Chapter 131
Whether or not the elves were suffering from Benedetta's voice resonating in their heads at all hours,
"What was that alarm earlier?"
"A small enemy raiding party approached, but they tried to break through the main gate..."
"So it was dealt with before our forces could even move out?"
"That's correct."
Thanks to her, who was more sensitive than anyone in her domain,
"Today's raid also resulted in zero casualties."
"Although the scale of the raids is still small... I hope it continues like this."
"That's right, Commander."
We imperial troops and the dwarves were able to secure some leeway.
And during those few days, I also made some progress in my own way.
Perhaps because enemy raids were coming in almost daily, she was hiding inside the tree every time I visited, but,
"Are you going again today?"
"Seeing that the bucket is consistently emptied, it seems she doesn't dislike it."
I confirmed that the bucket I had filled with rice water was completely empty and moved to the entrance of the fortification by the next morning.
If she had no interest at all, the bucket would have been shattered into wooden fragments like the scattered flesh of the orcs, so the intact bucket was quite a positive indicator.
"Then, I'll prepare as well."
"...Hmm."
Together with Anna, who had started accompanying me a few days ago, insisting she couldn't let me go alone, we left the tent carrying a bucket of rice water each.
***
After barely shaking off Erika who asked where we were going, we walked towards the main gate where Benedetta was.
"Even though the burden has decreased, aren't you still busy? Is there a reason you're allocating separate time for her?"
Anna, who had been walking slightly apart, approached quietly and asked in a low voice.
"Benedetta? It's an investment, an investment."
"Benedetta... Is there no personal reason?"
Unsatisfied with my answer, she continued her questions, but,
"Personal?"
"Her appearance is like that, and her abilities are outstanding, aren't they?"
"Appearance? Well..."
As the direction of the question was a bit different from what I expected, I didn't have much to say.
Although I was harboring some expectations as Benedetta's reaction was better than expected,
"If you're a human who cares about the appearance of High Elves... you won't live long."
"...Is that so?"
"If you can't hear mental communication, communication itself will be difficult. Also, there's talk that tearing apart orcs like grinding them is to use their blood and flesh as fertilizer."
"..."
"Still, it would be good if we could plant even a slightly good impression. If she says she dislikes it, we'll have to remove it quickly."
Given that interaction was nearly impossible in the game, I'm not hoping for anything great.
It would be best if Benedetta came to tolerate imperial troops moving around within her domain, but even that is just a hope.
"..."
"We've arrived. Slowly, put it down and step back."
"Understood."
While talking with Anna, we had already arrived near the domain.
I carefully approached Benedetta's domain, carrying the bucket Anna had put down as well.
"Two are a bit heavy."
"Couldn't you move them one by one?"
"Approaching the domain twice would be more danger-ous!"
-Thud.
And approaching up to the mark I had drawn on the ground in advance, I put down all the buckets and stepped back.
"...Done. Let's go."
I turned around, dusting off my hands which had marks from the handles, but,
"Um, General."
"Yes?"
Anna called me with her eyes slightly widened, pointing behind me.
"The tree... is moving."
"Huh?"
Surprised by her words, I turned around, and indeed, the central tree was slowly splitting open.
"Unexpected situation... we need to run!"
"Hmm... wait a moment. There doesn't seem to be any hostility."
"What?"
Anna pulled at my clothes, saying we should run away, but the dot on the mini-map representing Benedetta was still gray.
Although a High Elf's action without hostility could still be dangerous to me, it at least meant she wasn't trying to harm me.
I stood still, watching the tree's movement.
"..."
Eventually, as the tree completely split open, Benedetta inside revealed herself.
She, wrapped in leaves as if wearing a full-body swimsuit, came out from among the plants and walked towards me with a leisurely gait.
"...What should we do?"
"Let's not provoke her. ...For now."
"Yes..."
I maintained tension, ready to run away at any time, and continued observing her with a slightly frowning expression.
Fortunately, my thought to stay still seemed to be correct.
After a few minutes that felt like almost tens of minutes, she approached right in front of us, dragging her green hair long enough to touch the ground.
