Chapter 197: Spin-Off 2: [??? Playthrough]
Chapter 197: [??? Playthrough] Elfheim (Spin-Off 2)
Even an inferior elf was once selected as a hero.
The proof was the birth of the elven race.
Summoned from another dimension by the call of the Fantasy God, the 'First Elf' settled in the Southern Continent of Fantasy, where his scions flourished.
The first to resemble him became the 'Elven Royal Family' and was given eternal life, and the second to do so became the ordinary 'Elves.'
The downfall of our race might have been decided at that moment.
Unlike today's elves, the First Elf, with a strong libido, made his numerous native wives conceive children.
However, because he had eternal life, he had no awareness that he should pass something down to his offspring like humans excellently did.
His purpose was to become the king of a country made up of his people.
For that reason, he made children and increased the number of his kind. He focused on preserving their genes while encouraging inbreeding between those close to pureblood.
And it paid off.
Although the monarchy didn't reach the level desired by the First Elf, a tribal nation at a level below his expectations was born.
As the founding father of his race, he was called the 1st Elf King, although only as an honorary title. His eldest daughter, the first of his kind to inherit his blood, then became the 2nd Elf King.
But after that?
"This is not the country I wanted."
The First Elf, who was closer to being a tribal chieftain than a king, said those words to his daughter, the very person that had given birth to his own child disinterestedly countless of times now.
I, who was only 20 years old at the time, could easily eavesdrop on the conversation as my mother watched my newborn sister.
"O, great hero, slayer of the Demon King. My eternal king, father of all elves. How can you deny what you've achieved?"
My mother, breastfeeding my sister amid the hardship of childbirth, asked him who was both her father and her husband.
To this, the First Elf replied nervously.
"Ha! Do you mean the children who don't follow their father? What about those who do not follow the king? I'm ashamed to call them elves. They live on insects and weeds that even humans don't eat!"
"That's…"
My mother was speechless.
But I wasn't.
"Isn't that because following you has never yielded success? Because of your low self-esteem, you are hostile to the entire human race that dominates the Fantasy Continent. Your petty selfishness disables you from knowing how to provide advanced culture and technology brought from their home planet, bringing even more disappointment and jealousy to our people. What else can you do as a king besides fighting and mating?"
"Who the hell are you?"
"I am Elfheim."
"Not your name. Where did trash like you come from?"
"I am trash that looks exactly like you."
I couldn't remember much after that.
Although I was 20 years old, elves were a race that grew much slower than humans. Those within the royal family? Even more so.
I was less than one year old in terms of human physical age.
I couldn't defend against adult violence or even the power of heroes.
Now that I looked back, it was a very foolish act.
How often had I seen my older brothers and sisters die after saying what was right to that terrible tyrant?
Still, I couldn't stand it.
As the youngest, being only 20 years old, that was the first day I had a younger sibling. I couldn't stand not saying anything to a father that spat out absurd words even though he couldn't bless the birth of his new child.
It didn't end as well as I expected, but I didn't mind.
"I-I'm alive…? Cough, cough!"
I was still good as dead, though. I couldn't lift a finger, and I felt excruciating pain when I tried to force myself to move.
Looking around, I saw a familiar sight. It was our camping site, but my nomadic tribe had already moved.
I was banished and abandoned like trash.
At that moment, the earth vibrated slightly, followed by the sounds of hooves stampeding over it.
The voices of humans.
"Tsk! Are we too late?"
"I don't think it's been that long since they left."
"Oh! Based on their tracks, it's quite a huge elf tribe this time!"
"If we hurry, we can catch up with them."
They were human hunters that threatened the survival of our race, ferocious people who used the women of our kind as playthings overnight before killing them and sold the men to the slave market after capturing them.
They seemed to be after our tribe.
As long as the tyrant protected them, my mother, older brother, older sister, and younger sister would not suffer. He was powerful, after all, and still fought like the olden hero that he was. However, I, who had been abandoned, wouldn't share the same fate.
"Oh, there's a baby here."
