****
A time of light that pushes back the darkness. Eating breakfast in the warmth of the sun made me feel like I was on vacation.
Is this the elementals' usual breakfast? No. It smells good.
I'm sure they catered to my preferences as a guest, but I had the odd feeling that it was light, filling, and not overwhelming because it was familiar.
After what happened yesterday, I felt very relaxed.
Compared to the days of rolling around in Mariland, this place was like heaven.
I've been living with support since I was summoned to the Otherworld, but I don't know if it's comfortable.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about being summoned to the Otherworld as a warrior instead of the Awakening event I'd hoped for, but when it was confirmed that I would return with a decent paycheck and intact stats instead of being stabbed in the back, I was happy.
Even if killing a creature that looked like a monster wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.
It was all in the name of the mission to bring peace to the world, and it kept me sane.
"I wonder if everyone evacuated properly."
Not exactly the kind of thing you'd say over a leisurely breakfast, but the Elementals had said they'd deal with the commotion on their own.
"I'll post it later and we'll talk."
When the Chuzaras had come to ransack the village, Ollie had volunteered to help, but he wondered if the request was still valid.
"Maybe they're asking for help because of this."
I would have expected him to take care of himself and get out of the way, but I needed to get in touch with Ollie before I could decide what to do.
I sent it to the messenger last night, so I should hear back from him today. I kept quiet, wondering if I'd be interrupting an important operation.
The Elementals are defending against an onslaught of Chuujara.
Pushing my thoughts of Oli aside, I try to predict what will happen soon. The siege was not what I'd read about in the texts, but a battle of tenacity.
Even if there were beings capable of breaking down such walls, a normal siege was a tedious tug of war between patience and supply.
A defensive force that sits idly by and waits for the attacking force to arrive, and a defensive force that goes into space defense.
Like in a novel, when you charge at a wall and it falls, you're outnumbered, and the protagonist jumps out and wipes them all out.
It's hard to say if there are any other such developments in history, but even in this world, wars were fought by following the basics as usual.
However, when the Chuujjara are involved in a siege, it can be easy or difficult, depending on whether you have the basic components of a defense or not, as they are a brute force race with no strategy.
Therefore, if you have enough supplies and manpower, defense is not a difficult task, and the strategy to deal with the Chuujara is to defend against them.
Aorla.
An elemental woman who called herself the queen's second thorn. From what I could tell, her skill level was roughly on par with the King of the Four Thousand.
She was also believed to be one of Krytric's subordinates.
The whole situation seemed to be a bit of a coincidence, and I wondered if it was really right for me to participate.
"I know it's not all my doing."
But the fact that he's still here, even though we've captured him, makes me wonder if there's still something I can do.
Just yesterday at lunch, Ollie called me about the oracle, and I followed him and got caught up in the commotion.
Before I could even consider cause and effect.
I wonder if he's calling me because he's a warrior, or if the warrior is calling me.
Now that I have a moment to reflect, the performative thoughts haunt me.
"Ugh."
Helping without stepping in.
"Ugh!"
Stretching to shake off the jitters. It's not that I'm a powerhouse or a hidden master, but it's frustrating to have to sit on the sidelines and watch while being overpowered and unable to help.
Contrary to rumors, the Elementals were well-liked by me, and I don't recall being discriminated against for being human, other than being warned to be careful.
I don't recall being ignored or treated differently because I was human.
This might be because I was traveling with a party.
Honestly, if I had been wandering around alone, I might have been caught here and there trying to strip and eat a human man.
I'm a man, too, and my speech is colored by the fact that I'm surrounded by pure women. Still, I'm not a woman, am I?
The next community word that came to mind gave me another excuse to miss my hometown's phrases and slang.
"Decha-ah-."
A comical posture that reminds me that men are still children no matter how old they are. Even if he had to return to Earth without any financial reward, he would still be able to make a living as long as he had the stats of a warrior, but he couldn't help but feel regret that he had put off the opportunity to return.
"The Right of Return Law, the Dung Horses are already dead."
The
Papapat
"Kui kui."
I shook off the minor depression with a comical attitude.
Ha. It's bad enough that I'm thinking about this while I'm acting like this, but Suiseiseki used to be my favorite girl. God damn the world.... How could such a pretty character turn into such an abomination?
angry
"Smart.
I nervously corrected myself, wondering if I'd made a mistake.
"Otherworldly warrior. May I enter?"
I didn't know if it was an elemental trait or not, so I didn't realize it until just before the knock on the door sounded.
"...Yes, please come in."
An Elemental woman calmly enters the room, as expected by her clear voice. It would have been very embarrassing if she had been caught, he thought with some relief.
"I've come to deliver a message from the shrine maiden."
