I Became a 10,000-year-old Elf

“It’s been a long time. I thought things were a bit quiet lately, but to have my old senses awakened like this. I should rather say thank you.”

In the basement of the mansion where no sound could escape no matter how much one screamed, Ethan grinned as he looked at the captured intruders.

It wasn’t his first or second time being raided by hostile organizations. Both fighting and interrogating captured prisoners were familiar tasks for Ethan.

‘What in the world…’

The captured individuals were still in a state of shock, not in their right minds even at this moment. They had prepared themselves for battle or capture while carrying out their mission, but they had received an even greater shock.

Honestly, they could barely hear what Ethan was saying in front of them, as they were completely dazed.

“Well, shall we start with you? Personally, I hope you’re a bit tough. That’s the only way interrogation is enjoyable…”

“What on earth was that elf?! W-was it even really an elf?!”

When Ethan loosened one of the guy’s gags, he immediately asked about the elf girl who had subdued them with a single strike.

Even now, her face was vivid in their minds. The brilliant silver hair shimmering under the moonlight in the dark night, and those blood-red eyes shining indifferently.

With that slender body, wearing only a light negligee used as underwear and sleepwear, and barefoot, she certainly looked fragile enough to break if pushed. However, the girl they actually saw was a monster who could control the earth at will, rendering them unable to lay a finger on her.

“Well, I feel a sense of kinship.”

Ethan smiled bitterly at their reaction.

Although he hadn’t directly clashed with Isilia, he felt similar to them, having been instantly entangled by her and turned into her plaything.

“What good would it do you to know? That monster child is beyond common sense. Don’t try to understand, just spill what you know. Then it’ll hurt a bit less.”

He had no intention of telling them, and Ethan himself didn’t really know much about Isilia either.

Just that, perhaps due to her background, her actions were uniquely eccentric to the point of being bizarre, or that she had a somewhat rough side unlike her appearance.

“Aaaargh!”

Soon, terrible screams, the noise of human bodies being broken, and smells spread through the basement, but above ground, the night passed peacefully and dawn approached.

‘She’s still sleeping? Living so carefree. Is that what happens when you live for 10,000 years?’

After fully demonstrating his skills and roughly extracting what he wanted, Ethan tried to report this to Isilia, but he clicked his tongue when he heard that she was sleeping comfortably while he had been working all night.

Of course, since these intruders were ones that she had first noticed and captured herself, Ethan couldn’t say anything even if he felt annoyed.

* * *

“Lady Isilia. It’s morning. You need to wake up.”

“I’m tired from using my power yesterday. Let’s stay like this a bit longer.”

I knew it was morning, but the blanket was too cozy to leave. In the end, Lina, who had slept together beside me, let out a small sigh and had to wait until I got up.

It feels so good not having to wake up in the morning chased by something, be it work or whatever.

I finally got out of bed, dawdling, when Ethan came up himself and urged that I needed to see something right away.

“M-master. Lady Isilia hasn’t prepared yet…”

“Just let him in. If he came all the way here, it must be really urgent.”

Lina, who had only dressed herself, was surprised to see me still in my disheveled sleepwear, but I waved my arm telling her to just let Ethan in.

Certainly, the sleepwear I was wearing wasn’t something to be shown to others, but I truly didn’t care.

While thinking Lina’s body with its beautiful feminine figure was nice, and even hugging that body tightly while sleeping, my heart didn’t move beyond that. Maybe it was because I had realized there was no need to be concerned about such things anymore.

‘As if I’ve really become a 10,000-year-old enlightened elf.’

It was laughable even to myself. The emptiness that had overwhelmed my mind after learning I had lost everything in the Tower seemed to still remain, not fully healed.

“Don’t you have any shame? For someone called a noble elf…”

“What’s wrong with sleepwear? People who harbor improper thoughts should be the ones ashamed.”

Ethan was shocked when he entered the room and saw my state, but I just smirked. Maybe because it was a completely changed body, I barely even recognized this body as my own.

“So, did you find out anything?”

“It took some time, but it wasn’t difficult. However, the full story seems more complicated and difficult than what we learned from capturing those guys.”

Ethan furrowed his brow. If he was saying this, there was a high chance it was really serious.

“The artifact we restored and sold last time… it seems it was something we shouldn’t have touched.”

“The smartphone? Why?”

“Because its value is too great.”

He explained the general situation to me. The conclusion was that the value of the restored smartphone in this world was so immense that it had drawn attention from all directions.

From my perspective, I couldn’t help but snort. What kind of fuss is this over an object that has no way to charge its battery and might not even work?

“When an impossible object appeared in the black market, naturally those who know its value couldn’t help but go crazy. Fortunately, due to the structure of the black market, it would be difficult to find out that I sold it, but making guesses is certainly possible.”

Everyone who knew the value of the smartphone moved like fish biting bait. From underworld people like Ethan to even the mayor of this city who could be considered a public authority.

The problem was that Ethan had been buying up artifacts indiscriminately recently.

While it wasn’t solid evidence, there was circumstantial evidence, so the intruders from last night were those who came to confirm this suspicion.

“Of course, they will keep doubting. It’s true that I acted suspiciously, but as long as they don’t know your identity, they’ll know that I don’t have the skill to restore such a precious and amazing artifact. They probably think of me as just a broker. They’ll surely think that I bought and resold that artifact without knowing anything.”

“Then can’t we spread false information? Say we bought it from a non-existent fictional entity?”

“That could work. I’ll try to handle this somehow. Well, I should have paid more attention to artifacts like this.”

Shaking his head, Ethan said he would try to handle it now that he knew the full story. Whether it would work out exactly like that was uncertain, but it was true that this was the best option for now.

“And there’s one more piece of news. About that human adventurer named Patrick.”

Before leaving, he informed me of another piece of news. Having completed a background check in just one day by ordering his subordinates, he had once again done as I asked.

“He’s a trustworthy person who has been working as an adventurer in this city for over 12 years. Did he really warn us out of goodwill?”

Ethan said that he wasn’t a ruffian whose identity was dubiously guaranteed.

Learning this unexpected fact, I smirked. It’s true that kindness without reason can be dangerous, but such kindness does indeed exist.

And sometimes, such kindness is the driving force that makes the world go round, something that can’t be overcome by cold reason and rational calculation.

“If that means everything he warned about is true, shouldn’t we prepare?”

“I think it’ll be fine. I became confident after fighting those intruders yesterday.”

Lina looked worried, but I didn’t care much.

It was because I was starting to get a sense of how strong I currently am.

Moreover, I confirmed that I could quickly increase my proficiency and communion through actual combat, so it would rather be welcome if someone picked a fight with me.

It means they’re willingly offering their lives to become my experience points.

“Get ready, Lina. Let’s go to work again today.”

Fully awake and finished with my grooming, I urged Lina and left the mansion again.

I thought we’d go deeper today, since we’ve almost memorized the route by now.

There might be guys following us, but in the deep forest, it wouldn’t be a problem if such guys completely disappeared, buried in the ground.

“—!?”

“There are guys following us? I know. They seem to be underestimating us too much.”

The earth spirit warned me when we entered an area with few people after leaving the urban area.

However, this time I had noticed their tailing even before the earth spirit alerted me. They were following us so blatantly, not even trying to hide, as if they were looking down on us way too much.

“Deeper.”

I manipulated Lina, who was walking ahead, to head towards a deeper area. Hunting magical beasts was already secondary. I was determined to confirm if the low-quality adventurers Patrick had warned about were really trying to do something to us.