episode_0086

“But this is not the time, I think we need to hurry.”

Sirocco urged. Kaela, who was feeling my touch to the fullest, showed a very subtle hint of irritation on her sour expression. Sirocco must have sensed that momentum and let out an awkward laugh.

“Haha… But the elf Eugene is looking for can’t die, right?”

“What does that mean? Did something dangerous happen?”

I was surprised and asked Sirocco back. This forest is so difficult to enter that it seems like a safe place for elves to live in hiding, but I don’t know why such dangerous things happen so often. Orc and goblin armies will attack, or Arjen will be overthrown… Ah, I don’t have the right to worry about the latter.

“We are facing off against the black elves.”

“What? A black elf?”

There was only one thing I could think of with that word. Dark elf. After all, it existed. As expected, it seems inevitable that we don’t get along well with elves.

“A rare name popped out.”

Kaela reacted to the word dark elf. I had a mountain of questions, but since the situation was urgent, I hurried my steps. As I followed Sirocco’s guidance through the dense trees, the elves led by Ispi were confronting the ashen-skinned elves. Although it was said to be a confrontation, it was showing a clear inferiority.

“Wow… It’s a life or death situation.”

Usually, when you look at cartoons, there is a scene where an external third party intervenes and mediates when two forces are fighting like this, but as expected, the directing was just directing. In reality, due to the constant noise of battle, everyone’s nerves were so divided that it was no longer a matter of whether someone showed up or not. In order to properly focus attention, external forces also seemed to need a force of similar size to theirs.

“How do I calm down?”

I ran as hard as I could, but if I continued like this, we were all going to die. As I was fidgeting, Kaela covered my eyes.

“Cover your ears yourself.”

It seemed like Kaela was trying to do something, so I followed her instructions. After blocking the air in my ears through the Sirocco, I nodded to indicate that I was done.

“Then… flash bang.”

In an instant, a huge storm hit my body. I reflexively blocked the wind with my sirocco. After exactly 4 seconds, Kaela calmly removed her hand that was covering my eyes.

“Oh….”

I don’t know what happened, but everyone who had been fighting just now, regardless of whether they were elves or dark elves, were rolling around on the floor, moaning. It looked as if it had been hit by a flash bomb.

“Ugh! I can’t see!”

“Ugh… W-what’s going on…!”

“Oh, is there no one!?”

“You cowards!”

It was embarrassing to call it an elf in the forest as it was unable to open its eyes properly, writhing on the ground, and spitting out curse-filled accusations at the other person in a loud and fierce voice. At this point, no one would be able to focus if I opened my mouth, so I kept my mouth shut and watched the proceedings.

“Ugh… I’m still on my way home…”

“My eyes hurt so much…”

After a short period of about 20 seconds, they stood up one by one and somehow picked up any weapon lying on the floor and began to protect themselves. Finally, after waiting for them to communicate to some extent, I opened my mouth.

“Good lunch everyone.”

“Who are you!?”

“Yu, Eugene?”

The reactions of the two forces were mixed. The dark elves who heard the unfamiliar voice were very wary, and perhaps because they had visited the village before, the dark elves remembered my voice and responded.

“Everyone stop fighting and I rushed over because I wanted to hear why they were fighting here like this.”

Actually, fighting between elves and dark elves is nothing special. It is also true that it is not something so grand that there needs to be a reason for it. Even I, who was unfamiliar with this world, naturally understood rather than being curious about what was going on between the two when they heard that they were fighting.

However, I understand that they fight when they meet, but there must be a reason why the dark elf came to the elf territory, and what I wanted to hear was about that. In any case, shouldn’t we distinguish between right and wrong?

‘Well, normally, the intruder would be at fault because they had dark intentions…’

Since this is what I was thinking, my question was going to be extremely formal. At least that’s what I thought until I heard the whole story.

“I couldn’t stand the persecution from the elves!”

I was waiting for Sirocco to translate my words into the language of the elves, when suddenly a rather large, muscular male dark elf shouted at me as if pleading. Considering that they used the common continental language, which is the language of humans, my expectation that the elves would naturally express their resentment was completely overturned.

