Chapter 138: Elf (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 138: Elf (7)
Ruelle Dale — ...Did I get the timing wrong?
"Dark mages, those absolute bastards."
A string of curses escaped Princess Ruelle’s lips. She had been grinding for three days straight without a wink of sleep.
"They built a basement under the basement of their hideout?"
No matter how much people called magic 'omnipotent,' it had its limits.
The more a spell defied logic, the more the required materials and mana increased exponentially. Even if something was theoretically possible, if it was difficult to achieve in reality, the cost in resources and mana scaled up just the same.
There was a reason mages and alchemists didn't just mass-produce gold.
—Oh! I’ve finally transmuted gold!
—Our dream has finally come true! Tell me, what materials did you need?!
—Well, there are a lot of ingredients, but in terms of market value...!
—In terms of value?
—Compared to an equal weight of gold, it requires materials worth roughly a million times more!
—Let’s scrap it!
They knew how to make it; the unit price just didn't make sense.
The dark mages' actions were exactly like that.
They built a simple hideout, then a double-layered space beneath it. And then, in the basement of that basement, they created a triple-layered space to hide the magic circle.
"Tenacious bastards..."
She couldn't understand why they went to such lengths.
Of course, they must have been short on time. The magic circle forming the barrier was somewhat flimsy, and thanks to the caster dying halfway through, the conditions of the space had been set to 'random.'
"..."
And of all things, that was the condition that got triggered.
The only silver lining was that the barrier hadn't broken yet. Then again, no one in their right mind would actually do that sort of thing with a High Elf.
But in the worst-case scenario, if they couldn't hold out mentally any longer... it could lead to a diplomatic catastrophe with the Elves.
"Damn ancestors."
Primarily, the Empire should be held responsible, but Dale—the kingdom that created the barrier—wouldn't escape the Elves' piercing glares either. No, it wouldn't even be strange if all of the Empire's faults were pinned on Dale.
To the Elves, the people of Dale were treated as only slightly better than dark mages.
"Still. If I rescue the High Elf...!"
Maybe she could build up a little bit of favor.
She had worked herself to the bone on that single possibility. Finally, she had results.
"Now, if I just modify this..."
She checked several times to ensure no dark mages were nearby and even sent word to the Empire just in case. It was time to start.
Ruelle, having given her all to decode the barrier, began the reconstruction to release it.
"Haah. Haah."
"Haa... Haa..."
"...?"
She heard heavy breathing.
At that moment, Ruelle, realizing the specific condition of this barrier, thought to herself:
‘Wait, could it be?!’
Had she... gotten the timing wrong?!
Just as Ruelle began to worry that she might never be able to look a certain senior and the High Elf in the eye again—
"...?"
The things tumbling out as the barrier shattered were quite unusual.
‘...Did they check into a hotel or something?’
And when Adam Smith and the High Elf Yerisha finally appeared, it fortunately wasn't the worst-case scenario Ruelle had imagined.
However.
"You're... you're so persistent for someone so weak!"
"Haah... Haah..."
"Ta-Take that back! You loser!"
"Sign it. 'High Elf Yerisha has no friends'..."
"Eek!"
It was simply a scene of one-sided physical assault.
Ruelle Dale — I will curse you.
Princess Ruelle felt wronged.
While it was unfair to the current citizens of Dale, the sins of their ancestors still lingered.
...And it wasn't just a matter of traces from the past or historical records. Because those who had actually lived through that era were still alive, there was no way to deny it.
That was why Princess Ruelle tried so hard.
Since she had a track record of solving barriers, she worked with minimal sleep to try and raise the Elves' favor even a little bit, filling in for her useless brother. She had even skipped classes for this.
The Empire seemed to have a shred of conscience left, as they promised to mark her as present. However, one of those classes was taught by McGregor—the very reason Ruelle had come to the Academy in the first place.
Fortunately, the Empire promised to arrange private tutoring for her later, which was a net gain, but until that promise was made, she had worked with tears of blood in her eyes.
Thanks to that, she had seen through trap after trap, discovering the hidden space before the Imperial agents and perfectly neutralizing the barrier.
She didn't expect a thank you, but she thought her favorability might go up at least a little.
"The audacity of Dale!"
"???"
Those were the first words she heard.
‘Is... is this the level of hatred Elves have for Dale?’
For some reason, the treatment felt even worse than what she'd experienced with other Elves before.
‘Right. I heard that even for Elves, most of the actual victims have reached the end of their lifespans. So for most Elves, that era is a story from one or two generations ago. The ones in Elven society who truly remember are...’
High Elves.
A race that seemed to be a step above regular Elves in every racial trait, not just royalty. Those traits included the Elves' characteristic longevity, meaning a High Elf could have experienced that era personally and still be perfectly fine today.
So, even if she was a relatively young High Elf, it wasn't impossible for her to be this prickly if she had heard about the deeds of Dale's ancestors from other High Elves. But!
‘My gut is screaming at me!’
The real culprit is someone else!
Princess Ruelle glared at Adam Smith with fire in her eyes.
"...?"
As for Adam, who didn't have a single ounce of 'conscience regarding Dale' in his body, he just figured another Magic Spammer was having a hysterical fit.
"..."
Lacking evidence, Princess Ruelle had no choice but to bite her lip and back down. Of course, she only backed down toward Adam.
"I am Ruelle Dale, Princess of Dale and a first-year junior."
