Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: If Side Story: In the Next Life Too...
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Crunch.
Even in the dark forest where not even moonlight properly filtered through, the bright red clumps of blood dripping from him were etched indelibly into her mind.
"She, Sherpa!"
Suddenly shoved aside by him, his chest now bore a sinister black spear deeply embedded, his gaze slowly clouding over.
"No! Sherpa! No! Don't leave me like this!"
Transparent tears poured from her blue eyes.
Eris hugged him tight, looking on the verge of collapse herself, her face twisted in terror as she screamed desperately for him to stay conscious.
"I love you! I love you! I can't live without you, please...... Sherpa, please."
Did Eris's voice reach him?
Sherpa slowly lifted his blood-dripping hand to rest atop Eris's head.
Even that simple act seemed utterly exhausting, but Sherpa parted his trembling lips with effort.
"Da, Daniel...... My name."
"Daniel...... Daniel...... What a nice name. Telling me only now is so mean."
But it was so like this man that Eris clutched his clothes tightly while gazing up at him.
"Don't cry, get out...... fast."
"No way. Where would I go without you?"
Tears streaming down her face, Eris pressed her lips to Daniel's. It was only for a brief moment, but their kiss burned with passion, countless emotions passing between them.
Whispering into the ear of Daniel, whose life was slowly fading, Eris soothed him.
"It's okay. I'll find you in the next life too. Next time, stay somewhere easier to find than this forest."
"......"
"I love you, Daniel."
The massive black spear pierced Eris's heart.
Sniffle.
The tip of her nose stung fiercely.
Her tears wouldn't stop, blurring her vision completely, but even through the haze, she noticed her surroundings growing brighter than the darkness of moments before.
'What?'
Apart from the agony of losing her beloved, the pain of the spear through her heart was gone.
She wondered if Artemis had guided her to the afterlife, but an unexpected voice rang in her ears like a slap.
"Lady Eris! You need to get up and prepare now!"
"......Hm?"
"Oh? A-are you crying? What's wrong? Is something......"
"Serdi?"
"Yes, that's right. Serdi."
The petite elf who had worked as her maid. Eris couldn't help but be startled by the sight of her, whom she hadn't seen since entering the Demon Realm Forest and living there.
"What...... is this?"
"A-are you feeling unwell? Should we cancel today's scheduled speech? I'll go tell Her Majesty you seem ill."
"Speech?"
Eris tilted her head in confusion as she asked back, and now Serdi puffed out her cheeks in mild frustration.
"Today is Yggdrasil's Life Festival! What's with you?"
"Life Festival?"
The Life Festival, held once every hundred years.
The day Yggdrasil shared its infinite warmth with the continent, the only time flowers bloomed on the great tree.
'Life Festival with Serdi here?'
And giving a speech, no less?
With a faint hope, Eris hurriedly got out of bed and stepped outside in her nightclothes.
"L-Lady Eris?"
Ignoring the flustered Serdi, she flung open the door.
And there before her eyes lay Yggdrasil, not the ruined domain of the Army of Death swarming with elf corpses like monsters.
Countless elves stood before her, gazing up at the platform.
Seeing her living kin filled Eris with a swell of emotion in her chest, but she still pondered endlessly why this had happened—no answers came.
'Whatever the case, it seems I've been given one more chance.'
This wasn't a dream.
Not an illusion.
This was undeniable reality. She had returned to the past.
"Now, please welcome Yggdrasil's guardian, Eris, with applause!"
At the Elf Queen's call, Eris slowly stepped forward.
As Yggdrasil's guardian, she had prepared a long speech about the great tree's majesty and overflowing love for today.
'As if I'd remember any of that.'
Years had passed since then, after all.
She had long forgotten such a Life Festival speech.
She glanced sideways—once at the Elf Queen, once at Serdi.
The Elf Queen nodded encouragingly for her to do well, while Serdi clenched her fists, cheering her on.
No way would a speech practiced years ago suddenly come back to her.
"Hoo."
Eris took a deep breath on the platform and looked down at the crowd. Countless comrades' eyes focused on her.
Well, it was all or nothing now. Eris boldly declared to everyone.
"I'm getting married."
"......"
Daniel swallowed the surge of tears, grimacing to hide them.
Late at night, Daniel dragged his packed luggage and opened the dormitory door.
Expelled today for sexual harassment, violence, failing exams, and more.
All false accusations, but utterly wronged, Daniel hadn't mustered a single proper rebellion—he chose to flee.
