A Peaceful Land of the Orcs (3.5)
Her body seemed about to tremble with anger, her heart felt gripped by guilt, and she was on the verge of being overwhelmed by sorrow. These emotions tangled together, leaving her unsure of herself. Dineluth quietly exited the tent under the pretense of communicating with her subordinates. She wasn’t even confident that her acting had been convincing.
That Giant Eagle.
It was indeed familiar.
Around seventy years ago, there had been a time when Elfynd encouraged the "extermination of harmful beasts."
It was a policy to drive out monsters that were enemies of the Elves from the peninsula.
The Dark Elves, as part of this policy, hunted Great Wolves in one area and Great Eagles in another.
Their race was adept at such tasks. The pelts and feathers fetched good prices, the government paid bounties for each kill, and it became a valuable source of income for their clans.
The Great Wolves were described as "terrifying jaws" that snatched and attacked Elf infants.
The Great Eagles were "colossal wings" that preyed on other wildlife in the country.
Despite this policy, Dineluth herself never regarded the latter as much of a threat.
By that time, the number of Great Eagles had already been dwindling due to habitat loss and climate changes. Even for the Dark Elves, who relied on hunting for survival, the competition for prey with the eagles was negligible.
In fact, whenever she spotted one soaring in the sky, she found their form beautiful.
So—
On one hunting trip, when she spotted a young giant eagle perched on a branch of a massive tree from behind a rocky outcrop along the mountain path—
Dineluth hadn’t even drawn the arrow on the bow she carried.
She quietly suppressed her mana, maintained her distance to avoid alarming it, and pulled up the hood of her traditional tribal garb to conceal herself visually. She was captivated by the beauty of the eagle's wings glowing in the morning light, letting it go rather than viewing it as prey.
Even so, Great Eagles are intelligent creatures. They have magical abilities.
Eventually, it noticed her and stared back.
They seemed to confront each other for a long time.
(Have you come to hunt me, Dark Elf?)
The eagle spoke to her with a hint of hesitation, using magic.
It was the first time he learned that giant eagles could understand words.
(No. I was simply admiring your form. But this place has become dangerous for you. You should flee far away.)
(... I see. Very well.)
It took flight, vanishing into the southern sky.
That was the last time Dineluth saw a Great Eagle in the land of Elfynd.
It was that same eagle.
Surely, it had to be—
I saved him.
But even if his kind bears resentment toward me as a race, it cannot be helped...
"... Dark Elf."
The voice, just as it had been back then, came from behind him.
Turning around, she saw Werner Rainders standing there, having apparently slipped out of the tent at some point.
His voice, sharp in the manner characteristic of his kind, carried an undertone of hesitation.
"... I apologize. I didn't mean it that way earlier. I wanted to express my gratitude from before, but with thoughts of fallen comrades in mind, my words turned thorny."
"... It's fine. Don’t worry about it."
Realizing this was a personal conversation rather than a formal exchange between military ranks, she replied in her usual manner.
"So you survived? You’re the eagle from back then, aren’t you?"
"Yes. You remember me?"
"Of course."
"I see."
The eagle made a soft, rumbling sound in its throat, as if laughing. He seemed pleased.
Dineluth felt tears threatening to fall.
"I’m sorry for back then. I should have expressed my gratitude at the time. But I was young and immature back then, just recently grown into adulthood."
"You appeared far more majestic than that."
With a slightly teasing tone, Dineluth replied, her expression laced with humor to convey the playful intent.
"It’s an honor to hear that."
Rainders widened his smile.
"You’re with this country now?"
"Yes. They’ve treated me well. In the military, alongside others of my kind, we’re forming and testing units for what the king calls 'aerial reconnaissance.'"
"... Aerial reconnaissance?"
"Yes. This is something the General Staff recently devised. They truly come up with all sorts of ideas. To put it simply, it’s like the scouting cavalry they use now—except from the air. The sky is high. From above, everything is visible. Approaching enemies can be spotted immediately. And we possess magic abilities. Even if the enemy is hiding in a forest, we can detect them with vigilance."
Dineluth was stunned.
Imagining and understanding the effectiveness of such a strategy left him speechless.
I see.
I see, I see...!
—Why hadn’t the Elves ever thought of this before?
The reason soon came to mind.
No one had ever established proper communication with their kind.
Even Dineluth herself hadn’t known that they could comprehend speech until that encounter. Among her clan, there were legends of such things, but she had dismissed them as myths.
"Until now, we lived by flying high during the seasons for planting and harvesting, observing the weather, and returning to report. That, in itself, was of service to this country, and we took pride in it. But these days, combined with Human technologies like barometers and wind gauges, we can predict the weather with near-perfect accuracy."
"That… is truly amazing."
Farmers must be greatly relieved. Everyday life must be significantly improved.
It now made sense why Gustav had first asked him about the weather. Come to think of it, he had mentioned something similar before.
Accurate weather forecasting would also be of tremendous importance to the military.
Weather greatly influences military operations.
"But when Kobold magic communication units were assigned to the army and Orcs learned that our magic abilities could sense distant presences—someone eventually thought, 'Couldn’t our abilities be useful to the military as well?'"
"I see..."
"Each race’s abilities are natural to them. They don’t see them as anything extraordinary. It’s only when you live together that you notice the differences. There’s so much you don’t understand until you try. I never imagined others couldn’t sense things from afar as we can."
Exactly.
Yes. Precisely.
What do you think about this chapter?
