Overlord (Light Novel)

“Hey, maybe this is just hunting practice for its young?”

If that was what that odd behavior was, it was possible and Egnia also mentally agreed with whoever’s voice it was that said it.

The parent would bring the child along when it went on a hunt, the child would learn by observing the parent’s hunt, and learn the skills for taking each type of prey. There were many examples where, if it didn’t do this, and left the nest without acquiring any hunting skills, it would die right away. The ’ursus Lord’s mysterious behavior might be it trying to teach its child, that was watching from somewhere, about the food known as Dark Elves.

“If that’s what this is, then considering the future, shouldn’t we hammer it into the cub that Dark Elves are a tough quarry that can hurt you? It’ll be a real pain if we’re remembered as mere food.”

“Won’t the Lord go berserk if we kill its cub?

“If it’s a child it won’t be tricked...by meat with honey poured over it. If this is hunting practice then it’ll probably only eat live bait. But there’s value in trying it, right?”

Suddenly, the ’Ursus Lord twitched its nose and started running in the direction of the dark elves.

That dejected appearance it had until a moment ago was already gone. Curiously, they couldn’t feel a looming murderous intent. But, there was something different. Egnia threw his gaze behind the ’Ursus Lord for only an instant. He got a sense that it had the characteristic behavior of a beast that was being driven—

—There’s no way that could be the case. First, there shouldn’t be any being that could drive an ’Ursus Lord.

“What the hell... I don’t understand what’s going on here.”

It wasn’t just Egnia, many of his friends were also confused.

They couldn’t read what actions the Ankyloursus Lord was going to take at all. It might have been a mistake to try and understand the magical beast that was the king of the forest, but this was the first foe their experience and intuition as Rangers had been useless against so far.

However, even with that confusing them, they crossed over one of the bridges and fell back. It was an undeniable fact that the ’Ursus Lord was running right at them. If they were even the slightest bit slow in taking action, they would become the ’Ursus Lord’s prey.

The ’ursus Lord, who had now come to the base of the Elf Tree where no one remained, stood up.

It was gigantic.

A size that was more than enough to reach the height of the bridges.

And it swung one of its massive arms.

The attack violently shook the Elf Tree, and its trunk had been gouged out as if it had exploded.

The bridges connecting the trees bent, and the dark elves desperately clung to the sides so as not to be thrown off.

The outer circumference of an Elf Tree had been made especially strong. It was a specially made tree that had been raised by having its growth accelerated by using magic on it many times and giving it vast amounts of nourishment to grow big and thick. The giant tree that had the sturdiness to simply repel whatever monster charged it, had been reduced to this state in an instant. This was the proof, more than anything else, that the physical strength of the ’Ursus Lord far exceeded that of any other monster that had come to this village so far.

“You god-damned monster...”

“You could say it’s just as powerful as we imagined it would be, but still...how dreadful it truly is...”

“—This isn’t the time to be impressed. What are we going to do? What can we do that results in the fewest number of victims?”

From just a single blow, those who had lost the will to fight grumbled.

That was also unavoidable, after all, when witnessing firsthand a single blow that they themselves couldn’t possibly match, where even just being grazed resulted in death.

Since a short while ago the ’Ursus Lord had been attacking the same Elf Tree as if it had lost its mind.

It was far too abnormal a behavior, but it didn’t feel like it had lost control and gone mad because of magic. It was the kind of movement that made you think it held some kind of special grudge against Elf Trees. And sometimes it would pause and take a quick glance at Egnia and the other dark elves, before starting to attack the tree once more.

It doesn’t feel like this it's teaching a cub how to acquire food...does it …

There weren’t any signs of a cub anywhere around the ’Ursus Lord.

Egnia glanced at the quiver hanging from his waist, and the arrows inside it.

Did some dark elf attack it, just to mess with it? Is that why it holds a grudge against Elf Trees?

The dark elves were the only ones who thought the Elf Tree itself didn’t have any scent, but it wasn’t necessarily true that monsters with an excellent sense of smell, like the Ankyloursus, didn’t notice it. But if that were the case, then if they abandoned this village, they might be safe for the time being.

No, I can’t imagine things going that well. It would get hungry after it spends a certain amount of time raging... and it might come after us by tracking our scents. We should give it the honey-coated meat, and pray that’s enough to satisfy it, after all. But, what worries me is that it sometimes peeks over at us...as if it seems to be observing us.

The ’Ursus Lord really was throwing the occasional flickering glance towards them after all, and it attacked the Elf Tree each time it did.

“Could it be...that its objective is to keep us pinned down here?”

