98 — Elven Forest (1)

“Another bottle of soju here!”

“Beer here!”

“The roasted uba we ordered earlier still hasn’t come out!”

It was chaotic everywhere. The busiest time of the evening.

“Rurin! Serve this!”

“Serve yourselves!”

Rurin’s screams continued.

“Hey!”

My reprimand too.

Still, it’s fortunate that she serves while grumbling. As always, it’s a normal day.

As time passes, people leave one by one, and it becomes late at night. On such a day, I can feel proud of a fulfilling day.

With a light heart, I clean up the hall, take down the sign, and close the door.

“Uh?”

But today, something unusual happened at the door. A familiar face was standing there.

A blond head just standing idly at the door.

“Ms. Elena?”

“Mr. El!”

Elena, who was standing still, looked at me with a startled face. Her long ears perked up, showing she was really surprised.

It’s only natural that she’d meet me if she’s standing in front of the restaurant.

I wonder why she looks so surprised. As if she’s seen a ghost or something.

“Are you alright?”

“Oh, yes, yes! I was just thinking… Sorry.”

“Hmm, I don’t know what it is, but don’t just stand outside, come in.”

I closed the door and brought Elena inside, seating her at a table.

Elena, still restless and fidgety, eventually buried her head in the table and held the back of her head. It looked like she had eaten something terribly wrong.

“What is an elf doing here? And why are you burying your head in the table? Interesting one.”

Rurin, wiping off the beer she had spilled with a towel, approached and tilted her head.

“You, hasn’t this one finally lost her mind? Well, living with the red one could do that.”

Pat, pat.

Rurin patted Elena’s back sympathetically. Elena quickly lifted her head and looked up at me with her hands clasped.

“I, I actually came to ask a favor!”

“A favor?”

“I’m sorry!”

“You haven’t said anything yet, so what are you sorry for? You can apologize later, just tell me your favor first.”

As I smiled and sat in front of Elena, Rurin wrapped her arms around my neck and wriggled.

Seeing this, Elena sighed deeply again and opened her mouth.

“Actually…”

“Actually?”

“I got it! You want me to kill the red one because you don’t like her! Well, if she harmed the elf, I have no choice, I’ll handle it…”

“Don’t be ridiculous, don’t choke me, hey!”

Rurin, who was wrapped around my neck, squeezed tightly and shook me side to side, almost driving me crazy.

“No, that’s not it!”

Of course, Elena denied Rurin’s words.

“I don’t dislike her. But…!”

“Yes?”

She doesn’t dislike her, but there seems to be something. Something related to Sereina.

“What happened? Did Sereina bully you?”

“Oh, no! It’s not that. Actually, I received an urgent magic message from the Elf Forest where I lived. They asked me to return temporarily because something big had happened in the forest.”

“Oh, really?”

Being summoned from the Elf Forest she belongs to isn’t surprising. But I couldn’t guess what she would ask of me. And how Sereina was related to it.

“But Sereina said she would go with me…”

Elena lowered her head.

Taking a dragon to the Elf Forest?

Chaos would ensue.

Why would she do such a thing?

Sereina, she really can’t be stopped.

“So, you want me to stop her from going? Well, I can handle a request like that.”

“No. She could suddenly teleport, and I can’t be sure she’ll behave… El, could you come with us too? If Sereina is left alone, she’ll likely play pranks like she did with the robbers last time. I fear the Elf Forest will be ruined… She’s not a bad person, but her pranks are too much… Only you can stop her, Mr. El!”

“To the Elf Forest?”

“Yes… For the time you can’t run your business, I’ll repay you, even if I have to give my life. Somehow!”

“No, you don’t have to give your life. My business is random anyway, so it’s fine.”

Last time, with the Red Dragon incident, Elena was there to help resolve it easily by saving Sereina. She’s helpful in many ways, especially with recovery spells.

I can’t refuse such a desperate request. But there’s one problem.

“But if I go, the dragon hanging on my back will naturally come too. Isn’t it going to cause apocalyptic chaos to have Rurin and Sereina appear in the Elf Forest?”

“If El goes, it’s only natural that I go too.”

Elena glanced at Rurin behind me and then quickly looked down. She must have made eye contact with Rurin.

“It’s okay. As long as Mr. El is there… both of them… both of them…”

She probably wanted to say they would both behave or not cause trouble, but she was choosing her words carefully.

“Alright. Even if we stop her, if Sereina secretly goes, there’s no solution. We can’t lock her up. We can’t take away a dragon’s freedom to prevent it… If you’re that worried, I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you!”

Thunk!

Elena bowed her head so hard that she hit her forehead on the table. Holding her reddened forehead, she teared up but kept bowing.

“Thank you. Thank you. Mr. El, you are truly my savior!”

Elena said that and left, holding her forehead.

---

Elf Forest.

Elena was born in the Elf Forest located in the northwest of the Empire. This vast forest had recently become very noisy due to certain events.

It was because the Gold Dragon Ilimantium, whose lair was in the northwest, had awakened from a long sleep.

