Chapter 55

「We’re almost at the border of the elven territory . 」

A young elf was smiling as he said this to me who had my arms crossed, irritated .

Even if I said that he’s young, he’s only young when compared to Amelia and the others, he’s much older than me .

Without exception, this elf was a beautiful male .

Ikemen, go die .

I, don’t know how he interpreted my gaze that contained killing intent, but that elf was surprised and confused and then came to introduce himself .

「You may call me William, it’s embarrassing to say, but my parents are fans of Liam-sama… . 」

「I see . They put Liam’s name into their own son’s name . 」

「Yes . I myself respect Liam-sama, so I’m not dissatisfied with the name . It’s just a bit embarrassing . 」

「…what so good about that . 」

「Did you say something?」

「…no . 」

Certainly, after Kirika’s charm was broken, Liam’s behavior got better .

He busied himself with the management of the elven country, announced the formal engagement annulment to Amelia and Kirika, gave an apology regarding that and prostrated in front of me and apologized .

That was a splendid prostration that was in line with a Japanese person’s .

『Akira-dono, not only did I try to kill you, I have deeply troubled you with everything, stopping Kirika-sama that I should’ve done, and saving Amelia-sama . I am truly sorry!!!』

『Ah, oi, wai, prostating!? Where did you learn that kind of thing! It’s pointlessly beautiful! I told you to raise your head!』

『In the country within the human territory, Yamato, it’s said that you do this when apologizing or when you have a request . It seems that your hometown closely resembles Yamato, so I would like you to accept my sincere apology . 』

『I understand! I forgive you so raise your head!』

In the end, I lost to that spirit and forgave him, huh .

Without me who was looking into the distance noticing, William started talking about Liam .

「Liam-sama truly, is a wonderful person . Certainly, this elven tribe wouldn’t exist without the king, but the same could be said about Liam-sama as well . It seems that he manages the country’s finances day after day with almost no rest, but for me who is still studying, I completely do not understand . Unrelated to his civil official position, even among the elves, Liam-sama’s abilities are right up there next to Amelia-sama’s, and even when hunting, the prey never gets away . Liam-sama is definitely, one of those people who is accomplished in both the literary arts and the martial arts!」

「I–see– . 」

When I chimed in at appropriate times, the person in front of me became noisy for some reason .

And, the amicable progression came to a stop .

William said that we were almost there, but it shouldn’t have been this quick .

As proof, William was confused .

「Sh*t! It’s an enemy!!」

「Enemy? Is it a bandit?」

Focused on protecting Amelia, we all took out our weapons .

Because we were still in the middle of the forest, I couldn’t use “Yatonokami” .

Besides, they had overwhelmingly more numbers .

「You’re wrong! They kidnap the girls who often come here to harvest! And, none of them came back!!」

「…kidnappers, huh . According to the template, because of that appearance of the elves, there’s a higher chance for them to become slaves of those of other races or something . 」

「You’re well-informed . They, try to enslave my brethren and sell them off to the beast men and the humans!!」

Clenching his fist tightly, William’s palm was bleeding .

He was glaring at them and emitting killing intent at the presences that was gradually coming closer and closer .

The gentle face that was worshipping Liam until just now was nowhere to be seen .

This feeling, this was only a guess, but someone who was close to William was definitely kidnapped by them .

When I looked over, there were many other people who were in the same situation as William .

The elves were all of the same mind .

Even if there was absolutely no blood relations, just with them being from the same race, they would sacrifice their own life .

They would do anything to get revenge .

Those guys surround their enemies, but even so, for them to kidnap them so openly, they might have the backing of the country, or the continent .

I abandoned those thoughts .

We needed to think of a way to break out of the encirclement .

We could think about the other things carefully afterwards .

It’s regrettable, but I’m the only vanguard .

Since they were kidnappers, I wanted to bring Kirika along as well, but unfortunately, it seems that she had some business to take care of, so she tearfully gave up seeing off her older sister .

Or rather, why didn’t she warn us beforehand that there were kidnappers!

「Now then, ladies and gentlemen of the elven race, why don’t you give us the princess . If you do that, you can keep your lives . 」

「Princess?」

「It’s Princess Amelia . Saa, give her to us now . 」

When I thought that they would come closer so that their voices would reach us, this time, they told us to give them Amelia .

The one hidden weapon clutched in my hand shattered into pieces with a snap .

Can I kill them?

No, I won’t kill them, but could I tie them up with shadow magic for now?

Taking the opportunity, let’s give my shadow magic one or two arms .

「A, Akira-dono?」

「What is it, William-kun . 」

「Ah, the hidden weapon has become useless though… . 」

「Aah, it’s fine since I have more . 」

「Akira-dono, your tone of voice is strange?」

「What are you saying, William-kun . I’m just a little irritated . 」

「I, I see . 」

Just the elves around me, including William, backed away .

It’s because they were affected by the overflowing killing intent coming from me .

However, that rampaging killing intent too, changed into a gentle breeze when it reached a single girl .

「Akira, I believe in Akira . Don’t let me go . 」

「…isn’t that obvious? Where would there be a guy who lets go of the girl he likes . 」

Coming to stand by me, Amelia just touched my arm that shattered the hidden weapon, and I realized that I had calmed down .

Amelia gently sucked in a breath, and called out to the elves who got cold feet .

「The enemy had more people than us! However, as long as we have Akira, it’s impossible for us to be defeated! Show these enemies who kidnapped our brethren the power of the elves!」

「「「Oooooooh!!!!!!!」」」

Amelia used her special skill『Strategist』and gave everyone a command .

She herself made preparations for the invocation of gravitational magic as well .

It seems that she would fight together with us .

「For now, I will fight according to my own occupation . Amelia, don’t overdo it . 」

「Akira too . 」

I went into stealth .

For now, I will suppress the leader, and the small fry after that .

I, slipped out of the circle of elves by myself and moved toward where the voice came from .

Because of the leveled-up『Assassination』special skill, there wouldn’t be any sounds no matter how heavily I stepped while walking .

Those behind me were fine .

There’s no one who would be able to win against Amelia .