Chapter 122 - Volume 7 (1/2)

Volume 7, Chapter 8: Children of Night, Part 2

Millions of the citizens of darkness lived in these large caves.

They fought against the elves and humans, the forces of light, as the forces of darkness, but even so, they weren’t monolithic.

Dark Elves. Beastmen. Intelligent magic beasts.

In the world of Atra where Yurushia lived, there was the existence called the Demon King, but here, while they honored those who were powerful, they didn’t get along as a matter of fact.

In the center of the cavern was an old castle, reminding people that there had once been a person who had united them. The castle had been unmanned for thousands of years, and if any one king tried to take it, they would be attacked by the other races.

The three races each had their castles along the wall of the large cavern away from the castle.

One of them, the castle for the dark elves, ran into a problem several years ago.

“Hey, Nefi. Is your father still busy?”

“Yeah, Rimi. They’re preparing for war.”

The little girl answered the question of the other little girl.

The dark elf girls looked like 5 or 6-year-olds, but one couldn’t tell the age of elven children by their appearance, and if they’d grown like human children they’d be about 15 years old though they looked like ordinary children.

The elven species were usually split into the normal whiter elves and the dark elves. And then there was the high elf, that was the progenitor of both species.

It was said that the white elves were born when the high elves, who were close to spirits, had children with humans, while the dark elves were those who had children with the demonic beasts.

It was said that high elves had infinite lifespans, and because there were so many of them who had the free time to spare, there were strange ones.

They were creatures that didn’t really fit the pattern of being praiseworthy just because they were old.

“I’m hungry……”

“Cut it out.”

These girls weren’t really poor. The stone-cut room was lacking in the colors typical of a pretty little girl, but it still had extensive furnishings and many items.

The two of them were also wearing gorgeous dresses that were labor-intensive to the point that ordinary wealthy merchants could not afford them for their children.

They were the royal family of the Dark Elves. The girl with the golden hair and blue eyes was Nefi, and the one with silver hair and purple eyes was Rimi, and the two were born as twins.

Still, there were no maids to take care of the young girls, and it was more like they were left alone in the castle.

How did this happen?

In the castle, the rest of the royal children were adults and now the five princes and three other princesses were competing to be the successor to the throne, and so tensions were high. Their mothers were all different, and the two of them whose ages were so far from the others were excluded from the succession race, so their siblings, who were jumping at shadows, even if they weren’t being hostile, were trying to keep them at a distance.

“Nefi, I smell something nice.”

“Really. Rimi.”

Their caregivers had deserted them, fearing the other princes and princesses’ displeasure.

Over the past few months, the two of them managed to live together and survive somehow.

When they opened the door, they didn’t know who had put down the wagon filled with delicacies and luxurious dishes, but they reached out, and threw every little bit of it out of the window.

“It’s poisoned again.”

“I’m getting tired of this.”

Since they’d been fed small amounts of poison since young, they’d gotten the [Poison Resistance Skill]. Still, they would know the instant they tasted it that it was poisoned, and if they kept eating it every day they would die in about six months.

“Well then Rimi, let’s go have rice.”

“I hope that it’s delicious today.”

The two of them were pretty and cute, so their brothers weren’t very wary of them, but they were intelligent and had more cunning than any of their siblings.

Ironically, since their lives were in danger ever since their childhood, their strength and cunning had been polished, and their talent as the royals of the Dark Elves had bloomed.

Nefi and Rimi dove into a hole that was only wide enough for children and headed towards one of the kitchens. Their siblings were all afraid of being poisoned, and had segregated the kitchens, having their food cooked by their subordinate chefs separately.

After confirming the stage of the cooking with their smell and intuition, they snuck into the kitchen that was for the first princess’ exclusive use.

While the cooks busied themselves working, they were able to confirm that some of the dishes that were being made were the same as those that were delivered today, and the two of them took bread and cheeses, mixing in the poisoned dishes that they’d been brought into the food.

It was only a small amount, since they’d thrown almost all of it away, but if they continued this for a couple of years, it might be possible to ruin their sister.

““………””

The two of them were aware that this wouldn’t change things, though.

Because their father, the king, took a neutral stance, he wouldn’t protect them even if they were young. Also, their mother, who wasn’t a dark elf, had been assassinated soon after they were born.

The two of them who had neither backing, nor strength wouldn’t survive these years. It just made too much sense to eliminate them, since they would mature, even if they seemed harmless now.

“It’s delicious, Rimi.”

“It’s delicious, Nefi.”

The two of them shared bread and cheeses on an empty terrace.

Actually, it wasn’t really that delicious, but eating it together made it a treat.

How many more years could they keep this up…… The two of them weren’t interested in the throne, and only hoped to live together peacefully. …… That was it.

“……… Nefi”

“Yeah, Rimi?”

The two of them called out to each other suddenly.

They could feel presences other than their own. It was closer to an ‘odor’ rather than a presence, a ‘sense of incongruity’ akin to a deodorant that all traces of it wiped from the air.

“[………]”

Seeping out of the darkness like black ink, a black-dressed man emerged. It knew that it had been noticed and had probably come to kill them.

““………””

Whilst thinking of an escape route with each other, they built up a magic structure in their heads.

But why had he come here to kill them directly? The two of them hadn’t noticed it, but some of their siblings were aware of their talents.

Slowly, the assassin moved, his dagger wet with something liquid. But then,

“[Gaugau]”

“““………”””

Everyone turned their eyes to look at the teddy bear soft toy that walked in a wobbly manner on its short legs, stunned into blank silence.

““……Bear?””

As Nefi and Rimi murmured at the same time, the assassin instantly moved to slash the teddy bear.

Thinking about it normally, one could only think that it was a type of magic tool with a self-contained thought-circuit.

Because it meant that there was a witness, naturally, the assassin knew that it had to be cleaned up even though its ability wasn’t known. ……but.

*GAKIN!*

“!”

“[Gau]”

The dagger was caught in the teddy bear’s fangs as it turned around and bit it off.