23-The Coming Slaughter

The two girls did not answer Swain's question and kept looking at the black katana in his hand with great fear on their faces.

*Oops, I forgot that their senses are sharp. They are probably terrified by the aura of the katana right now.*

Swain, after slowly putting the katana into its sheath, knelt down on one knee and came to almost the same height as the two girls.

After the katana went into its sheath, the fear on the faces of the two girls clearly subsided a bit.

"Hey, are you okay?" Swain asked this question when he saw that the fear on the girls' faces had diminished.

The two elves looked at Swain with apprehension, even though their fear had subsided.

Finally, one of the girls gathered the courage to speak.

"T-Thank you for saving us." she said.

Hearing this, Swain smiled and reached out his hand and put it on the head of the girl who spoke.

The girl closed her eyes in fear when she saw Swain's movement, but when she did not feel any pain, she opened her eyes.

"It's no big deal, after all it was very easy for me." Swain said, stroking the girl's head.

He was talking with a small smile on his face to avoid scaring the girls.

"You are not an elf."

The other elf, who saw that Swain was not dangerous, said these words in astonishment.

"I am an Asgardian." Swain said.

Hearing these words, one of the girls frowned and looked at Swain. Frankly, this look did not show any threat.

"Asgard? Aren't you one of the killer barbarians-" The girl could not finish her words as her mouth was covered by the other elf.

"I am Aerith and this is my sister Elora."

Aerith spoke quickly to change the subject.

*They are sisters, that's obvious.* Swain thought, after all the two girls looked very much alike. Even if someone saw them, they could mistake them for twins.

The two girls had blond hair and blue eyes. Even their facial features were almost identical. The only difference between them was their hair and eyes.

Aerith's hair was long and reached to her waist. The little girl had tied them in a ponytail.

Elora's hair, on the other hand, reached to her shoulders and was free.

They had clothes that were clearly made of quality silk.

Swain could see a bit of maturity and respect in Aerith's eyes, but Elora's eyes clearly showed mischief and childishness brought by her age.

"Our father is the king of the elf empire." Aerith added.

Swain nodded his head when he heard these words.

*Based on her maturity, I can say that the older sister is most likely the future queen.* Swain thought.

"Well, Aerith, can you tell me where the elf empire is?"

"Umm, the Elf Empire... it should be in this direction with a high probability." Aerith said, pointing to a direction with her little finger.

"With a high probability?" Swain asked in astonishment.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

*You are the future princess of the empire and you don't know where it is?*

Aerith's face showed a shy smile when she heard Swain's question.

"Some things happened and-"

"We lost our way when a goblin chased us while we were playing in the forest next to the empire." Elora interrupted.

"Elora!"

"What? I'm telling him the truth!"

"But this is very embarrassing!"

"......"

"......"

Swain looked at the two sisters who were fighting with a puzzled and defeated expression on his face.

"It seems that the job is left to me again." he whispered.

"COME OUT!"

Swain's words made the two sisters who were fighting stop and look at him in astonishment.

"Are there goblins nearby?" Elora asked in fear.

"Can you kill them?" Aerith asked.

Swain sighed in defeat and ignored them.

Just a second later, ten crows made of demonic energy appeared in the air. The two sisters, who saw the crows, clung to Swain's leg in fear.

"Scatter and look for a settlement." Swain ordered and the red crows flew quickly in every direction.

"What are these ominous crows?" Elora asked in fear.

"This is my ability, you don't need to be afraid. Also, don't cling to me." Swain said and pushed the two girls away from him.

"Since you two are useless, the crows will find our direction." Swain said and walked to a nearby tree and leaned on it.

The two sisters, who saw that Swain was mocking them, puffed up their cheeks and frowned to look angry.

"You are very rude, you didn't even introduce yourself and you are mocking us." Elora said.

Swain smiled when he heard these words.

"I'm sorry, my mistake. My name is Jericho Swain but people usually call me the Demon of Secrets." Swain said, looking at Elora with a mocking expression on his face.

He had nothing to do but wait right now and Swain used this spare time to mess with the little girls in front of him.

"A demon? I don't believe that. You are clearly lying." Aerith said.

"Where did you get that I'm lying?" Swain asked.

"A demon wouldn't be like you." Elora answered.

"Have you ever seen a demon in your life?"

"No... but I'm sure they are more scary than you. Besides, demons are evil, you helped us." Elora said.

Swain couldn't help but chuckle when he heard these words.

"Sometimes you say things I don't expect from you." Swain said laughing.

"What does that mean? Are you mocking me? I grew up in the royal family and I took many lessons related to speaking." Elora said with a smug smile.

"He is clearly mocking you." Aerith said.

Hearing these words, the smug smile on Elora's face disappeared.

"No, he isn't!"

"Yes, he is."

"......"

"......"

When the two sisters started to fight again, Swain felt a headache and closed his eyes and prayed for the crows he sent to return quickly.

...

When he received a warning from one of the crows he sent, Swain opened his eyes and frowned.

*There is a goblin village nearby.*

After staying in the Hollow cave for a long time, he had improved his magic and the crows he created could now give him information with their thoughts.

He still couldn't use their vision, but this was a great improvement.

The two sisters had already stopped arguing and were leaning on one of the trees next to Swain, waiting.

"Tell me about the goblins and why they are so close to the empire." Swain said, looking at Aerith.

Aerith fell into thoughts for a few seconds when she heard Swain's words.

"Actually, they just appeared. They shouldn't have been so close to the empire normally." Aerith said.

"There is a goblin settlement nearby." Swain said.

Swain's words made the two girls widen their eyes in fear.

"What? Then we need to go back to the empire and report it quickly." Elora said anxiously.

Swain didn't speak and fell into thoughts. First of all, he could easily kill the goblins. But the goblins' souls were of lower quality than the lizardmen's souls.

*If I destroy that settlement, the elf empire will owe me, and if I add saving the two girls, they will have to join the alliance.* Swain thought, with a cunning smile on his face.

*Did he go crazy with fear?* The two girls who saw Swain smiling to himself thought.

"Okay, here's what we'll do; I'll go and destroy the goblin settlement. You can hide nearby." Swain said.

The two girls opened their mouths in astonishment when they heard Swain's words.

"Are you crazy? There must be at least three hundred goblins in a goblin settlement!" Aerith shouted.

"Instead of thinking about me, think about yourself, kid. There will be goblins who will run away while I'm fighting. So you have to hide well." Swain said and started walking in the direction the crow told him.

The two girls looked at each other in astonishment and uncertainty, then ran after Swain.

"Wait! Can't we come with you?" Aerith asked.

*He should be able to protect us if we are close to him.* she thought.

"I don't recommend that. I lose myself when I fight." Swain said.

Frankly, the two sisters didn't believe these words either.

"You are clearly trying to get rid of us." Elora said.

Swain ignored the girls and continued walking towards the goblin settlement. When he got close to the settlement and it became visible, he stopped and looked at the girls who were following him from behind.

Without saying anything, he formed his demon arm and swung it slowly upwards.

Two hands, almost the size of the girls, made of demonic energy appeared and grabbed the two girls and lifted them to the top of a tree next to them and then let go.

"Stay here, I'll be back when I'm done!" Swain shouted and ran towards the goblin settlement.

"If you leave us here, I'll kill you!" Elora shouted after him.

"I'm sure you will." Swain whispered.

"Now it's time for slaughter." Swain said with a sadistic smile on his face.