"Really? That's strange. Didn't they cherish their children because of their low fertility rate?"
"Look. The baby's covered in blood. They must have thought this child was dead."
"They abandoned their child without even burying it. As expected, there's nothing we can do about those bug-eating barbarians."
Human hunters got off from the horse and surrounded me.
They then began to decide my fate.
"It's a male. We'll be able to reimburse the treatment cost."
"But he's too young to be in demand…"
"I know nobles who want to tame elves as pets. And this guy, objectively, has a cute face. If we present him to the female aristocrats properly, we can sell him for a price much higher than adult elves are worth."
"Let's go with that, then."
"If we can't sell him, we can just raise him and do it later."
"Haha! I think you're going to die of old age first."
"Ah, that's right. Damn it!"
… And that's how I survived humanity's brutality.
Their group wasn't large enough to attack elven tribes. Instead, they lurked around them and kidnapped elves who came out late at night to do their business alone.
Satisfied with just me, they returned to their city with smiles on their faces.
After being healed, I stood on my own two feet.
Ordinary elves only started walking at my age, but I belonged to a very special family among royalty.
It seemed surprising even by human standards.
"Woah. What's up with this baby?"
"He stood up on his own! I'm not hallucinating, am I?"
"Are all elven babies like this?!"
They were completely taken aback when they found out that I could speak the human language as well.
And our thoughts were in sync.
"Sell me to a high-ranking human noble."
"We can sell this baby for a very high price."
I thought I would be sold soon.
Humans were a race that admired unusual or rare things.
But their leader, a petty and broad-minded thief, took me across the sea to the most powerful country in the Central Continent.
And I was marketed to its royal family.
"I've heard rumors, but your ears are really pointy. They call you an elf in the Southern Continent, right? Do you understand what we're saying?"
"Pardon me, but who are you?"
"So it's really true. Can all elves talk and walk from their early ages like you?"
"No."
"That's fortunate. After all, it's better to cull dangerous sprouts in advance."
"…"
That man was the exact opposite of my father.
Although he was weak in physical strength, he was an experienced politician who had accumulated enormous amounts of knowledge, experience, wealth, and reputation in a short time.
I was afraid of him.
He was much more than the First Elf despite him being a God-chosen hero.
He couldn't take care of his family even though he had lived for over 5,000 years, yet this man had everything except helplessness at a young age of fewer than 50 years. His excellent subordinates and soldiers also made up for his lack of power.
This was what human superiority meant.
They were monsters that caught up with an eon of elven progress in only a decade.
Their cooking also came as a culture shock to me, considering I had been eating bugs and insects since I was weaning.
A dish that the royal family ate…
It had to be the highest level in human society.
But I, who had little experience and knowledge, misunderstood, thinking most humans ate at that level.
That was the case at the time.
"The elves can't win…"
My father made a fuss every day, saying that he would one day be the true owner of the Fantasy continent, but that dream was illogical no matter how much I thought about it.
The Southern Continent was powerful, but the Central Continent, the center of trade of the four continents, was much more deviant.
And I had been sold to the strongest country in it.
"This land is a holy empire ruled by the descendants of God. I am Kyle de Lanuberg, Grand Duke of Lanuberg, the younger brother of His Majesty the Great Emperor. This is my companion, Leah Lanuberg."
"Nice to meet you…"
The slender beauty greeted me in a weak tone as she sat down at the table.
"It hasn't been long since my son died due to difficult childbirth, leaving us terribly heartbroken. What's your name?"
"My name is Elfheim."
"Right, Elfheim. I hope that you, a newborn yet intelligent baby, can comfort Leah's grief. Failure or rejection will result in death. Any questions?"
"N-no."
I used to survive by eating bugs with my brothers and sisters, but I suddenly became a person with a similar status as an adopted son of the second-in-command of the Central Continent.
"Elfheim, have you been weaned?"
"Yes. Quite a while ago…"
The Grand Duke Lanuberg, busy with official duties, left as soon as he finished eating, and his wife, Leah, moved me to her room in her arms even though I could walk alone.
