[Aifa]

　Two sharp blades of wind that seemed to tear everything apart. I prevented it from flying towards me, cracking the surrounding walls, just in the nick of time.

　Already, our strength and magic power are running out of steam.

　The two men standing at the end of the aisle mocked me as I put one hand on the wall and limped along with my back curled up in a forward leaning posture.

''You're looking pretty hapless, aren't you, Aifa-dono?''

I've never seen you like that before.

　The two men in the robes of a court magician throw such a call from the back of the line of heavily armed infantry with their large shields at the ready.

　If you're going to talk big, try it in front of me.

　I wanted to say that, but honestly, I was grateful for my current situation.

　Suddenly, the emperor decided that I was revolting and taking away the elves in the imperial city, and he decided to crush me with the force of numbers.

　And apparently, the tiger's kinsmen, senior knights, and court sorcerers were placed around him and around the perimeter of the castle to deal with me so that I could not escape.

''Huh........''

　I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

　From the beginning, I never thought of myself as a survivor.

　As long as my family members are safe, there's no problem with that.

　The torture-suicide situation that took so long is exactly what I was hoping for.

"What are you laughing at...?

　I use my meager magical power to send a small block of ice flying at the man who noticed my smile and was about to raise his voice. That man, who knows my usual power, showed maximum vigilance to such a small degree of ice and wards it off with a panicked look.

''Kukukuk........''

　I laugh again at the situation.

''Heavy infantry! Move forward, little by little!

　A command is given, and soldiers in armor that looks like a block of steel start walking towards us. It's a hard, heavy, materialistic footstep. The heavily armed infantry are equipped with large shields and armor that are resistant to magic.

　This is an opponent that normally avoids fighting head-on and uses golems, pitfalls and falling rocks to physically counter them.

　If it were in my home forest, it wouldn't be a problem, but in a place like this, it would be the worst opponent.

　Now, how much time can I gain against this opponent in my current state?

　This is my final battlefield.





[Yuri]

　I am at a turning point in history.

　The emperor, the driving force behind the empire's rise to power, will be replaced by the next. The next emperor will be Schwartz Brauer, the Crown Prince who was once deprived of his right to the throne.

　If the prudent man becomes emperor, he will ensure that the Empire, which has been invading, stops expanding its territory.

　Whether this is a good outcome for the Empire is not known. But for the neighboring countries, for the Frieder states, it would certainly be a good outcome.

　Here, it would be better to owe a big debt to the person who would later become the emperor.

''Master Yuri. Everyone is already heading down.''

　I looked up when Ditsen called out to me.

'Oh? When did you all ... get a little too much on your mind?

　When he chuckles at that, Ditsen laughs in annoyance.

'Well, we're like a bonus. There's nothing more important than covering up in a time of need.''

　After saying that much, Ditsen laughed and went down the stairs.

　Ditsen is kind. He loves research, and in recognition of that, he was able to become a magician who was allocated a state budget. Normally, he would have liked to shut himself away in his lab. However, right now I'm reluctantly trying to help Aifa and Schwartz with good intentions.

　No matter what happens to me and Brother Januar, the idea of whether or not it is in the best interest of the Empire will never leave the corner of my mind.

　That's what a politician is.

　That's why my siblings and I love Ditsen, who is genuinely able to help people.

　And that's how Master Taiki feels about it.

　The King of the Sky, living in the Land of the Sky.

　If he wanted to, he could take over the world. However, I don't feel any such desire.

　The same is true in the case of Aifa this time. It must be possible to obtain the spirit tree after Aifa's wish and also take away the empire intact.

　However, Taiki-sama has avoided war with the Empire out of consideration for not only the elves, but also the Atul Kingdom.

''Strange man, isn't it?''

　I couldn't help but let those words escape my mouth.

　As I walked down the stairs, I remembered the food and the castle's facilities that Master Taiki had so happily told me about.

　Totally un-King-like and kind.

　What will you think and what will you do when this empire changes?

　To me, that's as much as I care about what happens to the empire.

　In order to find out, I have to save Aifa and the other elves and make a revolution in the empire.

''........I never thought I would be involved in something like this.

　I muttered and followed Ditsen with a lone smile on my face.