The comfortable life of the best swordsman

Emu, Luther, Cladia, and Eimme were standing in the clearing behind the castle. The sun's rays were practically burning their skin. It was scorching hot. However, the strong and cool wind eased the intensity of the sun's rays. After all, the island they were on was floating in the air. 

"Aren't you three going? Do I really have to come along?" Eimme asked. 

"I've got something to take care of, so I can't go. That means you'll go with them. Got it?" The blonde maid with blue eyes spoke with an authoritative tone, leaving no room for argument. Eimme didn't have much of a choice. 

Eimme sighed. "Fine, fine." She looked visibly displeased. 

"I'm happy you're coming with us, Emi," Cladia said. She seemed oddly calm. 

Eimme's cheeks turned slightly red, but she didn't say anything. 

"Let's go. We're in a bit of a hurry. Some of the slaves you brought aren't in great condition. Let's sort it out quickly and return, shall we?" Luther said. 

A magic circle appeared beneath their feet, but the circle shattered and disappeared instantly. Eimme and Emu looked astonished. This was supposed to be impossible. Emu's teleportation spell wasn't just any ordinary spell. It had been directly bestowed upon her by their father and was the foundation of all other teleportation magic in the world. The other teleportation spells were merely cheap imitations. With this spell, there shouldn't have been any place she couldn't teleport to. She could even use it to travel across different planes. 

"Hmm. Looks like I can't teleport you there. In that case, you'll have to fly. I'll teleport you to a plain near the capital of the Rızık Kingdom," Emu said. 

Another magic circle appeared beneath their feet, and they found themselves on the plain Emu had mentioned. Cladia looked puzzled. 

"Uh? How are we supposed to fly?" 

"Hm? Did you forget that I'm a Great Dragon? Oh! Right, you've never seen my original form, have you, Dia?" 

Eimme's face lit up with a smug smile as she spoke. Her body began to emit a faint, gentle light—not blindingly bright, but soft and graceful. 

As she began to glow, her body transformed. Her smooth, delicate skin was replaced by red scales. Her body grew massive, reaching a height of nearly 80 meters. The three wings on her back were larger than her body itself. 

The light faded, revealing her majestic dragon form in all its glory. She stretched her wings, two on her left side and one on her right. One of the wings on the left was severed at its base. The wingspan easily exceeded 100 meters, but the absurd size made it hard for Cladia to comprehend their true scale. 

Cladia stared in awe, her mouth agape and her eyes wide open, forgetting even to blink. Her hands were clasped against her chest as she screamed with joy. Of course, she was a little scared, but her excitement and happiness overwhelmed her fear. 

"Whoa! This is the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life!" 

Luther, however, was watching Cladia rather than Eimme. He was already accustomed to seeing the original forms of Eimme and Emu. What he never got tired of was watching other people's reactions when they saw these forms for the first time. With a genuine smile, he observed Cladia's innocent, childlike enthusiasm. 

"So? Do you like it? Have you grasped the magnificence of my true form?" Eimme asked, her voice tinged with clear pride. Though she sounded boastful, it was evident she wasn't trying to belittle anyone. 

Cladia nodded repeatedly, her excitement showing as she beamed like a child visiting a circus for the first time. Her eyes sparkled with pure delight. 

Eimme lowered one of her massive wings slowly, letting its tip touch the ground. Even though her movement was slow, the wing generated an extraordinary gust of wind. Cladia struggled not to be swept away, while Luther seemed unfazed. His enormous build, large even for a human, allowed him to stand firm, though the wind loosened the braids in his hair. The braids had been done by Emu, so he wasn't pleased that they were coming undone. 

With Luther's help, Cladia climbed onto the majestic dragon's back, adorned with crimson scales and piercing purple eyes. Luther followed closely behind. 

"Hold on tight!" Eimme said with obvious amusement and mischief in her voice. She then lifted her wings high, stretched them wide, and flapped them downward powerfully. With a single flap, they were airborne. 

The takeoff was so sudden that there wasn't even a second's delay between the wing movement and their ascent. 

They were flying. The cool air and the scorching sun's rays brushed against their skin. Cladia screamed, not in fear but in delight. 

After a relatively short flight, they arrived at Wizard Forest. Eimme landed gently and without any turbulence near the edge of the forest. She lowered one wing to the ground again, and Cladia and Luther slid down as if it were a slide. 

Then the red dragon began to transform once more, returning to her humanoid form. However, this time, there were many differences. While her facial features and hair remained the same, her body was slimmer and more slender. Her height, previously 170 cm, had now easily reached two meters. Her ears were notably longer and tapered, with earlobes that curved downward. She had become an Elf, not a human. 

Another notable change was her clothing. Normally, her clothes would be torn to shreds when she reverted from her dragon form, but this time, her dress remained intact and undamaged. However, Cladia wasn't even thinking about that. She was too astonished by the fact that Eimme had transformed into an Elf. 

