The Elf Princess
The princess of the elves.
Elves.
A fantasy race first shaped by Germanic folklore and later codified by Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings — a nature-bound people who lived as one with the forest.
And because Starlight of Dawn was itself a hodgepodge world that freely borrowed from every fantasy setting imaginable, elves existed here as well.
Of course, much like in most other fantasy worlds, they were an extremely closed-off people, and a thoroughgoing sense of racial supremacy — the conviction that humans stood beneath them — ran through the entire race. As a result, the number of elves who appeared in Starlight of Dawn as major or supporting characters was vanishingly small.
At most, the only elves to show up early on were one of the students the protagonist met upon entering the Imperial Academy, and one of the magic professors. That was it.
The real turning point that drove the elves into open contact with humanity was the Demon Realm's invasion — an assault that struck both the World Tree they worshipped and their homeland, the Great Forest.
When their own woods went up in flames, they wasted no time allying with the Empire. From that point on, more and more elven characters began to appear in the story. But for elves to set foot in a human territory of their own free will at this stage of events was, by every measure, deeply strange.
"Should we call a physician?"
"Ugh…!"
"World Tree…"
Felix murmured the words with open concern as he looked down at the elves thrashing restlessly on the bed, muttering in their sleep.
The two elves had taken one look at Tene and collapsed on the spot. The family had hastily laid them out, and the moment they realized that the merchant representatives who had arrived bearing the Hansung logo were, in fact, elves, the entire household had come running.
"Still, it looks as though they disguised themselves to hide the fact that they're elves. I thought it best we keep their identities quiet for now. And judging by the sleep-talking, it doesn't seem to be anything too serious."
When the elves had gone down, Tene had stood frozen, at a complete loss — but Gordon had assessed the situation in an instant and carried them straight into a nearby room. He had then dismissed every servant, so that the only people inside the mansion who knew of the elves' presence were the Evergarden family, Tene, and Gordon himself, who was currently standing watch outside and turning away anyone who approached.
"For now, we should wait until they regain consciousness."
There were any number of questions they wanted to ask, but they agreed to hold off until the elves came around.
A little time passed.
"Ugh… uugh… oh, my head…"
"Where… is this? I was just…"
Bit by bit, the elves began to surface from unconsciousness. They pushed themselves upright, blinking as they took in their surroundings and tried to gather their wits.
"Humans…?"
"…Huh? Wh-what?! The distortion magic—! Shalle!"
"Huh? Wha—?! Hic!"
The moment they registered the Evergarden family's eyes fixed on them as they lay on the bed — and, more to the point, the long, pointed ears twitching atop their own heads — the elves jolted in panic and scrambled to yank their hoods up. It was useless. Everyone in the room already knew what they were.
"Please, set your minds at ease. The only people who know your identities are those present here and my butler. We have every intention of keeping your secret, so you may rest easy."
"…You had better keep that word, human."
"Th-thank you…! If I mess up again, the elders are going to throw another fit for sure…"
"Shalle! How dare you grovel before humans!"
"But Lio, they seem nice…"
"Humans are all pretenders and liars…!"
As the two of them flailed about in flustered disarray, Freya approached with a gentle smile and calmly assured them that their secret would be safe. The response came in two distinct flavors.
Just as my daughter said — quite the chosen-people complex. The male is reacting rather sharply.
The female, though, seems amicable enough. Soft-natured.
"Still… the food was really good~ Hehe."
…Or perhaps a little simple-minded.
On one side stood the male elf named Lio, glaring daggers as though Freya's words had personally offended him. On the other, the female elf Shalle offered a guileless smile and bobbed her head in thanks.
"You two are elves, correct? You've come all this way to such a modest territory, and I'm afraid our hospitality has fallen rather short."
Reading their reactions, Freya turned naturally toward Shalle.
"Oh, no, not at all! Being an elf just means we live a long time and have long ears — that's all! Honestly, I find that more of a burden than anything."
"Indeed. At least you understand how inadequate you are. This is precisely why humans are so barbaric."
"Lio! That's rude!"
"…Hmph."
"Heh heh. Not at all. Still, you collapsed so suddenly — we were quite alarmed. Are you feeling all right?"
"Yes! Nothing wrong with me at all."
"You there, human! What in the world was that presence?! How could the likes of you humans possibly radiate such an aura?!"
