Chapter 2 summary:

Elf king kills holocaust scripture
Ainz and the twins are in Ebasha forest using a “Green Secret House” as their base. It’s a base summoned with an item. Ainz gave the “Great Sea of Trees” to Ebasha.
Ainz took Fenrir instead of  the 8 edge assassin for 2 reasons. 1-He didn’t want to embarrass the twins if they failed to make friends. 2-He has a theory nobody attacks him because they can somehow see the assassins and that’s why pandora ainz was attacked (he was alone)
Ainz and the twins investigate the forest.
Aura captures the Ursus. Ainz decides to use it in their “red ogre cry” plan. (reference to japanese famous fable of the blue oni and red oni)

Random notes:

Great Sea of Trees = Name Ainz gives to Ebasha Forest in Chapter 2
Elf Tree = エルフツリー  Trees the elves use for everything, don’t think this is officially named yet

In this chapter:

There are places marked with *TODO*, it means the translation may be incorrect, or the meaning could have been changed, feel free to fix them. The page # is right beside the mark

祭祀頭 = Head of religion? Head of Festivities?  I’ll use religion

I translated these names 1:1
Egnia = エグニア
Ganen = ガネン
Beniri = ベニリ
Ovei = オヴェイ
Sumomo = スモモ  (also a Plum)
Aju Village = アジュ

プルーン = Prune (this isn’t 1:1)

“” <- speaking
() <- thinking

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Chapter 3 AURA’S STRUGGLES
Part 1

There is a Dark Elf village in the Great Sea of Trees.
It is no different from the Elven Village.
For example, the race known as “Wild Elves” were basically common Elves but when they
moved to grasslands environments not only their culture but even their bodies changed to the point that they are perceived as a new race.
As for the Dark Elves, they were originally common elves and added to that they live in the same environment, so they did not go through any physical or magical changes. Their culture is also mostly the same, Elf Trees are the center of their way of life. That is why for Dark Elves, same as common elves, the main jobs they learn are Ranger or Druid.
The differences were at most the color of their skin and some insignificant behaviors, like the way they avoid beasts.
In the Dark Elves village, they repel beasts by utilizing their instincts of avoiding certain smells. This is valuable wisdom the Dark Elves were taught before they came to the Great Sea of Trees in the forest where they lived before by its inhabitants, like Treants. They do this by using methods such as planting herbs with strong essences around the village, dispersing special chemicals that beasts avoid or utilizing magic of the druids, but because the effective time and scope for this magic is limited its faculties must be reduced.
These methods are effective even in the Great Sea of Trees, so when comparing the Dark Elves village to other Elven Villages, excluding the Elven Capital, it was more secure.
Nonetheless, these methods are not known by the elves. Were they to be propagated, the instinctual avoidance by smell would definitely diminish. Not only magic beasts, common beasts, even if they seem dumb, that’s not the case. On the contrary, if it becomes known that after that smell there is prey, the risk level would increase. Having received this knowledge with those reasons, even if for a relative, it was not possible to readily hand those methods.  _*TODO* chapter 3, p 235_
However, that day, the Dark Elves would come to know that the supposed safety they believed in was built on thin ice.

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The violent roar of beasts could be heard from afar.
It was an everyday occurrence in the Great Sea of Trees. Be it during dawn, or perhaps late during the night, there was no day on which the noise of wild beasts was not heard.
Moreover, there are small build species with astonishing bellows. Hearing one roar was not enough to conclude something was going on.
Certainly, a howl is terrifying. Be it that there are a variety of magic beasts that can imbue special powers into their roars. Roars to infuse terror in those who listen to it, roars to confuse them, roars to make them lose their fighting spirit and from time to time, one to induce fatigue.
Yet, if there is some distance, those special powers will not manifest any effect. A distant roar would not be linked to danger as it was quite a common scenery.
However, that day, a single Dark Elf man called out the danger for the village.
The man’s height is not more than average. However, with slender and long supple limbs, despite that with no wasted movements _*TODO* chapter 3, p 235_ makes the man appear bigger than he is.
His cool looks are well-proportioned and he’s even very popular among women.
There is no one among the Dark Elves living in the Great Sea of Trees who doesn’t know about this man. A first-class ranger that has accumulated a lot of experience and one who holds the family name of one of the houses that became central entities before, during the great migration, one of the 13 initial houses, the honorable lineage of the Blueberry House.

This man, Egnia Blueberry, holds in his hands a Dark Elf composite bow, which only a few in the village possess.
A bow which you are not allowed to have unless you are someone who achieves exceedingly good results In the Archery Tournament held during the season the becoa flower blooms, once every 3 years.
The dark elf soldiers quickly gather following Egnia’s call. More than professional soldiers, they are rangers who didn’t set out to hunt.
The village where Egnia lives is the biggest among the ones in the surroundings. Even so the inhabitants barely surpass 200 and there’s no leeway to appoint specialized warriors.
In front of his companions, congregated with inquisitive expressions, Egnia slightly moves his long ears, while focusing on the distant noises, and announces with a stiff voice.
“There’s only 1 reason I have bothered you to gather here. The roars from moments ago. I’ve heard them once before. That’s the roar of a grown and pretty mature Ursus.
Egnia felt the tension of the people gathered instantly rise.
That makes sense. For the Dark elves who live in the forest, be it even the children, there’s probably no one who doesn’t know the dreadful name of the magic beast “AnkyloUrsus”.
It’s not clear for Ursus cubs, but for the grown ones…even more, it’s no exaggeration to say that getting into contact with one that has grown up fully is synonymous with death. Possessing not only armor that repels arrows but also physical strength enough to easily split a dark elf in half. Furthermore, because its physical abilities are top notch in general, running away is difficult so it’s a terrifying monster.
“I certainly heard the roars, but is it really from an Ursus? Didn’t you hear wrong?”
