Chapter 127
There were a lot.
People.
Crowds wherever you looked.
And they were all destitute.
“……”
The sunset came earlier than before.
In that light, Javier cast his gaze down the hill.
The once-empty clearing beneath the hill was now teeming with people.
Tents were densely packed.
People moved between them.
They were all refugees who had recently arrived in the Frontera Estate.
“Sir Asrahan, the meal distribution is ready.”
“……”
He turned around. A senior security officer stood behind him.
Javier gave a slight nod.
“Begin before night falls.”
“Understood.”
He descended the hill with the soldier.
Dozens of large cauldrons were placed throughout the area.
Steam and food aromas wafted through the air.
A long line of refugees had formed in front of them.
Their eyes were full of hunger—and desperation.
“Start the distribution.”
“Yes, sir.”
The refugees’ bowls were filled one by one.
As bowls were filled, the long line gradually shortened.
One person, then another.
Each time a refugee received food, Javier asked without fail:
“Do you have any pain or discomfort?”
Most answered they were fine.
If someone was unwell, he checked carefully.
He recorded the patient’s name, symptoms, and temporary tent number.
“Understood. A physician will visit you this evening. Until then, make sure to eat and get plenty of rest.”
“Oh dear… thank you… To think a noble knight like you would look after an old man like me…”
“It’s nothing. I’m only doing what’s right.”
He continued identifying patients and overseeing the distribution.
He spent the entire evening busily managing it all.
“But Sir Asrahan, won’t you eat?”
“Later.”
Even after distribution, there was cleanup to be done.
The soldiers said he no longer needed to worry, but Javier remained to work alongside them.
He considered it part of his responsibility as supervisor.
It was during the cleanup that it happened.
“……”
Among the row of refugee tents.
He spotted a small child wandering.
The boy looked no older than six or seven.
But something was strange about his movement and behavior.
He was holding a food tray.
Peeking into one tent after another.
His head darted around constantly.
His eyes were restless and anxious as he walked.
‘He must be lost and doesn’t know which tent to return to.’
That seemed likely.
Dozens of large tents were lined up in identical rows.
Aside from the numbers on their entrances, they all looked the same.
Even adults would be confused.
“Hey, kid.”
He approached the child.
Startled, the boy looked up.
Javier forced a warm smile.
“Are you lost? You don’t know where to go back to?”
“……”
The boy, with teary eyes, silently nodded.
Javier gently stroked the child’s head.
“I think I can help. Want to find your tent together?”
“……”
Another nod.
Javier asked,
“But why haven’t you eaten? It’s going to get cold. Aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m… hungry.”
Finally, the boy spoke.
But then came something unexpected.
“I’m hungry, but I don’t want to eat.”
“Why?”
“Mommy’s hungrier.”
“Your mom?”
“Yeah.”
“……”
If he had a mother, why was such a young child out getting food alone?
Something was going on.
Javier held out his hand.
“I’ll carry the tray for you.”
“……”
“I won’t spill it. Promise.”
“…Okay.”
He took the tray.
Wrapped his other hand around the boy.
Then he called over a few soldiers doing cleanup.
He also summoned a few refugee representatives who had influence in the tent camp.
Thankfully, after asking around, they managed to locate the tent the boy belonged to—and learned why he had come alone.
“Allen?”
A woman’s voice called as they entered the tent.
Even in the crowd of refugees, Javier clearly heard her.
So did the boy called Allen, apparently.
“Mommy!”
He ran forward.
And dove into his mother’s embrace.
But the woman’s gaze seemed off.
‘Her eyes aren’t focusing. She’s blind.’
She couldn’t see.
But she didn’t seem used to it.
Her gestures and body language were awkward.
The reason was immediately clear.
‘She’s not congenitally blind. She must’ve lost her sight recently.’
Sorrow showed on Javier’s face.
She likely lost her sight while fleeing from a monster attack. And even then, she protected her child and made it here.
That little boy had carried the tray with his tiny hands, not for himself, but to feed his blind mother waiting in the tent.
Javier felt his throat burn.
He knelt on one knee and carefully held out the tray with the now-cold food.
“Here.”
He spoke to the startled woman who reacted to his presence.
“Don’t worry. I’m Javier Asrahan, leading the Security Forces. Your son seemed lost, so I accompanied him.”
“I-Is that true?”
