Volume 2 Chapter 6 The Dark Forest People, The Heroine Sees
"What about the ones who came in?"
The voice asking the question was sharp.
"They were a group of humans and dwarves. Their leader was a big, thick-headed woman."
"I see... so they built a village?"
The woman asking the question had short, ash-blonde hair cut in a straight line above her shoulders. Her long ears were completely exposed, and her dark brown skin glowed faintly under the canopy's dim light. Her eyes, a deep, dried-blood red, pierced straight through the man before her.
She tilted her head slightly.
"Are they going to be a problem?"
The man hesitated.
"That woman said... she was going to build a kingdom here."
A heavy silence fell between them. The woman blinked slowly, as if chewing over his words. Then the corners of her lips pulled into a crooked smile. A sound escaped her throat.
"Heh."
It was impossible to tell what emotion was buried in that sound. But it was followed by sharp laughter that echoed through the trees.
"Heheheh! A kingdom? Really? Is she an idiot or some kind of hero?"
She laughed hard, a rough sound that bounced off the bark around them. Then, without warning, she stood up.
"I'll go take a look."
The man's voice came quick and low.
"Erika, you don't have to go."
She frowned, her brows tightening with irritation.
"Don't kill the fun. Something exciting came walking right to us... Don't make me kill you."
Her tone was as light as someone asking about the next day's weather. But the air around her dropped several degrees. The man fell quiet and backed off.
Humming to herself, Erika started walking. Within seconds, she vanished into the darkness of the forest.
A different voice spoke from the shadows, spitting words like venom.
"She's insane. And that's the one with the chieftain's blood."
The speaker stepped out from the trees and clapped a hand on the shoulder of the first man.
"Klaus," the man said softly, "don't talk like that."
"But Franz," Klaus grumbled, "you're supposed to marry into the clan. And she treats you like—"
"It's fine. She's just the tool that'll make me the next chieftain. Everything else is meaningless."
Franz let out a low snort through his nose. His eyes followed the path Erika had taken, narrow and cold. Then he turned, and both men disappeared into the dark like smoke swept away by wind.
* * *
From a thick branch high in the canopy, Erika gazed down toward the village a kilometer away. Her sharp eyes, like a hawk's, could clearly see the activity inside. Her long ears picked up their voices, even from that distance.
Humans and dwarves worked together. One dwarf knelt on the ground, pressing his ear to the soil. He pointed with a thick finger.
"The water's here."
"Alright then, let's dig."
They started digging without rest. Others hammered wood into walls around the village's edge. Erika watched them work into the evening, never looking away.
She had stayed up in the trees for several days, never returning to her people. She tossed a legless insect into her mouth and chewed slowly. What she wanted was to see that large woman again—but until now, she hadn't appeared.
Four days into her silent watch, Erika finally spotted her.
The woman came out of the woods with a thick leg of a boar slung over her shoulder. Blood still dripped from its torn neck. Two young boys walked behind her, wide-eyed and stiff.
Erika gave a dark little laugh.
"Heheh... can a human really carry something that heavy?"
She admired the woman's raw power. Then, using her deep knowledge of the land, Erika planned a way into the village. She waited until nightfall.
As night settled, a bonfire lit the village center. Dwarven soldiers walked their patrols in steady loops.
Silently, Erika moved across the rooftops, landing with barely a sound. Her silencing spell was flawless—no one noticed the forty-kilogram weight gliding above their heads.
She used magic to carve a hole in a roof and slipped inside, dropping onto a beam and lying flat on her stomach.
Below her, voices spoke around a table.
"───This is great wood. As expected from Schwarzwald timber."
"If we haul it back, we'll make a fortune."
One of them leaned forward.
"So... when do we move the troops? Eleonora, how do we take the elves' land?"
A woman with silver hair, furrowed her brows.
"Well... if we only want to win, we could just burn the place down."
The silver-haired woman shouted in protest.
"No way! The timber will be useless if you do that!"
The conversation turned tactical, no longer casual. But Erika only listened with quiet interest. She didn't care who won. Both sides were enemies to her. She just wanted to hear more.
"If fire's out, then we go in from below."
A confused voice answered.
"From below?"
It was the silver-haired girl again. She made a small hand gesture as she asked. Erika smirked. That girl would probably be popular with men.
A dwarf with a thick beard spoke next.
"Viktor and his team will dig tunnels. Not big ones. Just enough to send a few people inside. Once they're in, it's your job to open the gates."
The silver-haired woman nodded.
"Then we need to check the ground first."
After that, the conversation slipped into pointless chatter. Eventually, one by one, they drifted off to sleep.
The woman Erika had been watching entered a private room. Erika crawled across the beam like a shadow, peering down.
The woman dropped onto a straw bed and pulled a cloth over her body.
Erika narrowed her eyes.
(Just in case... I'll activate invisibility.)
Her silencing magic was still working, and now she added invisibility for good measure.
The woman scratched her head, then laid her right arm across her face and didn't move again.
Erika stayed above her, watching in perfect silence, like a predator waiting for the right moment.
Character Notes:
• Erika - A dark elf (forest person) with exceptional agility and magical abilities, including silencing and invisibility magic. Her appearance is characterized by dark brown skin, ash-blond hair cut in a short bob, long ears, and red-black eyes resembling dried blood. She has a detached and playful personality, often showing amusement or indifference to conflicts. Her relationship with others is distant, though she seems to have a tribal connection with men like Klaus and Franz.
• Erik - Son of the fallen warrior Danruhav, seeking revenge and a new land, eager to prove his strength in battle.
• Klaus - A member of Erika's tribe, critical of her behavior and leadership. He expresses frustration with her attitude, particularly toward Franz, who is set to become the tribe's leader through marriage.
• Franz - An outsider set to marry into Erika's tribe to become its leader. He is more tolerant of Erika's behavior, focusing on his goal of leadership.
• Schwarzwald - A dense forest area where long-eared barbarians (elves) have built a labyrinthine fortress city. Located near Khufrak and Rubelin.
• Viktor - Viktor Kinshield Novak. A dwarf from the Kinshield Clan. His appearance is described as short, with a long beard and a stout, barrel-like body. He is charismatic and jovial, though his behavior becomes erratic when drunk.
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