Elf in the Sunlight (4)
Elf in the Sunlight (4)
Grayish khaki beige hair.
That color, impossible to see in nature, was a unique shade possessed only by Orion among all the elves.
"Orion."
Hearing that small voice, Orion perked up her ears and looked toward Dojin. When her eyes met his, she stared at him wide-eyed, as if she never expected him to catch up.
And then she started running away.
"Chase her!"
Noel and Arisa immediately followed after Orion. Dojin walked slowly, heading in the direction she had fled.
'This place...... is her home turf.'
Was it really because her footsteps slowed that we could catch up to her?
Or, as the strongest ranger in the forest, had she lured us into the woods?
The thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Kyaaak!"
From the direction where the two had gone after Orion, a scream like that rang out. Dojin arrived late and found the two passed out, caught in a trap.
Ignoring the two of them, he approached Orion.
"......Orion."
"Leader, don't come any closer."
"Listen to me-."
The moment Dojin took one step forward, there was a druruk snapping sound, and a log came flying from far away. Dojin reacted swiftly and successfully sliced the log in half.
The instant he cut the log, a pouch at the end burst open with a peong, scattering pollen everywhere.
"Cough! This is...!"
Dojin hurriedly covered his mouth, but he felt his mind growing hazy. Orion gave him a bitter smile as she watched.
"That's why I told you not to come."
However, since Orion was wary of Dojin's strength, she didn't approach any further. Dojin recalled what Orion had once said.
Her specialties were assassination, disruption, and guerrilla warfare.
Being strong head-on meant nothing.
No matter how strong the opponent, there was always a way to kill them.
Indeed, her words weren't lies—Dojin began to feel his limbs going numb. If she dug traps like this and waited, she could take down even vastly superior foes.
The kind of immeasurable strength that was useless in dungeons where enemies were always waiting first. She possessed it.
"......Orion, I have something to say."
"What is it? Leader."
"Come back. I don't want to part with you yet."
At those words, Orion bit her lip hard. Then, with trembling eyes, she looked at Dojin and asked.
"Leader, just one question."
"Wha, t is it?"
"I told you not to post the cipher in the newspaper, so why did you?"
"For, your sake-."
"If it was for my sake, you should've listened to me."
Dojin couldn't understand Orion's feelings. Through various experiences, he'd learned that sometimes doing what went against someone's will was the right thing.
Even if she didn't want it, Dojin acted on what he believed was right. In fact, hadn't the elves come to fetch her just because he hadn't posted it even once?
But Orion kept spilling her heart out.
"How humiliating it is to be useless in the dungeon, how painful it is that you're overexerting yourself to take care of me because of that."
He doesn't know.
Dojin doesn't know.
The strong can't fathom the weak's heart.
Men can't understand women's hearts.
Humans can't empathize with elves' hearts.
"Because I love you, I have no choice but to do this. Leader."
"......Shut up."
A one-sided declaration of love. Dojin didn't like it. Having lived his whole life receiving twisted, one-sided love, he hated when someone forced their opinions on him unilaterally.
Paradoxically, since that was all he'd seen and learned growing up, he did the same to others—imposing his views.
"Love me so you can't help it?"
Then listen to me.
I don't need your opinions.
Become mine.
"Then come here right now."
That was the psychological barrier Dojin had built to protect himself.
Seeing Dojin's blazing eyes, Orion smiled.
"......No."
"Why?"
"Because I realized loving you is a path to my death."
"...What bullshit is that?"
See? He doesn't understand.
He has no idea what it means to love him.
Elves, who live for extremely long ages, must not easily fall in love with someone.
She only realized that after falling for him.
"If I keep loving you like this...... I'll end up dying."
Compared to an elf's lifespan, a human like Dojin's was far too short. In human terms, it felt like less than a year.
At first, she'd even resolved herself to it. Gather memories in this brief time to last a lifetime, she thought.
But lately, seeing how intensely she was changing, and how Dojin was influencing her so strongly that she couldn't even protect her own sense of self.
She was certain that the moment Dojin died, she would end her own life.
"Your life is too short, Leader."
"Everything you do changes me."
"I can no longer separate you from my life."
That terrified her. Fortunately, she could still escape him now.
She'd pine for him her whole life, drowned in loneliness, but that was better than death.
Hearing that, Dojin felt the wall between their races and realized it was inevitable. Born human, her born elf. An unchangeable barrier.
In that case—.
"......That immortality crap? I'll make it happen."
"How? You're human, Leader."
"Being human means there are things I can do."
Dojin recalled his abilities and came up with a plausible plan.
"Orion, I have a skill."
"I know."
"......You knew?"
"Yeah. There's no way you're ordinary, Leader. You're so strong."
"......Yeah, whatever. Let me explain my ability a bit."
