TN: Please read my translations only on my website nyx-translation.com since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi and Patreon to read several chapters ahead!
Sponsored chapter by Patreon. Enjoy~
TL: ALT
Chapter 151 – Day 43 of the Strategy Life
They say it takes a full day to travel from the castle town to the Elf Kingdom.
Since it would take too much time, the three of us set out early in the morning. We arrived at the two border forts early and waited in the nearby forest. Sylvia and Hel, who always sleep in the morning, made beds for themselves and began to sleep.
I looked at the road leading to the forts from the forest.
There were forts on both the East Kenya and Elf Kingdom sides, and a high wall stretched along the border. Many soldiers were stationed around the forts, and carriages traveled on the road. The carriages were not engaged in trade with the Elf Kingdom but were apparently transporting food and other necessities for the soldiers.
Since diplomatic relations had not yet been normalized, it seemed that only special individuals were allowed to pass through.
Since there were many trees and almost no people, the soldiers were chatting in a relaxed atmosphere.
Since I had nothing to do, I decided to practice suppressing my magic. I simply rotated the magic inside my body without moving much. Perhaps because I remained motionless like a rock, small birds and monsters approached me.
Looking up, I saw an eagle soaring overhead. As I watched it effortlessly cross the border and circle around, I wondered how the boundary between monsters was determined.
Maybe it’s the climate. The demonic land has climate fluctuations, and the vegetation changes drastically depending on the location.
I’ve heard that the elf kingdom is mostly forest. I wonder what kind of monsters inhabit the area and what types of plants thrive there. I suppose there are probably a lot of coniferous trees.
As I stare intently at the fortress, I sometimes see the scenery on the elven side of the border sway. Is it some kind of illusion magic? I decided not to investigate further, as it could lead to an international incident.
I’m hungry, so I rummage through Hel’s bag. I find some dried meat and take a little. I also gather some wild herbs growing nearby.
I thought about hunting the monsters that attacked us, but unlike in the demonic land, the monsters in this forest were docile. They ran away when we made eye contact with each other.
As I pondered whether monsters’ personalities differed depending on their diet, time passed. I made a soup with wild herbs and dried meat. Around noon, Sylvia and Hel woke up.
“Good morning. I took some dried meat from your bag.”
I told Hel what had happened, and she waved her hand and said, “Do as you like,” and then headed for the nearby river with Sylvia.
“Well, what shall we do?”
Hel asked, taking a sip of soup.
“What?”
“I-It’ll be interesting to see how the elves respond to Makyo’s lack of manners.”
“I don’t think I’m that bad, am I?”
When I asked, both of them laughed.
“R-Right now, the town below East Kenya Castle must be in chaos. The lord of the demonic land just stopped by to say hello and left.”
“But that’s fine. We’re not here to play. We just came to pick up the dwarves. We don’t want to get caught up in the nobles’ factional strife by making unnecessary promises.”
“I don’t want any trouble. It would be nice to have a trade route, though.”
“Then there’s no need to take the initiative. The demonic land is more important right now.”
Since the two former nobles said so, I guess I don’t need to worry about it.
There was no bread because Chel wasn’t with us, but Hel added some dried meat, and we were full.
“Is that the elf magic Marcia told us to be careful of?”
I pointed to the swaying scenery on the elf side.
“Yeah, that’s probably just some old illusion magic. It’s fine. If Makyo shows them the real thing, it won’t be a problem. If they get too rude, we can destroy one of their villages.”
Hel laughed after saying that.
“D-Don’t actually do that.”
“I know. But if we don’t show them some kind of power, they might cast a curse on us.”
“That’s right. But if it’s just an illusionist or a sorcerer, I can put them to sleep.”
Hel took a bottle of pickled sleeping flowers out of her bag and showed it to me. She had probably used them to coat crossbow arrows.
“I-If it’s too much trouble, just destroy the fort. No, don’t do that.”
“I know. Anyway, I hope the dwarf engineer arrives safely.”
“Yeah. Makyo, can you put some magic into the crossbow?”
Hel, who had been looking up at the sky, suddenly stood up and handed me the crossbow. Maybe she found it while looking for dinner.
