The Elf Village [3]

I was quietly sitting like a good kid while Mia was explaining the current situation to the elders of the elf village.

From what I've heard until now—don't know the reason— but Mia was rescuing all the elves that have been kidnapped by the bandits.

Apparently, these bandits were more than I had expected, they were a type of organization that was involved in the business of trading elves into the slave market of the Ronze kingdom and the Einzbern kingdom.

This organization consisted of many divisions of bandits deployed in different locations to kidnap people. Though they kidnapped humans also but elves were their main target and there were several reasons for that.

First, elves had a long life—a couple of hundred years was normal for them—so you didn't have to worry about your slave dying as long as you gave food and water to keep him/her alive.

Another reason was also related to their long living period; elves stopped aging after they reach the age of 30—maybe that's why Ascal didn't look that old—anyway since they didn't age much, female elves had a high demand for sexual business.

Due to the high demand for elves in the slave market, they were sold at a relatively high price and that was what made this business profitable.

Wait, why the hell am I thinking like this is a legit business? Keeping slaves is legal in this world but kidnapping and selling people in the slave market is illegal even here.

Well, back to the topic, the leader of this organization was the person Zen mentioned, yes, the guy who killed 500 royal guards on his own. And he was the person Mia is chasing after.

Her objective isn't clear to me because she didn't tell me anything nor did she mention it to the elder but one thing was clear she was targeting this guy and wanted to somehow stop this organization.

A pretty good objective if you ask me but…why though? I still didn't understand her reason behind all this was this something personal or is she on a mission or something?

She was hard to read and directly denied to answer me when I asked her about this so it was pretty hard to get information out of her. I could have used magic but it felt illegal so I refrained from doing so, for now at least.

My objective was also to eradicate these bandits because I had to leave my village because of them, but, now I kind of wanted to stay in this village.

I mean, why not? This place was like a utopia! Also, I didn't have any place to go back to so why not stay here? I even loved elves—who don't?—so it was fair wanting to stay here right?

"Are you the person who helped Mia? I welcome you to our home. I am Caeda, the elder of this village."

The female elf with blonde hair introduced herself while holding out her hand.

"Ah, yes…My name is Haruto; I am a platinum-class adventurer. Nice to meet you," I greeted them and I introduced myself as I shook hands with her.

"My name is Lura; I am the third and the newest elder of this village, nice to meet you."

The other elven elder introduced herself as she greeted me. I replied with a nod and greeted her back.

When I was getting done with the introductions, Mia was glaring at me. What could be the reason behind it?

For a moment there was dead silence in the room, Mia, I, and the three elders were sitting quietly.

This sure is awkward, isn't it?

Then Mia came close to me and whispered in my ear, "These guys are the big shots of this village, at least remove your mask or it will be seen as your disrespect toward them."

She quickly got back to her seat after saying this.

Ah, well…I truly forgot about my mask. I have modified it with dimensional magic so its weight was almost none, thus sometimes I was not even able to tell if I'm wearing it or not.

Realizing my mistake, I took my mask and tossed it into my pocket dimension through a small portal.

My face was revealed. I wanted to keep it hidden because I had wanted posters of myself in the Ronze kingdom but I figured we were now out of that area so it would be alright.

The elders seemed a bit comfortable after I showed them my face.

"Ah, we shouldn't be speaking here. Let's talk on the second floor while we're having dinner."

Caeda suggested that we take this meeting to the second floor. I agreed on that and followed them upstairs.

There was a large room on the second floor that served as a dining room; chairs were placed around the wooden table and the kitchen seems to be located further back in the mansion. Delicious smells were drifting into the room from the kitchen.

I sat down in the seat recommended by Lura while Mia sat one seat after Mia. The elders were sitting directly in front of us.

"I heard the gist of the situation from Mia. On behalf of all of the elves, you have our sincerest gratitude. Until now Mia was the only person aiding us, I'm glad to see that there are still humans who aren't evil," said Caeda.

I am not human by the way.

"I was also chasing these bandits so it wasn't that big of a problem. I'm happy if I was able to help," I replied.

After that, Mia and the elders talked about their plans to stop the bandits. It seemed like Mia was working with them for quite a long time now, and she was also temporarily living in this village.

This type of conversation wasn't my thing so most of the time I quietly listened to them as I enjoyed the food they served.

--------------------AUTHORS NOTE---------------------------------

Maybe I'll only be able to upload one chapter today. I'm still working on the other chapter and maybe, just, maybe I won't be able to complete it today. Though if I did compete it then I will post it today.