Elf Tensei Kara no Cheat Kenkoku-ki

After we returned to the inn we waited for the items we had purchased to be delivered. By that time the sun was beginning to set.

The clothing store had brought the clothes the two girls had ordered yesterday as well as the semi-order made clothing I had ordered for the two of them.

They had brought along the change left over from the pre-payment, but I was pleased that the clothing for them had turned out so cute so I gave it to them as a tip instead.

Once we got back to Erucy I’d give them these clothes as a present. The clothing was wonderfully cute so I’m sure it’d make them happy.

I used partial 【Samsara Recursion】 and activated my 【Item Box】 to store away all the goods before we set off from Erin.

We returned just like we had arrived. I princess-carried Lucy and piggy-backed Kuu as I ran.

After running about 40Km I could feel Kuu become suddenly unsettled on my back.

「Kuu you’re strangely restless…It was similar when we were traveling here as well…is there something around here?」

Kuu trembled for a moment at my sudden question.

「It’s nothing.」

「Kuu, you don’t have to lie. I felt your uneasiness when we ran by here on the way but seeing as we were pressed for time I let it go…but this time I have some leeway to listen.」

Truly it would’ve been best to deal with this on the journey towards Erin, but we had to accomplish our objective quickly so I simply ignored it. However, no matter what I wanted to deal with Kuu’s worries as much as I could.

「…..umm, it’s nothing much but…the village were Big Brother and the rest ran away too is around here. It’s a small village with various races living inside it…」

I see, I can completely understand why she was feeling unsettled.

「You want to check on their safety don’t you Kuu?」

「Yes, indeed. But we’d have to take a detour so I think we should just keep moving.」

I couldn’t see Kuu’s face from this position, but I was sure she was making the same smile she usually makes when she’d forcing herself.

Once I imagined that painful expression I couldn’t pretend to be ignorant.

「Kuu guide us. I’d like to give my greetings at least once. During the war with the Empire it might be a great help to have communications with them. Also there’s some specialty goods that I’d like to buy. I’ve made the decision that it is necessary for me to show my face as the Leader of Erucy.」

「Is it really…okay?」

「Of course. So go ahead and point us in the right direction.」

「Cyril-kun…thank you. It’s this way.」

As Kuu guided us we moved further from the main road as we entered deeper into the forest.

Once we emerged from the trees into a large clearing we were able to catch sight of a village.

「This is the village that my brother and the others planned to escape to. We have had good relations with them in the past. Plus since they are close to Erin we can save up money to buy food if we’re careful. This was decided by my father and brother.」

I listened to Kuu’s explanation before putting them both down and checking the area.

This is strange…it’s far too quiet.

I don’t feel the presence of people. There’s something up.

Just in case I used 【Perception Expansion】 to check further….

「What….the hell?」

In a blind spot from where we stood was a Fire Fox girl with her heart torn from her chest. Furthermore it was a fresh corpse. Not even a day had passed. By expanding 【Perception Expansion】 even further I could sense that it wasn’t just one or two corpses…

Who could have done this? If it was the Empire then they would have killed the men, but kidnapped the women.

As I was thinking……suddenly I sensed something charging towards us at insane speeds.

It was even faster than when I used my wind magic to move.

「Ha!」

The thing that came attacking from behind swung a long sword at me.

I’m sure it was meant to be a surprise attack, but I was able to see it.

I relaxedly took my time to dodge……..but I couldn’t. The sword was held in a stance that could attack quickly a second time and reap my life if I chose to dodge. I had no choice but to block it.

「Che!」

I held my knife in a reverse grip and slanted it to slip my opponents blow to one side.

It was the perfect way to deal with an enemy’s power. It was an ideal deflection. The opponent’s blade struck my knife and was forced to slip down and strike the ground with a thunderous roar as it stabbed deeply into the earth.

Even so I heard a cracking sound as my own arm was fractured and nearly snapped.

Even after perfectly turning it aside I received a percentage of the impact.

It was unbelievable, but with only those few percent of force my opponent was able to break my arm.

However, that didn’t even matter. What mattered was this showed an opening in my opponent’s defenses.

I sent a high kick towards their defenseless temple. The knife hidden in the tip of my boot shot out. It was a perfect strike blended with all my body’s force as well as 【Body Enhancement】 magic.

My kick made contact…my enemy shook slightly. However, the knife was smashed without stabbing my enemy and I felt a dull pain run through my ankle.

【Body Enhancement】 magic? But I don’t feel any mana reaction. It feels like pure defensive power coming from internal magic power.

I couldn’t help but doubt my own eyes. A defense like this that depends entirely on internal magic power has a decidedly weak effect on outside phenomena. Even if I put all of my power to use to try and accomplish the same thing, I would be completely unable to break the knife using such defenses.

To make this possible my opponent would need at least 32 times greater magic power than I currently posses. There was only one living creature that I could think of that could posses such might.

「Huh…even after I came to cut you down you survived. You even managed to make a cheeky counterattack.」

This being…this young woman…lightly pulled her sword out of the ground and looked at me with a fearless smile.

She was dainty young lady. She couldn’t have been taller than 150cm. She had shoulder-length black hair in a casual hair style. She wore no armor and wore clothes that could make you think she was a simple village lass.

Around her neck was a warm looking muffler. I felt I had seen something similar before. It was a beautiful golden fluffy muffler…..

「Big Brother….That’s Big Brother’s tail! That…that can’t be….Nooooooooooooooo!!!」

Kuu screamed desperately as she pointed to the muffler fit smugly around the young lady’s neck…..her brother’s tail.