บท 7: Chapter 7

Lucia somersaulted in through the window, crawled behind me and asked: "Did you find out anything?"

There were a bunch of books with years of history in them spread out in front of me. I was afraid I'd damage them. I could understand the writing on them, so I think I inherited this body's owner's knowledge. Lucia's small head came over from behind, as she looked at the words and said: "I don't think any of these are useful."

I closed the book, nodded and said: "They are indeed useless. These books only outline the living habits of Earth Dragons. I now understand their body structure and living habits, but I don't know how this is relevant to killing them"

I sighed, and annoyed, pushed aside the books in front of me, and said: "It looks like I can't help the elders because I have no idea how to slay Earth Dragons at this point. Why does this creature exist in this world? Scales which can't be penetrated by blades or magic, lifespans of hundreds of years… Such a creature shouldn't exist."

"Earth Dragons can be killed. Her highness will definitely intervene at the end. Her magic is on a completely different level compared to ours. She could definitely slay them."

Lucia was casually spread out on my bed. At night, Lucia is a capable warrior. She rolled over, pushed over a book and said: "Magic isn't a skill, but a 'command' to her highness. You saw how it took me a long time to gather the fire element energy in the air for the fire ball. But her highness could gather all the fire element energy in the air at a single command instantly. That is her highness's divine power. We need to gather energy, while her highness commands it."

Curious, I looked at Lucia and asked: "Why doesn't mom just intervene herself then?"

Lucia shrugged and said: "Because of you. After you were born, she said she wanted to be a kind mother. I've never seen her hurt anyone since then. She rarely even uses her magic. But she did participate in the last war over the prince."

Confused I asked again: "The war over the prince?"

There aren't many reasons for wars to break out: water sources, land, resources or a quarrel. But what does "A war over the prince" mean? Were they fighting over a child? Are you telling me they went to war over a child?

Lucia frowned as she looked at me strangely, and said: "How do you not know about it? You should be the one who never forgets it. That war started because of you. That was the most frightening war the humans waged on elves. Their goal was to take you."

"Ah… No, hang on, my brain can't keep up…" I closed my eyes, clutched my and shouted in my head: "What the hell? The war over the prince was a war waged over the rights to me? What's the point of having me? Do I have some sort of value for the humans? Would it have been necessary to start a large scale war for a hostage? If they could capture the prince of the other side, why do they still need a hostage?"

Moreover, how am I related to the humans? Aren't I an elf? Logically speaking, I can't be only part-elf if my mother is the queen of elves, right?

My ears!!

I suddenly remembered. My ear-shape is that of humans! In other words, it's highly likely I'm half-elf and half-human. Aahh~ now it makes sense. Perhaps the elf queen had a relationship with some influential human before, one with enough power to start a war… If that's the case, then…

Don't tell me it's the king of humanity!!

No way! Although I'm reluctant to admit it, it's highly likely to be true. Logically speaking, the queen could only associate with the king of humans. Maybe they fell in love and mom gave birth to me after. But why did they separate? Mom returned to the city of elves and became the ruler, after which I was born. And then the humans must've wanted to take me back and a war broke out because mom wasn't willing to hand me over…

That explains that, but it doesn't explain… The reason for waging that war sounds so stupid. Why doesn't mom let my father take me back to his place? They may have broken up, but he would want to see me if they met again, right? If the king of the humans fell in love with someone else, then why would he want to bring me back?

Aaahh… What on Earth is what? It's now clear that the war revolved around me, but I have no idea what happened! Countless people died because of me, and the elves nearly went extinct. What were the reasons behind all this. I can't ask Lucia either, since "I" definitely knew the reason.

"Allow me to greet you on behalf of her majesty…"

Wait!!

That human I met today said that he was greeting me on behalf of "her majesty"… That means…

The ruler of humans is a woman!!

And my ears indicate that I'm not an elf, but a human!

Who knows, I might've been kidnapped by the elves or switched places with another prince, the queen of elves adopted me, and then she developed motherly feelings towards me. And then the queen of the humans discovered the truth and tried to take me back, but the queen of elves refused, and then the queen of humans got angry and tried to take me back by force… And my elf mother forbids me from going outside to prevent me from leaving and going back to my mother!

Now it makes sense… Wait, no. I missed something important. How did I end up here with the elves? I know mom has an elder brother. Could it be that I'm the son of her brother and the queen of humanity? And that the elves took me away after? Why would a man who's fleeing take his kid with him? Normally, only women would do that. Further, why would mom go through all the trouble of raising me? It's clear that we're not related in any way.

I don't get it. I don't get it at all. I've thought of all the possibilities, but I still don't get it. Hell, I still don't even know what race I belong to. I have the ears of humans, yet my body holds magic power. I have the characteristics of both elves and humans, so I can conclude I'm a half-breed. But why am I a half breed? Why was there a war revolving around me? Who exactly is my father? I'm lost.

"It's time for me to go. It looks like we won't have to worry about the Earth Dragons, since her highness will deal with it. Goodnight, your highness."