“Yes. I also brought dinner.”
“This kindness…”
“It’s nothing. Let me help you. Slowly now.”
He picked up a spoon.
Was it out of sympathy?
Perhaps.
Or maybe because he saw the front of her clothes soaked with dried porridge.
Or perhaps because it reminded him of his own childhood.
“Okay, open your mouth.”
“I’m not sure I should…”
“It’s alright. There’s plenty of food. For your child too.”
“Ah…”
Only when she heard that there was food for her son too did her face finally ease into relief.
He carefully fed her.
One spoonful of food.
Another spoonful of memory.
After she had finished eating, he turned to the child.
“Hey, kid? See this mark at the tent entrance?”
“Yeah, I see it.”
“This reads A-3.”
“A-3…”
“Remember that. Starting tomorrow morning, come back to the tent with this mark. Can you do that?”
“Yeah! I can!”
“Good boy.”
Javier stroked the boy’s head and thought.
Realistically, this was all the help he could offer.
So he hoped Lloyd would quickly find a solution to the apartment piping insulation issue. Then the boy, his blind mother, and all the other refugees could live a bit more comfortably.
Perhaps it was that very sentiment that led to what happened next.
That night, when Lloyd asked for help with a solution he’d found for the insulation issue, Javier readily nodded—committing a terribly careless mistake.
♣
“So, you’re saying we’re going to the Everglow Forest where the elves live to collect sap from a tree called ‘Elensia’?”
“Yep.”
“What kind of nonsense is that…”
Javier shook his head.
He gave Lloyd, who had come to sing him a bedtime lullaby (?), a firm look.
“If that’s your plan, I can’t help you.”
“Wow. Why not?”
“Why? Because it’s an impossible task.”
“But you nodded just now and said you would?”
“You hadn’t mentioned the Everglow Forest at that point.”
“Aha. So you nodded thinking it was easy, but now you want to backpedal?”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“Sure it isn’t. Totally is.”
“……”
“Why is the great Javier Asrahan wagging his tongue so much?”
“……”
“What? Am I wrong?”
“……”
Javier pressed his lips together.
Because Lloyd wasn’t wrong.
“But, Lloyd.”
“Go ahead, explain.”
“Your attempt is hopeless from the start.”
“You mean getting Elensia sap from the Everglow Forest?”
“Yes.”
“You really think so?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Elves are inherently impossible to negotiate with. Your effort will be a waste of time and energy. It would be more productive to stay here and care for the refugees.”
It was a fact.
For at least 500 years, no human had interacted with elves—an established truth in the study of humanoid species across the Lorasia Continent.
“They are stubborn. They reject all interaction with humans. I’ve only ever heard of it happening in fairy tales. The kind kids enjoy reading.”
“……”
“Believing it’s possible means your mental age is stuck at about six.”
“Six? Evidence?”
“Because that’s how old I was when I last believed I could be friends with elves.”
“Hm. So you’re saying I’m six years old mentally?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then?”
“I’m just being blunt.”
“Wow. Just said it outright.”
“It’s the truth.”
“But you’re even using the phrase ‘blunt’ now?”
“Well, you say it so often that I’ve come to understand what it means.”
“…Tch. That’s too bad. Looks like you’re wrong this time.”
“Wrong how?”
“There *is* a way to get sap from the Elensia tree in the Everglow Forest.”
“……”
“What. Why are you giving me that squinty look?”
“Nothing. Just wondering if I should report you to Her Majesty tomorrow morning for mental health evaluation.”
“……”
Tch.
Lloyd clicked his tongue.
He understood why Javier didn’t believe him.
‘The psych evaluation jab is a bit much, but I get it.’
And it wasn’t even unreasonable.
The elves of the Everglow Forest didn’t interact with humans.
They didn’t even speak with them.
Anyone who entered their forest was instantly executed.
So to the people of Lorasia, saying you’d negotiate with elves was equivalent to saying:
“I’ll dance through the African savanna in my underwear and come out unscathed.”
‘No one’s ever succeeded. Not any ruler, king, emperor, or Swordmaster.’
All of them failed.
Even Swordmasters’ power was useless.
To the elusive elves of the forest, a Swordmaster was just a slow-moving target.
‘And yet the one to shatter that reality for the first time is none other than Javier.’
The pioneer of the Everglow Forest.
