Starting from Ainz Ooal Gown, simultaneously traveling through time

Chapter 168 The Elf King's Failed Work

Kino led her team directly to the edge of the Ivanshah Great Forest.

She originally planned to be quick and decisive: go in, find the kidnapped girl, bring her out, and be done with it—simple, direct, and without any unnecessary complications.

As soon as they landed, they were stopped by a group of people.

They were from the Slane Theocracy, led by a squad leader whose face clearly read "following orders," who, along with dozens of soldiers, respectfully blocked their way.

"Your Highness," the squad leader bowed, "we are here on the orders of the High Priest to protect your safety. Please come with us; the battlefield is dangerous, and we should not linger."

Qinuo:

She glanced at the group of soldiers, then at the squad leader, her expression becoming subtle.

"Do I need your protection?"

The squad leader said earnestly, "Your Highness is of noble birth. If anything were to happen to you on the battlefield, we would be unable to explain it to your country. Please, Your Highness and your guards, go to a safe place to rest."

Kino took a deep breath.

She couldn't quite understand these people's thought process.

They're asking her to come and save people, but then they're not letting her do it. Is this some kind of internal power struggle?

"Fine," she said, too lazy to argue. "Let's see how you guys fight."

Kino was then invited into the commander's tent.

In theory, this is a military stronghold, and not only foreign personnel, but even ordinary officers of this country cannot enter casually.

But the High Priest had given a strict order: the princess's absolute safety must be guaranteed, not a single hair on her head could be lost.

There was no other way but to put her in the safest place and keep her under close watch, and even assigned several people to "protect her closely".

It's basically surveillance.

The commander was a middle-aged man who looked exhausted and was sweating profusely as he issued orders to the map and the messenger.

When he saw someone come in, he just glanced up and went back to what he was doing.

Kino didn't disturb them, but sat down beside them and listened to their battle report.

As she listened, her expression grew increasingly strange.

"--The third squad on the left wing was defeated, with 37 men lost."

"—The fifth squad on the right wing was attacked, resulting in 52 deaths and injuries."

"—Seventh team reports: Tracks of the target have been spotted, but the target has been lost."

"—The Eighth Team is requesting backup; they are surrounded."

"—Those ghosts have appeared again! This time in the west!"

After listening for a while, Kino couldn't help but ask, "Are you fighting a war, or playing hide-and-seek with each other?"

The commander didn't even turn his head: "They're all just playing around."

Kino:

She stood up, walked to the map, and glanced at it.

An army of 100,000 was blocked at the edge of the forest by a few dozen forest elves, unable to advance an inch. After several days of fighting, they hadn't even touched a hair on the enemy's head, let alone made any progress.

"This efficiency is too low," she frowned.

The commander finally raised his head and said expressionlessly, "The enemy is too strong, they come and go like the wind, we can't catch up, and we can't defeat them, that's it."

Kino looked at his face, which seemed to say, "I've done my best," and shook her head.

Forget it, relying on them is too much trouble, I'll just do it myself.

"I'm going to take action," she said.

The commander's expression changed: "No!"

Why?

"The Supreme High Priest has ordered that you cannot go to the battlefield," the commander said firmly. "If you are injured, I cannot bear the responsibility."

The High Priest gave him a strict order: this foreign princess must not be injured in the slightest, and the best way to prevent her from getting hurt was to keep her in a safe place and not let her wander around.

In fact, the commander wanted to send people to escort the foreign princess back directly, but he was short-staffed and couldn't spare many people, so he gave up the idea.

Kino's brows furrowed even deeper.

But she quickly came up with a compromise.

"I myself won't go to the battlefield," she said. "My men can, right?"

The commander paused for a moment, glancing at the thirty-odd silent guards behind Kino.

"Them?" He hesitated for a moment before making a decision. "They are possible, but they must obey my commands and orders."

This commander clearly only received the absolute order from the High Priest to protect Princess Kino, and was unaware of the order from the high priests to invite this force to deal with the Elf King's children.

Therefore, he only regarded Kino as an ordinary foreign princess, and his troops as ordinary princess guards.

It was against the rules for the foreign princess's guards to participate in their country's battles, and the commander initially wanted to refuse them outright.

