Fairy Tales
Along the way, I tried to politely ask the reason why they came to this academy. I thought I would be warned, but Roka easily told me.
“Our homeland is in the middle of a war.”
Staring at us who were following behind, Roka said as she walked backwards.
“A fierce battle is still going on between our Lugal Kingdom, which is located to the east of this empire, and the barbarians to the north – the Kingdom of Chiaro Diruna.”
The Kingdom of Chiaro Diruna is called the Magic Kingdom. I’ve heard that people who are gifted in magic tend to be born in that country, and those who cannot use magic are not only looked down upon, but also deprived of their title in serious cases. It was magic absolutism.
In contrast, the Lugal Kingdom is dominated by beastkin. It’s not surprising that the two nations …… have fallen into a state of warfare, with Chiaro revering magic and the beastkin unable to use magic at all. These 2 countries were originally 1 country. However, they split up after they openly treated the beastkin differently. There have been several wars since then.
“However, until just a few years ago, there was a peace negotiation. …… A lot of things happened, and now they are in a state of war that they don’t want to listen to. There have been several large-scale wars in history, but this is the only time that either side will continue to fight until the other is destroyed. It’s a tough situation.”
Roka said matter-of-factly. However, contrary to the way she spoke cheerfully, her eyes weren’t smiling.
“…… Let me add to that, Roka really is a king,.”
“I’ve heard that in the Beastkin Nation, the king is a beastkin who has inherited the lion bloodline.”
“All the lion princes are dead.”
“That’s!”
“It’s not just lions. Tigers, bears, wolves, foxes, and all the royalty and their families are dead. Except for Roka.”
The things seemed more serious than they seem.
With no royalty at war, they’re fighting against that magic kingdom.
“I’d like to fight too. No, we have to fight. Even if it’s just to inspire everyone on the battlefield. Even the fox is the lowest bloodline among the beastkin, and since all the other royals have died, I’m their king.”
Roka held her hands behind her head while still continuing to walk backwards. She didn’t bump into any pedestrians at all, which is not a small number, her senses as a beastkin are remarkable.
”But the people around me did not allow me to do so. Everyone stopped me when I said I was going to fight, and I was semi-forcibly lodged to this Elberia Empire, with which diplomatic relations have become more active than a few decades ago. That’s the reason why I’m attending the academy.”
That’s a tough one. You want to fight but you can’t. Even though you have power.
“It can’t be helped. You can’t blame them for this, because they are much stronger than me. It’s true I’m better than anyone else in Lugal, but at the same time, I’m only a half-baked beastkin on the current battlefield. If I’m killed, this time Lugal will continue to fight until it loses control and is annihilated …… That’s what my mother said. I don’t know if she even expected to die right after that.”
People who are better than Roka. I’m very interested. It would be a shame to let them die on the battlefield in vain.
However, the Empire’s acceptance of them means …….
“Does the Empire plan to support the Lugal Kingdom?”
“Mmm. I think so. I heard that they will do their best to help us once they are ready. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I’m going to have to do a lot of work for the time to come.”
“Is Shaula Roka’s escort?”
“Heh, right. But before that I was Roka’s sl*ve! It is my duty to accompany wherever my master goes, whether it be into the sea of fire or water! I intend to follow her! I love you Roka!”
“Don’t talk stupid in the street, idiot.”
“This aloofness is also part of Roka’s charm! …… Well, it’s okay if you don’t understand. Rather, can you stop staring at Roka? Your filth can be contagious.”
“Would it be okay if I stared at you instead?”
“I’ll gouge your eyes out.”
The wolf girl full of loyalty seemed to really hate men.
As she stared at Shaula while considering that kind of thing, Roka said.
“But.. I came here because I heard that the empire was safe, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case…”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You don’t know? Recently, there are missing elves. And there are quite a few of them.”
As expected, it seems that the disappearance of the elves had also reached their ears.
“I just heard about it recently too. What really happened?”
“I don’t know. It’s just something I heard through the grapevine, so I don’t know the details, but it seems that the elves have disappeared indiscriminately. Both men and women….”
“…… Men too? It’s a bit of a surprise.”
“There are too many of them to be mere missing. I’m not sure why they want to go to such lengths to want the elves. And since the concentration of the population has disappeared to this extent, it’s safe to assume that the same people are responsible for the crime.”
Because the elven women are beautiful so men tend to be attracted to them.
However, elven women have a high degree of pride. They don’t pay any attention to ordinary human men, so there are people who will abduct an elf with a grudge, I’ve heard from Rena. It was like that even during the times when the elves themselves were rare, so is it even worse now?
However, this is only the typical kidnapping of an elf who is seen as a s*x object. That line would be thinner if it included male elves and also a mass disappearance.
“And also.. even if a large number if elves are abducted, the question of where they are taken is always in my mind…… *sniff*? Oh, there’s a scent coming from there!”
Roka cutting off her words on mid-sentence, wagging her long tail as she spoke.
At first glance it seemed like a simple coffee shop. Apparently it was to be a shop that boasted of freshly baked pancakes.
