■ Good Witch □
“The elves declared war?”
“It seems that from their standpoint as the guardians of the continent, they’ve been irritated by our recent actions.”
“I see. That doesn’t sound unreasonable.”
Elves are fundamentally very proud.
Their pride stems from their exceptional individual abilities, long lifespans, and the prestige of being the first race of the continent.
Centered around the massive golden tree known as the World Tree, the elves have built a brilliant magical civilization, looking down on other races existing on the continent.
Simply put, they’re a race that lives in arrogance.
Indeed, most races, except dragons, cannot compete with the elves in overall capability, so despite their beautiful appearances, they are often seen as an unpleasant bunch.
And fittingly to such preconceptions, the only elf I’ve ever met was rude.
That must have been during the Fourth Tower Academic Exchange.
“So we need to prepare for a potential war with the elves. I went to Nídavellir not too long ago.”
“Nídavellir?”
“I know the king there from way back when. So I just threw out an alliance proposal.”
Gabriel said this while laughing heartily.
Even though her gender changed to female, her heroic nature remained unchanged.
I glanced at Demon King to confirm the truth of it.
Demon King slightly nodded with a somewhat tired expression.
“Gabriel’s words are true. However, whether the alliance will come to fruition is still uncertain. It would be quite burdensome for the dwarves to fight against the elves.”
“What are the chances of the alliance succeeding?”
“About 20-30%. From the dwarves’ current standpoint, helping us or not wouldn’t make much difference.”
“I see.”
If the dwarves, who possess overwhelming technical prowess, were to join, they’d undoubtedly become reliable allies.
Even the Gullarhorn Mercenary Corps I encountered on the battlefield before displayed remarkable combat skills.
“Well, let’s set aside that issue for now. We also need to start preparing to face the elven army.”
I nodded and asked Demon King.
“Is there any intelligence we can use?”
At this, Demon King stroked his beard solemnly and replied.
“We’ve tried gathering as much information as possible through various beastman tribes living in the Great Forest, but since Elven Wood is such a closed-off nation, we don’t have much high-quality intel. At best, we know the military structure.”
“I don’t know anything, so please tell me even that much.”
Then Demon King nodded and began explaining.
“Elves rarely engage in large-scale military operations. Since each elf individually is so powerful, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages when acting collectively. Usually, they operate at battalion-level forces at most, led by what could be called the knight class of elves—the Equites.”
“Equites, right?”
I had heard about them from my Master before.
Especially among elves, it was advised not to mess with the Equites.
It wasn’t hard to infer their strength, given that they belonged to a group of ancient beings who lived for hundreds of years.
“Currently, one Equite alone can easily handle five upper demons. And there are hundreds of such entities on the elven side.”
“Hmm…”
It was definitely an unreal number.
And no matter how strong I am, sheer numbers would overwhelm me.
“Is there no way to extract information from the Elven Wood side?”
At this, Demon King shook his head doubtfully.
“Even if we try planting spies, it’s impossible because only elves live within Elven Wood. If not that, we’d have to find elves living outside the Great Forest, but that’s not easy either. Rarely do elves leave Elven Wood to live elsewhere.”
At that moment, Dorothea, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, raised her hand.
“Lord Demon King, may I say something?”
“Oh, Dorothea. Long time no see. Go ahead.”
“Well, I know an elf witch. If it’s urgent, should I introduce her to you?”
“…What?”
I blinked in disbelief at this unbelievable story.
It was hard enough to understand why an elf, called the embodiment of nature, would become a witch, but it was even stranger that Dorothea knew one.
“What does she—or rather he—do?”
“She’s part of the Ruby Tower and oversees the southern region while I take care of the west.”
“…I’ve been curious about this before, but what exactly are these ‘Four Directions Witches’?”
At this, Dorothea looked at me as if I were dense.
“It’s a title given only to the strongest witches of the Ruby Tower. Didn’t you know?”
“Ah.”
It seems similar to the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s Army.
I didn’t know because the Emerald Tower doesn’t have such a tradition.
“Still, can we just go visit her? Won’t she get angry?”
“That’s fine. She’s incredibly gentle for an elf.”
“For an elf?”
“She might hurl some insults if she’s not pleased, but compared to all the hardships we’ve faced, it’s like three drops of spit. Right?”
“Hmm.”
Listening to her, I strangely felt convinced.
And since we currently don’t know any elves, it seemed like we had to give it a shot, no matter what.