Perhaps because she was a High Elf, she seemed about half a head taller than me, even though I'm quite tall.
"..."
Surprisingly, she smiled faintly while looking at the bucket of rice water, and,
"!@##@!@#!"
"...?"
She opened her mouth and said something to me in an unexpectedly lively voice.
"...Can you understand her?"
"No, not at all."
It's truly an incredible opportunity, but.
Unfortunately, I couldn't understand her words at all.
"!@#!#!@!@##@"
"..."
To her pointing at the bucket with her finger, I desperately gestured that I couldn't understand her words, and,
"..."
She quietly looked over my gestures, then frowned again, and,
"^&*&^&*&^&****^"
She said something in a completely different intonation from before.
Contextually, it seemed like a different language from what she was saying earlier, but,
"..."
Of course, I couldn't understand this either.
"!@###@@#@###!!#!!"
Seeing my gestures the same as before, she snapped something in the tone she used initially, then,
"!#@!#"
She lightly picked up the buckets with both hands and returned towards the tree she had come out of initially.
"..."
Anna and I held our breath waiting until the tree she had entered closed again, and,
"Phew..."
"Ugh, well, whew..."
Only when she was completely out of sight did we exhale our held breaths and sit down.
"...It would have been good if Miss Erika was here. Although not enough to understand the content, the second language she used sounded similar to what other elves were using."
"We should come together next time. Hah..."
As I hadn't thought at all that she would attempt conversation, I had left Erika behind prioritizing safety, but.
Realizing once again that the game and reality are different, I looked at Anna who had sat down with me.
"By any chance, did you understand even a little? Even just a tiny bit?"
"...I'm not sure. I'm sorry."
"No need to be sorry. ...Was she asking what it was?"
"That seems highly likely."
"If only that Vittorio wasn't so black-hearted, I'd ask him a bit. It's a shame."
Afterwards, while trying to infer the content of the conversation by recalling Benedetta's gestures with Anna,
"But she seems to like it, right?"
"...Yes."
"...Let's go, for now."
"Yes, General."
We wrote down Benedetta's words as we heard them in a notebook to ask Erika later, and returned to the tent.
---
Meanwhile,
"Hmm..."
Benedetta was enjoying the sensation of nutrients rising from her feet, with each foot dipped in the buckets placed side by side.
Although she had been a bit irritated at the humans who couldn't understand even when she kindly used the common elven language, considering they seemed not to have heard mental communication until now,
"Delicious. Very... delicious."
Now, with both feet soaked in rice water, she was wearing a faint smile.
Unable to identify what it was, she had confidently brought the buckets in to examine them directly, but.
While carrying them, she had accidentally spilled some on her feet, which was the start.
"Mmm... mmm, mmm."
In a stressful situation of constantly fighting enemies invading her domain, after absorbing things like orc blood, which was very sticky and fishy and slow to absorb, absorbing rice water that was fast-absorbing, soft, and even sweet,
Given her characteristic of taking nutrients from surrounding plants, she couldn't even absorb sweet fruits, so she savored the faint sweetness that she rarely experienced, but.
As the absorption speed unconsciously increased, the rice water in the buckets gradually decreased at a noticeable rate.
"Hah..."
She expressed regret looking at the emptied buckets, not even lasting 10 minutes.
"...Why don't the elves know what this is?"
On the first day she discovered the taste, she had absorbed it all emotionally and couldn't ask, but.
The next day, she had left some and asked about its identity, but no elf could reveal what it was.
"Instead of useless tributes, it would be nice if they brought more of this."
She said as if lamenting, but as she was someone who kept failing to request changing tributes to fruit or vegetable juices due to shyness,
"..."
She released some stress by irritably calling a few nearby elves.
"This..."
As she looked around, she picked up the emptied bucket at her feet, intending to throw it too, but,
"..."
-Thud.
Thinking that the rice water might not come again, she gently put it down outside the tree, and,
"..."
She instructed the elves to take the buckets back to where they were originally placed.
"...Will he come again?"
After finishing her instructions,
She sat down weakly and fell into thought, recalling the face of Viktor who had been bringing rice water every day for some time now.