章 3: A Monarch's Attention
'Now, then… where do I begin?'
Elish shut his eyes and considered his options for a moment before opening them once again after making up his mind.
'I'll separate some of this body's structure to an attire for myself. It shouldn't reduce its integrity since I'll go for normal wear…'
Following his thoughts were instant action.
Elish immediately manifested clothing for himself: a dark inner shirt, an obsidian dark cloak, with linings made from red threads.
Black trousers covered most of his legs, and his feet were shrouded with formal dark shoes.
The outfit suited his tastes perfectly.
"This should be sufficient," he murmured.
After Elish had walked away from the deserted underground region where he woke up, following its destruction, he headed west.
The clear blue sky above him, the drifting clouds that floated in the heavens, and the cool wind that filled the air… he felt all of them as he silently took a stroll.
'Almost feels like I am being watched by them, doesn't it?' He let out a small chuckle.
There was a lot he had to think about, and the silence helped him sort through his thoughts.
******
It wasn't long before Elish was in a forest-like region.
The green shrubbery leaked out a scent that was impossible to ignore, and the twisted undergrowth manifesting around him caught his notice.
The trees were tall, and their leaves served as canopies, blocking the open sky he had gotten a little used to.
"As expected, I feel no exhaustion even though I have been walking for hours now," Elish reviewed.
"It must be another perk of this body.".
Since this form was according to his design, Elish could turn off certain features or add others to suit his taste. For example, he could turn off pain receptors or remove exhaustion from his senses.
Of course, most pains or exhaustions wouldn't affect him anyway due to the difference in quality he had compared to regular creations.
'To test all of my capabilities, maybe I should make an advanced study session…'
Even with that being a priority, Elish also knew it would be optimal for him not to get into any unnecessary conflict which had no bearing on his goals.
He estimated that it would take him a few more hours to finally leave the forest he was in, and he was steadily walking with that in mind.
However, it wasn't long before this solitude was interrupted by a sudden voice.
'Someone else is here? A human?"
Elish stopped moving, instead enhancing his senses, especially his hearing and sight, in order to better observe what was happening.
'Ahh... I see.'
About fifty meters from where he stood, there were five—no, six—humans clustered. They were all wearing armor and looked heavily built.
"Are they soldiers?" Elish muttered to himself.
It seemed his solitude had caused him to develop the habit of voicing his thoughts carelessly.
"They look different from how I remember them, though." He continued speaking, regardless of whether his voice was audible or not.
He was too far from the humans for them to perceive him anyway.
The humans he observed wore armor made of metal, and one even had a bronze-plated one equipped. To Elish, this was news.
"Fascinating. Humans have advanced this far, just how long has passed since I perished?" he wondered.
The most interesting aspect of the event he was witnessing was the current activity of the humans. It even surprised him a little.
In the midst of the six soldiers was a female. She wasn't human.
"Elf? No. It's a bit different. She seems more like a fairy, but… where are her wings?"
Elish raised one of his brows in puzzlement.
Fairies and Elves were alike in many ways, especially due to their commonalities in physique. They both had long ears and perfect skin. Elves were slightly taller than fairies, but they usually had an average height that was a little smaller than humans.
However, what set these races apart was one major thing—Wings.
Fairies had wings, and Elves didn't. By that qualification, the woman Elish was looking at had to be an Elf, however he was convinced otherwise.
'Don't tell me…'
If what he thought was true, then it would be interesting to observe the situation even more.
Back when he was a Monarch, soldiers were guardians of their people. While they were not as fancy as what he was seeing now, they were still impressive by human standards.
Only the strong had any right or responsibility to protect the weak, after all.
However, from what he was observing, that didn't seem to be the case in this situation.
'Could that have changed as well?' Elish couldn't help but think.
They seemed to be bullying the Fairy, the opposite of what their duty was meant to be.
The poor thing had bruises on her body and she seemed to be in pain. He could hear her leak out sounds that indicated she was suffering a lot, and Elish witnessed all of it.
"Hmm…" It wasn't as if he felt any remorse or sense of compassion for the girl.
No, if he was to say, Elish was simply intrigued by the situation.
It was just the nature of the world that the weak would be powerless against the strong, so he didn't find the situation abnormal. Injustices were perpetrated every second of every day in one place or the other.
As a Monarch, he knew that much.
Why would he be riled by a simple event that was rife in the imperfect world that was born from his siblings? He simply couldn't care less about it.
Instead, he watched to learn from the unfolding sight.
"I can't understand their language. That means quite a lot of time has passed since my defeat."
Language naturally evolved over the course of society's advancement. It often started slow and subtle, but if given enough time, completely new languages would be used by an intelligent species as compared to their ansestors.