“Alright, let’s visit this Southern Witch.”
“Yes!”
Dorothea lit up happily, clearly pleased that her suggestion was accepted.
Such a simple girl.[[#]”But how do we find where the Southern Witch lives?”
“There’s a way.”
As Dorothea said this, she pulled out a rocket pendant from her bosom.
When she opened the cover and dropped a drop of blood onto it, the crimson liquid wriggled and transformed into a needle shape.
It probably functions like a compass.
“I got her location data during a previous academic meeting.”
“But if we only have direction, won’t it be hard to find her? Distance isn’t indicated, right?”
To Gabriel’s point, Dorothea shrugged.
“We have you, so what’s the problem? Besides, an alarm will automatically sound once we’re near the target.”
“Wow…”
Witches really carry a lot of interesting magical tools.
Afterward, following Dorothea’s guidance, we arrived at a forest where the Southern Witch supposedly lived.
In the forest stood a cabin that looked suspicious no matter how you looked at it.
“Here? This is where the Southern Witch lives?”
“There’s only one house like this in this forest, so it’s probably the right place.”
After exchanging opinions in front of the cabin, we cautiously knocked on the door of what we assumed to be the Southern Witch’s residence.
“Is anyone home?”
But there was no sound from inside the house.
“Maybe she’s out?”
Creak!
“…The door is open.”
“Then let’s go in.”
Thus, we entered the cabin without permission, and its interior was surprisingly minimalist.
It was completely different from the stereotypical image of a witch’s house.
With so few furnishings, I began to wonder if anyone actually lived here.
Just as this thought crossed my mind, a sound akin to marbles rolling on a tray came from the kitchen.
“Who’s here at this hour?”
I turned toward the sound and was amazed.
Even with modest clothing and glasses obscuring her beauty, the blonde elf standing before us was breathtakingly beautiful.
Even though the women in our group are attractive, they seemed overshadowed by comparison.
I hurriedly introduced myself.
“Uh, I’m Caldlasth from the Demon King’s Army. I apologize for entering your home without permission.”
Here, I decided there was no need to use a pseudonym, so I revealed my real name since my reputation as a mage was higher on this side.
“Caldlasth? Is that the Caldlasth I know?”
Fortunately, she seemed to recognize my name.
“Do you know me?”
She nodded and recited a nickname she hadn’t heard in a long time.
“Battlefield Executioner Caldlasth, the mage who made a name for himself during the Human-Demon War ten years ago, correct?”
“Exactly.”
She knows me well.
“Please come in. I’ll offer you some tea.”
“Thank you.”
It seemed she didn’t intend to turn us away.
We followed her inside.
However, Dorothea, who had brought us here, was unusually quiet.
‘Dorothea? Aren’t you acquainted with this person?’
Then Dorothea whispered in my ear while tiptoeing.
‘I’ve only seen her face a few times. She doesn’t get along with anyone, after all.’
Indeed, despite her seemingly friendly tone and courteous actions, there was a palpable barrier around her.
Most people meeting her would likely feel intimidated.
Her unconscious ability to repel others was almost like a curse, but fortunately, having reached a certain level myself, I wasn’t affected by her aura.
She came out carrying a kettle of herbal tea she had boiled herself.
She poured it into cups that looked like beakers.
Actually, upon closer inspection, they were real beakers.
I’ve never seen anyone drink tea from beakers.
Still, the tea tasted good, and as I sipped it slowly, she cautiously asked first.
“Then, may I inquire why you’ve come to see me? Honestly, I think you’ve brought excessive force just to deal with me alone.”
While saying this, she sequentially gazed at me and the others who had come with me: Dorothea, Sophia, and Gabriel.
…Camilla seems to be judged as non-threatening.
Anyway, it seemed pointless to hide anything further, so I decided to go straight to the point.
“I’m not here to be hostile towards you. On the contrary, the opposite. Wouldn’t you like to work with our Demon King’s Army? Glinda Goodwitch, we need internal information from Elden Wood to prepare for the war.”
“Are you asking me to betray my own people?”
I shook my head.
“Just providing a bit of information would suffice. Currently, there seems to be a severe asymmetry of information between the Demon King’s Army and the elves.”
As I subtly observed her reaction while saying this, Glinda Goodwitch, who had been staring into her teacup as if pondering something, finally answered after a long silence.
“Alright. I accept that proposal.”
Fortunately, she was someone—no, an elf—who communicated well.