“So a different specimen is following it to the village from another direction?... Would it even need to do that kind of thing? An ’Ursus Lord?”

“It would be if its goal is to drive us out of the village, wouldn’t it? Maybe there’s another ’ursus waiting to ambush us at the place we escape to, or something.”

“I’ve never heard of ’ursi hunting together...but if that’s not what it is, then it doesn’t make any sense, huh.” Then we don’t have any other choice but for everyone to flee in every direction? And if each person takes meat or some other food along with them, it’ll probably quiet down while it's eating the food then?

“—Is that really our only choice?”

“Don’t give me that look. It’s not as if we’re abandoning the village. It’ll be fine for us to come back once the ’ursus is gone.”

There were those who were being comforted, but they couldn’t imagine things going that well.

That was because of the crunching sounds the ’Ursus Lord was making as it whittled away at the Elf Tree. Couldn’t it be wanting to make this a part of its territory?

If that was the case, then there was no other way than for Egnia and the other dark elves to leave everything behind and abandon the village.

Through the effects of magic the growth of an Elf Tree was unbelievably fast. But even though it had grown this big so far, it couldn’t be accomplished overnight. To the Dark Elves who lived together with the Elf Trees, losing one was the same as having everything stolen from them. How many sacrifices would they have to make if they weren’t allowed to sponge off the other villages until they could once more raise a big Elf Tree?

“Okay. Let’s leave the village while giving the honey-smeared meat to the ’ursus,” everyone nodded in agreement with the Master-of-the-Hunt’s words. “For the time being, Sumomo and Prune will prepare the honey-smeared meat. The others will remain here and draw the attention of the ’Ursus Lord so that it doesn’t go into the village.”

The two young Rangers ran off towards the center of the village.

The ’Ursus Lord, who had already torn one Elf Tree to pieces and moved on to the next, suddenly stopped swinging those claws.

Faster than Egnia and the others could even think, “What is it doing?” the ’Ursus Lord started moving.

In the direction of the center of the village.

“Stop!!”

Egnia immediately drew two arrows from his quiver and nocked them. At the edge of his vision, he saw that his friends were holding their bows, ready to fire.

He simultaneously activated a Skill and fired the two arrows.

Both arrows hit the ’Ursus Lord’s huge body—and both were repelled.

The next moment, many arrows were flying toward it.

All the arrows that were sent flying hit the ’Ursus Lord’s face or forelegs and were repelled, and if they hadn’t hit, they pierced the ground or trees right in front of it.

It was not that they had missed. Even if it had started moving, its body was just so huge. It would be harder to miss.

The aim of those arrows that had been loosed was not to deal damage to it.

It was to draw their foe’s attention and to buy some time.

However, the ’Ursus Lord didn’t stop for even an instant. All it did was sneak a glance their way.

“What the hell!”

—Our opponent sits at the top of the ecosystem, right? What the hell is going on that it completely ignores being attacked by lower-ranking beings like us? It doesn’t view the weak as being weak? It's behaving as if it had some objective... has it attacked a Dark Elf village somewhere else before? Does it know that children and other weak people are in the center of the village? So it was trying to deduce its location by intimidating us? Perhaps it’s because it learned this kind of hunting when it itself was weak, so rather than ignoring us, the ’Ursus Lord is aiming for the weaker targets!?

It was precisely because this kind of hunt had succeeded in the past that it would do the same thing over again, so it made perfect sense. That would hold true even if it had become one of those beings that took pride in their own strength known as Lords.

If you considered that, then it repeatedly attacking the Elf Trees was probably to gather the ones who could fight around it, or some other such objective. When you thought about it that way, the contradictions in those odd behaviors vanished, and it all made sense.

And even that might be based on a successful experience on a previous hunt that went well. Be that as it may, at the point they had guessed that, there was only one thing Egnia and the others could do about it.

Not allowing the ’Ursus Lord to head towards the village center—where the children and the others should be.

“After it!”

The Master-of-the-Hunt didn’t even have to say anything. Everyone jumped off the bridge and ran across the ground.

If you were to run across the bridges suspended from the Elf Trees, you would have to make small, but inevitable detours. It was extremely dangerous to run in a place where the ’Ursus Lord’s paws could easily reach them, but they had no choice but to do it. On top of that—

—It was because, even if the ’Ursus Lord were to turn around and start attacking them, they would still be able to buy some time.

It seemed difficult for the large-bodied ’Ursus Lord to run through the rows of Elf Trees, and even if there was an overwhelming gap in their running abilities, it wouldn’t have a lead over them—in running through the village. On the contrary, Egnia, who took pride in having the most outstanding physical abilities among the Dark Elves, succeeded in closing the distance between them.

