## Chapter 1263 – Encounter

ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ

I originally planned to head straight home after eating, but with things as they are, I’ll have to stay in the desert for a while longer.

We went straight back to the inn.
We checked out already, but now we’re going back in.

After going inside and unpacking our luggage, I called for Cloudie.

“Cloudie, you’re definitely going to see him, right?”
“Yeah, I have to. He made Katt angry, didn’t he?”
“Hehehe, well, it’s good that you’re going because of that. But don’t you have any other thoughts?”
“Hmm… I wonder? Other thoughts.”

Cloudie seemed to be thinking, stroking her lips for a moment.

“Not really. I don’t have any special feelings.”
“Is that so?”

Well, Cloudie is a woman who doesn’t really think about anything other than me in the first place. That part of her is so lovely it drives me crazy…!

“Everything is unimportant except for things related to Katt.”
“Aigo!”
“Aah!”

I immediately hugged Cloudie.

Whatever the reason, Cloudie has already decided to go see him.

Then we’re going. More than anything, he treated Cloudie like a slave, so I can go and beat the crap out of him. That’s what I think will happen. That’s what Xenia and Raiden did, after all.

“Hehehe, it tickles.”
“My heart tickles even more.”

Anyway, well.

“Don’t you want to talk to him or anything?”
“Hmm… I guess I could exchange greetings since it’s been a while.”

Greetings, huh.

“I don’t have any special feelings about my father. The only important thing is… that he made Katt angry. He has to pay the price for that.”
“Yeah.”

Of course, he has to pay the price.

“He has to pay the price for making me angry. Because making Kim Katt angry means something, you know.”
“Katt is so cool.”
“So, what should we do when we get there?”
“Shouldn’t we just do what Katt always does?”
“Beat the crap out of him?”
“Mama really likes that side of Katt.”

Whatever happens, if Cloudie is happy, there’s nothing better than that.

“But it seems like every time we meet the in-laws, the only plan that comes out is to beat them up.”
“Hehehe, I guess so. Is that what parents are all about? It doesn’t seem that unusual for them to have bad relationships.”

That can’t be true.

Wienia, Karin, and Cloudie just went astray as a family. But that going astray is surprisingly common. It almost makes Liztina, who has no resentment, seem special.

“Not all parents are like that. I, for one, will be really good to my children when I have them.”
“Of course, you would, Katt.”

Talking about parents makes me think of my father. Still, no matter how I think about it, he’s a strange man. But he wasn’t as terrible as Wienia’s or Karin’s parents. Or was he? Maybe they’re similar? I don’t fucking know. What is a normal parent anyway? I couldn’t figure it out.

Surprisingly, I’ve never seen one.

“Then we’ll leave tomorrow or the day after. Just so you know.”
“Okay.”

I need to see what that guy is up to.

* * *

The next day.

I went to the inn where the dark elf, I, Injo, was waiting and made contact with them.

“…”

The dark elf with the sky-blue hair, who tried to resist me yesterday, couldn’t meet my eyes. This bastard… Looking at his face makes me want to beat him up a few more times.

I won’t forgive bad dark elves who stimulate the violence within me.

“Waaaaaaah!!!!!”
“Ugh!”

So, I suddenly screamed, and he turned pale and collapsed. Where did the guts you had when you treated the ear hunter like my slave go?

“Hehehe, you’re weak-willed. Are all dark elf warriors like that?”
“…No. I’m not.”

He blushed, dusted off his butt, and stood up. Judging by the mana he’s holding, he seems to have some skill, but it’s just a drop in the bucket.

I can turn a guy like this into dust more easily than breathing.

“Anyway, I’m going because I was invited. But do I need to be guided by you guys? Or can I go separately?”
“…You can do as you wish. Which do you prefer?”
“There’s no need to be guided. If I have this scroll, I can enter your palace, right?”

At that, he nodded.

After all, this is like an invitation. If I have this, I can get in okay. I heard it’s a pretty big dark elf kingdom, so if I just try to enter, it’ll cause a commotion.

“Then I’ll find my way there. I’ve roughly figured out the location.”
“Yes. I understand.”

After telling him that, I went straight outside.

If we leave right now, we might arrive earlier than those guys. As I came out, I looked at the contents of the scroll again. It just said there was nothing special.

It just praised my martial arts and said they wanted to see me.

He’s been king for about forty years, but he never looked for Cloudie during that time, and now he’s trying to see her through me. The very intention of calling me is very suspicious. There’s usually no reason to call me like this.

Could it be that he wants to ask me for something?

“I’m out.”

Thinking about that, I returned to the inn. The preparations for going south were already complete. Then let’s get going.

* * *

“Augh.”

On the way south.

Dark elf bandits were swarming everywhere we went. Especially since we’re a human-centered group, it greatly attracted their aggro, and before we even arrived at our destination, we had already slaughtered dozens of bandits.

Perhaps the fact that we massacred so many bandits on the way here is a kind of prophecy foreshadowing the future development.

I couldn’t help but think that.

“Hey, are you going to go there and cause a ruckus like you just killed all those bandits?”

A sharp question.

“Why are you saying that at this timing?”
“I just feel like that’s what’s going to happen. Xenia spun around like she was doing a big-boob twirl, and now if you do the same thing, won’t the kids’ limbs all fly off? You’ve gotten so strong, I feel like that’s what’s going to happen.”

Oh.

“Surely that won’t happen.”
“It’d be better to dance than cause unnecessary trouble.”
“Well, let’s see what the situation is.”

