Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Misunderstanding
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“Wh-what on earth did you do!!”
Their faces filled with anger.
I glanced at the blonde elf in my arms.
Her disheveled state, dangling from my hand, was certainly enough to invite misunderstandings.
“She’s not dead, so you don’t need to be so shocked. If anything, she’s healthier than before.”
Even with my explanation, their stiff expressions didn’t soften.
“Ahem. She liked it so much that...”
“...”
I thought I’d already shown plenty of mercy by sparing this brainless elf who had mindlessly tried to kill me for no reason. Yet their hostile glares were starting to grate on me.
“This crazy elf tried to take my life for no reason at all. Do you think killing her would’ve been the better choice?”
“Th-that’s!!”
“Lu-Luna. Calm down... I-I’m sorry.”
The silver-haired elf was about to lash out, but the blue-haired elf held her back and apologized.
I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t appreciate it when I was being nice. They weren’t to my liking anyway, but their faces were pretty, so I decided to forgive them.
They carefully took the brainless blonde elf I handed over.
“I’ll be here, so come find me once you’re ready.”
“Y-yes, understood.”
Given their current hostile attitude, I wasn’t sure if they’d keep their promise.
Whatever... I didn’t really care if they didn’t.
I had no intention of dragging them along if they didn’t want to come.
And I wasn’t planning to hunt them down for punishment either. The info that we were almost at the forest’s edge was enough.
Asking them to guide me was just the instinct of a male who wanted to be with beautiful women.
After they left, Yeondu nestled into my arms with her soft body.
‘For now... until they come... I can enjoy this a little longer, right...?’
Priscilla and Luna rescued Ayla and quickly escaped the Ancient Spirit Forest.
At first, when the man pulled Ayla out from among the spirits, they thought she was dead.
Priscilla was furious at Ayla’s wretched state, but with spirit magic nullified in that place, they couldn’t do anything to him.
Even if spirit magic had worked, he wasn’t someone they could guarantee victory against. On top of that, the tree spirits were friendly toward him.
Getting out with a living Ayla was the best they could do there.
“Lady Priscilla. What on earth was that man? He looked human.”
“I don’t know either. We’ll have to check the ancient texts when we get back.”
The two elves’ faces showed more worry about that bizarre giant man than joy at saving their comrade.
“He didn’t seem to hold much hostility toward us... How did Ayla end up fighting him?”
Priscilla asked Luna.
“From the battle traces I saw and what he said, I think he’s probably telling the truth. Sigh... Even so, for Ayla to end up like this...”
Luna looked pityingly at Ayla on her back.
“Could it be... Ayla mistook him for a human and tried to kill him...?”
“That’s likely. Outwardly, he’s almost indistinguishable from a human. And then she got subdued by him...”
If it was true that she’d targeted his life for no reason, Ayla had no ground to complain even if he’d killed her.
Especially since he was far stronger than her.
She was lucky to be alive.
“Sigh... We removed Ayla from the guard because she doesn’t care about consequences when it comes to humans... I didn’t expect something like this.”
“It’s not your fault, Lady Priscilla.”
“Hm... Could it be...”
“Did you figure out his identity? Do you have a clue?”
“Similar to humans, but on a completely different level... Perhaps... a dragon...”
“A d-dragon? Isn’t that just a human fairy tale?”
Humans love making up stories.
Like elves don’t eat meat.
Or drinking elf blood grants longevity.
Stories about dragons were among them.
Masters of magic, or so they said.
One tale was about an ancient hero of uncertain fate who was actually a dragon in polymorphed form.
Records of dragons existed in various ancient texts.
Even in elven ancient documents.
Priscilla remembered the details about dragons from the texts, as it was quite intriguing.
She wasn’t sure if they were masters of magic as humans claimed, but they were certainly transcendent beings. And there were records of them engaging in something like human “amusements.”
That’s probably where the human stories came from.
They elves had lived for quite a long time too, but dragons were legends they’d never seen.
‘If the ancient texts are true...’
A human-like appearance.
