84. Elf (1)
84. Elf (1)
Lately, I've been spending time by the Elf's side.
It's not just wasting time; I've been learning how to use the Status Window.
I thought the Status Window would be all-powerful, but it has some limitations.
First and foremost, the most significant one is the grade.
With Viviant's grade, it was impossible to check my grade.
Next, it doesn't tell you everything.
I don't know if it's because of the God who created this Status Window ability, but while it doesn't tell you everything, it does tell you most things.
It feels a bit like carrying around an encyclopedia of the world.
While taking care of the Elf, I became certain that there was no hope for her mental state to improve.
Even to me, the Elf's Status Window looks severe.
It makes me wonder if humans can really be this cruel.
They forcibly gouged out her eyes, pulled out all her teeth, and used them as their own masturbation tools.
They cut the tendons in her wrists and ankles, and pulled out her fingernails and toenails so she couldn't run away.
They forcibly administered drugs to make her submit to them.
Even back on Earth, there were occasionally humans who gave up on being human. But in this world, while there is a fantasy power called Mana, it's a world where technology, laws, systems, and politics haven't developed much.
As a result, crimes happen frequently.
I know shadows exist wherever you go, but perhaps because it's the medieval era, those shadows feel even larger.
I tapped the Elf's mouth.
The Elf opened her mouth unconsciously.
It's probably a behavior ingrained in her body from being subjected to sexual torture.
I brought my mouth close to the Elf's and let the saliva gathering in my mouth flow into hers.
I've been periodically feeding my saliva to the Elf.
I want to conduct various experiments on the Elf's original body, but this Elf doesn't have the stamina to endure them.
So, I have no choice but to keep feeding her saliva to erode her body itself.
The Elf's body has already lost its original form and is becoming a creature.
Both the body and the brain, that is.
The Elf's brain is already doing nothing except for the actions required to move the heart and keep the body alive.
Maintaining consciousness, that is.
But I'm taking care of the Elf with the thought: "Wouldn't it change if she becomes a creature and energy returns to her brain?"
To be precise, Prodisia.
Are all Elf names this long?
==
While I was taking care of the Elf, Stacey called me.
Creatures never speak to me directly unless there's something special going on.
But the fact that Stacey bypassed Dagos and Evolute to speak to me directly means it's a pretty big deal.
Wondering what the reason was, I entered Stacey's consciousness and saw a man in front of me.
Stacey was in the middle of attacking that man.
I know who this man is.
He's definitely the man who was with Gwen when she was the Knight Commander.
Back then, he was probably the Vice-Knight Commander. Then, has he become the Knight Commander now?
It seems that man recognized Gwen.
To think he recognized her even though Yui personally cast the Disguise magic. How did he recognize her?
According to Yui, there are fewer than ten people in the entire world who could see through this Disguise magic... To think he noticed so quickly.
Did Yui lie to me? Or is that person one of those ten?
That worry was resolved shortly after by the words coming out of the man's mouth.
[ That expression, those gestures, those actions. I know it's all Gwen-nim...! H-how on earth—! ]
I see.
It turned out he recognized Gwen not by seeing through the Disguise magic, but because he knew Gwen's usual behavior.
That's certainly understandable.
Because even I think that when I see the way Gwen acts, she really is a classy noble knight.
Just watching her eat makes me think she's cool.
I'll have to talk to Gwen later and have her change that. Of course, since she's lived like that her whole life, it will take a considerable amount of time to change.
Ha... This has become slightly annoying.
That man is clearly the current Knight Commander of Medherun City.
It doesn't matter if I kill him, but the annoyance that will arise from it will be quite significant.
But what can I do?
Gwen is a more favorite collection piece to me than the annoyance of killing that man.
[ Stacey, eat him all up without leaving a single trace. ]
[ Yes~ Queen-nim!!! ]
==
Gwen tried to stop her daughter, but she couldn't stop her with her broken body.
She tried to protect Drake, her former subordinate and friend.
However, Stacey's hand pierced Drake's abdomen.
'I have to stop her. Stacey cannot kill humans unless that woman allows it.'
"Stacey! Stop right now! I'm fine!"
"G-Gwen-nim! That expression, those gestures, those actions. I know it's all Gwen-nim...! H-how on earth—!"
Hearing Gwen shouting, Drake was immediately convinced by her voice that it was Gwen.
