After questioning the elves and the adventurers, the full story of how the conflict between the villages began finally came to light.
The party consisted of Galf, Daga, Pirika, twenty of Pirika’s disciples, and thirty adventurers. Together, they made up a group of over fifty people. They originally had five elven guides, but three of them had left to report the successful extermination of their target, the Goo Turtle, back to their village.
This left only two elves accompanying Galf’s group.
As they moved through the woods, balancing further monster hunting with the need to secure food, they were spotted by a small unit from the Forest of Garetsu. This unit’s purpose was simply to keep watch over their village’s borders. Since the encounter took place a fair distance away from the village’s actual territory, it shouldn't have led to a fight.
Unfortunately, the two guide elves with Galf were bitter rivals of the Garetsu unit.
The leader of the Garetsu unit was young and impulsive. Seeing his rivals in the company of Galf’s heavily armed group, he jumped to a massive conclusion.
"They've brought in a foreign army!"
The unit leader immediately sent word back to the Village of the Forest of Garetsu requesting reinforcements. In response, over a hundred elves marched out to meet the "threat."
The elven way of war centered on spreading out to encircle the enemy, then peppering them from a distance with bows and magic. Just as they began to close their ring around Galf’s party, the three guide elves who had gone to report the turtle kill returned. However, they were unable to rejoin the group. They were intercepted by the Garetsu forces, and all three were wounded and taken prisoner.
As it happened, the three guides hadn't been alone. A high-ranking official from their village had accompanied them to personally thank the group for killing the monster. This official managed to retreat despite an injury to his arm. He rushed back to his village and sounded the alarm.
"The Forest of Garetsu is attacking!"
The guide elves hailed from the Village of the Forest of Gone. Hearing the news, over a hundred elves from that village also mobilized for war.
Unfortunately, the warriors from the Village of the Forest of Gone hadn't been briefed about Galf and his companions. To make matters worse, the two guide elves remaining with the group were injured early on by Garetsu's opening volley. With no one left to explain the situation, the two villages fell into a full-scale skirmish, with Galf’s party trapped right in the middle.
Galf and the others didn't just sit there. First, they struck back against the Garetsu forces who had opened fire on them. Galf, Daga, and the adventurers found it difficult to deal with the elven snipers, but Pirika and her disciples proved their worth. Dodging a hail of arrows and spells, they closed the distance in a flash, neutralizing the elven archers one by one.
While they were occupied with that, the forces from the Village of the Forest of Gone arrived. Although they were enemies of Garetsu, they were still elves. Galf’s group naturally assumed they were more enemy reinforcements.
With the only people capable of clearing up the misunderstanding either unconscious or elsewhere, the battle dragged on. They fought through the day, the night, and into the next day. Even more reinforcements arrived from both forests, until a total of five hundred elves were embroiled in a chaotic three-way battle.
Caught in the center of the storm, Galf and his team realized they needed to break the deadlock. Their solution? To capture the enemy’s base.
By that point, they had scouted out two locations that appeared to be headquarters. They figured one of them had to be the main objective. Perhaps their adrenaline was running high after days of combat, but despite being vastly outnumbered, Galf and the others decided to split their strength into two teams.
On the night of the second day, both teams began their advance toward the respective villages. They spent the next two days fighting off pursuers, and by the afternoon of the fourth day, both teams reached their targets. Faced with these relentless warriors at their very gates, both villages declared their surrender.
According to the summary provided by those who listened to the report with me, it was nothing more than a series of unfortunate accidents that escalated into a battle.
I was just relieved that it ended with only injuries. I was truly glad no one had died. Apparently, the fact that both the elven villages and Galf’s party had members capable of using healing magic was the saving grace.
Still, if that were the case, couldn't they have just healed the guide elves first? That would have cut the number of enemies in half...
"We don't have an infinite supply of mana, do we? Forget about us; you lot need to focus on protecting yourselves!"
