Chapter 144: Snow Elf
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144: Snow Elf
“Where are we goin’ now? Are we really goin’ treasure hunting for real?”
“Yes.”
“Whoa~ The treasure of a long-lost kingdom. Ain’t that the kinda thing you only hear about in legends? I’m so excited right now. I wonder what kinda stuff people made back in the day?”
On the sled pulled by frost wolves, Perka, sitting across from me, chattered away.
I knew this would happen. That’s why I tried to leave her behind.
Perka had thrown a tantrum, lying on the ground and insisting she come with us.
She wasn’t my slave, so I had no obligation to look after her. I was about to ignore her, but then the little rascal switched her target to Azyeth.
Smart kid.
They weren’t exactly friends, but they saw each other every morning. I suppose they’d grown closer. Azyeth asked to bring Perka along, so I had no choice.
Whatever the reason, the fact that Azyeth was taking an interest in something was a good sign.
“Don’t get too excited. We’re going to be fighting demonic beasts. I won’t be responsible if something goes wrong.”
Our current objective was to retrieve the treasures Darka had asked for. It was the final part of the Lake Fortress storyline.
We had to defeat the bosses, retrieve the treasures, and hand them over to Darka. In return for all the treasures, she would give us a hint about the frozen kingdom, along with a piece of Lazurite.
Azyeth was already near her peak in terms of combat ability, so defeating the demonic beasts wouldn't be difficult. The real chore was finding their locations.
Darka had given us a map, but just like any map in a game, it had its flaws. This one was blurry and hard to read.
All it had were cryptic phrases written at each location.
It was a pain in the ass the first time I did this.
Eisengar was crawling with monsters, and the one that dropped the treasure was randomly assigned for each playthrough.
I wasn’t even sure if I was fighting the right monster, and the drop rate was abysmal, so I had to grind while filled with uncertainty.
Of course, as my playtime increased and walkthroughs were compiled, it was demoted to just another quest.
In any case, it was a huge relief that I still remembered it all.
First on the list:
The transparent monstrosity sleeping in the glacier swallows treasure.
The Crystal Serpent.
A snake-type demonic beast. It had a passive magic nullification ability, so you had to beat it with physical attacks.
The fairy of the silent snowfield. Drawing a silver bowstring, she shall carve death upon the snow.
This one was the Snow Elf.
Those who wear the hatred of the frigid cold on their crude bodies shall trample the snowfields with horned beasts.
And finally, the Orc King.
What a terrible list.
The serpent was one thing, but the elf and the orc were the worst of the bunch. The elves were extremely cautious and hard to find, not to mention powerful, while the orcs were just too numerous.
If the serpent was a single stage, the orcs were a horde with three stages. It took three times as long.
This wasn't a game, so there wouldn't be stages, but wouldn't that just mean the place would be swarming with orcs instead?
“Whoa~ Goin’ to fight demonic beasts. They’re scary, but watchin’ you fight, sis, is like watchin’ a work of art. It ain’t scary at all, just beautiful. Makes me wanna be an artist instead of a blacksmith, you know?”
Back in Doomheim, she was like an emotionless doll, just hammering away. Now, she was positively glowing. Anyone would think she was on a picnic.
“Perka… an artist…?”
“Nope. I’m a blacksmith. My goal is to become a better blacksmith than my father.”
“Thorvar…?”
“That’s right. I hate to admit it, but my father’s skills as a blacksmith are the real deal. Even if he’s the worst as a husband and a father.”
“It seems you don’t get along well with Thorvar.”
Perka nodded her head vigorously in agreement.
“That man knows nothin’ but work. He wasn’t even there when my mother was on her deathbed because he was working. He was just protectin’ the Flame of Magmora.”
“Protecting the Flame of Magmora is the duty of its Keeper, as I understand it.”
“No matter how important work is, how can it be more important than a family member’s last moments? Don’t say things like that. If you keep talkin’ like that, I’ll get mad, even at you, Karami.”
