"He shouldn't be able to see yet, but it would be wise to assume he knows
our numbers and positions now. Good grief..." a short girl standing next to
the elf murmured with a sigh. She looked to be a bit younger than Rio, with
fiery, short, red hair, and dwarf ears similar in shape to those of the other
girl's.
I don't know what they're saying, but the atmosphere's changed slightly.
This is my chance.
Having made that judgment, Rio took the opportunity to start a
conversation with the intention of buying time.
"Wait, please! Are you people demi-humans? If so, I wish to speak with
you."
Everyone present frowned in reaction to the word "demi-humans."
"Lady Sara, humans are vile plunderers. He may look like a child, but he
had the skill to make it this deep into this territory. He must certainly be up to
no good," Uzuma advised in a strict tone, looking towards the silver
werewolf girl named Sara.
"...I know. However, we need to know what his goal is," Sara said,
furrowing her brow uneasily.
"In that case, we should assume the worst and immediately restrain him.
He can explain his story after that. We already have reason to believe he has
kidnapped one of our own, after all," Uzuma stubbornly insisted.
"...Orphia, are there any essence reactions other than us in the area?"
After considering Uzuma's words, Sara looked at the elf girl named Orphia.
"Yes, one within that dirt wall. It's not moving, so it could be a magic
artifact."
"But if it's one of our own, there's the possibility he may use them as a
hostage," Uzuma said coldly in response to Orphia's words. Sara and the
others grimaced faintly, increasing the tension of the situation.
Meanwhile...
I don't know what they're saying, but it doesn't seem like we'll be able to
communicate. Should I tell them about Latifa immediately? No... it'd be a
problem if there was speciesism between demi-humans. At worse, they could
turn this place into a battlefield. I should just wait for my vision to recover...
Completely left out of their conversation, Rio passively observed them
without interrupting. If he proactively disclosed information to them, there
was the possibility they'd accept her into their protection immediately — but
that was just his wishful thinking.
Latifa was born between a human and werebeast, so there was the
possibility she would be discriminated against, and she could be treated as an
enemy by other demi-humans for being a werefox, too.
With Rio not in the best of conditions, he had no choice but to go with
the safer plan. Because of that, his vision was gradually recovering, and he
could see much clearer than before.
During that time, Sara and the others finished their conversation.
"Then as our representative, I shall approach and distract him with
conversation. Orphia, could you ask Ariel to search inside the dirt wall?
Alma will support you. If one of our own is within, we must save them no
matter what."
"You got it, Sara!"
"Understood, Miss Sara."
The elf girl named Orphia and dwarf girl named Alma each nodded in
response to Sara's orders.
"Uzuma, you make the necessary preparations to restrain that boy at a
moment's notice."
"Understood," Uzuma acknowledged Sara's order eagerly.
After they laid out the simple plan of action, Sara carefully approached
Rio.
"...I shall accept your request to speak. However, I ask that you do not
refer to us by the slur 'demi-humans,'" Sara said in a slightly accented tone,
using the common language of the Strahl region.
"Thank you very much for accepting my request. With regard to using
that name, I sincerely apologize for my unintended rudeness. However, there
is no word in the language of Strahl that can be used in the stead of the
generic term for your people... I would have to refer to you separately as elf,
dwarf, and werebeast. Thus, if it's not too much trouble, could you please inform me of the individual species of everyone here?"
Rio offered words of gratitude and apology in a respectful tone, including
a question to gather more information, too.
"...I am a silver wolf werebeast, and our group here consists of many
species including, elves and dwarves. When referring to us as a group, please
call us spirit folk," Sara explained.
"I see. Thank you for clarifying that for me."
Hearing they consisted of many species made Rio chuckle to himself.
That lowered the possibility of speciesism amongst demi-humans
considerably. All he had left to worry about was the human blood that flowed
through Latifa.
"Sara, there's a werebeast child in here! She was made to sleep through
spirit arts!" The elf named Orphia yelled loudly, once again using the
language Rio didn't understand.
Uzuma, who had been next to Rio and ready to jump and restrain him at
a moment's notice, swelled with anger immediately. She leaped at Rio from
the side, and drove her fist into his abdomen without holding back. Since he
didn't expect their conversation to be interrupted by an attack, Rio's reaction
was delayed. He absorbed the punch by jumping back, but he wasn't able to
completely defend against it. He hovered there after being blown several
meters into the air, then landed on the ground and rolled away.
"Uzuma, I didn't order anything yet! You've gone too far! My command
was to restrain him. Were you trying to kill him?!" Sara scolded Uzuma for
acting brashly.
"His true strength was unknown, and he had enhanced his physical body
with spirit arts. That's why I merely took the safest route. I may have knocked
him out, but there's no danger to his l—"
"Watch out, he's using some kind of spirit art!" Alma — who was the
dwarf of the group — yelled in the middle of Uzuma's explanation.
"What?!" Uzuma reacted swiftly, looking in Rio's direction. Rio was
stumbling to his feet with a hand pressed against his stomach. A nasty sheen
of sweat had broken out on his forehead.
"It's a healing spirit art."
"Tch, I'll knock him out!"
Once Orphia accurately guessed the spirit art Rio was using, Uzuma
rushed at Rio once more. In her hand, she grasped a short spear.
"Hey, wait a minute! What's the meaning of this?! Kuh!" Rio yelled as he drew his sword and stopped Uzuma's attack. A sharp pain shot through his
stomach, making his face twist.
"I apologize for attacking out of the blue. However, we have confirmed
that one of our kind is within that dirt wall. Because we suspect you of
kidnapping one of our own, I will now proceed to restrain you for
interrogation purposes. Please refrain from resisting!" Sara explained with a
bitter expression, almost as though this wasn't her true intention.
"This is a misunderstanding! That child is under my care—"
"No one would believe the words of a human, much less those of a
kidnapper. Give it up!"
Even as Sara and Rio conversed, Uzuma didn't let up on her attacks. She
continued to swing her spear, overwhelming him. On the other hand, having
suffered a lot of damage to his abdomen, and having yet to completely
recover his vision, Rio's movements were becoming rather sluggish. It was
the worst possible situation.
"I didn't kidnap that girl... Just listen to what I have to say! ...W-What?!"
After narrowly dealing with Uzuma's attack, Rio's feet were caught by
something that had him come to a complete standstill. When he looked down,
he could see the vague shape of dirt sticking out of the ground, unnaturally
restraining his feet.
"Tch, your help was unnecessary."
Uzuma muttered something, glancing at one of the spirit folk in the circle
behind her unhappily. The older dwarf woman was kneeling with her hands
pressed against the ground. Uzuma spun the spear in her hands before
launching a single blow at Rio with all her might. Rio received the attack
straight on.
What ridiculous strength! The impact was stronger than anything he had
ever felt until now, sending the sword clutched in his hands flying away.
"Gah...!" Rio felt a sharp, agonizing pain run through his entire body like
lightning. Uzuma had placed her hand against his body and released a high
voltage current of electricity. With his body paralyzed, Rio's vision soon
darkened as he collapsed onto the ground. The last thing he saw was Orphia's
panicked figure running towards him, and the stern glares of the spirit folk
looking down on him.