Doubtful, the woman asked.
She’s one of the 3 vice captains of hunting in the village, a skilled ranger and in her hands, same as Egnia, holds a composite bow.
It seems that for her it wasn’t possible to distinguish it with a roar only, if it belongs to an Ursus or similar.
Besides, there are very cute birds called Howling Birds that have a special ability to mimic different howls from several species. There are also other creatures in this forest that have similar abilities.
Pinpointing the root of a distant how is exceedingly difficult in a forest inhabited by such creatures. It’s no wonder she has doubts. Still, Egnia is the most skilled ranger in this village. It’s not just his skill with the bow, the sharpness of his senses, up to his ability to analyze the information gathered by those senses are all outstanding. Her doubts don’t stem from distrust toward Egnia, it comes mostly from her wish, that is “Please be wrong!”.
“I’m extremely sorry but there’s no mistake. That hair-raising howl that makes you feel the abysmal difference in power, it doesn’t matter how much time passes I will never forget it. Even now it clings firmly to my ears. There’s no such thing as mistaking that”
The next one to speak up was the Captain of Hunting.
The political power pillars of this village are the Council of Elders, Captain of Hunting, Head of Medicine and Head of Religion. The Council of Elders is composed of 3 people, so in total there are 6 persons in power. The captain was one of those.
He does not have a composite bow. If his specialty were brought up, it would be hunting with traps, so with that in mind there’s a big gap in his overall skills compared to Egnia. Nonetheless​, as a ranger there’s no doubt he is powerful, he has a calm personality even though he’s younger than Egnia, so there’s nothing to criticize of him being captain of hunting.
“The howling of a mature Ursus…means that something invaded its territory, correct?”
They generally start howling when they quarrel against strong foes or hostile members of the same race. Other times when they want to make their victory known, or also when they want to show their current location. Also when breeding. Nonetheless, the likelihood of something invading the territory of the Ursus is high in any case.
It’s reasonable to think that, because once an AnkyloUrsus demarks its territory it won’t try to change it, even though they’ll expand it as their body grows bigger, and it’s also rare for them to hunt outside of it.
“Haaa, I don’t know that random monster invaded it, but I wouldn’t mind such careless creature disturbing our peace becoming that Ursus prey”
The dark elves alld agree with the grumbles of the Captain. Egnia shows a bitter smile to his companions.
In a sense based on its nature, as long as you don’t recklessly irritate it, it’s well known that the AnkyloUrsus serves to maintain the balance in the vicinity.
“I agree with that, but I wouldn’t know if it's because something invaded its territory, you know? When I heard the howls it was because of a fight between Ursus. Moreover, the fight that time was taking place outside its territory” - Egnia
“Ex-Excuse me, Egnia-san, I have a question…I barely heard it but based on what Egnia-san told us I agree it’s the howling of an Ursus. However, their territory is quite far from here right? So, why did you call us to gather here?”
Every person around seemed to agree in silence to the question to the youngest man present.
“Yeah, I don't know what happened to the Ursus but perhaps its territory may change or maybe the owner of the territory will change. It’s possible something different may happen. Yeah…for example…”
Egnia pauses, then continues speaking.
“Something like, a strong magic beast that lost to the Ursus but can escape heading this way. And so, we’ll increase the vigilance in the village  to be prepared for anything that could occur and simultaneously  first thing tomorrow we better investigate the location where the howling was coming from.”
All present agree.
It’s troublesome if you don’t notice changes to the forest quickly. It’s especially important for people that live off the blessings of the forest.
“Today’s hunt is for sure canceled. Not only hunting, it’s safer for us to avoid going into the forest. There’s still food, right?” - Egnia
“Yes, there is. We captured  a big catch not long ago. But, even so it would be better to talk with the head of religion at once and have him start preparing fruits. We don’t know how many days it’ll take to confirm it’s safe out there after all” - Captain?
“Also…right. We better inform the Elders about this. Let’s have them take care of making this information well known to all the people who don’t know what’s happening, so they don’t go into the forest” - Egnia
Everyone starts exchanging opinions, urged by Egnia’s  heads-up. No one will say something like “you’re overthinking it”. The forest brings blessings  but it can also abruptly bring about misfortune. Never overlooking the most minuscule of evil omens and to lay precaution over precaution is essential to live in the forest.
The possibility of the public order deteriorating must be spread quickly in the village.
“What about the other villages? Should we contact them when we have more understanding of the situation? Or is it better in this kind of situation to inform them right away?” - captain ??
“I feel like both are correct, and at the same time think they aren’t. Isn’t okay to let the Elders take care of all that?”  - Egnia
“Hey, wait a sec. It would be better to gather all our opinions. So when those thick headed geezers bring up something unexpected, it’ll be handy to refute it if it’s the opinions from a lot of people”
“Calling them geezers is going  overboard, Ganen. It’s true they can be inflexible at times but each of the Elders has plenty of experience. We are just choosing the safer option based on that knowledge”
The captain rebukes one of the vice captains of hunting, Ganen Plum.
“That’s ! —”
Ganen, now with his face red, was trying to argue, but Egnia covered his mouth.
“Let’s stop there. Let’s discuss what we need about the issue I called you all for. You know very well the threat the Ursus represents, don’t you?”
Egnia removed his hand after confirming Ganen had closed his mouth.
Egnia sighs internally in his heart.
(I agree that opposing the Elders is not undoubtedly a bad thing, but I which they would consider the time and place for that) _*TODO* chapter 3 page 241_
“That’s right. Let’s move on from the geezers, we need to prioritize what to do about the vigilance in the village you know. We don’t need this many people, right? ”
  “If we’re to be keeping guard all day today, it’s best we use a 3 person shift system.  Even more if we take into account what we have to do tomorrow.” - Egnia
They are used to keeping watch all day long and if they receive magic to remove fatigue there won’t be any repercussions to their labors the next day.
