The High Elf and the Sword Princess (10)

It wouldn't do to stand around talking forever, so we moved inside the dojo.

Seeing Kaeha, the dojo's owner, looking around with the greatest curiosity, as though everything were new to her, was so amusing that I couldn't help laughing.

Well, she had seen the dojo's plans, but she hadn't been there to see it completed, so I supposed it couldn't be helped.

"It has been a long time, Eisa-sama. Today, I would like to borrow your strength to rescue our captured kin. I asked Clayas about your whereabouts, and he introduced me to Kaeha-san, who guided me here."

My acquaintance, the elf Airena, bowed deeply as soon as she sat down, then began with those words.

According to her, some of the nobles of the Kingdom of Rudria were secretly capturing elves, keeping them as slaves.

It sounded like something out of a story, but I couldn't help wondering whether nobles—human though they were—could really do such a thing. Perhaps sensing the question in my mind, Airena...

"The elves Eisa-sama knows are either eccentrics who became adventurers, myself included, or people from the deep forests, are they not? Ordinary elves who live outside the Great Forest, in ordinary forests, are not accustomed to fighting as we are."

She smiled awkwardly as she said this.

Apparently, being able to speak to spirits was one thing; being able to borrow their power effectively, or use it in battle, was another...