I learned that the Kobold attack was by Dark Elves.
After a while, the child Kobold calmed down and was able to ride on Philiana’s back. When asked about his family and companions, he started to speak in broken words.
“We don’t usually fight. Only when we hunt for prey. But one day, a magician came. He killed our leader. He said if we didn’t fight, he’d kill us all.”
It seemed the Dark Elf magician had suddenly invaded their home, killed their leader, and ordered them to obey. They are a race that doesn’t like fighting. How pitiful, to bully them like that.
“Where is your home? I can take you there if you want.”
“I live in a cave. We could mine for gems there and sell them for food. But now everyone is captured by the magician and forced to work. We can’t go back.”
He must have thought he’d be killed if he failed and returned. In that case, we had to go ourselves. Because the target was us. They were probably waiting for us to approach.
“How is your injury? Does it hurt?”
“Yeah, it hurts a little.”
He grinned, showing his teeth. He looked cute, like a small dog. I wished we had met under different circumstances.
After walking for a while, we came out from a dense forest into an open area. It looked as if it had been meticulously maintained by human hands. And in front of us stood several armed Dark Elves. They looked as if they had been waiting for us. We drew our weapons and went on alert. The man in the center, wearing a robe, spread his arms wide and let out a vulgar laugh.
“Hee hee hee, welcome, brave adventurers. You have come far.”
Philiana shot him a sharp glare.
“Is it you? Magician, how can you do such a cruel thing? Leave at once.”
“Cruel? What are you talking about? Aren’t you the ones who are cruel? You killed my valuable subordinates.”
Anger boiled up inside me at the man’s feigned ignorance. You were the one who forced them! I wanted to teach him a lesson no matter what.
Several guards and Kobolds surrounded the man. I gently placed the dejected child Kobold from Philiana’s back and hid him in the shade of a tree.
“Stay here and don’t come out. Pauline, keep an eye on him.”
I turned back to face the enemy. He was still grinning foolishly.
“I’d love to chat more, but unfortunately, you are all going to die soon.”
As he said this, the man took out an old book. The pages flipped open as if blown by the wind, and he started murmuring something. Seeing this, Elana frowned.
“This is troublesome. He’s gotten ahead of us. It seems he uses incantation magic. Do you know about ‘word magic’? Words hold magic power. He uses that to form a temporary contract. It takes time, and he’s defenseless during that time, but it’s very powerful magic.”
I see. So that’s why he’s surrounded by strong warriors. This looks like it’s going to be a difficult battle.
