Chapter 191: The Elf, the Princess, and the Guard (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 191: The Elf, the Princess, and the Guard (5)
The eldest of the elven triplets, born on the same day and at the same hour under a peach tree, Mimiril woke with a thirst so intense her throat felt like it was parched.
"Water..."
The high-end inn where she was staying was equipped with a water purifier. Mimiril, stumbling along with her eyes half-closed, only snapped to her senses after bumping into a wall.
'Where am I...?'
This wasn't the inn room she had stayed in for years, a place as familiar as her childhood home. As she racked her brain, which was sluggish from a hangover, the catastrophe that had occurred during the drinking session came flooding back.
"Ugh..."
Thump, thump.
Unable to bear the wave of embarrassment, she banged her head against the wall. She punched the air and stomped her feet in frustration.
"Why did I do that...?"
The more she recalled her "black history," the more the shame washed over her, forcing the words out of her mouth.
Bringing out the Elven Liquor was fine. Getting drunk? That was okay too. But she shouldn't have acted like such a drunken mess in front of people she had just met.
And in front of Sma’s lovers, no less!
'I want to die.'
Mimiril slumped down, leaning against the wall. The high-quality stonework felt warm against her cheek. This house was as well-heated as any luxury inn.
'Living here wouldn't be so bad...'
As her thoughts drifted aimlessly, Mimiril shook her head vigorously. To think she actually wanted to live here—she must have truly lost her mind.
The chain of self-reproach was finally broken by her sister’s voice.
"Sister... what are you doing there?"
Mimirun was looking at her with a pathetic expression. Mimiril felt like crawling into a hole and dying all over again, just as she had when remembering her drunken antics.
"It’s nothing. I’m just... trying to sober up."
"Really? I thought you were doing that because of how much aegyo you were throwing around while you were drunk."
If a human scholar had seen Mimiril now, they could have written a thesis on exactly what words were needed to kill an elf. Having taken a critical hit after trying to make an excuse, Mimiril went limp on the floor.
"It’s okay, Sister. You’ve always been a bit of a shy one."
"Who are you calling shy?"
"See? Getting angry because you're embarrassed. How cute."
Mimiril couldn't keep up with her younger sister's relentless teasing. How could she escape this situation? As she desperately racked her brain, she realized one of her sisters was missing.
"Where’s Mimiram?"
"Shouldn't you know? She wasn't in the room when I woke up."
"Did she go to the bathroom?"
It was a plausible theory. But on second thought, she had been gone far too long for a simple bathroom break.
"Maybe she went back to the inn? You always head back to the inn when you're drunk, Sister."
"Do you think Mimiram is like me?"
"What's wrong with being like you?"
"..."
Her sister’s verbal jabs were painful. As a tsundere, Mimiril stood no chance against a sister who spoke her mind without filter.
"I’m telling you, Sister, you’re prime bride material. You’re an elf, you’re pretty, you’re kind, and you’ve got a great body. What more could a guy want?"
"Bride material...?"
"Don't tell me you have no intention of getting married. I don't buy it. You’re not the kind of elf who accepts invitations from men she doesn't like. Remember how many creeps were hitting on us when we first arrived? Who was it that took care of them?"
"I did," Mimiril answered proudly. It was one of the few accomplishments she felt good about.
Another was stopping her sisters from entering a dungeon without knowing anything. Being more world-weary than the others, Mimiril had made sure to avoid any dungeons where male guards were stationed.
Then one day, she heard rumors about a guard named Sma. 'Could such a diligent man really exist?' she wondered, dismissing the rumors until she saw a certain man while passing through the plaza.
'I can't read his emotions...'
An elf’s intuition wasn't so precise that they could read a person's exact thoughts, but they could deduce a lot through the emotions they sensed.
Almost every human male looked at her with lust. Only children with no sexual knowledge or old men too weak to lift a spoon didn't look at her with lecherous eyes.
But the man talking to the seed merchant was different. He was the first human whose inner thoughts she couldn't read. Intrigued, she asked the merchant and was told he was the guard who had recently become famous.
For the first time in her life, Mimiril entered a checkpoint where a male guard was on duty. Even though it was just a change from a woman to a man inspecting her pussy and anal, she felt incredibly shy and embarrassed.
During the inspection, Mimiril thought to herself:
'This was a mistake. I’m never coming back.'
However, her sisters seemed to have taken a liking to Sma. To make matters worse, they achieved the greatest results they had seen in years of adventuring.
When she suggested going to a different dungeon, her sisters immediately protested.
"Sma’s dungeon is a gold mine. You’d be an idiot not to go."
"Hunters are trying to keep this quiet, but they say the Low-Rank dungeon where the human Sma works yields several times more materials than other dungeons. It’s not fully proven yet, but let’s go a few more times to make sure!"
