Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Coincidence for the Heroine (2)
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“You coward…!”
The blonde elf bit her lower lip.
It was a distance that an ordinary person wouldn’t even notice, but her eyes, attuned to mana, clearly saw the blade pressed against Rime’s neck.
“Feeling like having a rational conversation now?”
“Shut up! If you hadn’t killed the branch chief…!”
As she shouted, the human deliberately stomped on Rime’s back. Rime let out a gasp and slumped like a corpse.
“Stop, please stop!”
The elf clapped her hand over her mouth in horror. Only after the surroundings fell silent did the human nod in satisfaction.
“I ask the questions. You just answer.”
“…”
“Answer.”
“…Got it.”
The human’s golden eyes coldly scanned her body.
“Name.”
“Miridis… Miridis Ip Marx.”
The moment she answered, the human furrowed his brow.
“Marx?”
That surname, derived from Marx, meant only one thing. Kin to Demerond Ip Marx, the leader of the World Tree Revolutionary Corps.
“…So you’re the princess.”
The human muttered something that could have been mockery or admiration, stroking his chin with one hand. Despite having been pierced by a sword, not a drop of blood flowed from the back of his hand.
“Miridis, why were you chasing the branch chief?”
“…I had something to ask him.”
“Ask him? What?”
“Well…”
Miridis hesitated for a moment, glancing behind the human. Behind his back, two glowing orbs of light shimmered—visible only to her eyes.
‘Rion, Relin. Not yet. Just a little longer.’
After whispering to the orbs in her mind, Miridis continued.
“…I wanted to ask what happened to the bodies of those elves who died in Incheon recently.”
“Ah, that incident… So you were after the Cleanup Guild? It has nothing to do with the branch chief being on the government’s side?”
“Government? Was he with the government?”
Miridis asked back, but the human pressed on with his own words.
“So, why are you looking for the elves’ bodies?”
Miridis drew in the cold night air. In that brief moment, she thought of the two dead elves.
Gon and Rgon, her utterly reliable big brothers.
Her family, who had gladly left the forest to follow her to Earth.
“…Do I need a reason to recover my family’s bodies?”
“…”
“That’s the only reason we were chasing the branch chief. So… please back off here. I swear we won’t pursue you. I don’t want to lose any more family.”
Even as she spoke those words, she gathered mana and sent it to the two orbs of light.
‘Rion, Relin.’
She prepared a spell with all her mana and focus. A spell of a lifetime, allowing no room for error.
One strike, a single attack to fell that cowardly human and rescue Rime… Her mind was filled with that thought.
But in the next instant, the human suddenly swung his sword up.
‘Did he notice?’
Before the startled Miridis could open her mouth, he thrust the blade down.
“No!”
Thud.
With the sound of the blade sinking deep, she squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t have the courage to face another family member’s end.
A moment later, Miridis tremblingly opened her eyes. And…
“Huh…?”
She let out a dazed gasp.
Contrary to her fears, Rime wasn’t dead. The human had merely plunged the sword into the ground right beside Rime.
He dusted off his now-free hands and looked at the flustered Miridis.
“Miridis. First, my condolences. Unfortunately, your family’s bodies are no longer in this world.”
“What do you…”
Seeing her shocked face, the human paused before continuing.
“The Korean government… was collecting bodies from this land and selling them to necromancers. Your family’s bodies were in the government’s corpse warehouse too.”
“Necromancers…? No way?”
Miridis bit her lip, imagining the worst. Not only had their flesh failed to return home, but it might have been used by necromancers?
But the human’s next words exceeded even her darkest fears.
“I burned that corpse warehouse down.”
“…What?”
“The two dead elves’ bodies probably burned up with it. It wasn’t my intention, but I apologize to you.”
The human seemed genuinely regretful as he placed his hat over his heart and bowed his head. Miridis blankly took in the sight.
Was he telling the truth? Or just a lie to escape the moment?
Before her doubts could settle, the human leaped forward, closing the distance to her in an instant—an speed so immense she felt her mana churn.
Stopping before Miridis, he silently pulled a note and pen from his pocket, scribbled something, and handed it to her.
“The location of the ruined warehouse. If you plan to check it out, go to the address on this note.”
The note had a crude map and address. Miridis blinked at the sudden shift in attitude but accepted it meekly.