After infusing the crossbow with magic, I handed it back to Hel, who fired an arrow straight into the sky. The recoil sent her flying backward, but she stood firm.
“Sylvia, prepare the blood! Makyo, catch it before it falls and keep it alive!”
Following Hel’s instructions, I charged magic into my legs and jumped upward. Just then, an eagle with an arrow lodged in its wing began spinning and falling toward us.
I jumped onto a tree branch and caught the eagle. Its heart was still beating, so it was probably still alive.
I landed on the ground, pulled the arrow out of the eagle, and examined it.
“This eagle is a familiar. They know about us. Let’s send it back with a message.”
“I see.”
Hel healed the eagle’s wounds with a potion and put it to work for Sylvia.
“As a lord, what kind of magic do you think would be best?”
Hel took out a long, thin piece of paper and asked me.
“Something that looks like it comes from the demonic land.”
“Got it.”
Hel drew a magic circle on the paper and tied it to the eagle’s leg.
“Return to your master.”
Sylvia threw the eagle into the air, and it spread its wings and flew toward the Elf Kingdom.
“What kind of magic circle did you draw?”
“It was in P.J.’s notebook. Don’t worry. I warned them.”
A few minutes after she said that an explosion was heard from the Elf Kingdom.
“We warned them. It seems there are some over there who won’t listen to reason.”
Before Sasha and the others arrived, we went to the fort and gave them some healing potions.
“There was an explosion in the elf kingdom. Someone may have been injured, so could you take these to the elf kingdom?”
“I heard about it, but who are you?”
“I’m the margrave of the Estinia Kingdom. Didn’t you receive a message that I was coming today? Soldiers from the army will arrive later, but I came to check the situation first. More importantly, isn’t it noisy over there?”
The soldiers at the fortress seemed confused by the adventurer-like man’s sudden appearance.
“It’s okay. I’m an elf, too. There’s no poison in it. It’s healing medicine from the demonic land. Its effectiveness is guaranteed by the demonic land.”
Hel applied the potion to her own arm to show that it wasn’t poisonous, then handed it to the soldier.
After watching the soldier enter the fort to report, we decided to wait in the forest again.
As evening fell, Sasha and the others arrived at the fort in an empty carriage. Sasha scolded me, but I couldn’t understand her.
“Margrave, why did you go ahead without us!?”
“Hel and Sylvia are night owls. They’re sleepy in the morning.”
“Huh…so what?”
“The carriage is bumpy and hard to sleep in. I thought it would be better to go ahead and get some sleep. Besides, you’re mounted soldiers, yet you’re moving slowly.”
“Even horses have their limits!”
“Run faster than the horses!”
“…That’s impossible! We’re human!”
“What are you saying? It’s like you’re saying I’m not human!”
“That’s right!”
“Fine. Then don’t expect me to have common sense like humans.”
While we were arguing, we heard Hel and the other female cavalry soldiers laughing.
Before we knew it, the soldiers of the fort had gathered around as well, watching our petty argument with a “here we go again” expression.
“What’s going on?”
“Margrave, the elves are waiting at the fort.”
A spear-wielding soldier reported.
“I see. I’ll go now.”
After gathering our belongings in the forest, we returned to the road and were greeted by a large number of soldiers from the fort.
“You were the real one, weren’t you?”
“People often say I’m hard to see.”
“We will protect you if anything happens.”
“Yes, that would be a great help.”
When we arrived at the fort, we were asked to write our names and positions on three documents. In addition to receiving a pass, this was to prove that we were not impostors and had not been ill in the past few months.
A middle-aged soldier dressed as a magician kindly guided us through the Kingdom of Estinia’s fortress without any problems. Sasha and the rest of the cavalry left their horses there.
“Diplomatic relations between Estinia and the Elves are still in the negotiation stage. We hope that this incident will bring us one step closer to reconciliation, so we would appreciate it if the Margrave were treated generously.”
The captain smiled, then suddenly became serious and continued.
“That’s the official line, but if anything goes wrong, call us immediately. We’ll be ready to go at any time.”
It seemed that the captain had no intention of forgiving the elves who broke through the border and joined the rebellion in East Kenya.
