Chapter 2
Chapter 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Normalization of Dark Fantasy (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Instead of sitting on a bed of nails, watching my step just to survive, it was better to let everything go and start from rock bottom.
When I made the decision to leave, I wrestled with it quite a bit.
It was the raw grief from the original me, who was still a part of who I was.
-Are you giving up?
-Is it okay to never be acknowledged by any of them?
-Even if you can't wash away Mother's dishonor?
To my updated, modern self, it was an emotion I couldn't comprehend.
Family? Why the hell are they my family?
Just because we're blood-related makes us family? That's an outdated trend. In our industry these days, we interpret it differently.
And Mother's dishonor? What dishonor?
Dishonor is on the side that toys with women and ruins some poor girl's life.
The more I thought about it, the less reason I had to cling to this place, begging for love and recognition.
With my resolve firm, my determination to leave only grew stronger.
Plus, it wasn't like I was starting completely from nothing. Even like this, I'm a bastard from a noble house.
If even a temple dog can recite poetry after three years, imagine what this bastard picked up over a decade or more in a noble house.
I wasn't loved enough for formal training, but I learned plenty peeking over shoulders.
Magic?
Isn't the very existence of someone like me, awakened to my past life, the most mystical magic of all?
Swordsmanship?
The ancients said the pen is mightier than the sword.
I can read and write pretty well. If that's not swordsmanship, what is?
Getting looked down on as a bastard?
Go ahead and have another one. I'll show you proper. A guy who's been hit knows exactly where it hurts.
If bastards have ranks, I'd say I'm a solid B-minus high-class one.
With that pride and confidence, I punch in my daily attendance here today too.
Heading out from the Bendel estate into the city center brings you to the Haeren City Library—
well, its distant annex.
The annex pass was much easier to get than the main library's, so folks like me used it mostly.
By "folks like me," I don't mean bastards—it's for those shining students pursuing knowledge despite tough circumstances.
"..."
The old librarian at the entrance desk glanced at me sideways, then went right back to his work without a word.
He might not look it, but he's pretty friendly. Tell him what book you're after, and he fetches it right away.
I ignore how he jumps up with smiles and bows for other Bendel family members. Real friendship doesn't care about status.
I headed straight into the forest of bookshelves.
"Let's see..."
The books stored in this annex were ones deemed unfit for the main library.
Typically, those lacking in level or substance.
Or ones dealing with trivial knowledge.
I took a fresh perspective and got interested in that "trivial" stuff.
The basics of making a living: target the blue ocean.
Master knowledge no one cares about because it's worthless, and someday it might shine.
Again, the Bitcoin miracle?
With that one-shot mindset, I headed to the farthest back corner of the library today too.
A magical space where sunlight through the windows takes shape in the dust motes.
I've never seen anyone else here besides me.
Not even the librarian bothers much with maintenance here.
Shouldn't librarians love all books?
"?"
Huh? But today, there was already someone there.
Rare silver hair.
Rare chocolate-brown skin.
And—
'Pointy ears?'
An elf.
A Dark Elf, no less.
The tall woman, around late 170s in height, was definitely a Dark Elf.
Suddenly, an instinctive disgust hit me.
It happens sometimes.
Prejudices—or instincts—engraved in me clash with my reason.
I always suppress them with logic.
This time, it was easy.
My rational curiosity far outweighed the instinctive unease.
A Dark Elf.
The Dark Elf.
The first other race I'd seen in person since transmigrating to this fantasy world.
Fan here. Can I get an autograph?
I felt the urge to say hi like I'd bumped into a celebrity, but held back.
Can't just interrupt someone leaning on a shelf, deep in a book.
Thud.
Thud.
Cautiously passing the Dark Elf, I headed to where I'd eyed a book yesterday.
Where was it?
Ah, here.
{On the Existence of Cats}
Honestly, this book has little to do with blue ocean strategies.
Just curiosity.
A book I'd read once described cats in a weird way.
It called them spirits, even evil monsters.
