Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

Chapter 174: Monster Invasion

◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

We had just left the elven capital, Arseidia, and were now stationed at Cartahaugh Fortress.

From here, we'd be staging an ambush on the enemy.

A massive dog stood before me—a beast known as Cu Sith.

The Cu Sith was a pet of the elves, an ancient creature whose ancestors were the dog and wolf species of this world.

To put it simply, they were distant kin of Ferion.

However, since dogs were considered much lower than wolves in this world, Cu Sith and their kind were treated as lesser species—something akin to the common folk among humans.

The most famous of these were the dogfolk of Gypseal, who once revered Ferion as their god, though they'd since turned to other deities.

「It seems those snake folks have made their move, Chiyuki-sama.」

She had been dispatched by the elven queen specifically to assist us.

By the way, that Cu Sith was her pet. They had just returned from a scouting mission.

Since Alphos and Nier were heading off to deal with the Serpent Prince and his cohorts, the elves had to contend with orcs and goblins.

Our mission was to rescue the people enslaved by the goblins, while also aiding the elves in battle.

The elf projected a vision through magic, showing the Cu Sith’s reconnaissance.

「Those are the boar riders of the orcs, eh. There are a lot of them. Are you sure they'll be alright? It doesn't look like the elves’ cavalry could overpower the boar riders, but…」

The so-called elven cavalry was actually a mix of the unicorn riders from Aureiad and the Ceryneia riders of the elven knights—lightly armored units armed with bows.

The elves didn’t have heavy cavalry capable of strong defense.

「This is quite a huge army indeed… What shall we do then?」

「OI!」

I unintentionally retorted, unable to hide my concern.

It seemed even the elves hadn’t anticipated such a massive force from their enemies.

Shirone and Rino, who were with me, shot a glare at the elf.

「Don't worry about it, Chimaki. This is exactly the reason why those Elios folks told them to cooperate with the dwarves.」

The Silver Witch Kuna explained calmly.

She seemed to understand the gods of Elios better than we did, interpreting their advice to the elves and dwarves in a way that made sense.

If she could grasp the gods’ will so well, I only wished she'd remember my name correctly. It’s Chiyuki, not Chimaki!

I had told her a dozen times, yet she seemed to ignore it.

The female catfolk and the dwarven warriors stood behind Kuna.

It seemed she had become some kind of dwarven representative.

「Well, dwarf-san's golem unit should be able to stop the boar riders.」

Nao, who had been keeping a close watch from the window, remarked while eyeing the golem.

The dwarves were heavily armored, and their golem unit was an absolute hulk of steel.

「My thoughts exactly, the problem is where they'll come from.」

The iron golems were slow and few in number.

They wouldn’t be effective unless we positioned them along the boar riders' route.

The enemy’s army consisted mostly of orcs and goblins, so we just needed to ambush them on their way—but the problem was, we didn’t yet know their route.

Furthermore, the forest around here was rich with resources for the orcs and goblins, so they wouldn’t need to worry about supply lines.

If this war turned into a protracted conflict, the elves would suffer.

Thus, they needed to end the battle quickly with minimal losses.

But as we all knew, the enemy's war potential exceeded even the combined might of the orcs and goblins.

While we had the advantage in quality, we couldn't afford to underestimate them.

「Chiyuki-san, shouldn't we make our move as soon as possible in this kind of situation?」

Shirone nodded in agreement with Rino's suggestion.

「Correct. Rino and co should move faster.」

「My thoughts exactly… That will minimize the damage.」

I agreed with her.

For us, the orcs and goblins were nothing but numbers. It was like a million chickens against ten thousand T. Rexes.

「That's indeed the case. But, the moment you make your move, those people will do the same. Just be careful about that.」

「Eh? Aren't you going to help us?」

「What are you talking about, Shirone? I might have said that I'll cooperate with you guys, but not actively.」

Kuna spoke with a cold, chilling voice.

She had finally gotten Shirone’s name right, it seemed, but her apathy toward humans was unmistakable.

She lounged comfortably in her chair, surrounded by handsome young men—those very same boys who had welcomed us the night before.

I remembered their faces well.

「Excuse me, do you want something to drink?」

One of the boys noticed my gaze and offered me a beverage.

He was a cute, rabbit-like boy.

So adorable, it almost felt like a new door was opening in me.

「Thank you. But I'll refrain for the time being.」

I glanced at the elf who was trying to smile at me as gently as possible.

Nao seemed to be glaring at me as well.

They must have realized I was ogling the boys.

But frankly, I wasn’t bothered by their gaze.

「By the way, our enemy doesn't seem to have assembled their troops yet, do they have another force aside from the orcs and goblins?」

「Yes, if we exclude the other forces like the wolves, or the snake folk like the lamia, they also have a small number of kobolds. But, I don't think they're a threat for Chiyuki-sama and the others.」

I nodded thoughtfully.

Kobolds were creatures that lived in tunnels deep within mountains.

Though they had dog-like faces, they weren’t related to the dogfolk. They were actually more akin to lizards.

Smaller than goblins, cowardly and weak, their true strength lay in their ability to dig and manipulate the earth—skills that even dwarves envied.

They were also a natural enemy of dwarves, as the cobalt ore in their tunnels was difficult to process and interfered with the dwarves' work.

Even though they were weak, their numbers alone could pose a threat.

They likely be used as construction workers due to their natural digging ability.

I looked at the projection again and saw kobolds among the enemy ranks.

Then, the projection flickered and became distorted, showing a blurry image.