"You have come."
He forced his voice to sound cheerful, as if nothing had happened.
"I will pass it on. I have heard your tale of the warrior. I've been tracking a suspect myself. Your information was very helpful. That's all."
"...That's very Ollie."
I muttered Ollie's name softly, and when I looked at him, he stood there, his eyes steady and expressionless.
"But. Is that it?"
I'd obviously asked Ollie last night if he wanted to join or wait.
"That news will come a little later."
"...Don't they usually tell you these things all at once?"
"The shrine maiden has a messenger come to her whenever there's news."
"Ah."
It wasn't just the notifications, either.
That means Ollie's status among the elementals is high, but it doesn't seem efficient.
No, it was too soon to tell from the fragments.
"So, do I have to wait any longer?"
"No. As long as you don't leave the city, I'll find you wherever you are and let you know."
"That would be nice of you, but it won't take that long to get word, will it?"
"Perhaps."
"Then I'll wait some more."
"Okay. If there's anything else you need, just let me know."
"Sure-."
The element woman exits after a short conversation.
"I see you're calling people with bells again. Uh, what was that bullshit about?"
It's a good thing she didn't make any gestures.
"...I heard that the elementals hear the day's end and the demons hear the night's end."
It's a crisp morning otherwise. I'll just have to remind myself not to talk to myself in front of the elementals, who have a keen sense of hearing.
I understand you've decided not to help me directly, but does that mean I don't have to tell you what Miele told me?
I didn't listen in on the meeting last night, so I didn't know what happened afterward. Instead, I got in touch with Mille and found out more information about Kritik.
Not that it would improve my immediate situation.
"No, no. Let's let him know. I'm sure he'll be fine."
Now that the Demon King was gone, the Demon Army's shenanigans in the Land of the Elements felt like a desperate attempt to break the country.
I might be making light of it, but I didn't want to repeat the same mistakes I'd made when the real Demon King was destroyed.
'Rattle, rattle, rattle'
I called in an elemental woman who had just left.
"It's a misconception that we have a hobby of eavesdropping, otherworldly warrior."
The elemental woman, who had actually heard what was said in the room, gave me an excuse to disbelieve her.
***]
We narrowly defend the village and track down the culprits. It took us until the crack of dawn. The spirits ask for the location, and as they wait, one messenger after another arrives.
"The otherworldly warrior wants to hear from you to know if he should join you or wait in the city."
I'm used to messengers who don't even bother to greet me.
"...I see."
Last night, I ordered the evacuation of the Elements after wiping out the Chuujara horde. I wandered around for a while, suspecting that there was more to the sudden attack than just the Chuujara. He was reassured by the messenger's account of the warrior's exploits and grateful to the warrior for granting his sudden request.
You join the warrior.
What she had asked of the warrior was for yesterday's disturbance, and what happened afterward was strictly clan business. He knew it would be hard for the warrior to hear, but he knew it was ungrateful to ask a well-rested man to share the work.
But.
It's quicker and easier with a warrior's help.
I've seen it all my life.
"......yet."
I managed to get the words out, fighting back the nagging desire to get help from the Warrior, to stay with him.
"Is that how you want me to tell him?"
"Yes."
A swallowed sigh of apparent regret as the messenger withdrew. The spirits around him flitted about, worried.
"Warrior...."
An alien being, a mysterious man.
A man who had always been kind and caring to those who couldn't approach him.
As much as you want to ask him for his opinion now and settle the disturbance, your desire not to cause him any more trouble after all he's been through since you were summoned narrowly wins out.
"Warrior, rest."
After a full day of movement as a scout, it's his turn to do what the warrior behind him has done for him.
That's it.
He was the one who kept them all in line, but he was also the one who held the center and kept them all laughing. All the things he had learned from living with others outside of his clan since the party formed to capture the demon king were treasures to him.
"Warrior."
Though she calls him by his profession instead of his name because he never taught her his name, she will one day call him by his name, just as he called her.
Even the least sociable among us could see that this could only be accomplished by being on good terms with a warrior.
Once, out of curiosity, I asked him what his name was, and he turned away with an embarrassed expression.
The other members of the party were curious and interested, and he remembered being disappointed in the warrior's attitude but glad he hadn't asked.
"Colleagues, friends...."
Colleagues who served the same purpose: to defeat the Demon King.
When I told them that I was leaving them after accomplishing my mission, I was thankfully told that they were friends, not colleagues.
The sage who wooed the hero the most and served as the brains of the party.
A princess in a woman's body, who fought the warrior and the enemy from the front.
A holy woman who was as devoted to the gods as she was to herself, and whose face was colorful and bright.
A warrior who felt strong among the party members.
