This is the story of a magician and an elf girl.

"Okay... okay... here, they should not be awake yet, but you have to be careful, there are a few guards outside..."

"Not a problem. I will fight, and for the sake of those who are still alive, I will win."

Linna picked up a brown cloak and spread it over her shoulders. The edge of the cloak covered the corners of her eyes and eyelashes. The shadow covering the window of her soul highlighted the luster of her sky-blue eyes.

Wait... Brother... Before that... Don't do anything rash...

"Woo..."

The human man, whose head was covered by vines, had his vision blocked. He only felt a sudden tingling sensation in his neck. As the chill spread from the wound, his consciousness gradually became blurred.

"Bang!" The guard who fell from the chair woke up the slaves in the cage. He reached out to the sub-human slave who took the key from the hook on the wall, held the key in reverse and inserted it into the keyhole and twisted it.

"Click." The iron bar that came out of the groove returned to the door frame, and the slaves who broke open the door frame walked out of the cage one after another. Linnae and Wendy, who were controlling the tree spirits, even had more guards around them.

"What are you..."

"Time is running out. Let's go. We need to get back to the ground quickly."

"No, wait, there are still a few guards ahead... Besides, who are you... a stranger... you are not a slave here, right? I don't know how you dealt with them... but the guards guarding the gate ahead are not simple..."

"Do I have to explain it to you bit by bit? I didn't kill them. This is poison. It can paralyze a person for about 30 minutes. It's not easy to wake up after being stabbed."

"Poison... If that's the case, I advise you to act quickly. The orcs are not that easy to deal with..."

"..."

Just when the demi-human slave was about to give Linna some advice and warnings, the orc guard who had already reached the corner had already seen their movements and was startled. He took a step forward as if he had encountered something that made him unable to move. Holding the long sword, he pulled the blade out of the scabbard, causing the blade to drag on the ground with a terrifying friction sound.

An orc... and a hyena-type one, different from the orc my brother faced... The combat power will probably not be too different... The weapons on hand are a short bow, arrows, and a dagger. I have to act as quickly as possible, and I can ensure victory by injecting the neurotoxin into the opponent's body.

"Honestly speaking, it's really amazing that they can do this...Those bastard humans are trash, but they shouldn't lose to useless guys like you. I will see this and defeat you mercilessly. If you don't want to be punished, go back to your cage now, you bastard."

“……Ah!” “……Ah!” “……”

Several frightened demi-human slaves, fearing punishment, had obediently returned to their cages and dared not utter a word. However, Linnai, who was still standing in front and staring at the other party, did not change her expression at all, and her straightforward eyes were faintly visible from under the edge of her cloak.

Not knowing how she would preemptively strike, the orc guard hefted the blade onto his shoulder and issued an ultimatum: "Sharp eyes... I don't hate them - final warning, I don't like to bully the weak, go back to the cage, little girl whose wings haven't grown hard yet."

"Linna... I... I think we should..."

"Stand back, Wendy...I'll be his opponent."

"!"

Linna, who showed no fear at all, pushed the weak Wendy away with one hand. She was constantly observing her opponent with her eyes, and now she had no intention of paying attention to her anxiety.

Look carefully, is there really only one weapon? Why does he deliberately hold the weapon in his hand to show it? Is there any intention? Does the belt look like the type that can bear the weight of two weapons? Are the trouser pockets a little bulging? Are the boots a little uneven? These parts are all places where weapons can be hidden, and none of them can be missed - if that person is there, he will definitely say that.

What matters is intelligence and observation, the battle begins before contact.

The most important thing is to strike first, think carefully about his first move.

"!" "!"

Linnae raised the short bow hidden under her cloak, and it took less than two seconds from loading the arrow to releasing it.

"Swoosh!" The orc guard, whose dynamic vision could hardly keep up, lowered his body and realized that the other party was holding a flying weapon. But even if he started to be alert now, it was too late. Linna pulled the bowstring again and shot the second arrow. The sharp arrowhead went straight towards the blade raised by the orc guard.

"Snap!" He used the blade to deflect the arrow. In order to prevent Linna from continuing to attack, he began to consider shortening the distance and took a step forward.

“Drinka ...

"!"

The attack was deflected. Is the orc's dynamic vision better than that of the human race in a narrow cave? No, the important thing is the speed of the charge. If this continues, the third arrow will also be deflected. There is no way to escape. There is a limit to retreating. In this case...

"!"

Linnai still had the arrow on the bowstring and took aim.

