Dahak, Prince of Snakes

　The Sea of Trees of Elyos is a vast forest.
　Its perimeter is wide and to the northwest is a mountainous region.
　This mountainous area is home to mines and dwarven settlements.
　The dwarves dig holes and extract the ore.
　In one of these disused tunnels we hide.
　Inside the hole are the warriors of the serpent-man (Eag) and serpent-woman (Lamia) under our command.
　It's a true snake pit.
　There were other werewolves (wolfmen) as well, but they are not here as they are now entering the forest.
　The angels occasionally pass by, but they have not been found.

'Young Master. Master Dahak.

　As I'm holding the lamia in the hole to distract myself, the robed one calls out to me.
　Like the two-legged race, they have legs.
　But in true form, he is a snake from the waist down, just like the lamia.
　Botis, the goddess of cunning.
　Clad in the robes of a sorceress, she is the little goddess of your mother's first entourage, and the wisest of the men under her command.
　She is good at scheming, and she is the one who betrayed her followers, the humans, and created the Order of the Serpent.
　She gives grace to the most devout of them and reincarnates them as snake men.
　I've heard rumors that the Elyos people call it the curse of Eeg.
　This Botis came with me as my chaperone.

'What is it?　Botis?　You wanted to see me?　You're right, we're not fighting Alfos.

　He answers grimly and glares.

'Are you still unhappy that you can't fight?'
'Of course!　Botis.

　This Botis forbids me to fight Alfos.
　This is why I am so frustrated.
　I lost to Alfos before. But it shouldn't be possible for me to lose this time, either.
　I am frustrated that I can't fight.
　If it wasn't for my mother's insistence, I wouldn't have listened to Botis.

''Uh-huh, I'm sorry, young master. But we will have to be patient for a while longer. The snake venom has already entered their bodies. And we have the Fresh Blood Princess helping us. There's no way we can't succeed.

　Botis laughs.
　The fresh-blooded princess Zafarada has gone into the forest and is letting the trees die.
　It's a ploy by Botis.
　He plans to make us think that this one is going to break the seal on the Wesen by force.

"Hmm, is everything going according to your plan?　Botis?

　Then I look at the one behind Botis.
　It's small in stature. And the figure is deformed.
　Its entire body is covered in rust-colored metal.
　It is not wearing armor. More than half of its body is made of metal.
　This hiding place was guided by this one to begin with.
　It seems to be a collaborator of Botis, but I don't know its exact identity.
　But I don't care.

"Yes, my young master. "Yes, my dear boy, it will work out.

　Then Botis laughed.



◆Chiyuki, the black-haired wise man

　All of us are gathered in a room in Eldo's palace.

'Well, ....... I wonder what I'll do: ......

　Kouki is taken away by the elves, and he wonders what to do.
　Normally, the right thing to do is to get him back.
　But I'm torn as to whether or not we should move.
　On a sober note, Kouki is a child entrusted to the Temple of Raina. In other words, he is a child dedicated to the goddess Raina.
　And the elf is a subordinate of the gods of Elyos.
　It would be easiest for us to convince them to return him to Lena.
　This way, we won't have to make a move either.
　The priest Haurena should have already informed the temple of the St. Renaria Republic of this matter. From there, she will report it to Renna.
　However, there is also the possibility that Renna will be silent about it.
　Raina and the other gods of Elyos don't get directly involved unless there's something wrong with them.
　It is possible that they don't care about one boy, even though he has been entrusted to their own temple.
　It's not for us to say if Raina is going to keep quiet about it.
　We can just leave her alone.
　But I don't think that's going to happen.

"It's okay, Saana!　I'll bring you back, Kouki.　That's right, Chiyuki-san!

　Cyrone, who has been fussing over Saana, looks at me.
　Sirone is going to go get it back.

'Err... ......'

　I stammer.
　What should I say?

'Silone. If the elves have kidnapped you, you don't have to go and help them, do you?　Maybe you'll live happily ever after out there.

　Rage says to Sirone.
　Actually, Rage is right. The elves are always young and only female, and they are all beautiful.
　There are many men who want to be kidnapped by the elves.
　That's why it might be better for Kouki to grow up in the land of the elves.
　However, as a rage, he might just not want to have a man attached to his daughter.

''Rei-kun, that would be a pity for Saana.

　Sahoko is quick to protest.
　Saana also seems to be in a bad mood, as if she understands the words.
　It seems to be the same for Reno, Nao and Kyouka.
　By the way, Kaya hasn't reacted in any way.

''I certainly feel sorry for Saana.
That's right. Poor little Saana.
'Yes, yes, you should take back the boy who will be good-looking in the future.

　Only Reno seems to have a different reason to take it back.
　Elves are face-eaters, by the way. They don't even look at the ugly ones.

