Reincarnation into the Barrier Master

About 700 years ago, elves were scattered throughout the world. Most of them had small settlements where they lived their daily lives. Originally, they did not like to interact with other races and were rather exclusive, but they still maintained a minimum level of interaction with the outside world.

At that time, the tribe that had the most interaction with the elves was the fox tribe led by Ohiisama.

They had deep interactions with the human race and shared some of the "offerings" they received from them with the elves. In return, the elves would share with them a liquid called "the water of Lossa".

This "water of Lossa" was a special liquid produced by the elves from fresh water, which, when sprinkled, killed the surrounding pathogens. In addition, the liquid was said to have the effect of dispelling evil spirits, and the fox people used the liquid to protect their lives in the areas where they lived. Such a "hand in hand" relationship has continued for a long time.

However, this relationship came to an abrupt end after the appearance of Hayes the Vixen. Hayes kidnapped Janice, the only daughter of the Elven king, and destroyed several Elven villages.

The fox-god, Ohisama himself, searched for Haze and found his whereabouts. He defeated him and succeeded in recovering Janice.

"Why is Hayes, who was supposed to have been defeated at ......, showing up now?"

Sandille opens her mouth with an annoyed look on her face when I ask her.

"Haze, whom you thought you had defeated ...... and choked to death, is alive!"

"What do you mean?"

"The princess didn't put an end to it."

"What?"

The great-grandmother basically doesn't like to take life. Basically, when we foxes commit a crime, it is our custom to have all of our powers taken away and released into the wild. Hayes, too, was left half-dead by the great-grandmother, deprived of all his powers and left to die. I was there when it happened, but with his wounds he won't last much longer. I thought I was going to be fed to the forest demons. ...... But how the heck did that Hayes guy survive? Then he attacked the elf village again.

"...... What a . And what did you do then?"

"First, after the kidnapping of his princess and the murder of his companions, the Elf King decided to live deep in the mountains, putting the safety of his people first."

"The Filcon Mountains, which are said to be the highest in the world ......?"

Yes, that's right. There they gathered the elves who were scattered all over the world and began to live together.

"I believe you said ...... overnight?　Did the village of elves really disappear overnight?"

"That's right. The Elf King had a treasure he kept in secret. One of them was the staff of Latgis. This staff can draw a magic circle of transference. The king must have used it to move the elves from all over the world to the Filcon Mountains.

"I see. And the staff is now in the hands of Hayes?

It was stolen from the house of the Elven King in the Filcon Mountains 500 years ago. And so was Princess Janice ......."

"What, again?"

The Filcon Mountains are unexplored. First of all, no human race has ever been able to reach them. Anyone skilled enough to reach there and even steal the treasures from the Elven King's mansion would be ...... easy to spot. And if he is obsessed with Princess Janice, then I can think of no one other than ...... Hayes."

"No, another possibility is ......"

"No. Hayes was always a great lover of women. Well, it's a given that fox men are basically philanderers. ....... You can see it in the gon he has with him. ...... What's that look in your eyes?　Me?　I'm the kind of hard man they say a decent man walks around with his clothes on. ...... That's not to say I didn't have some fun when I was young. I did, but that was a long time ago. Now I'm a man in the service of the Grandmother. No, not at all, not at all. Tachibana-ya's card?　Oh, that's... that's... that's... that's... that's... That's the ....... Well, it's a trivial thing, ...... not that it matters, but ...... well, it just happened, yes, it just happened to be in my office. I do not mean to patronize you.　I don't know any prostitute called Yatsuhashi.

Sandille is wiping the sweat from his forehead and talking frantically. Well, as a man, I can understand what he is saying. I will just watch him with a warm eye.

"What are you talking about? Yes, Hayes. I'm talking about Hayes. He likes women, but he's got a thing about them. He has an extreme preference for women of refinement. He likes to manipulate them, sometimes by force, sometimes by gentle persuasion, to make them fall in love with him and do his bidding.

"...... is not so bad."

"That's as far as I'll go. As long as you take good care of your women. But with Hayes, when he gets tired of the women he has, he dumps them mercilessly. Many women have lost their lives because of it. That is the reason why he was reincarnated as a fox.

You are indeed the enemy of women.

I see. Perhaps they're using Princess Janice, whom Hayes kidnapped, in some way. She was probably not killed because of her value, but I wonder how she is now ......."

Sandille stares off into the distance, arms folded.

"But the Elf King did nothing while the princess was kidnapped twice?"

"Naturally, the elves have been tracking Haze's whereabouts with the whole clan, but his whereabouts are unknown at this time. The king grew impatient and asked his great-grandmother to search for Haze. The Elves were to have no contact with the Foxes until his head was found. We're doing our best to track him down. We can't seem to catch him. Since then, communication between the elves and ourselves has been cut off.

"I see...so you've found the trail this time at ....... Even so, the anger of the princess was outrageous. Is it possible for her to be that angry?"

"Think about it. He has disgraced himself not once, but twice. How could the noble princess endure it? And he's been beaten by someone he's already beaten once. He has absolute confidence in his own skill. I'm sure your frustration is more than anyone else's."

I agreed with him, and Sandille told me more about the characteristics of Hays. The summary of what he said was as follows.

The total amount of magic power is about 300, which is about the middle of the range. However, the recovery of magic power is fast.

He has the skills of illusion, illusion skill level 4, recovery magic level 3, and cultivation skill level 3. 4, and humanization level 4.

Cunning is the best in the world

He knows an unusual amount about poisons.

He has an excellent memory. Never forget a person's face once you see it.

He tends to keep his hands to himself as much as possible.

Physical features: His face is reddish-black in color. In addition, eerie dark circles appear on his face. In addition, she has a scar on her back that looks like it has been gouged out. It is said that the scar was inflicted when she tried to run away from the princess.

Basically, he is a coward. He never crosses a dangerous bridge.

I take notes as he talks. I can't judge everything about him from this information, and since his status is 500 years old, I can assume that his level has been raised. I feel that this fox is probably a person who acts with a precise calculation, as if he is trying to cross a stone bridge. With such a man, the key is how to draw him into your territory, not to fight in his territory. .......

With these thoughts in mind, I thanked Sandille, handed him the souvenir I had prepared for him, and left the room.

Thinking about Doki, about the emperor, about Aujin and Satsuki, about the princess, and about Hayes,...... I had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

That night, I had a hard time falling asleep.