"This is a good opportunity, is it not?" When Elish considered the fact that he would have to learn this new language eventually, his interest slightly increased.
He watched a little more as one of the soldiers sneered and laughed at the weakness of the struggling Fairy who now sat helplessly and rested against the trunk of one of the trees.
"Haa… haa…" The girl struggled to breathe, and her plump chest rose and fell as she continued to resist the pain that she had to be experiencing.
Her dark hair covered most of her bruised face, and she was dressed in filthy rags. None of those mattered to the barely surviving girl who seemed to be nearing pure exhaustion.
Elish watched as one of the six tried grabbing her hand and saying words he couldn't understand, but as soon as he reached for it, the Fairy used her teeth and ferociously bit him.
"Guarrghh!" The man's screams reached Elish's ears, and he found himself leaking out a small smile.
Blood gushed out of his hands as the bite was deep, and the man staggered a little backward, recoiling from the pain he experienced.
He then proceeded to yell more unintelligible words before hitting the Fairy's head with his hard boot.
She let out a painful groan but still stubbornly held on with her teeth sinking deeper into his hand. Even with everything, she didn't let go.
~WHAM!~
~WHACK!~
He kept hitting her until she had to let go of his hand. Her jaws seemed broken, and as a result, her grip on his flesh loosened.
If any longer had passed, there was no doubt that she could have ripped the soldier's flesh off.
"She looks too weak, though," Elish whispered. It appeared the Fairy would soon pass out.
Just in time too. He had already grown bored of the situation.
None of what was happening was his concern. The last thing the girl did caught his attention, but what of it?
Her fate was sealed. She was either going to be raped, killed, or tortured by the soldiers. It wasn't like one futile struggle changed anything.
Even the soldiers would have their reasons for being so rough on her. What if she was some sort of criminal, and they were simply enacting justice on her?
The more Elish thought of it, the more he found more reasons to ignore what was happening.
'I can learn this world's language through another means. There's no reason to draw too much attention.'
He began to walk away from the scene, shrugging a little. It was a bit annoying he would have to take a detour, but he didn't particularly mind increasing the time he had to think about his plans for the future.
This wasn't his problem.
"W-why...? I trusted... You... Why...?" A stifled, nearly inaudible whisper suddenly greeted Elish's ears, causing him to halt for a moment.
'Did she just speak in the old tongue that I understand?' Elish asked himself.
Did she know he was present? No. She had no way of knowing. There was only one other explanation.
'I know all the languages of the old races, so she must have spoken in her native dialect. That means there are some languages that remain the same.'
It wasn't too surprising since the girl was a Fairy, a race that preferred the conservative approach to their culture.
The consequence of that had to be the stagnation of various aspects of their society; language included.
"This changes a few things…"
Elish threw away all his previous justifications for non-interference and slowly began to consider the opposite.
But why?
Perhaps it was because he was moved by her desperation and her fragile nature.
No, that wasn't it.
Maybe it was due to the fact that she was in grave danger and she kept fighting.
No, that wasn't the reason either.
Suddenly, she turned away from her assaulters, and he had a clear glimpse of the face hidden behind strands of her dark hair.
That was when he saw it for the first time—her eyes.
"Those eyes, they look just like mine did." Elish found himself saying words he wouldn't normally spout. "
You understand, don't you? What it means… to be betrayed"
And for that single reason, Elish damned his previous disposition and altered the course of his plans.
Who would ever think that a Monarch could be moved by the forlorn gaze of a mortal? Perhaps this was what the people called a miracle.
"Uejen whjei koaeh," a soldier's voice pierced the air as he raised his sword at the Fairy.
Elish observed the trajectory of the blade, instantly calculating that from that angle he was aiming for her shoulder.
He also assumed it would be a non-lethal wound based on the strength of the soldier's grip and the movement of his muscles. Regardless, the strike was definitely going to cause her pain.
'I've seen enough of that.' Elish's thoughts finally settled.
He quickened his pace, and within a moment, he was right in front of the the shivering, helpless Fairy.
The soldier noticed him, but before he could stop the momentum of his sword, it was headed for Elish's chest.
"Pathetic."
The sword connected with his cloth, but before it could even penetrate, it broke.
~CLANGANGANG!~
"Uuwh ehha heywu wkwdet wiouns da!" The attacking soldier exclaimed in shock, recoiling backward in response to what he deemed an astonishing sight.
Elish noticed the countenance of the other soldiers, and the emotions they displayed were similar.
Surprise. Shock. Puzzlement. But not fear.
Not yet anyway.
As the shards of metal fell to the ground in loud clangs, the stranger in the midst of these mortals raised both hands as though seeking an embrace.
"Rejoice, little one," Elish smiled as he stole a gaze at the Fairy who watched him with a gaping mouth.
"You now have my attention."
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[A/N]
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