Chapter 1
Chapter 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Elf Picked Up the Heavenly Killing Star
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Damn, what a shame. She had a killer body, though.”
One man walked past with a vulgar laugh.
The boy stood frozen in place, staring at the slab of meat being dragged away.
A slum whore. Rock-bottom life.
A worthless soul who’d fallen ill, suffered, and been beaten to death by some nameless man—now reduced to a hunk of meat.
And the boy’s mother.
“Ah.”
The shove sent the boy’s face slamming into the dirt.
He blankly turned his head, and there was that same man with the crude grin.
“You’ve got a real pretty face, kid.”
The man cackled as his eyes roamed over the boy’s body.
“Bet you’d taste just fine.”
The boy ignored the man’s words and gazed up at the sky.
Gray. More storm clouds.
Even with lightning flashing through the gaps, no rain seemed likely.
Rumble—!
Distant thunder rolled.
At the sound, the boy instinctively reached out a hand.
As if the lightning might come down into his palm.
“Tch, what a retard, just like you’d expect. No fun, no fun at all.”
Flash────────!!!
“Gaaahhh…!”
A bolt struck out of nowhere, startling the man into falling flat on his ass.
Who wouldn’t jump if lightning hit right in front of them?
The man calmed his pounding heart and stared at the bizarre sight before him.
“Wh-what the….”
Electric currents sparked from the boy’s unscathed body.
Even though he’d clearly been struck dead-on.
“That idiot’s got some luck.”
“Aw, too bad! And here I thought we wouldn’t have to look at that face anymore.”
Unlike the surrounding thugs mocking the frightened man with their laughter, he sensed something off.
The boy’s unnaturally deep black hair and eyes.
The purple electricity crackling over them looked strange to anyone, but that wasn’t it.
“Fuck….”
The boy’s lips twisted up in a feral grin, his eyes locking onto the man.
*
That day, an entire slum was found charred black.
The corpses torn to shreds and reduced to charcoal became the talk of the town, but as always, people’s interest didn’t last more than a week.
*
The boy walked endlessly.
The surroundings were filled with trees.
He trampled through the grass, then suddenly looked up.
“Ah….”
The pitch-black sky was now blue.
Night had passed, and morning had come.
Gurgle—
His stomach clock agreed.
The boy picked up a stone from the ground and glanced around.
Rustle— a faint noise.
He hurled the stone right away.
—Squeak…!
With a short death cry, he moved toward it.
There lay a rabbit, trembling as it died.
The boy picked up the rabbit, purple currents sparking from it.
And then,
Crunch—!
He bit into it whole and chewed mechanically.
The half-roasted rabbit from the electricity was decent food, aside from the annoying fur in his mouth.
As he worked his jaw like a machine, enlightenment struck.
“Ah.”
If the fur was annoying, just remove it.
He peeled the skin away from where he’d bitten, reducing the amount but getting rid of the fur.
Nodding in satisfaction, he brought the rabbit back to his mouth.
“Huh?”
The voice made currents spark from the boy’s eyes.
Just like in the slums days ago, his mind grew hazy.
Crackle—!!!!!
With purple electricity, the boy’s body vanished in an instant.
He reappeared atop a tree.
Lightning wrapped around his entire body as he swung his arm.
Rumble—!
Thunder boomed, and the leaves blackened.
But there, standing unharmed amid it all, was a figure.
“Ah… how pitiful. Born under the Heavenly Killing Star.”
The woman looked at the boy, her eyebrows drooping in sympathy.
But the boy bared his teeth, face twisted.
“Grrr….”
Electricity coiled around his hand as he growled like a beast.
Crack—! He vanished and reappeared behind her, swinging.
“No helping it.”
Tap. She casually swatted his hand away.
The boy twisted his body in response.
His rising kick aimed for her abdomen.
And then,
Thwack—!
He took a hit to the nape and collapsed.
The woman sighed as she scooped up the child.
“Haah… I’ve never raised a kid before.”
Soon, she began walking slowly.
First things first, wash him up and feed him something.
*
When the boy opened his eyes, he saw the sky.
It sounded crazy, but this was definitely the sky.
“Huh?”
As he blankly looked around, a gentle voice spoke.
“Awake?”
