Heavenly Castle

Seeing Aifa lay on her back on the ground, Violet gives a dry laugh.

"... I can't believe that Aifa lost to the Golem..."

To that grunt, Dizen answers with a strange face.

"Why did you think you could beat the golem made by a magician who floats an island over this sky"

Dizen's questionable voice was never loud, but Violet turned a firm, murderous eye to Dizen.

In the meantime, Eira and Yuri are checking on Aifa to see how the injury is.

I don't know if A1 went for it, but Aifa fell into the pool, so it doesn't look like she has any major injuries. Apparently, he was also activating defensive magic when the A1 arm hit him, and he must have fainted due to a dropped impact.

And, thanks to being at rest for a while, Eifa woke up naturally.

"... gu, uhh..."

Eira and Yuri assist Aifa, with their hands, with a small groaning upper body.

Ayfa, who woke up, looked up at the robot standing nearby and shifted her gaze to A1 standing next to me.

Eyfa, who gazed at A1 for a while, pulled her jaw to convince herself of something.

"... it was that golem that fought me"

"Huh? Oh, yes. Good to know."

Affirming with surprise, Aifa smiles softly.

"Wonder, I felt different than the rest just that golem"

Tell him so, get up. There seems to be no more damage than I thought.

"... the power of Lord Tyki, known as the Great Devil's Advisor, let me see. No, after all, I didn't have the strength to see the real power."

When Aifa laughs with a neat face, Violet wrinkles between her brows and opens her mouth.

"I've never seen Aifa smile before... although it's a little too uncomfortable and disgusting"

Elsewhere with poisonous thoughts, Aifa stiffened her expression and looked straight at me.

"... in anticipation of Lord Tyke's help, I have a favor to ask"

"Please, sir?

When asked back, Aifa nodded deeply with a rugged look.

"... help my family"

Violet reacts first to that word he tells me to squeeze out.

"Hey, wait a minute! Aifa, you...... Huh!?

Speaking out to blame, Violet stepped forward by tongue-in-cheek at Aifa, who wouldn't even respond to her voice.

"Are you willing to point your sword at the Empire!? How ungrateful......!

Aifa argues with the disputing Violet without even turning her gaze.

"I have never felt grateful for the Empire."

"Become..."

I opened my mouth to the side of Violet, who said nothing of Aifa.

"Help," he said?

Asked so, Aifa began to take off the clothes she had worn in large part.

As you strip away to your torso, turn around and point your back this way.

To the sight, Eira, who was next door, breathed.

Because Aifa's back had a certain shape engraved on it.

"It's a slave's......!?

Aifa lays her eyes down on the word Eira uttered.

"I am a slave to the Emperor."

To that word, Eira stopped moving like she was frozen.

"For a purpose, the Emperor raided our village, which lived deep in the woods, enslaving us. Originally, those outside could not reach beneath us because of the mighty Warcraft, but the Emperor raised an astonishing number of soldiers to explore the woods. Before that great army, we were utterly powerless."

To Aifa, who speaks of the past in a powerless voice, I draw my jaw shallow.

"… so you want us to rescue the enslaved people of our homeland."

Upon confirmation, Aifa agreed while putting her clothes back on.

"I have served the Emperor for the families who have been held hostage. But the days that took the form of throwing out our original role, with no self-esteem, just enduring our own life-saving resulted in the death of our spirits. Now we'll be just like livestock who spend their years in vain."

With that mouth, Aifa looked at me again.

"Me and my family, we risk our lives on Lord Tyki. Please, I want you to free us from the empire."

To the words, I pointed to the ground and laughed.

"Gentlemen, do you want to live on this island? Then it will definitely end without sacrifice."

I say it, and then I sigh back at Aifa's face for not answering anything.

"I guess there's no way... if there's a role"

The term the original role Aifa spoke of. When she said it, Aifa did look spicy.

I don't know what that is, but I guess the role of it is both a pride and a meaning of life for the Aifa and the others.

Then Aifa wants one thing.

When I laughed, Aifa nodded quietly.

"… We elves are also called the people of the woods. We break up into dozens to hundreds of settlements, protecting and growing a special tree that is a variety of forests"

"Special Tree"

Speaking out in disgust, Aifa agreed.

