WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 52: History of the Elves

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The High Elf prince who'd attacked me out of nowhere was the fiancé of the Dark Elf in front of me.

How was I supposed to take that? Was she demanding I pay for beating the shit out of her fiancé or something?

No, that didn't seem right. She was way too friendly toward me. Hadn't she seemed happy that I'd beaten him up?

So there was no need to get nervous. Just stay calm and answer.

"Well..."

After more than ten seconds of thinking, that was all I managed to say.

"That surprised you, didn't it? Don't worry, I'm not going to scold you. I told you from the start that I liked you."

Eleanor waved a hand as she spoke. Then why had she started the conversation like that?

"It wasn't an engagement born of love, and that weakling isn't my type either. I prefer men who are a little more..."

-Tap.

"...ruggedly trained, enough that they reek of blood."

Eleanor spoke in a slightly flushed voice, smiling as she tapped my chest with a finger.

What the fuck? Where are you touching?

I'd spent my whole pathetic life shut away in my room, so I barely had any experience with this kind of thing. Still, even I could tell.

"Hehe."

That gesture definitely didn't have an ordinary meaning behind it!

I didn't know if she was teasing me or what, but she definitely had some kind of intention!

Was this what people called flirting? Was an engaged Dark Elf flirting with me right now?

Getting that kind of attention from a sexy Dark Elf with a body like hers should've made me happy, but this felt different somehow.

"You're shyer than you look, aren't you?"

Only after hearing Eleanor's satisfied voice did I realize I was covering myself with both arms.

Oh my fucking god. Since when had I been able to sit so demurely?

"Fuck, this is crazy!"

I practically flailed my way out of the bath. This wasn't flirting.

This was molestation! Sexual harassment! I was being subjected to indecent conduct by a Dark Elf, fuck!

"Really, it was only a joke. You didn't have to panic so badly."

"What the fuck? Why would you make a joke like that?"

"Come back in. You'll get cold."

In the end, I hesitantly got back into the bath, though I kept a little distance from Eleanor.

"I'm not going to eat you. Sit closer. If you're that far away, I won't even be able to hear you!"

Eleanor deliberately moved closer, and for the next few minutes, we kept moving apart and getting close again.

"So, where should I begin... I suppose I should start with the history of us and those forest-dwelling bastards."

It took quite a while before she finally got to the real story.

* * *

Whenever I played RPGs, I was the type to skip long, wordy stories and background settings first thing.

With my terrible attention span, I couldn't understand difficult stuff like that anyway, and I didn't have the patience to sit there and try.

Maybe it was because of Eleanor's clear voice, but even though her story was long and wordy, every word sank right in.

Of course, I couldn't help losing focus whenever I had to brush away the black hand that kept creeping closer during her explanation.

Anyway, the first half of the story was something I already roughly knew.

The Forest Elf, born from the branches of the World Tree, and the Night Elves, born in the shade of its trunk.

The two Elves born beneath one tree divided their roles between protecting the World Tree and pioneering the forest.

As time passed, those divided roles gradually expanded.

The Forest Elf became responsible for managing the entire forest, preserving tradition, and even conducting rites for the World Tree.

The Night Elves went beyond pioneering the forest and took sole responsibility for fighting foreign powers and waging war.

But over thousands of years, that division of roles lost its original meaning and became corrupted.

The Forest Elves began calling themselves the greater Elves, the High Elves, and started living like nobles.

The Night Elves, who had handled combat and exploration, came to be called Dark Elves and were treated as a lower class.

Then one day, the Dark Elves, rebelling against that twisted class system, rose up and war broke out.

Neither side could be called the victor, and all that remained was the deep rift that continued to this day.

The conflict that had lasted for thousands of years changed into a three-way struggle when the human Kingdom Army entered the picture, setting its sights on the Great Forest.

That was the background behind the faction quests that began on Floor 7 of the Tower of Trials.

* * *

"It seems you already knew this much. Is it well known among humans too?"

I nodded and gave a vague yes.

I'd learned it through the Open Community, but it was known information either way.

"Anyway, when those bastards felt threatened by the human kingdom, they came to us and proposed peace. In the old-fashioned way."

"Then the engagement..."

"A political marriage. Her Majesty the Queen still clings to the World Tree, so she offered up her own daughter without hesitation."

She didn't say it directly, but if what she said was true, Eleanor was the Queen's daughter. That made her a princess.

"Still, I have many complaints about this engagement, and it isn't just because he's not my type."

Eleanor continued in a low voice.

"First, I don't hate humans. And I don't particularly care about the World Tree either. That tree lost its power long ago."

That seemed right. Far from hating humans, the Dark Elves seemed to like them quite a lot.

"I have no desire to return to the Great Forest that my people left thousands of years ago. I was born and raised here, not in the Great Forest."

That seemed right too. When I'd admired the scenery here, Eleanor had smiled as if she were happy.

"And I don't like how those sly, narrow-minded forest bastards are shamelessly asking for reconciliation. I wish they'd just die."

That made sense. Considering the historical background, I would've felt the same. Those High Elf bastards had been in the wrong from start to finish.

"I'm not the only one. There are no elders left who have lived as long as Her Majesty the Queen, and even the old name Night Elf has been forgotten."

Eleanor paused there to catch her breath.

[Quest Completed: Dark Elf's Letter - Invitation]

A quest completion notification appeared before my eyes. It meant Eleanor had accomplished the purpose of inviting me here.

Since it was part of a chain quest, though, the reward was only a little experience. It would probably lead to the next quest soon.

"Rather than reconcile with them and return to the forest, I want to see a wider world while interacting with humans too."

Eleanor's eyes shone like stars in the night sky as she said that.

It was a light far too distant from me.

No matter how I looked at it, it was the light only a person with dreams could have.

"I was looking for something to use against that prince bastard. I wanted to break off the engagement somehow."

Eleanor put a hand on my shoulder as she spoke. When had she gotten this close again?

"And then, you appeared."

Eleanor brought her face so close that I could almost feel her breath, then quietly whispered.

"Listen carefully. From now on, I'm going to say I fell in love with you at first sight."

"What?"

"You're quite close to my usual ideal type. Everyone will surely accept it."

The words were so sudden that my brain didn't work properly.

What the hell was this crazy Elf talking about?

* * *

Eleanor's next words snapped me out of my second mental shutdown.

"And you fell for me too. Everyone will easily accept that as well. I'm pretty, after all."

Ah, I think I understood what she meant now. It roughly lined up with the overall flow of the faction quest too.

She wanted me to be her pretext so she could break off the engagement and undo the peace arrangement with the High Elves.

"You understand quickly. Help me break off the engagement. I'll compensate you well. What do you say?"

Now I understood why the [Dark Elf's Letter] quest had been registered as an Epic Quest.

I understood what it meant for the rewards and objectives to vary based on how the quest unfolded, and why it was even given the Epic rank.

This was definitely Epic-class. The reward personally promised by a Dark Elf princess had to be incredible.

[Epic: Dark Elf's Letter - Plan]

A quest window appeared before me. It looked like my answer now would determine whether I accepted the quest.

The situation was ridiculous in many ways, but there wasn't a single reason to refuse.

Pretending to be lovers with a smoking-hot Dark Elf beauty?

There were more than enough Open Community ghosts who'd pay money just for the chance.

"Yeah, okay."

"You'll do it?"

I quietly nodded. Along with the quest acceptance notification, Eleanor broke into a bright smile.

"Thank you. As I thought, I really do like you!"

But if you suddenly stand up like that, whoa, holy shit, damn.

Anyway, Dark Elves were the best race.

Footnotes:

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