For the first time in my life, I realized what true tenderness meant.
It wasn't the hard breasts of my mother and sisters.
This was indescribable…
"He is a loving husband to me, but he is a difficult person to others. He's also stubborn about doing what he's been told to do. Those points make him look cute and lovable since those make him more like a naughty kid."
"Ah yes. haha…"
He was someone who casually spoke about killing and put it into practice… I didn't think naughty was the right word.
"Elfheim, you probably don't know about this, but in the society of noble ladies, having difficult childbirth is extremely shameful and disgraceful. That's why I can't get out of the house. I'm not going to ask you to imitate my son, who's currently just rumored to be dead. I just want you to be my companion."
"Alright."
My job wasn't that difficult.
I didn't know what kind of conversation a human woman liked, but that's something I'd have to figure out.
"Then, shall I feed you?"
"But I have eaten just a while ago…"
"That's not what I meant."
Leah carefully untied her dress top.
And her beautiful fruits were revealed.
I thought they were huge even with her tight clothes compressing them, but they were even greater with them unsealed and unprotected.
"Uh… I told you that I had been weaned, right?"
"You're making me feel sad…"
"Being w-weaned d-doesn't mean I can't get fed anymore, though…"
Before being sold to the Central Continent, I thought the only differences between humans and elves were our ear shapes and lifespans.
But it wasn't just that.
Humans were a great race that could not be compared with elves.
*
I spent 200 years in the family of the Grand Duke of Lanuberg.
The beautiful maids working in the family liked me, and I truly loved their breasts.
I was happy every single day.
But where there is a beginning, there is also an end.
The human lifespan was too short.
The Grand Duke of Lanuberg, who achieved more feats in 20 years than my father had done in 2,000 years, passed away with satisfaction after taking a look at his children and estates one after another.
Lady Leah, who taught me the greatness of female humans, gave birth to four sons and two daughters safely and lived happily ever after, following her husband.
A lot happened after that.
"Brother Elfheim!"
"Brother El!"
Lanuberg's children followed me as if I were their biological older brother, and their children depended on and respected me as an uncle.
Short-lived humans suffered pain every time they had to inherit the wills of their predecessors, except for the Lanuberg family, which united around me, who never grew old yet knew more about family and territory than anyone else.
Based on that potential, I enjoyed a power comparable to that of an emperor.
My life was wonderful. I could even touch soft chests whenever I reached out my hand.
But what about my kind?
Numerous elves had been sold to the Central Continent.
This was because royal families and nobles started buying young elves and started taming them like loyal dogs after witnessing the splendid glory of Lanuberg.
That could be counted as my indirect fault.
"I have to go back."
After 200 years passed, my body had become like a boy by human standards. I was able to travel for a long time by myself.
The swordsmanship and self-defense skills that I had learned from the knights of the Lanuberg family were also of great help.
"My King, do you have to go?"
A successor I picked on the black market 100 years ago grabbed my sleeve as I was about to leave.
I replied, reflecting on the past.
"No matter how inferior and ugly our own race might be, I will never abandon them as my father did. And I'm not a king. I'm just an intelligent elf who saw the broadness of the world a little earlier than others."
"No. You will become our true king. And in the future, I will be your wife. You can trust my woman's intuition."
She believed in the most dangerous thing in the world, huh?
"Would you like to bet?"
"If you become a king, marry me."
"What if I win?"
"I will give up becoming queen and become your ordinary wife."
"Wait! I'll unconditionally be at a loss whether I win or lose here!"
"I will do my best to become the beautiful elf that Your Majesty Elfheim desires and looks forward to having. Oh! The ship is about to depart. You'll miss it if you don't hurry! Go now, Your Majesty!"
"Well…"
I went down to my hometown after an unfair deal with my successor.
And after many twists and turns, I really became a king. A true Elf King, not an honorary title like my father and mother had.
The 3rd Elf King.
Elfheim Khan Lanuberg.
That was the childhood story of a certain elf who longed for humans.
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