The feelings that Abiyang held towards me were clear.
Fear, and then hatred.
Such emotions should never belong to a comrade to whom you would entrust your back. Especially in a situation where we were left alone in a foreign wilderness.
Of course, this was merely my one-sided perspective.
For Abiyang, this place was not an enemy territory. Rather, it could be seen as a location where comrades were waiting to rescue her from a wicked villain.
She was once a girl who claimed to be my servant. However, that cooperation was not genuinely earned; it was merely the result of repeated violence and suffering.
It meant she had no particular reason to cling to me.
Unless she sought revenge against me.
As evidence of that, Abiyang’s complexion had brightened considerably.
Conversely, my expression was growing increasingly serious.
I swallowed hard and fell into thought for a moment.
In truth, I wasn’t particularly scared or anxious.
The restraints could be easily thrown off, and my injuries had improved significantly. I had confidence in my ability to escape this place alone.
However, there were a few lingering concerns.
First, I did not know where I was.
The place where even the Yuridina Clan could not be found was an elf village. It was only normal that I couldn’t know its location or even the right direction.
I was only thinking it might be somewhere in the coniferous forest.
Therefore, even if I escaped the village, the chances of safely returning to Yuridina City were slim. The coniferous forest was a place with complicated paths and numerous dangers lurking about.
I needed a guide.
Secondly, engaging in combat was not always the right decision.
This was the heart of enemy territory.
I could not know which monsters might be hiding. For example, what if I encountered more than one opponent similar to that strange mage?
At best, escape would be the best option.
It went without saying that facing a stronger enemy would be fruitless.
In that case, it would be better to look for an alternative approach.
The only problem was how to gain Abiyang’s cooperation.
Abiyang was an elf. Just hiding her pointed ears to disguise herself as my servant was not enough to change our fundamentally different standings.
Moreover, her feelings toward me were at their worst.
I could see no future other than a difficult negotiation ahead.
Evidence of that soon revealed itself.
“Cough, ah… Ahahaha!”
A joyous laughter echoed from within the warehouse.
I had no idea Abiyang could laugh like that.
My eyes gazed blankly at the elf girl. She met my gaze with her bright blue pupils.
It was a look that even felt insane.
“How dare an inferior human lay hands on me?”
The sound of her grinding teeth tickled my ears. Her trembling body revealed the extent of the hatred she held.
The girl shouted as she struggled with her entire body bound.
“Serve you right! Now that my hands and feet are all tied up, what will you do? We elves never forget our resentments; I will definitely return even more pain than I have received…!”
With that, Abiyang twisted her mouth into a grimace as much as she could.
It seemed she wanted to threaten me, but to me, she only looked cute. Being an elf, her appearance was beautiful, and her petite frame added to that impression.
Above all, Abiyang was under a decisive misconception.
She seemed to think I would be scared just because I was tied up with ropes.
In reality, my mind was only calm.
I had only been a bit flustered when I first opened my eyes. My mind had been forged like steel, having crossed countless battlefields.
Abiyang’s threats were laughable.
On the contrary, I even found a clue in Abiyang’s threats.
The key to overcoming this obstacle.
If Abiyang didn’t want to cooperate with me, then I needed to make it so she had no choice but to do so.
Just as I had done until now.
A smirk crept onto my lips.
“Really? I find that quite exciting.”
“Hmph, boasting… you’ll soon face the consequences of how a human dares to touch an elf…!”
“Having an elf as my last companion, it’s truly an honor as a noble of the empire.”
At my words, Abiyang’s body flinched and trembled.
And her dazed gaze turned towards me.
It seemed she had forgotten an important fact due to her excitement.
So I decided to remind her.
“Your necklace, do you not remember?”
Only then did Abiyang look down at her neck with a shocked expression.
It probably couldn’t be seen, but she was surely aware of its presence.
It resembled a choker. At first glance, it was difficult to distinguish, but her necklace was a very dangerous object.
A restraining device that would explode the moment the designated person uttered the activation phrase.
It even had the ability to detect nearby magical energy, and if the designated person was not sensed for a certain period, it would explode as well.
It was a testament to the imperial court’s technological prowess.
And the designated individuals for that necklace were only Abiyang and me, as well as Neoris.
“If I die, you will die too.”
In other words, it meant that Abiyang’s life and death authority was still in my hands.
The complexion of the once-spirited girl turned pale instantly.
She stammered and tried to deny my words in vain.
“There are my kin here! Surely they will release this necklace…!”
“You elves? The necklace refined by our empire’s cutting-edge technology?”
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
That was nonsensical.
Just looking at how they were using primitive furnaces proved it. After a hundred years of war, the declining elves had become marginalized from civilization.
There was no way they could have the ability to deactivate that necklace.
“You know it to be true, right? After all, you’ve lived in the human world.”
There was no need for such a lengthy rebuttal.
With that brief persuasion, Abiyang’s complexion turned exceptionally pale.
Elves inherently had a strong attachment to life.
Although the so-called ‘socializing’ seemed to have altered their values, it would take time for the traditions of a race that had lasted for thousands of years to change at their roots.
Moreover, Abiyang had never really had a positive association with socializing to begin with.