He could hear screams coming from the direction they were headed.

It wasn’t from someone being attacked.

It was because even the people in the center of the village had seen the figure of the ’Ursus Lord.

Goddamnit!

There was a place called the Plaza in the center of the village, but it wasn’t on the ground. It was a place that looked like a wooden tray hanging in the air and was held in place by the bridges that extended from the trees.

When the ’Ursus Lord arrived at the Plaza, it rose up. When it spread those two thick, terrifying arms, it roared again.

It was louder than the ones from just a short while ago, it held more than enough force to make everyone in there freeze in place. The Plaza was separated from the ground for the time being, but the ’Ursus Lord’s huge body could easily reach it.

The roar that made you feel the difference in status as a living being and that massive frame that terrified all who saw it. Those two together gave it a fighting power that left countless people—low-skilled, novice Rangers and children—petrified.

Egnia threw aside the Dark Elf-style compound bow and emptied both his hands.

These bows were the treasures of the Dark Elves. The materials used to make them were not from this forest, but were taken from the land where they once lived. There were few spare parts to repair them with, and they could never be made again. He would probably be reprimanded by the Elders for treating one so roughly. However, he didn’t have the time to carefully store it away.

“UoOOO”

Egnia howled to raise his own morale and jumped on the ’Ursus Lord to try and draw its attention away from the crowd. When he clung to that huge body, he used the hard, rugged hide as a handhold to clamber up it as if he were running along its back.

“—GoO”

The ’Ursus Lord raged, twisting its body to try and brush Egnia off.

In an instant, his body stood out against the background, and it seemed like he would be pulled free and sent flying by centrifugal force, but he somehow managed to withstand it. He was able to reach the back of its head like that. The ’Ursus Lord’s rage grew even more violent.

It was obvious as to why. Even a Dark Elf would probably act the same way if a bee was buzzing around their neck.

Egnia drew himself closer to the Lord’s neck, as if he were stuck to it, and desperately endured it so he wouldn’t fall off.

It was strange that it wasn’t rolling on the ground, or scratching at him with those terrifying claws, but it was good luck for Egnia, and he should be thankful for it.

“What the hell are you doing! Run!”

He hadn’t wanted to make a sound, but it couldn’t be helped. In fact, the ’Ursus Lord’s movements seemed to become more intense in response to his voice. Arrows came flying as if to hinder it. If it were someone with a skilled arm, then even in this situation Egnia would almost never be hit.

However, not even one of Egnia’s shots had pierced one part of its hide. There was no sign that the arrows were wounding the ’Ursus Lord. If they couldn’t even scratch it, then even arrows coated in poison wouldn’t have any effect.

Egnia poured strength into both of his hands. There was no way he could let himself be separated from the ’Ursus Lord, right now.

What felt like an abnormally long amount of time passed, and the ’Ursus Lord’s movement became just a tiny bit slower. Continuing to rage had probably worn it out somewhat. However, their opponent was a Lord. Its toughness shouldn’t even be in the category of common sense. There was no doubt it would recover right away and go on a rampage once more.

Egnia’s hands were numb. He probably wouldn’t be able to withstand the next one.

This—was his final chance.

He reached out one hand to his waist and drew the dagger that was there.

And then, in one breath he lifted himself up until he was at the distance where he could reach the parts of the ’Ursus Lord that looked vulnerable—its eyes and nose. It had parts, such as the neck, that didn’t have armor. However, there was thick meat under the dense fur in those places. He had no confidence that he could deal any damage to it with the dagger he held.

At that moment, Egnia’s body gently floated up. The instant he had released one hand, the ’Ursus Lord violently shook its body. Even though at the best of times he had finally been able to cling to using the full command of his body’s faculties, there was no way he would be able to endure it in his current posture with one hand not holding on.

His field of vision was spinning around in circles, and he could hear screams coming from somewhere.

Shi—

Once he realized what was happening, he immediately threw away his dagger and reached his hand out to his waist. What he took out was a small leather pouch.

He was slammed against the ground. The impact had pushed the air out of his lungs and, for an instant, he fell into respiratory failure.

However, while there was pain, the impatience boiling up within him was stronger than that.

Egnia, who was lying on the ground, locked eyes with the ’Ursus Lord right in front of him and was glaring at him.

He couldn’t move.

His body was petrified by the pressure coming from the ’Ursus Lord before his eyes.

He knew it would all be over if he made a wrong move.

The breath expelled by the ’Ursus Lord reached him. That it had such an unduly pleasant scent was surpris—no, it wasn’t at that level, it was more in the range of amazement.

