Versatile: Alternate World

Night has fallen and today, I am one of the people who are standing guard alongside the three elves, Renatta, Alena, and Labo. The others went to bed much earlier than expected. I wanted to have Father at least stay on guard duty as well but because of the party we did and the fact that Father got drunk from drinking cold beer Mother and Lina made, there is nothing much I can do about it. 

Now I don't really mind the three elves being with me on guard duty but I only have the closest interaction with Renatta while Alena and Labo are not that much of a talker and they only talk to me whenever they have something to do. So having them with me during guard duty is a bit awkward at times.

But since we were on guard duty, I decided to survey the surroundings. Since we are in a new land, I am a bit anxious about the surroundings and the fact that we had a few antagonistic stares earlier today, I am not sure whether these guys will try to do something to us. It's much better if they don't but there's no harm done if they do.

So to ensure that such attacks would not happen, I started planting traps all over the place around the surroundings of the big walking mansion. I also added a few traps here and there designed from the [Blueprint] skill of Saboteur and placed them all over the place. No matter which area they will try to climb on, once they trigger my trap, then that only means I caught them in the act.

While placing those traps, I also started looking around, trying to see whether someone was hiding in the bushes or was actively hiding in the shadows. So far, I haven't seen anyone just yet but there will always be someone who will appear out of nowhere and I have to ensure that I am not going to be blindsided and get my *ss kicked in the future.

It took me a few minutes to finish the final preparations and all of the traps I laid down are now ready and operating. They won't trigger on animals and will work only on intruders, allowing me to easily see what or who triggered them.

I returned to the mansion grounds to relax while watching and saw the three of them currently sitting in front of the campfire. The campfire is something new that my father made the other night when it was his turn for the guard duty. Since it helps keep the surroundings cold for the people who are on guard duty, everyone agreed that this is the place we will hang out with during the guard duty. 

Renatta saw me return and she smiled as she beckoned me to join them.

"Come here with us, Manato. We just finished our patrol and so far, nothing seems to be off."

I approached them and sat on the log seat that was placed on the campfire and everyone was currently putting mushrooms in the campfire and snacking on them. It's kind of weird seeing elves who usually only eat fruits and vegetables from the wild are now eating food like marshmallows. The fact they have already felt more free to eat what they want in our world and awakening their desires to eat things that weren't part of their culture is something else.

"You know, I kind of reminisce about the time when I was still in the elf village, I kind of remember how tough it has been. And always the life of eating food that we either farmed or searched around, I wouldn't thought that we would stop doing that so soon," Labo chuckled.

"Yeah. Guess we just got too acclimated with the customs of everyone else in your world, Manato. Though I am kind of thankful that you showed us that our way of eating is a bit more reserved and we could just be freer in eating." Alena grabbed one of the sticks that had its marshmallow a bit melted already and swallowed it down in one gulp.

"All thanks to me that you guys would be accustomed to the taste and how it tasted like," Renatta grinned and grabbed one of the marshmallows that were about to melt.

"Oh yeah, Renatta, I am always curious about how you were rescued. Were you also sold like a slave like us when you arrived in Manato-Kun's world?" Alena asked.

"Me? Not really. In fact, I avoided that path entirely and jumped straight from being rescued. Although I didn't learn the specifics, Manato here can tell you all about it since the only thing I remembered was when I just woke up from sleep and found out I was no longer in the forest."

Alena and even Labo shifted their attention to me. "You guys wanted to know? I guess you guys are also curious about how she arrived here as well."

The two nodded. I shook my head for a bit before I answered. "I am sorry that I also don't know how she did arrived here. When I saw her, she was not wearing anything and she was lying on the dump of garbage nearby. I even thought of her as a dead body at first until I realized she wasn't and she was still alive. I tried to rescue Renatta first and was planning to bring her to the hospital to see whether she was okay until I saw her elf ears and that's when I knew that she shouldn't be brought there or else, the people might try to take her captive. Looks like I was right when later on, I would meet you two on that faithful night."

"Hmm, looks like the situation on both Renatta and our situation during our arrival in your world were different. Renatta was a bit lucky since the one who saw her was someone like Manato who immediately thought of what would happen to her in the process. We just got unlucky as someone who works in selling contraband and black market items dude found us and decided to sell us as unique goods," Labo shook his head.

"I wonder if there are any other people aside from us back there huh? Who was fortunate enough to be rescued by a nice person? Who was unfortunate enough to meet someone who sold them? I hope they are safe though," Renatta can only sigh.

We were having a casual talk when I saw a notice appeared in my eyes.

[Your trap has been disarmed.]

[Your trap has been disarmed.]

[Your trap has been disarmed.]

A string of messages involving the trap being disarmed suddenly made me stand up and ready my weapon. Although I thought I would catch them using traps, seeing them disarm my traps still allowed me to discover them either way.

"Huh? What is happening Manato-kun? Why did you stand up?" Alena asked.

"I prepared a few traps for the intruders to get caught on but they instead disarmed it. Someone is approaching."

Hearing that, the three also stood up and ready their bows and arrows. The strings of my traps being disarmed means they are very skilled at disarming them or there are groups of them disarming the traps I laid out and are moving towards us.

"It seems the elves out there have already detected our presence and based on their surveillance earlier the way they are sending someone for us means they don't approve our arrival. Get ready. We should ensure that no one would dare try to enter and attack anyone in the mansion," Renatta sternly said.

"I'm on it!" Alena then slammed her hands to the ground and a green flash of light scanned through the place and a green barrier appeared on the mansion, surrounding it.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Barrier. Anyone will be safe from any intruders trying to enter the mansion. They won't be able to remove or force themselves in unless I allow them to do so. That way, if they ever try to fight us, they can't use the people sleeping inside as hostages. Of course, I trust everyone's skills but it's better if we deal with them rather than let the people sleeping do what we should be doing."

"You guys fine with the elves attacking? I mean, wouldn't you guys be happy that you all will be meeting with them again?" I asked.

"If I managed to return the same day as when I arrived, sure. But now that I have spent long enough time with you and the others, I don't think I would be that happy. In fact, I would prefer if they just kept it nice instead of showing off their hostility immediately, just like now."

PENG!

A dagger appeared but was immediately blocked by Renatta using her bow. Someone else also tried to attack me, but I just countered it and knocked the one who did. We managed to fend it off but now, there are currently 7 cloaked elves who recovered themselves after our counterattack.

Then, one male elf appeared in front of us and stared straight at Renatta. "Welcome back, princess. Now, let's return to the village. The elders are waiting for you."