"Come with me."
Kurumi turned around and walked out of the market.
The two Elf Kingdom exchanged a glance, hesitated for a moment, and then followed.
The three of them left the slave market and walked into a quiet alley.
Kurumi stopped and turned around to look at the two Elf Kingdom.
They were thinner, paler, and more terrified than she had imagined.
What are your names?
Kurumi asks.
The older Elf Kingdom raised his head, a hint of wariness in his green eyes.
"Elph."
Her voice was hoarse, clearly indicating she hadn't had water in a long time.
Kurumi looked at the younger one. The Elf Kingdom lowered his head, his pointed ears trembling slightly, and spoke in an almost inaudible voice.
"... Lia."
"Elph, Lia. From this day forward, you belong to the great Higashino Makoto. Remember this name, and never forget it."
Kurumi nodded, a smile appearing on her face.
"Furthermore, based on my understanding of adults, as long as you cooperate, you will no longer be slaves in about one or two months."
The two Elf Kingdom simultaneously raised their heads and stared wide-eyed.
"Wh... what do you mean?"
Elph's voice trembled.
"It means you will be free."
Kurumi's tone was calm.
"But freedom doesn't come free. The adults need you to answer a few questions—about the Elf Kingdom, about the Elf King, and about the war that lasted for over a hundred years. After you answer them, you can go wherever you want. You can stay in the Slane Theocracy if you wish; I can help you with your identification documents. You can also return to the Elf Kingdom; I'll give you travel expenses."
Elph's lips were trembling.
She looked at Kurumi, at those heterochromatic eyes.
One eye was covered by bangs, revealing only the other, a deep, black hole-like right eye.
"Who... who are you?"
"Me? A maid."
Kurumi tilted her head, a slight smile playing on her lips.
My family wants to know about the Elf Kingdom. That's all.
Elph fell silent.
She stared at Kurumi for a long time, then slowly nodded.
"Okay. I will."
In a room on the second floor of the hotel, Higashino Makoto sat in an armchair, with Elph and Lia standing in front of him.
The two Elf Kingdom stood awkwardly in the center of the room, not daring to sit down or raise their heads.
Their gazes occasionally swept over the other people in the room.
A black-armored warrior wearing a full-face helmet, a cold-faced woman with an expressionless expression, a black cat dozing on the windowsill, and a knight in silver armor sitting in the shadows.
"Please sit down."
Higashino Makoto's voice was calm and gentle as he pointed to the two chairs opposite him.
"Don't be nervous. I am not your enemy, I am not even from the Slane Theocracy. I have no hostility towards the Elf Kingdom."
Elph hesitated for a moment, then pulled Lia to sit down in the chair.
Their posture was stiff, their backs ramrod straight, as if they were ready to run away at any moment.
Higashino Makoto didn't rush to ask questions.
He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then looked at Kurumi.
Kurumi understood, poured two cups of hot tea, and placed them in front of the two Elf Kingdom.
Elph and Lia looked at the teacup, swallowed hard, but didn't take it.
"Drink it."
Higashino Makoto said.
There's no poison inside.
Elph reached out, her hand trembling as she picked up the teacup and took a small sip.
The warm liquid slid down his throat, dispelling the chill that had accumulated in his body for so long.
Lia also picked up her teacup and drank even faster than her sister, almost choking.
Higashino Makoto waited until they had taken a few sips before asking the question.
"Elph, were you captured from the Elf Kingdom?"
"Yes."
Elph put down her teacup, holding it in both hands as if trying to draw some warmth from it.
"Three months ago, the Elf Kingdom fought a battle with the Slane Theocracy on the border. We lost. I was captured and then sold here."
What did you do before?
"I am a forest priestess."
Elph's voice was low and deep.
"In the border villages, we were responsible for maintaining the balance of the forest using magic. After the war began, I was also conscripted. That mad Elf King said that every Elf Kingdom had a duty to fight for their race."
Higashino Makoto's fingers tapped lightly on the armrest.
"The Elf King... have you ever seen him?"
Elph shook her head.
No one has ever seen him except his children and concubines. The palace in the Royal Capital is a forbidden area; outsiders are not allowed to enter.
"Then how do you know he's crazy?"
Elph fell silent.
She lowered her head, looking at the Kohaku liquid in the glass, her pointed ears trembling slightly.
"Because of... what he did."
Her voice was very soft, so soft that it was almost inaudible.
He sent his own children to the battlefield. Some of those children were not even a hundred years old—still teenagers by our standards. They died, and the Elf King did not care. He said, "The deaths of the weak are worthless."
