Chapter 219
★ Egg Storage Site ★
The day after Reiji left the settlement, Punta came alone to the early-summer bird egg repository.
He knew that he had caused everyone trouble.
He was also aware that he had disappointed the High Elf-sama whom everyone worshiped.
So—was there anything he could do? Maybe if he went to look again, he would remember where he had hidden the Talent Gem.
That was what he thought.
"..."
But that day, he had felt uneasy ever since morning because of the strange gazes he sensed.
He glanced around, but there was no one there.
"Must be my imagination."
He muttered that, but he still felt watched.
He convinced himself that it was probably because of his guilt over his mistake, combined with his fear that he might find nothing even after coming to the egg repository.
"Well, I'd better search..."
Punta looked over the rows upon rows of eggs.
Meanwhile—the ones watching Punta were ten Undergrounders.
The centurion leading them said,
"You lot, stop here. I want to see what that Dark Elf does."
He ordered.
They had been able to predict the direction where the Dark Elf settlement was likely located based on their previous sporadic battles. It was all thanks to their excellent engineer and strategist.
The centurion's mission this time was to "search for the Talent Gem" and "confirm the location of the Dark Elf settlement."
They had made little progress regarding the Talent Gem, but they had succeeded in finding the settlement.
At that point, Punta appeared, possessing by far the most disgracefully slovenly physique of any Dark Elf they had seen, so it was only natural for them to wonder what was going on.
After tailing him, they had arrived at this place with its abnormal number of eggs.
"...Centurion, are those eggs?"
"What else would they look like?"
"Then are they food stores?"
"Who knows... Don't take your eyes off that Dark Elf. We can't miss what he does."
"Yes, sir."
The Undergrounders knew nothing about early-summer birds because the birds did not inhabit their region.
Punta did not touch the eggs. He merely wandered around them. Every so often he reached out, then hastily withdrew his hand. He groaned, "Hmm..." and picked up shells from eggs that had already broken, examining them from every angle.
"What the hell is he doing?"
"Centurion, let's capture him and make him talk."
"Don't rush. You know haste is forbidden on missions like this."
Then,
"I wonder where I hid it... If it was that Talent Gem, you'd think its light would be visible... Maybe I'll wait until it gets dark..."
Punta muttered under his breath.
"He just said 'Talent Gem.'"
"Yeah. I heard him. So he hid it here, but doesn't know where anymore?"
"What should we do, Centurion? If we leave him to it, he won't find it even by sunset."
"But you don't know where it is either."
"What are you talking about?"
One of the Undergrounder's subordinates said to the centurion:
"They're eggs, so let's smash them all. I don't give a damn what happens to their food supply."
It was such simple, straightforward logic that every Undergrounder there thought, 'Fair enough.'
Once they had decided, things moved quickly.
The team led by the centurion spread out to surround Punta, then revealed themselves all at once at a signal.
"Hey, Dark Elf."
"!?"
The centurion called out, and Punta turned around in shock—only for his face to become even more astonished.
"Tell us about the Talent Gem you say you hid. And there are plenty of other things I want to ask you. Got it? If you don't want to get hurt, just cooperate—"
"Aaaaaaaah!?"
Punta screamed as he trembled. He was pointing at one of the centurion's men—the one who had kicked and broken an egg because it was in his way.
A thick, transparent liquid and a yellow mass oozed out.
"Huh? What's the big deal? Was that egg really so important to you?"
"Aaaaaah!"
"!? H-hey, stop!"
Punta suddenly ran away, but the difference in athletic ability was obvious. The team led by the centurion consisted of handpicked combatants, even among the Undergrounders. They quickly caught up with Punta, knocked him down, and pinned him face-first to the ground.
"Running off without a word? That's not very friendly. Come on, now. I told you, if you tell me everything you know, you won't have to get hurt, didn't I?"
The centurion crouched in front of Punta, drew a knife, and pressed it against his cheek again and again. But that was not what Punta feared.
"B-b-bad... This is bad, bad, bad..."
"Huh?"
"We have to run! We have to, or else—"
Just then—a long, hoarse cry rang out high above.
When the Undergrounders looked up, they saw a single red bird circling overhead.
"Ahhh... It's over..."
Punta began to sob, and the centurion caught a sharp ammonia smell. Once he realized that the Dark Elf had wet himself, he finally understood that the situation had taken a catastrophically bad turn.
"...Hey, Dark Elf. What is that bird?"
"It's over. It's over. It's over... Aaaah..."
"Hey! Answer my question!"
"—Centurion! Look up!"
When the centurion looked up, the single red bird from moments ago had become five.
"What... what are those?"
One of his men was pointing north.
The trees' spreading branches blocked their view, but there was a black speck in the northern sky that had not been there before.
There were so many of them that counting them would have been absurd. It wasn't merely a hundred or two hundred.
"If an early-summer bird calls its companions... we can't escape. They'll chase us forever..."
"—Are those birds called early-summer birds?"
"It's over..."
"Hey!"
The centurion grabbed Punta by the collar and hauled him up.
"Tell me! What are those birds!?"
With a sharp smack, he slapped Punta across the cheek, and a little sanity returned to Punta's eyes.
"T-that is an early-summer bird... They never forgive an enemy who destroys a living egg. They gather in huge numbers and attack."
"What..."
"Even if you run, they'll chase you forever."
Then one of his men said,
"Centurion! There are about fifty of them now!"
He shouted. The birds had multiplied before they knew it. The men trembled beneath the red vortex of circling birds—not only the centurion, but his subordinates as well.
"Aaaaaah!!"
He had to decide—with this little information.
(What would the marshal do? What about the strategist? Damn it! I'm only good with my fists!)
Until now, he had left the thinking to other people.
But now, he had to make the decision himself.
"Listen up! We'll split the team into three. The leaders will be—"
He divided the nine Undergrounders into three teams.
"—Then return by the usual routes, A, D, and F, one group per route."
"W-wait a second. What about you, Centurion?"
"I..."
He grabbed Punta by the collar and hauled him up.
"I need to determine whether what you're saying is true. I'll charge straight into the Dark Elf settlement with you."
"What?!"
"Do your best to stay hidden as you run! And... give my regards to the marshal. Now hurry!"
The centurion's assessment was that, no matter how keen a bird's eyesight was, the birds would not be able to pursue them underground, given their nature. And if they fled by separate routes, then even if the birds watched one exit from above, they could use the other exits to come and go.
When his subordinates started running, the birds circling overhead split into three groups and flew after them, leaving a few behind.
"Well, then. From here on out, it's a matter of whether you and I live or die."
"Eek!"
Punta's face was smeared with tears and snot.
"What's your name?"
"P-Punta..."
"All right, Punta. You seem to know those birds well. Think of a route where we can hide from them, and lead me to your settlement."
"B-but if I take you back to the settlement, I'll be killed!"
"Really? Then would you rather die right here? I'm good at torture, you know. Give me a few minutes, and I can inflict enough pain to drive you insane."
"Eek!"
As he threatened Punta, the centurion thought about finding a way to survive, no matter what it took.
"I can't afford to die here. I gotta survive—for that person, too."