IRE 30

chapter 30

I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, but I also had plenty to say.

The thing is, it was nearly impossible not to misunderstand. In the two years I’d been playing this game, I had never once met a High Elf whose age was less than four digits.

Of course, the early extinction of Elves played a part in that, but even the occasional High Elves I did encounter, regardless of appearance, were all old souls inside.

Above all, she had hit me and treated me like a child—wasn’t it natural for me to misinterpret that?

“Cough, cough!”

After that desperate outburst, she wrapped her neck around my arm and began coughing violently.

It was understandable—she was in distress.

She struggled so much that she even tapped my arm unconsciously.

For a moment, I seriously wondered whether I should interpret that as a sign of surrender.

I felt like I had truly become a villain.

‘Ugh, useless thoughts.’

I shook my head to rid myself of the distraction.

Focus.

The person I’m holding hostage is the daughter of the Dark Elf leader, the epitome of evil, and I’m surrounded by enemies. There’s no room for idle thoughts.

Just as I gathered my wits again, a voice called out:

“Well, I couldn’t believe it, so I ran all the way here, and yet… this is an unexpected sight.”

“Irian!”

A familiar voice came from behind.

I called out joyfully, and Irian responded with a nervous yet delighted smile.

“Eldmir, what exactly is happening here? More importantly… are you injured?”

Irian’s eyes scanned the arrows embedded in my body with concern.

Though I still felt pain, I didn’t let it bother me.

“My injuries are fine. Don’t worry about it.”

The appearance of Irian made the High Elf suddenly go berserk.

She reached out toward him, shouting incomprehensible words in a hoarse voice, and in response, I choked her neck to silence the noise.

As her body trembled and went limp again, I loosened my grip slightly.

The High Elf stopped thrashing and barely continued breathing, exhausted.

The Dark Elves watching her seizure? I paid them no mind.

“…Not exactly a pleasant sight.”

Irian frowned, and I couldn’t help but show a slightly annoyed expression myself.

“No, this guy is their leader, Irian—a High Elf.”

Irian raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“A High Elf? Him?”

“Yes. And judging by their shouting, it seems he’s a princess. She’s a highly valuable hostage.”

“Oh? I see… those…”

Irian narrowed his eyes at the Dark Elves, and they all flinched simultaneously, as if terrified.

The scene felt oddly out of place, but escaping this situation was my priority, so I spoke quickly:

“So, you subdued a High Elf? That easily?”

“More naïve than I expected….”

I softened it to ‘naïve’ out of some lingering guilt.

Irian gave an expression that was hard to describe in response.

I could empathize, but now was not the time for personal feelings.

“Keep a close eye on them, Irian. First, we need to get out of here, holding this princess hostage.”

Escaping here didn’t mean all problems were solved.

There were the issues with the High Elf hostage, and especially the wyverns—they had to be dealt with before leaving.

If we weren’t careful, even if we escaped this rocky mountain, they could quickly catch up.

How valuable this High Elf would be as a hostage was unknown, but if they thought it was wrong to protect her, they could rush recklessly at any moment.

It wouldn’t be a problem if it were only Dark Elves—but with wyverns involved, death would be a real possibility.

“Understood.”

Irian hesitated as if uneasy about the situation and approached me.

I took the chance to ask the question I had been dying to know from the start:

“What about my mother? Did she come alone?”

“Ah, she should have arrived safely by now.”

She arrived? That distance?

What did he mean?

Before I could even process it, a sudden pain shot through my back.

Before I could fully register it, I felt all the strength drain from my body.

“Ugh! Haaah…! Huuugh…!”

At the same time, the High Elf, released from my grip, lunged violently from my arms, clutching her throat as she gasped.

“You insolent, rude… despicable wretch!!”

Unable to find her words, the High Elf shouted angrily, then kicked me. I couldn’t resist and fell to the ground.

Still unsatisfied, she continued stomping at me, muttering.

Eleven Dark Elves rushed over, concerned for the princess, but she waved them away with an annoyed gesture and kicked me once more as a final blow.

I couldn’t even curl up in pain; my body wouldn’t respond. I could only look at Irian with a mind full of questions.

I was not the kind to be incapacitated by a single stabbing.

Poison.

It dawned on me: Irian had poisoned me.

A strong one, too.

But why? Why would he do this?

I looked at him with disbelief rather than anger. I couldn’t comprehend why he attacked me.

“Well… she should have gone safely to El Lerdarel. She’s a devout believer, after all.”

Irian shrugged and gave me a half-hearted reply.

Then he turned his attention away from me, smiling awkwardly, and addressed the High Elf:

“Well, who would have thought it would turn out this way. I told you not to be careless, didn’t I?”

“Shut up! You didn’t even save me immediately—why the delay?!”

“I was being careful. If I had let my guard down and Eldmir got me, there would have been no way to stop him.”

The High Elf glared at him with narrowed eyes, clearly annoyed, but then vented at me instead:

“Dirty, despicable man. That’s why you can’t be of El Lerdarel’s children.”

“Hahaha, Princess, you’re far too pure.”

“What? Are you mocking me, calling me a greenhouse flower?”

Irian raised his hands in a calming gesture:

“I never said that. I merely meant that your intellect surpasses hers, and one mustn’t underestimate her. Also, one shouldn’t be careless.”