“Uh… really? First of all, may I ask who you are?”

“It’s called Calmond. I am currently serving as the deputy commander of the troop.”

The spirit of this dark elf, who suddenly appeared and always responded politely to me who started by asking questions, was unusual. Rather, feeling burdened, I took a half step back and tried to introduce myself.

“I see. I am…”

“If there is no mistake in my eyes, aren’t you Eugene, Arjen’s favorite doll, the great dragon who dominates this area?”

“What the fuck?”

The answer he gave me after interrupting me was so unexpected that I just cursed him out loud. The good news is that the panic went too far and it was done in Korean rather than the continent’s official language.

‘No, that’s not the problem now….’

I don’t know how those dark elves know not only my name but also the title of Arjen’s Love Doll that I announced to humans. If I were to guess, it would mean that they are interacting with humans, as they can speak their language. If so, it was understandable to know that.

‘He’s very disciplined, quick-witted, and polite….’

Yes. The biggest problem is that they are breaking my expectations and taking an extremely common sense attitude. Judging by the fact that the deputy commander stepped forward, it appears that the commander is not here right now, but when he saw Kaela and I, he immediately bowed his head and came in. Those who appeared to be his subordinates were following the leader’s words without any doubt.

“Kaela. What do you think…?”

Perhaps because the information coming into my eyes was so unexpected, I couldn’t quite believe what I saw and heard and looked at Kaela standing behind me. There was nothing in this forest that could deceive her, so it was an expression asking her to check if the Dark Elves were up to something.

“Hmm, it is said to be a great dragon that dominates this area.”

Instead of answering what I said, Kaela nodded at the expression she was given by the dark elves. Although he managed to maintain a blank expression, a satisfaction that he couldn’t hide was evident.

“Yujin is said to be a love doll.”

And after repeating those words, a smile finally appeared on my face.

“I’m going to turn around… There’s not a single lie.”

To others, it seemed like Kaela was ignoring my question, but the fact that she was laughing like that while repeating the words spoken by the dark elf who identified herself as Kalmond meant that there was no lie or ulterior motive in her heart. I spoke carefully to Carlmond again.

“Hey… what should I call you guys? Dark elf?”

It was a question posed because it seemed unlikely that people of such stature would call themselves dark elves, but as expected, a slight tendon appeared between Kalmond’s eyebrows. As expected, I think it was a rude expression.

“We would be grateful if you could call us free elves.”

“Free elf, yes…”

As a free elf, I don’t know how noble you are trying to be.

“Then why were you free elves fighting with the elves in the land of the elves?”

“The land of the elves?”

The tendons on Kalmond’s forehead became thicker. Was this also disgusting? So, what do you mean, this place was originally theirs?

” Since you don’t seem to know much about Eugene, I will briefly explain our history.”

“Ah, yes. I would appreciate it if you could.”

A place for peaceful dialogue was successfully established, and just as Kalmond was about to say something, Ispi from the elf side belatedly came forward and stopped him. It was a bit inarticulate, but it was still the continent’s official language. Since the conversation so far had been in human language, it seemed like he had missed the right time to intervene.

“Wait a minute! Eugene, you must not listen to him!”

“ESP? Why?”

Rather than blindly taking her side, I calmly asked her why. Even looking at it objectively, there was no reason why I shouldn’t have listened to Carlmond’s explanation here.

“Well, that’s…”

Sure enough, seeing as he was speechless, it seemed like there was something holding him back. I turned my head from Ispi and looked towards Calmond. It was a signal to not worry and to continue.

“Yes, so…”

“They are pagans!”

Then, Ispi once again interrupted Kalmond. This time, a rather interesting keyword popped out.

“Pagan?”

A term used to refer to people who believe in a different god than themselves. I wasn’t sure if it was the god the elves believed in, but I only knew that his presence was spread throughout this world through the World Tree. The bow I received before also had a grand name, the Bow of the World Tree, so I knew this much.

“What’s wrong with that?”

And of course, I don’t have much of an aversion to the word pagan. This is because I came from a land where religious freedom is guaranteed.

“Yes…?”

This time, ISP made a fierce expression as if he hadn’t expected my reaction.