However, if they are going to investigate Ursus territory, they must avoid their senses dulling  even a bit.
“That’s right. That—”
They heard a roar. Everyone, with expressions filled with tension, stared into the direction of the sound.
“Didn’t that sound really close?”
A person put into words the anxiety everyone was holding. Nodding once, Egnia agrees with it.
“Could it be that something entered its territory and escaped,  and it’s currently pursuing it?  like Egnia san mentioned before”
AnkyloUrsus are obstinate and stick to their prey. In case a creature they deemed a prey escapes, they’ll most likely chase it even outside its territory. The image of an Ursus running after its prey while howling is weird but it's easier to accept than one losing and being chased out.
“If that’s the case and the Ursus catches his prey, his belly will probably grow and this village might be safe. … If there’s actually a prey running away should we go there and shoot it dead?” – captain?
“Quit that! That’ll just irritate the Ursus. First of all, there’s a big change that said prey is capable enough to escape from the Ursus, you know? If that prey heads this way, we must be able to drive it away”
“No, wait. It’ll be really troublesome if we let the Ursus get close to the village. It’ll be an issue if it thinks this is a feeding ground. It would be better if some people leave the village and lead them different direction if it  seems like either the Ursus or the prey are heading this way”
It's good to share so many suggestions but they can’t  be wasting so much time. Don’t want to meddle much more than this, but there’s no time for that. Egnia claps his hands once, and grabs everyone's attention.
“Whatever the situation is,  what we can say for sure is it’s not normal. We must act promptly. If the Ursus goes back to its territory there’s no problem. If it doesn’t…if it loses sight of its prey having even left its territory—”  Egnia looks over everyone. “--and assuming the worst, it loses it in the vicinity of this village, that could be the worst and longest day we can imagine”
Everyones frowned as they imagined what could happen.
“The most important thing right now is to borrow the strength of everyone in the village, not just the people here. The power of the druids is absolutely necessary. It’s also likely the head of medicine has poison that works against the Ursus.” - Egnia
Instead of trying to defeat a magic beast of a type like the Ursus with physical attacks, it would be more effective to use mind control magic and such. Even if it’s a foe whose thick skin and fat protect it’s muscles , so arrows are ineffective, it’s possible to use magic and similar methods, for example using the fire spirits summoned by the druids which even just touching it can add fire damage, and then make even more damage by using weapons,
There would be no chance of victory if they were to fight head-on, but in the past, by using  means like magic, it had been possible to confront magic beasts comparable to the Ursus and even win against them.
“Still, just gathering and discussing will just make us waste time. It would be best if we took the initiative, but–” Egnia looks at the captain and asks “Can you take care of that?”.
“Sure…”
The captain shakes his head dejectedly, then proceeds.
“...there’s nothing to do about it. Ok! All of you. In order of skills, the first half will go strengthen the defenses of the village. The other half will go warn all the people in the village. After you finish warning them, protect the people who can’t fight. Beniri! You are in charge of splitting them. Ganen, you go to the Head of Medicine and Ovei you go talk with the head of religion. I’ll go to the Elders. Let’s go, move! move! move!”
Egnia was about to leave, but the captain signaled him to come with him.
“For a long time now I’ve been thinking, shouldn’t you, as the most skilled person in this village, take a position as one of the heads?” - Captain
“If that happens everything would become more complicated. Be it because of my house, but my name is a bit know in the other village” - Egnia
“It’s not “a bit” isn’t it?!” - captain
Egnia ignored the retort from the captain and proceeded.
“Because of that, the opposition would spread more than now to the other villages” - Egnia
“...haaaa—, my head hurts. If the Elders retire for a short time, a really really short time, do you think that would change?” - cap
“Definitely not happening. Retiring on itself would make it worse. Even if they retired, the problem would just spread to the other villages. You could say that everything is smoother by having those obstinate Elders'' - Egnia TL NOTE : As in, having stubborn elders is a lesser problem than changing them.
“How can that be fixed?” - cap
“There’s no fixing it. When a big disruption happens, somewhere. Until then.” - Eg
The captain went silent.
“I’ll go join the defenses now, I’m counting on you” - Eg
“Yeah, same for you” - cap
Egnia parted ways with the captain and took position in the direction where the roars were coming from, it seemed while the watch was going on the information was spreading rapidly inside the village. This is due not just to the rangers spreading the information, but also thanks to the fact this  village must coexist with dangerous monsters, so a very solid information transmission system was formed.
And so, without much delay, the head of religion started producing food using magic and a strong poison and, just in case, its antidote was delivered to Egnia.
Like that, some time passed while keeping guard.
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Since then, the sounds of the Ursus can’t be heard. The tension of the group of rangers started to loosen because of that. Egnia too, started to relax, releasing the strength from his shoulders and rubbed his hand holding the bow which had become stiff.
At that moment, the captain lined up to his side.
“...Just in case, it may be necessary to go and quickly  investigate its territory. Can I ask you to do that?” - Captain
“I knew it would come to this. I got it” - Egnia
In his head, he was already thinking what to do in the event he had to enter its territory. _*TODO* page 245_
Egnia, who was staring into the direction of the forest, as if grasping the shape of the Ursus that should be there, behind trees, he felt as if he were able to see a huge figure.
“ChiChiii!”
Egnia made his lips vibrate and made a sound similar to the chirping of a bird. It wasn’t just any sound. It was a special sound Egnia was able to make thanks to his proficiency in his job, and for his companions that heard it, it meant there was danger ahead. Due to this, his allies who heard it became unable to move, didn’t even have time to be surprised.
The atmosphere in the place, which was starting to relax, became tense in an instant.
While feeling everyone's attention on him and without moving his gaze, Egnia pointed with his chin to the direction he was looking into just moments ago.
(Please, let it just be my imagination!)
(Please, I just mistook it for it!)