"Swoosh, snap!" The sound of metal sparking came from the front of the arrowhead, but it did not hit the blade of the orc guard, but the iron bar on the cage door frame. Due to the collision between the conical outline and the flat outline, the forward force of the arrow was replaced by centrifugal force, and the trajectory pierced the left arm of the orc guard at an inclined angle.

"Varied?!"

"Caught you."

A turquoise light shone from the indigo eyes - that was the precursor to the activation of the skill.

"Gu...what is this?!"

The wooden arrows formed thorny vines on the wounds that bound the orc guard's forelimbs. He tried to resist, but even if he used the knife in his right hand to cut some of the vines, it was of no avail. As for why - Linnay, who had seized the opportunity, had already approached him.

"!"

"Bang!" The elf girl who smashed her knee on its jaw held the opponent's forehead and pressed down hard. Realizing that he was threatened, the orc guard knelt on one knee and felt a chill coming from the wound caused by thorns. It would not be good if it continued like this.

The one who tried to activate the skill was not a weak and feeble person like the human race. As long as he strengthened his consciousness through the mental skill "Roots", he would not fall down in a short period of time even if his jaw was hit and his body was corroded by neurotoxins.

"Drink!"

"Girl!" Realizing that something was wrong, Linna saw the orc guard's body surrounded by bright red aura, so she quickly distanced herself from him.

"Swoosh!" The blade that passed across the bridge of the nose vaguely cut off several strands of hair and fell down. After Linnai, whose clothes were pulled by the tree roots, returned to a certain distance, she immediately pulled out three arrows and clasped them between her fingers. She fixed one of them at the center point of the bowstring and then stretched it.

"Swish, swish, swish!" She repeated this action three times and released arrows continuously. The orc guard who did not take it seriously swung his sword and accurately deflected two of the arrows, but could not stop the third arrow that pierced his calf.

“Guga!!!”

"Can you still move!?" The orc guard swung his blade towards Linnai, ignoring his wound. Linnai threw away her shortbow because she could no longer use it at this distance. She reached out and grabbed the dagger on her waist, pulled it out, and swung the small weapon at the blade that was swinging towards her head.

“Crack, crack, crack, crack!!”

However, with her bold and fearless action combined with her dynamic vision, the long knife that was sharpened by the knife hit the surface of the wall due to centrifugal force without being bounced off.

"Varied?!"

“Ohhhhhhhhhhh!!!” The girl overlapping the black shadow swung a dagger at the guard’s right wrist.

"Snap!" He loosened his fingers holding the knife after being cut by the sharp blade and reached into his bulging pocket to pull out a folding knife.

But just before he was about to flip open the blade, the spores of the tree spirit parasitized on the handle and the blade. The guard, unable to use it, was cut in the chest again by the dagger swung by the elf girl. He took a step back and kicked violently with his ankle.

"Swoosh, snap!" The vines that had been fixed to the ground grew vigorously from the arrow and bound the orc guard's calves. The sharp outlines approached his eyes with light...

"Gu..."

"Haah...haah..."

The tip of the knife against the orc's neck reflected the girl's eyes like a broken glass. The orc guard, who was already unable to move, had injured limbs and was bound. His face showed an expression of letting himself be manipulated. He stared at Linnae and said, "Look at you... I am the first person you put the tip of a knife against your neck, right?"

"...Shut up...or I'll kill you..."

"...Can you do it?"

"You deserve to die... You violated the dignity of women... You trampled on the self-esteem of others... People like you... People like you... do not deserve to live..."

"Right...So what?"

"……so……"

Linna, who was having a hard time stopping her hand because of the ugly murderous intent on her face, remembered that he didn't want her to do that either.

But the current situation does not allow her to continue to make such judgments. If more guards arrive here in the future, is she confident that she can defeat them all without endangering their lives?

It's already so troublesome to deal with just one person, so if there are three or four people, it's only a matter of time before Linna is defeated.

If it were that person...he would definitely not hesitate.

"Girl, we are people with choices, think about it carefully."

"……yes……"

Diverging paths emerge like vines from beneath a cloak.

"Swish, swish, swish!" The orc guard covered with thorns was immediately injected with more neurotoxins after falling down. Linnae put away the dagger, picked up the short bow, and looked in the direction of Wendy and others.

Whether they were uneasy, trusting, or calm, each of the demihuman slaves saw the light of hope in the helping hand extended by Linna.

"Ms. Lin...Ms. Linnae...did you...kill him..."

"…Does he look dead? Stop saying that. Let's get out of here before anyone notices."

