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Volume 3 Chapter 52

Outbreak of war

Three weeks have passed since I came to Alheim.

I think I’ve toured most of the major tourist attractions.

There are good roads between the King’s Capital and each city, with it you can get to any city in two days, so it was easy to get around. The last week was going to be spent relaxing here in King’s Landing, where the World Tree was located.

As for my marriage to Rifa, only the ministers and the royalty were to be informed, as was the case with Tina.

This was because although my marriage to Rifa and Tina was officially recognized in this country, I still hadn’t reported it to my parents. Tina and the others wanted to say hello to my parents and get their approval to become my wife.

Tina, who was my personal maid, and Rifa, my classmate at the magic academy and princess of the elven country. My parents would be very surprised if I told them I was going to marry them.

If my parents agreed for my marriage, they were going to notify the people of Alheim of Tina’s return and my marriage once again.

So I was leading a rather relaxed life, but…

In the morning, I was summoned by the Elf King.

The day of my return to Glendale is approaching, so what do I have to say to Rifa and Tina?

──＊＊＊──

[I’m sorry, but you need to get out of this country right now.]

That was the first thing he said to us at the opening of our audience with the Elf King. We had received the polite hospitality of the Elf King as a guest in the past, so we froze at his sudden words.

Did we do something wrong?

[Father, what’s going on?]

Rifa asked the Elf King.

[… There is an army of Apristos coming towards this royal city. From now on, the kingdom is going to be a battlefield.]

The word that came back from the Elf King was astonishing. Last night, he said, Apristos’ army had crossed the border of Alheim.

In a sudden surprise attack, the border guards were destroyed. After that, the army is said to be aiming at this royal capital while overrunning several villages near the border.

[..Could they have attacked because I married Rifa?]

[That’s partly true. But the main reason is that I’m not competent enough for my position.]

Apristos had been targeting the World Tree in Alheim for some time, but its invasion had stalled as it had no way to break down the defenses of Alheim’s royal capital.

Although the invasion of Alheim was stagnant, Apristos had integrated several small neighboring countries and was steadily accumulating power.

At that time, a proposal was made from the Alheimian side that they wanted to make an alliance between the two countries by giving Rifa to Aplistos.

In fact, this proposal was made by a certain nobleman and a minister on their own, and neither Rifa nor the Elf King knew about it at all.

I accepted the proposal – when the messenger from Apristos told him so, the Elf King learned of the ministers’ outburst for the first time.

But soon after that, he was ordered by the sylphs to marry Rifa to me. Alheim was caught between the sylph’s order and the promise he made to Apristos.

[I am responsible for failing to stop the ministers from running amok. Rifa, you are already married to Haruto and have nothing to do with this country. Get away from this country as soon as possible.]

The Elf King chose to follow the sylph. He told the messenger that the promise he had made to Apristos was a mistake, but Apristos’ royal family snapped at him.

The prince, who had been elated at the prospect of marrying an elf princess, was enraged and led a private army into the country.

The result, as we heard earlier, was the destruction of the border guards by surprise. At this point, the war between Alheim and Apristos began.
Perhaps because we were unable to back down, information was brought to us that Apristos’ national army was also coming towards us.

The prince’s private army numbered three thousand.

And Apristos’ national army is one hundred thousand.

In contrast, Alheim’s strength is ten thousand in the national army. Three thousand of the private army can be adequately defended by Alfraim’s national army.

However, once the national army of Apristos arrives, they will be surrounded and it will be a one-sided battle.

The human race has a larger population than other races. If they seriously raised an army, their strength was overwhelming. That’s why the Elf King wanted to let Rifa escape now.

[But I’m still the princess of this country,]

Rifa looks at me.

She said she was going to stay in the country.

[I’m Rifa’s husband, so if Rifa stays, I’ll stay too.

[Haruto-san…]

[If your husband is going to stay, I’ll stay too. Besides, I have to protect my student, Rifa-san.]

[Thank you, Lady Tina.]

Well, I’ll fight for my country. I may be a human, but I love my country.

He says that Luke will also stay and fight as a force in this country. He wants to protect his elven girlfriend, who was created last week, and he really wants to protect her.

Even though they are of the same human race, Glendale and Aplistos are not allied with each other. So there’s no problem for me and Luke to join the elves in fighting Aplistos’ army.

[If you will stay, Lord, I will stay as well.]

[So are we!]

Yoko, Mai, and May will be staying behind.

I think they can handle it.

[I’m a healer. If someone died in the border patrol, I can bring them back to life. It shouldn’t be too late.]

[I’ll provide that support. You can also leave the magic buildup to me.]

Well, my team will be there to protect Luca and Luna.

After all, they all seem to be willing to fight.

[Thank you all!]

[Hey, guys, that’s enough. This is war! They are serious about killing you. You may have experience with demons, but you are students, and you can’t fight a man in war!]

The Elf King shouted at us.

Perhaps he doesn’t want us to fight.

The Elf King is a good man. He knows what I and Tina are capable of, but he has no intention of making us an asset. During my stay here, I have learned that the Elf King is well-liked by his people.

And if the enemy comes close to the capital, he will come to the front line and wield the sword himself. That’s the kind of person he is. That’s why I want to help the Elf King.

[Indeed, I may not be able to kill people… however, even though it’s a war, I don’t want my friends to kill someone else either.]

[Then run, now!]

[But we have the power. We don’t kill them, we neutralize them, even if they are trying to kill us.]

[What are you talking about?

[I won’t kill the soldiers of Apristos, only incapacitate them with everything I have.]

Even if there was a hundred thousand of them.

It might have been a pipe dream but I will make it come true.

I had the confidence to do it.

I couldn’t cover them all by myself, and there would be no shortage of casualties. I look at my friends.

Luke, Luna, Rifa, Merdi, Melody, Yoko, Mai, May, Ryushin, Luca, and Tina.

With these ten people, my mission would succeed.

I had that confidence.

[Could you gather the ministers?　I’ll tell you the plan to stop the Apristos invasion.]