(Please, let me be wrong!)
I was able to see its shape only for a bit. By chance,  in the time it takes to wink I glanced over that shape behind many giant trees. It’s highly possible to mistake it. However, for a ranger as skilled as Egnia, his  outstanding eyesight easily betrays his own wishes.
“...It’s, an AnkyloUrsus…”
Someone…uttered those words without thinking and despite its low volume, it was awfully clear for everyone here to hear.
It was clear in everyone's eyes now.
The giant figure slowly approached between the trees.
The figure standing there was the AnkyloUrsus, the destroyer of the Great Sea of Trees.
However–
Ones of the less skilled rangers, swallows his saliva and asks
“He, hey. Blueberry-san. Wasn’t that…really big? Are Ursus usually that big?”
It was difficult to state its physique with certainty because it was covered by the trees in the forest and there was some distance. Even so, by comparing it to the trees around, it was possible to do a rough estimation. It was too big. No, it was gigantic.
“Sumomo, the Ursus I saw before wasn’t that big. It hadn’t become big. It’s growing rate is abnormally  quick, an abnormal individual…in the worst case ....” Egnia continues, as if squeezin out his words “...a Lord ''.
The atmosphere around suddenly trembles.
“Abnormal individuals” is how they call them in the village. There are ones who deviate from the regular size, ones with fur of a different color or ones that have undergone special changes, ones that possess unique abilities and such.  However, included in those, there’s one that surpasses them and is able to evolve further, one who reigns supreme as the apex of its race and, on occasion, its fighting power can have a widespread influence. That individual is denominated as “Lord”.
In short, if the AnkyloUrsus in front of them is really a Lord, it means it’s by far stronger than a regular one.
A regular AnkyloUrsus is by itself a troublesome foe but if the whole village fought together it may be possible to repel it. However, if the magic beast in front of them were to be the king of the ursus, it’s impossible to think you can overcome it by fighting it up front.
“Impossible! I heard there was a Lord but it was supposed to be further to the north!” Declared one ranger vigorously  while spitting all around. He still held down his voice to avoid irritating the Ursus. “What happened to Aju village?!”
Aju village is also a dark elves village. They had heard there was a Lord close to Aju village. Lords do not appear frequently. That’s why it’s not weird to think  this is the same Lord that was close to Aju.
“Were they destroyed?”
If the Lord was moving in the direction of this village, because  it was changing its territory or something like that, someone would have come from Aju to warn them. But nobody came. Despite that, the Lord is right here.
The silence takes over the place. If you were to advance straight from the direction the roars were first heard from, there would be Aju.
(...It made Aju its feeding then, thinking of dark elves as food, relying on the smell or something it set out in this direction) - Egnia
Nobody will say it out loud, but everyone here reached the same conclusion.
Tints of despair mix with the tense atmosphere.
Even supposing it got to know the taste of dark elves from Aju village, it should still not be aware there is fresh prey right here.
There a lot of AnkyloUrsus with gourmet tastes. Even though omnivorous, there are cases they prefer particular foods.  If it became capable of discerning dark elves, he has to give up on this village, but even with all that, it’s not like it won't come after us. That’s why we have to guide it away from the village. _*TODO* page 248 and start of 249 _
However, there remains a doubt.
“No, we can’t say for sure Aju has been destroyed ” All eyes gather on Egnia. “There was originally an Ursus who made his territory here as I had witnessed. If a Lord came straight from Aju, he must have entered the other’s territory. In that case, it’s weird we didn’t hear the roars of the two. In other words…it’s likely the Ursus that originally made its territory around here has grown up and became a Lord”
Of course, it’s still possible it’s the Lord from Aju. In the case that Lord and the Ursus from around here are of different sex, it’s possible an altercation wouldn’t occur. It’s also possible that, even if the two met head on, one of the two wouldn’t need to roar, most likely the Lord.
Anyway, in the current situation, whether Aju survived or not is not important. The fact that a Lord is heading to this village hasn’t changed. What we should be thinking about right now is what we should do and what’s the best move.
In that case –
“Fighting against the Lord is nothing but suicide. There’s nothing to do but invoking spirits and escape while they buy some time” - Egnia
“As if we can do that! We’ll definitely be attacked by that thing inside the forest! Instead of that it would be best we give it as much of the stored meat and food it can eat and fill it’s stomach that way”
“That’s right! Ursus have a similar nature to bears. They also like honey, right?!  We can smear it on the food and give–”
At that moment a roar reverberated so strong it could shake the ground, the air, the forest and the core of the body itself. It was no longer hiding in the shadows of the trees.
The King of AnkyloUrsus was right there, slowly closing in.
The breathing of the dark elves becomes fast and shallow. The minds of everyone there went blank. All ideas brought up before had already been blown away.
Their bodies shrank after feeling the difference in power. It’s not that the roar from moments ago infused them with fear or some mental effect, it did not hold any special power.
It was a reaction to the simple and fatal fact that these dark elves understood, as living beings, the difference in positions in the food chain. To that extreme was the difference in power that the dark elves were just powerless existences to trample down.
(This is bad!) - Egnia
Most dark elves were sure of the tragedy to come and were engulfed by resignation. But, it’s still early to accept their fate.
Egnia shouts.
“---MOVE!!!”
A shout also to scold and stir himself up.
“mo, mo, move and do what?!”
“As if I know!” - Egnia
Egnia retorts with a short heavy sentence to the shriek like question of the dark elf woman
“Wha, what do you mean…” - dark elf woman
“He just lashed out….”
“Trust m—no! I also don’t know what’s the right answer in this situation for god’s sake! Even so we have to move! What’s good about standing around?! At least let’s use some idea from befo–” - Egnia
It was not clear if its objective was to scare them but the pace of the Ursus king was awfully slow.
