Martial Elf

The giant Golb couldn’t remember much after that.

Just that he had been so frightened that he had thrown himself into a frenzy, saying anything that came to mind.

“Are you trying to fight right now or dance?”

“Is it confidence in strength, or is that big tongue of yours as big as your body?”

At first, it seemed like he was enjoying himself, trying to knock down himself and his brother or counterattack to make them feel powerless.

But with his small stature, the way he spoke, which seemed to come from the village elders, started to change over time.

“I’m still growing; I’m an elf with a long life span, so I’m just not fully grown yet.”

“Breasts? I don’t really care for them, but I’m the sister of Arti and Anya, and when the time comes, I’ll…! I’ll…!”

At some point, he began to talk to himself.

“Why are you reminding me of what I wanted to forget?!”

From then on, feelings began to pour into the red-faced elf’s fists.

The intensity of the blows increased, and every hit rang with pain deep to the bone.

“Uwaaa!”

It hurt so much that he couldn’t bear it anymore and threw a punch, not sure if he was escaping or swinging his fist like a magic user.

Boom!

A sharp pain surged through him as if his entire bone structure was shattering from the swing of his fist.

“Come at me…? Come at me…?”

After that, the elf, having lost his rationality, started screaming “Die! Die!” and crazily beating him up, while he and his brother gave up resisting and curled up like a caterpillar to lessen the impact.

And not long after that, he lost consciousness.

◈ ◈ ◈

After inspiring the two giants, I was curious about their way of life and was heading to where they lived.

Holding on to Rudolf and listening to Golb explain while pointing around, I finally got the detailed answer to the second question I had missed due to a minor misfortune.

“The Human Territory is scattered here and there beyond this side.”

“About 5000 nights ago, there were just about 50 to 100 scattered here and there.”

“The territory wasn’t really that big. Humans are inherently weak individually, and even the beasts around here had a hard time dealing with them.”

“Honestly, that time was good. They would yell in fright like toys but when pricked, it only stung a bit, and there were lots of good items in places where humans gathered.”

“But at some point, those that had been around 50 or 100 began to cluster together, making walls like thorns from wood, and it became hard to deal with them.”

“Well, still, since humans were moving around each other’s territories, this kind of situation began to arise.”

Golb spoke with a swollen face formally.

While pondering over the information Golb was giving me, I thought, ‘According to Saras, the orbital period of this star is about 360 days. Should I consider that they had already settled here about 14 years ago?’

“Are those humans also kindred to beings like Mother or Terato?”

“I’m not sure. Humans came from much farther east. But those guys were weak like humans, had soft skin, no fur, and no fangs, so they suddenly appeared. Didn’t some god create them?”

“From the far east?”

“Isn’t that just how nature is? Even among the same species, the ones that lose in territory fights get pushed out. Nature’s resources are limited.”

Golb spoke with a bitter expression.

The Golb explaining to me was also a being who had been defeated in the territorial fights of Titans.

The Titans, made by a being like Mother, who was different from the usual flow of life, made their homes where they were created, just like the elves.

Since Titans are excessively strong as individual entities and consume a lot of resources, their overall population is said to be smaller than that of elves due to the disruption of balance.

And perhaps influenced by Terato, almost everything near the village is significantly larger than normal, being the only space capable of handling resources that giants can consume.

Even that Village of Giants, as the population increased, could not keep up with the consumption, and thus would expel any who weren’t excellent in combat through duels.

Golb’s father was defeated in a duel and died, and his family was expelled from the village, living in an ordinary cave.

Usually, these giants are referred to as wandering giants among themselves.

‘There are beasts, humans, and giants… it seems that the elves started far too late in terms of species.’

I don’t know what other beings may appear in the future, but even hearing about Golb’s species, the Titans, it is a species that has been around for over 100 years in the history of this star.

Even Golb himself is said to be a third-generation giant.

In contrast, elves have only been around for a mere 10 years.

And it has just ‘started’ giving birth to the second generation.

