Martial Elf

Was it around the same age as in my previous life?

It was a man who introduced himself as Kyle.

He was a person who had been crying for a long time, wondering if there had been someone close among the people taken by the wolves.

Perhaps as a result, his eyes were swollen, and his torn clothes were filthy from rolling around in the dirt, lacking any semblance of dignity.

Upon seeing his unfortunate state, I softened my gaze, and he looked around before shaking off his backside and standing up.

Then he swallowed hard and approached to sit down on the opposite side of the campfire, holding onto a branch for a while as he poked at the embers.

He seemed to think I wouldn’t notice as he glanced my way intermittently, letting out a sigh.

Wasn’t it even more awkward because of that attitude?

Here he was, risking his life based on nothing but his body, yet he couldn’t manage a single word and simply fidgeted like a wary merchant.

What a trustworthy character he was.

Since I had no intention of allowing this atmosphere to persist, I felt a need to speak first.

What a pitiful man for a guy.

I looked over at the merchants still haggling by the cart and opened my mouth.

“It seems like things are still in full swing over there. Have you already finished up?”

“Eh!? …Yes! …Yes…”

As I suddenly spoke, Kyle, who had been staring blankly at the fire, jumped in surprise and dropped the branch he had been poking at, stumbling over his words in a rush to answer, and his face turned red, as if embarrassed, while he lowered his head.

It was quite amusing to see him flustered over just a single word, but still taking a deep breath and gathering his composure to continue speaking showed he wasn’t entirely hopeless.

“I didn’t have that much cargo on the cart in the first place. The item I was dealing with this time was salt.”

He pulled out a pocket from his shabby clothing.

Was it a little bigger than my fist?

Indeed.

I had forgotten how important salt was in nature, since elves don’t require much of it, but it was quite essential in the natural world.

It wasn’t uncommon to see animals licking salty rock salt while wandering through the forest.

In the central plains, salt has long been considered essential to human life, to the extent that it was once a monopoly of the state.

The salt traders, known as salt thieves, were a formidable force. It was said that the very concept of the martial world arose from power struggles over salt among human sects, distinct from secluded sects like monasteries and volcanoes.

If one studied the history of the martial world, it would surely be one of the hypotheses heard at least once.

“And… honestly, I wouldn’t want to rummage through the belongings of the dead…”

He pulled his knees up, looking glum.

Normally, a merchant would sell whatever they could find, yet he seemed to retain a bit of innocence.

Considering his age, it wouldn’t be too surprising if he weren’t that experienced a merchant.

After a moment of gloomy silence, he seemed to have made up his mind about something and asked in a timid voice, glancing around.

“Um…”

“Yes?”

“Are you… a witch?”

“A witch?”

Did he think I resembled something else?

Could it be that there were other races similar to elves?

Perhaps another god had created their kind based on humans, just as elves did.

“I’ve never heard of it before. What kind of race is that?”

“…Uh… maybe… humans?”

“Maybe? What does that mean?”

He replied in an uncertain voice to my follow-up question.

Did he just ask about something he didn’t even know?

As I looked at him with a slightly pitying expression, he waved his hands urgently.

“No, no… I’ve never seen one either…!”

“Um… I’ve heard that when I was young. They are beautiful, seduce men, cast strange spells to breathe fire from their hands or raise monsters, or curse them to turn into frogs… or eat children to become young again.”

“Oh…”

I had seen fire conjured by Saras’ magic, but had humans also discovered principles similar to magic?

The ability to command monsters was impressive enough, but what was truly remarkable was the curse of turning them into frogs.

In the central plains, stories and folklore tell of humans being transformed into pigs as punishment, but that’s just a legend.

How could one possibly reduce the mass of something as large as a human to the size of a frog, and how would its properties change?

And when reduced, what happens to the mass that is lost?

Does it disappear entirely into the void?

Beyond the inherent risks of those possibilities, it was an intriguing phenomenon.

I felt a growing curiosity regarding the curse of turning people into frogs, but the young and inexperienced merchant in front of me didn’t seem capable of providing any answers.

For the time being, it was necessary to correct the misunderstandings.

“While it is indeed a fascinating existence, I must clarify that I do not eat humans. If necessary, I can hunt other prey, but I would rather not consider humans similar to elves as food.”

“Elves…?”

“Yes. I am an elf, not a human.”

I gazed toward the west as I spoke.

“I am El Araya, the seventh daughter of the earth goddess El Prigion. I have come from far away in the west because I sensed a strange presence in the east. I departed from my clan’s original forest as its representative.”

“Uh… I’ve never heard of elves.”

I smiled slightly.

“That’s understandable, for I am the first elf to come out of the forest. You can be proud. You are the first humans in history to meet an elf.”

“The first…”

Kyle’s face turned red, and he appeared to wear a strangely happy expression.

Of course, at that age, isn’t it common to dream of becoming a special being?

