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nChapter 80

nWhen I got home after the meeting, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. He said that God had made it so that they couldn’t touch me directly, but in other words…

n“Not directly, but indirectly, I suppose.”

nWhen I think about it, I become more and more suspicious of President Chosokabe. Because of the incident with Mr. Yamamoto, I had a strong feeling that it should not be related to the Village of Destiny, so I consciously tried not to think about it. It’s a bad habit to try to turn your back on the painful side when it’s just your imagination.

nI’ll try not to let my guard down…….If my fears are unfounded, that’s fine. Since I got involved with this game, it has been a series of impossible things. It’s better to be skeptical. I pulled myself together and was once again looking up President Chosokabe on the Internet when I discovered a fact. The three arrows are not Chosokabe but Mouri’s.

nI was planning to tell my sister or Seika that the president’s name is Chosokabe, famous for the three arrows, so I’m glad I found this first. Misunderstandings are scary. I heard that one arrow can break, but three arrows together will not break. I think the story was about brothers working together. I’ll check……later to see if I’m right about that too.

n“Working together.”

nI’d like to work with the Dark Elves player to become two arrows, though I’m a little worried about the strength of the three arrows since I’m one short of three. As in this case, I need to stop making assumptions based on my limited knowledge. I need to be more flexible and cautious.

nIt was the scheduled date. There were ten Dark Elves and fifteen of my villagers. They were marching through the forest with a large group of twenty-five people in total. It’s a magnificent sight to see such a large number of people together. Their destination was about an hour’s walk from the village. The south side of the enemy’s base can be seen on the map. It seems that Sudhir, the leader of the Dark Elves, has personally gone to scout out the enemy territory.

n“There were at least twenty enemies. Mostly green kobolds, but there were at least five single-eyed red demons.”

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nSudhir is explaining the details of the enemy to Gams and the others. We had already heard this information many times in the village discussions, but it was important to reconfirm it.

n“That number is not confirmed, is it?”

n“You’re right, handsome brother. I went to scout a few times, but I could only get as close as the entrance to the enemy base. I couldn’t do anything about it because the black dog was also there. I didn’t want my skin to get damaged.”

nMurus and the other elves look at Sudhir with half-lidded glares as she shrugs her shoulders. They seem to be saying, “Don’t be silly.”

n“If the enemy’s forces are unexpectedly powerful, we will withdraw immediately. Is that clear?”

n“I understand. We don’t want to die in vain.”

nI didn’t miss the fact that Sudhir’s eyes weren’t smiling, though she lightly replied to Gams. If the Dark Elves were cornered, they would probably want to withdraw as soon as possible. But when it comes down to it, I will put the lives of the villagers first. That’s a decision I’ve made.

n“So, can I ask something that’s been bothering me?”

n“What?”

nHow can you reply so calmly, Gams? I was nervous when the other side was going to make a comment.

n“Why are you carrying a……wooden statue?”

nIn front of Sudhir’s gaze, there were four villagers carrying a statue of a god that was laid out like a portable shrine. All the villagers understood, so everyone was satisfied, but for the Dark Elves, it must have been a strange sight.

n“I’ll explain.”

nChem, clutching the Bible to her chest, stepped forward to intervene between her brother and Sudhir. She looked for the right moment to interrupt.

n“This statue is necessary to invoke the miracle of the God of Fate.”

nI told in the oracle to keep the fact that I can manipulate divine statues a secret, so Chem is obeying me. I’m not as wary as I was before, but I don’t have enough information to trust them completely. I decided that it would be better to be careful and keep our inner workings quiet.

n“I didn’t know your god had such restrictions.”

nSudhir pats the bag hanging on her waist while whispering. I’m pretty sure there’s a Bible in that bag.

nSince a while ago, the dark elves have barely spoken except for Sudhir. Chem spoke to them several times, but they only nodded or gave a simple reply. They are either well disciplined or afraid to speak out.

n“Quiet.”

n“Enemy.”