Lucia bowed slightly and then jumped onto the window ledge. I put my head down and tried to figure out my identity, so I didn't pay much attention to her. Lucia's going to jump down soon, so I don't have to worry.

I suddenly heard a whisper come from the window: "Umm… Troy. Please let me add something."

I turned my head, saw Lucia still crouching on the ledge. She tilted her head and asked: "What's wrong?"

"Uhm… About the Earth Dragons… I'd like it if you could resolve the matter yourself."

She turned around, looked at me with her usual half-awake eyes which were now were round and dazzling, and mumbled: "I don't want you to put yourself in danger, I know that they're difficult to kill, and I know you had a near-death experience you never want to experience again, but… You're a ruler. You're next in line to rule the elf race. You can't be more timid than others, you can't be weaker than others and you can't always depend on her highness… So I hope you take care of it yourself."

Lucia raised her head and I could see her tears as she looked at me with determination. She was begging me. I don't know what happened between them in the past. Maybe "I" was depressed because I couldn't use magic. Maybe "I" wanted to become independent, but it was evident that Lucia wanted me to get back on my two feet.

Blades can't pierce Earth Dragons, and I can't use magic.

So how am I supposed to slay a horde of Earth Dragons? How do I go about it? I failed before and I don't even have the experience from last time. I'm just a normal guy who came from a different world. How do I take on a creature I've never even heard about before?

There are no creatures which can't be killed in this world.

I squeezed the dragon scales I'd been carrying with me for the last two days, grit my teeth and looked at Lucia. Earth Dragons can definitely be killed, there's definitely a way. I don't know what it is, but there's no doubt that there's a way, otherwise I wouldn't have these scales.

I raised my head and calmly said: "Lucia…"

"She wiped her tears and asked me in a shaky tone: "What?"

"Where are Earth Dragon scales sold?"

"Normally, merchants in the markets would know…"

Lucia thought to herself for a moment and then said: "But don't worry, we're also an intel squad. Ask me anything you want, I promise we'll uncover just what you want to know."

I nodded. If that's the case, then this will be easy. Earth Dragons can definitely be killed otherwise their scales wouldn't be sold. Since there are sellers, there must be a way to get them from Earth Dragons. They might've bought them from someone else, but we can say with certainty that the Earth Dragons don't just sprout out of the Earth. If we follow this lead, we'll find out who stripped the scales from these damned dragons.

"I want you to find out who the Earth Dragon scale supplier is. Find out who the hunter or person is. Since he can obtain the scales, then clearly he can slay an Earth Dragon. Then I'll be able to kill Earth Dragons, I'll be able to kill those hordes of Earth Dragons and put an end to this disaster."

I gave Lucia the scale in my hand. She looked at me, nodded and before she leapt out, A familiar voice said: "Didn't I tell you two not to go hunting Earth Dragons?! Why don't you two listen? Why are you trying to put him in danger when you're his fiancé?! Must he die before you're satisfied?!"

Lucia let out a painful shriek. Lucia was violently grabbed by some vine that came out of god-knows-where. I quickly turned around and saw mom angrily waving her arm. Vines from all sides encroached on Lucia and locked her in a cage made of vines before hanging her outside the window. The vines were set alight like in ancient times when people were locked in cages and burnt.

Lucia is still trapped inside!! Are you trying to burn her to death?!

"Uwaahhh!!"

Lucia was screaming painfully inside the vine cage which was aflame. Mom coldly watched her and angrily said: "You took my son out of the palace today as well! You think you can do as you please because he loves you?! I won't let anyone put my son in danger! No one! The next time you endanger him, I'll kill you even if you're his wife!

"Mom! Stop!"

I rushed over and knocked mom over. The cage broke, and Lucia's petite body rolled around in the cage. She lost conscious and rolled off as she began to free fall from high above. This time however, she was in no condition to glide. If she continued falling at that rate, she'd fall to her death! My room is on the highest flower in the imperial palace. Below are flowers, but Lucia was in no condition to make the leap of faith.

I don't know if my brain short-circuited or what, but I stood up and sprinted towards the window, jumped out and pulled her petite body towards me without a second thought.

Yes, I'm just a normal elf.

No, I'm a half-breed.

I can't use magic.

I don't have wind elves supporting me either.

So why did I jump out after her?

I don't know!!

Even if I did time travel, newton's laws of physics still apply. I didn't think about the dangers or anything of the sort when I leapt out the window, I just jumped. Right now, we were nose-diving straight down. Lucia who was in my embrace was too weakened to open her eyes, so she was in no condition to protect me… The wind whispered by my ear and I could feel death coming closer and closer. I was headed straight for the ground. None of the walls in the palace have any rails, there's… Nothing.

I struggled in order to change my body position and position Lucia on top of me as we continued to free fall. But given how high up we are, I don't think this will help at all. I guess it's better than nothing. My goal was to save Lucia, so even if I'm powerless in the end, I'll die trying.

Goodbye! I want to be reincarnated again!