Just as Gwen was trying to turn Stacey's heart around by running various thoughts through her head.
[ Yes~ Queen-nim!!! ]
She answered, using the word Queen-nim in a voice that sounded extremely happy.
As soon as that answer was heard.
Crunch.
The head of Drake, who was in front of her, disappeared.
"No— Mmph!"
Stacey, who had covered Gwen's mouth to stop her from screaming, ate the man in front of her in an instant without letting a single drop of blood spill on the floor.
"....!!!"
Gwen shed tears as Drake, her subordinate and friend, died and disappeared in an instant before her eyes.
But that sadness was only for a moment.
"Eek!"
A woman screamed and collapsed on the spot.
It was an ordinary citizen.
A woman trembling with a face soaked in terror.
'I'm sorry.'
Gwen apologized to the trembling woman in her heart.
There must be no witnesses.
It's unfortunate for that woman, but it can't be helped. If that woman lives and tells the Knight Order, countless people will die for something that only required one person to die.
Gwen walked toward the woman who couldn't run away because her legs had given out, to ensure no more potential witnesses were created.
"Stacey..."
[ Don't worry~ ]
Stacey was just happy about the fact that she was eating three humans in one day.
Gwen, despite the sadness of her cherished subordinate Drake dying, looked at Stacey's happy smile and just thought, "As long as my daughter is happy...", and watched the woman being eaten.
==
It seems like quite a long time has passed since I fed my saliva to the Elf.
Of course, that "long time" is less than a month, but the amount of my saliva that has gone into the Elf is dozens of times more than Gwen's.
Perhaps with this amount, the erosion of both her body and brain will have progressed to some extent—
"...."
The Elf's eyes moved.
"Oh my?"
When I made a strange sound, the Elf's eyes moved slowly and looked at me.
"She's alive!?"
I shouted, raising both hands at the Elf who had finally come to her senses.
"Qu... Cough."
As the Elf opened her mouth to speak, she coughed dryly and suffered.
I immediately said to Narim.
"Please bring some water!"
I carefully fed the water I received from Narim to the Elf.
"Are you okay?"
"Th, thank you... Queeen-nim."
"Oh...?"
I had thought, "Wouldn't the erosion have progressed a lot?" but the Elf, who knew nothing about me, called me Queeen-nim as soon as she opened her eyes.
It seems the erosion has progressed more than I expected. The very fact that she called me Queen means she has entered the Hive Mind and learned about me.
I focused on the Hive Mind for a moment and found the Elf's consciousness.
'She's definitely in there.'
"Queeen-nim... Thank you for... s, saving me..."
"Is that so? Then—"
"I will... tell you... the Elf village... where I live..."
"Good. Very good."
As expected, this is the convenient part about entering the Hive Mind.
Even if I don't have to speak at length, they can grasp what I'm thinking to some extent, so everyone handles things on their own.
"Instead... there is... one thing... I want..."
"How dare you to the Queen-nim—!"
I raised my hand to stop Amber, who was trying to speak to the Elf from behind.
"What do you want?"
"There is... a man... I want to find..."
"What kind of man is he?"
"He is the man... who made me... like this..."
Prodisia.
Her stats were very high compared to humans.
Looking at stats alone, she's even higher than Amber. An Elf like that was caught by humans and suffered terrible things for a long time.
It's hard to believe that an Elf strong enough to be stronger than Amber was caught by humans.
Perhaps something happened that caused it. And there's a high probability that the man Prodisia is talking about is involved in that event.
"Alright. I'll find that man for you. Is there anything else besides that?"
"There is nothing... I am... a life saved by the Queen-nim... I am the Queen-nim's..."
It's not that I feel pity for the Elf and am granting her request.
I'm just granting it because it looks fun.
As I always say, what I want to do in this world is adventure. Of course, the first priority is making this a world where our children can live well.
Anyway, since I've already crossed over here from that hellish Earth, I want to live happily doing things I couldn't do when I was human.
Pursuing that happiness includes doing things that look fun.
The children are important, but I am important too.
If my main interest recently was how to make our children strong, starting with Gwen.
Now, the things that will happen through this Elf have become more appealing to me.
The Elf says she wants to find the human who betrayed her.
It wouldn't have ended up like this from a simple human betrayal. There's a 100% chance she was a lover who loved that man.
An Elf betrayed by the human man she loved?
I'm already getting a dopamine rush.