Summary of the last chapter
On the way to the country of the elves, Souta meets a carriage that breaks down in front of him.
Three men with crude appearance show up and ask Souta to hand over his carriage.
Souta beats them up, and he finds an elven child inside the carriage when he tries to move it……
The bonfire crackles.
The kidnapped elven child is lying on the fur with a blanket over him.
The sounds from bonfire is quite loud, and the child reacts and wakes up with a start.
「Hahh! Ehh, w-what? I, aren"t I supposed to be caught…?」
The elven child checks his body after waking up, and he"s surprised that he isn’t restrained.
「Suddenly the carriage swayed and then it shook … …」
Because he fainted when the carriage broke down, he can’t remember what happened.
「Ohh, you have wake up, drink this for now.」
Souta fills the cup with milk he warmed in the pot before and gives it to the child.
「Er, you are …」
「Drink first, we"ll talk after you calm down.」
He sniffs the cup to check its content. After a moment of hesitation, he decides to drink it.
「……Delicious.」
He feels shaken from not knowing what happened, but he’s calmed down from the warmth of the milk.
「Isn’t it? I put a little honey in. It’s a bit cool tonight, so I thought something that will makes body warm should be better.」
Souta pours the milk into his cup as well.
This area has a warm climate, but there"s a difference in temperature between day and night. Hot milk has been prepared for the cool night.
「Ummm, so… what happen? I’m sure I was kidnapped by some guys and was detained…」
He asks the question while tracing his finger on the cup.
「So you really were kidnapped. Don’t worry, if it’s those guys, they’re sleeping in the collapsed carriage at the end of the road.」
The elven child"s eyes widen from the shock, but, understanding the situation, he corrects his posture and lowers his head.
「You helped me, thank you!」
「It’s just coincidence. They picked a fight with me, so I beat them up. I only know they were kidnappers after I defeated them.」
Souta waves his hand in front of his face, denying him.
「But still, thank you very much! I would have been sold as a slave if you didn"t save me. That guy was talking about that.」
He says that with a trembling voice and teary eyes.
「Oh, well, I"ll accept your feelings.」
Souta scratches his head.
「Ohh right! I still don’t introduce myself yet, my name is Arezel! What’s your name?」
「My name is Souta, but Arezel…… Are you, by any chance, female?」
Arezel shows a bitter smile.
「Ah, people often get it wrong. Because my hair is short and I use ‘boku’ when referring to myself … … But I’m a genuine female.」
「Is that so? My bad.」
「It’s fine, please don’t worry. It’s always like that.」
Souta is staring at Arezel"s face. who says that with carefree smile.
「Now that you mention it, you do look like a woman. I’m sorry, I decided it just by my first impression.」
Arezel blushes and looks down.
「D-Don’t look so much, it’s embarra.s.sing.」
Seeing that, Souta smiles.
「Hahaha, my bad … I did nothing but apologize since some time ago. What are you going to do from now on? I plan on heading to the country of elves.」
「Ummm, if it’s fine with Souta-san, I would be saved if you bring me with you.」
「I don’t mind, but will you be able to go in if you’re with me? No, should we go closer and then go separately?」
Souta thinks, putting his hand on his chin.
「No, let’s go together. Perhaps Souta-san will be able to enter more easily if you go with me?」
Although not sure herself, she still suggests that with confident expression.
「If Arezel says so … … Then we"ll go together. And if it doesn’t work, we"ll force our way in.」
「Awawa, please don’t do such a dangerous thing! I bet it will be okay! Perhaps … …」
Arezel panics from Souta’s words.
「It"d be great if you didn"t say that last word… well, forcing our way in is just a joke. I have some letters of introduction with me, so I"ll manage somehow.」
「Letter of introduction?」
Arezel tilts her head.
「Yeah, from the guild master and the lord of Toura, also from the alchemist there called Carenalien.」
「Do you know Carena-sama!?」
Souta never thought that she would know Carena. He’s surprised.
「Yes, but … You know her? I’m sure she said that she left the country hundreds of years ago. 」
「I know her, she’s my master first pupil. My master is mean to her disciples you know, but master always praises her saying she is a genius. That master!」
Arezel gets excited and begin to speak energetically to Souta.
「Ah, I’d like to meet her.」
「She’s…. Surprisingly amazing. It’s true that she’s pretty good when we work together before, but….」
「S-Souta-san, did you say you worked with Carena-sama? That’s amazing…… She’s famous for not letting other help her with her works…」
Arezel stands up, holds Souta’s hand, and sends him an envying gaze.
「To be exact, I didn’t help her, but she helped me.」
Too surprised, Arezel sits back down.
「It’s amazing, amazing, it’s amazing! It’s rare for Carena-sama to teach other you know? Even Rouri-sama, her real daughter, said she can count on her hands how many times she taught her.」
Even though she’s their master, but she doesn’t teach? Souta thought, but Arezel is so excited, so Souta keeps it to himself and doesn"t say anything unnecessary.
「Well, let’s end the talk about Carena for now. it’s already late today, so I’d rather stay here and leave tomorrow morning.」
「… It may be better to move immediately … I heard rumors that strong monsters will come out in this forest and the national hunters are not going to get close to here.」
Souta has arranged the barrier stone to protect the surroundings, but there"s a possibility that it will be broken if a high ranked monster comes.
「If so, let’s leave. It won’t be much different between night and day since the forest is dark either way.」
Souta covers the bonfire with sand and turns the light on the lantern and moves to the carriage.
Following Souta, Ed moves to his own position.
Arezel can’t keep up with their sudden movement, so she"s late to get up.
「Let’s keep them here … I will leave the barrier stone there. It’s will be up to their luck whether someone found them or not.」
Once they ready, they go the to broken carriage first and throw the barrier stone there before they continue with their travel.
t/n: give applause to honey, our editor for finishing the edit in less than 20 minutes,
and so the correct question is, reverse trap, or just trap in general,
for people who guesses it right, congratulation