But seeing that this foreign princess seemed quite restless, he figured that if he didn't agree to her request, she might want to go to the battlefield herself, so he agreed.

But the prerequisite is that you must obey his commands and orders.

Kino glanced at him expressionlessly and said nothing.

She glanced back at her teammates, her gaze settling on an assassin with a short knife at his waist.

"You're fast, go over there and take care of those troublemakers on the other side."

The assassin nodded and stepped out of the line.

Seeing that only one person came out, the commander couldn't help but ask, "Just him?"

That's enough.

The commander wanted to say something, but held back.

He thought to himself, what use can one person be? Their 10-strong army couldn't even handle those few dozen ghostly figures on the other side, so how much of a difference can he make alone?

Well, let them try. It's better than the princess having to do it herself.

He was about to tell the assassin which direction to go when the assassin suddenly vanished in a flash.

It's not the kind of disappearance where someone runs away; it's a true "disappearance into thin air."

The commander was stunned.

"What...what kind of magic is this?" he stammered. "Dimensional teleportation? Or is it invisible magic?"

Kino shook her head: "No, he just paused your time and then walked a short distance during the pause."

commander:"--"

Pause time?

What kind of ability is this? Can time also be stopped?

He couldn't understand what those words meant at all.

But he realized at least one thing: the one who just went out was definitely a top expert.

Maybe we can actually take down one or two of those ghostly figures on the other side?

As for wiping them all out? The commander didn't believe it.

After all, even with 10 troops stationed here, they couldn't do anything to the other side.

If the person that the foreign princess just sent out could take care of all the ghostly figures on the other side, wouldn't that also mean he could take care of their 10 people?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

The commander thought this with such certainty.

Before he could recover from the shock, the assassin reappeared in the same spot with a "whoosh".

Less than a minute before and after.

"Why are you back so soon?" the commander asked instinctively. "Did you leave something behind?"

The assassin ignored him and walked straight to Kino, bowing slightly.

"Your Highness, it's resolved."

"Mm." Kino nodded.

The commander was taken aback: "Resolved? What do you mean?"

The assassin pulled something out from behind his back and threw it on the ground.

It was a forest spirit who had fallen into a coma.

Then, one after another, and another after another—

Like a magician, he pulled out one after another from behind his back, dozens of them piled up into a small mountain.

They were all unconscious spirits.

They were all small, only half the height of an adult elf, and their faces still had a childish look.

The commander stared dumbfounded at the pile of "small mountains".

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but couldn't utter a single word.

After the assassin finished taking the last one, he said to Kino, "They were all underage children. I didn't kill them; I just knocked them unconscious and brought them back. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

Kino waved her hand: "It's not your fault, you did the right thing."

She walked up to the group of unconscious elves, looked down at them for a while, and her face darkened.

"That Elf King—he actually sent a bunch of children to the battlefield?"

The assassin nodded: "Your Highness, according to the high priests, judging from the age and strength of these children, these elven children should be the biological children of that Elf King."

The tent was quiet for a few seconds.

The commander finally regained his voice.

"Wait—wait a minute." He pointed to the group of elves. "You mean—these—children—fought against my army of 10 for months?"

The assassin glanced at him and said calmly, "If you're talking about those dozens of guys who made it impossible for you to advance, then that must be them. I didn't make a mistake."

The commander stared, completely petrified.

He looked at the group of unconscious elves; the youngest one looked to be about seven or eight years old, with chubby cheeks.

These kids were the ones who outmaneuvered their 100,000-strong army.

Are these the children who caused so many deaths and injuries?

He suddenly felt like crying.

It's not that I feel wronged, it's that I'm questioning the meaning of life.

The messengers nearby were also dumbfounded.

They looked at the mountain of "spoils," then at the assassin, and then at Kino, who sat calmly in her chair. For a moment, they were speechless. Kino ignored him.

She crouched down and looked at the nearest little elf.

That child's face was still smeared with mud and blood, it was hard to tell whether it was someone else's or his own.

Kino stood up, walked to the tent entrance, and looked into the depths of the Ivanshah Great Forest in the distance.

"That Elf King—" she whispered, "is truly a beast."

"Let's go," she said. "Let's go save that girl."

She paused, her voice turning cold.

"And by the way—meet that Elf King."

>