I still plan to give him a little smackdown.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to recklessly kill people. First, I’ll listen to his apology for treating Cloudie like a slave, and then there’s a high probability that I’ll give him a reasonable punishment. I don’t know for sure, but I think his attitude is more important.

He’s Cloudie’s biological father, so I have my own thoughts.

“Katt, you can do whatever you want.”
“Yeah. I can do whatever I want.”

Hilde, who was next to me, said.

“Whatever happens, he must pay the price for making Katt-nim angry by insulting Cloudie-nim. If he doesn’t apologize properly, we’ll have no choice but to use violence!”
“Hehehe, thanks, Hilde. Is that what you think?”
“Of course!”

As expected, Hilde is full of good sense.

We moved along like that. The name of the metropolis ruled by Cloudie’s father, Barganell, is Quarada. Looking at the map, it seems like we’re almost there.

“Oh.”

The silhouette of the city began to appear in the distance.

“It looks like we’re almost there.”
“It’s so big?”

The city was quite large. And various caravans were coming and going around the city. Judging from the situation, they were all dark elves, and they didn’t seem to like seeing us humans very much.

“Let’s go.”

But I don’t care.
I have the scroll that Barganell gave me.

So, we headed to the entrance of the city without any worries.

“…”
“…”
“…”

As we went to the entrance, all sorts of dark elves’ gazes were focused on us. The groups forming caravans and the dark elves traveling in small numbers were all looking at us with faces that seemed to be asking what the hell we were.

Some of them were even trying to draw their swords right away.

As expected, it’s a pure dark elf kingdom.
The atmosphere is very harsh.

“The atmosphere is hostile, Father.”

Ari said as if she didn’t care.

“It’s only natural. Let’s not pay attention to it.”

The pure dark elf kingdoms in this area tend to be hostile to humans. Cloudie explained that it would normally be almost impossible for a group of humans to come here as if nothing was wrong.

That’s why they’re in a state of confusion and watching us.

“What the hell are these human bastards?”

And then.
Finally, one guy drew his curved sword and approached us.

“Human bastard?”
“What?”

I reached out and grabbed his neck like a chameleon catching a fly. In that state!!! I gave him a reasonable amount of strength and threw him like a shot put!

“Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!!”

He became a star in the sky.

“T, this crazy!”
“What the hell is that!”
“Crazy bastard!”

Starting with that, the other dark elves drew their weapons and exploded with extreme vigilance. Yeah. The aggro has definitely been pulled.

ㅡHaa.

Take a deep breath.

“Gah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Let’s give them a severe scolding.

ㅡBoom!!

The sound echoed, and the dark elves knelt down.

“Ugh…!”
“Aaaaaaaah!!”
“Kkeoooook!!”

Of course, my thunder-scolding has no effect on my women. Because it’s a sonic attack that can be directed and detonated.

“Listen!!! Dark elves!!! I have been invited by Barganell, the king of this place!!! So, I will not tolerate anyone messing with me!!! Only those who want to die can mess with meㅡ!!!!!!!”

If I let them know in this way, I won’t be bothered in the future. And the guys who noticed the commotion will send people.

“…”

After shouting like that, the dark elves all ran away in a hurry.

“Hehehe, there’s nothing better than shouting.”
“Kyahaha. That’s why men need to have loud voices. Good job.”
“Right?”

We, who had subdued the dark elves, stopped and waited, and soon dark elves in armor approached us.

“I heard you were invited by our king.”
“Here’s the proof.”

I handed the scroll to the guy who looked like a general.

“This is… definitely it. Follow me. I’ll guide you.”

He only checked the seal on the outside of the scroll. Of course, a guy like this wouldn’t open the king’s document without permission.

“But your companions, except for you…”
“Isn’t there a building where you can receive guests?”
“There is. I’ll guide you there.”
“That’s what he said. Let’s split up here. I’ll go with Cloudie.”

At that, everyone nodded, and we parted ways for a while. From now on, only Cloudie and I will go to see the king. Before we parted, we secretly told each other to deal with any problems that might arise.

In the first place, if Karin and Liztina are there, they can crush any problem with their fists. I already told them all this before we came, so there’s nothing to worry about.

* * *

Cloudie and I stood in front of the palace like that. It was a pretty big building, and as we waited, another dark elf general came out from inside.

“…”

He glared at us for a moment with a solemn expression.

“Follow me.”

He said that in a solemn tone as expected.

“Yeah. Are we going right away?”
“What?”
“Are we going to see King Barganell right away?”
“…Yes.”
“Hehehe, I see. Thanks for the guidance.”

What a bland bastard.

“You are… the emissary who buried the allied forces of the dark elf lords.”
“Did you just call me an emissary? Wow. Cloudie. He called me an emissary.”
“Hehe, another title has been added?”
“That’s a good thing.”

At that time, the general glanced at Cloudie for a moment and muttered.

“…And you are the ear hunter.”

You know?

“You know everything?”
“I am King Barganell’s close aide.”
“I see.”

It seems like he knows everything.

It seems like only the king’s close aides know secretly.

ㅡThump, thump.

After that, I didn’t really talk to him.
I just strolled through the interior of this exotic desert city-style palace.

After that procedure, we were able to meet King Barganell.

“…”

King Barganell, sitting on the throne and looking at me with a strange expression, was a slightly bulky, muscular dark elf. But he’s dwarfed compared to me. His hair color was gray. And there wasn’t a single unblemished spot on his exposed skin.

Almost his entire body, including his face, seemed to be covered in scars.

“Are you the emissary?”

He’s calling me an emissary too.