Chapter 250 - Chapter 17: Cait Sith Again
Predicting that the Cait Sith would be near the cliff where the Lindwurm had been, I flew overhead in the bowl.
From the place where he had faced Fiona, I went west, and from where I entered the forest to around where I crossed the river, I scattered a large amount of flyers made from small pieces of parchment I had prepared.
Mel used the wind to carry the flyers scattered across the river so they would go far.
On the parchment was a message written by the Elf for the Cait Sith.
To the brave spirit, Cait Sith-dono. I am the warrior Roberts, who defeated the Demon Lord. I request a one-on-one duel with you. Furthermore, the witness shall be Priest Jeanne, who received a Spirit Stone from you.
After that was the date and place. The date was three days later. The time when the sun is highest. The place was near the swamp where he previously faced Fiona.
If they come, it will likely be from the forest across the plains. Since the Cait Sith kept his promise and stopped attacking, no actual combat has occurred, but it is technically the front line.
"Will they come?"
Will was a bit skeptical.
"The humans have the advantage now. Wouldn't it be natural to think a duel request is a trap?"
On the other hand, Eleanor-sama was full of confidence that they would come.
"It is precisely because we have the advantage that the Cait Sith will come. If he fights Roberts and wins, he can negotiate with favorable terms."
That aside.
"Um, why am I the witness?"
Even if I'm called a witness, I'd have to have others tell me what happened, because their movements are too fast for my eyes to follow.
Moreover, my name was written on the flyers.
"You were the witness before, weren't you? Then it's only natural for you to be the witness this time as well."
They said it would be rude to the Cait Sith not to have the human who received the stone act as the witness.
When I asked Dune and Mel, they just asked back, "Is that so?"
As for the Elf Prince, he just snorted and was smacked on the head by Dune and Mel.
"Isn't it fine? Giving the stone means he trusts her. That trusted person is here. He'll realize it's not a trap."
Roberts-sama was laughing generously.
No matter how you look at it, using Dune or Mel would surely be more trustworthy.
Suddenly, Dune looked toward the forest.
"He's here!"
Mel, reacting at the same time, flew high overhead.
"Over there, over there."
She pointed, but even when I chanted Sight, I couldn't tell.
"Hmph. Cowardly. Did he come with an army?"
A little later, by the time the Elf Prince spoke, I could also see the head of a Cyclops.
The Elf Prince was wearing dazzling silver armor. The sword hanging at his waist was, of course, silver. Additionally, he had a quiver of arrows with silver heads and a bow that was also silver; incidentally, the string was silver thread.
"No, I only see one Cyclops head. There should have been more before. Since no combat has occurred around here, their numbers haven't decreased. Just like us, there are probably only about ten of them in total, right?"
We were ten people including Roberts-sama. Given the Cait Sith's attitude when we met before, he shouldn't do anything so cowardly.
"As expected, Jeanne. Exactly ten. But they might be strong."
"That's right. There's one member of the Demon Race," Mel and Dune said, putting everyone on guard. If there's a Demon Race member, the story changes. We should have defeated the executives from first to fourth. It might be a low-ranking one. However, we don't actually know how many Demon Race members there were.
"And, it might be a disappointment for that Elf over there."
Mel landed on my shoulder and whispered in a small voice.
The Cyclops emerged from the forest, pushing two trees aside with both hands. From the opening, first the Cait Sith, then two Fenrirs, and four Orcs came out. Behind them appeared what seemed to be a Demon Race member, covered in pitch-black fur, baring fangs, and growing horns. A massive sword with a pitch-black hilt hung at his waist.
He didn't have wings, but his horns seemed longer than the worm-user from before, so even if he was low-ranking, he might be of the strong variety.
"I misjudged them," Will said, and Eleanor-sama said, "Everything is an experience."
For Will, who spends time with Henry-sama and the others, every day might be a learning experience.
At that moment, the Elf Prince let out a cry.
"That's...! No, it can't be..."
In the direction the Elf Prince was pointing with a trembling finger, there was a female monster.
Short black hair down to the nape of her neck that looked dull and dark, wearing black clothes. Her dark skin seemed to lack any moisture.
"Jeanne. That's a Dryad. It seems she's gone to the monsters' side."
"Eh?"
At Dune's words, I was left speechless.
"Dryad? Are you truly a Dryad?"
The Demon, the Cait Sith, and the Dryad in black clothes lined up in front.
"Yes. That's right, Elf. I am living with the monsters."
"Why did you break your neutrality! Were you enticed by that Demon there!"
Roberts-sama held back the hand that was gripping the sword hilt.
"Elf. What are you saying? You are fighting monsters alongside humans. You are the one who broke neutrality. I am simply living with the monsters. I'm not fighting anyone."
"It's because the monsters attacked and took our village. We are fighting with humans to take back our village."
"Then, why was your village attacked by monsters?"
"Th-that's..."
He faltered and looked down.
Does he have some memory of it?
"What happened? If you'd like..."
