Chapter 133: 1. Lift Elfriede Up (3)[R-18]
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 133: 1. Lift Elfriede Up (3)[R-18]
‘What is this? Why is this so much fun?’
Maybe it was because my mindset had changed.
To be honest, my previous worries felt foolish; the date with Elfriede was genuinely enjoyable.
The speciesist attitude UseNiceWordsOnly■ had shown in the Gallery was nowhere to be found, no matter how hard I looked.
“Ahahaha! Senior! What should we ride next?”
Just look at that refreshing smile.
How could that possibly be the face of a radical bigot?
To anyone watching, she looked like nothing more than a pure ‘young girl’ enjoying the amusement park, draped in all sorts of souvenirs.
“Oh! How about that one? The one that goes whoosh and drops from the sky!!”
“...No, wait a second.”
Despite Elfriede’s cute and adorable expression, I couldn't grant that request.
“Huh? Why, Senior?”
The ‘Spinning Teacups’ we had just ridden were the problem.
‘Universal Land’ was a place I had visited several times with Evelyn, and the ‘Spinning Teacups’ was a ride I particularly enjoyed because it was one of the few times I could unilaterally torment her.
‘...Now I finally understand how Evelyn felt.’
But...
the moment Elfriede grabbed the handle, I realized that everything I had done up until now was mere child's play.
Whirrr—! Whirrr—! Whirrr—!
“Kyahaha! Kyahahahat!! Kyahahahahat!”
Elfriede, letting out a laugh that bordered on a mad cackle while spinning the handle without a single second's rest, was the definition of terror.
What was especially painful was when, after barely surviving the first round, the first thing she said was, “Let’s go again!”
‘Honestly, I wanted to cry right then.’
However, I managed to endure by reminding myself of my ‘responsibility as an adult’ and my ‘duty as a Manager.’
“...It’s nothing, I just need to use the restroom.”
“Oh! Okay, Senior! Go ahead! I’ll be waiting right here! Ehehe!”
Leaving the beaming Elfriede behind, I walked toward the restroom, doing my best to settle my stomach.
Step—
Once she confirmed Ian had disappeared, Elfriede sat on a bench and nodded to herself.
“...Whew. This is more fun than I thought.”
She had certainly come to ‘Universal Land’ with Ian as her primary objective, but actually going on the rides was incredibly enjoyable.
It couldn't be helped.
Elfriede had been raised in top secrecy within the World Tree for over two hundred years.
She knew what an amusement park was through knowledge, but this was her first time experiencing one.
In particular, the ride where you spun the handle in a teacup was perfectly to her taste.
“Should I ask him to ride it one more time when he gets back?”
It would be the third time in a row, but as long as it was fun, who cared?
“You alone?”
“....”
“I asked if you’re alone.”
Elfriede blinked as she looked at the men who had approached her.
“What? Are you seriously talking to me right now?”
“Who else would I be talking to?”
“...Ha.”
As someone who called herself a ‘Super-Genius Beautiful High Elf,’ Elfriede was well aware that her appearance was extraordinary.
The reason she hadn't attracted much aggro despite such a conspicuous appearance until now was because of the mana leaking from her.
Just as a venomous creature uses vibrant colors to signal its danger, Elfriede used her overflowing mana to warn others of her lethality.
But today’s Elfriede was different.
Since she had prepared thoroughly to seduce Ian, she had completely suppressed her mana so that not even a drop would leak out.
‘Right. Right now, I probably just seem like a normal Super-Genius Frail Beautiful High Elf Girl.’
Therefore, it was possible for flies like the men in front of her to swarm.
“Hey. Don’t annoy me and get lost. This big sister is in a good mood, so I’ll let you go.”
Elfriede waved her hand dismissively at the men.
If she felt like it, she could sweep them all away and slaughter them so they could never open their mouths again, but...
She didn't want to show a violent side during her date with Ian.
“You’ve got a pretty face, but your mouth is pretty foul, huh?”
Reach—
“Sigh...”
Did the three-on-one situation give them groundless confidence?
Elfriede let out a sigh as she watched the man reach for her shoulder.
Sure, in rom-com novels or manga, whenever a date scene appeared, extras like these always showed up.
Usually, it was for a scene where the heroine gets scared and the male lead appears out of nowhere to save her.
However...
Unfortunately for the men in front of her, Elfriede’s genre was not a rom-com.
‘...Should I just break five bones each? Ten for the darkie, as a special service.’
She could forgive them for talking to her since she was so beautiful, but touching her was crossing the line.
As Elfriede was debating which bones to crush—
Dash—! Crack—!
Ian, who had returned from the restroom before she knew it, kicked the man between the legs and then knocked out the other two with uppercuts to the jaw before they even had time to react.
‘...Ho? He’s this good?’
She knew Ian’s muscles were solid just by looking at him through his clothes, but...
She hadn't expected him to possess this level of skill.
Unfortunately, he wasn't a Blessed One of the physical type, so he couldn't pursue that path professionally, but even so, his skills would put him in the top tier among non-blessed individuals.
Grab—!
“Let’s run, Elfriede.”
“Ah! Yes! Senior!”
Having neutralized the men in an instant, Ian grabbed Elfriede’s hand and ran.
*
“Fuck. It was going so well up to that point!!!”
Boom!
Elfriede kicked the air as she relived the memory.
“We were even about to kiss after that!!!”
Surprisingly, it wasn't a lie.
Though there wasn't enough space to write it all here, they had almost kissed on the Ferris wheel they rode after Ian rescued her.
