Chapter 137. Ear-ling (4)

I once saw a foreign stand-up comedy show.

The theme was jokes about race.

The comedian, who appeared to be of mixed Black and Latino descent, began as follows.

‘White people hate us Blacks and Latinos. You know what? We don't give a fuck! Because we Blacks and Latinos hate those pale-faced bastards too!’

‘But the strange ones are the Asians. Don't get me wrong. I like Asians. They're very kind. Go to a restaurant they run! It doesn't matter if the customer is white, black, or Latino. They always greet you with a smile.’

‘Strangely enough, Asians hate other Asians. What do I mean? I once went to a Chinese restaurant and said, ‘Nihao!’ Then the owner lady, that kind-looking woman, threw a dishcloth at me and cursed me out! She said she was Korean, and if I didn't want to get shot, I should get out of her store right now!’

Honestly, I laughed.

How could I not laugh when the black comedian's expression, gestures, and diction were overflowing with realism?

After laughing for a while, I thought carefully about the joke.

The conclusion was nothing special.

Just that it could be seen that way by those who don't know our history?

Because they wouldn't have the history of invading and being invaded by each other for dozens of centuries, living as uncomfortable neighbors and potential enemies.

Of course, the Western world also had many wars.

However, as countries were frequently established and destroyed, borders were mixed, and the animosity towards each other was reduced accordingly.

Northeast Asia, which has maintained its borders to some extent due to the characteristics of the continent, peninsula, and islands, would be the unusual case.

Anyway, if we only look at the results while ignoring the cause and effect, the comedian's argument could also be applied to the elves.

In that they extremely ostracize those who look similar, or more accurately, are genetically of the same race.

“I'm from the Akitarī tribe. It means 'exile' in the elven language.”

Karen opened her mouth with hollow eyes.

“Exile?”

“Yes. Because we are fairies cast out of Paradise. The Akitarī tribe refers to the tribes among them that have succeeded in becoming self-reliant.”

Slurp.

Karen, having moistened her throat, continued.

“Fairies who disturbed the order, fairies born outside of Paradise, or fairies with mixed blood like me are all cast out of Paradise.”

“Why is that?”

“They want pure blood. They say that if it's not pure blood, you can't belong to them. As for why….”

Karen clenched her teeth.

Her thick lips are trembling.

It's a side of her I've never seen before.

I know the reason.

Although I haven't specifically mentioned it, the extent of how corrupt elven society is is well stored in the setting book in my head.

Elven society is closed.

No, it would be more correct to say it's hostile.

On the outside, they claim to love peace, but it's a contradiction.

Because those who actually enter their territory meet a merciless death.

It's not just towards outsiders; it's the same for their own kind.

The residents of Paradise, including the Senate, the so-called ‘pure-bloods’, indiscriminately suppress their own kind who do not submit to their rule of law.

In particular, they despise mixed bloods to an extreme degree, yet they show a twisted generosity in readily accepting the pure-blooded elf parent's side.

Of course, the important thing is not their bias.

The key is the reason for that bias.

The terrible secret hidden in elven society.

That is the reason I came to hate the elves.

“…I'm sorry.”

The reason Karen is trembling must also be because of that secret.

I have no hobby of forcibly interrogating someone who doesn't want to talk.

However, from the fact that Karen knows that secret, I could guess her identity.

A member of the Senate.

Or royalty.

She said her great-grandfather was a pure-blooded elf, but perhaps it's a closer generation than that.

It could be her father or grandfather.

“So this tool is an identification tag?”

“Yes. It's a livestock tag used when raising ferocious beasts. It uses a special cloth made only in Paradise. For beasts that form herds, they attach it to the leader of the herd, and for beasts that don't, they attach it individually.”

“Are giant spiders also raised as livestock?”

“You mean the Katolluk spiders?”

“The small ones were the size of a dwarf, and the big ones were as big as a grown man. The queen spider was the size of a small shed you'd build in the backyard.”

“That's the Katolluk spider alright.”

Karen nodded and picked up a snack.

A cookie.

Probably one she made herself.

“Ah, I baked these last night. Please have one.”

“Thank you.”

“Anyway, the Katolluk spider is a representative domesticated beast. They are usually used to make cloth from their silk, and they are also excellent for war, so many people raise them. It's convenient because you can control the entire swarm just by making the queen spider obey.”

I listened to the story while putting the finger-sized cookie in my mouth.

It has a texture like a well-made pound cake, crumbling pleasantly in the mouth.

“…By any chance, was there a swarm of Katolluk spiders in the city?”

“Yes. They've all been dealt with now.”

“Those spiders, they were probably brought by the elven delegation.”

Karen clenched her fist.

I asked again for confirmation.

“Really?”

“Those people… yes, they are more than capable of doing such a thing. I don't believe in Luark or any other god, but they are beings who deserve to be cursed by all gods.”

A room where silence descends.

From outside the window, the boisterous chatter of soldiers can be heard faintly.

The sound of dripping water seeped in.

I gave Karen a handkerchief and left her house.

‘Master, what are you going to do?’

Kkumteuli asked as I came out onto the street.

“I have gained a sufficient harvest.”

‘A harvest? You mean that the ones who committed the crime are the elven delegation?’

“I already knew that.”

‘Then?’

Karen's thoughts.

That is the harvest of this meeting.

The fact that the elves are the enemy was a confirmed fact the moment I fell into this world in a human body.

However, the one thing that bothered me was Karen.

Whether she is truly of mixed elven blood.

If so, what does she think of the fairies living in Paradise?

Just as the black comedian joked that Asians hate each other, the pure-blooded elves and the exiled tribes, who look like the same race on the outside, hate each other.

I learned that Karen is from an exiled tribe, and that she fears and hates the pure-bloods living in Paradise.

