Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Origin of the Great War
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Due to the sudden attack by the lakeside, the peddlers hadn't been able to pack up all the goods they'd laid out on the ground.
Beren considered picking up one of the scattered items like everyone else.
But instead, he headed up to the highest sky island with his companions.
A variety of beings were chatting there.
Other dwarves welcomed Beren's group.
"Hey~ Did you bring the goods okay?"
"Yeah, we brought the analysis device and even the one that checks magic arrays."
"And these humans?"
"The brown-haired one here is called Iren—he's a powerhouse who can help us out this time. And the one next to him is his companion."
"Oh?! For real?!"
"Pleased to meet you, dwarves."
While receiving the dwarves' warm welcome and hearing various stories, Beren sensed something off.
"Why are there so many elves here...?"
"What do you think is the reason all those pointy-ears gathered?"
"It's the spirits."
"Spirits?"
"Ah... Come to think of it, you said this is your first time here? Basically, what happened was..."
Beren heard the reason the elves had gathered on the highest sky island and felt his mind go blank.
"You can meet wind spirits that won't attack if you ride that device? So that's why the elves are here..."
"As you can see, all the spirits around here unleash attacks if you get too close."
"The pointy-ears' biggest wish right now is to get friendly with the spirits again, so they have no choice but to flock here."
"There's a good reason for it, but... it's kinda annoying."
"That's exactly what I'm saying!!"
"No!! They're crowding the place too much! Look at those pointy-ears' faces right now, human!"
As the dwarves said, Beren glanced at the elves' faces and spotted some grinning with creepy, perverted expressions.
Seeing that soured Beren's mood, so he quickly turned his head away.
"Iren, we get why seeing those pointy-ears right now would put you in a bad mood."
"I-I didn't realize the elves missed the spirits this much."
"Well... they're just reaping what they sowed."
"Even so, it was the hardline elves who staged the coup and did awful things to the spirits, so it's a bit pitiful how it turned out."
"Hm? Iren, you know about the Great War?"
"Ahahaha, more or less."
"Well, well... you're a proper human after all?"
"These days, humans don't even care about the Great War, but you're strong and knowledgeable too! We've got ourselves a real gem here!"
Soon, the two adventurers listening to Beren and the dwarves chimed in, curious about the story.
"We only know that the elves split from the spirits after the Great War. Is there more to the internal story?"
"With those guys ahead of us, it'll take forever anyway. Want me to tell you?"
"Sure!"
"Ahem, well... Long ago, the pointy-ears had a first princess and first prince. The princess inherited the throne, right? But her head was full of flowers."
"She went and split the power with the prince. What do you think happened next?"
"No way—the prince seized the rest of the power?"
"Spot on. The princess got exiled, and the prince took the throne. But she was so beloved that most of the high-ranking pointy-ears refused to recognize him as king—"
"But was that why they split from the spirits?"
"No, not that. Let me finish."
The dwarves shot annoyed glances at the elves grinning like perverts and let out deep sighs.
"To unify a chaotic nation and fill the legitimacy gap, there's only one way to rack up achievements."
"...War?"
"Yeah, that lunatic declared he'd expand the territory and crushed the surrounding weak races with his followers."
"It went great at first~ Even the other pointy-ears were thrilled about raising the race's status. But he got too cocky and poked the gangsters."
"What? G-gangsters?"
The dwarves forgot the adventurers were young humans who hadn't even been born back then.
They added more details.
"The demons who aren't here now—those demons. Back then, they didn't invade other countries and just took tribute from the neighbors."
"So he figured dealing with those gangsters around the pointy-ears' nation would secure his throne completely, and since their lands were tiny, it seemed doable. But the pointy-ears got utterly wrecked."
"After breaking inter-nation treaties, attacking without declaration, they begged help from other races with mutual defense pacts to fend off the swarming demons."
"That's when the orcs, trolls, and various weak races piled on the pointy-ears for revenge, and other weak races tried building their own nations in the chaos, boom—the Great War!"
The two adventurers realized how the Great War started and were stunned.
Even the elf prince had lost all his forces.
Retreating here meant not just losing power—he'd be pinned as the cause of the Great War.
What happens then?
With elves who could live thousands of years utterly pissed, he'd be executed on the spot.
"So that's how the elves wronged the spirits...?"