A being whose power was impossible to gauge.
The feeling Priscilla got from him couldn’t possibly be human. As someone who handled spirits, she could sense his otherworldly nature even more acutely.
Priscilla thought she knew most intelligent races, but nothing had ever given her that kind of vibe.
“Elven ancient texts also mention dragons wandering in human form.”
“Th-then...”
“Of course, I’m not saying he is one. It’s just a possibility. We need to investigate more.”
Ayla regained consciousness.
-Blink. Blink.
She blinked dazedly at the ceiling, then looked around.
The familiar interior came into view.
It was her bedroom in Triia.
‘A dream?’
Captured by the human man, defiled...
Dragged to the Ancient Spirit Forest.
Everything after that felt utterly unreal.
Ayla knew well what kind of place the Ancient Spirit Forest was.
“Tree spirits!! Why to a human!!”
Ayla had pleaded with the spirits, but absurdly, instead of helping, they tangled with him amiably and let him ravage her senselessly.
She’d lost consciousness midway.
But each time she came to, she was ravaged again, repeating the cycle of fainting countless times.
Yet when she opened her eyes, she was in her own bedroom...
And despite the merciless ravaging, her body brimmed with vitality.
‘A terrible nightmare?’
Ayla could only think that naturally.
At that moment, a familiar face opened the bedroom door and entered.
An elf with long silver hair and red eyes.
It was Luna.
“Luna...”
“Ayla. Are you okay?”
“Huh? Y-yeah...”
Her body felt better than ever.
“Thank goodness. I was so worried...”
“Worried?”
Ayla was baffled by Luna’s words.
Luna hugged her gently, as if relieved.
Realizing the meaning of that embrace, Ayla’s face paled.
“N-no way, that wasn’t a dream!?”
“Ayla...”
Luna looked pained at Ayla denying reality.
“I-I was really ravaged by that human bastard!?”
Ayla shot up from the bed, grinding her teeth as she asked Luna.
“Where is that bastard!?”
“Ayla, calm down...”
“Calm down?! How can I... after what that human did to me!!”
“Ayla, he’s not human.”
“H-he’s not human?!”
“How could a human survive like that in the Ancient Spirit Forest?”
“Th-that’s...”
It was certainly true.
His appearance might suggest it, but no human could tangle and mate with the tree spirits like that.
“It’s true that you attacked him first, right?”
“Th-that’s... He looked human first...”
“Ayla, how can you let your judgment cloud like that just because he seemed human? And you know not all humans are like that.”
“No!! All humans deserve to die! Those filthy trashes!!”
“...”
Ayla’s deep-seated hatred for humans was infamous among the elves. And Luna knew the reasons behind it.
“Wh-where is he?!”
Ayla couldn’t just let it go, even after hearing from Luna that the man who ravished her wasn’t human. And returning to the village meant they’d rescued her from him.
“...He’s still in the Ancient Spirit Forest... We asked him to let us take you...”
“Y-you asked him?”
Ayla bit her lip at the word “asked.”
“I doubt you handed me over easily... What did you promise him?”
“Don’t worry. We just agreed to a simple request.”
“A simple request?”
“Yeah. He wants us to guide him out of the forest.”
“...”
“It’s not a difficult demand. So don’t worry so much.”
“Who’s going?”
“Me... and Lady Priscilla.”
“L-Lady Priscilla?”
“I was going to go alone at first, but she was worried... And she’s curious about his identity too...”
Ayla recalled the man who’d effortlessly blocked her attacks.
Priscilla was a high-ranking spiritist, the top combatant in this elf village of Triia.
Her going along meant it wasn’t something minor—that they might not be able to handle whatever happened with that man.
‘I thought he was strong... but strong enough for Lady Priscilla to step in.’
It was all because of her.
Ayla couldn’t just stay quietly in the village and leave it to them.
“...I’m going too.”
“Ayla...”
“Don’t look at me with pity like that. So what if I gave up my body? It doesn’t bother me, so don’t worry. And I need to see with my own eyes if he’s human or not.”