I waited with a relaxed mind for Abiyang’s response.
Her heart was already broken once.
The psychology of trees and people was no different. Once broken, it could be bent again with much less force.
The only variable was that sometimes, a human heart could be stronger than an ancient tree.
After a long moment of contemplation, Abiyang grit her teeth.
With a determined expression, the girl shouted.
“I-I’ll die anyway!”
Her voice trembled.
It was evident to anyone that Abiyang was terrified. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but let out a soft exclamation at her firm determination.
The courage of a hero and the courage of a coward are different.
Clearly, the latter was more difficult.
I secretly raised my evaluation of Abiyang.
“You, you are too strong and cruel… you’ve already killed how many of our kin?! So I’ll be your sacrifice! Your threats won’t work on me!”
She had killed elves.
Indeed, dozens of lives.
As I re-recognized that fact, a sharp pain surged in my chest. I suddenly remembered the scenery from when I faced the ‘me’ from the future.
Hands soaked in blood.
I still had some clumsiness left in me. After all the lives I had taken so far, to be so shaken just because the other was a sentient being was absurd.
Of course, there was no time to be sad about it now.
I continued to listen in silence to Abiyang’s struggles.
“If you understand, just obediently prepare for your last moments…!”
“Why should it be only you who dies?”
At my calm tone, Abiyang’s eyes widened in surprise.
As if to ask what I meant, she gazed at me blankly; I decided to show her proof.
I raised my tied wrists so that Abiyang could see them well.
After that, it was simple.
I merely exerted a bit of strength.
With a menacing sound of snapping, the ropes seemed ready to break at any moment.
Abiyang’s pupils began to shake violently.
“There are plenty of others who will die too. Dozens? Hundreds? How many will have to die for you to subdue me?”
I wasn’t being serious. I wasn’t thirsty for blood to the point of massacring elves.
But it was effective beyond measure.
In the face of an unexpected threat, Abiyang could hardly form a coherent response.
She merely swallowed dryly, looking at me with newfound eyes.
That gaze felt oddly familiar.
It was the same gaze she had shown when she first submitted to me.
There was not much time left. My tongue moved even more threateningly, sensing that.
“Even unarmed, I’m confident I could kill several people. In that case, I could manage to steal a weapon… and after that, you know what happens, right?”
With that, I intentionally gave a sinister smile.
To be honest, I didn’t want to fight. The sensation of killing a sentient being was the worst. Even if I were to fight, I intended to minimize the killings.
However, showing weakness now would mean defeat.
I had to completely break Abiyang’s spirit. I continued to act out a role that didn’t suit me.
“What will you do?”
At my relaxed voice, Abiyang’s eyes turned to me once more.
Her eyes, still hesitating, looked rather pathetic. It also seemed as if her fear of me had resurfaced.
The moment she made eye contact with me, she hastily averted her gaze.
It was only a matter of time.
My threat was for both my sake and for Abiyang’s.
Abiyang would want to live.
No one wishes to die. Even those who commit suicide don’t do so because they want to die.
Rather, they must have found it difficult to endure life.
That’s why I provided Abiyang with an excuse.
It’s not your fault. This is merely the result of rational choice.
It was a wonderful condition that allowed her to save her life while still fulfilling her emotions for her kin.
“… Wha, what?”
There was no way Abiyang could refuse that.
“What, what should I do…?”
Hearing her return to using honorifics, I couldn’t help but smile.
It was done.
Only then did I lay out the detailed plan to Abiyang.
Hoping that Benedetta’s advice would still hold true.
*
Two elf men and women were watching us with disapproving looks.
They were looking down at Abiyang and me. The two, categorized as beautiful men and women anywhere, looked quite troubled.
There were a few reasons for that.
First, they realized that Abiyang was an elf.
Second, there was the incredulous statement that had come from Abiyang.
The male elf, not even trying to hide his headache, pressed his temples while asking again.
“So… you were a spy sent to the south, but after your identity was exposed, you relied on that human man to come here? And then that man lost consciousness while fighting a monster?”
“Yes, yes. That’s right….”
Claiming to be a spy, Abiyang was even shedding fake tears from her eyes. It was a rather immersive performance.
Unless one was an expert, it would be hard to discern the truth.
Naturally, the two elf men and women were no exception.
They exchanged glances for a moment before retreating to a corner to whisper among themselves. This had been repeated countless times.
The conclusion was also the same.
Eventually, the two returned to us again to ask more questions.
The female elf cleared her throat with a cough, drawing attention. Her fierce expression seemed to indicate she was trying to intimidate me.
A cold voice flowed out from her lips.
“And, you… you have amnesia? Who the hell are you?”
Her tone was filled with distrust. After all, to suddenly claim “amnesia” seemed like a stretch.
But what could I do?
There were no suitable excuses anyway. Furthermore, even if Abiyang and I were to assert that, they had no means to verify it.
I simply stared blankly, looking down at the ground without saying a word.
After a while, I asked, “I don’t know… who the hell am I?”
The male elf suddenly rubbed his face with his hands.
That’s right.
I had decided to play the act of having amnesia.
For the time being, to blend in with the elf village.
