Chapter Seven: Farewell, Protector
"You lose." The Elf Chief announced suddenly.
The warrior snapped his head to refute but his shoulder pain made him groan loudly from the sudden movement. The Chief repeated. "You lose, Raze. Return to your wife."
It set Benign's heart at peace when the warrior accepted it, and got helped away by some men.
The Chief turned to him with a sour expression. "Please, stay the night at our place and tomorrow, my daughter would help you with any information and resource. Kiron Station would happily support the protectors of the Realms to battle the glitches."
With that, the Chief bowed. His people glanced at one another, weighed the situation, and followed in their leader's footsteps. Benign exhaled in relieved again.
It was finally over and he could react to the pain he felt when he shot himself. "Yes, yes, we'd talk tomorrow. I need to rest too."
The elf girl jumped in front of me and pulled me out of the place. A meal was arranged for him and he gulped it down without thinking of its taste and then, he was taken to a hut which was oddly close to the huts of younger elf women who were laughing and dancing.
Benign stayed in his hut ignoring his curiosity to watch the elf ladies dance or admire their bodies within the tight clothes they wore. He also wanted to avoid the protective glares most of their male elves gave him.
"So Legal, would you tell me what the chief meant earlier? It's been bothering me. Have I been in this realm before?"
[Have you been in this realm before?]
"Obviously not. I didn't even know this shit could happen."
[Well, there's your answer. There's no reason to wait here. Follow your plan; gather information, resources, and a unit, then set off.]
Benign left were he sat and fell on the soft bed. Legal was hiding more information from him but truthfully, it didn't affect what he had to do at the moment.
He needed a unit to help combat whatever hostiles he'd meet. Gathering the core would also need information on where the pieces were. And resources are essential.
He also had to reach Noria and speak to their Supreme Leader about stopping the wars that affected the Core.
"It'd be easier if I just find these protectors of the realms and work with them. They'd probably be more useful and have more information."
He rolled to his side, and closed his eyes. "Legal, wake me up if any vengeful elf try to kill me, okay?"
[Elves are honourable creatures and wouldn't take underhand measure to win. They're not humans.]
Benign opened one eyes, then shook his head and went back to trying to sleep. "Just protect me."
Morning came and Benign waited for the sun to be high in the sky before strolling to the chief's cottage. The place seemed to be manually operated so time was subjective.
The elves made way for him as he passed through the village. He made reached the Chief's hut and knocked. "Miss elf, how are you doing? A word please—"
A soft 'shhh' came from inside. The elf girl popped out of the door, wearing her night robe and a frown. Benign's eyes raked her body then he smirked. "Well, good morning, sunshine but I have to leave already. Mind a word?"
She looked back inside and carefully close the door. "If you want to recruit me as one of your team then I'm sorry, I can't. The glitching on my father yesterday had left a shaky incoherent impact on him so I have to stay back and watch him. I can't live our station in that state."
Benign's shoulders visibly dropped. His fantasy of having a pretty elf girl join his brave adventures had squashed. "I understand. Family is important, and if he sounds too crazy it'd cause disorientation within your station."
The elf girl chuckled and folded her hands. "Is it about earlier when he said you were stained with blood of other realms and blah? He's old and says random things, so ignore. You're not even the first he had said it too."
That relieved Benign, but also made him curious.
He knew his case was special as a transmigrator and he'd have assumed what the chief meant was, 'you're from a different realm and have spilled blood on both realms.'
The problem would be only how the Chief knew.
But now, if the Chief told other people those words, did that mean then had special cases like him? They were transmigrators?
Benign knew Legal would not give a clear response but since the system said that skills weren't always available, it heavily hinted to him that they'd be other transmigrators who were in the same boat as him.
It roused the competitive spirit in Benign.
He might get his second chance at a glory taken from him if he slacked. "I need the unit right away. We need to get information from surrounding villages."
The elf girl looked up to think. "I'd like to join you but as I said earlier, I have to assume leadership position. I also need to protect here from the Glitched so I can't give you all my men."
Benign folded his arms as she spoke. It would've been really good to have a pretty strong elf girl in his squad, but now he had to be thankful for any support.
"I'd give you our strongest and our smartest. We know almost nothing about the glitches, but ask Loran station. Tell them you were sent by Kiron station."
Few minutes later, two hefty men were brought to Benign and he wondered who supposed to be the smartest one when they both looked like they weighed tons.
"I didn't even know elves had buff settings." He said under his breath looking at the other elf men who looked like average body builders in his world.
Weren't elf men lanky and only knew magic like in those books? The men faced him and he saw their soft features and nodded. At least they still looked feminine like the books described. They got something right.
"For the record, what is your name?" he asked the elf girl while strapping a bag behind him.
The two elf men were ready, each carrying a backpack and steeled rods by their sides.