Chapter 75

After keeping you waiting for so long, Chapter 2 is now beginning.

I would like to proceed with the main story immediately, but first, I will include a few introductory chapters.

The time is several years after the Battle of Bornis.

It begins with the encounter between a young man and some young women.

It was drizzling.

The sky was overcast with clouds that looked as if they had been smeared with ink, and a light rain fell continuously. The rain, which had suddenly started last night, had finally become lighter by morning, but showed no signs of stopping.

This place was the edge of a mountain stream.

Water rushed down from the mountains to the north, taking a brief rest before flowing into the gentle hills ahead. Usually, the area was surrounded by trees and enveloped in a peaceful atmosphere, but now, a large amount of water, stained brown by mud, roared and surged.

Two people were lying on the bank of this stream.

One was a man with an unusually stocky build. He was no taller than a human child, but his arms and legs were as thick as logs. His head was completely covered by a large helmet shaped like a metal cylinder. The visor was raised, revealing a distinctive snub nose in the middle of his face and a thick beard covering the lower half.

He was a dwarf.

One of the seven races inhabiting the continent of Seldeas, they worship the goddess of the earth and live in caves and mines. Known for their toughness and tenacity, the dwarf, whose legs were exposed to the muddy current, had already passed away.

At the end of the dwarf's outstretched arms, which looked as if he was waving them in the air, lay another man.

His build suggested he was a young human man in his late teens. However, his mud-covered face retained a youthful innocence, more like that of a boy. His forehead, where his black hair clung wetly, was tightly wrapped with a metal band intricately engraved with patterns.

The young man, who appeared to have already passed away, was breathing faintly, his chest moving slightly with each breath.

However, if left as he was, the young man would soon meet the same fate as the dwarf.

At that moment, a foot clad in a tattered leather sandal stepped into the puddle of water in front of the young man's nose and mouth.

The young man, still unconscious, let out a small groan at the sensation of the wet sound of the mud and the droplets on his face.

“Ah... ugh...”

The foot in the sandal twitched and took a step back. However, upon realizing the young man was unconscious, it approached cautiously.

“...Is he alive?”

The voice of a girl fell on the young man's cheek along with the raindrops.

◆◇◆◇◆

When the young man opened his eyes slightly, he saw the rock face illuminated by an orange fire. Nearby, the sound of the fire crackling could be heard.

His thoughts were hazy, as if a fog had settled in his mind.

He gazed at the rock face and listened to the crackling of the fire for a while, but soon realized his throat was parched.

“W... water...”

He peeled his lips apart and forced out the words.

He sensed movement nearby.

“Sister Erica, this guy seems to have woken up.”

A somewhat high-pitched child's voice was heard.

After a moment, a water bag was suddenly pressed to his dry lips. As soon as his lips were forced apart, water began to pour into his mouth. His parched throat reflexively gulped down the water, but he couldn't swallow all the water that was poured in, and some of it went down his windpipe.

Reacting quickly, he pushed the water bag away with his hand and twisted his upper body to face the ground, coughing violently. After a while, when his coughing subsided, his muddled consciousness became clearer.

“W... where am I...?”

Looking around, he saw that he was at the base of a large rock jutting out from a mountain covered with vegetation. Looking up, he saw that the protruding rock formed a natural shelter like an overhang.

Confused about why he was sleeping in such a place, he was suddenly addressed.

“You almost died.”

Startled, the young man turned his head in the direction of the voice.

He couldn't believe his eyes.

There were beautiful young women.

“You may have a weak body, but you sure have a strong streak of bad luck.”

The most cutting and unfriendly words came from the oldest-looking girl among them.

She was around her mid-teens, with slightly upturned, round eyes like a cat, a small, pointed nose, and adorable, petite lips. These features were arranged perfectly in her small face, creating a stunning beauty. Her magnificent golden hair, like threads of pure gold, was dulled by the dust of travel, and her face was stained with mud and grime, but her beauty was not something that could be marred by such things.

The other three girls who were close to her were no less beautiful. They were all young, just a few years past ten, and though still immature, their added cuteness made them resemble dolls carefully crafted by a dwarf artisan.

However, what caught the young man's eye more than their beauty were their long, pointed ears.

“...Elves?”

They were undoubtedly one of the seven races inhabiting the continent of Seldeas, the beautiful race of elves who worship the god of the wind and live in the forests.

However, the casual words the young man spoke made the girls' bodies tremble slightly.

