On the northern edge of the kingdom of Lugarut, the elves and the wicked have been in secret contact.

　Since the next day, strange things have been happening in the kingdom of Lugarut.
　To cut the story short, the country was rapidly becoming safer.

　War-torn countries are generally unsettled and overrun by demons.
　In peacetime, the military is responsible for maintaining "security outside the city" and, as an extension of that, fighting off demons in some cases. However, if the army is sent into battle, it is inevitable that the country will be disturbed.
　In such cases, the presence of adventurers who exterminate demons and rogues becomes increasingly important to ensure public safety and security, but they too are often useless in critical situations. Since adventurers are not bound to a specific land, many of them flee to safer countries when war breaks out.
　This tendency was even more pronounced when the invasion of the dreaded Caenis Empire was imminent.

　Walking outside the city was even more dangerous than it had been in normal times, and those in rural areas that were not protected by walls lived in fear of being attacked by demons or having their villages burned by bandits at any moment. 　

　Then, a strange group of undead appeared.

　Knights and sorcerers with bodies of only bones. Pale skinned samurai. A woman in all black, dressed in mourning. A silver girl being carried on a palanquin. ......
　A group of armed undead appeared simultaneously in various parts of the country and began to kill demons.

　Some of the demons were reaped and piled up as corpses and carried away by wagons.
　Some demons, known for their untamed ferocity, obediently followed the undead like a well-behaved dog.
　Some demons were shackled and collared and dragged along like criminals being dragged before execution.
　The demons that had been active were exterminated and peace was left in their wake.

　In areas where demon activity had slowed down, bandits and thieves would have taken over, but this did not happen either. But this did not happen either, as bandits also became the prey of the undead.
　The symbolic news was the destruction of the Ludolf Bandits.
　In just a few hours of fighting, the Roodolf Bandits, who had been famous throughout the land for their numbers, skill, and organization, and who had been a constant threat to the Lords, were destroyed. Only those involved in the battle knew what had happened, but the people knew the outcome of the battle when they saw the corpses of the bandits marching down the street led by the undead knights.

　The undead do not hide their presence, but they do not interfere with the people of Lugarut, only eliminating threats to the people.
　The blood-rose banner fluttering frighteningly in the air, how reassuring it looked in the eyes of the people.

　What is it, really?　Inevitably, the public's interest was aroused.
　The "Ciel-Teirah Rebellion" and the name of the "Rose Princess of Hell" were immediately known throughout the country, though only a few people with a keen ear, those who were knowledgeable about international affairs, and adventurers knew about it.

　The news that the Blue Army of the Caenis Empire had been forced to retreat in the battle north of the Great Forest also became known to the people.
　It was said that the undead army had helped the elves of the Great Forest of Gethenfall to drive away the Imperial Blue Army at the same time that the undead had started their activities in the Kingdom of Lugarut.

　Although the Kingdom of Lugarut had not yet been directly overrun by the Empire of Caenis, everyone had heard about the horror of the approaching Blue Army, and had even crossed swords with the Blue Army under the Tripartite Alliance, resulting in more than a few deaths.
　However, the fearsome Blue Army had been defeated, albeit temporarily.
　There are those who feel depressed and those who find hope for the future.

　Meanwhile, a rumor of unknown origin began to circulate.
　The rumor was that the Rose Princess of Hell wanted an alliance with the Elves of the Great Forest of Goosenfall.

　The elves have been using natural magic to destroy the forest.

　The elves are skilled at changing the shape of the forest through natural magic.
　Their dwellings are mostly made up of living tree trunks and branches that have been moved and intertwined to form rooms.
　They rarely use felled wood ...... or "dead wood" as they call it, for their dwellings. They have the skill to make beautiful furniture out of dead wood, but that is about it.

　There is a tribe of "rock crawling white snakes" living in the Great Forest of Goosenfall, and at the center of the tribe is a giant sacred tree that is 50 meters tall and can be seen from outside the forest with its head sticking out.
　The giant tree, which is said to be "thicker than any pillar in any castle built by man," has a shabby appearance with countless vines and thin trees tangled together, and a number of chambers growing in a slightly lower position. There was also a suspension bridge made of living vines woven like a spider's web in the air, connecting it to the surrounding trees.

　The highest of the rooms built to cling to the Great Spirit Tree is the Council of Elders Room.
　This room, located at the top of a spiral staircase of vines, was the place where the leaders of the tribe held their meetings.

　Elves who had done well for the tribe would receive the title of "Elder" as they grew older.
　The number of elders varies depending on the size of the tribe, but there are currently 14 elders in the tribe of the Rock-Crawling Shiro Serpent. The policy of the tribe is decided by a council of elders and chiefs.

　The air during the meeting was as heavy as muddy water.
　It had been like this since the war began, but today there was another problem that deepened the wrinkles between the elders' brows.

Rumors of the 'alliance' he has proposed have spread throughout the village.

　One of the elders said bitterly, muttering to himself.
　"As soon as the Rose Princess of Hell made the offer of an alliance, rumors of the alliance spread among the elves of the forest. The Council of Elders did not announce the meeting with the group that called themselves Ciel-Teira's Exile, even though it was supposed to be a private discussion.

