Ch.138138. Elven Kingdom (1)

The scene that entered our eyes as we rested on the deck terrace.

The landscape of the Elven Kingdom was so beautiful that no other flowery words were necessary to describe it.

With lush greenery covering all the outer areas of the island, the elven port was nestled in the middle of the forest as if it had always belonged there.

Though the only elven structure currently visible to us was the port, that alone was enough to give us a glimpse of the fragments of culture the elves had built up.

The elven buildings are made of a glossy, plastic-like pure white material that shines brilliantly.

Even with enhanced vision, I couldn’t detect a single seam, suggesting that this material was likely formed through some kind of magic.

And these elven structures, presumably created through magic, were built with curved designs that seemed straight out of science fiction.

Each building appeared to be at least 5 to 10 stories tall, and with blue or golden accents throughout, they didn’t feel monotonous at all.

Moreover, the magical wavelengths emanating from each building indicated they were equipped with magical infrastructure, but…

“Sophia, did you feel it?”

“…Yes.”

The two of us mid-rankers, Sophia and I, couldn’t help but focus on something other than the island’s dazzling exterior.

The moment we entered about 1km from the island.

Sophia and I were shocked to sense a barrier encompassing the entire island of the Elven Kingdom—a barrier of such magnitude that we couldn’t even imagine how much magical power was consumed to maintain it.

The artificially created grand barrier of the Elven Kingdom possessed three main powers:

Blocking hostile interventions from outside the barrier, such as curses or demon summonings by cultists; creating a spatial isolation effect that completely separates the inside from the outside; and finally, intercepting the physical approach of hostile entities.

If the first effect is magical defense and the second is physical defense, the third effect is none other than interception.

Though it has a simple structure of firing magical power at approaching hostile entities, its power is anything but simple in reality.

The beam of highly compressed magical power fired from a single point can split a knight in half with one strike.

The magical energy shot from the barrier’s boundary possesses enough destructive power to crush ships, and the anti-personnel lethality of the magic sprayed like mist is also at an irresistible level.

While we were experiencing strange emotions due to the murderous intent felt amidst this beautiful scenery, our ships entered a distance where the elven port was visible to the naked eye.

Seen up close, the elven port gave a much cleaner impression than any other otherworld ports I had seen so far.

The docks were made of the same white material as their buildings, but what particularly caught my eye was the shape of the elven vessels.

If I were to compare them to something, they might resemble modern luxury yachts.

The beautiful streamlined hulls lacked any features typical of sailing ships, and I could only guess that the magical machinery protruding from their sterns served as their power source.

“Is that… a crane?”

“Are those things called cranes?”

“Perhaps… I think so…?”

Meanwhile, in one corner of their port, surprisingly, there was a massive structure that appeared to be a cargo-lifting crane.

Of course, rather than the mechanical type of crane that modern people associate with ports, it was more like a magical crane in the form of a human arm rising directly from the ground.

This crane-arm was also covered in the same glossy white material, and it was moving containers—or similar cargo boxes—from nearby ships with remarkably fluid movements.

“Shall we get ready?”

“Let’s do that.”

As the port gradually came into clearer view, Sophia and I left the terrace and moved toward the deck to prepare for disembarkation.

A new wind, a mystery, was approaching.

※ ※ ※

About 30 minutes after disembarking from the cruise ship.

“……..”

“Truly, the Prophet has never been this irritated in her entire life.”

“Honestly, I feel the same. I’m really, really annoyed right now.”

Sophia and I, about to leave after completing immigration procedures, were disgusted by the unpleasant experience we had just endured.

Naturally, the Elven Kingdom’s immigration officer was an elf, so we had prepared ourselves mentally to some extent before even going through the process.

Elf and arrogance might as well be synonyms, so we were convinced that whatever outrageous behavior they displayed wouldn’t be surprising.

Of course, no matter how arrogant and haughty elves might be, they at least maintained minimal courtesy, so their immigration process itself was quite ordinary.

Asking about the purpose of entry and motivations, explaining precautions… it was so unexpectedly normal that animal friends like Corin and Astra were taken aback.

However, the problem was the attitude this elven officer displayed during this otherwise ordinary immigration process.

To put it crudely, the way he spoke was repulsive.

He didn’t openly disrespect or show arrogance, but instead subtly revealed his chosen people mentality and contempt, which was plainly visible.

If he had picked a direct fight, I could have crushed him based on my backing (my Master).

This guy who acted so high and mighty was barely a low-rank at best, so I could easily squash him with just one finger.

But this elf, perhaps aware of this fact, skillfully walked a tightrope, nearly crossing the line but never quite doing so.

As a result, despite not having been directly insulted, I was now irritated to the extreme.

What particularly infuriated me was the elf’s characteristic roundabout way of speaking.

No flowery prose could match it. He added dozens of adjectives to each word to embellish his speech, yet what he said had no clear meaning and was ambiguous enough to be interpreted in various ways.

Moreover, he seemed well aware of this speech pattern’s characteristics and cleverly mixed insults among these embellishments, making me feel disgusted by his unpleasant manner of speaking.

While it’s inevitable that roundabout speech would develop in elven society due to rampant politics…

He was truly, truly an unpleasant fellow.

But for now, it was time to move on.

“Let’s go. Getting involved with such things only hurts us.”

“…Right. A mere low-level official daring to tangle with the Prophet.”

While adding his name to my mental revenge list, I tried to gradually erase his ugly demeanor from my mind… when suddenly, I couldn’t help but marvel at the beautiful scene unfolding before my eyes.

“Wow….”

Even Sophia, who had developed an anti-elf mindset within just an hour of entry, was amazed.

The city of the Elven Kingdom, to summarize simply, resembled a futuristic eco-friendly city.

As mentioned earlier, the buildings constructed with what appeared to be magical white material were relatively tall structures averaging between 5 and 10 stories. With their curved designs and white base accented with blue or gold, the buildings here… even to modern eyes, they definitely looked futuristic.

Throughout the city center, vegetation that went beyond mere street trees formed small ecosystems, and shallow but clean urban waterways on the ground made the atmosphere even more clear and refreshing.

Additionally, floating lights that seemed to serve as streetlamps hovered in the streets, while carriages with curved designs reminiscent of luxury sports cars rolled along the roads.

Yet amidst this scenery, I somehow felt a slight sense of dissonance.

What could it be? What had happened to cause this feeling? After pondering for a while, I suddenly noticed that there was an unusually low proportion of elves among the pedestrians in the city.

Even though this was a trading port, it definitely felt strange.

After a moment’s thought, I suddenly realized one fact I had heard about on the ship…

‘As expected, their low birth rate problem is serious.’

I finally understood the reason for my strangely relatable feeling of unease.

Well, it’s hard to imagine ‘those’ elves dating each other, after all.