Dojin gave a rough explanation of his ability. Not the exact details. Unlike Seoyun, she'd run away from him once, so he couldn't fully trust her yet.
"If I have sex with a specific person, I can randomly acquire their traits."
"......What does that mean?"
"For example, if I fuck the elves here, I could become immortal too."
"What the...... Where would an ability like that even...... No, if you had that from the start, then me...!"
"Unfortunately, seems like it only works on virgins."
It was a lie. Total bullshit. But luckily, Orion didn't doubt Dojin's words. She'd left him out of love, not suspicion.
Besides, Dojin had shown such extraordinary feats that she was convinced he had some unusual power.
"......So that means?"
"We're heading to the Elf Kingdom right now. I'll fuck every virgin there, including the Elf Queen, and get immortality."
"Are you insane? Leader?"
Naturally, nothing good came out of Orion's mouth. Fuck every virgin in the kingdom? Even defile the noble high-elf queen and overthrow the kingdom?
He's out of his mind. Neither the listener nor the speaker could seriously believe it. Orion stared at him with a stiff expression.
"What, you hate it?"
"─You're the best. Leader."
But Orion, influenced by humans, admired Dojin's bold choice—something a conservative elf could never dream of. She'd already felt she couldn't handle him alone anyway.
Orion finally let her guard down and slowly approached Dojin. The moment she got close enough, Noel and Arisa—who had woken up—captured her.
"Got her."
"Ah."
Bound in an instant, she meekly let the two take her to the mobile prison.
Having locked Orion in the magic-made prison, the two looked at Dojin with flushed faces. While the uptight Arisa turned her head away after hearing the earlier conversation, the innocent Noel casually approached Dojin and asked.
"Hey, was that talk earlier for real?"
"What talk?"
"The part about fucking us all, including Her Majesty the Queen."
"What do you think?"
"Hmm, if it's real, that'd be great?"
As she said that, Noel subtly emphasized her cleavage. Breasts bigger than Orion's, reaching the limit of what human physiology could handle, jiggled right in front of him.
Dojin shook his head nonchalantly even as he looked.
"It's partly real, but we're not doing it here."
"Aww, what a shame. Just strip me once and fuck me, pretty please- Mmph!"
"No, Noel! Shut up! What are you......!"
Arisa hurriedly covered Noel's mouth and thanked Dojin.
"......Anyway, thanks for the help. Thanks to you, we caught the escapee, and now we can head back to the kingdom-."
"I'm coming too."
"Huh?"
"Let's go together."
"No, the Great Forest is a place humans can't enter......."
She started fidgeting as she said that. Clearly, a little more push and she'd accept Dojin willingly.
Dojin grabbed her fluttering elf ears—ping—and slowly shook them back and forth. Gently, like an elementary kid fiddling with his dick.
"Hn, hnnngh- Wh-what are you......."
"I'll keep petting them on the way. How's that?"
"D-don't......."
"Hey, Arisa hates it, so do me! Then I'll escort you to the kingdom!"
"No, Noel-!? You, what are you doing on your own......!"
"Deal with this one then?"
Dojin naturally started petting Noel's ears, and as Noel enjoyed it happily, Arisa quickly made her decision.
She pulled Dojin's hand off Noel's ear with a plop and muttered quietly.
"......L-let's go."
They headed to the Elf Kingdom.
The moment Arisa took something out from her bosom and blew it, a clattering sound came from somewhere, and a unicorn approached.
The unicorn scowled at Dojin but snorted happily upon seeing the two.
"Purrung."
"Uni, please."
Arisa stroked the unicorn's neck as she said that, and the unicorn gladly accepted the bit in its mouth.
Soon after, Dojin boarded the large carriage that was made, sat Arisa on his lap, kneaded her ears, and chatted with the two.
"How are you two Level 3?"
"We finished training and entered the dungeon."
"Isn't the dungeon monopolized by humans?"
"Humans are short-sighted creatures blinded by immediate gains, hn-......."
It was common knowledge that all dungeon locations were claimed by human nations, and demi-humans couldn't enter.
But they explained why they could enter the dungeon.
In exchange for rare herbs and goods exclusive to the Great Forest.
There was a shady route that allowed a few warriors to enter the dungeon.
From a short-term view, it was a loss, but it produced elf warriors usable for centuries or millennia, so the Elf Kingdom never lost out.
"......What about beastkin?"
"Same for beastkin. Well, beastkin lifespans aren't that different from humans'."
As they chatted like that, the carriage finally arrived at Beastkin Alliance territory. The largest plains region on the continent.
The moment they set foot there, beastkin who had swiftly run over from somewhere surrounded the carriage.
Unarmed and bare-handed, but absolute powerhouses not to be underestimated.
One of them stepped forward.
"Stop- Oh, it's Dojin?"
"......Ho-yang?"
And there, Dojin reunited with an old connection.