The Peerless Kobold - Chapter 141
As we approached, I could see the city of Elves spreading out from the base of the World Tree Aion. Among those, my sister asked and pointed at the largest building surrounding it.
At first glance, the World Tree, which rose from the center of the city at approximately 250 meters, looks like a potted plant with an enormous building surrounding it, but… That building is probably the castle.
Moreover, the black smoke rising into the beautiful sunset sky accented the World Tree…
(… Black smoke!?)
“Kuoruauoon, gurua varukuaouu… Juuruh.” (It’s almost dinner, so everyone’s probably grilling some meat… Drool)
Contrary to the leisurely vibe that the big, blue kobold behind me is giving off, the current situation wasn’t as peaceful as he thought…
“This… It seems the castle is under attack!”
“Let us hurry!!”
“Waoan.” [Agreed.]
We rushed into the outer edges of the Royal Capital which was a residential area which featured two-storey buildings made of brick and wood.
Both sides of the cobblestone streets were lined with lush plants. There were only a few people on the streets, but all of them were wheat-skinned elves.
They were all looking up at the smoke coming up from the Royal Castle with complex expressions.
“Eldiar cobalto!?” (A-an Elder Kobold!?)
“Cobatis wea wuldo…” (What are Kobolds doing here…)
We ran through the streets, ignoring the gazes and comments made by the Obsidian Elves. The cityscape gradually transitioned to streets lined with strangely-designed buildings that smelled of iron, herbs, and medicine. There, we found the pale skinned, golden eyed elves who looked worried as they gazed up at the castle and the World Tree.
“Archer, the White Porcelain Elves’ residential area is up ahead. Once we pass through it, we’ll arrive at the north gate of the royal castle.”
“Ofuh.” [Wait.]
I stopped Lenaide from leading everybody further and looked up at the tallest building in the vicinity.
(Well, it’ll be dangerous if I fall, but… I’m not like the silver-haired witch who could fly anyway, although I can at least soften my fall with wind magic.)
“What’s going on with Mr. Archer?”
“… It appears he has some business with the Bronze Elves’ headquarters.”
Apparently, the building, which was constructed with great attention to detail and whose beauty failed to appeal to my sense of artistry, was the headquarters of the Bronze Elf Engineers.
“Woruruo aan.” [I can use this as an observation platform.]
I answered the jade-eyed elf girl’s question after a while and leapt onto the building by wrapping wind magic on my legs and taking advantage of the structural unevenness of the guild headquarters to reach the roof.
“Wauah.” [Upsy daisy]
Using one of the window overhangs as a foothold, I tightly held onto the edge of the roof after I leapt and pulled myself up on the roof.
“Gauh, garuoaaan!” [Hah, that’s perfect!]
As far as I can tell, this guild headquarters in the Elves’ royal capital was the second-highest building next to the castle and allowed me to assess the situation in the castle from afar.
… The view of the city of Elfast from this place was probably the most beautiful. The city looked one with nature, the lush greenery flawlessly stretching up from the lake where we previously camped, leading into the city.
The view almost made me forget about my purpose, but we cannot have that… Meditating, I focused and reinforced my vision with magic and looked into the distance.
(Is that the group doing the protest rally? It’s not very reassuring that they’re trying to get into the royal castle at a time like this…)
In a place farther from the castle’s west gate, more than a hundred White Porcelain Elven guards tried to push back the thousand or so protesters who had gotten past the White Porcelain Elves’ residential area.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the castle, the east side still had not turned into a battlefield and only a handful of guards were stationed on the east gate… However, just ahead of us, the guards in the northern gate were using the walls to hold off the armed militant group who was easily twice their number.
(Even though I can’t see the south gate from here, judging by the faint echoes of sound and the smoke rising from it, it seems that the battle is more intense there… If I want to get Aristia and the others into the castle, then the eastern gate is my best bet.)
After gathering my thoughts, I got down from the building using a different path from when I climbed up and found that a pale-skinned male elf had joined us…