"Lord Tyke would know. It's about the Spirit Tree."

No, I don't.

I almost answered honestly by accident, but Dizen raised his voice before that.

"Spirit Tree! I heard rumors, but you're a phantom tree that you can't see anything but an elf!? Wow, I'd love to see it!

Yuri opens her mouth this time, laughing at Dizen, who shows off her misplaced high tension.

"That's a famous story. Even in my country. The emperor at the beginning, who laid the foundations of the Empire, touched the Spirit Tree in the elves and gained great power… Brother Yanual's favorite adventure."

I snorted to the point where I was made to laugh and explain.

Then Aifa shook her neck left and right and turned to Dizen and Yuri.

"No, that's not mighty. It's history, actually."

Pale Aifa told him, Dizen and Yuri blinked.

"... So if you touch the Spirit Tree, do you really have a great power?

When Eira hears that with a surprised face, Aifa shakes her neck left and right again.

"No, I guess the stories that are in the countries are told to a great extent. The power of the Spirit Tree is not such an easy thing. We've spent years with the Spirit Tree, and we think we've been given a little bit of Spirit Tree magic, but there's nothing dramatically different about it."

"Huh? Is that it?

Dizen reacted too honestly, and Aifa's eyebrow root came by.

"... A Spirit Tree is a special tree for us, and in fact, only an elf can communicate with a Spirit Tree. The Spirit Tree will always respond to our voices and will receive blessings when new elves are born. Most of the elders in my family believe that elves will be given sons because they have spiritual trees."

"Shh, I'm sorry!

Contrary to Dizen, who apologizes at the speed of light, Violet opens her mouth with her eyes pointed at Aifa's explanation.

"You're being ridiculous. I didn't expect to let the elves that were drawn in the woods live in rich imperial capitals, even give them a place to live, and flip the anti-flag for such an ancient legend..."

To the angry seeping Violet's voice, Aifa exhaled a small sigh and shook her neck left and right.

"... those who were born and raised in the empire will not know. Elves are proud to be with the Spirit Tree."

I snort at that word, and I laugh bitterly too.

"So you want us to free our fellow hostages and put them back in the woods,"

Confirming, Aifa nodded silently.

I see it, then I put my arms together, and I roar.

"Hmm... but in that case you'll be frightened of the shadow of the Empire until later"

"We live in pieces within the imperial capital so that we cannot rebel. There's surveillance of the soldiers, and most importantly, they're isolated from each and every one of the children. But if we can all get back into the woods, we're not talking about it."

"Even if the Empire attacked you, you said you'd drive it back?

"Regardless."

It was Aifa who responded clearly, but I could only snort with a bitter smile.

The Empire is more powerful today than it was when it attacked the Elf Forest in the past. There will also be a large number of soldiers, magicians and golems who can be mobilized.

For the pride of the elves, Eifa and the others may repel the Imperial Army, but the sacrifice must be in a number that cannot be ignored.

Though, then it's a weird story to talk about me trying to help. It could hurt Elf's self-esteem, and he would be greatly resented by the soldiers of the Empire who are fighting with their lives at stake under the Emperor's edict.

Perhaps most of the people of the Empire are most important to their lives, and it doesn't matter if they invade other countries or catch elves.

That much thought led me to only one question.

"... If the Emperor believed in the legend of the Spirit Tree and attacked the land where Mr. Aifa and the others lived, what happened to the Spirit Tree?

If you were looking for the power of the Spirit Tree, maybe the Emperor would be angry and cut down the Spirit Tree...

That's what I heard, but Aifa's words proudly opened up somewhere.

"No, I didn't tell the Emperor where the Spirit Tree was. We will protect the Spirit Tree, even if they kill us all."

We heard Aifa's declaration and found out why the elves were captured alive.

The Emperor has not given up the Spirit Tree.

Being living the elves apart could also mean being miserably tortured without Aifa's knowledge.

Worst of all, I don't even know what's going on with the Spirit Tree. In that case, we may not be able to afford to take into account the feelings of the people and soldiers of the Empire.

"... in the meantime, it sounds like you should gather information"

I shrugged so small in my mouth that I saw Aifa.