He glanced back at the now-empty room.
Though brief, the thrill of first stepping into Aios Academy, the kingdom's prestigious school, still lingered vividly.
He had thought only good times lay ahead. That hope shattered before even a month passed.
Click.
He shut the door and walked the hall dragging his bag.
It wasn't that late yet, so whispers and sneers from surrounding male students piled undeserved guilt on the timid boy, turning him into a criminal.
"Ugh, that criminal bastard."
"Timid guys like that always mix up their delusions with reality."
"His face alone screams criminal, doesn't it?"
"Kukuku, true."
"......"
Daniel gave one last glance at Ares's door.
His childhood friend from the village, always together.
With this much commotion, he'd be bound to check, but the door stayed shut.
Just in case, he approached slowly.
"No, listen......"
"For real?"
"Ares is hilarious!"
Inside, Ares laughed uproariously with who-knows-how-many women, having a grand time.
He raised his hand to knock but in the end did nothing, turning toward the stairs.
"Whoa, what?"
"Insane."
"A real elf? First time seeing one?"
Uproar from the stairs.
A pointed-eared woman herding a swarm of male students strode down the hall without sparing them a glance.
The commotion drew most of the guys from their rooms, Ares included.
Finally, she stopped before her small, timid mate.
"Daniel, right?"
Golden hair cascading down, blue eyes.
Flawless white skin, voluptuous figure.
Why would someone like her seek him out? But Daniel nodded first.
"What's your family name? I only heard your first name."
Daniel stammered nervously as he scratched his cheek at Eris.
"M-McKlein. Daniel McKlein."
"Got it, Daniel McKlein. Daniel McKlein."
Eris murmured his name as if savoring it, then beamed that she liked it.
Slowly, she dropped to one knee before the boy.
"Uh......?"
Flustered, Daniel tried to back away, but Eris had already gently taken his hand and pressed a delicate kiss to its back.
"Daniel McKlein, as promised, I've found you. You kept my request to stay somewhere easier to find than that forest."
"Pardon? No, what are you......"
Daniel panicked, insisting she must have the wrong person, but Eris smiled up at him.
"Eris, guardian of Yggdrasil. I've come to keep my promise to you, Daniel McKlein."
Before the eyes of countless students, Eris declared.
"Marry me."
Yggdrasil, Eris's home.
Dragged here without understanding why, Daniel couldn't hide his anxiety as he looked around.
He was expelled anyway and didn't want to return home, so he had nowhere to go—but an elf village wasn't on his mind.
"Here, try this."
Eris in an apron handed him a plate. Something food-like sat atop it, and Daniel trembled as he put it in his mouth.
"How is it?"
"I, I don't know."
"Pardon? Don't know? Hmm, not your taste then."
Eris crossed her arms and tasted her own cooking.
'It's odd. Daniel always made it for me every day, but I've hardly ever done it for him—it's tough.'
She had tried once, but after that, Daniel banned her from the kitchen.
"It's fine. I'll learn to cook to your taste from now on. As your wife."
Blushing at her own words, Eris watched as Daniel's mouth flapped open before he mustered the resolve to ask cautiously.
"Um, why are you being so nice to me? And marriage—what do you mean......?"
"Finally asking?"
She'd heard he was timid before, but he'd come from the academy to Yggdrasil without a single question, which worried her—but at least now.
"You know about past lives, right, Daniel?"
"P-past lives? If you mean before this one, yeah......"
"In your past life, you accomplished something incredible, so you're blessed in this one. Think of it that way—easier."
"Something incredible? Me?"
"Yes, something incredible."
Daniel stared dubiously at his hands, and Eris approached slowly to embrace him gently.
"So it's okay. Forget the false accusations, your childhood friend—none of it matters. Even without that, you're a wonderful, amazing man."
"......Hic."
Eris hugged the finally breaking Daniel tightly, and he sobbed in her arms until exhausted.
After a long cry, Daniel gently pushed Eris away and asked.
"But what incredible thing did I do in my past life?"
With no faith in his current self, he was curious about his past one.
Eris grinned mischievously, yanked him into a hug, laid him on the bed, and whispered in his ear.
"You captured the most beautiful elf, admired and loved by countless elves."
"Pardon?"
"You were so cute when you were young."
Giggling, Eris lay beside Daniel, making him blush as she said.
"Oh, right—one promise I haven't kept yet."
"An-another one?"
"The last one."
Eris drew close to Daniel, hugged him tight, and whispered.
"Half-elf."