Its head was hanging trying to find the smell of the dark elves from the flowers planted around the village. For some reason it would not be weird to describe its actions as “tottering”, it gave off a really pathetic impression. Was it hurt? Or maybe sick or afflicted by some poison? It made people want to jump at those wishful ideas, but there was no doubt those were just ways to escape reality people tend to fall into in these extreme circumstances.
(Should we shoot? There’s no point in avoiding irritating it or something like that. It’s certain it’s coming this way. Then we should make the first move…our arrows can reach it. Everyone must have resolved by now anyway. Were that thing to put its attention on me,  if I move away from the village… Wait a minute, isn’t there another way?...) - Egnia
“oil, we can use oil” - Egnia
When Egnia murmured, the rangers around showed puzzled expressions for a moment but quickly understood his intentions.
“That’s it! Let’s cover it with oil and set it on fire with fire spirits!”
“That thing’s huge. It won’t be able to avoid the oil!”
“We can summon water spirits at the same time and have them avoid the flames from propagating to the surroundings!”
There’s not much oil in this village. It’s not like it’s hard to obtain, but because it doesn’t have many uses it’s not one article to go into the trouble of storing away.
“I’ll go!” Shouts one ranger and starts running toward the center of the village. He’s probably going to inform the druids in the storehouse. It'll be an issue if they convert all of their magic into food without knowing the current situation. TL NOTE : The ranger is not going to get oil, because there’s none in the storehouse, he’s just going to inform the druids, I’m guessing they can create oil
Right then, the roar of the Ursus king shook the air. It was the same as before, a roar to make them feel the overwhelming difference in power; however all the dark elves had resolved themselves, there was no longer any vacillation.
“What’s going on?”
One of the rangers spoke, intrigued. Not just Egnia, but all the rangers there were engulfed by the same doubts.
Based on the nature of an AnkyloUrsus, he should have charge them when it showed itself but it’d didn't look to have the intention of doing so. It was as though it was not in the mood to do so – No, we are talking about a king, it may have a different goal.
While observing its behavior, this time the Ursus stood up and roared.
For wild beasts, making themselves look bigger and  intimidating their foes was very common. Still, why won’t it attack is what’s difficult to understand.
This Ursus king, not just a common beast but a magic beast, is a relatively intelligent being. Despite that, why is it trying to intimidate us, who are definitely weaklings, even though we are already in its sight?
First of all, what is the meaning of those howls he’s been repeating for some time now?
“Hey, could it be this is hunting practice for its cubs or something?”
Egnia agrees internally with the person who said that, it’s possible based on its strange behavior.
The parent beast brings its child along to its hunt, then the child observes and learns the ropes  from its parent about the species they prey upon. There are a lot of cases when they don’t do that and don’t learn hunting techniques then perish as soon as they leave the nest. It’s possible that the strange behavior of the Ursus king is because it’s trying to teach its child who's watching from somewhere.
“If that’s the case and we think about the future, it would be better to teach the cubs that dark elves are tough foes that’ll bring about a lot of pain, right? If it thinks we are just simple prey it’ll become really troublesome” - Captain???
“If we kill its children, the Lord will become violent don’t you think?” - Egnia
“For the children we can use meat covered with honey….no, they won’t fall for that. If it’s really a practice hunt, we’ll just become live bait. Still, it's still worth trying, right?”
Suddenly, the Ursus king twitches its nose and starts running toward the dark elves.
Its previous dejected attitude is already nowhere to be seen. Strangely, however, he couldn't feel something like an impending killing intent. Instead, there was something different. For a brief moment, Egnia directed its gaze behind the Ursus. It felt almost  like the characteristic desperation of a beast being chased but –
(--there’s no way. First of all, there’s no being who can herd an Ursus king around)
“What’s going on…what’s even happening?” - Egnia
It wasn’t just Egnia, all his companions were confused.
It was not possible to read the actions of the AnkyloUrsus king at all. It’s possible that trying to understand a magic beast considered the King of the forest is wrong on its own, but it's the first time facing a foe that his experience and intuition as a ranger were useless against.
Even in all that confusion, the dark elves promptly retreat using the bridge. It’s evident the Ursus king is coming this way. If they were to move a bit slower, they’d become victims to the Ursus king.
After reaching the base of the Elf Tree everyone had just abandoned, the Ursus king stood up.
It was humongous.
It was so big it easily reached the height of the bridge.
And then it swung its huge arm.
As it was about to burst, the trunk of the elf tree was gouged out, and the whole tree shook violently.
The bridge that connects the elf trees bent and to avoid being flung out the dark elves desperately gripped their surroundings.
The elf trees in the perimeter were made specially firm. They had accelerated their growth many times with magic. They had been specially made, raised to be big and thick with a lot of nourishment. Giant trees, supposed to be sturdy enough to repel the charges of any monster, but the situation had become dire in an instant. It was the best proof that the physical strength of the Ursus king far exceeded any monsters that had attacked the village in the past.
“Damn monster…”
“It’s just as I imagined, but stil….how dreadful”
“--this is not the time for being impressed. What should we do? What’s the best way to reduce the casualties?”
With just one attack the people who lost their will to fight grumble.
An attack that just by grazing you would mean your death, an attack you can’t possibly be a match for, had occurred before their eyes. You can’t blame them.
The Ursus king had been attacking the same tree from before for some time, as if it had gone mad.
Its actions are abnormally strange but it doesn’t feel like it’s gone mad and forgotten about because of some magic. Those actions make you wonder whether it has a grudge against elf trees. From time to time it would stop its paws and glance over Egnia and the others, and then resume its attacks.
(It doesn't feel like it’s teaching its cubs how to hunt their prey…doesn’t it?...) - Egnia
There are no children around the Ursus king.
Egnia touched one of the arrows from the quiver hanging by his hips.
