WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 64: What Does a Person Live By?

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If something talked like a person, acted like a person, and looked like a person, then it was simply a person.

The Dark Elves in this village weren't ordinary Non-Player Characters. Even though I knew that, I hid behind excuses once again.

I knew I'd hurt Rizmel with what I'd said, but I held up the convenient shield of her being a Non-Player Character.

"I should get going."

I jumped to my feet. Erwen looked at me with a pleased expression and gave a small wave.

"Well, aren't you admirable? Be careful not to fall."

Maybe it was only natural with several thousand years between our ages, but in front of Erwen, I was no different from a child.

Erwen told me where Rizmel was likely to be, and I ran there right away.

If anyone asked me when I'd run the fastest in my life, the answer would definitely be today.

The place I reached at full speed was something like a rest area on the outskirts of the Dark Elf village.

It had swings and seesaws made of trees and vines. It looked like an Elven version of a playground in an apartment complex.

It felt more worn by time than any of the other places. Rizmel was sitting on a bench in one corner.

"Rizmel."

I walked up to Rizmel, who was sitting with her head lowered, and called her name. Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd properly called Rizmel by name.

I'd never told the Dark Elves my name, and I'd never called any of them by theirs either.

Looking back, that had probably been the final line buried deep in my heart.

The line that let me think of them as Non-Player Characters instead of people.

I didn't want to form a relationship by giving them my name. I didn't want to form one by calling them by theirs.

They were Non-Player Characters, after all. Dolls that would go back to repeating the same lines once the quest was over.

"..."

Rizmel silently raised her head. I closed my eyes for a moment. I was afraid of what expression Rizmel might have.

Rizmel's swordsmanship training quest had already been marked complete.

That meant there was a chance Rizmel had become an empty doll like the shepherd girl on Floor 2.

Maybe not, considering the Floor 7 faction quest continued across other floors and Rizmel was an elite Non-Player Character.

Still, it was fifty-fifty. What expression would Rizmel have? I hoped it showed all those complicated feelings.

"What are you doing here...? I told you not to come looking for me anymore. How did you know I'd be here?"

"Erwen told me you might be here."

"Auntie? Not Eleanor? How could she have guessed I'd be here...?"

Thankfully, Rizmel looked deeply conflicted and sorrowful. It was an expression no one but a real person could make.

"Then why did you come? We're done, aren't we? I don't want to be around humans."

The words were cold, but Rizmel's voice was still trembling. I spent a long time choosing my words.

I was an idiot.

Spineless and socially inept, an idiot who knew nothing but cursing and making excuses.

That was why I had to choose my words even more carefully. If I said the wrong thing, I'd hurt Rizmel even more.

No matter how much I thought about it, though, I couldn't figure out what I should say. That was the kind of person I was.

I'd lived my life doing far too many things wrong, doing nothing but wrong, a person made of nothing but wrong.

I had no idea what the right answer was.

Still, I knew one thing. There was exactly one way even an idiot like me could get better.

Instead of lamenting what I didn't have and doing nothing, I had to take one step forward, even if it was clumsy and inadequate.

Just like I'd killed Goblins to level up. Just like I'd changed classes to a Normal Class to clear Floor 1.

I had to put everything I had into the simplest words even someone like me could come up with.

"I'm sorry."

Rizmel smiled.

* * *

I sat there with Rizmel for a while, and we had a long, heartfelt conversation.

Every time we spoke, I realized just how immature and lacking I was when it came to dealing with people.

In that sense, the fact that Rizmel was a Dark Elf was incredibly fortunate.

All Dark Elves found humans adorable. Even my awkward, clumsy apology was enough for Rizmel to quickly soften.

The path called human relationships was rough. One wrong step could make you fall.

But the path laid in a Dark Elf's heart was safe enough that even with my clumsy steps, I could walk it without falling.

Erwen's warning to be careful not to fall felt different now.

