Book 4: Chapter 41
Book 4: Chapter 41
They had purplish skin and long ears like an elf. Straight silver hair and amber-coloured eyes.
A dark elf, just as I had imagined.
「I thought some kind of tough guy showed up, causing the giant earthworms to go crazy… but it’s just a little rug rat!」
「Yeah, yeah. Look at his muscles… seems like he hasn’t eaten in days.」
However, some aspects were beyond my imagination.
Their handsome looks were just as I imagined, but everything below the chin was unexpected.
Necks as thick as hardcore rugby players. Upper arms with swelling, bulging biceps.
The tank top-like clothes they wore hid their chest, but completely showed off their ripped six-pack abs.
The lower body was also terrific. Their thighs, which were tight and swollen like an Olympic cyclist, were likely to unleash a powerful deadly kick.
Every single one of them was like that.
(The Dark Elves were a macho race!?)
As my heart beat increased, I hid Asha behind me to protect her.
As she might be targeted for being a woman, I had instructed her in advance to wear a hood.
「Is this… the dark elf village?」
「Village? What are you talking about? You underground humans are also wandering around these parts lately, right… Nn?」
A tall man—about 2 meters tall macho man—who seemed to be the leader, took a torch in his hand and lit it with【Fire Magic】.
It’s a skill.
「You… your skin is too yellow for an underground human. And you don’t have scales to be a dragonewt. What are you?」
「I am a human. Should be an extremely common race — but, I suppose they are extinct in this world.」
「What are you talking about?」
「We have something to do here. I hope you won’t get in our way.」
「…………」
The dark elves looked at each other. They went a little distance away, and gathered in a circle like football players.
「——What is that guy talking about?」
「——I don’t know. Maybe he’s got some screws loose.」
「——Should we just leave em’ alone?」
「——They’ll probably die in the wild.」
「——But they slipped through the giant earthworms.」
「——Maybe they just got lucky.」
「——So, what do we do? Ninta and Ketch started doing situps and squats since we’re taking too long.」
「——Tsk. Those guys have no patience.」
「——You’re doing high knees while saying that.」
「——Yeah, I wanna start doing muscle training.」
「——Me too.」
「——Me too.」
「——Me too.」
The circle collapsed, and the 2 meters tall man came over to us.
「As a result of the discussion, it is too late at night, so you should come back to our place for the time being.」
「Wait, why!?」I retorted without thinking.「You were discussing muscle training for half of the discussion, weren’t you?!」
「Oh, you were listening in on us?」
「Are you feeling shy? Is that why you’re averting your gaze and rubbing your nose?」
「As long as you’re not hostile, it’s fine. Follow us.」
The dark elves said, and went down the stone pavement road. A few people followed behind the leader while performing jumping squats, but no one said anything else.
「…………」
「…Umm, Reiji-san. What should we do?」
「Sorry, but I don’t know either.」
It is a fact that it has gotten late, so we decided to follow the dark elves.
**
I was able to take a nap for about 2 hours until dawn. I used magic and strained my body, so I wanted to recover my physical strength.
The sky was slightly brighter. I woke up on a bed that was made of just branches and dry leaves. Beside me, Asha was groaning uncomfortably in her sleep.
Asha, who has only slept in the finest beds so far, has experienced sleeping out in the open air a few times since she came to this world.
Her body still hasn’t gotten accustomed to it, so I decided to let her sleep for a bit longer.
I walked outside. We were as high as 30 meters from the ground on top of a tree.
Birds were chirping here and there loudly.
It was not fancy enough to call it a treehouse. Just simple huts assembled with wood on tall trees.
I don’t know what kind of trees they were. The bark looked slippery and smooth, but when I touched it, there was a slight unevenness. And with branches wide enough to comfortably walk on.
I wonder how old the trees are. Large trees with a diameter of over 10 meters stood closely throughout the forest. The dark elves lived on top of these trees.
There was sufficient distance between the huts. And also fixed huts which have been established as the toilet. The waste products are directly dropped down to the ground. Apparently, compost is made by collecting it all in one place.
There were no lifelines. Instead, ropes were spun like a spider’s web below the huts. So, even if you slip off a tree, you can grab onto the ropes before falling to the ground.
Although it was early in the morning, the dark elves were dangling upside down from several branches, like bats, working out their abdominal muscles. Damn muscle maniacs! Climbing up and down from the ground to the top of the tree every single day would naturally develop your muscles, I suppose. They climb the trees with either a rope ladder or a knot rope. Even if they are chased by a foreign enemy, the enemy will not be able to climb up if the rope is retrieved.
(Did the dark elves protect their village in this way? …The idea is the exact opposite of the underground people.)
Even if you try to look around from a tall tree, you cannot see far because of the numerous trees of the same height.
This place was about 30 minutes of running from the ruins where I encountered the dark elves last night.
「You’ve already woken up? You can wash your face there.」
The 2-meters tall dark elf came down from above. There were several huts that collected rainwater, where you could draw water and wash your face. The water felt cold, but this was probably the dark elves’ routine.
「Let’s go have a meal.」he said.
「Is that alright?」
「Well, you’re our guest. For now.」
「…………」
For now, huh? That’s true.
It seems that meals are gathered and dined in a separate place. So I headed to the hut which functioned as the dining room.
Since it was early morning, there was no one inside. But it seemed that someone was using fire in the kitchen, as smoke was already rising.
「You’re early today, Knock! –Aiya, are you an underground human? But your face is yellow.」
「He’s a guest. Give us some food.」
The long and narrow hut had about 10 seats, and the kitchen was at the back.
A dark elf woman was the person who was using fire. And, as expected, she was also macho.
The dishes were simmered potatoes, soup with boiled beans, and chunks of meat. Meat was the largest. It was about the size of two bricks stacked together.
「…………」
「What’s wrong? There’s no poison in it! Oi! You didn’t put poison in this, right?」
「Don’t be rude!」
A ladle flew out of the kitchen and smacked the dark elf Knock’s head. It made a nice sound.
「It seems that it is not poisoned.」Knock said.
「D-Do… you eat this much in the morning?」I asked.
「Sorry, we only serve more at night.」
That’s not what I meant! D-Does that mean you eat way more at night?!
Like Knock-san, I dipped the potatoes in the soup and then took a bite.
「!」
Immediately, burning spiciness spread throughout my mouth.
This is unexpected! I haven’t eaten such spicy food since I was reincarnated.
(This reminds me of Mimino-san’s seasoning.)
Mimino-san figured out various seasonings while I travelled with Silver Balance.
The spices she used were good and delicious.
…Mimino-san, I miss you.
「Hmm. Is it spicy enough to make you cry?」
「Eh!?」
When I hurriedly touched my cheeks, it was wet with tears.
「No. It’s just really delicious!」
「Really?」
「Yeah.」
Just as I started taking bite after bite, I heard a scream.
It was Asha’s voice.
I immediately rushed out of the dining room. Outside the hut where we slept, Asha was desperately clinging onto a branch to save herself from falling to the ground. She probably lost her footing and slipped.