Chapter 40: The Dance of the Elves (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 40: The Dance of the Elves (2)
A brilliant light erupted over Noctar.
The radiance was so blinding it could be mistaken for the break of dawn, intense enough to be seen even from outside the fortress walls.
Renard squinted against the flood of light. The Dark Cloud spirits shrieked, “Kieeeek!”
The light bomb exploded outward, devouring the black mist that enveloped Renard. As the mist vanished, her entire body was exposed.
“What?”
Renard couldn't hide her bewilderment. Seizing the moment the pressure on her lessened, Alfia swung her bow, knocking Renard’s arm aside.
Renard lost her balance and staggered. Just as she was about to fall from the roof, she leaped and landed on the building opposite. She checked on her spirits and saw their power had weakened.
Alfia’s light was the cause.
That light…
It was no ordinary light. The vivid aura was unmistakably the energy of a spirit. There was no room for doubt.
Wasn’t she unable to control spirits?
They were supposed to be a chaotic mess, their forms barely distinguishable. Renard couldn’t comprehend what had suddenly possessed those troublemakers to cooperate with Alfia.
Alfia slowly rose to her feet. From her back, the light of a symbol that her clothes couldn't conceal seeped out.
Both a brand and a blessing.
A mark of her vow to never betray his faith in her.
Alfia reveled in the power the light held.
So this is what a spirit feels like.
Though it was her first time experiencing it, the sensation was familiar, not alien at all. It was only natural, given that she had carried these spirits within her since birth. It felt no different from moving her own limbs.
And because of that, she knew exactly how to wield them.
Alfia raised her shortbow. With her right hand, she drew the bowstring.
Kreeeak.
As the string pulled taut, an arrow materialized from thin air—an arrow forged of pure radiance.
A cold smirk played on Alfia’s lips.
“Now it's my turn. Ready to take an arrow, compatriot?”
“Kuh!”
With a sharp gasp, Renard moved swiftly. The Dark Cloud spirits screamed a frantic warning in her mind: that light was dangerous.
She vanished into a thick, spreading mist. The mist drifted through the sky, trying to escape.
Alfia’s eyes tracked Renard’s movement. As if she had no need to predict her path, she fired the arrow straight at the mist.
It exploded.
Swish!
The sound of the mist bursting preceded the sound of the arrow tearing through the air. The arrow of light, a straight-line flash, was far too fast for sound to follow.
The moment the arrow struck the cloud, the mist vanished with a pop! Instantly exposed, Renard plummeted from the sky.
She hit the ground and rolled to break her fall. Scratches and trickles of red blood marked her dark skin. It had taken only a single arrow.
Is that… really a spirit?
She must have only just started wielding them. Even accounting for elemental advantages, that kind of power was absurd. It was stronger than any spirit wielded by the high elves of her homeland.
Just as Renard sensed, Alfia’s spirits were different from the spirits of nature. They had lived as parasites inside Alfia’s body, hundreds of years spent with spirits of different natures clashing against one another.
Children grow by fighting, and so too did the spirits. Having grown unintentionally, their very class was now beyond compare.
The god who built this world had named this light thus:
『Servant of Light』
The superior class of light spirits.
Another brilliant light shone down on the fallen Renard. Alfia took aim with another arrow of light.
“This is your punishment for daring to point your blade at him. I’ll make sure you never try something like that again.”
Renard stared at Alfia with trembling eyes, then lowered her head.
She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for her fate.
But even as she waited, nothing happened. The light hadn't vanished, either. She cautiously raised her head.
“…What is this? Are you savoring some vile pleasure watching me on the verge of death?”
“Of course not. I have no hobby of harming my own kind.”
I gave her a chance because she was my kin, after all. A merciful act of mercy, you could say.
But that mercy was only for Renard, the elf. Alfia turned her gaze toward the merchant group’s camp.
She raised her bow. As if protesting against the world that had caused her so much pain, she aimed for the sky.
She drew the bowstring back and released it with a light flick. The arrow shot upward like a reverse meteor, scattering fragments of light.
It stopped only when it pierced the clouds. The arrowhead tilted sideways, and then…
It fell.
I’m grateful you let me meet him, but…
Kidnapping me, imprisoning me, treating me as a mere product. I can’t forgive that. You will pay for your sins, right here, right now.
The meteor fell.
It disappeared between the buildings.
Rumble…
A pillar of pure white light shot up. The ground shook as if from an earthquake.
The pillar of light gradually thinned, then vanished.
The void left by the arrow swallowed the night.
Crumble…
Unable to withstand the power, the bow disintegrated into countless fragments.
The wind blew.
The fragments scattered on the breeze.
Her braided golden hair fluttered.
The night air on her sober mind felt cool. Alfia felt an unparalleled sense of liberation.
Alfia turned her head to see the master who had granted her this freedom, to proudly show him that she had repaid his faith.
Karami, still holding his cup, stood with his mouth agape. His eyes were wider than they had ever been.
That was amazing, right?
Wasn't I awesome?
Alfia beamed, flashing a V-sign.
Meanwhile.
Ah, fuck! My priceless treasures!
Karami screamed internally.
*
Alfia returned to The Peacock’s Night Gathering. Renard was with her.