　A little over four hundred years ago, the human race was nearly wiped out from the continent by the invasion of the Demon King's army.
　At that time, 14 of the tens of thousands of people who holed up on the floating island were the elders present here. The same is true of the Chieftain Garsefult, who is now on his sickbed and has not come to this place.
　Elves are said to live 500 to 600 years. They were just children or young men at the time of the Great War.
　Therefore, even now, when most of their short-lived comrades in arms outside the forest have died out and they are all 'young men dying before them', they still have a sense of belonging to the 'human race' and a sense of balance, and can think from the standpoint of 'elves among the human race'.

　However, this sense of belonging is less common among the younger generation in the village.
　Most of them never leave the forest and see the world as 'elves and the rest'.
　And the elders did not see the consciousness of the younger generation as a particular problem.

　As the saying goes, "Burying iron does not return it to the forest.
　A problem that had been tossed aside erupted at the worst possible time.
　There were many who thought that they could join forces with the undead to fight the Empire of Koenis.

　The Elders were troubled by this.
　It became difficult for them to come to a conclusion on their own. They were thinking of finding an amicable compromise, or even rejecting the proposal, but this would mean that they would be pushed up by those below them, and the "Rose Princess of Hell" would look down on them.

"Where did the rumor come from anyway?　"Where did the rumor come from, and who let it slip?
"It seems that someone who does business with ...... outside the forest heard it from a human.
　Every city near the ...... forest in the kingdom of Lugarut is abuzz with this rumor.

　The elders snorted.
　It was probably the side of the Rose Princess of Hell who spread the information.
　She used the Lugalut people, who can say irresponsible things about this alliance, to spread the rumor down in the Elven villages.
　Furthermore, by spreading the rumor outside the forest, they may be trying to damage the Elves' reputation in advance, so that they will have nothing to lose by this unspoken alliance.


　It was a devilish thing to do.

　Elven society is a world of seniority and hierarchy.
　However, their trust in the Council of Elders is shaken as they continue to lose battles (however deserved, given their power differential).
　And which way will the people, driven by fear, go in their extreme situation? It was impossible to predict or control.

　No one knew what was best to do to protect this forest. The chief, the elders, and everyone else fell silent in thought.

　Just then, a warrior on guard called out from outside the room.

"Elders. Deputy High Priestess ......, there is a new High Priestess here to see you.
"Oh!　Is the ceremony over?

　As the elders suddenly sat up, a female elf entered the council chamber.

　She was an elf with bright green hair, reminiscent of the trees in mid-summer.
　She was a straight-eyed woman with an earnestness that seemed to ooze from her face. Her long hair was tied up with a beast-bone hairpin, and she wore a pure white priestess costume and an ornament of boulders and goldwork passed down from generation to generation of chief priests.

"Yes.
　I have come to report to you, my revered fathers, that I will succeed my predecessor, Saaresaya, who lost her life in battle, and fulfill her duties.
"I see, I see. I'm sorry that we should all be praying for you.
No, it was inevitable.

　Her name as she kneels is Krsna.
　Her name was Khrusssarina. She had once competed for the position of head priestess with the previous head priestess Saaresaya, who had died only a few days before, and had often helped her as deputy head priestess.

　Priestess Saaresaya's death was a bitter blow to the Council of Elders.
　Losing her, the most powerful sorceress in the tribe, was a great blow in battle, and the fact that she, a beloved religious leader, had been killed by the enemy was a great shock to the entire tribe.

　Given the circumstances, it was fortunate that the handover to the new chief priestess had gone off without a hitch.
　As soon as Saaresaiah died, Krsalina holed herself up in a cave at the foot of the Great Spirit Tree and had been praying ever since. She prayed in the cave of the Great Spirit Tree, where all the forest was connected, because she could not become a chief priest without the approval of the fathers who had returned to the forest.
　This prayer could take three days or a month to complete. During this time, all the members of the tribe are expected to pray to the fathers.
　However, it is now a time of war, and the tribe would not be able to survive if it were to do so. Therefore, the chief, elders, and priestesses held a simple prayer ceremony to replace the prayers during the new chief's "cave in".

"Greetings, Krsna, to the Elders.
　I know that I am but a child to you, but I will do my best as the chief priest to guide the people of my village.

　Krsalina put one hand on her chest and spread her other hand lightly. The elders struck the same pose.
　This was a courteous greeting, a sign of non-hostility to the Elves. They cannot hold bows or arrows, nor can they make magic markings with their hands uncrossed.

"Have you not received an oracle from your fathers in the ...... ritual?

　As soon as the somewhat self-conscious Krsna had finished her greeting, one of the elders, the imam Jivarmaguza, asked what everyone in the room was likely to want to know.

"Yes, indeed.

　Everyone gasped.

　When making decisions for the entire tribe, the Council of Elders often asks the Fathers through the priestesses. Just as humans receive oracles from the gods.

　The fathers who have died and returned to the forest have stored their great knowledge in the forest and can teach us things that the living cannot even imagine.
　At least that's what the elves generally believed.

　Krsalina was tense and tired, but she spoke clearly, as if she wanted to make sure not a single word was out of place.

It was the same as the last time I heard from Master Saaresaiah.
　He did not mention the war with the Caenis Empire ......, but only said, 'avenge the bloodstained silver disaster star.