Chapter 737

Chapter 737

I Need to Change the Plan. (1)

Ereneth had always been a little different from the other elves since she was young.

She was born with an exceptional talent for spirit arts and combat.

Whenever she learned one thing, she grasped ten more, and even without learning, she would invent her own combat techniques.

It was rare for an elf to be gifted in battle. After all, combat only held meaning when one fought and triumphed over another.

And that was the kind of talent that least suited the elves.

She was also brimming with curiosity. She would often sneak off to visit elves who had returned from the cities and listen to their stories of the outside world.

‘The forest is too boring. Yesterday is the same as today. Nothing ever changes. But the human world is new every single day.’

As time passed, Ereneth accumulated more and more knowledge about the outside world. And with it, her longing for it grew stronger.

The Great Chieftain and the Elders watched her with concern. There had been elves before who had harbored such excessive admiration for the human world, only to end up hurt in the end.

― I’m all grown up now! I can be the ‘One Who Speaks the Voice of the Forest’ too!

At some point, Ereneth began pleading to be allowed to go out into the world beyond.

Naturally, the Elders refused. In their eyes, Ereneth wasn’t ready to face the outside world.

Though she didn’t show it outwardly, the continued rejection filled Ereneth with disappointment.

‘Why not me?! Even those weaker than me got to go to the city! I’m strong! I’m stronger than Sylarn!’

Elves didn’t compare strength to determine superiority. But Ereneth was already thinking in a way unbecoming of an elf.

With no other choice, she wandered the forest every day, honing her spirit arts and training her combat techniques. It was the only joy she had left.

Then came news of an intruder. She wanted to join the pursuit squad but was denied for some unknown reason.

Fuming, she left the village to train on her own only to encounter the intruder herself.

A human from the outside world, someone she had so longed to see. Ereneth immediately wanted to claim this human for herself.

‘This isn’t my fault. It’s the Great Chieftain and the Elders who wouldn’t let me go outside. I just have so many questions for this human.’

Thus, rationalizing her actions, she prioritized her personal curiosity and desire over her duty as an elf.

Of course, Ereneth knew that humans were very good at lying. She didn’t fully believe Ghislain’s words.

‘For now, I’ll pretend to believe him and let his guard down. If I coax him gently, I’ll get to the truth. Either way, he is fascinating, after all.’

She planned to deceive Ghislain and keep an eye on him for now. That was because she now had something she wanted to do with this human.

Of course, Ghislain noticed her true intentions from the brief expressions and tone of her voice.

‘Tsk, tsk, far too clumsy.’

At Ereneth's current level, there was no way she could fool Ghislain’s eyes. Her lack of experience was too apparent.

Still, it was a bit surprising to see such a charming side of Ereneth.

‘Well, that’s normal at her age.’

Hadn’t he himself been a troublemaker when he was young? Ereneth, too, was capable of showing many different sides.

‘Hmm, now that I think about it…….’

In the future, she would come to possess the dignity and nobility befitting the title of Great Chieftain of the Elves. Yet, she would still occasionally display a slyness that didn’t suit her image.

Until he came to this time, Ghislain had believed her character had been forged by the war with the Demonic Abyss. But now, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

‘……So, it was her innate disposition.’

Every time he looked at Ereneth, he understood why elves were called a noble race. But sometimes, he couldn’t help thinking she wasn’t quite like an elf.

That discordance seemed to stem from her true nature.

The future Ereneth had cultivated herself enough to hide her nature, but for now, it was inevitable that she lacked such self-discipline.

‘Might as well make the most of it. Better to draw out some information while she’s still naïve about the world.’

Ghislain was a master at extracting information even from the most casual conversations. He resolved to use this opportunity to build a deeper connection with Ereneth.

But he would soon come to realize how arrogant that thought had been.

“I told the Elders so many times, but they kept saying no! So, I decided I’d sneak out on my own…… Are you even listening to me?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m listening.”

“Is it because you’ve been on the run? You look really tired.”

Ghislain’s face had already grown haggard. For good reason.