It almost seemed as if they were afraid of being recognized as elves by the young man.

The girl who had likely given him water, holding a leather water bag, glared at the young man and said to the older girl, “Sister Erica, we should just kill him.”

This time, the young man's body stiffened in shock.

Erica, who had been stirring the fire with a branch in her left hand, stopped and looked at the young man.

She did not agree with the girl's suggestion, but her expression clearly showed a strong sense of caution and a more intense dislike.

The young man, who was the target of this unwarranted hostility, asked timidly, “W... who are you...?”

Erica's clothes, which were originally made of fine fabric, were now completely dirty with mud and grime, and were worn out and tattered. She pulled up the large fur that was slipping off her right shoulder with her left hand and asked in return, “Who are you? Where did you come from?”

“W... where from...?”

The young man, suddenly coming to his senses, looked around again.

“Where is this? Why am I here?!”

Erica, exasperated, thought he was a complete fool and told him with disdain, “Don't you remember? You were unconscious on the bank of a river that had swollen due to the rain.”

“...Rain? River?”

“Yes. But you were lucky. You didn't drink much water because you were unconscious. Otherwise, you would have drowned.”

“Drowned... died?”

As the young man repeated the girl's words, several scenes flashed through his mind.

Somewhere deep in the mountains. A sudden downpour. A heavy, ominous rumble from the earth.

Then, his footing suddenly gave way, and he was thrown off a cliff.

“Yes! My footing suddenly gave way, and I fell into the river below, and then...! H... how long was I carried by the current?!”

The young man, finally remembering his situation, panicked, but Erica coldly dismissed him, “How should we know?” She then questioned him without hesitation, “So, who are you?”

Her question, which implied that he might not get off easily depending on his answer, made the young man, who had just come to his senses, break out in a cold sweat as he answered, “My name is Ki...”

He hesitated and then, in a flustered manner, touched his forehead, confirming that the metal band was still there, and let out a sigh of relief.

“Is something wrong?”

Erica, looking puzzled, asked, and the young man waved his hands frantically in defense, “S... sorry. My head hurts a bit from the bump!”

He had been carried by the raging river. It was hard to believe he was completely unharmed. However, his current behavior was still strange.

“So, your name is Kisa?”

The young man, looking confused, tilted his head.

“So, your name is Kisa?”

“--! Y... yes, that's right!”

His eyes widened as if he had just realized something, and the young man, calling himself Kisa, nodded frantically.

Suspicious.

Erica thought so.

Kisa's behavior was too suspicious. It was clear he was trying to hide something.

But she couldn't figure out what.

From his previous behavior, it seemed he was trying to hide his true identity.

But then, Erica smiled wryly.

What could he gain by hiding his identity from them?

Kisa, who was looking at them with the eyes of a frightened rabbit, didn't seem like a well-known warrior or a wanted outlaw. Moreover, calling himself "I" suggested he was from a wealthy merchant or noble family.

But he lacked the arrogance of someone who looked down on others, and his behavior didn't suggest he had been well-raised.

It was hard to imagine that such a harmless person had a background worth hiding.

Then, who was he?

When she thought about it, Erica's intuition told her he was a lost child.

In fact, he had probably been carried away by the river and didn't know where he was. But even apart from that, he looked like a lost child who had been suddenly thrown into an unfamiliar place, trembling and on the verge of tears.

As she was thinking this, Erica's sleeve was tugged. Without turning her head, she looked sideways to see the girl with the water bag holding onto her sleeve.

“This guy is too suspicious. I think we should kill him or drive him away.”

Erica agreed with the girl with the water bag.

However, the young man's overly weak attitude, while suspicious, didn't seem dangerous. In fact, it was almost ridiculous to be on guard against such a person.

Seeing him cower and look at them fearfully, Erica snorted and relaxed her guard.

“Fine. --My name is Erica. These girls are Ilza, Nina, and Paula.”

Erica pointed to the two girls hiding behind the girl with the water bag. As she twisted her upper body to do so, the fur draped over her right shoulder slipped off.

At that moment, Kisa's eyes widened slightly.

Under the fur, a crossbow, held firmly in her right hand, was loaded with an arrow and aimed at him.

Kisa, realizing that if he had made any suspicious moves, he would have been shot by that crossbow, shuddered.

Noticing this, Erica laughed softly and said, “How long are you going to stay naked? Your clothes are drying on that rock over there.”

Kisa, looking down at his body at Erica's words, finally realized he was naked and let out a scream.