We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
A New Life
We were surprised by the appearance of Micheila and her bodyguard, Nazaria’s family.
Why did Micheila and her group appear before us at this time? And why, despite their pride in leaving the evil race to us, did they not rush to our aid during the incident at the end of the year?
I ponder over various things.
I even considered, on impulse, to question Micheila directly.
“Elnea, let’s put personal matters aside for now. More importantly, we need to support the beast race!”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
That’s right. Before I could reminisce about meeting Micheila and her group, there was still one more thing we had to do.
Unlike us, who were filled with a sense of accomplishment from defeating the yoma, some of the deer-race beastmen who had their village attacked still looked pale.
They had lost family members and loved ones to the yoma.
“Now, let’s prepare for the memorial service so that those who have sacrificed their lives can rest peacefully.”
Madrine took the lead, guiding the deer-race people.
There was a woman who stood frozen, feeling numb. A young man sat down, exhausted. Madrine went around speaking to each one of them.
Then, with Madrine’s healing voice, the people regained their spirit and began to move again.
They cleared debris and searched for personal belongings.
Although the beast race supposedly had no religious beliefs, the feelings towards the deceased were common among all races.
Despite their grief, the people began preparations for the memorial.
“I… I will also help…”
“Oh my, oh my. Istericia, you’re already past your limit, so you shouldn’t push yourself any further, you know? Getting proper rest is also part of your training.”
Despite her words, Istericia’s eyes looked like they were about to close.
If she exhausted her strength, she would fall into a weakened state. Surely, if she fell asleep now, she wouldn’t wake up for several days.
Istericia probably wanted to see it through to the end, but pushing herself any further would put her life at risk.
“I’ll leave the rest to you.”
As she entered a gentle sleep, escorted by Jab’s kind smile, Istericia quietly drifted off.
By the time the sun rose, most of the cleanup was finished.
Then, we held a memorial for the deceased beastmen, and finally, things settled down just before dusk.
“Micheila, we were looking for you!”
Nazaria and her group also helped out.
Well, Seijim and Azeilan, who went to procure food, brought back nothing but poisonous ingredients as usual and weren’t of much help.
Putting that aside, while thanking them for their help, I pressed Micheila about the incident at the end of last year.
“A very powerful evil race appeared, and it was really tough!”
“I’m sorry. But there was something I absolutely couldn’t leave.”
Hmm, what could be so important that she couldn’t leave it, even with the major incident of a speaking evil race appearing?
Then, Micheila explained the situation.
“A girl was born.”
“You gave birth, Micheila!?”
“Elnea, you’re an idiot.”
“Sniffle, I’m sorry.”
No mother would refer to her own daughter as “a girl.”
So, whose child could it be?
However, Micheila continued without revealing anything about the girl’s parents.
“We absolutely had to be present for the birth of the girl. That’s why we couldn’t come. I’m sorry.”
Micheila apologized, her transparent wings on her back drooping.
Nazaria and her group also looked apologetic, their expressions clouded.
“Is it possible that what you said about having business in the west was to attend that child’s birth?”
Micheila and her group had said they were going west when they parted ways. That’s why we searched the west side of the Forbidden Territory for any trace of them.
In the end, we couldn’t find Micheila and her group last winter.
However, Micheila shook her head at my question.
“No. Her birth was supposed to happen a little later. Maybe two or three hundred years from now… But it suddenly accelerated, and we were all in a panic.”
“Haha, hahaha…”
What is it?
The birth of a girl might have been foreseen.
However, when it comes to matters spanning a century, it’s beyond my comprehension.
Who on earth is this girl?
And why was the birth of a girl more important than the matter of the evil race?
As the sun began to set, the temperature started to drop significantly.
In the deer-race village, whose houses had been destroyed by yoma, there was no room for us to stay in any buildings.
We took out our camping equipment from our luggage and pitched our tents. Then, gathered around the bonfire, we listened to Micheila’s story.
“We still don’t know why she was born so early. But it’s certain that its effects are starting to appear all over the world.”
“Did the girl’s birth and the fact that we’ve been seeing yoma frequently become connected?”
I suddenly felt that way and asked, and it seemed I was correct.
Micheila nodded.
“Seriously, we didn’t expect her to be born so early. But there are beings who have also been caught off guard and have suddenly started to act in a hurried manner. Kensei and we had to protect that girl from them. That’s why we were tied up.”
“Those beings who have started to act in a hurried manner…?”
I swallowed hard.
The beings that Micheila considers enemies.
I have a general idea…
Micheila waited for us to prepare ourselves mentally before speaking their name.
“The evil race.”
“I knew it!”
Micheila had once declared the evil race to be “the enemy of the world.”
We, too, have faced the evil race, so we know.
They are beings of pure “evil.”
If left unchecked, the world would surely be destroyed.