‘Wh-What a chatterbox.’

Ereneth, for some reason overjoyed, chattered non-stop. At first, Ghislain played along, but eventually he grew too exhausted and merely nodded.

Even Ghislain who had been hardened by Belinda’s nagging and Claude’s nonsense was no match for Ereneth’s endless chatter.

― Sis… Just kill me…

― Master, please shut her up. I beg you. Just silence that mouth. I don’t want to know any more about elven personal lives.

Even Astion and Dark were so worn out they stuck out their tongues in defeat. Unable to endure it any longer, the two forcibly shut down their own consciousness.

Seeing Ghislain’s worn-out expression, Ereneth pouted and snapped at him.

“What? Are you bored with my story?”

“No, it’s just… I’ve been a little distracted trying to stay alert to our surroundings.”

“Hmph, you don’t need to worry about that. I’ll handle everything.”

And indeed, Ereneth had done a good job hiding Ghislain.

She sent spirits out to confirm there was no danger nearby, and if any elves did sense something strange and came to investigate, she would hide Ghislain and lie on his behalf.

Every elf believed Ereneth without a shadow of doubt. The bond between elves was remarkable the more one saw it.

That these very elves would become such disasters in the future… it was hard to believe even as he watched.

At Ereneth’s confident words, Ghislain gave a pale nod.

“R-Right. I’ll trust you. Where were we?”

“So yeah, the problem with us elves is that we’re way too closed off. We don’t even properly exchange with humans, and we’re not allowed to go out freely. No wonder we haven’t progressed at all, even after hundreds of years. So, I…”

Ereneth went on for quite some time about how dull, repetitive, and boring the life of elves was. She clearly had a lot bottled up inside.

How much time had passed? Maybe because she had finally let everything out, her face looked noticeably brighter.

“Sorry, I talked way too much, didn’t I? I can’t say stuff like this around here. But talking about it like this… I feel so much better. Thanks for listening.”

Ereneth gave a shy smile, looking a little embarrassed. Seeing her like that, Ghislain couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

If nothing else, the expression she showed right now was undeniably genuine.

To suspect someone as an intruder and yet become chummy with them this quickly—

Though she was said to be rather cunning for an elf, Ereneth still possessed the purity typical of her kind.

“Ah, now you tell me your story. What kind of life did you live out in the world?”

Finally, it was his turn. Ghislain grinned.

As a mercenary, he had heard all sorts of incredible tales and had been part of many unbelievable incidents himself.

He was confident he could completely captivate a naïve elf who longed for the outside world.

“Not to brag, but I’ve done all kinds of things.”

Ghislain began recounting his experiences, adding a bit of embellishment here and there. As the story unfolded, Ereneth’s eyes sparkled more and more.

For someone who had lived her entire life in the forest, Ghislain’s stories were more stimulating and refreshing than any game or entertainment.

“Really? So, what happened next?”

“Did that actually happen?”

“Wow, you’re amazing!”

“I want to be a mercenary too! It’s so free!”

Ereneth listened to Ghislain’s stories with repeated amazement.

When the listener reacts enthusiastically, the storyteller enjoys it even more. Ghislain put on a deliberately smug expression and boasted.

“That’s right, I’m that amazing. That’s how I was able to receive the Revelation. But you know…”

He continued the conversation naturally and slipped in a question he was curious about.

“It seems like my abilities don’t work too well here. Even when I was hiding, the elves somehow found me. You found me too. How do you do that?”

“Oh, that! How we know is…”

Ereneth began to speak but suddenly bit her lip hard. Then she gave another shy smile and said,

“That’s a secret. We’re not close enough to share secrets yet, are we?”

‘Ah… she was like this even back then. Never talks about the important things.’

Ghislain clicked his tongue. It seemed unlikely that he’d uncover the secret to how they detected him anytime soon.

The northern forest was still a fair distance away. The two of them talked nonstop as they traveled.

“All elves are equal. We just have representatives, that’s all. But I heard in the human world, there’s something called status?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard the coolest kind of human is a prince on a white horse.”

