set face.

But even in that expression, his eyes honestly contained feelings of concern.

“It’s true that I have some injuries, but it was a long time ago and I’ve recovered a lot now. It’s not something to worry about.”

“It’s a place where lives are at stake. You can’t have too much preparation.”

“Being prepared in perfect condition for every situation is just an ideal.”

“But-”

“It’s true that I’m not in perfect condition, but even so, can you beat me now?”

“…”

“It’s presumptuous concern.”

I might have been a little harsh to Pallas, who was worried about me.

But Pallas, who had a debt to the past, tried to protect me too much.

However, I am not a flower in a greenhouse, nor am I a weak being who needs to be protected.

Rather, I was an existence who could protect other Elves like Pallas.

“Besides, I have my position here. Considering my position and symbolism, it’s right for me to face the enemy’s leader.”

Pallas made a complicated expression at my words and pondered for a long time before sighing and waving the white flag.

“Haa… I understand. Let’s do that.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“But once this is over, let’s go back to the Elven Road first.”

“What?”

I frowned at Pallas’s words, but Pallas said firmly.

“You’ve already accomplished the purpose for which you originally left the forest, and you’ve been outside for too long. You’re a High Elf who leads the Elves like us, not a human.”

“…That’s.”

“The connection with humans is not something that one Elf bears all the burden, but other Elves will also share some of that burden. I’m thinking of maintaining this position of priestess of the Immigration Church in a format where other High Elves or Elves with similar qualifications take turns through a woman named Aliya. If we don’t do that, the priestess will have to live in the human realm for the rest of her life, like you are now.”