Mimiril had scoffed at Mimirun’s words. Was a dungeon really such a fickle place that it would change just because of one human? But after several days of high earnings, she began to believe the hypothesis.
Eventually, Mimiril’s body reached a point where she couldn't live without Sma’s dungeon. With her income more than doubling, she couldn't even fathom going anywhere else.
"This is what it means to have a body that can't live without Sma..."
She had been tamed to the point where she even agreed with Mimiram’s nonsense—both regarding the income from the dungeon and Sma’s inspections.
Furthermore, Sma seemed to get more handsome by the day. At first, he was just an ordinary human male, but the more she saw him, the more charming he became.
At some point, she found herself actually looking forward to his inspections. Terrified by how much she was changing, she had resolved not to go to the dungeon for a while—and then, news of the war broke.
Sma, whom she met on the battlefield, was incredible. He had been serious at the checkpoint, but on the battlefield, he was something else entirely.
He didn't feel like a stranger; he felt like one of her own kin, an elf. Curious as to why she felt that way, she watched him closely.
Sma’s exploits, witnessed from atop the castle walls, were so magnificent they were hard to put into words. A Sword Master guarding the gates alone... she felt like a fairy tale could be written about his bravery.
"Sister? What are you thinking about so hard?"
"Huh? Oh."
Mimiril was snapped out of her reverie by her sister’s call.
"It’s nothing."
"You were thinking about Sma again, weren't you?"
"I was not!"
"They say a strong denial is a strong affirmation."
"I said I wasn't!"
No matter how much she lied, it didn't work on Mimirun. Eventually, Mimiril changed the subject.
"So, where on earth did Mimiram go?"
"Let’s go find her."
Mimirun stood up abruptly. Mimiril panicked and tried to stop her.
"You’re going out dressed like that?"
Mimirun was wearing a see-through nightgown. She wasn't wearing a bra, so her nipples poked through every time she moved.
Mimiril was wearing a similar style of nightgown, and she felt too embarrassed to go out like this.
"What’s the big deal? There aren't any other men here besides Sma anyway. All the employees are women, right? And even if we run into Sma, we’ve already shown him our naked bodies, so what does a nightgown matter?"
"That was for an inspection..."
"Even if it was an inspection, he still touched our pussies and anals. We’ve already seen everything there is to see."
Mimiril couldn't find the words to respond and simply turned red.
"H-Hmph. Don't think you've convinced me."
"Sure, sure. Let’s just go find Mimiram."
The two elves stepped out of the room. They searched the entire second floor where the guest rooms were located, but they only found Princess Jasmine, who was fast asleep.
"Where did she go? Did she go to the dining hall because she was hungry?"
"The girl who never eats snacks went to the dining hall in the middle of the night?"
"I’m just saying it’s a possibility. Oh, maybe she went to get some water for her hangover."
"That... is possible."
When the two elves reached the dining hall, they ran into Iruna.
"What are you two doing up?"
"What are you doing here, Iruna?"
"I suddenly had a craving for something sour, so I came to find some fruit."
Mimiril looked at Iruna’s stomach. It was slightly swollen. She could sense another life besides Iruna’s.
"The baby must be hungry."
"Ah, that might be it. Since you're here, would you like some fruit?"
"Hmph, as if we’d let a pregnant woman serve us. We have hands too, you know."
Mimiril grumbled as she took out some fruit. She even sliced it up to make it easier for Iruna to eat.
"Thank you."
"If you're thankful, then answer my question."
"What question?"
"Have you seen our sister? She’s not in the room, and we can't find her anywhere on the second floor."
"Ah~"
A mysterious smile played on Iruna’s lips. For a moment, Mimiril and Mimirun were speechless. Even though they were women themselves, they felt like they might fall for her.
'As expected of the woman Sma took as his wife...'
Mimiril reminded herself that she was heterosexual to ward off Iruna’s unintentional charm.
"She’s probably in my brother’s room."
"In Sma’s room? Why?"
"You’ll see for yourselves when you get there, won't you?"
Leaving behind those cryptic words, Iruna departed. While Mimiril was agonizing over the meaning, Mimirun clapped her hands and shouted.
"They say it’s always the quiet cat that jumps on the stove first!"
"I’ve never heard that saying before."
"A ninja-turned-maid said it’s a saying from her hometown. Anyway, Mimiram! She acted like she was the least interested, and then she sneaks off there behind our backs?"
Mimirun stomped off. Something had occurred to Mimiril as well, but she pushed it to the back of her mind, thinking it wasn't something Mimiram would do.
'No, surely not. It’s Mimiram. It can't be. She probably just went to ask him to teach her swordsmanship.'
Since Mimiram was always one to pursue efficiency, she wouldn't miss an opportunity to learn the sword from a Sword Master. Believing that, Mimiril followed her sister to Sma’s room, only to be confronted by an unbelievable reality.