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Chapter 87

As they walked across the plains aiming straight for the capital of the Beastmen’s country, Lilith opened her mouth with a perplexed expression.

「…Lute?」

「What’s up, Lilith?」

「…It’s just… There are so many elves.」

Looking back, the elves, who had been just around a hundred until a moment ago, now numbered around a thousand.

Upon seeing this, Liz let out a troubled sigh.

「I think it’s because Lute insisted on going straight.」

「Well, honestly, I might have overdone it.」

I mean, we went straight ahead and found a big city with slave warehouses and prisons.
I never expected to find 400 elves imprisoned there.

So, as I continued to advance while causing major facility destruction, the guys who had been following me freed the slaves and prisoners after clearing out the riff raff.
They armed them too.

By the way, being forest dwellers, elves all have hunting skills.
Plus, they have a high affinity for magic, so almost all of them can use magic to some extent.

In other words, they’re a warrior race.

Naturally, the liberated folks became combatants once they took up arms.
As I destroyed buildings and the confused Beastmen were killed by the elves, the elves who had been used as servants and bottom-tier laborers in the city also joined the fray.

That’s how we ended up with over a thousand people.

「It’s all thanks to Lute-dono. To be able to liberate so many of our brethren in just a few hours…」

「Yes, it’s truly remarkable, Lady Ferris. This lad is practically a demon.」

The freeloaders approached me with smiles.

「No, I’m not cooperating with you guys, just so you know.」

As I turned back, cheers could be heard from the elven army.

「The God of War has noticed us!」

「Respond with cheers!」

「Praise the Savior! Praise the God of War!」

「God of War! God of War! God of War!」

Well, I seem pretty popular.
Well, I guess that’s to be expected since we just liberated them from slavery.

「But still… It’s a bit too much. What’s with this ‘God of War’ stuff?」

「No, no, it’s all thanks to Lute-dono, truly. No, it’s not that, this must be the will of the gods. To send us such a miraculous warrior at the very end…」

「No, rather than a joke… This lad himself might be the incarnation of a god.」

They are treating me like a god.
I sighed as I looked at the elves behind me.

「But it’s truly spectacular.」

「What do you mean, Lute-onii-chan?」

「Isn’t it like I’ve become a commander-in-chief who is leading his army?」

「Yes, indeed.」

「For a mere villager like me, this is quite a shocking sight.」

Lilith shrugged her shoulders in disbelief.

「…Until now, Lute has been holding back, but if he wanted to, he could easily lead an army of hundreds of thousands.」

Well, that might actually be true.
And then, I noticed a tower erected in the middle of the plain.

It was about 10 kilometers away, and it seemed to be about 150 meters tall.

「What’s that?」

「It’s a ceremonial tower, Bon.」

「A ceremonial tower?」

「This area used to be under the control of the elves. It served as an altar for large-scale ritual magic. It’s a military facility to intimidate the Beastmen’s capital.」

「I see. By the way, how far is the Beastmen’s capital from here?」

「About 4 kilometers from that tower.」

I spoke to Lilith.

「The Adamantite and Orichalcum, they’re still in the item box, right?」

「…They’re valuable items, so we collected and stored a large quantity while traveling to the ends of the world.」

「Alright, let’s go then. Our destination is that tower.」

「The tower? Why?」

「It’s better to make a flashy move from the start, don’t you think?」

Lilith seemed to understand what I was about to do and chuckled.

Side Story: King of the Beast Country

I remember that eerie child.
The child who claimed to be a sage was only seven years old at the time.

He said it’s an inspection of the Beast Country from the World Union.

We, as demi-humans, generally don’t have much interaction with the human race.
However, our country is ultimately just a small border nation.
It’s not a good sign to attract the attention of the World Union.

During their stay of a few days, we extended the finest hospitality to the sage Moses.

And then, I received a gift from the devil.

「In just one night, our country’s prized A-rank and B-rank warriors, the Twelve Divine Generals, were elevated to the realm of genuine S-rank gods… Just who exactly are you?」

Sipping tea in the reception room, the seven-year-old child pushed up his glasses with a graceful gesture of his right index finger.

「As I explained, I’m just a sage. However, well, my research involves a bit of… evolution.」

「Evolution? Is it related to the Great Catastrophe?」

The sage, who introduced himself as Moses, shook his head.

「A little maybe. However, my research is not about the Great Catastrophe itself, but about human evolution.」

「Human evolution…? Like turning a mere villager into a hero…?」

With a wry smile, Moses laughed.

「No, it goes beyond that. What happens when a hero evolves? What is the ultimate destination of humanity? Well, that’s the kind of research it is.」

「…It’s a world I don’t quite understand.」

「It’s fine not to understand. The lower the organism, the easier the evolution will be. Monsters, demi-humans, and then… humans.」

My ears twitched at that moment.

「Oh, excuse me. I’m not discriminating against demi-humans. It’s just that the less one deviate from the original principles of life a long time ago…the more difficult it is for the secret art of evolution to take advantage of the system.」

「It truly is a world I don’t quite understand.」

With that, Moses took out his pocket watch and sighed.

「I’ve talked a bit too much. I’m busy.」

With that, he stood up and attempted to leave the room.

「Anyway, thank you for bestowing your power on us this time. With this, we can crush the elven country, our archenemy. How would you like to be thanked?」

Moses turned around and smiled.

「I don’t seek any rewards. Just use your power as you wish.」

「Is that so?」

「――Examining how you use that power is also part of my research.」

Not long after that, we would destroy the elven country.