Javier Asrahan.
The very person now dismissing negotiations with elves will one day form a bond with them—experiencing countless adventures, even a romantic subplot.
‘Thinking about it like that… he’s kinda annoying.’
Recalling the novel *The Iron-Blooded Knight*, Lloyd glared at Javier.
‘Right. In the novel, this guy had a little fling everywhere he went. It’s like he’s some heartthrob weapon of mass destruction.’
What made it funnier was that Javier put up walls of Antarctic glacier thickness against every single one of those women.
Remembering that just made Lloyd even more annoyed.
“That’s why you fail, man.”
“…Fail? What do you mean?”
“You’re the mortal enemy of the Forever Alone Club… Never mind. Just use your imagination.”
“My imagination?”
“Yeah.”
Lloyd shook off the distractions.
He returned to the real issue—Everglow Forest.
“Elves of the Everglow Forest? No problem. Elensia sap? I can get it. I’m serious.”
If that were true.
If he could really collect Elensia sap.
He was confident he could solve the pipe insulation issue completely.
In the novel *The Iron-Blooded Knight*, Elensia sap was mentioned.
Once solidified, it had the strongest heat-blocking capabilities.
‘Of course. Novel Javier used the hardened sap to make special armor and a helmet. He wore it when fighting a dragon.’
A fire dragon that spewed hellfire.
But even its breath couldn’t melt the armor made from Elensia sap. It blocked over 99% of heat transmission.
‘He took three direct hits of dragon breath. Then he said, “Ah, nice and toasty.”’
He even dozed off, reminded of the comfort of a warm winter blanket.
That was how perfectly it protected him.
After three days and nights of close combat, he cut off the dragon’s horn.
A legendary moment from *The Iron-Blooded Knight*.
“So we just need to go to Everglow Forest and collect the Elensia sap. Coat the pipes with it, and the heat from the central boiler room will be transferred through the entire apartment without loss. Guaranteed.”
And whatever was left? He’d stash it away and make a fortune.
With both scheming and confidence, Lloyd stared at Javier.
Javier stared back.
“……”
“……”
After a long moment, Javier finally broke the silence.
“You’re serious?”
“Yep.”
“This isn’t a child’s fantasy?”
“Obviously not.”
“Fine. Then if you’re really going to Everglow Forest, how exactly do you plan to persuade the elves and obtain Elensia sap through negotiation?”
“I’ll tell you if you promise to help.”
“You’ll tell me if I promise?”
“Yeah. It’s a secret I don’t want to share lightly. So? Not coming?”
“……”
“Suit yourself. I’ll go alone. Of course, that means the Elensia sap will take longer to obtain. Refugees won’t move into their apartments until next year. Tragic. If only our dear Sir Asrahan would cooperate.”
“……”
“Once the apartments are built, on the first snowfall, the kids will build snowmen, have snowball fights, laugh, and ride sleds. But alas, that will remain a dream—because our cold-hearted Sir Asrahan won’t help.”
“……”
“Some poor boy will huddle in the freezing wind next year, murmuring, ‘Ah… Patrasche…’ with his head bowed. A poor girl will cry out, ‘Matches for sale… sniff… matches for sale…’ and fall asleep to the dying warmth of a matchstick flame. Why? All because our merciless Sir Asrahan didn’t help.”
“……”
“And yet even as tragedy piles up, our heartless Sir Asrahan will…”
“I’ll go. I’ll go.”
At last, Javier ground his teeth and spoke.
A spark lit up in Lloyd’s eyes.
“You’ll go?”
“Yes.”
“With me?”
“…Yes.”
“To Everglow Forest?”
“Sigh… yes.”
Javier clenched and unclenched his fist.
Lloyd’s lips bloomed with a satisfied grin.
“Knew you’d come around.”
“Then tell me.”
“What? How I’ll get Elensia sap from the elves?”
“Yes.”
He was curious.
What kind of ingenious method did Lloyd have in mind?
What could possibly persuade those stubborn elves?
Javier waited with high expectations.
And at the same time, he made a vow.
He would devote himself fully to helping those suffering, like the refugee boy and his blind mother.
As long as it didn’t violate the honor of a knight, he would do anything.
Just as he renewed his resolve…
Lloyd’s lips curved slightly.
“It’s simple.”
He recalled the novel and said:
“We steal it.”