The moment the conversation turned to why the elves had fainted, Lio — who until then had been sulking with his face turned away — wheeled on Freya and jabbed an accusing finger at her.
"That dreadful, colossal…! That thing so terrifying one could scarcely call it a living creature — what was it?!"
Cold sweat beaded on Lio's brow as he dredged up the sensation he had felt just before losing consciousness.
It had been utterly horrifying.
He had merely sensed a presence, and in that instant his mind had nearly come undone — a vast, dizzyingly dense concentration of mana, so thick it felt almost solid.
It was similar to the mighty power radiated by the World Tree he served, and yet the texture of it was entirely different.
It was as though every scrap of hatred and rage in the world had been compressed and roughly molded into something resembling a "person" — a sensation so dreadful it defied description.
It was the raw, overwhelming force that a being of an utterly different caliber simply exhaled by existing.
"Did someone call me?"
Then, from behind the family, a voice seemed to answer the summons. Tene's ears perked, and she stepped into view, scratching her head with awkward uncertainty.
"Whoa… whoa whoa…! Real elves! I've never seen an elf before! Wow… their ears really are that long…"
In her past life, Tene had been a student who adored fantasy.
And the one thing she loved almost as much as dragons was elves.
Noble origins, exquisite beauty, and the image of a lithe, peerless archer — it was a combination that spoke directly to a gamer's heart. Her main account in every RPG she played had been an elven marksman.
So standing face-to-face with actual, living elves made her heart hammer in her chest.
When she had first realized what they were, they had already collapsed, and the shock had left no room for any other thought. But now that she was about to speak to them properly, she was trembling with excitement.
"I-I'm Tene! Nice to meet y—"
She shuffled forward, nodding as she tried to offer a greeting—
"Ghk…! Gaaah…! Grrrk—"
"M-Momma… blurgh—"
—and both elves simultaneously rolled their eyes back, frothed at the mouth, and fainted clean away once more.
"U-um…"
"Yes! Eternal Night, Tenebrix Nox!"
"I-I'm not… tasty… please spare me…"
Why is there a dragon in a human territory…?! And not just any dragon — the Black Dragon Tenebrix Nox, said to be the most powerful and savage of them all! And why are these humans so completely unfazed with a dragon standing right there?! What in the world are these people?!
I'm dead. Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. Your worthless daughter is going on ahead to the World Tree's side. I only made it to two hundred and forty-seven… aigoo, my short little elven life ends here!!! And there's still so much food I haven't tried!!!
After fainting a second time and clawing their way back to consciousness, the elves bolted upright the instant their eyes opened, slammed their foreheads to the floor, and begged for their lives.
"I-if you'll just spare us…!"
"I-I barely have any meat on me… I'm all bones…! So please eat Lio instead of me…! Lio probably has more to chew on…!"
"This isn't what I wanted…"
Tene could only stare down at the elves quaking at her feet, utterly at a loss, and glance helplessly behind her.
"Hmm… actually, this works out rather well, doesn't it? One word from her and they're already terrified out of their minds. Let's squeeze them for information right now."
"No need for anything complicated. This is a much simpler solution."
The couple watching the scene, however, decided this was a stroke of luck. They simply flashed Tene a pair of thumbs-up.
"Hey. Listen carefully. We're going to ask you a few very simple questions. If even one of your answers turns out to be a lie — just one — our Tene here is going to go right ahead and— WHAM!!!"
"Eeeek!!!"
"Kyaaaaah!!! Spare us!!!!"
"Ahahaha!! This is actually pretty fun!"
"This really isn't what I was going for…"
Darian strode up to the two elves, who were still pressed forehead-to-floor and shaking like leaves, and delivered the threat with genuine menace. The sight of their faces going bone-white sent him into a booming, thoroughly entertained laugh.
"First question. This — who drew it?"
At last, Darian held out the document that had been giving him a splitting headache for days: the one bearing the Hansung logo.
"Th-this…? Why are you…"
"You gonna answer, or do I have to—?!"
"Elkyaaaaaaah!!!!!!! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!!!!!!!!!! Spare the elves!!!!!!"
Still trembling on the floor, Shalle blinked up at him in bewilderment when he asked about her merchant company's logo — until Darian barked the threat again, and she let out a full-throated scream.
"Th-that…! The princess! The princess drew it!!! We didn't draw it!!!!"
"The princess?"
She blurted the answer in a full-blown panic.
The elf princess.
She was the one who had drawn the logo.