"...Hmph. So you're a very, very young child from that country."
The response was full of hostility, but at least she was getting an answer.
"Hmph. Fine. I suppose I should... th-th-thank..."
It seemed, however, that she wasn't quite ready to receive a full 'thank you' yet.
‘Still, this could be the first great step for the relationship between Elves and Dale.’
As Ruelle let out a small sigh of relief—
"I'm tired. Take me to a place where I can rest, loser."
"I have to collect the luggage first. These are all sponsored items; if I lose them, I have to pay for them out of my own pocket, Grandma."
"Has this brat not been beaten enough...?"
"I'm treating you like an elder, what's the problem...?"
"Your tone is pure mockery! No, before that, you should treat me like an adult, I'm not at the age to be called an 'elder' yet... Wait. Hold it right there! What you just put in your pocket—that's the Branch of the World Tree the dark mage was using! Take it out now!"
"..."
Was it just her imagination? She had spent days suffering like a dog just to barely hear the first syllable of a 'thank you.'
So why did those two look so close?
‘I’ll curse you...’
Adam Smith... and the Leon Kingdom!
After a brief check-in with Uncle Aeryun to confirm I was alive, the first person I ran into was, surprisingly, Daisy.
As soon as she spotted me, she approached with a look of relief and—
"Did you do it?!"
She blurted out something incredibly strange right off the bat.
"I did not..."
Do what, exactly?
When I looked at her with an incredulous expression, she scratched her head awkwardly.
"Well... I mean... if you had done it, I’d have to terminate our contract, so I was just asking."
"Ah. Maybe I did?"
The response came out naturally.
"..."
"...I'm joking."
"That's not funny."
For a split second, she looked at me with pure contempt, and honestly, I was a little intimidated.
"So, what did you do in there?"
"I fought."
"Ah, I see."
Daisy nodded slightly at my words, then suddenly froze.
"......What?"
"I fought with swords."
It was a duel where I couldn't afford to lose, a battle where I staked the soul of Leon.
...Though I lost like a dog.
"Did you hit her?"
How unfair. Did she really think I would just beat up an Elf—and royalty at that—for no reason?
"I was the one who got hit."
...I sincerely tried to hit her, but I failed.
"You did, Adam? Was that High Elf a swordsman?"
"No. She said she learned some swordsmanship for self-defense a long time ago."
"She learned it as a hobby, and you couldn't beat her?"
"She practiced that 'hobby' for 300 years..."
"Ah..."
Well, that can't be helped, Daisy's expression seemed to say as she nodded.
"But you still lost, didn't you?"
"..."
Seeing her immediately poke where it hurts, she truly had the temperament of someone from the Swordsmanship Department.
"At this rate, aren't you going to lose to me too?"
"..."
I couldn't say a word in response to her smirking remark.
Was it just my imagination?
Dealing with Prince Ellen was already enough of a handful. It felt like people were constantly stacking up above me.
"Adam?"
When my expression turned grim, Daisy’s smirk vanished. It seemed she was flustered because she had started a bit of playful banter (WWE), but I had responded with dead seriousness (UFC).
"...If you don't use a magic sword, you're still three years away from beating me."
"Why are you being so specific?!"
Because... it really felt like that would be the case.
"It means you have that much talent."
"...I don't know if I should be happy about that or not."
It was meant to be the highest praise, but she didn't seem to like it much.
I ended up missing almost a week of Academy classes.
Of course, it was treated similarly to worker's comp, so my attendance was fully recognized. However, since I hadn't listened to a single lecture, my exam scores were in jeopardy.
"...Well, not that it matters."
Indeed, it didn't matter to me at all. Unlike my first year, I wasn't in a situation where I had to seek asylum in the Empire and find a job. In the Swordsmanship Department, where practical scores carried more weight, I just needed to get a decent enough grade to avoid trouble.
And as for the practicals... even if there was the Royal Ancestor, who was basically a superior version of me...
And Daisy, who had beaten that superior version while wielding a magic sword...
And then there was Prince Ellen...
The Ancestor wasn't scheduled to officially transfer until the second semester. And I had been doing special training with the Sword Emperor to beat Daisy, not to mention she wasn't without her own weaknesses.
So, unless that Minor Sword Emperor kid suddenly had a spiritual awakening...
And assuming the exam followed a tournament format, as long as I didn't get screwed by the brackets and face Prince Ellen in the early rounds, a top-tier ranking was guaranteed.
Or so I thought.
"......?"
While sparring with Prince Ellen for the first time in a while, I felt something different.
It wasn't like he'd suddenly had a protagonist-style epiphany and opened the path to becoming a Sword Master. Conversely, it wasn't like he'd received a RoFan Male Lead buff and suddenly mastered the sword either.
"Huh?"
But it was definitely different. Even Prince Ellen felt it.
"Hmm."
I moved my body naturally.
"Wh-What?"
Prince Ellen looked even more flustered.
"..."
One exchange. Five. Ten.
As our swords clashed, only one thought filled my mind.
...I can actually do this?
And in reality...
"Wow, I really got pushed back this time."
For the first time in a very long while, I beat Prince Ellen.
And if I had to think of the reason...
"I won because I got beaten up..."
"What?"
The Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
No, it was thanks to the experience of being ruthlessly assaulted by an Elf inside the dark mage's barrier.
...First the Defeat Sword, now the Masochist Sword?
No matter how I looked at it, this didn't feel right.