Ingrid

This is no fun.

Before we were transported, the guild gave us a map of the area, the location of our destination, and the possible areas where the portal could appear.

And we showed up about 250 km from our destination, on a dry and dead plain that is always in the sun.

We all have improved bodies so it doesn't bother us too much, but it still took us about 2 and a half days to get to the village. We take several breaks because we don't know when someone might attack us.

When it appeared on a plain, there were no resources, so we had to go hungry until we found a forest to hunt some animals.

I'm complaining because I can. Actually, I don't mind, I've had much worse times, but I still expected to show up at a closer location and get everything done in 1 day.

Let's change the subject. It is already night, we are about 5 kilometers from the village according to the map. Tomorrow we will do a reconnaissance to know that we are fighting and then we will burn everything.

According to our orders, everyone in the village must die and the fields must be burned, then we must spread salt provided by the guild over the earth.

The salt will prevent anyone from harvesting there again unless they receive another blessing or a mage of at least 3rd level comes to clear the land.

It is unlikely that a mage will come to this land later, especially since this village is not in the Human Empire but in one of the Vassal Kingdoms.

The centralization of power means that the Empire sends almost no resources to its vassal kingdoms, which caused a lot of dissatisfaction with the Empire when I was alive.

But it is not as if the kingdoms have the ability to rise up and go to war, especially with the elves pressing them on all fronts.

In the case of this mission, it is just me and Ingrid. The guild believed that even if something went wrong, Elijah would save us.

Elijah can fight with different rank 3 wizards as long as they don't coordinate.

We are now in a makeshift camp with only a campfire and the 3 of us sitting around it.

The fire is the only sound, the wood burning slowly.

Elijah stands up and stretches his muscles.

"Young master, the human village is nearby, so I will do you a favor and explore it to see if there are any hidden threats," he told me as he picked up his sword.

"Thank you, Elijah," I said as I stretched.

It would save us a job, it would be stupid not to use a resource we have.

With a nod, Elijah takes a few steps away.

I look at Ingrid, who is watching the fire, and think for a moment before I speak.

"Hey Ingrid, how is your wound?" I ask, looking at her leg.

Ingrid looks up. Her eyes hide a bit of reluctance, but since she's a smart girl, she always thinks everything through and probably doesn't hold too many grudges.

"It's already completely healed, it won't be a problem in battle," she says as she rubs his thigh.

"Ingrid, have you ever killed anyone?"

Ingrid looked away a bit. "No, Master, I've never had to."

"Are you afraid to kill?" I asked. I need to know how reliable she is.

"Master, you don't have to worry. I was born and raised in a military camp, so I won't get in the way," Ingrid said, her eyes full of determination.

Well, that reassures me. I will not stop watching her, but I think she could be very helpful.

Ingrid's POV:

After the master fell silent, the silence returned with only the sound of the fire.

Am I afraid of killing?

Not really, I grew up with death around me.

In the human world, there are several camps of the regular army that are responsible for watching over the different kingdoms, this is hidden from the humans, but it is common knowledge to the elves. My father was an officer in a camp near the Empire, and my mother was part of the medical corps.

As far as I know, they were lovers while on duty, which led to me being born in a camp.

I have seen death since I was 3 years old.

Executed prisoners

The screams of tortured men breaking the silence of the night.

Violence in training.

I've seen it all. At first I was disgusted and hurt. Humans were suffering at our hands and they didn't do anything. One of them even taught me the human language.

Until one day a group of human prisoners broke out of their confinement and armed themselves.

They were not weak, but the problem is that they sent a signal to the sky, and soon several groups of troops from a nearby city arrived.

I remember it vividly, the elven troops had a portal at the base, but it took some time to activate, so after killing the freed prisoners, they barricaded themselves in and set traps, taking advantage of the mountainous terrain.

Still, it was a massacre, and when the humans arrived, they wreaked havoc, killing most of the elves.

My father went out to fight, only to die with his skull scattered on the ground by a tall man like a mountain with a fierce face.

His body fell near me. I can still see the dent in his forehead, with one eye out from the pressure and the other open in fear.

I remember getting up in desperation and running towards him.

As I knelt beside him, I lifted his head, begging him to wake up.

His head, still crushed, rested on my lap while his blood stained my clothes.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

After the rest of the elven army surrendered, the humans gathered us in the center of the camp.

They dragged me away from my father as they laughed and spat on his body.

I cried as I begged them to let me go, but it didn't work.

After we were all together, they lined us up and started moving us around to take us prisoner.

And there I made a mistake.

I saw the man who killed my father again and stupidly picked up a sword from the ground and tried to stab him in the chest.

As I approached, still in tears, I thrust my arm forward.

But the man turned in a second and stopped my attack.

He kicked me in the chest and I fell dry on the mud, and then I saw him approach me again with his arm raised.

I saw that many times in the camp, the man wanted to kill me.

But my mother was standing in front of me with her arms outstretched, screaming something I don't remember.

The man looked at her as if she were an insect and punched her in the face as she fell to the ground.

The man slowly approached and lifted her by her hair, revealing his neck.

He took out a dagger from his chest and slowly brought it closer to my mother's neck, and while staring at me, he said, "Remember this girl, your mother will die for your stupidity.

After he finished speaking, he slowly pushed the dagger through my mother's neck while she slowly drowned in her own blood.

I quickly got up and ran to him, but some humans stopped me and straightened my face so I wouldn't miss anything.

Soon all you could hear was the sounds of my mother drowning in her blood until I saw and heard her body fall to the ground after the man let her go.

I started screaming and crying with all my being until the man came over and punched me in the face, knocking me out.

After a while I woke up, still in the camp, still with dead bodies around me. I still had my mother in front of me.

I cried and despaired, thinking I was going to die.

But all that ended when I made a new resolution.

One day I would kill that man, one day I would find him, I would crush his skull like he did to my father, and I would tear out his throat for my mother.

After that, everything went a little faster.

I buried my parents' bodies with the limited energy I had in my 5-year-old body and then went to the main store to get food.

When I entered, I found the portal open, and I went through it while strengthening my resolve.

Remembering all this, I don't realize that there is a lonely tear on my face.

I feel a little lost. A little lonely.

Suddenly I feel my head move.

When I look up, I see that my master has my head on his shoulder and his arms around me.

My eyes got a little wet again, but for some reason I feel calm now.