With her bow in her hand, Lucia turned around to tell me, "Here, grab my belt. It'll be troublesome if you get lost in the forest. Grab onto my belt, and don't let go. I don't know what will happen at night, but I believe that humans won't show any mercy when they strike. The chapel's knights may have already been sent out. I've seen their knights before; they're excellent soldiers."
"Is it really a wise idea to travel without a horse? We need to hurry, you know?"
I grabbed Lucia's belt, so I felt the warmth of her waist. Lucia had a very slender waist; or rather, her body as a whole was slender. Maybe it was a trait elves had. The male elf didn't look tough, either. He looked a good deal lankier than humans. Hence, Lucia wouldn't like muscular humans. After all, they were different from the previous men that she knew.
Lucia began to walk. I had no idea how she was able to see the path in the dark, because all I saw was a black wall. Due to the densely packed leaves, the moonlight couldn't shine through. The tree trunks that looked dark brown during the day now looked as though they came out of a horror flick. I felt as though I was a man who was locked inside a dark green cage without any oxygen. The forest didn't feel so spooky during the day, but it made me feel tense and gloomy similarly to being in a prison at night.
Lucia was very fast. I felt a somewhat slicing sensation despite holding onto her belt. Lucia, however, was very considerate; she filled me in on where trees and ditches were, thereby preventing me from tripping. Besides our footsteps and rustling leaves, nothing else was audible. We headed toward the city. It felt as though we'd travelled a long distance, yet I couldn't hear anything.
Lucia stopped in her tracks when we reached a huge tree. She turned around and suggesed, "Let's take a break. We have to maintain our stamina advantage, after all."
Her long ears twitched as though they were capable of picking up sounds: "There are no other footsteps or horse hooves. Going by the status quo, it's still safe. We're already about half-way there."
"Already?"
"You can take some shortcuts in the forest if you're not riding a horse. That's why we're able to go even faster than on horseback. Besides, horses can't go too fast in forests, anyway. Our stamina, though, is extremely important. We must ensure that our stamina is at its peak at all times; that way, we'll be ready for attacks at any moment."
I softly panted. I said, "I'm all right. My stamina can keep up. Let's continue. We can continue walking. We're already half-way there; let's hurry."
"I know that you're in a hurry. It's fine to go back to protect Leah. That said, now is not the time to be acting tough. Walking in the forest is extremely taxing. There'll be people targeting us soon or later. We were in elven territory before, so they could've aided us if we were in a pinch. However, in human territory, nobody will be able to support us if the chapel chooses then to attack us. That's why we must ensure that we have enough stamina to fight and run."
"…"
I didn't reply. I sat down and leaned on the tree trunk. I looked in the direction of my home. I was seriously anxious. I couldn't ask for anything more than to go home. We obtained the flavouring. We just need to get back, hand it to Achilles, and mission complete. Leah would also be safe, while the chapel wouldn't be able to interfere with our lives again or harm Leah. As of current, I had no idea what happened with the chapel or what exactly they wanted to do with Leah.
'Is Leah safe right now?'
I desperately wanted to head back immediately. I'd be able to put an end to it all once we were back. That said, I knew that I should heed Lucia's advice in our situation. I couldn't be idiotic and blindly run back. Lucia was an expert at operating in the forest, so I should follow her command in the forest. If I blindly charged as chuunibyou main male protagonists do in our situation, I really might be slaughtered by the chapel hiding in ambush.
The chapel wouldn't spare me. They'd either kidnap Leah to completely rob me, or just kill me and snatch the goods. It wasn't as if there'd be witnesses in the forest to incriminate them. They could just pass it off as some wild beast killing me. Therefore, the more panicked I was, the more I needed to stress keeping calm.
Lucia didn't say anything else. She grabbed her quiver of arrows from her back. She took out an arrow, scanned the tip and the adjusted the degree of tension on her bowstring. She didn't wear her previous relaxed expression; instead, she looked very stern. She looked ready for a fight to the death.
Lucia's long ears continued to twitch non-stop. She surveyed the forest the entire time with her ears. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear anything. All I could hear was the sound of the wind and rustling leaves. The two of us didn't speak. I tightly clenched my fists and waited. A moment later, Lucia stood up: "All right, we can continue now. However, I might speed through the rest of the journey. You must hang on tightly to my belt. Don't let go, don't be scared, don't scream and don't go weak in the legs."
"Did you hear something?"
"Yes, I heard a lot. I heard horse hooves and armour. It sounds as though they're coming from your side. There are about thirty people. They should be the chapel's knights. I'll try my best to avoid confrontations, but once a fight breaks out, you must stick to me."
I always knew very well that the chapel would definitely spring into action and try something when they found out about our deal. It was totally possible for them to kill us to then rob the foods from us. Previously, I was very nervous about that, but when they took actual action, I was a lot calmer, because, at the very least, things were playing out how I predicted. Veirya protected Leah back home. If they sent people to search for us, it meant that we weren't far from the town.
Lucia quickly sped through the forest. I didn't know how to stifle the sound of my footsteps. I was honestly worried that the sounds of my footsteps would give us away. Lucia wasn't worried, nevertheless. She loaded up her bow as she swiftly moved. Eventually, I could hear weapons and metal grinding.
If they were only humans, I wouldn't be worried, since I could see fires between leaves. Not even the chapel's knights could possess the enhanced senses of elves. Lucia knew the forest as well as the back of her hand. It was unlikely the soldiers would discover us unless Lucia gave off our location.
And as I surmised, Lucia avoided confronting the humans. We advanced by going around anywhere with fire. We maintained a safe distance from the flames even if they approached us just ever so slightly. Just when I felt reassured, Lucia suddenly halted in her tracks. Just as I was about to ask why she stopped, I found out why she was shocked.
"Woof!!!"
Dogs began to bark…
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