It’s a time when one hopes for medals of honor to boast about to others.

The first human to meet an elf in the history of mankind.

Doesn’t that sound impressive?

Though, there was something slightly uncomfortable about the way his body wriggled around.

“By the way, beautiful.”

Clatter!

Seeing Kyle looking startled and flustered as if his insides sank, I continued speaking.

“So, Kyle, do you find me beautiful through the eyes of humans?”

His face turned crimson, and he stammered in surprise.

“…Ah… you are beautiful.”

He couldn’t even meet my gaze, lowering his head and muttering in a voice as faint as a mosquito.

I took on a somewhat serious expression and asked.

“…Is it that humans prefer smaller features in terms of aesthetics?”

I couldn’t outright ask whether he was a pedophile.

It’s difficult to say anything given that the humans from another world are not merely from a different time and space. Still, from my perspective, if the beauty standards in this world leaned in that direction, I honestly wouldn’t know how to react.

As Kyle pondered that, he shook his head vigorously, as if absolutely denying it.

“Absolutely not! Humans also enjoy women who have ample bosoms and curves!”

While passionately explaining himself, his gaze fell to my breasts, and as he became aware of my increasingly icy stare, his voice faltered.

“…Just say what’s necessary. Do not forget to respect where you look.”

“…Yes…”

As we were exchanging trivial words to pass the time, the merchants who had finished packing approached the campfire.

“Ah…”

“Well, did the work go well?”

As the merchants began to take places around the fire to warm their chilled bodies, four more gathered in between Kyle and me.

The merchant who introduced himself as Daedal looked once at his companion, who lay on one side of the campfire, breathing evenly in sleep, showcasing the contents of his belly to the world, and scratched his head in gratitude.

“Um… thank you. I owe you my life. When those wolves bit into me, I thought I would die without being able to move at all. Especially in that case, even after the wolves ran off, it seemed like I was still done for.”

As he spoke, with each movement of his arm, Daedal grimaced, showing his own injuries weren’t light either.

Wolves’ teeth can pierce even tough cowhide and tear flesh, let alone human skin.

Daedal also needed my treatment, and though what was once used to bind the goods to the cart was showing some blood seeping through, he had likely sustained cuts.

“Bairen has a wife and three young children. If I had died here, the outcome for that family, with a father gone, is pretty clear. A woman alone can’t feed three children… In the end, we saved not just ourselves, but everyone we are responsible for. I must express my gratitude.”

As Daedal lowered his head, the other merchants followed suit.

“Well, I too had my reasons for helping you, so no need to be so thankful.”

“Although I am just a merchant, the merchant’s duty is to pay the right price for goods. If there’s anything you wish for, I can help however I can.”

“Well… then…”

I relayed to them the essential points I had explained to Kyle.

I stated that I was an elf from the west, sensed some suspicious energy in the east, and was traveling to understand how the outside world was operating.

“And now that I’ve met you humans, I wish to meet your representatives and look for clues regarding the suspicious energy.”

The young man on my right, who appeared slightly older than Kyle yet younger than Daedal, politely suggested.

“Regarding representatives of humans… why not meet with Priegoss, the king of Pohelrn, the city we departed from?”

“…A king?”

“Yes, originally Pohelrn was a large village from the nearby area, but as it grew under the leadership of Priegoss’s father, Pretaras, who began as a chief, it started attacking and merging with other villages using manpower. By the time of his son Priegoss, it had grown very large. Having merged with dozens of other villages, it became so big that it was no longer a village, but a city, and not wanting to be called a chief like the other village leaders, he started ruling under the title of king. For now, Priegoss’s power in the human world is considered one of the most notable, so it might be appropriate to say he represents humans.”

“Hmm…”

So the formation of nations was already in progress among humans.

It sounded like this Priegoss preferred merging through force rather than wise governance; I hoped we would be able to communicate well.

“And if there are people most sensitive to rumors, it would be us merchants. We keep our ears open every day for where a new village arises and what events occur to see if there’s any chance for profit. If there are any suspicious rumors, they will definitely reach our ears. It seems you’re looking to uncover traces of something suspicious; if we notice anything odd, we will inform you right away.”

“Ah! Thank you. Honestly, I was feeling a bit lost, but now I feel like I have direction.”

“The problem is those goods…”

As Daedal scratched his head while looking at the reasonably intact goods piled up next to the broken cart, he continued speaking.

“The cart is broken and unusable. Fixing it with the materials we have here is going to be tough, and even if it is possible, it will take too long. We will probably have to make a simple litter by morning and carry it on our backs.”

“Don’t worry about that. Even if it takes a bit longer, it’s not a big deal.”

“Well…”

One of the quiet merchants timidly raised his hand.

Was it Remil?

His slightly tattered ferret-like eyes had a cunning glint.

He opened his mouth in a somewhat nervous voice.

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