"No, no, we have somewhere else to go."

Linnai, whose hands were held by Wendy and the others, didn't understand at all - did they have any memories left? The imprisoned slaves should be here, and as long as everyone was released, it would be quick...

"The other slaves... Don't worry, I can do the same as them..."

"No, there is a place for our children. Even if they are born to men of unknown origin... after our discussion, they are innocent after all. We cannot take the lives of innocent children."

"Is that really the case? As children born as vessels for the human race to satisfy their desires, you should hate them to the core..."

Frankly speaking, everything Linna knew came from John's mouth - as a result, her personality and speech gradually became closer to John's way of thinking. The strange thing was that she didn't feel any rejection about this.

"How could that be? We love them, and there's no need for a reason."

"There is no mother who doesn't love her child."

"You may not understand, but thank you for saving us. But in order to save them, we will do whatever it takes, even if we have to be captured again."

"..."

But to the demihuman slaves, this was nothing more than an extremely absurd statement.

When she came to her senses and faced reality subjectively again, she realized that what she had just said was too much. She should pay more attention to people's feelings towards children.

If those baby girls are left alone, they will surely spend their lives as slaves.

"...Girl?"

"…It's okay… follow me."

"If Ms. Linna goes... I'll go too."

"...It's up to you."

The longing and reality, along with a sense of discomfort, rushed through the depths of her heart. The girl, who still firmly believed in her ideals and moved forward, took a step towards the path of a good doer, even though she was afraid, even though she was terrified, even though she was still brooding over the past - the dead will not be resurrected, this is the law.

"It's right here... follow me..."

Linna, who kept observing the stone walls along the way, honestly said that it was the first time she had seen such a building. The elves, who had always lived in the forest and had never known that mud could be made into walls, only needed to shout a word and the tree elves would help them build convenient and comfortable treetop houses. If there was anything rare, they were everywhere, such as lamps lit by oil and the appearance of demihumans. This was a very new experience for her.

If it were another world, I wouldn't have to look so miserable like I do now.

"It's quite far... Where does it lead to..."

"It's nearby. I remember there was a staircase there... ah, found it."

"Wait, I'll go ahead, you guys hide."

“…Ah…Okay…”

Linna, who was standing in front of the stairs first, opened the iron door and turned the hinges along the wall.

"Swoosh!" A sharp arrow came into view right in front of her, and the spiritual barrier skill was instantly activated to block the contact between the arrow and Linnai. If Xiaobi didn't have this convenient skill, she would have been shot to death by the arrow.

“Huh…Huh…that was close…”

"Is this... a skill... You are indeed not simple..."

"That's not bad... Anyway, be careful... There may be more traps ahead..."

Is this really the case... Think about it carefully, is this really the case?

If it were that person, what would he say?

It was as if she saw his figure analyzing the situation right beside her - Linnae, who was concentrating on thinking logically, discovered from the smell of rust on the arrowhead that this arrow had been made for at least more than a year. It was not easy to obtain wood in the desert, and resources should be limited. It would be more appropriate to place a rockfall trap or a rope trap instead of placing this kind of trap here. If a slave escaped from the cage, he would definitely come here to look for his own flesh and blood first.

Killing slaves should not be their original intention. In other words, the place where this road leads to is hidden with "information" or "invisible things" that require killing witnesses. There is no value or need to capture the target alive. There is something hidden ahead that is worth sacrificing even the lives of slaves...

"Ms. Linnae... should we go down or..."

"...I have a way...Xiaobi, come out."

"You are quite clever at this time, no problem."

Linnai, who summoned the dryad, was no fool. She should make full use of such a convenient familiar. The small dryad, which used its petite body to move forward, gradually became smaller along the steps of the stairs until it could no longer be seen by the naked eye. Only then did Linnai feel the affirmation from the dryad and a sense of security as she moved forward.

"It's alright... Let's move forward..."

"Okay...we'll follow you."

Linna and her group took a step towards the depth of the stairs, walking down the steps one step at a time. The demihumans and elves, whose vision was not affected by the darkness, could vaguely see some outlines in such an environment even without turning on the lights. And at the moment when Linna stepped on empty air without any precautions - the feeling of security turning into a sense of crisis ran through her heart.

"Uh……"

Her suspended body fell downwards under the influence of gravity. Realizing that she was still too careless, she let out a cry befitting her age: “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa——!!”

The bottomless dark abyss swallowed up the last ray of light. At the same time, another ray of revived light quietly ignited the smoke of war from the black charcoal fire.