nRan and Kang, who were ahead of us, quickly climbed the tree to alert the others. They all took up their weapons at once and ducked for cover. The group had been attacked many times and had a lot of combat experience, so they were able to make quick decisions. Kang gestured from the tree tops to tell them where the enemy was, and held up three fingers to tell them how many there were.

nGams and Murus controlled the dark elves who tried to move and kept them crouched as they made their way through the weeds. The elves used their “plant magic” to make the weeds grow and cover their companions, and then got down on one knee and raised their bows.

nI observe the point where the enemy is from above. There were only three green kobolds with no other monsters nearby. Gams’s sword and Murus’s dagger fly out from behind the trees and slash the throats of two of them. Before the green kobolds who noticed the attack could raise their voices, Kang and Ran’s spears, which had jumped down from the tree tops, pierced their bodies. A complete victory.

n“What do you think of the perfect combination of our villagers?”

nIt was an ideal surprise. The dark elves seemed to be surprised by our skillfulness.

n“You’re doing great, guys! We’ve got a chance to win this thing.”

nSudhir is honestly admiring them. The other Dark Elves seemed to be impressed as well. Although we didn’t have many opponents, we were able to show them our capabilities. Hopefully, this will change the way they look at us. About three minutes later, Kang and Ran spotted enemies again. There were five green kobolds, and just as they were about to kill them, Sudhir stopped them with her hand.

n“We’re next, right? Here we go, boys.”

n“Yes, sister.”

nGums and the others seemed to think there was no need to intervene and quietly gave up their cue. The dark elves seemed to know everything by the movement of their hands. It was like the hand signals I’ve seen in war movies.

nFour of them climbed up the tree, and the remaining six split into two groups. They’re moving pretty fast, but there’s barely a sound. I wonder if it’s some kind of magical chanting that they’re muttering while they’re approaching, eliminating any trace of their presence. As several of them thrust out their hands, the roots of the weeds and trees under their feet grew and entangled themselves in the lower half of the green kobold’s body.

n“Now!”

nAs if on cue, arrows rained down from the archers standing by in the trees, and the approaching Dark Elves threw daggers at them. The poor victim, with a dagger handle and arrows growing out of his body, fell to the ground.

nI was able to confirm that the Dark Elves are also capable enough to fight. They might be able to defeat the single-eyed red demon that seemed to be a very strong enemy when Gams fought it alone, but it seems that the enemy at that time was actually a powerful individual.

nIt seemed that Mr. Yamamoto had poured a lot of money into getting it, or that he had spent a lot of time developing the character. Just as there are individual differences among people, there are also individual differences among monsters. We, the players, are playing a game, but it’s a real world, so the parameters are not exactly the same for each species like in a game.

nThere was once a time when a single-eyed red demon attacked alone, but Gams defeated it without danger, even though he had the support of his friends. That made me realize that there are individual differences…….It’s also possible that Gams has gained combat experience and leveled up. If I could see the status of each character in numerical form, I could quickly determine if they became stronger or not, but there is no such thing as a status chart.

n“But it’s obvious that they’re getting stronger. Is it a world where when you defeat an enemy, you take in their power and level up?”

nIt’s a common setting in these otherworldly works that incorporate game elements, but I wonder how it works in this world. I’ll ask about it on the forums later. From that point on, they began to encounter monsters every few minutes. Basically, it was still green kobolds, but there were more and more black dogs accompanying them.

nI don’t see any monsters that are acting alone. Are they trying to act in groups of at least three or more? The frequency of encountering enemies is increasing, but so far it’s been smooth, until they encountered a new monster. It appeared out of nowhere. There were four of them, and they all seemed to be of the same species.

n“Hmm, what’s this guy? It looks like a green kobold, but its skin color is yellow, and it’s big.”

nIt looks like a green kobold, but it’s about a size larger and more muscular. The biggest difference is the skin color. This one’s skin is almost yellow.

n“Green and red demons, then yellow. If I had to guess from their appearance, I’d say they’re somewhere in between in strength.”

nThere was a considerable gap in strength between the single-eyed red demon and the green kobold. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a race with strength somewhere in between. It’s just like a game.

n“I’m not sure what to do. It’s a little tricky.”