Renard was speechless at the sight of her comrades’ corpses strewn about. She flinched when her eyes met those of the old man who had created this carnage. She knew who he was.
“Victor, the Shadow Peacock…”
“To think there’s another who knows this old man.”
“There isn’t an assassin alive who doesn’t know you. I thought you died with the rest of the guild when it was annihilated, but you were hiding in a place like this?”
“I just didn’t want to kill people for money anymore. More importantly.”
“Ugh?”
Victor’s reminiscent mood shifted in an instant. His eyes, honed with a killing intent that felt like it could carve out a heart at any moment, were impossible to look at directly.
Renard drew her dagger in an instinctual motion and took a defensive stance. But her dagger-wielding hand trembled so badly she was in no state to fight.
“Respect your elders.”
Respect my elders? What does that mean?
Oh, I get it! He’s the elder, and he’s about to attack!
Fine, bring it on. I will protect the pride of the elves, even if it means my death.
Smack!
“Ack!”
Victor’s hand moved in a blur, and a thunderbolt seemed to strike the top of Renard’s head. She collapsed, clutching her head.
“How dare you draw a blade on an elder? You damn elves, not a single one of you knows how to respect your elders.”
Though dazed, Renard still had something to say.
“B-But I’m older than you… eek.”
Victor’s fist rose again. Renard’s will to resist vanished like dust.
There was truly nothing like a good beating to educate someone. A single punch had thoroughly instilled some manners in Renard. Wincing, she rubbed the swollen lump on her head.
While they were sorting out their pecking order, the other pair was enjoying a warm atmosphere. Alfia was excitedly recounting her experience of wielding spirits to Karami.
“When I shouted, they just froze, you know? And when I told them to give me their power, it all just rushed into me and everything went whoosh and got super bright…!”
“Is that so?”
He couldn’t relate to a single word she was saying.
But like a parent listening to their daughter talk about a school trip, Karami listened with a pleasant smile.
That he could even manage a smile was a miracle in itself. His true feelings had turned to dust right along with the merchant camp.
“Hmph. To think such insignificant things were giving an elf a hard time. I’ll work them to the bone to make up for all the trouble they caused.”
Oblivious, Alfia was full of triumphant spirit.
She summarily stomped on the spirits’ cries of protest, which sounded like, “Hiiyaak!”
“It’s getting noisy,” Karami said, sensing the mood in the fortress. An earthquake in the middle of the night, a pillar of light falling from the sky—it would be stranger if people were still sleeping soundly.
“We should go now.”
“Are you leaving?”
“An entire merchant group has been annihilated. They know I and Miss Alfia were involved with them to some extent, so they’ll come to question us. They might even frame us for crimes we didn’t commit.”
“Does it matter? It’s not like you or I are clean people anyway. And if we’re here, they won’t dare try anything funny.”
Karami tilted his head as if to ask what he meant.
“But I am clean.”
“What?”
“I’ve only ever done good deeds. Where else would you find a slave trader as kind as me?”
“But…”
“To put me and you on the same level, Master, is honestly a bit…? Haha.”
Karami drew a sharp line between them. Victor was about to retort, ‘You forcibly enslaved Alfia when she was collapsed!’ but the look in Alfia’s eyes as she gazed at Karami was anything but ordinary.
Honey dripped from the elf’s eyes.
With the person in question acting like that, it seemed he wouldn’t be getting any support. Victor gave up. There was no one in the world you could trust. He’d just have to focus on raising Emily.
Victor procured a horse from an innkeeper he knew. Karami and Alfia hopped on.
After a moment’s hesitation, Alfia wrapped her arms around Karami’s waist. Karami did his best to ignore the soft, pillowy sensation on his back.
“Travel safely. You’re welcome back anytime. And do something about that personality of yours. If you run into the wrong kind of person, you’ll die without even a scream.”
“Haha, this is a basic requirement for a slave trader. I’ll drop by again if I get the chance. Oh, and Master.”
“Hm?”
“Check the merchant group’s basement. It’s for your drinks and the children’s upbringing.”
Merchant group.
Basement.
Putting the two words together, it wasn’t hard to grasp his meaning. Victor nodded.
“Bye, Master! I’ll be back, so you’d better be alive until then!”
Alfia waved. Just as the horse began to move forward, Karami snapped his fingers.
[Lili has been liberated.]
[50 PT have been awarded.]
[Lala has been liberated.]
[70 PT have been awarded.]
As Karami and Alfia rode off into the distance, Renard cautiously got to her feet.
“W-Well, I’ll be on my way, too. See you…”
“What are you talking about? You’re staying here.”
“What? Why me?”
“What? Why me?”
“…Why me, sir.”
Victor swept a finger across the blood-soaked surroundings.
“You have to clean up.”
*
A horse galloped across the plains of night.
Using the excuse that she might fall off, Alfia hugged Karami tightly.
“Where are we going now?” Alfia asked.
In truth, it didn’t matter where they went.
When she first left the forest, even breathing had been difficult, but not anymore. As long as she was with her master, she felt she could live even in a desert with not a single tree in sight.
But Karami’s thoughts were the exact opposite.
“We’re going to the Great Forest.”
If everything up to now had been for one great step, this would be the final one.