“Ah, try this.”

‘Oh, ooh! Is this the same thing you were eating earlier, master! Let me have some. I'll give you my strict critique!’

I broke off a piece of the pound cake I brought from Karen's house and put it in the subspace.

‘Mmmmm! This slightly sweet and savory taste! The texture that melts softly. With a glass of milk, I could spend the day in heaven…!’

‘Tick-tock…!’

‘Let, let me have some too! Why are you guys the only ones eating!’

‘Kkiiing….’

Now, the elves are an enemy to both me and all my subordinates.

I wanted to make that clear.

* * *

The pioneer city of Kalisto.

The fairy delegation stayed there for a full fifteen days.

Around the time the half-moon became completely full, the delegation left the city early in the morning.

Leaving behind the escorting soldiers, the pioneering people shedding tears of emotion, and the Viscount of Wolfskrig who saw them off to the city gate with a friendly smile, the delegation walked south.

It was when they were sufficiently far from the city that a young fairy suddenly shouted.

“Fuck! Finally leaving this fucking city!”

The head of the delegation, Ashkel Meyer, stretched beside him.

The fairy's characteristically long and smooth arm drew a gentle arc and struck the back of the young fairy's neck.

“Keck!”

“Your mouth. That damned mouth. How much do you think my ears will ring if you shout next to me!”

“Ugh! Oof! I'm dying! I'm dying!”

At the young fairy's feigned suffering, rolling around with his body curled up, Ashkel sighed and lowered her hand.

Grabbing the young man's collar and pulling him up, she smirked.

So different.

The dignified appearance she showed in the human city and her current actions.

Well, it's natural.

Because this is her true self.

The noble character of the elves and their magnanimity as vast as the great forest are just their outward appearance.

Within them lies a somewhat unruly freedom, branching out like the branches of a tree in a lush forest.

“But it's true, isn't it? It wasn't in the plan to stay this long in that backwater with nothing to see.”

“But the hot springs were nice. It seems there's boiling water underground, it was so warm!”

“The drawback was that the open-air bath was full of hairy men. There were plenty of young, fresh girls in the Imperial Capital, hehe!”

“Oh my, I liked it though?”

“Fucking bitch. Did you use contraception?”

“I secretly tied them up with a spell while touching them. Those guys will never become fathers. Ahahaha!”

Ashkel tuned out her subordinates' chatter and unfolded a map.

They were right.

Originally, she had no intention of staying so long in such a remote backwater.

However, the mission of these people disguised as a delegation was espionage.

And in espionage, people can be said to be the most important target.

The Viscount of Wolfskrig was currently one of the most noteworthy figures in the Empire.

The one chosen by God.

The hero of the civil war.

The mercenary king.

An honorary paladin.

A friend of the dwarves.

Over the past few months, coming down from the north of the Empire to the south, she had heard countless nobles, merchants, church figures, and influential people speak his name.

Meaning, waiting for him in this rural backwater was an unavoidable decision.

Of course, her actual impression of him was just so-so.

Literally, just a so-so human hero.

The spiders she had released for a test were fortunately discovered and dealt with early on, but he didn't even seem to have figured out that it was the delegation's doing, let alone make a diplomatic protest.

He probably just thought they were wild spiders that had come to live in the long-abandoned city.

Meaning, he was just a mortal who was born in the right era with the right talent, but was far too lacking to change the course of the world.

Though for an inferior beast like a human, unlike the chosen race, that might be the best they could do.

“So where's the next destination, Captain?”

A subordinate peeked over her shoulder.

It was the one who was talking about women earlier.

“The Vampire Archduchy, Laksa. There won't be any young, fresh girls there either, you know?”

“Hehe, that's where those corpse-fuckers live, right? Then there will be plenty of corpses of young, fresh girls.”

“Fucking bastard.”

“What's wrong? Isn't this skin we're wearing actually the corpses of young, fresh men and women?”

The subordinate grinned foolishly.

Ashkel shook her head and pushed his face away.

She didn't deny it.

Honestly, she thought the same.

The ability to freely handle a beautiful body is a privilege granted only to the fairies, the chosen race.

Even if it gets a little damaged in the process, you just have to switch to a new body…

“Wait.”

Ashkel stopped.

“Someone is here.”

“I feel it too.”

The previously relaxed atmosphere instantly became heavy.

The subordinate with the best senses in the delegation stepped forward.

She spoke.

“Distance, about eight hundred meters.”

“Battle formation. Let's go.”

“Yes!”

The elves, having drawn their weapons, moved quickly.

Before long, their opponent appeared.

It was a human.

A single human mage was sitting on a rock, looking this way.

Judging by the skull-topped staff and his unique aura, he was a rare human necromancer.

“State your name. We are a delegation from the far north. Peace-loving fairies….”

“Peace? Sounds like bullshit to me.”

The human necromancer said.

Ashkel felt an impulse.

Should I kill him?

No, aren't we getting close to the Vampire Archduchy's territory?

If I kill him here, it might cause unnecessary diplomatic friction.

The Senate's order was to hide our blades as much as possible until the 'Great Holy War'.

Just then, a subordinate sneered.

“Captain, wasn't there a rumor in the Empire about a certain human necromancer? That he became a high-ranking necromancer with a human body….”

“That's a baseless rumor. You believed that? There are only two high-ranking necromancers in the Vampire Archduchy. Duke Zarhill and the Princess of Blood.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“And in that rumor, the human necromancer wore a mask.”

“Kihit, a mask? A maaask?”

It was the necromancer who spoke.

Ashkel turned her head.

She didn't know when he had taken it out, but the necromancer was twirling a mask on his fingertips.

It was a smooth, white mask.

“You mean this? Kihit.”