"Desperate guy's last resort, probably."
"Honestly, we don't even know exactly what that lunatic did, but the spirits already had major grudges against the pointy-ears. His screw-up was just the trigger for the split."
"Ugh... So what happened to that prince?"
"Dragged off by the enraged Spirit Kings."
A truly pathetic end.
But the two adventurers sensed something off and voiced their question.
"Then how did the Great War play out that the elves came out fine and the demons vanished?"
"What we just talked about was the First Great War."
"And the Second Great War came from all the battles sparked by that lunatic, where the gangsters swallowed huge territories, subjugated weak races, and declared demon supremacy and continental unification."
Demon supremacy.
According to the dwarf, it meant treating every race except demons as slaves.
"It's a long story, but basically, all races allied and drove out the demons. The survivors all migrated to the Demon Realm, end of story!"
"So what about the elves who started the Great War...?"
"The pointy-ears' princess reclaimed the throne, shone in the Second Great War, then groveled flat afterward. Handed over everything they had and barely survived."
"They even sold off national treasures everywhere, and their territory shrank massively compared to before. Everyone was sick of war by then, so it blew over nicely, but looking back now? Pisses me off again?"
The dwarves grumbled openly where tons of elves were, and the elves' ears drooped limply.
Stung by their consciences, the elves looked utterly dejected and yielded their spot to Beren's group.
"Why didn't you come out sooner!"
"Yeah, always causing problems and dragging their feet."
"Hahaha... L-let's move on for now."
Beren urged the dwarves who were glaring at the elves.
But at his companions' urging to go first, he hopped on the hang glider.
Then, never imagining it'd top skydiving for romance, Beren soared freely through the sky on the refreshing wind.
'The Great War...'
Back then, he opposed wiping out the demons who bared their ambition for world conquest.
But their power had grown too strong, the results showed.
And in that massive war, he caught the hatred and madness from those who'd lost loved ones, picking up weapons again with exhausted, wounded bodies to finish the demon remnants.
Even so, just before demons went extinct, the Demon God intervened, safely evacuating the survivors to the Demon Realm.
Beren pondered deeply if there'd been a better choice back then.
*************
Previously, Beren had met Anima, so Valak and his sworn brothers already had his info.
Then, when a being who casually blocked Orek's Storm Arrow empowered by Zephira and other spirits appeared, Orek quickly relayed it to Valak.
Soon, thrilled at a chance to test his sword aura on someone in the boss room, Valak kept watching him play in the mini-dungeon.
And they overheard the Great War story too.
"The Great War happened because of the elves?"
"With dwarves who share the elves' lifespan telling it so vividly..."
"Probably true, right, Boss?"
Good lord, in fantasy worlds, big events are usually the elves' fault, and it hits nine times out of ten.
Who knew it was actually true!
Ahh... this is wisdom!
Generations of big data indeed.
But Ferguson beside him suddenly looked troubled.
Something from the Great War story bugged him?
Then the second-in-command posed a question.
"...Brother Valak, what do you think about the demons disappearing from the outside?"
"Why ask that?"
"Hahaha... W-well..."
Ah, my race lost the Great War and got massacred.
In this situation, Ferguson was worried I might get weird ideas.
Honestly, on this... I got nothing!
Plus, compared to a past life, the demons in the Second Great War were basically Nazis!
"My race scarred the world and started another war. Other races not forgiving demons is natural. Sentient beings always torment others anyway. No one escaped that in the Great War."
"So Boss, you mean..."
"Demons weren't innocents—just losers."
"How tragic."
The strong become weak, the weak become strong—happens all the time now.
Demons won the First Great War as the strong, lost the Second and became weak.
End of story—what more to think?
"Second, I get your worry. But you think I'd suddenly move for demon revival?"
"R-really?"
"I'm stuck here anyway. Never even seen another demon besides myself—pointless worry."
The only snag...
Dwarves said demons all moved to the Demon Realm 40 years after losing the Great War.
So why was I outside with the old man instead of there?
No answer no matter how I think.
What can you do!
If no answer, wait comfortably till one comes.
"So quit screwing around in the newbie zone and get over here already!!!"
"Pfft, Brother Valak's still Brother Valak."
"Kukuku, yep, Boss."
Valak was frustrated watching Beren play in the mini-dungeon instead of coming to the dungeon he'd seen.