WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Alone Against the Tower ◈

Chapter 77: The Night Twenty Years Ago

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There had been several reasons I chose the Dark Elf faction, but looking back, none of them had mattered that much.

In the end, I had merely been driven by a base desire, something I wanted to cast aside but could never quite let go of.

Was I now paying the price for my private desires?

"Come to think of it, you were always out of touch with world affairs, weren't you? You must have been surprised by how different the village feels."

Eleanor tugged me along by the hand and spoke with a faint smile.

Just as she said, the Dark Elf village had a distinctly different atmosphere from the seventh floor.

New structures that appeared to be for military use had been built throughout the village, and an odd tension hung in the air.

Eleanor began to explain why, but I already knew the reason.

The eighth floor was set in the future of the seventh floor, over twenty years after the conclusion of Chapter 1 of the Faction Quest.

It was also set after the three major powers, which had constantly been in conflict, had finally come to armed blows.

The cause of that armed conflict was described differently depending on the actions of the Challenger who carried out the Faction Quest on the seventh floor.

If they helped the High Elf faction, it was because of that. If they helped the Kingdom Army, it was because of that. The same went for helping the Dark Elf faction.

The Non-Player Characters would say that the Challenger's actions in aiding the faction had served as the spark that caused the conflict.

Of course, in game terms, that was nothing more than a conditionally triggered script.

The details changed depending on whether the Faction Quest had been completed, but the basic setting of the eighth floor never changed.

Even if the Challenger had simply climbed up without doing anything, the three major powers would have clashed somehow in the end.

"That's how it happened. Those damn forest folk finally lost their minds. Though it was what we'd been hoping for."

Eleanor finished her brief account of the past twenty years by adding one last insult about the High Elves.

It was so short and simple that it was hard to believe it covered twenty years.

Was I being oversensitive to think this was the system's doing?

"Is that so...?"

I answered vaguely and kept walking. As I did, other Dark Elves gradually began to show themselves here and there.

"Honey, over there... Isn't that the human?"

"Oh my, they really do look alike. Could that be the human's child or something?"

"Hasn't it only been twenty years? Not enough for a child to grow up, right?"

"I heard humans are fully grown in twenty years."

Their appearances had changed somewhat, but they were people I had seen a few times on the seventh floor. Even minor Non-Player Characters recognized me.

Even if it had been twenty years, it probably wouldn't feel that long to long-lived elves.

They said encounters with humans left a particularly strong impression, and I had caused quite a stir back then.

"You, you!"

As I walked, I heard a familiar voice.

"It's that bratty human! What, did you come back?"

Rizmel stood there, dressed very differently from how I remembered.

Rizmel's hairstyle had changed greatly since the seventh floor, and they wore an uncharacteristic dress, with piercings in their ears.

And Rizmel was not alone. Beside them stood a male Dark Elf with matching piercings.

"That's right, say hello. This is my husband."

Rizmel's completely changed appearance in that brief span of time gave me a lot to think about.

* * *

I knew Rizmel's husband too. I had seen him on the seventh floor.

But he hadn't been especially memorable, nor had he seemed to have any particular relationship with Rizmel.

Something must have happened over those twenty years that I couldn't understand.

Whether any of it had actually happened was another matter.

"You look surprised. You and Rizmel were quite close."

"Well, I guess."

"Mm, Rizmel's marriage came as a surprise to us too."

We had only run into each other in passing, so I exchanged a brief greeting with Rizmel before parting ways.

Seeing how surprised I was by Rizmel's marriage, Eleanor briefly explained their romantic history.

In the process, I also learned a little about Dark Elf marriage customs.

"Elves of the past believed the blessings of the World Tree flowed in through their ears."

Eleanor explained the meaning of the matching piercings the two wore, and what ears meant to elves.

"Wearing the same ornament there means you will share the same blessings and walk through life side by side."

To elves, ears occupied the same place as a human's left ring finger. Matching piercings were similar to wedding rings.

"They did not wear ornaments from the beginning. Originally, married couples marked their ears with scars of the same shape."

Hearing that, I could understand why Mercedes, the High Elf female knight, had been so furious.

If marking matching scars on one's ears was a vow of marriage, what did it mean for someone else to cut off your ears?