Ghislain hesitated for a moment. It was hard to figure out how to explain this to someone with so little knowledge of the human world.

That sort of thing only existed in storybooks, after all.

“A prince on a white horse… well, there’s Alfoi…”

“Huh? Is Alfoi a prince?”

“Not exactly…”

If there was anyone who could be described as prince-like, it would be someone he knew.

Not now, but someone who would be reincarnated as a prince in the future.

“You’ll get to meet someone like that soon. There’s a guy named Julien. He’s cooler than most real princes.”

“Really? I’d love to meet him someday. Ah, I really want to go to the outside world soon. I want to have the kind of adventures I’ve only heard about in stories.”

Ereneth’s expression sparkled with anticipation. Having yet to experience the ugliness of the human world, she imagined it only as a beautiful fairytale.

Ghislain gave a bitter smile. He now understood why the older elves placed such emphasis on education.

‘Ereneth must have received the same education too.’

Maybe it was just the nature of elves. Even with a sense of caution, they still preferred to believe in dreams more than reality.

Thanks to that, though, Ghislain grew closer to Ereneth faster than he expected. After all, it was only natural after sharing so many conversations.

Though she still had some wariness toward humans, much of the initial awkwardness had faded.

As they neared the northern forest, Ereneth’s expression subtly hardened. Noticing this, Ghislain asked,

“I’ve only heard that there’s a problem in the northern forest. What exactly is going on right now?”

Ereneth stopped walking for a moment, deep in thought. She seemed to be deciding how much she should reveal.

After a short pause, she resumed walking slowly and finally spoke.

“We’re almost there. You’ll be able to see the northern forest soon. But to give you a brief explanation… there was a war.”

“A war?”

“Do humans not know about it? In the high mountains of the northern lands live the fierce and rugged orcs. They’re called the Red Fang Tribe. We’ve been fighting them again and again.”

“Hm… so you’ve been fighting orcs. We humans don’t know much about the areas around the Elven Forest.”

The Elven Forest and its surrounding lands were all classified as neutral zones. This meant humans couldn’t expand their territory there.

If a human city were established close to an elven settlement, contact between humans and elves would inevitably increase. For that reason, the elves permitted only one trading city beyond the forest.

The rest of the region was essentially untouched wilderness where no human presence was allowed.

‘That’s why there are more monsters in this era than in ours.’

Aside from the Elven Forest, many other regions existed where the influence of the kingdoms didn’t reach, and monsters roamed freely. The lords cared only about protecting their own territories.

No wonder the most common mercenary contracts were for monster exterminations and escort missions to protect against monster attacks.

When Ghislain admitted his ignorance, Ereneth continued her explanation.

“We don’t fight them every day. It’s just that every few years, those bastards come raiding. They’re after the bounty of our forest.”

“So, the northern forest was invaded by those guys?”

“Yeah, it’s the forest closest to their territory. But of course, like always, we drove them out. In the forest, we’re invincible.”

A proud expression appeared on Ereneth’s face as she said that.

Elves were wary of human greed, selfishness, and unrestrained emotions but that didn’t mean they denied emotions altogether. Naturally, they too experienced a wide range of feelings.

In fact, their pride and arrogance in their own race were arguably stronger than that of any other species.

Wise elves knew how to control their emotions, but Ereneth had not yet reached that level of self-discipline.

Her face twisted into a scowl, and she clenched her teeth in anger.

“But those vile bastards completely ruined our forest. I guess they were so furious at never being able to take it, they resorted to something truly filthy this time.”

“What… did they set it on fire or something?”

“Fire? That’s not a problem. No matter how many times they set fires, we can easily put them out.”

“Then what did they do?”

Ereneth stared at Ghislain with a chilling gaze and said,

“They joined hands with human Black Mages.”

Ghislain slowly looked around. Suddenly, his surroundings appeared oddly distorted; he must have crossed the boundary into the forest.

What met his eyes was…

A forest where everything had melted away and was rotting to the core.

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