“That monster has been sitting at the base of the spirit tree for seven years.”
Seven years.
Says the old elf Sileva (he finally told us his name), as I think about the fact that the monster has been causing the elves grief for almost as long as I’ve been alive.
I’ve heard that elves live long lives, so maybe seven years feels a lot shorter to them. Still, those seven years of seeing something important to them suffer must have been tough.
As mister Sileva speaks, all the elves that have gathered look depressed. He says the monster has been eating elves and spirits. Hearing about beings that are so important to them being eaten makes me shudder.
To my right is Reimar, and around us are the other monsters that formed a contract with me… They are also monsters… I was lucky to meet them, form a contract with them, and be friendly enough to become family.
After losing the family that is related to me by blood, I met another family that is not related to me, and doesn’t even have the same shape. But just like there are many different people in the world, there are a lot of different monsters. There’s no way I can become friends with all of them.
“Obviously, we did not obey the monster’s demands at first, and did not offer any sacrifices. We tried to take it down but… We could not.”
Says mister Sileva with a frustrated tone. The elves couldn’t defeat that monster.
“That monster ate our friends right before our very eyes, but then, even though he could eat us all any time it wanted, it proposed a deal.”
“That monster, talks?”
I didn’t think about this earlier, but that question suddenly pops into my head.
The monsters that formed a contract with me don’t talk. We can only speak to each other because of our contract, but I guess that monster can talk to the elves?
“…That monster can use telepathic communication, a skill that allows him to speak directly to one’s mind. We could not allow all of us to be eaten, and if we left the monster be, it would do whatever it pleased to the spirit tree. We simply could not abandon it so… We had no choice but to offer sacrifices.”
A monster that the elves can’t defeat. How strong are elves? I still don’t know, because they’re the first elves I’ve ever met, and I haven’t seen them use magic yet.
I can’t imagine what the monster is like, if a race that is good with magic can’t defeat it.
“What kind of monster is this monster that elves can’t beat? I heard elves are a race that is good with magic…”
Says mister Oshashio. Mister Dongu looks like he’s thinking about what mister Sileva said.
“…It eats magic energy. It is a plant type monster that eats any magic we throw at it, and regenerates even if we manage to destroy a part of it.”
“Eats, magic energy?”
“We believe that any being with magic energy is edible to that monster. We think that is why it chose to stay at the base of the spirit tree, since it is overflowing with magic energy…”
I start thinking about that tree I’ve never seen.
A tree where spirits are born and grow, and is very important to elves. And then there’s the weakened spirit that told mister Sileva he should listen to me. Can I thank that spirit if we manage to defeat the monster? Can I ask it why it said something like that about me?
So there’s a monster that eats magic energy at the bottom of a tree that’s full of magic energy. To a monster that eats magic energy, this tree and a species that specializes in magic must be like the perfect prey.
“What if you don’t, use magic?”
I ask. If it eats magic, how about attacking it with something other than magic?
“We do not have many ways to attack that do not involve magic. Using our bows also did not go well.”
“…So if the beast people, and the gryphons attack, can it work?”
“I do not know.”
Elves attack with magic, and this monster eats magic. That’s why they’re helpless. It’s a terrible opponent for them, but doesn’t that mean that it’s a problem that can be solved if they just fight alongside a race that’s good at things other than magic?
Still, we didn’t know the elves lived here, and it’s possible that they also don’t know exactly where other races live. And apparently there are a lot of people in the countries of humans that will enslave elves.
…But the biggest issue is that these elves look down on other races, and it probably never even occurred to them to cooperate with them. Mister Sileva finally told us his name, but he also said humans are like inferior beings. That’s why they immediately thought to use us as sacrifices when they found us, and didn’t think to work with us.
The beast people were also wary of me at first because I’m human. The same happened with miss Lan, but now we’re all friendly with each other. I think it’s because they stopped seeing all humans as just human, and see me as Lerunda and miss Lan as miss Lan.
The elves still see beast people as just beast people and humans as just humans.
They lump everyone together and see beast people as savages and humans as lower beings, but I believe we can be friends if that stops being the case.
“…We should start by telling each other what our races can do, and then you should tell us more about that monster, so we can start devising ways to beat it. We have no idea what kind of magic elves can use, and I’m sure you also don’t know how we beast people fight. We can’t work together like this so, even though I know you will be reluctant to do so, can you tell us what kind of magic you use? Keep in mind, this is all for the sake of protecting your spirit tree.”
Mister Dongu, who was quietly listening, finally speaks.
—Girl and the path to defeating a monster – part one
(The girl that is probably the miko hears about the monster that has been causing the elves grief, and thinks about many things.)
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