CH 17

Chapter 17 – A Piece of Paradise

For some reason, I succeeded in getting them to accept me willy-nilly. I was accepted with a suspension of judgment for the time being and drove the microbus towards the canyon.

It was about a mile and a half to the canyon entrance. If I wanted to go to the top of the canyon, it would be several kilometers. I didn’t want to walk that far, and I didn’t think it would be a good idea to drive ourselves, so I asked the beastman warriors to ride with us.

At first, they were wary and scared, but after Myrril explained that it was like a carriage only without horses (as if they understood), they seemed to understand why and suddenly became quiet.

“So, what are you talking about when you say I owe you?”

In the front row seat next to the driver’s seat, there was Myrril. Although she is still pouting, it looks like she is trying to hide the fact that her mouth looks like it wants to smile broadly.

Umu, I don’t know what’s in a woman’s heart.

“Oh, I’m sorry, it was just a random thought; I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Huh!?”

“Don’t be so angry. At that time, I thought I had no choice but to do that in order not to be separated from Myrril. I didn’t care what it took as long as I could be with you.”

“…I see. That’s good. I thought you were talking about the “gun” that you gave me.”

Is that so? Well, whatever. She seemed to be in a better mood all of a sudden.

“Of course you’re going to get the “balls”, aren’t you?”

“Oh, yes. Wait here. I’ll negotiate with him when we get to the hideout.”

“Negotiate? Isn’t that supposed to be magic?”

“It may be magic to get it out, but I have to buy it. That guy is quite a tricky merchant.”

“I thought it was some kind of extreme magic, but it’s a lot more mysterious than that…”

Yes. I think so too.

After about a kilometer, the car was brought to a halt. As the beastman gets off and calls out, elves with longbows come out from behind the sparse bushes. They were well camouflaged, with branches and grasses stuck into their grass-colored overcoats that looked like mesh hoods, so it was probably hard to tell them apart even if they were right in front of us when they were motionless.

There was some introduction and discussion about Myrril and me, and after a bit of this and that, the frustrated Myrril was about to leave the microbus, and we were grudgingly accepted.

I wonder if we’ll have to do the same thing at their headquarters.

The elves didn’t seem to be interested in anything new, and when we got on the microbus, they didn’t even look around, just sat on the seats with a sullen look on their faces. They are all incredibly beautiful, both men and women, but I think it would be a shame if they looked like that.

Once we entered the canyon, we drove almost 200 meters on a narrow road about 10 meters wide. The road was half-buried by a huge fallen rock, at least five meters in diameter.

“They won’t attack us from above, will they?”

“Don’t worry, we’ve already told them we’re on it.”

I don’t know when I made that communication, but after hearing the tiger girl’s words, I decided to concentrate on driving. The car was just barely wide enough to pass through a few times, and I felt uneasy as the body of the car rattled and creaked on the rough road, but as we passed through the ravine, I saw a cliff with a drop-off on the left and a gentle slope on the right that led up the ravine in a large arc back to the south. The slope was not too steep, and the road was wide and flat, so it was not impossible to drive there.

After a few minutes of driving, we reached a plateau with a great view.

The sun was about to rise, and in the twilight, the ruins of a city surrounded by crumbling walls appeared before us.

“Welcome to Casemaian. This is the subhuman paradise. …is what’s left of that dream.”