From the perspective of the human race, the demon race and the divine race are also “evil” beings. However, we can communicate with members of the demon and divine races, and some can even connect with us emotionally.
But the evil race is different.
The evil race is an existence that can never coexist with us.
And Micheila and her group were tied up protecting “a certain girl” from the evil race.
“By the way, I’ve been wondering. Why did so many yoma appear along with the evil race?”
Originally, this was about yoma, wasn’t it?
Then, instead of Micheila, who was moistening her throat with tea, Nazaria answered.
“Simply put, yoma are lower-ranking beings of the evil race.”
“W-what did you say!?”
“Furthermore, monsters are beings positioned below yoma.”
“W-w-what did you say!!?”
No, if I had thought about it more deeply, I might have realized it.
After all, both yoma and monsters, like the evil race, are dangerous creatures with whom communication is impossible.
Not only humans, but demons and divine beings also hunt monsters and yoma without question when they appear.
In other words, monsters and yoma are beings considered “enemies” by everyone in the world.
And the evil race is also clearly identified as an “enemy” by Micheila and her group.
But there was no evidence, so it couldn’t be helped that we didn’t notice.
Besides, I doubt there’s anyone studying monsters, yoma, and the evil race.
Monsters are encountered frequently, but yoma are so rare that an average person might encounter one in their lifetime at best, or not at all. Moreover, if you are unlucky enough to encounter a yoma, your life would be in grave danger, and you would have to worry about yourself before you could study it.
Let alone the evil race, ordinary people don’t even know they exist.
“I did have a vague feeling about it. The appearance of yoma was abnormal during the incident with the evil race at the end of the year.”
Unlike me, who was utterly shocked and blown away, Mistral and the others, who had been fighting the evil race and yoma, understood it instinctively.
“Uh, so… is it related that yoma seem to be appearing more frequently lately and that you, Micheila and your group, came to visit us?”
I brought the conversation back.
The abnormality of yoma that I’ve noticed.
Micheila and her group’s sudden visit.
And the story about the birth of a certain girl and the evil race.
It all felt connected.
Micheila, after taking a sip of tea to refresh herself, spoke again.
“The evil race attracts yoma. And yoma attract monsters.”
“In other words, the reason we’re seeing more yoma is because the evil race is becoming more active?”
Micheila nodded.
Does this mean that the evil race has become active not just in a limited region, but all over the world, leading to yoma appearing in various places?
If so, we can expect monsters to increase from now on as well.
The already harsh journey for people will become even more difficult.
A terrifying premonition sent shivers through my entire body, not from the cold.
“What can we do to stop the evil race from becoming active?”
We can’t just leave it as it is.
This isn’t the time to say, “I’ll leave the evil race to Micheila.”
But what can we do?
The evil race started to become active, targeting the newborn girl.
So, how can we quell the evil race’s movements?
Defeat the mastermind controlling the evil race?
No, that’s pointless. A new ruler might appear, and moreover, it’s unclear whether there even is a mastermind or ruler controlling the evil race.
Then, annihilate all the evil races in the world?
That’s impossible.
Not only do we not know the total number of evil races, but we can’t even predict where they will appear.
Besides, with our own stability at home uncertain, the idea of traveling around the world is ridiculous.
Thinking about it, I feel like there’s very little we can do now that the evil race has started to become active.
“The evil race won’t fully mobilize for quite some time.”
“Does that mean the girl’s birth was too early, and the evil race wasn’t ready?”
“That’s right. However, we can’t let our guard down. That’s why we must continue to be vigilant about the evil race’s movements.”
It seems we’ve already overcome the first hurdle where we weren’t aware.
For Micheila and her group, defeating the evil race that attacked during the girl’s birth marked the end of that phase.
So, do we have no role to play anymore?
No, no, that can’t be it.
If that were the case, there would be no reason for Micheila and her group to show up before us like this.
If they needed to rest to prepare for the next battle, they could have done so at the mansion in the Forbidden Territory, so coming all the way to the Northern Land must have a significant reason.
My premonition was correct.
“We’ll handle the movements of the evil race. However, an even more serious situation is anticipated.”
“That is…?”
What could be a more serious situation than the appearance of the evil race?
After a beat, Micheila continued.
“Don’t underestimate yoma just because they are lower beings than the evil race. Some yoma possess power that surpasses that of the evil race. Elnea and the others must protect that girl from the King of Yoma.”
“K-King of Yoma!?”
Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise at this unexpected entity.
But it was too early to be astonished.
“Ridiculous! Lady Micheila, you intend to seek the cooperation of these immature individuals!?”
The gloomy winter clouds were beginning to spread across the night sky.
The overcast sky shone like midday, reflecting the light.
And they descended from the sky.
“Battle Goddess!”
“Could it be that they followed us all the way here!?”
Nazaria and Seijim looked up at the sky and shouted.
