Chapter 211 – Dog Kkondae
Theseus took us to a warehouse next to the guard post.
Originally, it seemed to be a place to store the weapons used by the soldiers of the police force, but instead of the things that should have been there, dozens of wagons were lined up.
“Are all the wagons here taken out?”
Theseus, who was walking in front of Glinda, nodded and answered Glinda’s question.
“Yes. All of these wagons will be sent to the outpost that was built a while ago.”
If you look at it with your eyes, this amount can easily arm up to 3,000 people.
Compared to other races, it was said that the Elves, whose population was relatively small, were preparing for war quite sincerely.
“But why are the princess’s party trying to get out of Elven Wood at this time?”
Hot at Theseus’ sudden question! I came to my senses and covered it up with a suitable lie.
“It’s embarrassing to say, but I tried to return to my hometown before the war with other countries broke out. As you can see, I tend to have a lot of wives and children.”
Then Theseus’s gaze briefly touches his companions and then falls away.
“I have a lot of responsibilities, so I can’t help it. The weight of the head of household is always great.”
Saying that, Theseus stopped in front of a wagon and pulled up the tent connected to the roof.
“You can get on here.”
Seeing the person inside, Margaret was the first to react.
“Mom!”
“Margaret!”
Margaret’s mother was sitting in the corner of the carriage as if she had come and waited as I said earlier.
Even though they were only half a day apart, seeing them acting as if they had met for the first time in decades made a corner of my heart turn sour, but I didn’t show it.
“There’s no time, so let’s get on board quickly. It’s not long until 1:00.”
Saying that, I waved the pocket watch I was holding in my hand, and the other party, who had been paying attention, boarded the carriage one by one.
When everyone in the party got into the back of the wagon, Glinda, who was the last to board, gave Theseus a hug and said,
“Thank you for helping me. Theseus. If we ever meet again, I’ll be sure to return this favor.”
“Thank you, Princess. I hope you have a good trip.”
Saying so, Theseus kissed the back of Glinda’s hand, closed the tent of the wagon with his own hands, and left the warehouse alone.
***
It wasn’t until about 20 minutes later that the outside of the carriage started to get noisy.
It seemed that they had decided to move from 1:00 exactly according to the original schedule, but the sound of footsteps running back and forth according to the command was heard.
“Move quickly!”
“Yes!”
Rattle!
“Hick!”
Suddenly the carriage moved, and Margaret’s mother gasped in surprise and covered her mouth.
I looked at it and said.
“It’s okay because I made it so that no sound leaks out to the outside with magic.”
“Is that so?”
She lowered her palms with a puzzled expression.
Seeing that, it reminded me of my father at home, so I asked Margaret.
“Come to think of it, Margaret, how old is her mother this year?”
Then Margaret, who was sitting quietly in the corner, answered.
“I’m forty-three this year.”
“Really? You’re older than I thought.”
Since he was young, I thought he was in his mid-thirties at most, but considering the average lifespan in this world, it’s not unusual for him to die anytime.
“…Huh? Wait a minute, then how old are you?”
“Why is that all of a sudden?”
“No, that’s right. If your mother is forty-three, no matter how old she is, she won’t be over thirty.”
“I’m eighteen this year.”
“What? So you’ve been talking kindly to us since you’ve been young for a while?”
When I asked back in amazement, Margaret murmured, averting her gaze, if she had been stabbed.
“…You bastard.”
Something regretful
When I pointed out to a kid who was almost the same age as me that I had been talking rudely, I was treated like an old man.
But if I get angry here, I’m branded as a real old man, so I’m like, “Huh, true.” And closed his mouth.
At that time, Dorothea, who had been quietly listening to the story, opened her mouth.
“Hey, but if that’s the case, why don’t you use honorifics with these guys?”
When Dorothea said that, she pointed to Camilla and Heald.
And both of them are demons, so they are a lot older than me.
“…Would you like to call me older sister?”
“After hearing it, it’s really like that? Then should I call you younger brother?”
Two people laughing mischievously.
Since her own logic had been refuted head-on, I decided to keep my mouth shut.
In fact, if you start looking at seniority, no one will be able to speak plain language to Glinda here.