For women who had always lived a life of honor, being a warrior was already an indispensable meaning and purpose. You could tell by the way they felt before leaving their companions and friends.
Or themselves.
The thought of a warrior is both reassuring and strangely unsettling.
Thinking of them makes you smile, but also makes you miss them.
Thinking of a warrior makes you feel excited, yet strangely depressed.
When you think of him, you feel strange.
It's probably because It's because you know that your time is coming to an end.
I reflected on this and tried to figure out the reason, and the conclusion I came to was love. Honestly, she wasn't stupid enough to not know the word love.
Pause
"Love...."
It was just that it was unfamiliar and awkward, so it didn't feel real.
It was also a factor in her closed-mindedness. She had no one of her own kind to discuss the subject of love with, let alone the confidence of her position as a shrine maiden.
Even the queen was cautious, so who was she to share small talk with?
Until I met a warrior, I never knew what loneliness and loneliness were. So the more I spent time with him, the more I felt the emotions of joy and sadness.
Then I thought of him as a colleague. Who told me they were friends.
Shouldn't she consult her party members?
No, they're after him too.
You've known that for a long time.
A wise man who courts whenever he can.
A princess who waits for an opportunity, and when the situation warrants it, she takes the plunge.
A saintly woman who expresses her fondness without hiding it.
She even confessed that she wanted to sow seeds just before she entered the Demon City.
She believes that if she bears the seed of a warrior, the clan will surely flourish.
But now, the mission for the clan was no longer in my heart, and I hated myself for using it as an excuse.
I don't need to make excuses for the clan, I need to speak directly to the warrior like a sage.
I wanted to let him know that I love him.
Anger-Evil
The thought of telling the warrior I love him suddenly warmed my face.
She wondered if the sun had suddenly gotten closer, if the place she was looking around wasn't up there, or if someone had seen her like this.
"...Huh."
I didn't do anything wrong, but I feel really unfamiliar with myself.
The only people she could think of who were watching her were the tastelessly floating spirits and her great mother.
Mother.
The mother of all the elements, the natural tree goddess who oversees nature. She had spent her life in the presence of such a deity.
It wasn't as if she hadn't acted in accordance with her trust before, aside from moving with the warriors to slay the demon. She served her clan and her mother for many years.
Years that were never too short and never too long.
Perhaps that was his undoing.
A warrior had come to the shores of her expressionless, calm mind. It was like a pebble thrown by a child, or perhaps more like a storm that raged.
It's hard to really describe the ripples that a warrior has on you, because you don't know if it's a good thing or not.
You're supposed to be there for your mother, you're supposed to be there for her... and yet, inside of you, you're not her, you're a warrior.
What a blasphemous thought, what an immoral thing. To think that she, whose only reason for living was to live for her mother, was giving her heart to someone other than her mother.
She made him laugh, brightened up his dreary image.
A demonic curse?
It's heartbreaking that even the warrior rejected her confession, misunderstanding it as something she had done for the clan, but she can assure you that in that moment, it was all her own will and no intervention.
Like the wise man who never tired of confessing to his warriors.
Like a princess who is armed with a smile that can't be deciphered, but who becomes thin in front of a warrior.
Like the holy woman who could sense his fondness for her without saying a word.
She was as conscious of her attraction to him as any other woman.
Sigh.
She pondered in the same spot for longer than she thought. When the warrior followed up on the information he'd gotten, he found a suspicious trail.
Footprints that looked like those of an elemental, but didn't seem to live here.
"Blue?"
You ask the elemental, and learn that he is elemental, but his skin is more of a blue color, and that he fought with a group of Chuujara until he saw you and ran away when he saw you.
It wasn't that he hadn't felt the presence of such an unnatural elemental himself, but he didn't want to pursue it, not with another village under attack.
"Right."
I nod at the additional information, summarizing it.
Tattoos on his body. He's been wandering around alone before. He's avoided other elements, which makes him even more suspicious.
Demon.
Pale skin color and tattoos are the hallmarks of demons. Since we already suspected that the warrior was a servant of Krytric, King of the Demon Army, the sighting from the spirit is highly credible.
How, here.
My mother's covenant was not so easy for a demon to enter. It would take a sage to accomplish such a feat, so he hadn't expected a demon army to enter the elemental realm.
He had expected it to be a traitor to the continent or a manipulated minion, but he never expected the elements to be behind it.
An elemental turned demon was unheard of.
However, it is not impossible to imagine other possibilities when the sage's tale of the demon army's experiments with the elemental is told by a warrior.
The result is the current commotion.
Let's go.
I resumed my search, pausing only briefly to think of the warrior, and followed the awkward tracks of the elements.
This fiction piece was written for promotional purposes.
This article has been translated by deepl.