nI used the mouse to move the arrow to the yellow demon, and sure enough, it showed up as a yellow demon.

n“They are said to be an evolved race of green kobolds. Their intelligence is comparable to that of a human child, and some of them can use weapons and armor.”

nCertainly rusty one-handed swords and spears. And some of them are equipped with shields. They look strong to me, but from the reaction of the Gams, they don’t seem to be that much of a threat.

n“I’d like to take them out from distance if possible, can you do that?”

nGams turned and asked the other two, an elf and a dark elf. The two races nodded at the same time and stared at each other, uncomfortable with the synchronization.

n“We’ll shoot the two on the left; you take the one on the right. Oops, if you can’t, we can shoot them all.”

n“You can’t blame the weak elves for trembling behind us.”

n“I’m sure you can do it. I’ll leave it to you to take care of the ones I failed to kill.”

nGams chuckles at the sight of Murus and Sudhir bickering, and silently draws his two swords. Perhaps he did it on purpose to stir up rivalry? They raised their hands in silence, and the elves and dark elves raised their bows in unison.

nMurus and Sudhir chanted a spell and swung their hands down. Then the branches of weeds and trees grew and entangled themselves in the yellow demon, and the grasses fell to the ground by themselves as if they had a will of their own, securing their vision in the line of fire.

nThere was the sound of countless strings being plucked and the sound of wind. Some of the yellow demons noticed the countless arrows coming at them, but with the grass and trees entwined around their bodies, they were unable to defend themselves and became a perfect target.

n“I think we’re going to make it.”

nAfter checking the corpse of the Yellow Demon, which had transformed into a needle-rat-like figure, Gams sheathed his swords. It’s quicker to kill them from a distance, but this doesn’t tell them how strong they are. That doesn’t mean I’m going to tell them to get in close combat. Let’s play it safe.

nAbout thirty minutes had passed since then, and the speed of the group had slowed down considerably. It wasn’t because they were tired, but because they started to see enemies everywhere.

nThey could kill about three of them, but there was another group nearby, and if they failed to kill them, they would be called for help. The closer we got to our destination, the denser the enemy population became. There were at least a dozen monsters in our path.

n“I thought you said that you confirmed at least thirty, but that’s really too many.”

nSudhir responded to Gams complaint with a frown. I’ve been counting the monsters we’ve killed, and we’ve killed a total of thirty-four. It would not be surprising if the enemy’s base was already empty. However, there were still countless monsters roaming around in front of them.

nI did a quick check from the sky to our destination, and there are still over thirty of them in the forest. The story is too different. We’ve beaten so many of them, but instead of decreasing, they’re only increasing. I was determined to win until a little while ago, but I guess this is……impossible.

nI’m wondering if I should tell the oracle to go home because this number is indeed dangerous. There is a restriction of once a day, so once I invoke the oracle, I will not be able to contact them in case of emergency.

nI want to leave the oracle in case there’s an emergency. This is a situation where I would like the villagers to make their own decision.

n“Brother. We’re not expecting this many. Shouldn’t we pull back?”

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nTugging on the sleeve of her brother’s dress, Chem expressed her opinion.

n“That’s right. This number is unreasonable…….What do you think, guys?”

nWhen Gams asked all his friends for their opinions, they looked at each other and exchanged ideas.

n“It’s working for now, but it’s not going to work anymore, is it?”

n“I think so, too.”

nMe too.”

nA number of hands went up, and most of our villagers seemed to be in favor of turning back. The elves seem to be looking at the dark elves and wondering. I’d like to see it go that way, but the important thing is that none of the Dark Elves raised their hands, so they’re against turning back.

n“How do you know you’re not going to die?”

n“I know that, but we’re on the edge here. If we don’t take out at least one of the strongholds here, I don’t think we’ll be able to survive the next Temptation of the Evil God.”

nFinally, Sudhir spoke her mind. They were in a dire situation, and if they backed down now, they would lose hope. There are circumstances that make it impossible to pull out. However, our village has plenty of power and the village development is going well. There is no need to overreach here…….Should we lend a hand or abandon them and go home? Before making this important decision, I went to…….

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