Common Sense for Elves Is Perseverance (2)
“I-I really thought it was a proposal…!”
The 1st-floor guardian actually existed? (X) Suddenly talking about the World Tree’s authority now! (X)
“?”
What the hell? Something feels off.
I carefully retraced my memories. And then I realized it. The content from the Elvish Translator and the actual dialogue had swapped…!
“Huk!”
While I was shivering, wondering if I’d finally gone insane, Lemon and Apple had already switched into spectator mode. They were munching on fried peas from a distance, and seeing their reactions made me realize I hadn’t misheard.
“E-Eve? What do you mean by….”
“…Oh my? Why are you making that face over something I said?”
If you don’t want your mouth shut, pretend you didn’t hear anything (X) We’re screwed! Please just act like you didn’t hear! (O)
“…….”
Before I knew it, Eve had returned to her usual suspicious smile, squinting those narrow eyes as she tilted her head. She looked so nonchalant that I briefly wondered if I’d just hallucinated what I saw and heard a moment ago.
But then I noticed the Unicorn Dagger rolling on the floor, drenched in the red sap of the mandrake, and realized everything was real. And that the Elvish Translator might never have malfunctioned even once.
Sitting on the sofa, I crossed one leg over the other and flashed a grin.
“Eve.”
“Just a moment. Let me clean up the mandrake first, so if you could wait a little….”
“You said ‘proposal’ just now, didn’t you?”
“…I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Her lips were curved upward, but her eyes weren’t smiling. Those razor-sharp narrowed eyes, the innate difference in status, and the charisma forged from her experience as queen combined into a considerable pressure. It was like an instinctive warning that taking even one more step forward would lead to something terrible. The sensation went beyond a chill down my spine—it felt like someone had poured ice water straight along it.
But… I know Eve very well. Just like Elly, she’s a character born from my own hands. So I perfectly understood that this atmosphere was all just a bluff.
Instead of trembling or backing off, I started thinking. Piecing together fragmented information to deduce the truth might be the detective’s domain, but weaving those little details into something entertaining regardless of truth or falsehood? That’s the writer’s territory, isn’t it?
The still-active Basileus, the one-time wish I’d promised in exchange for the dagger’s production cost, Lemon and Apple’s strange attitude ever since the authority manifested, the proposal comment, the translator that hadn’t malfunctioned, and the bluff. I crafted the perfect story to poke at Eve using all of it as material.
“Let’s see… Come to think of it, I did promise you one thing, Eve. That I would use this power just once for your sake.”
I tapped the ash tree crown on my head a couple of times as I spoke.
True to her pro-level misunderstanding skills (or not), Eve maintained her composure and tilted her head.
“Yes, you did. It was a bit surprising, but I invested in your potential, Yona. And you’ve already shown results this quickly.”
Where should I use it to make the rumor spread that I used it well? (X) Usurper and former queen roleplay, here we go! (O)
Looking into Eve’s true feelings brought a smile to my face. As expected. She must have been incredibly lonely all this time.
Eve Nirvana’s setting regarding romantic relationships was only one thing: ‘virgin.’ In other words, the fact that Eve was a virgin hadn’t changed. The unicorn horn had reacted most strongly to her, after all.
Obviously, ‘virgin’ here didn’t simply mean the presence or absence of a hymen. It meant she had never held any man in her heart and had never engaged in even the slightest lewd act.
But how could any person live nearly a thousand years in complete isolation from the opposite sex? It was truly absurd… but what if it had actually happened?
The answer was right in front of me.
Eve Nirvana Yggdrasil. I didn’t know exactly why she had lived as a virgin for a thousand years in this gender-reversed world. However, if I imagined myself having to live as a virgin for a very, very long time in a young body, I could easily guess how she felt.
In that situation, what would Eve think while holding the one-time wish I had promised her?
“Hehe. So, Eve, where exactly were you planning to use that promise I made—that I would use the World Tree’s authority just once for your sake? A proposal? Don’t tell me… you’re going to waste that precious opportunity on marrying me?”
“…I have no idea what you mean by suddenly bringing up a proposal.”
Go ahead and keep talking. If your neck can stay attached, that is (X) Can’t you please talk about something else? (O)
Judging by her reaction, it looked like I had hit the mark. Something else? Of course not. Absolutely not.