(Did some dark elf unnecessarily attack it and that’s why it has a grudge against elf trees?) - Eg
For the dark elves, the elf trees don’t have a smell but it’s not out of the question that a monster like the AnkyloUrsus, who has such an acute sense of smell, can perceive it. In that case, for now the safer option would be to surrender this village.
(No, there’s no way everything will go smoothly. If it rages about for some time it’ll become hungry….then it may catch our smell and come after us. Our best bet would be to give him meat smeared with honey and pray it’s satisfied with that, after all. But, what makes me uneasy is it occasionally peeks our way…like it’s examining us) - Eg
As expected, the Ursus king would quickly peek and peek again and every time it would attack the elf tree.
“Could it be…its aim is to keep us here?” - Eg
“And a different one is coming from a different direction? Would an Ursus king need to do that?”
“It’s possible If its goal is to chase us out of the village right? By having a different Ursus ready to ambush us in the direction we run away”
“I haven’t heard of Ursus hunting that way…but,  if that's not it, it wouldn’t make logical sense..would it?. In that case there’s no other choice but for everyone to run in different directions, if each person brings some meat or something, while he’s eating the bait it’ll stay put right?”  TL NOTE: I think he's suggesting  everyone becomes bait so some people can survive
“---is there no other way?”
“Don’t make that face. It’s  not like we’ll be giving up on the village. We just need to come back when the Ursus leaves.”
There are people comforting the others, but I don’t think everything will go as expected.
That’s because the Ursus king fell down the elf tree while making scraping noises. Could it be that it wants to make this its territory?
If that’s the case there’d be no other way for Egnia and the rest but leave everything as is and abandon the village.
By using the effects of magic the growth of the elf trees was unbelievably fast. Still, even so,  for them to grow this big it was something that couldn’t be done overnight. For the dark elves, who live together with the elf trees, losing them would be the same as losing everything they have. There's no doubt that, unless another village lets them lodge with them, growing the trees this big once more will result in a lot of sacrifices.
“Ok! Let’s leave the village while we give meat smeared with honey to the Ursus” . Everyone nods to the words of the captain. “For now, Sumomo and Prune go prepare the meat with honey. The rest stay here and attract its attention so it doesn’t go into the village”
The two young rangers start running toward the center of the village.
The first elf tree was already shredded to pieces, so the Ursus king had moved to the next one, but it suddenly stopped swinging its claws.
And before Egnia and the rest could finish thinking “What’s going on”, the Ursus king started moving.
Toward the middle of the village.
“Make it stop!”

Instantly, Egnia pulled two arrows from his quiver and nocked them to his bow. He could see in the edge of his field his companions who listened to his order readying their bow to shoot at it.
By using a special skill, he fired 2 arrows simultaneously.
Both arrows strike the giant gody of the Ursus king — and both are repelled.
Next, many more arrows fly across.
The arrows hit the Ursus king in the face or the forefeet and are repelled, they also hit the ground in front and some pierce the trees around. It’s not that they missed. Even though it started moving , it’s gigantic. You could say missing was more difficult. The arrows released were not meant to damage it.
They were meant to get its attention and buy some time.
However the Ursus king didn’t stop, not even for a moment. It just glanced over them.
“What’s this?!”
(This foe is the apex in this ecosystem right? And it’s being attacked by us, who are definitely of lower rank, why would it completely ignore us like this? It doesn’t consider us as weaklings? It is as if thas some sort of goal…Has it attacked some other dark elf village? Does it know there are weak people like children in the middle of the village? That’s why it was coercing us, to try and infer their location? Perhaps ignoring us and aiming for weaker prey is due to this beast learning that way of hunting when it was also weak?!!!)
It makes sense it´s doing all this because in the past it was able to hunt successfully with it. Even if it became a king, an existence who boasts such strength.
If we think of it that way, attacking the elf tree may have had the aim of gathering all the people capable of fighting around itself. If that’s the case, all those contradictions with its strange behavior would make sense.
Surely, even that may be based on one of its successful experiences while hunting. Be it like that, having reached this conjecture, there’s only one option Egnia and the rest can take.
To make sure the Ursus king doesn’t go to the center of the village, the place where all children should be.
“Chase it!”
The captain didn’t need to even tell them the details. Everyone jumped down the bridge and started running on the ground.
If they used the bridge attached to the elf trees, it would be a detour, even if just a bit. Running in a place where the Ursus king can reach with ease was extremely dangerous, however there was no choice but to do it. Besides–
Egnia glares at the Ursus running ahead of them.
– if for some reason, the Ursus turns around and starts attacking us we can buy some time. TL Note: They are ready to become sacrifices
It seems running with that huge body inside the village is difficult for the Ursus, where the elf trees stand one after the other, and even though there’s an overwhelming gap in their speeds, it’s not able to pull ahead. On the contrary, Egnia, who boasts the best physical capabilities between the dark elves, is closing in.
He can hear a scream coming from far ahead.
No one was under attack.
It’s just that the people in the center of the village are now able to see the Ursus approaching.
(Damn it!)
There’s something similar to a town square in the center of the village but it’s not on the ground, it’s a  place similar to a tray suspended in the air, secured to the bridges that extend from the trees.
The Ursus king reached that square and stood up then spread its frightening thick arms and let out a roar once again.
A roar stronger than before, with force enough to make everyone in this place to freeze in place. This square is indeed separated from the ground but the Ursus king could easily reach it with that gigantic body.
Howling that can make you feel the difference in position as living creatures and a body huge enough to fill you with dread. By putting those together it’s no wonder the children and the inexperienced novice rangers present there, who can not even be counted as fighting power, had become petrified with terror.
Seeing this, Egnia throws away his dark elf composite bow and frees both his hands.
That bow is the treasure of the dark elves. The various materials used for the bow are not from this forest but were gathered in the land they inhabited in the past, it was made with those. Repair parts are scarce and it’s not possible to recreate it. Treating it without care like this will certainly earn him a scolding from the elders. However, there’s no time to carefully put it away.