...No, maybe even more than that.
However, the ominous mana she felt right before the kiss and Ifrit’s interference had forced them to stop.
“Fuck! Why is there a public cemetery right next to an amusement park?!”
In truth, Elfriede knew.
It wasn't that a cemetery was built next to an amusement park, but that the amusement park was built because of the cemetery.
In a cemetery where the dead gather, Yin energy naturally accumulates, and once it exceeds a certain level, it causes various ‘ominous phenomena.’
To prevent such phenomena, places overflowing with Yang energy, like ‘Academies’ or ‘Amusement Parks,’ were always built near public cemeteries.
Whoosh—!
A moment later, as Elfriede landed in the public cemetery, a woman came into view.
“You bitch, how dare you ruin my date?”
She recognized the woman’s identity immediately.
An ominous mana at a level impossible for a human to possess.
Long purple hair that reached down to her waist.
And above all, a distinctive physique where one specific part protruded prominently was enough to turn Elfriede’s suspicion into certainty.
“....”
The reason the position of ‘Saintess Candidate’ was created in the Church.
It was the Fallen Saintess, Laura Lavandula.
“You’re going to pay for this today.”
“That bitch... she’s way stronger than I thought.”
Once she confirmed Laura had completely fled, Elfriede sprawled out on the ground.
[...Elfriede.]
“What.”
[Why did you not call for me?]
“Ha, the Elders make such a fuss about not showing you off, how could I call you?”
[Since when did you become so obedient... and even without me, you weren't giving it your all, were you?]
“So what? That bitch wasn't going all out either.”
Elfriede looked around at the ruined cemetery.
The fact that a ‘Contractor of a Spirit King’ and a ‘Special-Class Subjugation Target’ had fought and the place was still recognizable as a cemetery meant neither had been fighting seriously.
[You are not the type to care about such things.]
Usually, Elfriede would beat her opponent to a pulp regardless of whether they were serious or not.
But this time, she had held back her strength to the point that even Ifrit felt a sense of dissonance.
“If I use all my strength, who’s going to clean up the mess?”
[What?]
“I have to fix this place. Fuck, as expected of a ‘Special-Class Subjugation Target,’ she trashes a cemetery and just bails. This is exactly why I told her I’d let her go if she just got lost at the start.”
[...Is that really the reason? You, of all elves?]
“No, seriously. What the hell do you think of me?”
[....]
“Ah, fine! I admit it! If it were just a normal public cemetery, I wouldn't have cared this much. But this isn't just any cemetery.”
Touch—
Fiddling with a fragment of a broken tombstone, Elfriede whispered softly.
“...It’s a place where little kids are buried.”
As mentioned before, places where the dead gather naturally generate ‘Yin energy.’
Among them, the souls of young children who died before living out their natural lifespans produce the thickest Yin energy.
That was why the Empire had poured money into building ‘Universal Land,’ a place overflowing with Yang energy, right next to this specific cemetery for children.
“It’s unfair enough that they died young; how are they supposed to pass on peacefully if someone trashes the place like this?”
[....]
It was this side of her.
It was because of this side that Ifrit had no choice but to trust Elfriede even while being constantly betrayed by her.
Though she had developed a terrible personality due to a flawed upbringing, Elfriede’s fundamental nature was as pure as her appearance.
“Agh!! Whatever. Let’s get started.”
Elfriede brushed the dirt off her dress and closed her eyes, clasping her hands as if in prayer.
“Come.”
Just one word.
But it was enough.
Rumble—!!
Responding to Elfriede’s call, countless lesser spirits gathered, and as if rewinding time, the trashed cemetery began to regain its original form.
[....]
It was a marvelous sight.
Fundamentally, the technique wasn't much different from what she had used to seduce Ian, but the scale and difficulty were on a different level.
Ifrit wondered if even the ‘Dragons’ of the past could have performed the act of reading and restoring the traces engraved upon lesser spirits, which possessed neither ‘ego’ nor ‘instinct.’
“Agh!... Seriously!... Haa!... Fuck... this is... exhausting...!!”
As expected, controlling so many spirits simultaneously was not easy even for Elfriede; beads of cold sweat poured down her entire body.
Clatter—! Thud—!
Having squeezed out the last of her mana to complete the restoration of the cemetery, Elfriede collapsed right there on the ground.
“Ah, seriously... I feel like I’m gonna puke.”
How long had it been since she last felt mana depletion?
She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she hadn't realized it would be this difficult.
The mana used for the restoration was far greater than the mana used in the fight against the Fallen Saintess.
[Elfriede.]
“Ah... what... I know. I did good. I’m freaking tired right now, so don’t talk to me.”
[....]
Even when she deserved praise, Elfriede always had to have the last word.
[Who said I was going to praise you? The way you are lying there is truly unrefined.]
“Seriously... Ha, whatever. I’m really tired, okay? I’m gonna sleep for a bit, so wake me up later.”
[...You intend to sleep in a cemetery?]
“Yeah... I don’t even have the strength to move.... Ha... damn... I just wanted to go on a date, what the hell am I doing...”
With those final words, her stamina completely spent, Elfriede fell fast asleep.
Flick—!
Ifrit flicked some nearby dirt onto her face, but she was closer to being unconscious than merely asleep; Elfriede, who would normally have grumbled immediately, didn't budge.
[Tsk... I suppose it cannot be helped. Just this once.]
He had intended not to interfere in Elfriede’s love life...
But when she showed such a commendable side of herself, it was only natural to want to cheer her on just a little.