'I should not fight anymore. I feel I will not win this fight if I push for it. The best way to do this would be to retreat for now.'

Brother Gustav decided quickly. He looked at his guard before realizing that it had been knocked out.

Everyone else besides him had been knocked out, and the noble girl was still looking at him, waiting for him to answer her.

Not wanting to be a victim again, Brother Gustav decided to take the temporary truce offered. He needed a little more time to form a new plan.

*Sigh*

"I don't know what these sinners told you to get in your good grace, miss. But I assure you they all are liars who cannot do any good. But since you are still adamant about these dark elves, I've got no choice but to look the other way."

Brother Gustav forced himself to stand up. He tried to go after Mary and keep an eye on her and the elf, but Layla snapped her fingers, and magic halted him where he stood.

'Dark it! That little girl was a magician as well? And she had no intention of letting me have my way from the start! What a disaster.'

Brother Gustav should have no problem snapping a spell cast by a kid. He was strong enough to fight demons, so a small spell like this should have been unimportant.

However, when he tried to move and break the spell, it did not happen. Instead of breaking the spell, Brother Gustav became even more tired and bound him more harshly.

The temple person gritted his teeth as he stood there, defeated by a kid he did not know or think of as significant.

Mary came back out soon with Kolvar in her arms. The dark elf was unconscious, and his body had visible signs of abuse.

His dark skin had some purple and green patches that could only come after blood had started clotting after an ugly beating.

"I thought the temple's mantra was to 'be gentle and kind to all'? I don't see that kindness anywhere."

Layla asked, but Brother Gustav kept quiet about this.

He could not show mercy to a sinner like a dark elf. But that concept was too bothersome and complicated to explain to a kid, so he kept quiet.

Layla did not push him to explain, either. She walked past him and headed toward Mary and the elf in her arms.

"Is he alright? Will he live?"

Layla asked, and Mary nodded.

"He'll live. Dark Elves have strong life forces to heal from most traumas. Physically, he'll be just fine. But I cannot say the same about him mentally. We might need to help him out with that."

Mary did not sound worried, but her words made Layla slightly anxious.

But what was done was done. She could not go back in time and wipe off all the bad things that happened.

Kolvar had already suffered his injury, and Layla could only hope that he would survive it.

"Let's take him back to the Dark Elves now. As for you, the commander of this small camp. You should head back now. All the Dark Elves are under the authority of Duke Lockhart. You will not find anything of value here."

Layla informed the man, and she did so for his good. She wanted him to know there was no benefit to his being here, so he might as well head back now and stop bothering the people.

Brother Gustav made a face between frustrated and disappointed, showing he understood what Layla was asking him to do.

He did not say, but what other choice did he have when the situation was clear?

Ultimately, the man decided to pull back and regather his part. He waited before Layla and Mary were gone and helped his party out as much as possible.

Miraculously (or maybe because that was what Mary aimed for), no one had died in his party. However, many of his people were badly injured and needed medical attention.

"B-Brother Gustav! I am sorry! I tried to stop that maid, but she was too-"

One of his subordinates tried to reason with him by telling him what happened. But Brother Gustav was not in the mood to listen to him.

"It's fine! I understand that there was nothing you or any of us could have done against that maid. She was far too powerful…to the point that it makes me suspicious that she was even human."

Brother Gustav thought about what happened again, and he felt certain that the two people who claimed to be from Duke Lockhart's household were not humans.

Their power and control were inhuman, and then there was that calmness and certainty in their eyes and actions.

"W-Wait-! Leader, are you saying that-"

"Those two might not have been humans, to begin with, but demons are posing as humans to try and trick us. After all, what kind of sensible human would want to help Dark Elves out?

I will send a letter to the temple, asking for reinforcements. This situation has gotten out of my hand now."

Brother Gustav decided that he knew would only be in his favor.

As long as the reinforcements from the temple arrived and helped him out, he knew he could win.

Moreover, if that happened and those two culprits who attacked him did turn out to be from the Ducal household, it would only make the temple target, and not him personally.

This way, Brother Gustav could avoid getting implicated alone and form more bonds in the temple with what happened.

It was like killing two birds with one stone, and he could not help but consider his plan perfect.

Now, he needed only to reach the right person in the temple, and he was set for life. His road to the future looked smooth.

He only needed to act like a 'nice' subordinate and a faithful man of the temple.