Here’s the Mission. Your Mission Is to Burn the Elf Village and Eliminate the Terrorist Leader, Sylphina Bloommarin - Chapter 4

“You’re used to it, aren’t you? Covert action.”

We escaped from an elven village, the home of a human trafficking ring.

We went in the opposite direction from where the diversionary force had set up.

The crowd had split up, and the diversionary force had begun a search, but they could get out of sight.

“You’re pretty skilled for a guy with amnesia, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know where I got this experience, but my body remembers.”

“That’s good. When we get a little farther, we’ll take a break. You must be tired.”

I nodded to Sylph’s assurance, though I was not consciously tired.

We should rest when we can. There is no limit to how far you can travel on foot.

We do not share the decisive point of whether or not we can escape.

“Well, I guess we can’t rest assured that we escaped this far, can we?

If they were really after us,” he said.

“Phew, you can’t be afraid of them all the time. Now, are you hungry?”

Before I could answer Sylph’s question, my stomach rumbled already.

Seeing me like that, she smiled kindly.

……I’m embarrassed, this is embarrassing.

“I’m sorry we only have bread. No, I can make a fire if you want. I have some salted fish.”

“…don’t. Fire stands out.”

“You’re right. Let’s do the fish some other time. It’s pretty good.”

We ate the dry bread that Sylph shared with me, she even shared some water with me.

I am very thankful for that.

“…Hey, Sylph, what are you going to do now?”

“I can answer that question, but if you think I’m on your side, don’t Sylph me.”

“No…? Not Sylph.”

Since she’s nicknamed “Witch Sylph”, I thought her short name was “Sylph”.

“Only enemies call me Sylph. All my friends call me Sylphy.”

“Sylphy, huh?”

“Yes, Sylphy. So what am I going to do now? That was the question, right?”

Sipping water from her canister, Sylphy stared into the distance for a bit.

“-I’m going to kill the machine emperor now.”

I felt my hair stand on end at Sylphy’s words.

I wondered if I had made a terrible mistake.

“I thought you said you weren’t a…. terrorist?”

“Phew, I didn’t say I wasn’t a terrorist.

I said I wasn’t the head of a terrorist group.”

It’s sophistry.

No, it’s not sophistry. In fact, that group was a human trafficking organization, not a terrorist group. That in itself is no doubt, given that Sylphy was tied up. But…

“….why are you trying to kill the machine emperor?’

“He came after me in the wake of the mediation of the 14 Years War.

Revenge for that, and not only that, but yes. You should know that.”

…I get it, I think. I’m another reason for killing the machine emperor.

“Deprived of your memory, you were forced to assume the role of a hero and engage in a false mission. I’m sure there are many prisoners of the Imperial Army who have been subjected to the same fate as you. It is the machine emperor who is setting them up. We cannot allow him to grow any further.”

…You think it was the machine emperor who did this to me? Where is such proof?

-I was at a loss for words when I tried to reply.

“What’s wrong? If you have something to say, it’s okay to say it.

I said I wasn’t going to babysit someone who doesn’t think for himself.

If you have a question, I want you to put it into words.”

It was just natural that Sylphy would urge me to do so.

But how should I tell her? How should I put it into words?

“I was going to say… I have no proof that the machine emperor did this to me.

Out of loyalty. He would never do such a thing.

But I don’t know why I have that kind of loyalty in the first place.”

I can see Sylphy gasp before my words.

I wonder if she feels that it is more serious than she imagined.

“I see… I said you were a prisoner of the Imperial Army, but maybe not.”

“Or perhaps you can be made to have a loyalty that you do not inherently have…”

If that is the case, if the machine emperor is so, if the imperial army uses that power to invade other nations…

“-I understand, Sylphy. I see why the machine emperor must be killed.”

“Wait a minute. Isn’t it too early for you to make that judgment?

What if you’re just an imperial soldier with a temporary memory loss?”

I wondered why she was trying to cloud my decision.

But Sylphy’s point is certainly correct.

Just because I have no memory doesn’t mean that this feeling is something that has been falsified.

“…but if you were a prisoner of the Imperial Army, that would mean that guy’s technology has gone even further. I can’t believe he could even implant loyalty in you.”

“It means that it is now easier to invade the imperial kingdom and the lands of elves and dwarves.”

Sylphy nodded in agreement.

“-I know that, and that’s why I have to kill that guy.

But you’d better wait until you get your memory back to see if you really feel that way.”

“Depending on the memories you get back, you may end up making a decision you can’t take back.”

… Such advice from Sylphy echoed quietly.

But what should I do now?

“Sylphy, are you going to the machine empire now?”

“No, we are going to the land of the orcs via the land of the dwarves. The enemy is strong. We need to be prepared.”

“It’s going to be a long journey, going through two different countries.”

Sylphy, who heard my words, gives a quiet smile.

From the tone of his voice, he might have grasped her intentions.