Elves and Gatekeeping (5)

“Ah.”

The place where I suddenly regained consciousness was on a soft bed. It was already late at night, long after the sun had set. As soon as I opened my eyes, I reflexively sat up.

This caused the spirits who were sleeping on top of me to wake up as well, rolling off the bed.

“Isilia!”

Lina, who had been dozing off beside me, shouted in surprise. It seems she had been keeping watch by my side until I woke up.

“How’s the situation?”

Despite seeing Lina’s worried eyes, I had to ask this first. Although I had rushed back at the end, the main force still hadn’t finished dealing with all the enemies.

Of course, if something worse had happened, I wouldn’t have woken up safely like this, and Lina wouldn’t be here unharmed.

“Don’t worry. Everything has been resolved well. The main force has returned safely, and the elves who remained in the city are also safe. Including Lady Ellua.”

Lina reassured me that everyone was fine. It didn’t seem like a lie, so I smiled slightly while looking at the rejoicing spirits.

“Too many unexpected things happened.”

I was certain that something would happen at the erosion site and had prepared for it, which is why we moved with the armed elf army, but this time it was more than just goblins popping out.

Especially, I couldn’t even imagine that some of their forces would bypass us to attack the elves’ empty headquarters.

It was the moment I realized how evil their purpose was, and how cunning they were to be able to achieve that purpose.

“What are the others doing? Are they busy cleaning up?”

“It seems so. Especially because many people are in great shock…”

Lina nodded at my words as I flopped back down. Although the crisis had passed and it was quiet outside, the atmosphere was by no means calm. Rather, it was tense like a time bomb that could go off at any moment.

I wanted to go out right now and do what needed to be done, but I was too tired even though I had been unconscious.

“Let’s take it slow. We’ve put out the urgent fire. But we need to go soon. We haven’t eliminated the erosion yet.”

Because of their resistance, we had to change direction the moment we could set foot in the erosion site. We needed to remove it as soon as possible, not knowing what might happen if we left it unattended for too long.

“Come here.”

I smiled and patted the space next to me. Lina, as if she had no choice, carefully came over and lay down beside me.

Indeed, becoming this kind of body wasn’t all bad. I could act spoiled like this as I pleased.

* * *

“Elder, you should rest now. You’ll collapse at this rate.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Do you think I’m weak enough to collapse from just this much? Not yet.”

If even Isilia was surprised, how about the elves who experienced erosion for the first time? Naturally, they were still trembling with anxiety, unable to calm their excitement even at this moment.

The elder, Elnar, was no exception. Having not rested for a moment since the incident, Elnar was still struggling to calm his mind.

‘The shock seems considerable. Well, it’s my first time actually fighting dark elves too. Moreover, those dark elves were somehow strange.’

Patrick gulped down the elves’ drink, which was said to chase away fatigue and awaken the mind, while watching Elnar’s state.

Although he was Isilia’s companion, he had received somewhat ambiguous looks for being human, but this incident had earned him the complete trust of the elves.

It was thanks to becoming comrades by fighting alongside the elves. Patrick, who had actually struggled and had a hard time against the opponents, found this treatment quite bewildering.

“What do you think? Weren’t those dark elves much stronger than what’s known?”

“I’m not sure. I was completely in a trance while fighting…”

Patrick asked Laila beside him, but Laila couldn’t give much helpful information. As Isilia had said, Laila, who had started to synchronize with the wind spirit that showed affection towards her, was too intoxicated by it to think about anything else.

For Laila, it was rather a perfect opportunity to test her new power. In fact, she was still fidgeting with the handle of her sword, as if her body was itching to fight.

Patrick sighed as he watched this. To him, who didn’t know Laila’s exact identity, it just looked like Isilia had picked up another strange kid from somewhere.

“Elder, I think we won’t be able to learn anything unless we interrogate the captured dark elf.”

“Absolutely not. Don’t approach rashly until the High Elf wakes up.”

Meanwhile, Elnar vehemently opposed those who suggested interrogating the captured dark elf. He insisted that they shouldn’t dare approach until Isilia woke up.

‘I wonder what exactly happened.’

Patrick, who had arrived late with the main force, had reason to be curious, seeing Elnar, who had been confident even in front of Isilia, suddenly become so submissive.

Elnar, who had barely managed to save his daughter Ellua’s life, was now just waiting for Isilia to wake up, afraid that something else he didn’t know about might happen again.

“What’s this? Why does everyone look like they’re dying?”

“Isilia!”

Finally, the silver-haired elf girl they had been waiting for arrived in the early dawn, yawning as she walked with her maid Lina. She looked much refreshed.

Isilia chuckled as she saw those who had been waiting for her, unable to get proper sleep.

“You waited until I came? Without even touching him?”

“Y-Yes. We didn’t know what kind of tricks that evil one might pull.”

“I can understand that. Though it seems a bit excessive.”

Isilia gave a bitter smile upon hearing Elnar’s words, who looked even older due to his haggard appearance. It was a major incident for the elves who had lived quite peacefully as the rulers of this area for over hundreds of years. It wasn’t strange for them to be shocked.

“Let’s go see. If he happens to die, that would be a problem too.”

Finally, Isilia took the lead and approached the captured dark elf with them. The dark elf was still buried in the ground with only his face sticking out, and a stone had been shoved into his mouth as a gag to prevent him from committing suicide.

“Kuh, you bitch, what are you…”

“We have to do what needs to be done. Let’s make this quick and as painless as possible.”

Isilia, who ended up having to interrogate him directly, smirked at his gritting teeth as he looked at her. While she disliked troublesome tasks, she didn’t particularly mind disciplining an arrogant enemy.

“Look at their faces. They’re steeped in fear. They’re like that because they don’t know when the curse, the calamity will engulf them and this land. I was just trying to give them an opportunity.”

The dark elf forced a smile and then raised his voice, looking at the elves surrounding them.

‘He definitely knows something.’

Isilia also knew what kind of beings dark elves were and what ideologies they held. However, the dark elf in front of her now was clearly a somewhat different entity.

Thinking this was due to the influence of erosion, Isilia suddenly lifted her foot and stomped on his face.

“If you’re so great, then tell us. What do you know? What exactly is this anomaly happening in the world right now?”

“Y-You, even if you’re the legendary High Elf, you won’t be able to stop it. You’re just part of those who disappeared, unable to stop the end times back then. The end has already begun. We will become part of it, members of the new world…”

He continued speaking steadfastly under Isilia’s foot, without even needing to be interrogated. These were words he could say based on a very strong belief rooted in his inner self.

‘As I thought, the end-times program that has continued since that era has been activated. But why now, after all this time?’

She bit her lip as her suspicions were gradually confirmed. While it was understandable that the world, which should have completely perished, had somehow survived and been rebuilt, it was questionable why the system intended to prevent that had started operating again now, after 10,000 years.

“The curse will cover the whole world! You lot, stuck in the past, can’t stop it!”

He shouted and struggled. He chose to threaten and intimidate the elves while thrashing about, rather than cooperating and begging for his life.

“He doesn’t seem to know much either. In the end, we’ll have to go to the erosion site to know for sure. Do as you see fit.”

Isilia removed her foot and looked down at him with a disgusted expression before turning away. The elves were startled and made way for her.

What remained were the prisoner still stuck in the ground unable to move, and the elves enraged by the prisoner’s accusations.

“Elves can be quite cruel too. Because they’ve lost something.”

Even Patrick, an adventurer who had been through thick and thin, shook his head after coming back to report on how the prisoner was dealt with.