The Elf Village [4]

"Man, I'm dying from hunger!" I mumbled aloud as I came down the stairs.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

Last night I got the title of 'Demon Lord', which means only one thing. Hanako is now dead. I also got this one skill called [Lord of the Void] but for the time being, I decided not to use it.

Why? Well, this skill is somehow related to 'The Void' and last time my experience with it was not so good.

I'll also keep my being a demon lord a secret for now; I don't want to get into useless misunderstandings. And by keeping a secret I mean from the elders of this village.

"Hah, like I've told them that I'm a demon," I chuckled.

I came down to the ground floor of the house I and Mia were given to stay in, it's some kind of a tree house; like the building is installed in the trunk of a huge tree, and both the tree and the house are combined.

'Well this is strange,' a thought surfaced in my mind.

Mia was not here. It's morning already, I thought girls have a habit of waking up early? Anyway, like I care.

But wait! Here we don't have refrigerators or something like that, how will I get to eat something? I was having my food through inns in the Ronze kingdom but I didn't see any inn here.

Even if there are some I don't know where. Mia's familiar with this village so maybe she knows but…I'm not going to wake her up! Who cares?

I walked toward a table that was placed in a kind of dining room; I pulled one chair backward and sat on it.

"Damn it!" I whispered in a sharp voice as I smashed the table with my fist.

'Wait! I think I still have some bread left in the pocket dimension,' I thought.

With that, I used [Dimensional Magic] and opened the portal to the pocket dimension. I inserted my hand into the portal and took out a loaf of bread from it; the portal closed as soon as I took the bread out.

"This is all that's left huh," I said while looking at the loaf of bread as a long sigh escaped my mouth.

'Next time I have to fill it up with more food,' I made a mental note and added it to the list of things I have to make sure to keep a check on.

It didn't take much time for me to finish the bread, not even a full minute. That was how hungry I was. But still, even after finishing it, it feels like not that much different.

I knew a loaf of bread is not something that'll satisfy my hunger but I still ate it because y'know the saying, something's better than nothing.

"She's still asleep huh," I asked with my reflection while looking at a mirror that was hung on the wall.

Of course, the reflection didn't answer. I'd be scared to death if it did.

Having nothing to do I decide to go outside; with the thought that maybe I'll find an inn or two? I stood up and left the house.

When I was outside I was again lost in the beauty of this village.

While the cityscape of humans gave off a similar feel to medieval Europe, the scenery before me looked as if it came out of a game or novel. The buildings in this village were the likes of which I've never seen. Several of the houses in the distance were basically large wooden mushrooms.

The air here was fresh, nothing like what I've experienced in the Ronze kingdom; my old is totally out of question in this case.

I thought maybe humans were not allowed in this village so I was covering my head with my black cloak to hide my ears. I didn't wear the mask because, well, feeling this fresh environment and the cold breeze directly on my face was a refreshing experience.

I was met with curiosity as we passed by other elves; I must be a new face among them so it's normal I suppose.

The walls of this elf village happened to encompass a large area of land. From a distance, you could see the green top of the village's entrance.

Inside the wall was a vast pasture for the cattle to graze, and a beautifully maintained stream flowed throughout the village. There was also a field with a variety of crops planted in it.

'I won't mind spending my whole life in a peaceful place like this,' was a thought that came to my mind.

But the reality is often not what it seems. I had come quite a long distance from our house when I saw a crowd of elves gathered in one place.

They all had a tense look on their faces and were discussing something with each other. Some elves were wearing armor and were carrying a spear.

Guards or soldiers maybe?

I made my way toward the crowd to see what was going on here. After all, if I'm planning to live here then I don't want trouble here.

I pushed some elves slightly and passed through the crowd to reach the front. When I reached the front I saw that four elves who were dead were placed on the ground.

It didn't seem like they were doing an exhibition of dead bodies or something but it seems like the wooden plank other soldiers' were using to carry these bodies had broken and now they were waiting for support.

That's what it looked like to me.

'Maybe they got killed by a monster or something? Well, it's nothing to involve myself with,' I thought and began to leave.

But then I suddenly froze on my spot; there was something I noticed on their bodies.

There are holes in their chest, five of them on each body. There was also a lot of blood around that area so most likely these holes were the cause of their death.

That was not the thing that caught my attention though. The way those marks were looking, it was like they were gunshots. It could be that they were stabbed with something but the wound was so clear that it can't be caused by stabbing.

But well, it's not like I've seen someone get shot in real life so even I can't say for sure.

"Excuse me please," I said to the people around me as I sat near the dead elves.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" said an elf as he tried to push me back.

"Please wait, I'm trying to help," I said and stopped him in his tracks. I touched the broken plank with my right hand; it broke due to being overloaded.

I decided that I'll help these guys, no, not because I'm a white knight or something. I just got a closer look at these wounds by sitting at this angle. And about fixing this plank, it's made of wood so an earth-type spell will work I suppose.

"Second-tier magic: [Bind]" I said, the nerves in my arms flashed golden as the spell activated.

The wooden plank which was broken into two pieces start regenerating and repaired itself in a matter of seconds. [Bind] was a spell by which I can control wood at will, though there were limits as this is only a second-tier spell.

As the plank was fixed I stood up and left the crowd. I could them thanking me behind my back but I ignored them and walked straight toward our house.

After getting a closer look I was seventy percent sure that they were killed by a gun. A gun in this type of world huh. Guess I'm not alone here.

***

I was home after around a walk of ten minutes. Opening the door I was welcomed by a delicious smell. I walked over to the kitchen and saw that Mia was making breakfast.

"Finally up huh," I said to her as I took a seat at the dining table.

"Anyone would be tired after traveling for that long."

Well, this is true, I won't argue on this matter. Maybe she was done cooking because only a few minutes after she served the food.

"Quite good of you to feed me for free," I teased.

"It's not like that. I'm just paying you back for the food you gave me in the jungle. I just don't like to owe someone," she replied in a slight hard tone.

Man, did she take that seriously!

The meal was composed of fried sausage links covered in a white sauce, light brown toast, and fried eggs. I knew there were ingredients in the kitchen but I was just too lazy to make cook for myself.

When I bite into it, the sound of the crisp toast and the smell of cooked bread welled up; the fried sausages were both tender and seasoned to perfection.

"You're a good cook," I said to her as I took another bite.

"You have to at least know how to cook if you're traveling alone for long distances," she replied and took a seat in front of me.

Really? Then being able to use [Dimensional Magic] is a very useful thing! Time stops inside the pocket dimension so food stays warm inside it.

Well, whatever. I ate the breakfast and finally my hunger was now gone.