So let's go get it back.

　Cyrone says with pride.
　There will be no stopping this.
　I let out a sigh.

'It can't be helped, but it can't be all of us. Sahoko-san has to stay with Sana and her father should stay with her. ...... Assuming it's decided that it's Shirone who's going, then Nao and Reno should go too .......

　Think about choosing people.
　It would be better to go for Sirone, as well as Lino, who can use spirit magic that surpasses elves to Nao, who has high detection power.
　But then there's no one to stop Shirohne when she goes out of control.
　If that's the case, I or Kaya should go.

''Then perhaps Chiyuki-sama should go as well. I'll take care of the business of this country for you.''

　Kaya says, noticing her gaze.
　As a matter of fact, Kaya is better suited to be the politician than me.
　That's why it is better for Kaya to stay behind than for me to stay behind.
　And the job Kaya says is to build the wall of the city.
　After all, Eldo had to build the wall too.
　If he built the wall, it would limit the number of citizens.
　Because the citizens must be given the right to live within the walls.
　If the number of citizens was increased indefinitely, the country would not be able to accommodate them all within the walls and the country would fall apart.
　In time, Eldo would be just like the St. Renaria Republic.
　But there was no choice. This world was not safe enough to not have to build walls.
　He also decided to actively receive the support of the Raina cult as he built the walls.
　Raina is the goddess of protection and her followers include wall-building craftsmen.
　We plan to enlist the help of dwarves as well, but we need human artisans since they are few in number.
　For that reason, the Temple of Renna will also need to be moved from within the palace and a new one built.
　We will also have the temple knights of St. Renaria stationed there.
　Eldo is a new country. We can't provide knights to keep the streets safe.
　So, they will rely on the St. Renaria Republic instead.
　This will make the influence of the Order stronger.
　However, since we've turned against the Lizardmen of the Swamp, we need to raise the defensive strength of the Elders as soon as possible.
　They couldn't train the knights for too long.
　The construction of that wall and the consultation with the knights should be done by Kaya rather than me who was initially opposed to it.

'Well, I'll go with you. Kaya. Take care of the rest.

　Shirone looks happy when I say it.
　And Kyouka, who is the representative of this country along with Rage, will be asked to stay behind as well.
　Now the members of Kouki's recapture have been decided.
　If we're going to move, the sooner we move, the better.
　Thus, we will be heading to the Elf Country.




Roushien, Princess of the Elves

　Unlike the trip, it's easy to return to the Elysian Sea of Trees.
　Because you can return with transference magic.
　But even so, you can't directly return to the dream city of Arcadia as a young man.
　You can only return to the outskirts of the forest with transference. From there, you will return to Arcadia.
　But if the car that Kelluneier is driving, it will be easy to get back.
　I drop my gaze.
　There's a boy asleep with his head in my lap.
　He's cute.
　At first glance, I couldn't help but want him.
　I've never felt this way before.

''Guhehehee.''

　I can't help but laugh.
　I feel a look and look up to see Tess, Piara and Oleola looking at me.

'What?'　Do you guys have something to say?

　I glare at them and the three of them look away.

''No, it's nothing. Lady Rouxien-sama.
There's nothing wrong with me. I'm not really attracted to him.
Yes, Your Highness. As you say, Lord Piera, I didn't pull it off.

　I wonder what it is. If it's nothing in particular, please don't look at me like that.
　In the first place, the girls are not happy.
　The plan was to stay in the land of the brave for much longer.
　Especially Piara and Oleola seemed to want to stay with the brave men more.
　But when I suddenly said I was going home, I lost my chance to stay.
　But I really wanted to leave as soon as possible.

'But is it alright?　I don't care if it's just one of those people, but you can't bring them in from the brave men.

　Oleola says with concern.

'Oh, no problem. It's just that she was just babysitting the daughter of a brave man, she doesn't seem to be particularly involved. Even Raina-sama doesn't bother to care about what happens to one person's child.

That's a given.
Human daughters wither quickly. They are lowly.
Of course Kouki would be better off with me.

'Well, sure, .......'

　Piara nodded in agreement.
　Piara must have experienced this in the past.

'That's just the way it is, even she'd rather be with us than the soon to be dead human girl.

　I stroke the pretty girl's cheek.
　Then she looks happy. I'm sure she's having a pleasant dream.

'I'm sure he'll make a fine fairy knight.

　I take Kouki in my arms.

'Sleep...'
　Go to sleep
　Pretty girl
　I'm going to take you to dreamland
　It's a land of fun elves that never gets old
　When we wake up, we'll dance in the beautiful flower garden...
　Now go to sleep.
　Go to sleep
　Pretty girl...

　I sing.
　In the car.