Lia's body was trembling. She huddled in the chair, hugging her knees, just like she had been in the slave market.
"He sent women to the battlefield as well."
Elph continued speaking, her voice growing softer and softer.
"It wasn't because of insufficient troops, but because... he wanted to select strong mothers. He hoped that the women who survived the battlefield could give birth to stronger offspring for him."
These things are no secret in the Elf Kingdom.
After all, the Elf King didn't think it was anything bad, and that it wouldn't have any impact if it spread.
The room fell silent.
Something was churning in Higashino Makoto's dark eyes.
Like the winter wind, sweeping across the empty fields, carrying no warmth whatsoever.
"Were those children really his children?"
Higashino Makoto asked.
He said...
Elph's voice trembled.
He said, "Individual sacrifices are necessary for the future of the race."
Higashino Makoto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, his dark eyes were as calm as ever.
That's enough.
He stood up, walked to the window, opened it, and looked towards the distant, unseen forest.
"Ainz."
"Um."
"I really hate this Elf King."
Ainz remained silent for a moment.
"Then kill him."
As players, having fun is naturally the most important thing.
If you see something you don't like, isn't it normal to just go up and chop it a couple of times?
"That's right."
Higashino Makoto turned around, looked at Ainz, and smiled slightly.
"Then go kill them."
Ainz stood up, his crimson eyes meeting the black ones.
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
What do I need to prepare?
Higashino Makoto smiled.
That smile held a calm, resolute quality, a composure as if saying the sun will rise as usual tomorrow.
"Nothing needs to be prepared."
He said.
"Killing a madman requires no preparation."
Elph looked at Higashino Makoto, at those dark eyes, and suddenly felt—
This person is more terrifying than the Elf King.
Because the Elf King's madness is outward, written on his face, and visible to everyone.
This person's calm is unfathomable, its end is unseen, and it's impossible to know when it will erupt or how terrifying it will be.
"Grown ups."
Elph's voice was very soft.
"You... you really want to kill the Elf King?"
"Right."
"Why?"
Higashino Makoto turned around and looked at Elph, at those green eyes that held both fear and expectation.
They didn't understand what a "player" really was.
"I've already told you, I hate him..."
He said it in such a flat tone that it was as if he were saying the tea should be replaced.
"Over a hundred years have passed. How many people have died in the Slane Theocracy? How many have died in the Elf Kingdom? What a waste. This war should end."
He paused.
"Furthermore, Elf Kingdom and humans both belong to the human race. To me, they are like flowers in Garden —if two flowers are killing each other, I will pull out the ugly one. Not because I am kind, but because I want the Garden to be more beautiful."
Elph didn't understand the metaphor of the "Garden," but she understood the last sentence—
"This war should end."
Her eyes reddened. She lowered her head, and tears dripped into the teacup, creating tiny ripples.
Lia stood up from her chair, walked to Higashino Makoto, and knelt down.
"Grown ups."
Her voice was hoarse and trembling, and her pointed ears were pressed against her scalp.
"If you can end this war... if you can save my compatriots still in that forest... I... I am willing to repay you with my life."
Higashino Makoto looked down at the girl kneeling on the ground, at her eyes filled with tears and determination.
I don't need your life.
He said, his voice softening.
"I need you to live, to live well. The flowers in the Garden only need to live well and bloom beautifully. As long as there are enough flowers in the Garden, and they are beautiful enough, the owner will be happy."
He reached out and gently patted Lia's head.
That's the best you can give me.
Lia's tears finally welled up.
She knelt on the ground and cried like a child.
Elph cried too.
She covered her mouth with her hand to keep herself from making a sound, but tears seeped through her fingers, dripping onto the table, into the tea, and onto the cover of the book, "Six Hundred Years of History of the Slane Theocracy".
The only sounds in the room were crying and dripping tea.
Higashino Makoto didn't comfort them. He simply stood by the window, gazing towards the unseen forest in the distance.
"Ainz."
"Um."
"After tomorrow, the Elf Kingdom may need a new king."
Who do you want to be in charge?
Higashino Makoto remained silent for a moment.
"I don't know. But at least he wouldn't be a madman who sends his own child to the battlefield as cannon fodder."
Ainz nodded.
"That's enough."
Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on Higashino Makoto's face and making his golden eyes appear as if they were burning flames.
On the distant horizon, the Great Forest of Evasha appears and disappears in the distance.
That was a land that had been ravaged by war for over a hundred years.
That's also where he's going tomorrow.