Eve put on a seemingly relaxed smile. I returned an even deeper smile and shrugged my shoulders.
“I heard it loud and clear. Are you really going to pretend you don’t know? Oh, and just to be clear, what I promised was only to use the World Tree’s authority for your sake, right? It’s not that I’ll do whatever you say,”
Eve flinched at my casual attitude. I deliberately activated the power of Basileus right in front of her.
Woooong—
The ash tree crown devoured nearly all of my remaining divine power. At the same time, the plants in the pots placed throughout the shop began to grow rapidly. Vines wrapped around the sofa where I was sitting. Eve gulped as she stared at the meaningfully grown greenery.
I grinned at her. If the translator’s output was true, there couldn’t be an easier opponent than this.
“The first thing that came to your mind was a proposal… So you’ve been looking at me that way all this time, Eve?”
“Well… I wonder….”
How dare a mere human like you judge me (X) She found out she found out she found out she found out (O)
On the surface, Eve maintained her sly, relaxed smile. But now I believed it. The current Eve was completely flustered, thinking she had been found out!
Normally I would have backed off here, but today I decided to push even deeper. I leaned sideways against the sofa’s armrest as if lounging. My clothes naturally rode up. I put effort into every gesture, evoking a decadent beauty that didn’t match my small frame—labored breathing, an open collar revealing my collarbone.
The moment Eve’s narrow eyes focused entirely on me, I asked again in a suggestive voice.
“Come on. There’s no need to hide it. We’re close, aren’t we, Eve? …The kind of relationship where we share things like this.”
With that, I casually fiddled with the Unicorn Dagger at my waist. It wasn’t a threat that I would draw it. I just wanted to show how it kept vibrating and emitting white light every time my fingers touched it.
Even though it was sheathed, the reaction was so intense that anyone paying attention could tell. That the dagger was reacting to me.
In other words, I was advertising the fact that I was still a virgin.
If it was the Eve who had inwardly cheered “Wow! A virgin!” last time, she was bound to react…!
Gulp.
Just as I expected. Eve swallowed hard without changing her expression. Thanks to those slyly narrowed eyes, it was hard to notice, but her gaze was clearly licking all over my body.
Her long experience wasn’t for nothing. While her mouth kept running on its own,
“Yona? This is difficult to say, but don’t you think you’re being too rude? Barging in suddenly and cornering me like this….”
Enough with the bullshit (X) Whoa, that body! (O)
“Cornering you? Saying it like that makes me sound like the bad guy, which hurts my feelings. I just want to know. What it is you want from me, Eve. …And what the World Tree’s authority means to an elf.”
This time I gave a short glance toward Lemon and Apple, who had only been watching from behind. At the same time, thin vine-like plants coiled around my wrists and ankles. Some of the plants from the nearby pots that I had been steadily growing with Basileus had finally reached the sofa.
To me, who held control over most of the plants in this area, it felt no different from crossing my arms… but to an outsider, it probably looked like I was being bound by tentacles.
I kept my faint smile and quietly watched Eve. She stopped making excuses and simply looked down at me.
…Well, her gaze was a bit lewd, but since I was busy admiring her voluptuous chest that didn’t suit an elf, we were even.
We stared at each other in silence for a long time, but eventually Eve moved first. She let out a deep sigh while lightly raising both arms in a gesture of surrender.
“I suppose there’s no helping it. You and I are partners, Yona. If you insist on hearing it, I can’t stop you.”
It’s too late to turn back now, so prepare yourself (X) I wanted to fatten you up a bit more before devouring you, but I guess it can’t be helped (O)
I was momentarily shocked by how blatantly shameless her inner thoughts were. Then Eve opened her eyes wide. Between her spread eyelids were eerily beautiful green irises.
With her Eyes of Truth activated, Eve spoke in a deliberately chilly voice.
“It may be unfamiliar to you as a human, Yona. This story takes place in the distant past. Not long after the War of the Fallen Gods ended, we elves….”
“Yep, yep. It’s a story from when you were queen, right, Eve?”
“……?”
Eve froze stiff as if someone had hit the pause button after having the initiative stolen from her. That’s right. This was supposed to be a secret, wasn’t it?