"Mommy... Mommy... *sniff* Waaaaaah!"
Reina was crying while clutching the letter, nametag, and pendant that Rachel had left behind.
Lee Yoo-jeong was comforting Reina.
I'm still in a daze.
"Hey... I don't know anything about what kind of person my daughter is, or how she grew up. Will you tell me?"
"Hey Yoo Eunha. I never thought I'd have to ask a girl something like this... but please keep loving my daughter in the future too. Can you promise me that?"
"Right now... yeah. That's enough. Thank you. I'm counting on you."
Rachel's words were still ringing in my ears.
Now I understood everything.
Rachel Silverluke had become recorded in the Library when she came and died there.
Since we'd dragged her far from where the book containing her records was, Rachel had gradually found it harder to move.
I should have paid more attention to the safety regulations saying only one person could enter at a time.
Those safety regulations were made by Elves. In the Elf Kingdom, Elves were basically human. That was normal there.
And unlike the text of those safety regulations, not being able to read the name tag on the corpse - it was all...
"Fuck."
What's gonna happen to my mother-daughter bowl now?
The mother-daughter bowl I'd dreamed of, that you only see in manga - what the hell am I supposed to do about that?
Yoo Eunha let out a howl. GRAAAAAAAH!
No good. This won't do. I can't give up on my goal here.
"Akashic Record. Can we enter that Library again?"
[It's possible. However, as mentioned, it's a space where spacetime is twisted. The number of possible futures if Master re-enters the Library is incalculable.]
"Still gotta go though."
For now, I'll have to go alone later.
The important thing right now is finishing the Elf Kingdom event.
"Reina. Let's get up for now. Now that we've entered the Records Repository, our work is just beginning."
"The Library... can't we go back to the Library?"
"Reina. Calm down."
"Eunha. I want to go in."
"You can't enter. I can because I'm different, but once you've activated the Repository with your blood, you can't go."
The moment we entered the Repository, Reina's noble blood activated it. She must have already been recognized as Master.
"Waaah... uwaaaaah."
I gently embraced the crying Reina.
"Stop. I'll definitely save your mother instead."
"How?"
"Because I can enter. Once we finish the upcoming events. After it's all over, I'll take responsibility and save her."
It's not just for Reina's sake either. I won't be satisfied until I teach that bastard who messed with me a lesson with some thorough cockblocking.
"What events?"
"We need to enter there. Over there."
In the central control room of the Repository was a massive portal.
Just looking at the exterior, unlike the portals used in South Korea, it appeared to be just a decoration or some kind of magical tool with certain functions, but it feels like a storm of spacetime. Surprisingly, this is a portal that can enter into the records themselves.
As we approached the portal, a voice that seemed to speak directly into our brains flowed in.
"The Elf Kingdom was founded 500 years ago by the first Queen Silverluke, who defeated the Demon King alongside the Hero. After the war, she unified the divided Elves and established a nation in the bountiful southern lands. However, as nations rise they must also fall - after 500 years had passed, the Emperor of humanity's greatest nation, the Empire, joined hands with the Demon King to invade the world. The Elf Kingdom, which had considered the Empire an ally, fell helplessly. Ah! We preserve here those bitter years - noble bloodline of Silverluke, if you see these records, do not forget the proud history of the Elves. You must rebuild the Elven nation and defeat the Empire. Save your brethren who suffer under the Demon King!"
Oof. Just reading it was one thing, but hearing it like this is intense. Makes my heart swell.
Glancing at Reina, tears were streaming from both her eyes. An Elf is an Elf after all. Must be her Elven blood boiling.
"Let's go in for now."
"No, I mean it makes me cry but... doesn't this look super suspicious?"
"Nothing particularly suspicious about it. It's literally just a type of portal."
As expected of Yoo-jeong. She immediately grasped the true nature of that portal.
The portal that had Yoo-jeong's approval must have been safe for Reina too, as the three of us entered together.
FWOOSH!
A blinding light enveloped our bodies as we spun around. It really was a spacetime storm - our whole bodies spun for a while, and just as I was about to throw up, the world transformed.
At last, a new world greeted us.
Opening my eyes, what I saw was a fantasy world straight out of novels or anime.
"Hm?"
And what greeted us were Elves warily keeping their guard up against us.
Long pointed ears, characteristic pale skin with blonde hair and delicately refined beautiful features. They all looked similar enough that it was irritating at first glance.
But I can't let that fool me.
According to the setting, Siwoo screamed when he realized that in the Elf Kingdom, even the men looked like women. In other words, no matter how pretty they are, if they're dressed like men and flat-chested, there's a chance they're packing a penis down there.
They're all wearing military uniforms. Among them are some heavily armored like knights.
"Are you really thinking about that right now?"
Reina and Yoo-jeong pinched me from both sides.
Hey, these things happen in life. I've always been honest about my sexual desires.
"Who are you people?"
The Elves were on guard, ready to attack us at any moment with swords, spears, and bows.
Right now, calming down these agitated Elves comes first.
"Ah, we're-"
"Captain! Two humans and one half-Elf half-human!"