“ooooooooooooh!!”
Egnia roared to grab the attention of the Ursus king and to motivate himself and then jumped toward it. After grabbing onto its huge body he started hurriedly climbing using its rough and hard pelt as handholds.
“--gaaaah!”
The Ursus King violently twisted its body to try and shake Egnia off.
For a moment, his body floated and was almost blown away, pulled by centrifuge force, but he somehow managed to withstand it. He kept going and reached below the back of its head. The rampage of the Ursus king became one step more violent.
Of course it would. Even dark elves would do the same if a bee was buzzing around their necks.
Egnia pushes his body closer to the neck of the king like sticking to it and endures desperately.
It was weird it wouldn’t roll on the ground or scratch with those dreadful claws but for Egnia it was good luck and something he should be grateful about.
He continued to withstand that way.
He realized the villagers inside his blurred field of view, especially the children, were looking his way and he became furious.
“What the hell are you doing?! run!”
He didn’t want to let his voice out but there was nothing to do about it. And as expected as if reacting to his voice the movements of the Ursus king turned more violent.As if to prevent that, arrows started flying their way. With such skilled shooters, even in this situation, they wouldn’t hit Egnia.
However, not even Egnia’s shots had been able to go past a single of its hairs. It doesn’t seem like the arrows are harming the Ursus king. If they can’t scratch it even if the arrows were covered in poison there would be no effect at all.
Egnia puts all his strength into both his arms. Right now, he can’t let go of the Ursus king under any circumstances.
After some time that felt like an eternity the movements of the Ursus king started to become a bit dull. Its continued rampaging may have exhausted it a bit. However the foe is a lord. Even its toughness should not be ruled by common sense. There’s no doubt it will recover quickly and restart its huge rampage.
Egnias hands had gone numb. He will not be able to endure the next one.
This is his last chance.
He reaches with one hand to his hips and unsheathes a short sword.
And then he pulls himself up in one go to a distance he can reach the places that seem weaker in the Ursus, the eyes and the nose. There are places on its nape without a shell.  However, below its thick skin it has bulky muscles. He doesn’t have the confidence to be able to harm it with his short sword.
At that moment Egnia’s body gently flew into the air.
The moment he let go with one of his hands, the Ursus king violently twisted its body.
He was already barely able to cling to it by using all the capabilities of his body, but there’s no way he’d  be able to withstand now that he had let go of one hand and was in that posture.
While his field of view was going around and around he could hear screams coming from somewhere.
(Fuck!)
Having realized what just happened he immediately dropped  his short sword and reached toward his hips. He took out a leather pouch.
He slams onto the ground. The impact squeezed the air out of his lungs and in an instant he went into respiratory failure.
However, even though he’s in pain,  his impatience to get back up is stronger.
Egnia, laying on the ground, meets eyes with the glare of the Ursus king now in front of him.
He can’t move.
He had become petrified by the pressure from the Ursus king in front of his eyes.
He knew that any careless moves would mean his death.
The exhalation for the Ursus king reached him. He’s surprised by the unexpectedly good smell — he was not taken aback to that level.
Egnia felt he was about to burst out laughing.
There’s nothing to think or hesitate about. He had already made up his mind.
(Bring it on! I’ll make you swallow this together with my meat!)
Being eaten by the Ursus king was the worst outcome. He would learn the taste of dark elves after all.
However, what if it didn’t like the taste of said dark elves?
He loosened the opening of the leather pouch he was gripping.
It was the poison that was handed to him beforehand. Based on the size of the Ursus king, this amount was nowhere near enough.
But even if they weren’t able to kill it with this poison, it will remember the taste.
When he opens his mouth to try and eat me I’ll push the pouch with the poison into its mouth together with my arm.
If it attacks me with its claws, that would be the end.
Even if it bites it won’t end with just losing my arm.
Egnia resolved himself.
No, I’ve been prepared for this since long ago.
I had decided to live and die for this village.
Me being stronger than everyone also was surely for this moment right now.
(-- come and try. The dark elves in this village taste so bad i’ll make you want to puke)
The Ursus king turns its sight away.
(-- what the hell?)
After howling once more it started swinging its tail and arms and as if to vent its anger started attacking the elf trees once more. Almost as if It cannot see Egnia in front, but that shouldn’t be the case. Because he for sure felt their gazes cross.
“Egnia! hurry!”
Egnia, who had fallen into confusion without being able to understand the situation, was brought back to reality  by the voice of one of his ranger companions.
He was prepared to be eaten, but it’s not like he wanted to be eaten by choice.
Can we even escape? It seems like the Ursus king is not interested in us but I can clearly see it glancing over here from time to time. Does it have some sort of goal?
(Is running away…the right decision?)
I don’t have a clue. Can’t read a single fragment of its intentions.
When Egnia was reaching the peak of his confusion an arrow came flying across and stuck itself in the elf tree in front of the eyes of the magic beast.
A clear and high pitched noise enough to give one goose bumps spread across like ripples. All the dark elves and even the Ursus king stopped all their movements and as if it had fallen like a sudden rain, everything became damp with sudden silence.
Inside the silence a sweet voice was heard.
“Um…stooop right nooow”
The whole world shined.
Suddenly, the one who showed from behind the elf trees was a dark elf child. Not a resident of this village, however. The kid looked both like an exceedingly cute girl or like a very cute boy. No, if you look closely, it’s a surprisingly lovely young girl. Without thinking –
“--lo, lovely”
Egnia couldn’t contain his voice.
What an unbelievably  lovely girl.  A beauty far superior to the jewel-like shine of dew, formed with the morning mist, falling from the leaves that catches the light of daybreak.
Almost like she herself is shining from inside, a dazzling light.  She must be the reason I thought the world was shining.
Furthermore, the glitter of existence seems to be enveloped by a fragrant smell. Even from this distance the sweet smell drifts in the air all the way here.