As for humans, they are still unknown.

The humans who were attacked by this giant 14 years ago may have been okay if they were average for humans, but they were simply outcasts who had been pushed out like swidden cultivators, and if the main group of humans begins to establish a proper state system, there is a need for caution.

At the very least, I know from my past life memories that while humans as individuals may not be particularly strong in the natural world, as a species, they are quite destructive.

Of course, there are no enormous monstrous wolves with a height of 8 Elte and a body length of 20 Elte and no giants capable of uprooting and tossing stones weighing hundreds of halghelds in the Central Plains.

Most importantly, there are beings like Mother and Terato.

Though differences in environment might lead to different outcomes, humans’ strengths lie not in physical power but in their wisdom, endurance to achieve results, and their ability to prosper as a population.

If stability is secured, and food is plentiful, it wouldn’t be difficult for their population to double or triple within 10 to 20 years.

And if there is an exalted being who created humans, they would certainly receive support as well.

‘If they have an established system as a nation, it would be at least at the level of the Xia dynasty when first captured. Even if there is development afterward, it’s not something they couldn’t manage, but…’

Golb’s hunting method assumes the movement of human logistics.

Furthermore, the fact that they built tall fences to create large villages to keep giants out confirms that they went beyond the stage of savagery.

I glanced at the clothes the giants were wearing.

They were made from the skins of large animals that had been tanned and sewn together.

One reason I was heading to where these two lived was that I couldn’t tell the level of humans from this alone.

Since their level could be gauged by the human items they looted.

‘Since I’ve come this far, I should explore a few more places.’

“Hehe…”

“Why are you laughing?”

“The elf lady is pretty…”

“You foolish child…”

Huiing!

Suddenly, Silv got down and bowed as if to prostrate himself, startling Rudolf, who was walking tiredly.

“Elf lady… are you really a girl?”

“…That’s right, Silv.”

Despite being so beat up and with a swollen face, he still thought fondly of the one who caused it, revealing a certain innocence.

“Hmm… would you marry me?”

Even while Rudolf was panicking and moving in a hurry, Silv crawled along after him.

“Uh… that would be difficult due to our species difference.”

“If you love me, shouldn’t it be fine?”

For a fool, that was a rather romantic response, but

“Silv. I’m sorry, but your face isn’t to my taste.”

Silv, shocked as if struck by lightning, froze with a stunned expression.

Perhaps he had more confidence in himself than I expected.

It took a while before he snapped back to reality and came trotting along.

◈ ◈ ◈

“My sons, what’s happening?”

“Um… that’s…”

The sons who had gone hunting returned with their faces swollen as if they had been beaten up, and their already ragged clothes, patched together from various leathers, were covered in dust and had torn spots.

When they saw the large deer walking in tiredly behind them, I thought maybe they hadn’t encountered any humans today and were able to hunt. But atop the deer was a human child.

Bronya, the mother of Golb and Silv, had seen several humans that her sons brought in, but she had never seen one so beautiful as this human.

The golden ornament worn on the head of the leader of the giants who rule the expelled giants’ village resembled hair made from thread, and she had green, gem-like eyes.

Though her ears were long for a human, from her eyebrows to her lips, she appeared remarkably beautiful beyond even the giant race.

The greenish clothing was of a texture and style she had never seen before, and yet it somehow suited her well. As if it felt right.

Seeing such a being approaching on a magnificent deer made one momentarily confuse her for a divine messenger.

However, the confident eldest son, who boasted that he would one day rise above the village’s warriors and bring him and his brother back, was now looking sheepish with his swollen face at this beautiful and seemingly fragile creature, while his slightly deficient younger son was glancing downward with a gloomy expression in a similar manner.

Bronya’s mind could not interpret this mysterious and perplexing situation.

And as if to resolve that question, the human who was the cause of the situation opened his mouth.

“I am a guest wishing to stay a while with the two sons of the lady. May I take shelter for a night?”

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