“Understood. It wouldn’t be polite of me to meddle in another’s family affairs.”
Seeing Perka’s hostility, I didn’t press any further.
While we were talking, the sled arrived at our destination: a dense coniferous forest of sharply pointed trees.
My first target was the Snow Elf. It was the closest.
We got off the sled and walked deeper into the forest.
Whoooosh!
A biting wind howled between the trees.
The eerie atmosphere made it feel like something could jump out at any moment.
Perka hunched her shoulders and scanned our surroundings warily.
“Do elves really live in a place like this? I thought elves lived in the Great Forest near the World Tree.”
“It’s like how not all dwarves live in Doomheim. Somewhere in the world, there are probably dwarves who live in forests.”
As Perka said, the origin of the elves is the Great Forest where the World Tree stands. The very place I had left Alfia.
But long ago, some elves left the Great Forest and settled in other regions. There were elves in gloomy forests, in deserts, and here in this snowy woodland.
Of course, their numbers were significantly smaller compared to their home in the Great Forest.
“I’m a little worried.”
“About what?”
“Elves are extremely wary of outsiders. And with a dwarf here, they’ll be even more aggressive.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if they started shooting arrows without warning.
We had to be as careful as possible.
“Let’s move without even a shadow of a doubt.”
“Why a shadow all of a sudden?”
“It’s an expression. ‘So secretly that not even a mouse or a shadow would notice.’ It means to act so stealthily that neither a mouse nor a shadow would sense you. Now, if you understand, let’s go.”
Perka let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“Azyeth, if you sense anything strange, let me know immediately. Don’t keep it to yourself like last time.”
“Strange…?”
“For example, if there are elves nearby.”
“Like that…?”
Azyeth pointed a finger toward the top of a tree. A person was perched on a straight-growing conifer.
Their clothes, made of thick animal hides, were no different from a northerner’s, but sure enough, their ears were long.
Long-ears.
They were so long.
Snow Elves.
So much for moving without a shadow of a doubt; we’d been spotted from the very beginning.
A whirlwind of air swirled around the elf’s arrowhead. It was the power of a spirit.
“Rami. Get back.”
Azyeth stepped in front of me, her eyes fixed on the elf. But contrary to my fear that they would attack without a word, the elf only aimed their bow and didn’t shoot.
They whispered something among themselves before descending to the ground. They approached us, still on guard.
Perka, who had hidden behind me at some point, peeked out and asked, “Wh-what is it?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know either.”
This was an unexpected development.
An elven woman who appeared to be the leader stood before me. Unlike the elves of the Great Forest, her hair was blue, as were her pupils.
“Who are you? Why does a mere human like you carry His aura?”
“‘His’?”
“The World Tree.”
“Aha.”
I knew what it was.
Right, I received the Blessing of the World Tree.
It was a buff I’d gotten for liberating Alfia, one that dramatically increased the stats of elven slaves.
Beastkin with their sensitive noses sometimes told me I smelled of the forest. In contrast, the dwarves, with their generally duller senses, didn’t notice it at all.
To an elf, the scent must be far more intense.
“You know something. Speak the truth. Unless you want me to paint the snow with your blood.”
Even if they lived outside the Great Forest, an elf was still an elf. They were beings who worshipped the World Tree as a god. They couldn’t recklessly attack me, someone who carried its blessing.
There was no reason to be intimidated.
I stepped forward confidently to face the elf.
“Ha, how absurd.”
“What did you say?”
“I am a mere human who has received the blessing of the World Tree. A blessing passed down only to the Elven Queens for generations has been bestowed upon me. Do you not understand its meaning?”
“Wh-what does it mean…?”
Faced with my confident demeanor, the elf’s aggressive posture faltered.
I had put on a bold front, but honestly, I had no idea how to explain it. Nothing came to mind.
There was a good method for times like these.
“Do you truly not understand?”
Make the other person guess and come up with the answer themselves. Pressure them as if there’s some hidden meaning.
The elf’s expression turned serious.
