Graduated from Witchcraft Institute

That's how I talked to my people, and eventually the two elves - Finola and Lefania - came to us.

Finola stands in front of me and offers me that elf-like, luxurious hand.

"William, I'm really glad you guys helped me out. I can't thank you enough. If we had fought alone in the elves, this legion of warriors would have already suffered the scourge of devastation. Who could have wiped out so many orcs without sacrificing a single victim?"

If you look, not only Finola and Lefania, but all the elf warriors on the spot watched our line with respect.

I take Finola's hand and shake it.

"Oh. I'm also self-appreciating if I'm at least exchanging more jobs than my wages. I mean, with her help."

That being said and showing Eileen, Finola now heads for Eileen and shakes hands with her too.

"I heard you are the princess of the land of man. It wasn't even hired by us, but there's no word of gratitude."

"Because I am only acting in accordance with my justice. I'm not moving on behalf of the country. But humans and elves are important neighbors. When we're in trouble, we have to give each other our hands, I think."

"Oh. We will never forget this grace. If there's anything you guys need our help with, don't hesitate to request it. Help whenever possible."

"Yeah, thanks. I wish we could have a good relationship with each other, right? ─ ─ But I guess it's too early to say that. It's not over at all. Instead, this is the real deal... right?

"Oh.... oh yeah. Exactly."

Finola and Irene both turn to me with a serious face when they finish shaking hands.

I nod to those two and start talking.

"Irene is right, the only battle we have now is an outpost. The real battle will be the one after this. ─ ─ Finola, for once, if we weren't here, what arithmetic would have happened that could have been won by the Elves' power alone?

"... No, I'm ashamed, there was nothing like an arithmetic... I was further reminded that I was going to fight only the hopeful observation and the spiritual theory that there was nothing better than doing without an accurate grasp of the power of the orcs."

"Okay, okay."

I didn't mean to blame Finola for her lack of thought.

It is for everyone to become emotional and blind to their surroundings.

Whatever the case, it's not a good idea for the commander to be - assuming I was in her shoes, if my neighbors, such as Satsuki or Mi or Cyril or Irene, were in that position, I wouldn't be sure I could stay calm.

I'm just a little calm right now because I have a long psychological distance from the victim.

Therefore, I didn't feel comfortable blaming her strongly.

And now we should think about the next best thing than that.

There is nothing constructive about regret, even if it is worthwhile to reflect.

We should talk about the future.

And as a story about that future, I decided to share the problem first.

"I have one problem. It's about the amount of magic I have left and the timing of my next mission."

I mainly turn to Finola and tell her so.

Make sure she gives one nod and encourages ahead, and keep talking.

"Without being humbled in vain, it is believed that my magic will also be a tactically extremely important factor in the next battle. But I've avoided wasting as much as I can in the current battle flow, but I still lose more than 30% of my total amount of magic (mana). It is not very desirable to stand around the next battle with this residual amount. But..."

"Rest using a cohesive amount of time is needed to restore the magic vegetables (mana). But if we put that much time aside, we're likely to alert our enemies...... right?

It was Cyril who inherited my words from the side.

I make her nod.

"Oh. My magic vegetarian (mana) recovery will require at least about two hours of rest, but if that's not all the time the troops I sent out won't come back, the Orc Admiral may be suspicious. If you assault an enemy without informing them, you will need to attack them immediately."

"And..."

The next time I pinched my statement, it was Mi.

"It's very bad to be alerted to the enemy's power over here. There are elves over there that can be held hostage. Clearly, if they take hostages, we're done. You can't get your hands on it, you can't get your feet on it, you can only abandon the hostages."

"You're a hostage... if they do, there's nothing you can do about it."

That makes Satsuki look bitter.

Other faces also gave a uniformly dark look.

Hostages are extremely troublesome in all worlds.

If hostages are taken by the hostile forces, it may be seen that, at the end of the day, destroying the hostile forces without abandoning the people they held hostage will be an almost impossible challenge without an overwhelming difference in power.

In that case, there will be no more tactics than throwing away the small and taking the big one.

For example, it may be possible to respond to some extent with a sleep (sleep) spell, but it is also only "to some extent".

They may kill hostages at the stage they witness the spell chant, and good things. Even if you can exercise the spell, you can't save all the hostages if you don't sleep perfectly with all the enemies you're holding if you have more than one hostage.

Because it's a battle, the sacrifice is an accessory, and that's it.

Nor can this be so easy given that the victim is his own neighbor.

If Satsuki, Mi, and Cyril could be killed as hostages, I wonder who, as one, would let the words "sacrifice is an accessory" and so on.

And for the elves in the settlement, including Finola, it's not a matter of cleaning up with the bloody word "sacrifice is an accessory" or anything else, because the elves that are being caught are exactly what their neighbors are.

Still want to save, without missing anyone.

It's a human being to think so.

But if you do, you're gonna need...

"... while our enemies are not on guard over here, rescue or destroy the hostages before we take the 'hostage-taking tactic' - that's all we have, right?

Eileen is turning her gaze towards me.

I nod to it.

"Oh. Or some means to secretly rescue all the hostages and then launch an attack. Either way, we need to move before the enemy can alert us."

"But then, Will's magic vegetable (Mana) can't be recovered"

"Oh. That's what's gonna happen"

I nod to Eileen again.

If you stand over there, this one won't stand.

This is what annoys me.

However, to be honest, I don't think we can fight that much with the amount of magic left over from the current situation.

But they really demand to save money, and there's a chance they won't be able to hit the hand they were supposed to be able to hit.

Below the oak emperor, there is still anxiety about the opponent who is seen to have about two platoons left, which cannot be challenged in full condition.

And in the unlikely event that it causes me to lose a dear companion - I may regret that for the rest of my life.

I don't even want to abandon the elves here if possible.

Octagonal blockage.

Is this a phase where you have to truncate something...

But then.

When a group of elf warriors who were listening to the story exchanged their gazes and nodded at each other, one of them came forward on behalf of the other.

"Then use this"

What the elf warrior handed me was liquid in a single glass bottle.

The liquid has a transparent young leaf color and looks like it emits no heart or slight light.

"Is this... an elf magic pill?

That was a kind of magic item that I had seen during the School of Magic.

It is a secret medicine that is said to be purified from the nectar of the world tree, and the method of making it is a secret that is conveyed only to a very small number of elves.

The effect of this is that by drinking it, you can recover a certain amount of magic in your body, by the way.

It is a consumable but very valuable item, and fifty pieces of gold per bottle is a crappy substitute if purchased at a magician in the human city.

"Oh. I brought what I slept in the treasure trove in our settlement for a time of need, but you were right. It's best for you to use it. For my fellow countrymen."

"... well. If so, don't hesitate to let me use it."

When I get my magic medicine from the elves, I miss it.

Got a powerful item.

This gives me a quiet confidence that I can do it.

I look in the direction of the elf settlement.

I'm ready.

And then, with this total force, we'll hit the enemy's home base.