Ah. I see.

I get it now.

“Did… you betray me, Irian?”

Watching that ridiculous exchange, disgust surged within me, and I forced the words out.

‘It was suspicious from the beginning. Could the Sentinels really have infiltrated so perfectly, deceiving wyverns and Dark Elves to understand every plan?’

He knew about the El Luer fragment from the start, and his claim of trickery using it was a lie.

The El Luer fragment was simply a tool to corrupt Elves, nothing more.

Claims of polluting forests or threatening the World Tree? That was never its power.

Everything had been a trap to deceive me.

Irian looked at me. I could feel the poison spreading.

My consciousness dimmed, my metabolism stalled.

I could feel the poison coursing through my veins, numbing my body.

“Hmm… betrayal, betrayal…”

He murmured, as if savoring the word.

“Since… when…?”

“Since when…”

This bastard.

I spat out my words, grinding my teeth at him for merely repeating after me.

“You… mocked me… from the start?”

“Mocked you? Never.”

Irian just smiled, echoing my words, giving no proper answer.

I could feel my facial muscles numbing; I glared at him with only my eyes.

Sensing my lips and tongue would soon follow, I gasped out the words:

“…From the beginning, then.”

At that, Irian finally reacted differently, gesturing for me to continue with an amused expression.

Rage surged within me.

“You traitorous bastard…! You toyed with me from the start!!”

“Oh, indeed. Eldmir, you’ve guessed correctly!”

He raised his hands beside his head and clapped mockingly.

I glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

“What about my mother?!”

“Well… what do you think I did?”

“You bastard…! Don’t joke!!”

“Now, now, calm down, Eldmir. The more you struggle, the faster your paralysis progresses.”

He was right.

The poison wasn’t just venom; it had paralytic properties. My lower body was completely numb, unable to move.

My upper body slowly began to go numb, too.

Breathing was difficult; I gasped.

“Eldmir, this isn’t a time to panic. No need.”

He picked something up from the ground—it was the El Luer fragment I had thrown earlier.

“With this, everything can be resolved.”

I glared at him, eyes wide.

“You…!”

Even as I shouted, my body barely responded.

“Hmph! Considering what you did to me, drinking it a hundred times wouldn’t be enough.”

The High Elf’s expression shifted from a frown to a sly smile as she took the fragment from Irian.

“A true king must overlook past mistakes and look to the future.”

She approached me.

“He spoke of you… how you killed eight with the Warhammer alone, how dangerous you are to our kind. So I thought, if someone is capable of such things, wouldn’t it be better to have him on our side?”

“My opinion hasn’t changed. Would you reconsider?”

“Hahaha, what are you afraid of, Irian? Look at him now! Arrows in his body, poisoned, immobile! Watch—he’ll be a great help to our people. I’ll make it so.”

Irian stepped back with an awkward smile as the Dark Elves murmured about the princess’s greed.

Ignoring them, the High Elf approached and placed her hand, holding the El Luer fragment, over my chest.

“So, young one, Eldmir, is it?”

She chuckled.

“Consider it an honor. I personally forgive your sins and accept you as one of our kind.”

Her eyes softened.

She leaned closer, licking her lips seductively, whispering:

“I wonder if you’d still dare choke me after receiving this.”

I couldn’t speak; my tongue had stiffened.

As consciousness faded, her fingertips felt like a sharp blade pressing toward my heart.

The item functioned in this way too—not swallowing, but penetrating.

Pain was dulled by paralysis, but the thought of something probing my heart was unbearable.

I wanted to scream and struggle, but I was immobilized.

Finally, as her hand reached only the wrist, a strange sensation in my chest began.

Then…

“Ugh…?!”

My body convulsed violently, undoing the paralysis momentarily.

Pain blanked my mind, and my body trembled as if struck by electricity, struggling to breathe.

“Hah… huh! K-Kaaah…!”

“Hahaha!”

The High Elf laughed loudly.

She still held my heart with her hand.

“A new beginning, Eldmir! From now on, you shed that weak body and are reborn as one of my people…!”

Then—

Thud!

“Ugh?!”

She tried to move, but an arrow struck her right shoulder, narrowly missing the heart.

“Kyaaah! Who dares…!!”

The Dark Elves swarmed around her to protect her.

“Hmm… remarkable.”

Irian chuckled quietly, a sinister laugh echoing over the cliff.

Stopping, he murmured meaningfully:

“Still alive, after all that.”

The arrow-struck High Elf stepped back from my chest as a Dark Elf tended to her.

Though my mind was clouded by pain, I turned my head toward the arrow’s origin.

And there…

“Don’t worry, Elr.”

My mother stood, pale, forcing a faint smile.

A deep gash scarred her chest, filled with glowing red flame as if sealing the wound.

“…Ah.”

I couldn’t speak. My paralyzed body had silenced my voice.

Still, perhaps loosened slightly by the previous convulsion, I could move faintly.

Tears flowed.

Seeing her, so close to death, drove me to madness.

I crawled toward her, writhing.

She gave me a sorrowful smile.

Was my suffering more painful to her than her own?

Her expression made me feel unbearable anguish.

“I will protect you.”

She fired an arrow once more.