"None of that matters! Are you the one who defeated the Demon Lord! Are you Roberts! Not a human, but an Elf!"
Interrupting Eleanor-sama's words, the Demon drew his sword and pointed it at the Elf Prince. The blade was also pitch black.
"I am Roberts. One of the humans who fought and defeated the Demon Lord."
"I am Gladys. Roberts' wife and one of the humans who fought the Demon Lord together."
Roberts-sama stood in front of the Elf, and Gladys-sama stood beside him.
Seeing that, Henry-sama and Eleanor-sama nodded deeply. They were likely remembering their former selves.
"So it was you... how were the Demon Lord's final moments?"
The Demon stabbed his drawn sword into the ground.
It felt like the wind had been taken out of our sails, but Roberts-sama explained.
"He was strong. He was worthy of the title of King. It took seven of us repeatedly ambushing him to finally take him down. It was a victory of combination. He wasn't an opponent one could win against one-on-one."
"I see. And in the end, he turned to dust and perished..."
"Yes. It was our way, but we intended to offer the best funeral rites we could."
"And the bosses of each floor?"
"Humans defeated them all. We took the fourth floor, and my parents and their companions over there took the third floor."
"I see, the Demon Lord... and the bosses of each floor... they've all fallen..."
He was looking down. Even though they had defeated the humans' greatest enemy, everyone somehow felt somber.
"Kukukuku... Fufufufu... Fuwahahahaha!"
Suddenly, he began to laugh like a madman.
"Um, please pull yourself together."
I couldn't help but interject.
"Uwahaha. How could I not laugh! I was the sixth-ranked in the Demon Lord's army. The Demon Lord treated me well. But those other pieces of trash! Just because they were a bit skilled, they treated me like garbage! Those guys sent me away to this frontier. But they're all dead. Now, I am the top of the Demon Lord's army! I must thank you all. Now I am the Demon Lord! Uwahaha! Prostrate yourselves! Everyone! Ow!"
Mel flew over and kicked him in the head.
What is with this guy?
"Stop that! Ah! You, you're a wind spirit! Why are you in a place like this!"
"Don't 'why are you in a place like this' me!"
While floating in the air, she delivered a second and third roundhouse kick to his face.
"I came to watch because you said there'd be a duel, and you're totally ruining the mood! What's with 'prostrate yourselves!' Read the room!"
"St-stop, it hurts! It hurts! Pl-please stop. I... I won't say it anymore..."
While bleeding pitch-black blood from his nose, he pressed his hands together and apologized to Mel.
The black Dryad was wiping away the blood.
"Honestly! Jeanne. What should we do with this guy?"
In front of the apologizing Demon, she crossed her arms and floated, looking at me.
"Um, what should we do?"
I asked, but Roberts-sama also had his arms crossed.
"Father, Mother. What should we do?"
He's totally passing the buck!
With a sigh of "Good grief," Eleanor-sama stepped forward.
"You said earlier that you were the sixth-ranked. We have confirmed the subjugation up to the fourth-ranked. What happened to the fifth-ranked?"
Come to think of it, that's true. There were four floors.
"The fifth-ranked? He died right at the start of the Demon Lord's army's formation. You know, there's a human fortress south of here, right? They surrounded it, but the main camp was ambushed and he took a deep wound. That was fatal. He died just like that. Because of that, do you have any idea how much trouble I, who took over, went through? Enemy reinforcements came, we lost momentum and lost the war, and the army fell apart. I finally managed to gather the remaining guys and keep things going until now. But thanks to that, I'm the Demon Lord now."
That means. The one who defeated that fifth-ranked was...
When I looked at Roberts-sama, he was throwing stones into the swamp with an innocent face. The frogs that had been croaking went "ker-plop" into the pond.
When I stared at him, he feigned a yawn.
"Could it be that you're the one who defeated him?"
The quick-witted Demon seemed to have realized.
"...Well, yeah. I couldn't deliver the finishing blow, though. Don't think ill of me. Since you attacked, I had to repel you."
"I know. I'm a member of the Demon Race too. When I have to fight, I'll stake my life."
"What will you do now?"
"The tables have turned. You intend to take control of the entire peninsula, don't you? I won't hand it over easily."
He pulled his sword from the ground and sheathed it.
"Cait Sith. I'll leave the rest to you."
He turned around and gave the Cait Sith a pat on the shoulder.
"Understood."
In his place, the Cait Sith stepped forward.
He was smiling as usual, and his step was light.
"Now then, you said you wanted to duel me, but what is your wish if you win?"
We called him out, but the Dryad has already been found. Moreover, she's on the monsters' side.
"My wish has already been fulfilled. My goal was to meet the Dryad. If I had won, I intended to have you search for her."
"...I see. Then, what will you do?"
"What will we do?"
He looked at me.
At that moment, the Elf Prince, who had been biting his lip and looking down during the exchange between Roberts-sama and the Demon, knelt down.
"Dryad. Please, come back to our side. Let us reclaim that beautiful forest together once more. What we did was a mistake. I apologize like this."