“Understood. Watch the sky, too. There seems to be a familiar spirit bird flying around.”
“Yes!”
The captain and his soldiers watched us off as Sasha’s cavalry, and I crossed the border and entered the elf kingdom.
“Welcome, Makyo-sama, Margrave of the Estinia Kingdom.”
The tall ambassador, surrounded by elf soldiers, greeted us.
“The healing potions you gave us earlier were a great help.”
“How many people were injured in the explosion?”
Hel asked.
“Helgen Turoon… The elf kingdom is not united. Just like you.”
The ambassador said with a bitter expression.
“I’m asking how many people were injured.”
“Eight. They are all recovering thanks to the healing potions.”
“We warned you, but you wouldn’t listen. Your logic isn’t the only one that applies. Thinking you’re the only ones who are right is arrogant. Now, hurry up and lead us to the magic circle to break the curse.”
Hel walked ahead, ignoring the ambassador. The soldiers and the ambassador hurried after her.
The interior of the large stone fortress was well-lit by magic stone lamps.
“The magic stone lamps are just blinding you. If you look closely, you’ll see that it’s full of familiars, so be careful.”
Hel warned me, but I didn’t know how to be careful. I could see a magic circle drawn near the lamps that lit the hallway, though. The armor on display seemed to have insects nesting inside. When I listened to the sound of my footsteps, I noticed that the floorboards weren’t uniform in thickness; some parts felt thin.
The place seemed full of traps.
As we proceeded down the long hallway, we came to a large room. In the center was a carpet with a large magic circle drawn on it.
“This is a magic circle to break curses. It can instantly break minor curses. To prevent the curse from spreading to the elf kingdom, please step on the circle.”
This is for epidemic prevention, so it’s better to step on it. It would be helpful if it could also break my curse.”
Hel stood on the magic circle and joked. We followed suit.
For a moment, a pale blue light enveloped the entire room, but nothing in particular seemed to happen.
The only thing that happened was that Sasha’s necklace broke.
“Was that a cursed necklace?”
“No, it’s for eavesdropping. The captain gave it to me. Everyone is worried about the Margrave.”
“I see.”
When we left the fort, a carriage was waiting for us. I thought there would be dwarf engineers at the fort, but we were told they were being transferred and that we should wait in a nearby town.
Since we didn’t have any large luggage and could move faster on horseback, we declined the carriage. The cavalry lent us horses from the Elf Kingdom. Perhaps it was because the cavalry was skilled or the horses were docile, but none of them refused to carry soldiers from another country.
“Are you sure you’ll be all right? There are monsters around, and it will be dark soon.”
“I can take care of myself. Besides, I want to take a good look at the elf kingdom.”
“I see. Then…”
Only the ambassador boarded the carriage.
As expected, the Elf Kingdom was covered in coniferous forests. There were signs of people and monsters everywhere.
However, I couldn’t hear any monster cries or footsteps. Perhaps they were small.
As the sun set, darkness enveloped the area. There was only one road, so it was impossible to get lost. However, the horses were frightened and refused to go fast.
We proceeded at the horses’ pace. Occasionally, we sensed the presence of bandits or monsters in the woods beside the road. When we tried to investigate, though, they fled.
By the time we reached the town, the moon was high in the sky.
The elf town was lit by colorful magic stone lamps and full of life. In the center stood a huge tree as if protecting the town.
“That big tree is called the Spirit Tree. The elves relied on it to hear the voices of the spirits and develop their village. In the old days, there were even shamans who could see spirits.”
Hel explained as she looked at the giant tree from the inn window.
“A-Are there any shamans left now?”
Sylvia asked Hel.
“As magic has been deciphered, it is said that the spirits’ power has gradually faded away.”
For Hel, who had been imprisoned before arriving in the demonic land, this might be her first glimpse of an elf town in a long time.
While Hel and Sylvia chatted, I lay down on my bed. Whether from the fatigue of the journey or the sense of security from entering the elf kingdom, I soon fell asleep.
If you like my translations, please support me on Ko-Fi and subscribe my Patreon to read several chapters ahead!