I Became a 10,000-year-old Elf

‘These guys are clearly acting on pure desire without any particular purpose.’

The ones who attacked Ethan’s house and their backers had a clear purpose, which I could understand. However, the guys following Lina and me now were different.

Right now, we’re just ordinary adventurers. We haven’t done anything particularly eye-catching, so the fact that they’re sticking to us like this means their intentions are very lecherous.

“I thought we could just go on small outings.”

I let out a small sigh. I started this adventurer work to quietly achieve two goals: training and experience.

I didn’t particularly want to get involved in intense incidents. But to get caught up in something like this right after starting was extremely annoying.

“Are they trying to attack us?”

“If not, there’s no reason for multiple people to hide and follow us.”

Lina seemed scared, but there was no other way at this point. I was planning to lure them in and counter-attack to finish them off, as per the original plan.

“Is anyone there?”

Upon reaching a forest clearing that could serve as our destination, I had Lina provoke them. In the gloomy forest where I confirmed through the earth spirits that no one else was around.

As Lina acted as if she had noticed something, the guys who had been tailing us while hiding revealed themselves one by one.

“Your instincts are better than I thought.”

“It wouldn’t have been easy if we got hit from behind during a fight.”

They were a group of four ruffians. Laughing wickedly without even trying to hide, they revealed their intentions from the start and pointed their weapons at us.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s a common occurrence. You should be grateful to us, if anything. Many of the newbies who act recklessly without knowing anything end up dead or crippled.”

Though they all looked similar, the one who seemed to be the leader shrugged at Lina’s words, holding a sword in one hand.

“Rather than dying miserably like that, wouldn’t it be better to fall into our arms and make some money?”

“Such scoundrels…”

These low-class thugs, who didn’t seem to bother hiding their vulgarity, had already marked us as their prey.

From the beginning, a fight with these guys was inevitable.

“Catch them!”

The guys rushed in to capture us alive. Lina stumbled back in shock. She had drawn her sword, but she was someone who didn’t know even the basics of swordsmanship.

‘Trip them.’

Simultaneously, I, standing still behind her, moved the earth spirits. Even moments like this become experience for me.

“Gack?!”

Just before the enemy’s sword could strike Lina’s and send it flying, tiny rock protrusions, lower than weeds, suddenly emerged from the ground, forcibly tripping their ankles and making them tumble to the ground.

Sometimes, I would make the ground sink about a hand’s width, inducing ankle fractures.

“Aaaagh!”

“W-what’s going on!?”

As a result, the guys who had surrounded us and charged in all at once ended up rolling on the ground simultaneously. The rest was easy. All that was left was to finish off the ones sprawled on the ground.

“How dare these bitches…”

I casually picked up the sword dropped by the guy trembling with his head buried in the ground in front of me. The guy, who had been shaking and reaching out his arm, widened his eyes in shock when I took the sword right in front of him.

“Wait…”

I didn’t let him say more. Because I swung the sword I had retrieved, striking his face in one go. Due to lack of proficiency, I hit him with the flat of the blade rather than the edge, but a face struck by a piece of metal strong enough to make my body stagger couldn’t possibly be unharmed.

“You’re lucky. How stupid of them to charge in and fall on their own.”

“U-um?”

Throwing away the sword, I smirked as I looked at the guys still groaning on the ground. Lina was in a state of confusion, not knowing what to do, but the reason I had taken care of these guys as quietly as possible was separate.

“Have you subdued them all?! I’m not too late.”

Patrick, who had rushed in with his sword drawn, arrived after the situation had already ended. He let out a sigh of relief seeing the enemies groaning on the ground.

His warning had been true, but I didn’t want to reveal my identity to him yet.

“Didn’t I warn you? That there were guys targeting you.”

“Did you come to help?”

“…It ended up that way. Though I was a bit late.”

He sighed and shook his head, looking around. The enemies were still on the ground, not understanding what had happened.

One of them tried to get up and fight with a limping leg and a face streaming with nosebleed, but Patrick snorted at the sight.

There was no way he could fight properly with a broken ankle.

“You seem quite tired from fighting while protecting the child next to you. If you’re not going to finish them off yourself, why not avoid it? Magical beasts are approaching. Leaving the cleanup to them is one option.”

Misunderstanding that Lina, who had turned pale with fear, was tired from fighting, he advised us to leave the scene. Indeed, a magical beast that had probably smelled the blood was stealthily approaching from nearby.

Patrick suggested leaving the disposal of the enemies, who were not yet dead, to this magical beast. The guys who had been trembling with injuries widened their eyes in shock, but it was quite an attractive proposal for us.

It was also uncomfortable to order Lina, who was just acting on my instructions, to commit murder, so I grabbed Lina’s sleeve, signaling her to leave.

“Alright.”

“W-wait! Hold on!”

Lina understood my intention and accepted Patrick’s proposal. At the same time, the shocked enemies all had a fit, but we ignored them.

“No! Don’t go! Please…”

After we left the scene, all we could hear from behind were the cries of magical beasts that looked like giant spiders and the death throes of the enemies screaming as they were torn apart alive.

No one would know what happened there. Being killed by magical beasts was a common occurrence among adventurers.

“Due to the vulnerability of adventurers to human trafficking, there’s no end to those who wander around committing theft and kidnapping. Even if you overcome the crisis once or twice, you’ll become a target for such guys again if you don’t take measures.”

“You mean making companions?”

“I just told you the easiest method.”

In a relatively safe place where we decided to take a short break, we sat down on rocks to rest. True to his apparent nature, Patrick started lecturing us.

“If you’re so worried, why don’t you help us?”

It was then that I, who had been silent all along, casually threw out a comment. Both Lina and Patrick were surprised, their mouths gaping.

It seemed a bit distasteful to me that he was giving all sorts of advice while not doing anything himself. Of course, in our current situation, we should be grateful just for him caring enough to give advice.

“I-I’ve almost quit being an adventurer. I won’t make companions again.”

“I’m not asking you to become a companion. You could act as a guide, right?”

He stammered in confusion, but I was already becoming interested in him. Just as Ethan was a magic wand in daily life, it would be nice to have such an experienced magic wand in the adventurer part as well.

“That’s true, but… No, more importantly, isn’t it the opinion of the person you serve that matters, Miss Maid?”

“I think the same.”

As he scratched his head and smirked at me, Lina chimed in appropriately. When we mentioned sharing the income, his expression became complicated, as if his heart was wavering more and more.

“I have no intention of fighting. I’ll just guide you, that’s all.”

In the end, he accepted our proposal. He insisted that he wouldn’t fight, but I wondered if it would really turn out that way. Judging by his personality, there was a high probability that he would involuntarily get involved in critical moments.

* * *

‘Unusual people.’

That’s how Patrick evaluated the two. Lina, the beastkin swordswoman who seemed experienced yet careless, and Isilia, the somewhat arrogant girl maid that Lina was accompanying.

In truth, he had no interest in them at first. He had merely given a word of advice because the low-quality adventurers he despised had targeted them.

However, somehow, he found himself entangled with them without realizing it.

‘Think of it as easy pocket money.’

Shaking his head, he decided to just think of himself as a hired guide for them. It wasn’t a losing deal, as he would earn more money and have easier work than doing adventurer jobs alone.

‘I should first figure out their exact skill level. It would probably be too much for them to hunt higher-grade magical beasts. I wonder if they’re planning to go further away?’

But his workaholic tendencies, which even Isilia had noticed, interfered with such comfortable work.

Without realizing it, he had become engrossed in the given task and was now racking his brains to plan how to guide them effectively.