The Elves talking amongst themselves followed the original story progression, and I lost interest.
"Half-human? Are you Empire spies? Who are you?"
One of the Elf soldiers jabbed at us with the tip of their spear.
There's a limit to rudeness. I'm already barely holding back from throwing up, and now I just want to rip their heads off.
"Fuck. This is bullshit."
"One of the humans uses the words 'fuck' and 'bullshit'."
"So their names are Fuck and Bullshit? No country has names like that. The Empire doesn't have such names or words. Just who are you people?"
Who the hell would have names like that.
"When we came to our senses we were just here. And those aren't our names."
What do you take people for.
"So you're saying you have no connection to the Empire?"
"We don't even know what the Empire is. Our clothes are different too, aren't they?"
The Empire has a distinctly medieval European style of dress. The typical fantasy world human attire. That's how Siwoo described the Empire's troops in the original.
"Indeed. That's true. If you're not Empire dogs or demons, there's only one answer. By any chance, do you know how to use magic or weapons?"
"Huh? Is something happening?"
"Those damn Empire bastards are invading along with the Demon King. Many fortresses have already fallen and it won't be long before they reach here. I don't know how you got here, but if you're not from the Empire or demons, you must be the foreigners from the prophecy. It may sound ridiculous, but we'd like your help."
Only a few days left? Then there's no time to enjoy this. This should be Reina's homeland too.
We'll be in trouble if we don't start producing Golems right away. I can't just go on a one-man rampage - I won't be able to save all the Elves that way.
"Hmm. Give us a moment to discuss among ourselves."
"Very well."
They must be pretty desperate to try using random strangers who suddenly appeared as military assets without even detaining them.
Time might have passed while I was in the Library.
"Eunha. What's going on here?"
"As you probably expected, we've arrived at the time when the Elf Kingdom was falling."
Looking at the Elves frantically preparing for war, the answer is clear.
"What do we need to do here?"
"Either prevent the kingdom's fall, or buy time for the Elves to escape."
Though preventing the fall seems impossible from the start.
"What does the Akashic Record say?"
"It says we could stop them if we had Golems. In other words, we need Senior Yoo-jeong's help."
In the original, they couldn't save the kingdom.
More precisely, Siwoo and the Heroines bought time for the Elves to escape to their ancestral lands.
As a reward, the current Elf Queen gave Reina a catalyst that would let her become a full Elf.
But I have no intention of doing that.
Now that we're here, I'm going to save the Elf Kingdom. Then we'll get something even better.
And I'll save Rachel too. I can't give up on that mother-daughter bowl like this.
"What are you going to do?"
In the original, the royal palace is attacked first.
They end up completely surrounded by the Demon King's Army and Empire forces in a desperate crisis, and all Siwoo and the Heroines could do was maintain the barrier while escaping.
"I'll go buy us some time. Senior Yoo-jeong, please make some Golems. Hey Elf folks, could we borrow some magic stones?"
The concept of magic stones exists here too. That's proof that Golems can be created in this world.
"But to maintain the barrier-"
"No, how can we trust you-"
"We do need anything we can get right now though-"
The Elves who had been wary of us just moments ago were now debating whether they should trust us or not.
They won't even use up all those magic stones before they fall anyway. In the end, all Siwoo did was blow up the magic stone storage to strike a blow against the enemy forces.
In that case, we might as well use those magic stones, right?
"Then please provide Senior Lee Yoo-jeong here with what she needs. And you can decide after seeing what she makes."
"That we can do."
We found a compromise here.
Senior Yoo-jeong had mastered the technology to create Golems.
With the blueprints already in her head, it didn't take long to make them.
First she made a small robot. A small Golem that fires magic cannon shots when charged with magic stones.
"Isn't it too small?"
"No, that's exactly why we need it. If we had lots of bigger versions of these, even the Empire and Demon King's forces would have trouble holding out."
In the original, the Empire and Demon King's forces were manageable opponents for Siwoo and the Heroines. Since the Golems Yoo-jeong makes should be at least decent Hunter level, with enough numbers they should be able to hold their own against the Empire and Demon King's forces.
"Hmm. We'll need the Queen's permission first."
"Yes."
The Elf Queen. The Elf Kingdom has always passed the throne down through women.
It's not because it's a female-dominated society or anything. It's simply their tradition that someone with a motherly appearance who can embrace everyone becomes ruler, and naturally only women can have such a body.
No matter how nurturing a man might look, they can't have the overwhelming volume or pregnancy-optimized body lines to truly embrace everyone, right?
Way in the past they say there were voluptuous men who looked like they'd have hypnosis apps installed on their phones who became kings. But since Elves value beauty so much, the male Elves protested until women inherited the throne.
In other words, what I'm saying is this:
Right now we're being guided by soldiers to have an audience with the Queen.
"So you are the foreigners."
"Holy!"
Those bountiful breasts! That overwhelmingly voluptuous figure! Those gentle eyes! Only someone possessing such qualities could truly be a Queen and-
"Ma-Maman!"
It was Maman.
* * *