"Emi! What happened to you? Why are you an Elf now?" 

"No particular reason. I've been in my human form for a long time and got a bit bored. I thought I'd try a different form. Besides, we're in a forest, aren't we? Elves love forests, so it shouldn't be a problem." She hesitated for a moment. "U-uh, unless you don't like it, I can change back." 

"No, no. I like it. I was just surprised, that's all." 

Eimme let out a deep breath. 

Luther was observing the forest closely. 

"Just as I thought. This isn't a curse." 

"I don't know much about curses, but one thing I do know is that this forest is brimming with an enormous amount of magical energy." The immense magic emanating from the forest made Eimme's skin crawl. Normally, humans couldn't see the physical manifestation of magic, but Cladia's eyes were different. Thanks to the giant blood inherited from her father, she could also see the immense magic leaking from the forest. 

"Ah!" Luther suddenly exclaimed. "Yes! The magical energy! The absurd amount of magical energy in the forest must have transformed the creatures and plants here. Additionally, humans who entered the forest were likely crushed under the weight of this energy, resulting in sickness, disabilities, or even death." 

"So, you're saying the forest isn't actually cursed, but humans mistook the harm caused by the overwhelming magical energy and the transformed creatures as a curse?" 

"Exactly. Humans love stories like that. When they can't comprehend something, they quickly come up with labels like that." 

"Then, to bring those slaves here, we need to find the source of this magical energy, right?" Cladia asked eagerly. 

"Yes, that's about right," Luther replied. 

"Then I'm going into the forest. You two stay here." 

"No, we're coming too!" Cladia protested. 

"You can't. Didn't you hear what Luther just said? This forest is dangerous even for me. Emu probably couldn't survive here for more than a few hours. Since I'm more skilled in combat than magic, I'm better equipped to defend myself and can stay here longer. But that doesn't apply to you." 

"But—" 

"If you enter the forest, you'll die, Dia. The amount of magical energy here is a threat even to me." Her words were firm. When mentioning Cladia's potential death, she didn't hesitate for even a moment. It was an undeniable fact. 

"Can't you protect us?" Cladia clasped her hands together and struck a pose to emphasize her eyes. 

Ahk! Those adorable puppy-dog eyes! Damn it. I can't resist this! Eimme thought. 

"Fine, fine. I'll protect you and Luther. It'll be much more exhausting for me, but it'll work. Follow me." 

Cladia struck a victory pose before she and Luther trailed after Eimme. 

They entered the forest. The atmosphere was overwhelmingly heavy. The trees weren't particularly dense and didn't block the sky, but the forest's interior was nearly pitch-black. Eimme hadn't specifically chosen her Elf form for this, but her night vision was proving to be incredibly useful. 

There wasn't a single living creature in sight. Aside from the rustling of leaves and branches in the wind, there was no sound. After about half an hour of walking, they began to hear the sound of a stream, but despite their continued progress, they couldn't find any stream. 

The forest was vast. Three hours had already passed, and they hadn't made much progress. The uneven terrain and Luther's massive size, which often required them to stop and help him duck under obstacles, certainly didn't help. 

After a while, they realized they were in a village. At first, they hadn't noticed because all the houses were in ruins. The buildings and houses were entirely made of wood and covered in vines. In the already dark forest, these structures blended in perfectly. Whatever this place had been, it was clear it had been abandoned a long time ago. 

Some of the houses were still relatively intact. Their design didn't resemble human architecture. Humans typically built structures with practicality and minimalism in mind, but these were different. The wood was meticulously carved, and the buildings were constructed with great care. Even now, despite their age and decay, these old, moldy houses exuded elegance. 

"This must be Elven architecture. I've never seen it before, but I've read about it in many books. They resemble the descriptions from those texts," Luther remarked, stroking his chin with his right hand. 

"No, that's impossible. Elves only live in the East, beyond the Half-Mountains, in the Elven Forest and the city of Ilysluma. That's the only Elven society in this human plane," Eimme dismissed Luther's idea. 

"You might be right about that, but you can't deny what's in front of us, Eimme. These houses are undoubtedly built in Elven style. You should know that better than anyone, having lived among Elves for a long time." 

"..." Eimme had no response to that. Luther was right. These houses were unmistakably constructed with Elven architecture. 

Cladia, meanwhile, made no comments. She simply wandered through the ruins, inspecting her surroundings. 

Eimme suddenly heard a scream. It wasn't an ordinary sound; it was Cladia's voice. She and Luther immediately rushed toward the source. 

Cladia was sitting on the ground in front of a massive block of ice, her expression filled with terror as she stared at it. The ice emitted a chilling aura, but the frightening part wasn't the cold—it was what was inside the ice. 

The block of ice towered nearly 10 meters high and spanned about 20 meters wide. This was clearly the village's center, as all the paths from the surrounding buildings led here. 

Inside the ice, there were countless Elves. Some were frozen mid-run, while others wore expressions of horror, trapped within the icy prison.