To Hell with Being a Saint, I’m a Doctor

For a long time, they stayed motionless, assessing each other in a face-to-face stance with their bodies rigid.

Remaining in a standoff didn’t offer many benefits.

Even if they moved, it seemed that initiating the first attack offered the best chance of success.

However, without understanding the other’s intentions, a hasty attack could result in greater harm.

They needed to counter the other with the least amount of offense and the most defense.

As Ray visualized the opponent’s attack and disrupted the surrounding mana, the other party spoke.

“Human…?”

“…”

He sweated, not easing his muscle tension.

This meant he couldn’t see the opponent, but the opponent could see him.

He was ignorant about magic, but the physical disparity was evident.

The opponent slightly eased the tension and spoke again.

“What is a human child doing here? Did you lose your way?”

There was a hint of hostility, but it was less sharp than at the beginning.

Somewhat relieved, Ray replied.

“I was just resting here for a while.”

“Resting here…?”

There was a slight sarcastic tone in the voice, as if something was disagreeable.

The voice’s owner continued.

“This is our territory. Human, if you don’t want to get hurt, leave here.”

“Huh? I didn’t hear about anyone buying this land.”

“We don’t buy territories from humans. Don’t assume that all territories belong to you humans.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll just sit for a while and leave.”

“Leave now. You must leave now.”

“Just a little while, really.”

“Leave, child of humans.”

It was unpleasant to hear.

It was too much, even considering the situation.

He wasn’t even allowed to sit for a while in this vast forest.

Overwhelmed with thoughts, Ray barely managed to suppress his rising irritation.

“Sigh… The world doesn’t leave me alone.”

Muttering unintelligible words, Ray stood up and dusted off his pants.

“Come out. I’ll go as you wish. I want to see the face of the owner of this vast forest.”

“…”

The owner of the voice appeared to have no intention of revealing himself after hearing Ray’s words.

Even a friendly greeting was met with rejection.

Irritated, Ray settled back onto the rock.

Then, he spoke with a grumble.

“So you won’t come out? Then I won’t leave.”

“Go away!”

Despite the voice’s loud, flustered command, Ray, who had lost all desire to leave, didn’t even feign obedience.

The unseen adversary fell silent for a moment before speaking softly.

“You won’t listen when spoken to. What a mischievous little boy.”

“You’re the one who refused a greeting and yet labels others as mischievous. How absurd.”

Already exasperated, Ray shook his head as he responded sarcastically to his adversary.

Suddenly, the unseen figure dashed out from the shadows of the trees.

Ray, who had narrowly avoided a hand aimed at his head and neck by twisting his body, struck the attacker’s hand with his own, which was wrapped in mana.

Seeing her surprised expression, as she hadn’t expected her attack to be blocked by a human, Ray was also taken aback.

The figure was so imposing that one could identify them as elves just by their elongated ears and non-human features.

Furthermore, their attire, made of leaves and plants, clearly indicated their race.

“Ah, elves!”

Ray had only read about other races in books and had never actually encountered one in person.

The elf seemed more shocked that a human had recognized her race than that her attack had been thwarted by one.

She gasped in astonishment,

“A child blocked my attack.”

She hadn’t intended to kill, but her attack was powerful enough to seize a child and hurl them out of the forest.

Ray scrutinized the elf’s appearance.

Her exceptional physique and defined jawline suggested that rain would effortlessly glide down her elegant contours, and her light brown hair complemented her innocent eyes.

The freedom reflected in her eyes was a quality one could not acquire simply by living freely.

She murmured to herself,

“It certainly carries a human scent, but… considering the age, it’s too potent…”

Ray readied for another assault by concentrating his mana.

“I am a human. And yes, I am potent.”

She acknowledged his response with a nod.

“I concede, you are potent for your age.”

With those words, her hand descended once more.

But this time, Ray withdrew and swiftly manipulated his mana.

As her hand came within range, Ray detonated the concentrated mana.

The air ruptured and the shockwave engulfed her.

Boom-

“Ugh!”

She was hurled backward with a shriek.

Had it been fire magic, she would have sustained injuries.

She quickly rose after being thrown about 2 meters.

She struggled to regain her composure from the intense combat.

Even as an elf, second to dragons in mana sensing, she hadn’t foreseen his mana’s movement.

This indicated that if he desired, he could manifest magic without anyone detecting it.

She could easily discern that he didn’t even look back because he was aware of her presence.

A human child was driving her back? Even she found that implausible.

There was only one explanation she could conceive.

She hesitantly murmured,

“Could it be… a superior race…?”

“Superior race? What is that?”

Ray scowled and cocked his head, not grasping the meaning.

She exhaled in relief.

If they had transformed into humans, even they, sensitive to mana as they are, wouldn’t have been able to identify them.

But if they weren’t the superior race, then how had he deceived her and cast magic?

Even a high elf couldn’t perform magic without the elves noticing.

Ray remained stationary and gazed back at her.

‘Her beauty is truly captivating.’

While he was contemplating, her small mouth parted.

“Fascinating…”

“I am indeed a fascinating individual.”

“I can’t believe you’re so articulate for your age.”

Her battle stance had long since relaxed.

She hesitated for a moment.

Elves were an insular race, but they couldn’t evade at least some interaction.

That was why, if there were decent humans, they were brought to the village for judgment.

Because to interact with humans, there first needed to be trustworthy humans.

In her eyes, the human child before her was young and moderately strong.

Although his personality was somewhat odd for his age, it didn’t seem to be harmful.

Moreover, there were High Elves in her village, so any situation that arose wouldn’t pose a problem.

She made her decision.

“Human, follow me. I’ll let you stay in this forest.”

“Huh? No, I was just about to leave.”

Since he had gone out for a walk, he was planning to slowly head back.

But as she kept saying to leave, he felt somewhat sad and yearned to go home.

She might or might not have known his thoughts when she said,

“We honor the strong. That is the rule we learned in the forest village of Grandel. Besides, you are an odd fellow, but you don’t seem dangerous.”

Elves don’t lie.

That made Ray even more melancholic.

At her words, Ray rolled his eyes and said,

“…That’s an odd way to phrase it. Is this place called Grandel Forest?”

“That’s correct.”

Ray looked around once more and thought,

‘Elves don’t lie. I have nothing else to do, should I follow?’

“Okay, but promise you won’t attack me.”

At his words, she nodded.

“I promise.”

She finished speaking and immediately took the lead, starting to walk.

Then, Ray asked,

“Judging by the way you’re walking, is it close from here?”

“A bit far.”

“I need to get home today. Let’s hurry.”

When he urged her, she glanced at Ray and said,

“Will you be able to keep up if I speed up?”

“Um… Maybe?”

“…Alright.”

As soon as the words were out, her figure darted forward.

Ray opened his mouth in surprise.

“Wow, there are so many trees…”

Due to the forest’s terrain, trees would be an obstacle when speeding up.

But as expected of an Elf. She seemed to know the position of all the trees as she ran without slowing down, maintaining a constant speed.

Ray also concentrated mana on his heels to speed up.

It exploded just as before.

Bang-

He quickly dispersed the exploded mana in the air and detonated the mana of his other foot.

Repeating this process, he propelled forward with tremendous speed, akin to a jet engine.

She heard a rather loud noise and glanced back slightly.

And she was taken aback.

He was propelling himself with air shots!

Furthermore, he was controlling the mana so exquisitely that the ground suffered no damage; only a few leaves and blades of grass were slightly blown away, but the trees and the ground remained unscathed.

In the eyes of humans, she, who had lived many years maintaining composure, was flustered, and a voice tinged with surprise slipped from her lips.

“Oh, damn it!”