He turned his head.
There stood a woman who resembled the forest itself.
He reached out dazedly, and she smiled warmly.
“Amazing, right?”
His hand was toward her ear.
An elf’s long, pointed ear, unlike a human’s.
Fascinated by the soft-yet-firm feel, the boy suddenly remembered he was in the sky.
“Ah….”
Up, down.
Every direction was pure blue.
He reached for passing clouds now and then, then looked near his butt.
There floated a sword, slicing through the sky.
She sat atop it, and he was cradled in her arms.
“What’s your name?”
Staring into her forest-green eyes, he answered her question.
“Ah.”
“Ah?”
“Uh….”
Instead of pressing him, she gently stroked his head.
After three clouds had drifted by, he hesitantly spoke.
“E-Enoch….”
“Enoch? What a fine name.”
She smiled, though she thought it was quite the twist of fate.
For a child born under the Heavenly Killing Star to be named Enoch.
Enoch meant “dedicated to God.”
It didn’t suit the ominous prophecy of one who would tear even the heavens apart.
Or perhaps.
For a child blessed by the Heavenly Killing Star, it might fit perfectly.
After all, wasn’t he a pitiful soul caught in the whims of that divine being?
“My name is Lione. Lione Estor. Call me whatever’s comfortable.”
“…Lione?”
“That’s right. Smart boy.”
Lione stroked Enoch’s head, and he flinched.
Chuckling, she peered below.
“We’re here.”
She scooped him up and leaped from the sword.
The sword flew to her side on its own and sheathed itself.
“Wah….”
Wind battered his body, mouth agape.
Cheeks flapping, hair whipping wildly.
Seeing the child’s delight, Lione smiled too.
Tap—
Landing lightly, she set him down and spread her arms.
“Ta-da! This is my home. What do you think?”
Nestled in the woods was a cozy little abode.
A small yard held various vegetables, and the sound of nearby flowing water reached them.
Enoch smiled faintly without a word, and Lione scooped him up with a whoop.
“First, a bath…. Oh.”
She’d forgotten.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Lione’s cheek.
“…Come to think of it, Enoch. Where are your parents?”
Being born under the Heavenly Killing Star meant ordinary parents couldn’t raise him, but still—taking a child without a word was basically kidnapping…!
As she anxiously awaited his answer, all she got was a headshake.
Half-relieved, half-saddened, Lione hugged him tight.
“I see…. No need to worry anymore.”
At the very least, until Enoch reached adulthood, he’d grow up safe in an elf’s embrace.
*
After a bath and a meal, the child began nodding off.
Lione tucked him into her own bed, then stepped outside and gazed blankly at the sky.
“What now…?”
She’d brought the kid home, but she had zero plan.
She’d never raised a child, and she didn’t know much about humans.
On top of that, her own situation was precarious enough.
[Lione’s an idiot. Why’d you pick up something that ominous?]
“Undine, don’t say that.”
Lione glared at her tiny friend.
The blue water spirit puffed her cheeks sullenly and flitted around Lione.
[It feels ominous just getting close. Don’t you know what the Heavenly Killing Star is?]
“Of course I do. I saw the last one with my own eyes just a cycle ago.”
[And you brought this one home?]
“He’s still just a child.”
[Idiot.]
Hmph! Undine snorted and landed about three spans away.
Her way of venting anger.
Lione smiled at her friend’s cute tantrum, but her own heart was just as troubled.
In her long life, there had been few truly shocking events.
And the memory of the Heavenly Killing Star held a prominent, unpleasant place among them.
‘…That was a disaster.’
Rivers of blood had flowed.
That rampaging Heavenly Killing Star alone had slain around a hundred thousand humans that day.
By the time Lione sensed the ominous aura and rushed over, several cities lay in ruins.
‘Was that about two hundred years ago?’
Recalling it made her shiver.
The ordeal back then was truly… .
To keep that child from going through the same, she’d need to educate him properly from childhood.
Until he reached adulthood—that is, for roughly….
‘Around a hundred fifty years?’
That wasn’t such a long time.
*
“Dwarves are rotten thieves.”
“The Heavenly Killing Star that blessed you, Enoch, can be called the same kind of evil little shits as those pint-sized dwarves.”