It was not by design that the humans had discovered this village. It was because Aries had done a good job of maintaining the wards themselves. No matter how worn out his mind was, he needed to do what needed to be done for the sake of the rest of the village. With that in mind, Aries was doing his job as usual. But I never dreamed that I would be discovered by a human being.


　The human race has been holed up in the polar regions since the Human-Magic War one hundred and fifty years ago, where they suffered a heavy defeat. That's about the extent of the elves' perception of them. They had known before that they had an advanced civilization, but they didn't know how they were living at the moment.


　That's how the elves were all gathered together once. That was how they should interact with the humans.


''What should we do, chief?''
Should I ask for help?
But we have the curse...
'Yes that's the problem.


　Aries also participated in that meeting, but the problem was still........the curse 《Curse》. Even if he tried to ask for help from a human, if he betrayed himself too excessively, the curse would be triggered. Until now, elves who tried to escape from this village have been found with a miserable corpse outside the wards. It was a corpse that looked like it had an exploding imprint on its back.


　The conditions for triggering it are unknown, but it can't be done poorly. What should I do........Just as I was thinking about this, that Ancient Scorpion, the Ancient Scorpion, came over and told me this.


''Pretend to interact with the humans and if you can kill a person, kill them. If you can do that, I'll let you go.
What's a person's...?


　The village chief asks that. And the words that came out were approximately unbelievable.

'His name is Julia Curtis. She has white hair, and she's a little boy. Listen. Kill him and I'll let you go. Do it well...


　The time they were in this village was probably less than five minutes. That was because the Ancient Scorpion, Ancient Scorpion, Ancient Scorpion, escaped the opponent's perception. The existence of Julia's Twilight Sight was already perceived by the opponent as well. Perhaps if they stayed on this earth for too long, its existence would be exposed. The Ancient Scorpion, Ancient Scorpion, told him just that and immediately went back.


　He was going to do what Aurir asked him to do, no, that was no longer a threat of any kind, but he was going to do it well. Because he knew that if he didn't, they would be the next ones to die.


'Village chief you're going to do it?'
I guess we'll just have to do it. I don't know if he's telling the truth, but that's all we have left.
....


　The air is still dark and heavy as ever. I don't know how many of my people have died so far. Nearly all of the elves here have had their family, friends and loved ones brutally killed. The only thing they can do now is to obey him or her. There wasn't much reason left that was already capable of decent thinking.



　◇



'Kyaaaahhhhhh!
'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!


　It happened at the place where Aries was bathing, as usual. She felt the presence of something human, and when she looked in that direction, she saw a human. He had pure white hair and a well-defined face. He was only a little taller than Aries. And the two introduced themselves to each other, and at that moment Aries understood that this person was that boy.



''Well, my name is Aries.''
I'm Julia. I'm Julia Curtis.



　We shake each other's hands. He seems very nice. Aries thought so. Then she invited him to her house. It was half forced, but she was desperate, too. Aries didn't know if she could kill this person. Still, for now, she had to do what she could.......she took him to her house with such a calculating thought.


　And what we talked about at home was very interesting and suggestive. For a long time now, Aries had been interested in the outside world, unlike the other elves. Hearing that story from him made me feel very jealous and at the same time..............my heart ached.


　


　The more I talk to him, the more guilt takes over. We would kill him for ourselves, an innocent man. But if we don't kill him, we'll never be free of ourselves. What can we do? Aries spent his days in that struggle.


　Things went smoothly after that. As well as interacting with him, he also made sure that he was sent to the unit he belonged to in order to get closer to Yulia. Furthermore, it was decided that Yulia would come to the village for an inspection. It was at this point that the elves began to understand. Humans must have realized.........


'Maybe the humans have noticed.
Chief, what are you going to do now?
'I'll leave it to Aries. Fortunately, he's at your house now.
'What?　And, but.....
'Aries. It pains me to leave everything to you. Besides, that Lord Yulia is probably strong. That amount of magical elements is extraordinary. And it seems that he has the rank of Zero in the special class anti-magician hierarchy. That's the strongest title of the human race. Perhaps no one in this village will be able to kill him.......We elves may end up here.
....


　Everyone falls silent. In the first place, no one had any intention of actively carrying out a betrayal even though the human side was very good to us. If it was true, we wanted to ask for help right now. I'm not explicitly betraying them yet. They just hid it in plain sight and watched the time pass in a daze.


　But the human side has already noticed it. Yulia's dispatch is probably the best proof of that. No elf would think that they can win when they hear that they are the strongest of the human race. It's a well-known fact that in that Human Demon War, the humans fought almost evenly with the demons. In terms of combat power alone, the strongest of the human race is comparable to mages.


　There was no more energy left in the elves. They absolutely wanted to survive, and even that desire was rare. Besides, they were a gentle race. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to use humans as a stepping stone to survive...I can't help but think about it. Rather than betraying them, it might be better to just........rot away here.


　It was decided that this would be the last time the meeting would be held. All the remaining elves in the village had already prepared to die. No matter how miserable the death that awaited them in the future, it was already.......okay. Aries also acted with that thought in mind.


　But it was with a resignation and at the same time a wish for Julia to help him.


　As he slept and cast his spell, he was screaming in his mind.


　--Help me, help us...!


　Perhaps that tragic cry was delivered, but Aries' wishes were firmly conveyed to Julia.


　It was already time to be freed.



　◇



'That's all I have to say I'm sorry I didn't tell you until now.
Look up, my dear. And wipe your tears away.


　I make Aries look up as he gets down on his knees at the spot. I've heard everything. All about the circumstances of the elves. How painful it had been. The elves who kept getting their loved ones killed, and even though they were urged to commit betrayal, they kept fighting it, and in the end, they chose death rather than betrayal.


　I clench my fists tightly.


　Why, oh why, why is this world so ugly? What have the elves done? What had they done to deserve this atrocity?


　His anger almost took over, but he had gotten the answer long ago. It's a simple story: the elves are weak and the Scorpions 《Scorpions》 are stronger. The weak are destined to be oppressed and have their dignity trampled upon.


　But we must not allow such a reasoning. I have vowed to fight for such people. For the sake of the humans who have died so far, and for the sake of the elves who have endured, endured, endured and survived, I will stand against this unreasonable world.


'Aries. I will help you. I will help you and all of you elves.
Julia..........
You've worked hard. You've worked really, really, really hard.
I ... I couldn't do anything ... but watch my family, my friends being taken away ... and my sister dying ... and I wonder if I can be saved and continue to live...
"...live, Aries. You have no choice but to live for the sake of everyone who died. That's what it means to bear the deaths of others. I don't think you can ever forget them. But you must have had happy days with them. Let's keep that in mind as we continue to live our lives. It's okay, I'm here for you, we're here for you. So it's okay to be at ease now...
'Is it okay with me that I don't have to try so hard anymore...'
All right. I've worked hard enough. I don't mean to sound like a cliché, but you're already ... you're forgiven. It's ... it's okay.



　She breaks down crying on the spot, sobbing, and I gently hug her. Then Aries hugs me back as well. The warmth is indeed here, she says. I continue to hug her as if to insist that you don't have to try anymore.


　-- now, it's time to stand up to it.