It had probably been around fifteen to twenty minutes since the two of us had been sitting here quietly without doing anything.
We could see Hime and Yuu-chan walking toward us, with several people behind them.
They approached us, and since Luke had fallen asleep earlier due to boredom, I tried to wake him up.
"Oi Luke! They're back already, hurry up and wake up," I said while patting his shoulder a bit roughly.
If I patted him too gently, he would just stay asleep and not be disturbed at all by what I was doing.
Slowly, he responded to the patting, waking up and rubbing his eyes while letting out a small yawn.
"They're back already… it feels like I slept for quite a while…" he said.
This guy… even though he only slept for a few minutes, could it be that he was just having a pleasant dream?
The group led by Hime and Yuu-chan passed through the barrier very easily, as if there was nothing there at all.
I noticed something—that the people behind them had ears that were longer and more pointed than those of humans.
That meant the two of them had met elves and had brought them along to meet us.
Those elves were carrying weapons like swords and spears in their hands, and I felt like they hadn't come with peaceful intentions.
Luke and I immediately got down from the horse-drawn carriage and stood beside it, waiting for Hime and Yuu-chan to stop walking.
Once their group stopped and we looked at each other, the elves quickly moved from behind the two of them and stood in front instead.
One of the elves pointed his spear toward Luke and me, and of course, we were both a little startled by what was happening.
Since Luke and I didn't understand what was going on, we simply exchanged glances for a moment before raising both of our hands.
Rather than drawing my sword and making it look like I was about to attack them, I felt that would be dangerous for me.
Suddenly, Hime and Yuu-chan stopped the elves who were pointing their weapons at us.
The two of them stood right in front of us and made a hand gesture to calm the elves down.
"Calm down. These two are the friends I mentioned earlier," Hime said.
After hearing Hime's words, the elves began to lower their weapons.
Feeling that it was safe, Luke and I lowered our hands.
"So… what exactly happened?" I asked.
Hime and Yuu-chan turned toward me after hearing that and answered my question.
——
To put it simply, earlier when Hime and Yuu-chan were walking along this path, they arrived at a gate, inside which there were houses built near extremely tall and lush trees.
Feeling certain that they had reached the elves' settlement, they tried to go further inside, but—
They were immediately stopped and taken to a place that was apparently the local village elder's house.
The elves who detained them asked who they were and how they were able to pass through the barrier so easily.
Because if any beings other than elves or a few specific individuals tried to enter, it would be impossible to do so easily unless they forcibly destroyed it.
Then, Hime took out a letter bearing Charles-san's signature and handed it to the elder.
It turned out that the elder knew who Charles-san was and believed that the two of them were chosen ones, or in other words, heroes.
After that, the two of them talked about Luke and me, since we were unable to enter because we were merely members of their party.
At first, the elves refused, saying that if we couldn't enter, it meant we were just ordinary filthy humans.
(Hmm… Hime said that was what the elves called ordinary humans without any special status.)
However, after Hime explained that we were part of their party, they finally allowed us to enter.
But they imposed one condition: several representatives would accompany Hime and Yuu-chan to meet us directly.
And that's how things ended up like this.
——
"I see. So that means we're allowed to enter, right?" I asked.
"Of course," Hime replied.
"Then what about them? This carriage won't be able to fit this many people," Luke said.
"That's why I want the two of you to guide the horse slowly, so they can keep pace with us," Hime said again.
I knew that would be very troublesome since we'd have to control the horse to walk slowly, but well, what else could we do?
—
Just as Hime said earlier, about one kilometer past the barrier, there were massive, lush trees.
Beneath them, many houses had been deliberately built, using the trees as a kind of protection.
I could see the elves who lived here staring at us with looks of hostility and fear.
I understood why they were acting that way, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Since I didn't know our destination, I asked one of the elves walking beside the carriage.
"Um… may I ask where you're taking us?" I asked.
Could it be that we were heading to the village elder's house that Hime mentioned earlier?
And… I didn't really expect the elf I asked to answer my question.
"Be quiet. Just keep going straight along this road," he said with a blank expression.
Ehehe… he did answer my question, but the response was completely unexpected.
So it really was that bad, huh—they truly hated humans that much. But the thing is—
Among the elves standing in front of or inside their houses who were staring at us earlier, I could see several humans mixed in among them.
I could tell because their ears were the same as mine—not pointed or sharp.
If that's the case… that means elves and humans live side by side on this continent, right? Then why do they treat me like this?
"Just let it go, Yukito. There's no point in asking about that. We'll just wait and see," Luke said from beside me.
"Yeah, you're right," I replied.
"As long as Hime-san and Yuu-chan are in this carriage, they won't do anything to us before we arrive."
"They already know we're members of the hero's party, so they should be able to restrain themselves. They wouldn't want to earn a reputation as hero killers, right?" he continued.
Ah, I understood what Luke was trying to say.
Everything he said was true—they wouldn't dare try to kill heroes chosen by Charles-san.
Considering that the village elder knows Charles-san, he must have already warned them not to endanger the heroes' lives.
So then… where exactly are we being taken?