Apparently, that’s what the guide elves shouted before they lost consciousness. Their stubbornness ended up backfiring on everyone. Well, I suppose I only have the luxury of sighing about it because I’m hearing the story after the fact. If I had been there myself, I would have been panicking. I should just tell myself that everyone was simply doing their best given the circumstances.
The first group came from the Village of the Forest of Gone. Their representative was a middle-aged male elf, said to be a master of wood-manipulation magic. He went by the title "Tree King of the Forest of Gone."
The ones who had initially attacked Galf were from the Village of the Forest of Garetsu. Their representative was a woman with a sharp, determined look. She was a master archer known as the "Bow King of the Forest of Garetsu."
I wondered why they were called "Kings" when they only ruled over villages. Was it just a title for show? Regardless, both representatives had volunteered to work for the sake of Village Five, so I accepted them.
I was told their two forests had been bitter rivals, so I worried about them working together. However, when Yoko heard the reason for their feud, she just looked exasperated and told me it was nothing serious and not to worry about it. So, I took her word for it.
The two "Kings" moved to Village Five along with several attendants. At the suggestion of the two advisors from the Previous Generation Four Heavenly Kings, we decided to provide them with houses near the mountain's summit.
I asked if it was really necessary to go that far.
"They are the representatives of significant powers near Village Five. If we treat them with high honors, it will deter other factions from picking fights with us."
That made sense. We would definitely prepare the houses.
As for their duties, they would be helping the adventurers exterminate monsters and magic beasts, as well as assisting with Village Five’s internal affairs. The monster hunting was straightforward, but I had my doubts about the internal affairs part. The Tree King looked like he could handle it, but the Bow King seemed like a poor fit for desk work.
They were primarily expected to act as negotiators with external groups. I didn't want to be rude, but that seemed even more unlikely. Perhaps they simply had a lot of connections.
For their first public appearance, I asked them to serve as judges for the smithing match on the final day of the festival. Ria, the High Elf who had accompanied me, also joined the judging panel. I wondered if she already knew them, as she was quite proactive in speaking with them.
"I have given them a firm warning. They won't be causing any more trouble for Village Five in the future."
Um, thanks for that.
It was a shame that Gatto didn't win the smithing match, but I wasn't going to complain about the results. For the sake of the winning Village Five Team—and all the participants—I decided to cook a feast.
Don't be modest! Everyone's worked hard. Since Yoko and the two advisors are doing so much for Village Five, there isn't much left for me to do anyway. I made sure to send a portion of the food to the Tree King and the Bow King as well.
The Axe Dwarf Team also decided to officially immigrate to Village Five. It was a huge help to have dedicated experts for anything smithing-related. As for Jail Dwarf Teams A, B, and C... they were sent back to their cells for one final day before being assigned to work as laborers under the Axe Dwarves. Understood.
As I thought, Village Five has a lot of dealings with the outside world. If I were in charge, I’d have given up ages ago.
I asked Yoko if she was holding up okay. She said she still had plenty of room to spare. How reliable.
"Then I'll leave Village Five in your hands. Oh, but don't go attacking anyone for no reason, okay? If we're attacked first, that's one thing, but..."
"I would never do anything to cause the Village Head worry. Leave the management of Village Five to me."
She spoke with a dignity that was clearly backed by years of experience. She truly had the air of a beautiful feudal lord. Of course, she still returned to the Village of the Great Tree at night to lounge around in her fox form.
"If you ever run into trouble, make sure to talk to me. I might not be of much use, but I can at least listen to you vent."
Yoko paused for a moment at my words, then burst into a grand laugh. I was trying to be supportive, but...
"My apologies. However, if the Village Head were truly 'useless,' then the world would be a far harsher place than it is. You must have a little more confidence, or those who serve you will start to worry."
Hmph. I’ll keep that in mind.
Village Five Personnel:
Acting Village Head: Yoko Advisors: Two members of the Previous Generation Four Heavenly Kings Head of Military Officers: Hii Head of Civil Officials: Roku Information Gathering Officer: Nana Security Chief (Temporary): Pirika Security Guards: Pirika’s Disciples Diplomats: Tree King and Bow King