“Kaldrash-nim, you seem to be thinking something strange while looking at me?”
“…I didn’t think anything of it.”
This elf, while tolerant of other things, gets serious when it comes to talking about his age.
***
After getting out of the guard post storage, the wagon continued to roll.
It was probably moving toward the gate, but there were no windows, so I couldn’t see what was going on outside, so I had to judge everything only by sound.
Multi angle! Multi angle! Multi angle! Multi angle!
The sound of soldiers talking can be heard sparsely in line with the sound of the hooves of dozens of horses moving.
Of course, most of the contents were close to meaningless chatter among themselves, but some soldiers wondered where they were going to use all these weapons.
“Are you really thinking about going to war with other races, Archon?”
“It’s good. It creates jobs, and poor people like us can buy land outside.”
“That’s true, but after all, it’s people like us who die after a war.”
“Ah~ how strong are the uncivilized people outside the forest? You should even sell your worries.”
“Well, is that so?”
Margaret, who had been overhearing the conversation in the carriage, muttered casually.
“Comfortable guys.”
After a long time, her thoughts coincided with hers.
“It’s because they’re from a generation that’s never been through a war. Since Nero took the throne as the Demon King, they haven’t been at war with the elves for a long time.”
Hild, who was leaning against the wall, closed her eyes while saying that, and Dorothea, who had been secretly drinking, licked her lips.
“Well, if you get dragged to a battlefield and smell some blood, you’ll change your mind.
Perhaps because it was a sensitive topic in many ways, after Dorothea’s words, silence settled inside the carriage for a while.
In the uncomfortable atmosphere, I stepped forward and changed the topic of conversation.
“More than that, Glinda, do you have any idea where this wagon might be going?”
Then, Glinda, who was sitting there with a sad expression, must have noticed my intentions, ah! She did and she let out a slight exclamation, and she immediately nodded her head and explained.
“It will probably be sent to the eastern part of the Great Forest. There is a fortress over there that has been used as a base for territorial disputes with demons since a long time ago.”
“Is there a fortress in the Great Grove?”
“Yes. Elves often had trouble with other races because of their arrogant personalities from the past. That’s why the 3rd Queen, Marv-nim, made this fortress herself with magic while the war with the demons was in full swing.”
You made a fort with magic?
She couldn’t have imagined it well, but seeing that she created a building of that magnitude with magic, she must have been a wizard who had reached the level of the third queen, Marv.
Anyway, maybe thanks to the bundle of stories being unraveled, Glinda continued to explain various things about the Elven Woods of the past, and thanks to that, I was rapidly acquiring knowledge, and at some point I realized that the carriage had stopped.
“What’s going on?”
It seems I wasn’t the only one who felt strange.
The other people who were taking a break in their own way also stood up one by one with a nervous expression.
“Wait a minute.”
I, who was sitting on the outermost side, calmed the others down with a hand gesture, then poked my head out of the tent.
Pointy-eared soldiers in the distance.
It seems that they are checking the luggage on the wagon for the last time before taking the weapon out of the castle gate.
‘… It’s a big deal.’
It was an unexpected situation, so I hurriedly informed others of this.
“Then what do you do?
“Wait, wait a minute. There must be a way.”
As I calmed the agitated others with my calm voice, Glinda, who had been watching the situation from the sidelines, spoke up.
“I know how to use some illusion magic.”
“Can I just fool them with that? Unless they’re stupid, they’ll try to check the number of items.”
“Damn it! I’m almost there and this is happening!”
Dorothea punches the wall with her fist as if indignant.
I comforted Dorothea by patting her on the shoulder, and before I knew it, I put my index finger to my mouth and asked the others to be quiet at the sight of the soldiers approaching me.
“Shhh.”
Then everyone imitates my movements and covers their mouths with their fingers.
It was pretty cute, but there was no time to laugh.
I held a hypnosis textbook in one hand that seemed to be taken out of a subspace for the first time in a while.
Then, the moment the tent covering the back of the wagon was lifted by the hands of the elven soldiers, I quickly thrust my staff in and shouted.
“Stupefy!”