I could practically hear the gears turning in her head.
A moment later, her eyes widened in shock.
“Don’t tell me?”
“That’s right. It’s exactly what you’re thinking.”
“The Queen’s Consort?”
Huh.
The Queen’s Consort seemed a bit of a stretch.
I thought she’d guess I was a benefactor at most.
But hey, if she was going to misunderstand on her own, who was I to refuse?
“You’re slow on the uptake.”
“Impossible. The Elven Queen of the Great Forest taking a human as her consort? You expect me to believe that?”
“It is the wholehearted truth. Ivrelia and I exchanged a thousand-year vow in the embrace of the World Tree. The World Tree itself blessed us. The aura flowing from my body is proof.”
“…You’re mad. Utterly mad. An elf, and the Elven Queen no less, making a vow with a human!”
“It just means the times have changed. In a world where not even gods are eternal, the only immortal thing is love.”
“Hah…”
The elf let out a dejected sigh and lowered her bow. It seemed I had managed to smooth things over somehow.
“What business does the Queen’s Consort have in Eisengar? And with a ground-mole, no less.”
The elf glared at Perka.
Perka flinched.
As a half-dwarf, it wasn’t easy to tell she was a dwarf by her appearance alone, but it seemed the elves had some kind of dwarf-hating DNA in their bodies.
“I’ve come for a royal treasure held by the elves. Do you happen to know of it?”
“I do. But why do you need it?”
“I intend to return it to its rightful owner.”
I glanced at Azyeth, and the elf’s gaze followed mine.
As expected of a long-lived race that lives for a thousand years, she seemed to know about the kingdom that hadn’t even left a mark in history. She seemed to realize something as she looked at Azyeth and nodded to herself.
“Hoh, surprising. I never thought there would be a survivor. But she has become a doll.”
“Will you give me the item? If not, I will take it by force.”
“Worry not. We proud elves, unlike some, do not covet the belongings of others. If the owner asks for it back, it is only right to return it. Wait a moment.”
The elf excused herself and left, returning shortly after. She brought back a tiara that shimmered with a blue light. The elf handed the tiara to Azyeth.
“I wish you well.”
“Thank… you?”
Azyeth stared intently at the tiara.
She couldn’t take her eyes off it for a long time.
“Thankfully, we got the first treasure without any trouble. Shall we head back?”
“I have something I wish to ask.”
As we were about to leave, the elf stopped us.
“Consort of the Queen. What is your relationship with the Snow Princess?”
What should I say?
Saying we were master and slave would just stir up unnecessary trouble.
I searched for a suitable answer and quickly found one.
“I am the one who protects the Princess.”
Of course, a princess has her knight.
Knights are cool, right?
*
After Karami’s party left, the elves remained in the forest.
They were frozen in place by the shocking revelation Karami had dropped.
The one who protects the Princess.
This could be interpreted in two ways.
One was a knight.
Literally, someone who guards the princess.
But Karami, by all appearances, was a man far removed from combat.
He was definitely not a knight.
That naturally led to the second possibility.
A prince.
While not on the level of an elf, Karami’s features were rather handsome. In the eyes of the elves, Karami looked more like a prince than a knight.
In this world, which wasn't modern Earth, having a prince wasn't strange. But Karami's case was different.
“The Queen’s Consort is having an affair…?”
Something had felt off.
Why would the Queen’s Consort come to such a remote place?
It was all to have a secret affair with the princess behind the Queen’s back!
That piece of trash.
If she could, she would announce this heinous fact to the world right now, but if she did, the Elven Queen would not escape the arrows of criticism.
She would be shamed for failing to hold onto a single human male, letting him have an affair. It would be a disgrace not just for the Elven Queen, but for all elves.
The lofty pride of the elven race would be dragged lower than a dwarf’s tunnel. That was something that must never happen.
The elf wrote a letter and placed it in a small tube attached to a bird’s leg.
The destinations were the various Elven Elders scattered across the continent.
She had to report this emergency.