There are three main types of dragons in this world: Black, Red, and Gold.

The strongest in one-on-one situations are the Blacks, the Reds dominate in numbers, and the Golds are always in between.

They are not as belligerent as Reds or Blacks but prefer collecting treasures and beautiful things rather than fighting.

“Oh, Great One!”

Ilimantium, the male dragon who had awakened, landed in the nearby Elf Forest right after getting up and yawning.

The elves of the forest, including the Chief Neria, all bowed down and began to tremble. When the peace of the dragon’s slumber ends, a difficult period always begins.

“So, haven’t the faces changed a lot while I was asleep?”

“Yes, much time has passed.”

When Neria answered, Ilimantium immediately got to the point with the elves.

“Anyway, since I have awakened, send an elf to attend to me. They must be beautiful. I will demand treasures from the dwarves!”

The elves, their heads still bowed, began to panic. Historically, many elves from the forest had been forcibly employed by the lair’s owner, but Ilimantium was especially picky.

Of course, it’s not about serving him at night or anything. Ilimantium simply thought that attendants managing the lair should be beautiful.

Having declared this, Ilimantium flapped his wings and disappeared without waiting for an answer. Naturally, the elves entered an emergency state immediately.

“It can’t be helped. Don’t be too sad. As the natural order, I, the Chief, will go.”

The Chief of the elves, Neria, said this. Elves maintain their adult beauty until they die. In other words, they keep their youthful looks for life.

Neria’s declaration caused the elves to murmur. But elves have always been that way. The chief is someone who takes responsibility.

“Neria…!”

“Lady Neria…”

The elves began to cry. The next chief position passed to an elf named Celine.

For elves, being a chief is a position with heavy responsibilities. Unlike dragons, no one desires the position for power. But the elves strictly follow the hierarchy in selecting their chief.

Elves are a rare kind who yield good things and have their leaders take responsibility for bad things.

Thus, it was fine when the peaceful Chief Neria went to the dragon’s lair…

But then a variable occurred. Neria was immediately chased away by Ilimantium for the vague reason of not liking the atmosphere.

Ilimantium, who liked beautiful things, was also very picky.

“I’m sorry, everyone…”

Neria cried, and it was now Celine’s turn. Celine nodded. The position of chief passed back to Neria. Normally, one would be happy not to be chosen, but Neria felt responsible.

This elf tribe had the opposite mindset; Neria wore a dark expression as if she would rather die than fail to take responsibility.

But the problem showed no signs of being resolved.

Even the second elf, Celine, was rejected. Ilimantium’s pickiness was sky-high.

In the end, they followed the hierarchy. The next candidate after Celine was Noria.

But when Noria was also rejected for not being to the dragon’s taste, the elves fell into confusion.

The next in line after Noria was Elena, who was not in the forest. Following the strict hierarchy, they decided to summon Elena.

“Elena is out right now, what should we do, Lady Neria?”

“The elf hierarchy is about responsibility. Summon her.”

This is why Elena was summoned to the Elf Forest. Although she still didn’t know it.

---

“So, you’re going too?”

Sereina asked me while looking at me. What’s she asking the obvious for? I shrugged. Then she crossed her arms.

“Yes, I’m going to follow you so the Red Dragon can’t play pranks.”

“What pranks did I play? Hmph. And this time, I’m going purely to protect my Elena!”

Sereina said while sticky-petting Elena’s head.

Elena shivered, unable to adapt to the stickiness.

“Okay, okay, let’s say I accept that. But why is the black one following you? I’m against that.”

“What are you talking about? I’ll splatter your brain and blood and make it red!”

“Roar! Try it! I’ll tear your head off first!”

“Get away!”

When Sereina tried to grab her head, Rurin climbed onto my back and jumped up.

“Stop! Rurin’s head is off-limits. The head. Do you know how precious this head is?”

I grabbed the running Sereina and turned her around, causing her to go to Elena with a miserable expression and cling to her.

“Elena. I am sad.”

“Th-that… Sereina! Your h-hands!”

Elena was being teased by Sereina. It was too pitiful to watch, so I pulled Elena towards me.

“Wow! Now you’re even taking the elf?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Elena isn’t yours. Sereina, so how are you going? Have you been to the Elf Forest? Rurin hasn’t been there, so teleporting is impossible.”

“I think I know where it is, so it’s possible.”

Then Sereina started smiling brightly as if she had regained the initiative.

“I’m completely different from that little one. Haha. The class of my life is different.”

Adding another word, Sereina became full of herself.

“You. That annoys me. Let’s just use another dragon nearby as a stepping stone.”

Rurin then flared up.

“Just bear with it. The direct way is the best.”

Anyway, direct travel is better. Soon, we gathered at Elena’s clinic to use teleportation.

“Wait! Stop!”

Then I shouted right before that. Sereina, about to use mana, tilted her head.

“What’s wrong?”

Ignoring Sereina’s puzzled look, I stared at Elena and spoke.

To solve one problem.