Egnia felt like he was going to laugh.

There was nothing to think about nor hesitate over. He had already prepared himself for the worst.

Bring it on. I’ll let you eat my flesh together with this.

Being eaten by the ’Ursus Lord was the worst thing that could happen. Because it would remember the taste of Dark Elf.

However, what if it didn’t like the taste of Dark Elves?

He loosened the string around the mouth of the leather pouch he grasped tightly.

It was the poison that had been given to him beforehand. When he considered the size of the ’Ursus Lord, it was far too little.

However, even if it wouldn’t be a deadly poison, it would be able to teach it the taste of that poison.

When it opened that big mouth and bit down on him, each of his arms would throw the poison-filled pouches into it.

It would be over if it attacked with its claws.

If he were bitten, it wouldn’t end with just his arms.

Egnia had prepared himself for this.

No, he had decided a long time ago.

He lived, and died, for the sake of this village.

The reason he was stronger than the others was definitely all for this day.

Now come and get it. The dark elves of this village are gross enough to make you want to throw up.

The ’Ursus Lord looked away from him.

—What the hell is it doing?

The ’Ursus Lord, roaring once, swung its tail and arms. It then repeated those attacks on the surrounding Elf Trees as if it was venting its anger at something. It was almost as if it couldn’t even see Egnia, but there was no way that could be possible. Because he sensed that they had actually exchanged glances.

“Egnia! Hurry!”

Unable to take in the situation, the confused Egnia suddenly noticed the voice of one of his Ranger friends.

He was prepared to be eaten, but it wasn’t as if wanted to be eaten by choice.

But would they be able to escape? The ’Ursus Lord appeared to not have any interest in them, but he knew that it was flicking its gaze towards them. He wondered what it could be after.

Is running away—the right answer?

He didn’t have a clue. Their opponent wasn’t transmitting a shred of its intentions.

When Egnia had reached the heights of confusion, an arrow that suddenly came flying by, struck the Elf Tree right in front of the magical beast.

“Kooooooooon,” the shrill sound that was enough to give you goosebumps, clearly resonated and spread out like a ripple. All of the dark elves—even the ’Ursus Lord stopped moving, all around them it fell completely silent, as if someone had thrown cold water over everything.

Within that silence, a lovely voice resounded.

“Uh...that’s about enough out of you,”

The whole world sparkled.

The figure that suddenly appeared from behind Egnia was a dark elf child. However, they weren't a resident of this village. They looked like they could be either an extremely pretty boy, or girl. No, if you looked very closely it was a shockingly pretty girl. In spite of himself—

“Cu, cute,”

Egnia, let slip.

How could a girl possibly be so pretty? It was a beauty that far surpassed that of the morning dew when it changed to droplets of water and fell from the leaves, struck by the light of the dawn, and sparkled like jewels.

It was as if she appeared to be emitting a blinding light from within. This was probably the cause of the world seeming to sparkle just now.

Moreover, it was as if the glimmer of life was enveloped in a smell that came from her movements.

Egnia’s nose was twitching in spite of itself.

If he could take even just a tiny bit of that scent into his lungs, it would be to have it fill his entire body through the blood circulating in it.

What is this fragrance? It was as if each and every one of his cells were dancing in joy.

In the hands of that girl of unmatched beauty—she was wearing gloves, so not being able to see those fingers was frustrating—

“How—“

—she was grasping a shockingly exquisite bow. That marvelous workmanship was definitely not just for display, it held more power than any other bow Egnia had ever seen, and his intuition as a Ranger was screaming at him.

But who cared about all that?

The unbalancedness of the girl having a bow that was out of proportion for that body became one of the factors that increased her cuteness again.

Everything about her was charming.

She was sparkling.

“Hey there, monster. Go on, get out of here. I’ll never let you do more violence than you already have.”

Cute.

Too cute.

Super cute.

He definitely should have heard it just a moment ago, but at that time that beautiful face had caught his attention, and he didn’t remember hearing her voice. However, this time his brain was properly responding to her voice.

It repeated over and over again in his head like a refrain. And every time it did he was on the verge of breaking out in goosebumps.

With a snap, that girl of unmatched beauty thrust a finger at the ’Ursus Lord.

Why, he wondered, wouldn’t she point that finger toward him?

It was frustrating.

It was regrettable.

He was sad that those beautiful eyes didn’t perceive him.

“Gurururuu”

The ’Ursus Lord growled.

That wasn’t a growl meant to intimidate prey. That was a growl out of fear.

The ’Ursus Lord was wary of that girl of unmatched beauty.

Naturally.

