Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Chapter 3: Dark Elf
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"Is this really necessary?"
The young man asked his father.
The man called father gazed intently at the horse before him.
The horse that was slowly dying from a sword wound.
"It's the horse that got stolen by the Dark Elf. Who knows what kind of curse it might have."
"..."
The young man eventually nodded.
His father's words clearly made sense.
"Wh-what? Y-you can see me?"
The woman waved her hands dramatically, pointing alternately at the bastard and the Dark Elf.
Another voice let out a deep sigh.
[Pamon. What are you doing.]
"No way! You think I made a mistake like that?"
The woman stroked the back of her hand for a moment, then nodded.
"Right. No way that happened."
"..."
"..."
The woman, who had nodded confidently, now awkwardly glanced at me.
"No way... right...?"
"..."
The awkward atmosphere was broken by footsteps approaching from beyond the bookshelf.
The librarian looked around, then stared intently at me.
"Please be quiet inside the library."
"Ah. Sorry. I was just talking with this person here—"
"...?"
This person. The librarian uncle looked in the direction where the woman stood. His gaze wandered through empty air.
Exactly. The woman approached the librarian uncle right away.
Snap. Snap. She placed her hand on the librarian's face and flicked her fingers.
"..."
The librarian paid it no mind.
No. He didn't notice.
The librarian looked at me pitifully, shook his head, and left.
"Huh?"
"Hey. Hey. What did I tell you! What did I tell you~~~"
The woman raised her voice excitedly.
Oh, perfect breathing.
That's beyond quiet—it's an official declaration of duel toward the librarian.
But the librarian showed no reaction this time either.
At this point, even a clueless bastard like me couldn't help but sense something off.
Maybe. The weird one isn't the woman, but me?
"How did you do that?"
As I stood there with a suitably dumb look on my face, the woman asked.
"What do you mean?"
"That just now."
"This right now?"
This? What is this?
No way it's about my past life realization.
I had no clue.
If anything, I wanted to ask her.
Why the librarian can't see you, but I can.
"Just to be sure, is this conversation we're having related to magic? If so, I have nothing more to say. Because I'm a complete layman when it comes to magic."
"..."
Hmmmmm.
The woman crossed her arms and began observing me in earnest.
Her head tilted left, then right.
She looked utterly baffled.
[Try doing it stronger?]
Then another voice chimed in.
"What if this kid gets hurt?"
[Why do you care? Some noble brat. You hate nobles too if you're a noble.]
Wait. The conversation's getting a bit vicious?
Me. Bastard of the Bendel Family? If they kill me, the Bendel Family will—
Damn, they'd love it.
"True. But this kid's a bit special, isn't he?"
[He does seem like a freak.]
"Right, right? So I'm not the only one who felt that. Knew it."
Clap clap clap clap clap.
The woman clapped delightedly in her cute way.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly shifted.
Not just because of her cute behavior that didn't match her tall frame.
It was more like the way she treated me had changed.
From an intriguing observation subject to an intriguing person.
"Mind if I sit next to you?"
The woman pointed to the seat beside me with her finger.
It was just a request to sit together.
Yet for some reason, her eyes sparkled relentlessly.
As if she were making an outrageous request and gauging my reaction.
And why insist on sitting right next to me?
No big deal, though—
I nodded without much thought.
"Oh my."
For whatever reason, the woman seemed extremely pleased.
"Heave-ho."
The woman brightly pressed both hands to her body and sat down next to me.
This window seat was perfectly cozy for one person. A bit cramped for two.
"Shall we change seats?"
"No. It's fine. I don't want to disturb your reading."
"..."
The bastard's eyes lost where to look and wandered.
[You're already disturbing him plenty, though?]
Thankfully, the polite voice handled my snark for me.
Whatever—
I asked again.
"Won't it be uncomfortable... If it's okay, maybe change spots..."
"No? It's fine. It is uncomfortable, but it's more fun than that. It's been ages since I talked so normally with someone else."
"Is that... so?"
Normally? What's normal?
Where are we born from and where do we go? Why is an eagle's beak yellow?
"Okay, okay, okay. So what should I ask first— Oh right! Look at me. I haven't even introduced myself yet. Sorry. Like I said, it's been so long since I talked normally with someone else. Um. Um. Really, really long time. So, even if my manners seem too crude, please don't take offense."
"Crude? I thought you were lively and quite special."
"How~ How can you say such pretty words? Huh? And your eyes open so prettily like that."
The woman stroked my head with a face like she was about to die from cuteness.
Correction.
To this woman, I might not be an intriguing person, but more like a cute puppy.
"I'm Pamon? Scholar and researcher."
Pamon pulled a book from her bosom.
"And this is Duran. As you can see, a talking book that loves meddling, nagging, and nitpicking. I made him, but I don't know why he's like that."
So the other voice came from this Duran book.
A talking book? You made that too?
Not surprising anymore.
"I'm Rishir."
"Rishir? Rishir... Rishir... Hm. I like it. Pretty name too. Alright then, Rishir. First off, can you tell me about this?"
Pamon tapped the book in my hand.
"This book. Why are you reading it?"
"Pardon?"
