## Chapter 905 – Otherworld Dungeon

“These crazy bastards brought an army.”

Sure enough, the elves had brought a company-sized force.

They were all clad in leather armor, seemingly prioritizing mobility. Each piece was painted with professional camouflage patterns of mixed light green, green, and a touch of brown, which surprised me a little.

Do these guys know about camouflage?

Even their outfits were completely uniform, making them genuinely hard to spot in the forest.

To top it off, they had attached branches with leaves and grass to their shoulders. These guys even know how to conceal their shoulder lines.

They’re definitely not right in the head.

They were also wearing helmets carved from wood, the bark still vividly alive. Small plants and leaves grew on the surface, providing natural camouflage.

These damn racist bastards actually have a decent understanding of combat. As expected of an army organized by forest dwellers, their camouflage is hardcore.

Their long blonde hair was also carefully concealed.

The guys I beat up last time just wore comfortable-looking armor and let their hair down. That must have been their casual wear, and this is their real combat gear.

“What do we do, Blackie?”

Wienia, standing next to me, looked up and asked.

“Why?”
“They came to catch Blackie.”

Oh.

“I didn’t expect them to bring friends.”
“Well, you beat their kids up so badly, of course they’d bring friends.”
“It’s fine. None of those guys can catch me.”
“I guess.”

These damn bastards better not push it too far. What can they do with just a company-sized force?

This is human land.
I’m a Brass Sky Knight Paladin.

Elves can’t do anything here.

“But… it really feels like they’ve set up a tree. Is that the elves’ standard armor?”

Liz asked, but I didn’t know the details either. Before I could say anything, Karin answered.

“Well, something like that. Elves wear armor like that a lot. They deliberately paint it to camouflage in the forest, I hear.”
“You know about it?”
“Just something I heard. It’s probably only worn near the Elven Forest.”

Karin, being from the Royal Knights, was quite knowledgeable about basic military knowledge.

“Sis, is it okay for them to just come in like this?”
“They wouldn’t just come in without permission. They probably came after finishing the discussion. No matter how reckless they are, they can’t just come in.”

That’s true.

“It’s been a few days since my husband beat those guys up, right? They probably already talked to the knights somewhere.”
“Ah.”

True.

It had been several days since then.

The discussions about agreements and treaties would have been led by the Knights, and they wouldn’t bother coming to me to tell me about it. They probably just met separately and talked after that day.

But it’s quite a distance to the capital. Did the orders come down from the top already? No. There might be a Knights branch somewhere in the middle… But the person in charge here was a Knight General, a regimental commander.

Other than the Master Knight, no one can really order him around. That means the top is that Master Knight.

When I asked Karin about this roughly, she said she didn’t know.

“Well… but my sister thinks they probably finished the discussion in the form of reinforcements. But maybe not.”
“Reinforcements…”

The justification is sufficient.

If it’s in the form of reinforcements, then whatever.

Anyway, before entering the palace, we watched the elves’ regular army lined up over there. Of course, we weren’t the only spectators. It was quite a sight, so everyone around seemed to have come out to watch.

The elf warriors currently lined up were standing still, and an individual who appeared to be a commander was talking to the Royal Knights officers in front of them.

“But those guys seem to have considerable capabilities.”

Karin, who had been observing them, said that.

“I think so too.”

Indeed… they are strong. Above all, the guys I knocked down were quite skilled and incredibly tough. It’s just that I was incredibly strong.

In any case, it’s better to avoid conflicts with the elves, but last time, those guys crossed the line first. That was an unavoidable clash. No matter who gives me what warning, if that kind of thing happens again, I’ll chop them into pieces.

“But they were pushovers when I fought them.”
“Keuh-heuh, look at this guy’s confidence. Yeah, well. You’ve gotten a lot stronger.”
“So I’m not worried. They’re weaker than me, so they deserved to get their asses kicked. But sis, if they act up, let’s smash them together.”

Karin chuckled and nodded.

“Actually, fighting in the kingdom’s territory isn’t a big problem in itself.”

Then, touching her lips, she continued.

“But if you go into their forest with a grudge against them, you’re screwed.”
“In the Elven Forest?”
“Elves are all experts in forest and jungle warfare. If you invade their forest, even well-prepared Royal Knights won’t be able to handle them.”

Hearing that fact matter-of-factly, Liz covered her mouth with her hand.

“Oh my, is that so?”
“It’s their territory, so they naturally have an advantage.”

Even a dog has an advantage in its own territory.

Indeed… they are elves who live their whole lives in such lush forests. The basic tactics of the army are to use the terrain, so inevitably, elves will become experts in jungle guerrilla warfare.

And since their individual combat power is considerable, they are probably even more specialized than the Viet Cong. Even without mana-enhanced bodies, elves’ physical abilities are good.

“This is a story I heard when I was in the Knights.”

Karin turned around as if to supplement Liz’s question and said.

“Elves are different from humans in terms of… what should I say, their brain structure for remembering? They never get lost in the forest. They just memorize the forest they’ve seen once, just like people memorize roads.”

Oh.

“That’s probably true.”

Cloudy said.

“Cloudy?”
“Dark elves don’t get lost in the desert either. So elves probably don’t get lost in the forest.”
“That’s a story I’m hearing for the first time.”

Cloudy simply told the story that dark elves don’t get lost in the desert. Of course, she added that she was a half-elf, so she didn’t have that ability and just memorized it through hard work.

Karin, having heard the story, nodded and said to me.