He pressed both hands flat against the ground.
"That's quite an apology for a proud Elf. I wonder what they did?"
Mel whispered.
The Dryad was looking away.
"Um, if it's alright, could you tell us what happened?"
The Dryad glanced at me and said, "If it's somewhere without the Elf, fine," so Eleanor-sama, Dune, Mel, and I changed locations to hear her story.
"I didn't like those black trees either. But it was for survival, so it couldn't be helped."
Taking off her pitch-black shoes, the black Dryad looked comfortable soaking her bare feet in the swamp.
It all started with the mountain in the center of the Black Forest.
"The northern foot of that mountain was my forest. In fact, originally, green forests stretched across the entire peninsula."
There was a silver mine in the mountain. However, the Elves were in the East, and the West and South were forests where monsters lived. The Dwarves didn't come.
"Those foolish Elves started mining silver even though they should have left it alone. They said they would gather silver weapons, occupy the entire Northeastern Forest, and create an Elven Kingdom."
They made arrowheads, swords, and spears. Then, when the preparations were complete, an extremely high concentration of mana began to gush out from deep within the silver mine.
"Magic stones can almost always be found where there are silver veins. Do you know why?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Magic stones are said to be stones that store mana, but that's not it. Hard stones... like crystal... that have been exposed to dense mana for a truly long time become magic stones. Silver is the same. Originally, it's just an ordinary metal. In other words, where silver can be mined, there is a source of mana. That source appeared near the surface due to ancient earthquakes or something; that's the silver mine. Dwarves know it's dangerous to approach large magic stones. But the foolish Elves didn't know. Seeking silver veins and large magic stones, they used magic to dig deeper and deeper. And finally, they struck the source of mana. Thus, dense mana began to overflow onto the surface, living things were mutated, beasts became monsters, plants turned pitch black, and the current Northeastern Forest was created."
Fortunately, the outflow of mana didn't last that long. Originally, the source near the surface wasn't that abundant. It eventually dried up as a result of overflowing. Even so, it took over a thousand years.
The black Dryad absorbed mana and mutated herself to protect the trees that were dying in large numbers. As a result of barely managing to endure without losing her sense of self, the trees of the Dryad's Forest survived as, so to speak, monster trees.
The Elf Village, which once had thousands of people, was suddenly attacked by tens of thousands of insects and animals that had become monsters, falling into a state of ruin, and they eventually abandoned the forest and became a wandering people. The fact that the weapons and armor Elves wear are all made of silver is likely a remnant of that time. According to Eleanor-sama, there were once those who made a living by selling such weapons and armor to humans in shops. Perhaps Katherine-sensei's spear is one of those.
"Um, about when was that?"
"Who knows. I was desperate just to stay alive. I don't remember well. Maybe the outflow started about four or five thousand years ago?"
That means it ended over three thousand years ago? If so, neither Dune nor Mel would know about it.
"Was there any impact on humans?"
"I wonder. Humans didn't live in the forests of this peninsula, though."
She was blunt when asked. For the human side, that would be the era of the ancient people. Besides, if no one lived there, it wouldn't appear in the chronicles.
"Um, is it no longer possible to return to the way it was?"
I tried asking, but she just shrugged.
"If time passes. I don't know how many thousands of years it will take. It's impossible in my generation, so it won't be possible unless several generations pass. Well, living with monsters isn't so bad."
Eleanor-sama was deep in thought with her arms crossed.
Dune and Mel were in a state of resignation, saying, "It can't be helped."
Dryads dwell in old trees. When one generation's life ends, they are replaced, and a new Dryad is born. At that time, they reportedly inherit memories from the tree.
After finishing the story and returning to everyone, they had already started a drinking party with the Demon and the Cait Sith. The Elf Prince was not joining in, staying alone in a distant spot.
"What are you doing?"
"Truce negotiations."
When Eleanor-sama asked, Henry-sama answered.
"These guys say they'll do their best until the Demon Lord is resurrected. If so, I suggested we have a truce until then, with the river as the boundary."
"No way. If this is the place for negotiations, then this is the boundary. I can give up the swamp, but I won't yield that forest."
It seemed they were at a stalemate.
In that case, it's simple. When I looked at the Cait Sith and Roberts-sama, they both stood up.
The weapons were just a single wooden stick each. Shorter than a spear, longer than the Cait Sith's sword.
They each gave a knight's salute to me, the witness, and faced each other.
Both took their distance, bowed, and took a one-handed stance. Right foot forward, the stick in the right hand pointed toward the opponent, and the left hand behind the waist.
They exchanged several blows, but no conclusion was reached. They merely parried each other's thrusts, the sound of wood clashing echoing.
When one leaped to deliver a thrust, the other retreated; when one slashed, the other parried and countered.
As time passed, Roberts-sama took his distance, took a high overhead stance with both hands, and swung down with a shout; the Cait Sith's stick, which he had been holding horizontally above his head, shattered even though it hadn't even been hit.
Well, I couldn't see it, so I had Will tell me about it.