[Tell him, Rishir! You're doing it to dry cat semen!]
The crazy talking book spouted nonsense.
"Cat se... Why would I dry it?"
[Then why read a book like that?]
"Just... curious?"
[Why would a cat be curious?]
"Uh... Isn't it cute?"
[Oh lord. This guy's normal too—]
Clap clap clap clap clap clap.
Satisfied, Pamon cut Duran off with cheerful applause.
"You get it, Rishir! You know the charm of cats too!"
Pamon went on a rampage, launching into a monologue about the allure of cats.
[Pamon. Enough. Unless you want to see Rishir actually switch to cat hunter.]
"Huh? Ah! Sorry, Rishir! Got too excited and just talked about myself?"
Pamon was already stroking my hand, which she'd placed on her lap.
Like kneading a cat's paw pads.
"Thanks to you, I don't think I need to read this book anymore."
"Rishir, don't you have anything you want to ask me?"
Finally.
I unleashed the question I'd been holding back.
"Just now, the librarian didn't notice you, did he, Pamon?"
"Yeah."
"Why was that?"
"I have a question too!"
Whoosh!
Pamon yanked my arm toward her.
Thud.
She observed me from nose-touching distance.
"Why doesn't perception hindrance magic work on Rishir? Did you, maybe, learn some magic separately?"
Sniff sniff.
Why smell me?
"No?"
"Or do you have some artifact?"
"My family doesn't love me enough to give me something that precious."
"Then constitution?"
Pamon's hands kneaded my face.
"It tickles?"
"Yeah. It's innate. Rishir, if it's okay, can I run one experiment on you?"
"I thought we'd shared enough emotional bonding."
"Right!? Sorry! This isn't right after all, Duran. What if Rishir gets hurt."
"Mmph—"
What is this?
A scent like herbal medicine mixed with perfume? Coarse silk? Softness?
Ah. Pamon hugged me.
[You're killing your curiosity because you don't want to hurt people? I'm starting to get scared of you.]
"Just asking, but what kind of experiment were you planning?"
"Well, let's see—"
"So many you have to think which one?"
"Sorry~~~ It might not click for you, Rishir, but that's super rare! I'm super referencing it, by the way?"
"...Thanks?"
"Oh right! But Rishir. What was that just now? About your family not loving you enough?"
"Yes. My personal history is quite complicated."
"How so?"
"I'm a bastard. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father resents me for it."
"Gasp."
[Gasp.]
Pamon released my hand and put some distance between us.
"Sorry, Rishir. I was too thoughtless."
[If anyone's thoughtless, it's that guy. It's like suddenly stripping naked. Don't spill your guts like that all at once. You're making him uncomfortable, you know?]
"Anyway, you say I have such a special constitution?"
Look at her changing the subject.
She's not normal either.
Ignoring the crazy book's grumbling, I sank into thought.
An unexpected gain.
Me, possessing a special constitution worth noting from such an extraordinary person.
Perception hindrance magic doesn't work on me?
Like magic resistance?
Yeah. Even a worm has its way of rolling.
This bastard's finally striking gold.
How can I make use of this?
A new job selection screen flickers in my mind.
Exciting.
"By the way, Rishir."
"Ah. Go ahead."
"Just in case, where are you from? What family?"
"Ah. It doesn't mean much, but I was born and raised in the Bendel Family."
[Bendel? Oh boy.]
The book sighed.
Too meaningful to brush off.
[Hey Pamon. Hear that? This guy's from the Bendel Family.]
"Really? What a coincidence."
Damn. This feels like big trouble.
Pamon looking at me wore a completely different expression now.
"Alright. Decided. Rishir. My disciple."
"Pardon?"
"You're my disciple starting today."
"Huh?"
"What?"
Hand over the Bendel Family's most precious treasure.
The intruder declared out of nowhere.
The head of the Bendel Family gripped the pommel of the sword at his waist.
The intruder's form in his eyes was defenseless.
He was confident he could bisect that body with a single draw.
That ugly, cursed hunk of flesh.
For a Dark Elf to dare leave footprints in the Bendel residence.
And not content with that, acting like the master of the house.
There could be no more pointless moment for talk.
"We had a promise, didn't we?"
"A promise? Us? With you filthy mongrels?"
The intruder didn't even blink at the blatant contempt.
"Looks like your great ancestor didn't tell you anything?"
"Consider this a warning: don't let that filthy mouth utter that person's name."
"You know? Radola Bendel. That pride of your family—how did she achieve such a feat?"
It was the moment the family head's sword was about to reveal its blade.
Suddenly, thick vines rose from the floor, binding the family head's limbs.
"Bendel. You promised our master. That when the castle built with the power borrowed from our master reached its highest point, you would yield the most precious thing from there."
"Grrrh— You filthy witch—...!"
"Tell me, Bendel. What is the most precious thing you possess."
Bendel did not answer.
So the witch sought the answer herself.
She went to the window and looked down.
The heart of Bendel Territory.
The panorama of the city Haeren came into view at a glance.
The witch imagined the city covered in greenery.
It didn't sit well with her, but there was no helping it.
A promise was a promise.