“Anyway, back to the story. What does it mean to not get lost in the forest?”
“Just that they remember the whole forest?”
“That’s right. And the Elven Forest is the densest forest in the world. Humans can’t memorize the roads there. In the first place, there aren’t even any humans who have properly entered the Elven Forest, right?”

It seems that no humans have ever entered the depths of the Elven Forest. Well, of course, there would be some who have entered the outskirts of the Elven Forest. What is meant here is the innermost part. Anyway, humans have never been to that deep inside, so they don’t know the roads or the terrain. In fact, even if they had been there a few times, it would be impossible to memorize that vast forest path.

“But the elves remember everything because it’s their home. You can’t win if you do guerrilla warfare with those guys, right?”

Karin shook her head.

This is a terrain issue.

No matter how strong a human’s individual combat power is, they cannot completely ignore the influence of the terrain.

Inside the vast forest of the Elven Forest, you cannot beat the elves who are professional guerrillas, trained soldiers, and have knight-level combat power.

“And well… elves probably have a decent population. In the first place, the Elven Forest is wider than the Karga Kingdom, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Yeah… that’s right.”

Everyone nodded at that.

Oh, I knew it was big, but it was that big?

“Of course, it’s a damn jungle and forest, so the land where elves can live isn’t that vast, but in the first place, elves are better at monster domestication technology and agricultural technology, so their population wouldn’t be that small.”

Nothing is known about the exact population of the elves. They live almost their entire lives inside that vast Elven Forest. Not many of them come out.

I don’t know what they do and eat inside, but their reclamation technology and agricultural technology are definitely above humans. Their productivity is good, so the population wouldn’t be that different.

In fact, that’s right.

If the elves weren’t this powerful, they would have been destroyed in a war with humans long ago.

“And in the past, they signed a treaty banning military training near the border with humans, but who knows if they’re doing such training deep in the forest.”

Karin’s military knowledge continued.

“Of course, if they have brains, they’ll be doing training assuming they’ll fight the human alliance. In the first place, the Elven Forest itself is surrounded by human kingdoms, so they can’t help but do it. If you just go past the Mercudia Kingdom, there are many weak kingdoms, and they all border the Elven Forest.”
“Oh…”
“But the kingdom can’t inspect this, right?”

There are many people who have grievances against the elves, just like people who fight based on skin color, gender, age, and origin.

Probably those experts in forest guerrilla warfare, the elves who have been honing their killing skills for their entire lives, are definitely breaking the treaty and training to fight the human alliance in the secret depths of the forest.

Anyway, for various reasons, humans and elves are maintaining a non-aggression pact. Honestly, elves can’t guarantee victory by waging an all-out war against humans, and there wouldn’t be any kingdom that would want to wage war with the elves.

“Um… but if they’re elves, they’ll probably be resistant to poison.”

Ari, who had been listening to the story, said.

“Of course, they live in the forest. I guess their weakness would be fire… I heard that elves are also friendly with water spirits.”
“They’re completely inhuman!!! They’re friendly with the spirits, the enemy of mankind!!!”

Hilde was shocked.

“It’s just a rumor, so don’t get too excited.”

Still, if even fire doesn’t work, it can be said to be a natural fortress. There is no countermeasure unless you’re firing napalm.

“But the Elven Forest…”
“Why? Is our Ari curious about that?”

As expected of an Alraune, she can’t help but be interested in a large forest.

“No. I’m not that interested. In the first place, it’s a forest that has an owner.”
“You’re the owner of the forest, Ari.”
“That’s true, but they’re elves.”

Does that matter?
She’s an Alraune.

“If they’re beings who live in such a place… they probably have countermeasures against Alraunes. And no matter how much of an Alraune you are, you can’t fight the entire army of a race alone.”
“Ah.”

I guess so.

Come to think of it, that’s right.

It seemed that Ari was thinking that while looking at the Elven Forest.

Alraunes are legendary monsters, but they exist like this. Would the elves not know this? I think they probably know. There will be records. So, as much as they know, they will have made countermeasures to prevent their living space from being taken away.

“But Karin unnie? I have a question after listening to the story, why are such strong elves being captured by mere slave traders?”
“Mere slave traders?”

Karin tilted her head at Wienia’s question.

“Can you call them mere? The illegal elf slave traders in the border area are people that even the Royal Knights have a hard time dealing with.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Really?”

Karin’s words were surprising, but I had expected it to some extent. The elves aren’t just pushovers, they’re damn strong, so the guys who kidnap and sell them can’t be normal.

“Because it’s profitable. It’s natural that such strong people gather there.”

Above all, elf slave trafficking is said to be `incredibly` profitable.

Naturally, murderous talents will gather to take advantage of that right.

“They’re war experts no less than the Royal Knights, and masters of guerrilla warfare no less than the elves. Why? Because it’s profitable. Ah, but I only know this much. I didn’t work in that area when I was a mercenary. I don’t know the details.”

Karin’s calm explanation continued.

“You’d have to pour in troops to catch them, but the knights are too proud to do that, so they somehow agreed to delegate it to the elves and signed a treaty, right?”

That makes sense.

Anyway, we watched the elf army while having such a conversation. After watching and finishing the conversation, we were about to move towards the palace when it happened.

“Ah, you were here! It’s an honor to meet you, Paladin!”

A knight came running in a hurry.

“Ah, nice to meet you. But excuse me, who are you?”
“I’m Knight Selterman.”
“I see. But what’s the matter?”
“Well, I’m sorry to ask for this favor, but could you accompany me for a moment?”

What’s with this guy.

“I’ll decide after hearing the reason.”
“That is… you know that the elves’ army has come. But that elf commander said he wanted to see the Paladin and requested a meeting.”

The elf commander wants to see me?