“Alright! First fill our stomach! Go!”
“Hey, Roka, didn’t you just have breakfast?”
“Didn’t you say that sweet things are packed in other stomach?! Shaula, you come with me! Because you’re paying for it all! You’re going to have to pay for Theo too!”
“…. yeah…”
Although Shaula said it like she agreed, she stared at me with a cold stare. It seems like I’d be cut if I ordered something. I’m not particularly hungry, so let’s just listen to them talk.
Roka, who had eaten gracefully at the cafe, walked ahead of me.
As if she hadn’t eaten enough, she peeked into a stall selling meat and desserts, and then into a store with various souvenirs. Her long tail wagged whenever she saw something of interest.
In this way, she looks like a normal tourist.
“Shaula, can I ask you something?”
“Are you still going to pry into something?”
“No, I know about your origins. I don’t want to get involved too much. …… Do you know the term of “final droplet”?
But her red pupils remained glued to Roka’s back.
“What?”
“Oh, really? …… Then forget it.”
“I don’t like it when you say it that way. What’s it? You were saying it’s droplet, is it the topic of delicious black tea or something?”
“No, I’m not sure of the meaning of the word itself, but it seems to refer to something like a metaphor or a metonymy for the elves.”
“Elves? Drops?… This seems to be very good. I want to lick all drops of the cute elves!”
Shaula said with an ecstatic look on her face. Maybe it was a mistake to ask this girl …….
That said, if I read the entire text to her, I might be able to get something out of it.
I told her contents of the grimoire written in ancient scripts.
“It’s kind of like that, what do you think?”
“I don’t know what the hell that means.”
“If it has something to do with the disappearance of elves in the past, I know.”
Roka, who’d been doing some sightseeing up until that point, burst in and startled me.
It turned she has been listening.
“In the past? What happened?”
“I don’t know the details. But I heard it from my mother when I was very young. It’s said that a long time ago, every single one of thousands of elven troops disappeared without a single survivor, and that’s all.”
There is no doubt that the elves had disappeared, as the book said.
But this is the first time I’ve heard of elven troops disappearing. And a few thousand scale of them? Isn’t that a big deal?
“Because it’s close to a fairy tale, there might be parts that have been exaggerated. It’s just that the elves were sent to a great country for a purpose. Well, I guess the big country is this Elberia Empire.”
“War, isn’t it? But just having an army of that size sent into the country should be a big deal.”
“They were going to kill a monster, it seems.”
“….. monster? The elves have come to the Empire, right? Why did the elves kill the monster of the Empire?”
“I don’t know. But, there’s something special about that monster. The only thing I do remember about it is that it only shows interest in elf, only kills elf, and only eats elf. ……. It’s a monster that can’t survive without elf.”
“Why is a monster that eats only elf in the Empire ……? I don’t think there was an alliance with the elves at that time. There were hardly any elves in the empire, right?”
“I was curious about that too. I had asked why that kind of thing was in the Empire, but my mother just smiled and answered. She said she didn’t know about it either. That’s what fairy tales are all about.”
“So, that’s where the story ends, with the disappearance of an army of elves that was sent there?”
“No, it’s like after that, the empire had a bad luck because it touched the scales of the gods or something.”
To summarize, an army of elves went to slay the monsters living in the Empire and disappeared – or more accurately, perhaps as a result of a backlash, divine sanction descending on the empire?
It does have parts that are consistent with that ancient text book.
It’s just that in the book, it only states that the ones who abducted the elves were stupid humans. There was no part about monster such and such.
“Roka… Does anyone other than your mother know that story?”
“Hmmm. It’s a story that the beastkin elders used to tell to scare off the annoying kids. Shaula must have heard it once or twice, right?”
“…… I feel like my grandparents told that kind of story when you said that. I can hardly remember them.”
“That’s right, I’m sorry, Theo. Shaula is such an idiot, as you can see, and I’m an idiot too, so I don’t know anything more about it.”
“No, it’s not. It’s a great reference. Thank you.”
“What is it, Theo. Speaking of the recent disappearance of the elves, is there anything you’re concerned about?
I told them the gist of it.
“Oh. I didn’t know special students had that kind of privilege.”
“What good is having access to that narrow library? I am not interested”
“For once, I agree with Shaula. I’m tired of these boring lectures.”
They seem to have lost all interest.
Well, it’s no wonder. It’s because even though it’s written in an ancient language, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. However, this time, according to Roka’s story, it could be interpreted as obtaining double evidence.
If Roka’s story is true, it is undoubtedly a big event. It was indeed recorded in the country’s history. No, because it was something that must be written down.
It just that, why was it that the Empire’s history books were completely silent when it was clear that it was all passed down in the fairy tales of other countries?
While it’s true that there are contradictions between the story and parts of the book, it would be a shame to discard this one nonchalantly. Maybe it could be investigated more.
Anyway, I was lucky to ask them about it.
After that, I took a walk with Roka as she pleased and noticed that it was dark.
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