"This is why I hate humans. You're weak and die early, but I can't just ignore you either, so you're hard to deal with."

"Not all humans are like that. I'm just unusually weird."

"Even if you say that, I haven't met many humans, so I don't know how unusual you are."

After hearing Rizmel say she had barely encountered humans, I tried to explain what humans were generally like.

Then I realized that even I, a human, didn't know much about humans.

There was no guarantee that the humans in this Floor 7 world were the same as the humans I knew.

"Then you should see for yourself. Night Elves were originally tasked with opening up the forest, right?"

"You've been spending time with Eleanor. You're saying the same thing as her."

"I haven't spent that much time with her, but still. You should meet humans other than me."

Rizmel shook her head. After listening to her explanation, I learned that an edict from the current queen prevented her from freely interacting with humans.

"I want to meet lots of humans too, deep down... No, but it's not like I like humans or anything."

Come to think of it, I'd heard the queen was keeping the Human faction at a distance because she wanted peace with the High Elves.

Apparently, it was because she still couldn't let go of the World Tree and the Great Forest, the soul-circulation system that continued to grant Elves eternal life.

"Ah, now I get it."

That was why Erwen could figure out that I was Eleanor's guest. She'd said, "Because she's the only one."

Unless it was someone like Eleanor, a princess, they couldn't break the taboo and bring in a human.

And Eleanor had brought me here to break off her engagement with the High Elf prince.

If the engagement fell apart and peace with the High Elves was scrapped, the ban on interacting with humans would be lifted too.

Eleanor had said she wasn't the only one who disliked making peace with the High Elves.

The Dark Elves who liked humans, including Rizmel, might all feel the same way without showing it.

"Then I'll make sure you get to meet other humans."

That gave me one more reason to help with Eleanor's plan.

* * *

The next day, I went to the training ground as usual for swordsmanship practice with Rizmel.

Rizmel had lined up Shadow Dolls and was training alone. When Rizmel saw me, her eyes widened in surprise.

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I'm here to learn swordsmanship."

I'd already made up with Rizmel. Naturally, I thought swordsmanship training would resume too. Was there some problem?

Rizmel heard my question and answered with a slightly troubled expression.

"I meant it when I said there's nothing else for me to teach you."

The quest hadn't been marked complete because Rizmel had changed her mind. It was because I'd really finished all the training.

But I saw it differently. I still didn't know how Rizmel had sensed the Crystal Spider's beam in advance.

That wasn't something I could do with Sensory Enhancement alone. Naturally, I thought there was some higher-level technique.

"That's true, but... that's not something I can teach. It's closer to the realm of magic."

"The realm of magic?"

"Yeah. I specialize in swordsmanship, so I can't teach you that. It's not something you can do just by learning it, either."

So regardless of what had happened yesterday, my swordsmanship training with Rizmel was over. Of course, that didn't mean there was nothing left for me to train.

I had skills with weapons other than swords, so I could use Rizmel as a practice opponent.

But it'd help me more to work with the Reconnaissance Team and hunt field monsters instead.

I'd apologized to Rizmel, but my thoughts and beliefs hadn't changed much.

I still didn't want to see myself lazily wasting time and satisfying petty desires.

I wasn't without regrets, but I had no intention of spending my time leisurely socializing with Rizmel while doing inefficient training.

"If you want to learn that, you should ask Eleanor, not me."

"Huh? Why Eleanor?"

"I said it's in the realm of magic. Eleanor is the best when it comes to Shadow Magic."

Rizmel added, "Though I wouldn't recommend spending too much time with that perverted girl."

Eleanor had easily blocked the Elf Knight's insane attacks with Shadow Magic.

Shadow Magic was a Dark Elf racial trait, and since my class was a Warrior to begin with, I hadn't given it much thought.

Come to think of it, Eleanor had said something after hearing that I was training in swordsmanship with Rizmel.

It was still too early, but someday she might be able to teach me something good.

"Ah."

So that was it.

Footnotes:

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