Chapter 3: set out!

"What did you say just now?"

Aura asked in a gobsmacked manner as she couldn't make heads or tails out of what this little elf girl had just said. Camus, meanwhile, had an incredibly annoyed expression on his face as he gave off the feeling that he was not completely foreign to this kind of situation when it came to this girl. Instead, he just looked like he could just put his palm to his face and afterwards slap the girl but instead he had to restrain himself and endure. This girl's background was probably not weak if she could say things like this without repercussion.

"Anyways, let's just take them with us, Camus. I'll vouch for them! At least they can tell the elder what they have to say. Considering how they were headed straight for our home, they probably already know our location anyway."

Ainz couldn't help but mutter a slight "hooh" sound when he heard the girl's rational analysis. Despite the incredibly strange thing she had said not a minute ago, she showed wisdom as was expected of elves who were always far older than they appeared.

"Oi, brat, don't ignore me you hear! What exactly did you mean by that, you damn kid?!"

"O-onee-san, you're being rude!"

"Me? What about this kid who claims she'll make you hers? What kind of nonsense is that?"

Whilst Mare tried to keep her enraged sister down, Mica simply pretended not to hear as she looked at Camus, waiting for his response.

Hearing Mica's words, Camus resigned himself with a slight sigh and quietly gestured to Ainz and the rest to follow them as he himself went ahead, followed by Mica who had a smile plastered on her face.

Ainz nudged Hamsuke slightly and they set off towards the dark elves' base.

Up ahead of Hamsuke and the dark elves who surrounded her, Camus and Mica hopped from tree trunk to tree trunk until they had created enough distance so that no one would be able to hear them even if they had elven ears.

"So you gonna tell me what the hell that was all about?"

Camus looked at Mica with a still incredibly annoyed expression as he was expecting a damn good explanation for all that she had just said.

"What? Didn't you see how beautiful that kid was? I've never seen a dark elf so pretty in my life and its eyes were absolutely infatuating. So like I said I'm going to make that kid mine, but of course I won't do anything bad until we're both fully matured!"

"Not that! I know your fetishes better than most so of course I wouldn't be surprised when you do stuff like this. It's about letting them speak with the elder. You know as well as I do that right now is an incredibly tense time for us. We have all sorts of problems to deal with at the moment and can't afford to also get tangled up with this Ainz Ooal Gown figure."

Camus looked stern but knew that it was too late to change Mica's mind but still demanded to know her line of reasoning before they continued this farce.

"What? That's what has got you all worried? Don't worry! Since the other side even sent over elven emissaries they are at least sensible about establishing contact. If things turn out well, they could even be of help to us. I don't think that you of all people don't know just how dire our situation is in some aspects."

"But still…"

Camus looked like he wanted to rebut with something but could not find the words.

"Anyways, the elder has divined that something important will happen in the near future that will change the fate of our entire clan, right? What if that something is linked with these emissaries? We need to make sure before we send them away, don't we?"

Mica looked mischievously at Camus who turned his head away in shame because he had been beaten by this little girl yet again. He had to admit that she was smarter than him, but would never say so out loud. At least not until she was older.

There was a grim secret that was hidden away in the Dark Forest of Lodos in which the elves resided. More than two hundred years ago now, a vicious battle had taken place in this land between a hero and a demon god. What most people who told this story didn't know was that such a battle could cause the earth to seethe and the sky to split apart. Who in their right mind would think that such a powerful clash would have no effect on the ecosystem?

In the black woods of Lodos at the foot of its mountain, even now there could be seen a scarred piece of land where life appeared to end as dead trees stood upon rotten soil. In this place, there was strong belief that a Demon God had been sealed. Though the patch of land that had become inhospitable to living creatures was small, its effects on a bigger scale were not. The vicious aura that seeped from this land had a profound effect on the wild beasts that lived in this area. Most creatures would sense the deadly energy and flee, but a few simply had nowhere to run to and stayed and accepted death. Whether it was luck or fate was unknown, but the creatures that stayed in the part of the forest that had decayed experienced an astounding change.

Many years later, five beasts emerged from the decayed part of the forest. When they had stayed behind they were sickly and weak but now…

A wolf, a panther, a bear, a python, and even a half-dragon appeared and rampaged throughout the forest and mountain range. Their appearances had been drastically changed, as had their power which they used to swiftly destroy any and all opposition. Each claimed a part of the territory for themselves and ruled it as its new sovereign. Ever since then, they had become the bane of all creatures that wanted to traverse these parts and had even sired demonic offspring which likewise carried a trace of their blood which separated them from any of their kind.

The dark elves had managed to get by simply due to the mysterious power that their elder possessed, but it was hard to count the amount of close calls their tribe had had and how many of their members they had lost to the demonic beasts and their kin.

And now things had gotten even worse due to various reasons. It was almost certain that if the current situation went on that it would most likely spell doom for the whole tribe.

Camus knew this and as the leader of the Demon Hunter Troupe, he was more burdened than most of the other elves with finding some solution. But the one thing that he would sooner die than do was ask humans for help or flee to the human kingdom in the south.

He looked back at the approaching group behind him with furrowed brows. Even if the two emissaries were elves like him, he would still be vigilant. Even if it meant offending their master…

He would not allow that human adventurer to leave their tribe alive.

AA: in case you don't know volume 10 up on amazon for 30th may so translations will begin probably a month afterwards when Chinese have translated it and another month before it's translated into English if our savior is feeling generous (if you don't know his name, you should visit sky and 4chan more)

Anyways and as always

GLORY TO AINZ OOAL GOWN