Without thinking Egnia starts moving his nose to try and sniff said smell.
He wants to inhale that aroma into his lungs even a little so that his blood will fill his whole body with it.
What’s this fragrance? It’s as if all the cells in his body are dancing in delight.
In the hands of that peerless beautiful girl – she’s wearing gloves, it’s frustrating I can’t see her fingers.
“What is that…”
She’s holding a surprisingly magnificent bow.  An item you can’t but feel amazed by, it’s definitely not just for show, a bow which was stronger than any Egnia had seen before, is what his instincts as a ranger were screaming.
But, who cares about all that.l
That disproportionate bow the girl was holding, that unbalance became just another factor that increased her loveliness.
Everything about her was charming.
It's like she’s sparkling.
“Shooo, shoo, monster! Go! back ooooff! If you rampage more than this I won't forgive you”
Her voice is cute.
Too cute.
Extremely cute.
I should have heard it before but at that time I was engrossed by her beauty so I don't remember it. However now my brain can also react appropriately to her voice. Doing so I feel like I’ll get goosebumps all over.
The peerless beauty firmly thrusts her finger toward the Ursus king.
Why, why won’t won’t she point at me with that finger!
So frustrating!
I’m mortified.
I’m so sad that those beautiful eyes won’t catch a hold of me.
“Gurururu”
The Ursus king lets out a groan.
It’s not trying to intimidate a prey. It’s just scared.
The Ursus king is wary of the peerless beauty.
Of course it is.
Every being would shrink if a peerless beauty like her appeared in front of their eyes. They’d think a goddess had descended on earth.
Of course, there may be people that think magic beasts don’t have such aesthetic sense. Nevertheless, that's a really foolish thought.
Egnia strongly denies it.
He has strong arguments to be able to deny it.
Magic beasts who hold enormous power are beautiful. So paradoxically, if this peerless beauty possesses absolute power it wouldn’t be weird at all.
That’s right. There’s absolutely nothing weird about it.
When the Ursus king hinted it was trying to move, in that instant — Egnia opened his eyes wide.
The peerless beauty had already readied an arrow to her bow.
Egnia had not moved his eyes away from the peerless beauty’s figure, not even for an instant. He should have not wasted time by even blinking once. Even so, she had already nocked an arrow.
No, it’s not actually strange.
She is a peerless beauty as if the world itself had created her. In that case, there’s no doubt she can do something like that.
Egnia held that conviction.
A flash of light runs across —
“Guooooooh!”
— and the Ursus king shrieks.
Who cares what’s in the destination of that arrow. Instead of that I don’t want to move my eyes away from her peerless beauty.
“#,####?! ########!?” TL Note: this are black squares in the novel, the dude is not paying attention to other people
“###!”
“######!?”
Every person around is saying something.
They are so annoying!
(Please shut up! I won't be able to hear when the peerless beauty speaks you know?! )
For Egnia who was trying to make out the voice of that peerless beauty it’s nothing but annoying static noise.
The sound of footsteps from the Ursus king became distant.
“#!? ##################!?”
(Shut up already! If I don’t get to hear that girl’s voice, how are you going to make up for it!?)
“Are you okay?”
The peerless beauty asked me.
To me. No one else. Me!
To me!
Egnia’s body wasn’t able to speak, his body had become petrified because of the excitement. His head wasn’t working, he didn’t know what to say. Even breathing started to become difficult. However taking this attitude would definitely be disrespectful. With his thoughts in disarrange because of the oxygen deficiency, and using all the strength in his body, Egnia squeezes out the best reply.
“guh, I, ok…”
“ hm?....eh?....what?” - Aura
The peerless beauty had a puzzled expression. That expression was also lovely. No, if it’s her, it’s a fact any of her expressions will be cute.
“I’m, I’m sorry. It looks like Egnia is confused because of the terror from the Ursus king” - captain
“Hmmmmm” - Aura
With a flat voice, the  peerless beauty responds to the words of the captain. After that Egnia’s mental state had already recovered a bit and blushed because of his blunder.
“ayy! …ank you…shoot…” - Eg
“......................................? aaaah, ‘thank you for shooting that arrow’ , right?” - Aura
The rangers around too surely recalled what they should be doing first of all regarding this peerless beauty. They all came scrambling down from the trees and bowed their heads toward the peerless beauty and said their thanks.
“O—k, you are welcome!”
That’s wrong!
Yes, it’s incorrect.
I shouldn’t be thanking her for helping us. I have to thank her for showing her figure in front of me!
“ayyyyy!” - Eg
“....you,  are you really okay? Did you receive a huge hit to your head when you were sent flying? Shouldn’t you show it to a priest…would it be a druid here? It could be possible that magic beast had some special power after all” - Aura
“That’s a good idea. It does seem he hit his head, it’s better if we carry Egnia back” - Captain
A stretcher made out of 2 rods and rope was brought in. He doesn’t feel the pain from when he was sent flying but there’s a high chance that the excitement from being able to see such peerless beauty makes it so he doesn’t feel any. Under extreme circumstances  people forget about the pain and are able to take action. In that case, if a peerless beauty appears in front of you it’s just common sense you won’t feel any pain and such.
To be honest, I want to go with her. I want to breathe in the same air. But if , somehow, I’m actually hurt, it may cause pain to the heart of this peerless beauty. Being this cute, there’s no doubt she also has a kind heart. That’s why, that’s a situation I have to avoid at all costs.
Having frantically persuaded himself and his desires, Egnia meekly let himself be carried away.
He follows the back figure of that peerless beauty with his eyes while she’s talking with the captain.
(...why is my heart throbbing this much…It can’t be…love?!!!)
At the age of 240 years, Egnia Blueberry experienced his first love.  TL Note: Aura is 70 and that’s equivalent to 10, so this guy’s age is equivalent to around 34 years, in case you are wondering.