A cave hidden deep in the mountains of the Sariera Kingdom, quietly gaping open.
Deep inside, in a hidden chamber, the Teacher activates a teleportation magic circle.
"The other end of this teleportation circle connects to the elf village. Are you ready?"
I nod in response to the Teacher's question.
Having confirmed my readiness, the Teacher activates the teleportation circle.
My vision warps.
It lasts only an instant — and when the distortion settles, a different scene than before fills my gaze.
From the confines of a narrow cave, to the interior of some building.
A circular structure resembling a great hall, with multiple teleportation magic circles embedded in the floor.
But right now, I couldn't care less about the building itself.
What greeted us upon arrival were countless sword tips.
We were surrounded by elven soldiers.
"Filimes, I believe bringing outsiders here is against protocol?"
Among the elf warriors, a man who appeared to be the squad leader addressed us.
The language being used wasn't the human race tongue.
It was the elvish language.
Thank goodness I'd studied elvish at the academy.
"They are allies. The situation was explained in detail, wasn't it?"
"I said the same thing. I understand the circumstances, but admitting humans into the village is out of the question."
"Now is not the time to be particular about whether someone is human or not. Lower your swords."
"I will not. If you leave immediately via the teleportation circle, your lives will be spared. Turn back right now."
"This is going nowhere. Summon
Tense air filled the space.
Kathia was on the verge of assuming a combat stance, and I gestured for her to calm down.
I stepped gently in front of Ana, who was trembling slightly, shielding her from the sword tips and the elves' stares.
"That's enough."
A male voice echoed.
It had been several years, but I had met this man once before.
Potimas Haifenas.
The patriarch of the elves.
"Forgive the inhospitable welcome. All of us in the elf village shall receive the Hero and his companions."
"Is that really alright?"
"If by some chance something breaches the barrier, having more combat strength is never a bad thing."
A hint of unease crept into Potimas's words.
Somehow, I couldn't get a good impression of this man.
Maybe it was because he'd used Appraisal on me the first time we met, but the way he looked at you was as if everyone else in the world was beneath him.
"Come. Humble as it is, we've prepared a welcome reception."
The elf warriors sheathed their swords.
Potimas strode off without a second glance.
I hurried to follow behind him.
"Potimas, what's the situation?"
"Not great. I'll explain later."
Potimas's reply to the Teacher's question was curt.
If the situation wasn't great, should we really be having a welcome reception?
"Um, when you say the situation isn't great — is everything okay?"
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
"You could say it's okay, and you could say it's not. Either way, nothing is going to happen immediately. There's enough time for a meal at least. I'll go into the details when the time comes."
With that, Potimas turned forward and kept walking.
His back made it clear that further questions were not welcome.
We exited the building with the teleportation magic circle.
Before us spread a forest of colossal trees — each one likely several thousand years old.
A single tree's diameter had to be around ten meters.
The elves had hollowed out the roots of these giants and turned them into homes.
Looking back, the place I'd thought was a separate building with the teleportation circles turned out to be the interior of one of these massive trees.
The elf village — rather than existing alongside the forest, it *was* the forest.
Eyes watched us from within the tree-homes and from atop branches.
It was immediately clear that we weren't exactly welcome.
I'd heard elves were exclusive, but having swords pointed at you and being subjected to this kind of unwelcoming gaze was more than I'd expected.
I checked on Ana.
She was holding herself together, but I could see her hands trembling ever so slightly.
For Ana, this elf village was a place filled with bitter memories.
During the time she'd lived here, she must have been subjected to these same stares.
I made sure to stay as close to Ana as possible.
Eventually, Potimas entered one of the tree-homes.
Inside was set up like a conference room, with a round wooden-carved table placed in the center.
We took our seats as we were guided.
Food was brought in.
"It's elf cuisine, but it should suit the human palate as well."
Following Potimas's invitation, I tried the food.
It was mainly vegetables and quite light on seasoning, but that allowed the natural flavors of the ingredients to come through fully.
It was, indeed, delicious.
Between the meal and our travel fatigue, we ate in complete silence.
"Now then, let's get down to business."
Once the elf attendants had cleared the dishes, the Teacher broached the topic.
"Right. Let me explain the current situation."
Potimas began his briefing.
"The enemy has already reached the outskirts of the elf forest. Currently, the barrier is holding them back and halting their advance. The enemy force is centered on the imperial army, totaling approximately eighty thousand troops."
The sheer number was staggering.
With the Demon race war already raging, to have mobilized this many troops — were they not concerned about their own defenses?
Was
"What makes things troublesome is the Church's significant troop contribution. The fact that they've formally announced Yugo as the Hero suggests the tie between the Empire and the Church is quite strong."
So the Church had indeed fallen under Yugo's brainwashing ability, just as I'd suspected.
"You should know that a barrier has been erected around the elf village, but it seems the Church mages are constructing a large-scale magical formula. According to our scouts, it's an unknown formula that can't be analyzed. It's most likely a spell designed to destroy the barrier. They've been preparing it over the course of several days — that's how massive the formula is."
"Several days!?" I blurted out. "Shouldn't we stop them!?"
"The honest answer is, we'd like to but we can't," Potimas replied. "The barrier around this village is so powerful that even we cannot pass through it. The only way to reach this village is by using the special teleportation magic circle to enter from within. It's powerful enough to repel even ordinary spatial magic and deflect skills like telepathic communication. Right now, roughly six thousand elves are active outside the barrier. That's nowhere near enough to fight an army of eighty thousand."
I see.
The barrier around the elf village was apparently far more powerful than I'd imagined — the Teacher's bragging hadn't been baseless after all.
"Um, how do those inside and outside communicate with each other?"
"Using a technique called sign language. The barrier blocks even sound, but it doesn't obstruct vision."
Oh.
So sign language existed in this world too.
Though it was probably quite different from the kind on Earth.
"According to outside reports, they predict the formula won't be complete for a little while longer. In other words, this village remains safe as long as the barrier-breaking magic isn't finished. That's what I meant when I said the situation is both okay and not okay."
"Will the barrier… actually break?"
"I don't know."
After that, they told us we were probably exhausted from the long journey and lent us rooms where we could sleep.
If the barrier was going to be destroyed, that would be when the battle truly began.
Until then, we needed to recover our strength.