Spirits, fine—but monsters?
What did cats ever do? What could they do?
Can't just read for survival tips all the time.
Gotta air out the brain sometimes.
I went straight to my usual spot under the window, set up, and opened the book.
About 30 minutes into reading.
"?"
The Dark Elf was standing right in front of me.
She leaned her upper body sideways.
Curious, I saw she was matching her eyes to the book's level.
"On the Existence... of Cats? There's a book like this?"
She wasn't talking to me.
Solitary mutter. So natural, I could tell at once.
The woman casually sat in the seat next to mine.
Poke. She peeked over to snoop on my page.
Blink. Turned to stare into my eyes.
What. What do you want.
I met her gaze, loading it with bewilderment.
That's when our eyes locked.
"...!"
She startled and jumped up.
Like a cat, bounding away.
Then stepped back and said to me,
"You can see me?"
Uh, I'm not blind, just a bastard.
Strange woman I wanted nothing to do with.
I ignored her like nothing happened and went back to my book.
"...?"
She tilted her head.
"Hallucination?"
Thud.
She sat back down next to me.
I read my book, and she read me reading.
The uncomfortable reading resumed.
'What the hell is this situation.'
Go away.
Soon, the Dark Elf lost interest in the book.
Lost interest in the book and turned all her attention to me.
"You're unusual."
Her long fingers hovered around my face.
Fiddling with my hair, tapping my cheek, rubbing my skin.
This woman was a Dark Elf, a mysterious race.
A beauty so stunning it took effort not to stare.
Considering all that, the situation was pretty thrilling.
Yet I was surprisingly calm.
The subtle vibe in her actions.
Those curiosity-filled gestures were like observing an animal.
Probably how breeders appraise horse pedigrees.
"Porcelain skin. Lustrous hair. And these blue eyes above all. Aren't you nobility?"
A voice came from the book at her waist.
"Nobility reading a book like this? Oh my. How funny. What's the deal? Rare taste in appreciating cats' charm?"
"That's mean. How can you say that?"
"..."
No good comeback, apparently—she just fidgeted her hands irritably.
Anyway, disconcerting.
Cascading silver long hair. A violet robe, transparent yet opaque.
Mercury-like silver eyes.
No one fit "mysterious" better.
But her behavior—
'Is she nuts?'
Acting like she was invisible left no room for other interpretations.
'What do I do about this.'
This woman showed no sign of leaving.
Those eyes drilling into me could bore holes.
Time for a choice.
Speak up now?
Or play dumb to the end?
"Um..."
Going with the former.
For some reason, her invisible game had glitched—she needed to know that.
Before committing a bigger blunder than rating a bastard.
"I can see you..."
"Huh? You can? See what? What?"
Her eyes sparkled as she practically shoved her head into my book.
"What do you mean, what..."
Tap tap.
I cautiously poked her arm with a fingertip.
"You. I see you."
"Kyaa!"
She jolted up from her seat.
Her hands clung cutely to her body, lost.
The great hero Radola Bendel.
Haeren was her hometown, the city settled by her descendants.
Knights from across the continent flocked there to hone their skills.
Under the Bendel name, Haeren prospered, its glory seeming eternal.
Until her arrival.
The Bendel estate, bearer of that long glorious history, lay in ruins.
Rattle. Rattle.
In what was once the family head's office, a black cat batted a dull orb around.
Once a great vessel for a valiant knight's soul, now just the Bendel family head's worthless skull.
The Black Witch scooped up the cat and cradled it.
With a bored expression, stroking it while gazing over the crumbled wall at Haeren.
Like beholding some ancient city lost to history's backroads.
Vines burst from the earth, blanketing everything in the city.
Even the humans.
They wandered the streets aimlessly.
Where heads should be, massive fruits mimicking human faces bloomed.
Gagagak—gagagak—gagagak—
Thorns climbed their vocal cords, the sound echoing through the city.
The nameless city of the western continent.
Now, people call it the Black Witch's garden.