Whoever they may be, when a girl of unmatched beauty to this degree appeared right before their eyes, would shrivel up. They would think that perhaps she was a goddess.

Of course, there might be those who believed that magical beasts couldn’t have that sort of aesthetic sense. However, that way of thinking was far too foolish.

Egnia strongly denied it.

He had grounds on which he could deny it.

Magical beasts that possessed mighty powers were beautiful. If so then, paradoxically, it wouldn’t be at all strange if this girl of unmatched beauty possessed absolute power.

That’s right. There wouldn’t be anything strange about it.

The instant the ’Ursus Lord gave a sign that it was going to try to move—Egnia opened his eyes wide in surprise.

The girl of unmatched beauty already had an arrow nocked on her bow.

After the girl of unmatched beauty had revealed herself, Egnia hadn’t taken his eyes off her for even an instant. Even a blink of the eyes would have been sacrilege, and he shouldn’t have done it even once. Nevertheless, an arrow was nocked on her bow.

No, it wasn’t strange.

She was a girl of unmatched beauty who looked like the world itself had created her. That being the case, there was no doubt that she was capable of that much.

Egnia had that conviction.

A flash of light raced past him—

“GwoOO!”

—The ’Ursus Lord screamed.

He didn’t care where the arrow was headed. More importantly than that, he didn’t want to take his eyes off that girl of unmatched beauty for even an instant.

“■,■■■!? ■■■■■■■■!?”

“■■■!”

“■■■■■■!?”

The mouths all around him were saying something.

It was annoying.

Shut-up! I won’t be able to hear that girl of unmatched beauty when she says something!

From the point of view of Egnia, who was trying to make out the girl of unmatched beauty’s voice, it was all just excessive noise.

The footsteps of the ’Ursus Lord were fading into the distance.

“■!?■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!?”

I said, shut up! How are you going to make up for it if I can’t make out what this girl is saying because of you lot!

“...you okay?”

The girl of unmatched beauty was talking to him.

To he, himself. Not to anybody else.

To he, himself!

Egnia was petrified from excitement, and couldn’t get any words out. Unable to think, he didn’t know what he should say. It had even gotten hard to breathe. Even so, taking this kind of attitude was absolutely disrespectful.

That notwithstanding, mustering up all the energy throughout his body, Egnia squeezed out the most suitable reply.

“Kew, yuu, t.”

“...Hm?...Eh?...What was that?”

The girl of unmatched beauty looked at him doubtfully. That expression was also unthinkably lovely. No, he was certain that if it were her, then any expression at all would be cute.

“My, my apologies. It seems that Egnia is confused from his fear of the ’Ursus Lord.”

“Hmmm.”

That was all the girl of unmatched beauty said in a flat voice, in reply to the Master-of-the-Hunt’s words. And there, Egnia, who had finally recovered a little bit of sanity, blushed at his own blunder.

“Yeash! ‘ootin’, thn’kee!”

“...? Oh, ‘thanks for shooting that arrow,’ is what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

The Rangers around them also probably remembered the first thing they should say to that girl of unmatched beauty. When they came down from the trees, scrambling to be the first one to speak, they lowered their heads to that girl of unmatched beauty and voiced their gratitude.

“Yeah. You’re welcome.”

No.

That wasn't right.

He wasn’t thanking her for saving him. He had to thank her for appearing before him—here.

“Yeash!”

“...Are you sure you’re really okay? Did you hit your head really hard when you got sent flying? Shouldn’t you get yourself checked out by a Cleric?...or would it be a Druid here? That magical beast might have had some kind of special ability.”

“You’re right. It seems that Egnia hit his head pretty hard, so it would be better to carry him.”

He was carried away on a stretcher made from two wooden poles and rope. He didn’t have any pain from when he had been sent flying, but it was entirely plausible that the reason why he wasn’t feeling any pain was just because of his excitement from seeing the girl of unmatched beauty. People were able to forget about their own pain and take action in extreme situations. That being the case, it would be reasonable that you wouldn’t feel any pain if a girl of unmatched beauty were right in front of you.

To tell the truth, he wanted to accompany her. He wanted to breathe the same air as her right here. However, if he really were injured, the girl of unmatched beauty might be worried about him. Because she was this cute, it was common knowledge that even her heart was kind. So that was a situation that should be avoided.

As a result of his reason desperately persuading him that that was his own desire, Egnia decided to obediently be carried away.

While following the back view of the girl of unmatched beauty, who was talking with the Master-of-the-Hunt, Egnia thought.

...What is this violent throbbing in my heart...could this be...Love!!

Blueberry Egnia. At 254 years of age, it was his first love.