Little by little, we closed the distance to each other. The ideal distances for a swordsman and a sumo wrestler are very different. The sword used by my opponent required him to stay an extra arm’s length away from me.
I could sense Boorman’s ferocity seeping into the surroundings. Pressure built up as the very air around us seemed to warp. Another half step and I would be in range of his sword. I engaged my sumo spirit, then charged at my opponent, shuffling my feet and getting close and personal.
“Kgh!”
Boorman swung his sword with unbelievable speed, but I dodged to the side and avoided it. He then nimbly shifted his elbow to redirect the swing. But it was for nothing, as I already had a full grip on the sash of his robe. I lifted him on my hip and threw him to the ground.
“Gaaah!!!”
I’d won, with a hip throw as the finishing move.
“Y-You beat the invincible Boorman?! Damn it! All troops, move in for a combined attack!”
“What the hell is wrong with you?! We’re having a one-on-one here!”
“Shut up, Boorman! And you—take this!”
The elven troops all came upon us at once.
“Heh, I see you’re all still standing. Good for you!” I shouted.
Pulling on the belt of the nearest spearman, I executed an inner-thigh throw. Bzzzt!
“Agggh!!!”
A group of elven troops received an electric shock and got blown away.
“Holy shit!” exclaimed Boorman in admiration.
Prince Richie performed a beltless arm throw and sent an elven trooper flying and crashing back down. Before long, no elven soldier was left standing. All of them were groaning as they lay on the ground.
“Well, that’s done with,” I said.
As I clapped my hands to get rid of dust, Chief Vivi approached me with a big smile on his face.
“Magnificent! That magical martial art was simply magnificent!”
“You deployed those spells so quickly; it must be the type of magic that uses body language!”
“Such techniques! I’ve never seen anything like them!”
The three elven elders appeared to be researchers of magic. It was said that the most respected members of the elven race were magic researchers and farmers. Soldiers and politicians, on the other hand, were in particularly little favor with the masses.
“Would you share with us how you trigger those magical effects?”
“I don’t understand it myself. They occur when I use specific techniques.”
“How splendid! So you trigger magic without concentrating...”
“You have it wrong, Einus. She concentrates to perform the technique, then applies mana to said concentration to produce magic.”
“I did not consider that. What a marvelous design!”
These elders felt more like fans of magic than researchers.
In the meantime, all of the villagers were busy tying up the collapsed elven soldiers. It would be best to let elves pass judgment on their ilk.
Boorman prostrated himself before me.
“Sorry about earlier! Please teach me sumo!”
“Oh my.”
“This martial art is really something else! I wanna study it too, lemme study under you!”
“We’re on the run from revolutionaries and the Demon Lord’s army, so I can’t right now. I’ll visit the Elven Forest Republic again once things settle down, then I’ll have time for you.”
“All right, gotcha. Please teach me when the time comes. I really wanna get into this martial art!”
Never would’ve thought I’d find an applicant here of all places. Boorman was athletic, so he would likely make a good sumo wrestler. I was looking forward to it.
“Lunch is ready, milady!”
“Bark, bark!”
About time. I was rather hungry.
“The whole village of Hufton has gathered to create these dishes, giving them our all. Please help yourselves, Crown Prince Richie, Crown Princess Candidate Floortje.”
Chief Vivi had brought us to a banquet laid out at the village square. A total of twenty-three villagers were sitting at the long table.
“You didn’t have to go this far, Chief Vivi.”
“Please, Your Highness. We could never properly repay you two for repelling the revolutionaries who came for our village. It’s only modest country cooking, but please help yourselves.”
“Thank you. We’ll take you up on that offer, then.”
“Time to dig in,” I said.
“Bark bark!”
One shouldn’t give grapes, garlic, or onions to dogs. But what about Barkus? I couldn’t be sure, so I decided to avoid giving him anything with onions for now.
“I’ll feed him.”
“You should eat too, Adela,” I offered.
“A maid always eats last.”
With that, Adela started picking out the things Barkus would likely be able to eat and putting them on a plate, then placed the plate on the ground.
“Bark, bark!”
The pup happily dug into his meal. It was about time for me to start eating too.
Most of the cooking was vegetarian. The main course was stew, but there were plenty of dishes I had never seen before. I transferred an eggplant sandwiched between herbs to my plate, then tasted it. Surprisingly good. It felt like the herbs added depth to the eggplant’s flavor.
“I hope the dishes are to your liking, Lady Floortje. Alas, it is but modest country cooking.”
“The dishes are unsophisticated, but the vegetables taste appetizing nonetheless.”
“Thank you kindly. Would you like some lingonberry wine?”
“Certainly.”
The lingonberry wine the chief poured for me was red, sour, and had a deep taste.
“The cheese and wine are delicious too.”
“The whole region around Hufton is agriculturally prosperous. We have to feed the townsfolk at the capital, see.”
So that was the purpose of Hufton. Its produce was quite scrumptious.
“You must’ve lived like this for thousands upon thousands of years.”
“Hah hah hah! I must admit, we elves resent change. Were it not for the influence of human nations, we would have continued to lead calm lives in our villages deep in the forest.”
For thousands upon thousands of years, the elves had lived in harmony with nature. But with the advent of cultural exchange with various races across the continent, that lifestyle had apparently become a thing of the past. Chief Vivi kept deprecating the rural life, but I felt there was something very precious about this lifestyle.
The lunch came to an end without incident. It was delicious.
“I see you ate a lot too, Barkus. Good boy, good boy.”
“Bark, bark!”
With some lively barking in reply, the pup jumped into my bosom and licked my face. How cute... How fluffy... Dosukoi dosukoi!
“Is that...?” spoke the chief.
“I found him collapsed on the highway. Don’t know what species he is. Perhaps you could tell me, Chief?”
“Hmm... No, surely he cannot be...”
The chief appeared to not know either. Just what was this pup?