Mercedes didn't even have piercing holes in her ears, let alone earrings.

I also remembered Eleanor laughing when I said I would tear Mercedes's ears off, saying it was the first time she'd heard such a curse.

I'd done something incredibly awful. Not that I felt even a fingernail's worth of remorse.

-Step.

Before long, I arrived at the lodging I had used on the seventh floor.

Eleanor immediately led me toward my room. She seemed eager to hear my story as soon as possible.

But I had left this village only two or three hours ago. Naturally, I had no stories to tell.

"Now, go on. Tell me."

Still, it was very difficult to turn away from Eleanor's dreamy eyes.

[Let me tell you about how I almost died on the 22nd floor]

[Snowy Mountain Training, Day 23.txt]

[Fuck, that demon bitch stabbed me in the back lolololol]

I recalled the story posts from the community that I had read while living in seclusion on the first floor.

Then I recited them as if they were my own experiences. Eleanor listened to me with sparkling eyes.

"Hehe, it has been a long time since I last heard one of your stories like this."

But that was a mistake.

"Still, somehow, it does not feel like you are speaking of things you experienced yourself."

Come to think of it, Eleanor had seen right through me from the moment we first met.

"Your expression hasn't been good for a while now. Has something happened to you, my dear?"

Eleanor had never been someone my clumsy lies could fool.

* * *

It wasn't something I could explain with my gift for words, nor something Eleanor could understand even if I explained it.

My lie was exposed immediately, but that didn't mean I could tell her the truth. Eleanor wore a bitter expression.

"If it is difficult to say aloud, you may show me instead. You know the method, do you not?"

Eleanor tapped her forehead. It was clearly the Night Elf Secret Art, which could share thoughts and memories.

"Sorry. I can't."

I shook my head. Eleanor nodded instead.

"All right. I will not force you. There must naturally be a good reason you look so troubled."

"It would be a lie to say I am not curious, but my patience is greater than my curiosity."

"I will wait calmly until the day you choose to tell me. After all, I have hundreds of years to spare."

Knowing how immense Eleanor's curiosity was, I found that consideration difficult to accept.

Yet Eleanor spoke with an expression so composed that it seemed almost relieved.

This was not the first time I had seen that expression.

It was the expression I had seen on Eleanor's night twenty years ago, and on my night last night.

That night when Eleanor noticed that I had been reluctant to leave this place, even if only for a moment, and was satisfied with that alone.

"I will always be on your side."

Once again, Eleanor said nothing more and quietly left the room.

-Phew.

I let out a small sigh. After thinking for a while, I sat cross-legged. At times like this, I needed to devote myself to training even more.

Let's not worry about what can't be helped. Let's focus only on what I can do.

There were still over ninety floors left to climb. I couldn't start wavering over something like this already.

I closed my eyes and meditated, shaking off useless thoughts and focusing on the flow of mana.

-Thump, thump, thump.

But the tiny sound of my heartbeat boomed beside my ears like a drum, disrupting my concentration.

And mana responded directly to its owner's will and state of mind.

Because my mind was so utterly confused, my focus only grew more scattered, and mana wouldn't move as I wished.

"Fuck... This is seriously fucking awful."

I gave up on the meditation that wouldn't go the way I wanted no matter how many times I tried, then stood.

I couldn't sense the flow of mana inside me. All I could sense was that intense presence I had never once failed to notice.

The owner of that presence was naturally Eleanor. Strangely, I could still sense Eleanor vividly despite the distance between us.

Perhaps it was because Eleanor possessed exceptionally powerful mana, or because we had once shared our senses through the Night Elf Secret Art.

Either way, it didn't matter. It meant my mana detection was still far from sufficient.

"Hm...?"

No, come to think of it, there had been exactly one moment when I couldn't sense Eleanor's presence. It had happened only a few hours ago.

After completing Chapter 1 of Dark Elf's Letter, just before leaving the village.

I had felt no presence at all from the Eleanor back then, who had seemed to be awkwardly imitating a person.

Even if she had become an ordinary empty-shell NPC due to the Tower of Trials system, her mana should not have disappeared.

Then what exactly was this presence I sensed from Eleanor?

Footnotes:

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