“Hope you find some mementos of your family.”
With those words, the human turned to leave. Or tried to.
“W-Wait!”
Miridis grabbed his sleeve without thinking. Why? What was she thinking? Unable even to understand herself, she fell silent for a moment.
What should I ask… Ah, right.
“Y-Your name! What’s your name?”
The man answered with a reluctant expression.
“Dung Beetle.”
“…Dung Beetle?”
An alias? Miridis instinctively circulated her mana to check the translation spell. It was working fine.
“Th-That’s… quite a unique name.”
“I hear that a lot. Anyway, anything else?”
“N-No, nothing else but… um…”
The conversation ended there. As Miridis released his sleeve, he gave a slight nod. A brief farewell.
Dung Beetle passed her and vanished toward the bridge. Miridis stared blankly at his retreating figure, then remembered Rime and summoned the two orbs.
“Relin, Rion. Carry Comrade Rime. First… let’s head to the warehouse on this note.”
***
The ‘Writer’ was browsing internet news when a headline made him frown.
『Shock!! Extremist Elf Declares Enrollment at Lord Howe! ‘What’s an Elf Doing at the Academy’ Controversy Heats Up.』
Clicking the sensational title brought up an article from a fairly reputable outlet, not some third-rate tabloid, on his smartphone screen.
『Multiple Testimonies Secured from Kaesong Gate!』
『Wraiths of the Fallen World Tree Cross the Gate.』
『US State Dept ‘Neither Confirm Nor Deny’ Sparks Debate.』
『Harbinger of Peace Treaty? Elixir Prices Surge.』
『Some Academy Students Express Concern.』
A quick glance showed the article’s views already surpassing hundreds of thousands, heading toward a million.
At this rate, it’d be global news in days.
‘What the hell? This shouldn’t be out already.’
The Writer thought of the article’s subject and rubbed his forehead.
Miridis Ip Marx.
Elf princess… or red commie.
Like all the heroines in this world, this polarizing character wasn’t revealed until the end of Chapter 1, after the entrance ceremony.
An anti-Earth red elf—and a princess at that—enrolling in the academy was a key plot hook leading into Chapter 3…
But for her enrollment to leak before the ceremony even happened.
‘What the hell changed?’
He scoured news from months back for clues but found no turning point.
He couldn’t even guess where things had gone wrong.
‘Should I be glad only the enrollment leaked, not her identity?’
Tsk. He clicked his tongue.
Trapped here, his info speed and quality sucked. No matter what, he needed the entrance ceremony and story to progress to do anything…
‘Blue Rat or Secret Society. A deal with either would spare me this headache.’
He smacked his lips thinking of the world’s info guilds. Knowing their identities was useless—they were pie in the sky now.
As the Writer sighed with those thoughts, someone knocked on his door.
Knock knock.
‘Who the fuck at this hour?’
The Writer quickly hid his smartphone under the blanket, got up, and opened the door.
“Huh? Jeon Yun-seong? What’s up?”
Beyond the door stood a spine-chillingly handsome boy… handsomer even than the protagonist in his novel.
“Just had some time.”
“At this hour?”
The Writer nodded toward the clock on his wall. 5:30 a.m. Well before the dorm wake-up at 7.
“Figured you’d be up.”
The boy grinned brightly. A smile to melt any girl, but the Writer wasn’t into women—or men.
If anything, he hated the boy’s looks. Having him around made romancing female side characters impossible.
But he desperately hid his true feelings, playing the classmate.
“Yeah? Perfect timing, I was bored. Wanna game?”
“Let’s spar.”
“…Spar?”
“You asked me to teach you martial arts last time. Can’t during class hours, but I can spare an hour early morning.”
The Writer fought to keep his face from twisting.
True, he’d asked—but not seriously, just to keep conversation going.
But this boy, who’d spent his life hated by Koreans, was so socially inept he didn’t grasp ‘polite chit-chat.’
‘…Fuck.’
Backing out now would waste the connection. The boy was a protagonist candidate in his mind.
The Writer swallowed a sigh and forced a smile.
“Oh right, I did say that. Didn’t think you’d actually do it, so I forgot.”
“What’re friends for? This much is nothing.”
The Writer screamed internally in frustration. But his mouth said something else.
“Thanks for caring, Yun-seong.”
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