Ch.195195. Fairy (4)

# Elf

Like the Dwarf, originating from Norse mythology, they have settled in modern fantasy as a race generally characterized by long ears and beautiful appearances.

The elves of Dungeon & Adventure faithfully follow this cliché and are not significantly different from elves in modern fantasy novels.

Physically, they have long ears, are tall and slender, have exceptional aptitude for magic, and possess an incredible lifespan ranging from at least 500 years to as long as 1,000 years.

In media, elves are often depicted as a race with advanced magical technology, or as nature-loving beings living eco-friendly lives in forests.

In D&A, both types exist.

The Sun Elves (also called High Elves) who live in great cities with magical civilization on the western islands.

And the Moon Elves (also called Wood Elves) who coexist with nature deep within the great forests.

Originally from an ancient elven race called Star Elves, they diverged into these two subspecies as they adapted to their environments.

The Moon Elves, or Wood Elves, who stand in opposition are among the few sentient beings in this forest.

While Wood Elves might easily be mistaken for forest barbarians due to their close-to-nature lifestyle…

In truth, the technological gap between High Elves, who have built metropolises with populations exceeding 500,000 in this era, and Wood Elves is a matter of direction rather than actual difference.

Therefore, Wood Elves, with their magic technology bordering on biopunk, are naturally a proud and arrogant race, true to their elven nature.

Their arrogance stems from a chosen people mentality that they are noble and superior, which has both negative and positive aspects.

Because of this mentality, they generally display virtuous and excellent qualities, but the problem lies in the unwavering belief in their own superiority.

Of course, elves do possess power befitting their chosen people mentality, which somewhat validates their beliefs.

However… that doesn’t make their chosen people mentality positive in any way.

While it may appear somewhat positive on the surface, it is fundamentally still a chosen people mentality.

To put it metaphorically, they are extreme egoists who literally believe they are the center of the world, with a significant lack of consideration for others.

This characteristic actually originates from the fact that the Star Elves, ancestors of all elves, were fairies, or more precisely, a race in the transitional stage between humans and fairies…

Fortunately, elves are not innate psychopaths like fairies.

While they share ancestors with fairies, they are strictly not fairies at all, and thus are ultimately one of the humanoid races, merely arrogant.

Therefore, despite establishing nations and civilizations at least a thousand years ahead of humanity, these capable beings… fail to project their power externally.

The first reason is their chosen people mentality that views outsiders as primitive, and the second is internal division caused by the elves’ inherent treachery.

The life of an elf, never falling behind in terms of malice and scheming, is essentially political maneuvering. Hundreds of assassination attempts and several deaths daily were the reality.

When this malicious psychology combined with their chosen people mentality and nature conservation ideology, the result was:

“Stand back!! You arsonist!!”

“This is unforgivable!!”

The Wood Elves were, without exception, radical environmentalist eco-fascists.

“””””””””………”””””””””

The soldiers were so dumbfounded they were at a loss for words, but the elves seriously drew their bowstrings and declared to the soldiers.

Naturally, considering what the Fairy Queen had done after invading the fortress, it would be understandable to point weapons at them immediately, let alone accept their claims.

The problem was their military power.

Perhaps due to the disadvantage of slower growth compared to short-lived races, a characteristic of long-lived species, among the particularly insular Wood Elves, only those of intermediate rank or higher could operate outside…

In other words, these Wood Elf rangers blocking the soldiers’ path were at minimum intermediate-ranked “Wood Elf Patrollers.”

A total of four intermediate-level forces was enough to slaughter about ten soldiers, and elves might even demonstrate the feat of sweeping away enemies with a single arrow.

But the soldiers here were slowly retreating rather than fleeing, partly to avoid provoking them as much as possible, and also—

“…Distinguished guests have arrived.”

Because their greatest force, Vlad, would soon arrive, so they were trying to buy time.

“You are…?!!”

“…Could it be, the Venesik (‘humanoid monster’ in Elvish, used as Vlad’s alias in the story)?!!”

Though it had been over ten years, it wasn’t such a long time for elves, so they recognized Vlad’s old name, Selim Felburk, and remained vigilant.

Information about Vlad’s rampage in the village during his time as Selim seemed to be somewhat famous among those elves.

Therefore, they aimed their bows—made from special wood, green iron wood—at him, eyeing Vlad with a hint of fear.

Though they noticed Vlad’s power indicated he was at an advanced level, their damned high self-esteem prevented them from backing down, and they stood firm.

“Wood Elves, stand down. This is the greatest courtesy we offer.”

Vlad, not particularly wanting to cause conflict with the elves, delivered his advice with some goodwill, but…

“…What?”

“How dare a hideous monster like you…!!”

The elves, their pride wounded, poured contempt toward Vlad and, despite the difference in ability, ultimately shot arrows at him.

They drew bowstrings made from silk obtained from intermediate spider-type monsters and fired anti-undead arrows created with druid magic.

Four arrows in total, each capable of dispatching an intermediate undead in a single strike.

Fwoooosh—

—Slash.

Absurdly, though everyone knew these attacks would be ineffective, the fired arrows were predictably cut by Vlad’s sword and tumbled to the ground.

With this, Vlad confirmed the elves’ clear hostile intent.

“…No need to hold back anymore.”

With an expression containing considerable anger and a touch of pity, Vlad declared this and quickly approached them, swinging his sword—

Shortly after, the five were bound and swiftly transported to the Dawn Empire’s prison.

※ ※ ※

Later, the fates of the five isolated in the detention center diverged.

In the case of the Fairy Queen, the overwhelming opinion was that her crimes were too numerous to grant her the mercy of a clean death.

Considering that fairies’ souls return to the fairy realm after death, the Fairy Queen received severe punishment in accordance with the Dawn Empire’s strict penal system.

While the empire operates combat golems including piloted types, they also utilize punishment golems specifically designed for severe criminals.

These vicious golems use criminals as power sources, treating them as internal components, and far from minimizing pain, they even attach torture devices.

Among them, the Iron Maiden, created specifically for the Fairy Queen, was more terrifying to her than any other punishment.

A steel tube, barely large enough to contain the Fairy Queen even with her limbs severed, lined with thorns to connect with her.

This golem, created using the screaming Fairy Queen inside, was a massive metal golem powered by the Fairy Queen herself.

Standing over 8 meters tall, it was a tank-type golem focused on durability.

Its size made it relatively slow, but this was acceptable given that its purpose was criminal punishment and siege warfare.

Meanwhile, perception of fairies deteriorated rapidly after this incident, and the Dawn Empire’s administration issued a new decree in the emperor’s name.

Officially named the “Fairy Exclusion Order,” it stripped all unregistered fairies of their rights as sentient beings, earning praise even from dwarf diplomats who had suffered at the hands of earth fairies.

Going beyond mere deprivation of rights to openly allowing abuse of unregistered fairies, this demonstrated the level of resentment and hatred the Dawn Empire harbored toward fairies.

And while this apparent oppression of fairies began on the surface, in the detention center specially constructed for important prisoners:

“Are these them?”

“Yes, Heresy Inquisitor.”

The specialist interrogator and Vlad von Dracula had gathered to conduct an “interrogation” of these prisoners.