Asuru’s Proposal

Amidst a scene where the ‘Mamiya’ vanished into thin air due to optical camouflage, the elves seem to be losing strength in their legs…

Our group, including Uruka, was being led to the residence of the elves’ leader, Forusha.
Well, calling this a residence might be a bit of an understatement…

In contrast to other dwellings that could barely accommodate three to four people, this one had a main building spacious enough for about twenty people and several additional rooms.

Elaborate decorations adorned the cloth used as roofing and wall materials, indicating that displaying authority through residence was a common culture among both humans and elves.

Seating ourselves on the carpet with Forusha at the head, we sip the iced tea served to us.

Wow, this is delicious!

By combining various herbs, medicinal plants like fish mint, and roasted grains, they achieve a blend of bitterness, freshness… and likely medicinal effects at a high level.
When it comes to trade goods from the elves, beaver fur is famous, but hey, wouldn’t this be sellable if sourced?

…As I wandered off in my thoughts, I realized that the elven girl sitting opposite Forusha and me was glaring at me.
She was the girl I had helped earlier.

Being an elf, it was difficult to determine her actual age… but at a glance, she seemed even younger than Uruka, maybe around eleven or twelve.
One thing is for sure, this girl had sharp eyes…
Clearly, she had caught onto my sneak attack.

Due to being skilled in similar magic from the start, I mastered the use of the blaster early on.
Being able to catch the quick draw like this is something only Banho could do within our group, so at least when it comes to eyesight, she has that level of skill.

Seeing her sitting next to Senior Forusha indicated she might be a blood relative… or hold a similar high status.

“Sorry for my daughter’s blunt gaze.
As she’s an Elf, you might be suspicious of her age, but she is indeed the age she appears.
She hasn’t quite learned manners yet.”

This seemed more like the face of a father than a king.
Smiling softly, Senior Forusha uttered those words.

“Ente. It’s not polite to look at someone that way.
Asuru-dono and his companions are not only saviors in our time of need but also lifesavers for you personally.
There’s something you should say first, right?”

“Huh!?
It’s nothing! I don’t need to be saved by someone like that!”

“Ente.”

“…I understand.”

He calmly advised her, and Ente corrected her posture in front of me.

“I am Ente, daughter of Senior Forusha.
Thank you for helping me out of that dangerous situation earlier.”

“There’s no need to thank me.
Besides, even if I didn’t intervene, Senior Forusha would have taken care of it.”

“Huh!?”

Ente, upon hearing my words, looked at her father with an incredulous expression.
Didn’t she realize…?

…At that time.

Almost simultaneously, as I unsheathed, Senior Forusha completed structuring his magic and was ready to unleash it at any moment.
As he is her father, you’d think she would have some idea of his skills… but maybe having a clear judgment is not her strong suit, even if she has a good eye.

“Haha…
Ente, you still have a lot to learn and understand.”

Senior Forusha speaks in a gentle tone, but I understand.
He must be secretly pleased to demonstrate his daughter’s abilities.
My father used to teach me swordsmanship when I was young, just like this.

Oh, I see…
This man, who must be older than my grandfather, whom I recently met the other day, resembles my father a bit.
…I miss him a bit.

As I sip cold tea to hide my feelings, Senior Forusha changes the subject.

“First, let’s declare that we will treat you simply as Asuru-dono…
Asuru-dono.
I am grateful for your assistance earlier.
With that said, I have a bold request…
Is it possible for you to provide further assistance?”

“…Of course.”

I tightened my heart, which was feeling a bit nostalgic, and immediately responded without hesitation.

“Our support is based on the wish of our friend, Berg.
Moreover, the widespread damage caused by the surge of monsters is a common crisis that affects all races and habitats, and there is no need to feel inferior because of this.”

Furthermore, despite forming autonomous districts, the Elves are also citizens of the kingdom, and they should benefit from “Mamiya,” which I discovered, no doubt.
Even if Berg had not asked for help, I would have extended a helping hand upon learning of this plight.

…Well, living a closed-off life means they are likely to keep the secret, which is a big advantage for me.

I also wanted to gain combat experience with the newly upgraded equipment.

“I appreciate your words.”

Senior Forusha nods slightly, and Ente and the other Elves follow suit.
I waited for a while, and after they showed their approval, I brought up what we should suggest.

“However, there is one thing that you must understand…
By fighting the same way as before, it will be impossible to exterminate the monsters.”

A heavy silence filled the room with my words.
Well, everyone probably already knew that, but I decided to confront the reality once more.

Banho and the others named it ‘Tanishi,’ and now they are attaching the Float Unit to their backs…
The combination of this and the Blaster Rifle demonstrated tremendous power.
After reviewing the fast-forwarded recording from ‘Mamiya’ on my portable device, I realized that the results were beyond expectations.

Yet, it is not enough.
As discussed in the remote strategy meeting at the inn, there is a limit to compensating with quality violence.

In any case, this time’s fight has turned the ground into a sea of corpses, yet the monsters still have sufficient reserves of strength.

To overturn this, we might need Keaton and others to go on the offensive or resort to the large-caliber Blaster Cannon designed for obstacle destruction on ‘Mamiya.’
In either case, causing enough damage to make the forest disappear will make it quite controversial whether we truly saved the Elves…
Even if Keaton’s power restores the forest, the fact that the mental impact on elves will be too grim remains, as mentioned earlier.

For that reason, the idea of using the giant robots is off the table.

So, the only remaining option is…
To combine the qualitative violence displayed by Banho and the others with quantitative violence.

“Therefore, I have a proposal.
…Each person will use the same weapons as us.”

With a smirk, I said this to the elves.