It seemed the Cu Sith had been discovered and attacked.

I saw the figure of the one who had attacked the dog—a black-haired wolfman.

The wolfman had used a shuriken to chase off the Cu Sith.

That was the last image the Cu Sith managed to capture before fleeing.

「It seems they got found out by a shadow runner. Good job in coming back.」

The elf praised her Cu Sith.

The "shadow runner" was a wolfman skilled in stealth and ninja-like tactics.

As soon as the Cu Sith realized they were up against a shadow runner, they had wisely retreated.

In truth, Cu Sith weren’t ideal for scouting missions. Their strength lay in their speed and their ability to gather information.

「Yup, good job in returning.」

I too praised the Cu Sith.

But the real problem remained.

「We still can't get the crucial information. We still have no idea about their plans. Elios aside, they won't be able to defeat even the elves with their current war potential. They must have some other plan.」

Kuna spoke in a tired voice.

I agreed with her.

The orcs and goblins, while numerous, weren’t enough to overpower the elves, and even if they managed to do so, the angels of Elios would wipe them out without hesitation.

So what kind of plan could they be cooking up?

We exchanged glances, still pondering the mystery.

 ◆ Goddess of Wisdom and Victory; Rena

Once Kouki woke up from his sleep, Kuroki and Kouki resumed their training. I watched them from a little distance, my gaze soft.

Their meeting had been pure coincidence, after all, and had nothing to do with me. Still, it made me smile. Blood, after all, was thicker than water.

「Ufufufufu.」

I couldn’t help but giggle to myself.

Kouki had the potential to become the strongest swordsman, just like Kuroki. How could I not be happy about that? Kuroki was teaching him how to fight with a wooden sword, and Kouki was doing his best to absorb his father's lessons. Of course, he still didn’t know the truth—that Kuroki was his father—but that was a small detail. The blood flowing through Kouki's veins didn’t need a label to be real.

What worried me, though, was that someday Kouki might want to go to Nargol to find his father. When that day came, I swore I'd stop him, no matter what.

「Uhm, Rena-sama. You're grinning from ear to ear…」

As I observed Kuroki and Kouki, a voice pulled me from my thoughts. I turned to see the dryad, standing behind me with a nervous expression. If my memory served me right, her name was Tess. I’d heard she had some history with Kuroki, but I never asked about it. After all, it would make me seem… well, jealous of a mere dryad.

Honestly, I had no issue removing her if she became a problem. But that was neither here nor there. I had more pressing matters to discuss with her and the others.

「Cough! Listen up, Luusien. I trust you girls know you’ve overheard a secret that’s not meant to be known, yes?」

I cleared my throat and addressed Luusien, who stood at the front as the group's representative. Just in case, I might need to use constraint magic on her. That should keep this secret from spilling to anyone else. And in doing so, I could also use her as my personal envoy.

「UNDERSTOOD! MOTHER-IN-LAW!」

「DON'T CALL ME MOTHER-IN-LAW!」

I used my iron claw on Luusien's face and raised her up.

It seems I need to give this b*tch a painful lesson!

Maybe I should just crush her skull altogether!

「OUCH! OUCH!」

I ignored Luusien who was screaming in pain.

The other three elves behind her were drawing away from us.

They're retreating bit-by-bit.

Well it's not like I'm going to kill her for real.

「L-I-S-T-E-N C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y L-U-U-S-I-E-N! After this, I'll have you guys go to the human country to work as Kouki’s assistants! Naturally, you know what’s gonna happen if you try to do something funny to Kouki R-I-G-H-T!?」

I raised the pressure of my iron claw on Luusien's face to make her understand.

「Yesp. Understoo~d.」

Luusien replied with teary eyes.

Well then, this should be enough.

I looked at Kuroki and Kouki again.

◆Dark Knight; Kuroki

「What in the world is she going to do?」

I glanced over at Rena, who seemed to be doing something with the elves at the edge of the training grounds. She was definitely upset—her expression alone was enough to make anyone think twice. Honestly, she looked downright terrifying, even from here.

「Is something the matter, Master?」

Kouki’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. He was looking up at me with bright, eager eyes, his enthusiasm almost palpable. It was clear he was desperate to learn swordcraft as quickly as possible.

But overdoing it would only harm his body. Strength didn't come overnight—it was the result of a long, gradual process of training. So, I made sure to teach him the basics that he would need to practice daily.

The rest, however, was up to him. His dedication and experience would shape him into the swordsman he wanted to become.

We stood facing each other, wooden swords in hand. Kouki was my son.

I still can't believe it when Rena told me. It was a blow that hit me out of nowhere, leaving me shaken. I had to brace myself before I could face Kouki and tell him the truth. I wanted to teach him everything I knew, but what would happen if I told him I was his father?

It could lead to an unpredictable reaction, something that might undo Rena’s careful guidance. It felt like a problem straight out of a story from Japan—a situation where truth and secrecy collided in a way that no one could anticipate.

Just as I was lost in thought, a voice cut through the air.

「Kuroki-dono!」

Dwarf King Arberon appeared suddenly, interrupting our training. I stopped, lowering my wooden sword, and turned to face him.

「Is something the matter, Arberon-dono?」

He looked serious as he spoke, his voice low.

「Yes, the snake folk have finally made their move.」

At his words, I exchanged a glance with Kouki. It seemed that the time for training was over. I had a mission to accomplish, and it was time to set aside the sword for the moment. The real battle was waiting.

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