Chapter 3
The elf I imagined while reading fantasy novels wasn't like this.
A lithe body moving swiftly enough to cut through the wind.
A pure, graceful beauty that seemed to hold the morning dew.
A dependable companion always included in the hero's party.
And a noble guardian who loved the peace of the forest.
That's the elf everyone knows, isn't it?
But the self-proclaimed High Elf Queen standing before me was nothing like the elves I knew.
Blonde hair, matted flat beneath a hard hat.
Grimy dirt smeared across a fluorescent green work vest.
This was….
Just a pretty laborer.
Of course, even in that filthy state, a fragrant scent rose from her body.
Like the scent of phytoncides and flowers, as if she'd just come out of a forest.
‘I know this sounds kind of perverted, but…….’
Anyway, for an elf said to guard the World Tree, she was something.
‘Pathetic.’
“Ma’am, I can’t tell whether that’s really a branch of the World Tree. So please take it back.”
“I told you it’s authentic! This is really good stuff! I can personally vouch for its qualityyy!”
Her face bright red, she shouted as if throwing a tantrum.
So this was why the manager had warned me to beware elves.
They simply wouldn't listen.
‘No wonder the gallery users hate them so much.’
I looked at the self-proclaimed World Tree branch she'd placed on the counter.
It did seem to be sparkling.
It definitely seemed different from an ordinary branch, but...
‘How would I know anything about it?’
I had been an ordinary office worker until yesterday.
There was no way I had some ability to appraise something like this.
“Pleeease!!!”
Of all things, my first customer had to be a troublesome damn elf.
[Title : Fucking elves being troublesome is fucking disgusting.]
I finally understood the gallery users' posts filled with fury.
Why they had been so angry.
You couldn't get through to her.
“You senile old hag!”
“W-w-w-what?! S-senile? Old hag? You little brat! You think you’ll never age??”
“Anyway, I’m just a part-timer, so I’m not authorized to accept something like this. Take it up with the manager.”
“The manager here is an unreasonable vampire. Those bloodsuckers hate the World Tree.”
This woman had known exactly what she was doing.
She'd come because the manager wasn't here, figuring it was the perfect opportunity.
“Anyway, I only accept cash or cards.”
So hurry up and get out of here.
Shoo, shoo.
At my words, the elf's pointed ears drooped.
“Waaaaah!”
She plopped down on the floor and suddenly began shedding big, chicken-dropping-like tears.
“This city is so cold-hearted! I, who was once a queen in the elven world, have been hauling rocks at Hunter Tower all day and even getting cursed out by a troll foreman, and I just wanted one of these Elven Chips (Honey Butter Flavor *Important) to taste a little bit of home, but you won't even trade me oneee!”
“……”
Now she was trying the sympathy act.
Haaah, fuck.
I shouldn't give in.
She said she was a queen.
What kind of queen does backbreaking labor at a tower?
“What, don’t you get some sort of dignity-maintenance allowance? A queen ought to get something like that.”
“…N-no! Elves are inherently a dignified race! No matter what we look like, we are noble……”
An elf wiping her nose with the sleeve of a safety vest while sniffling miserably—what dignity?
She looked so pathetic and pitiful that I couldn't help feeling a strange pang of sympathy.
“Tsk.”
The self-proclaimed elf queen was my first customer.
‘No, it would be a bit much to call the police for interfering with business when she's my very first customer.’
The manager had pleaded with me that she wanted to rest during the day before leaving.
If my very first customer caused a disturbance, my insanely sweet 30,000-won-an-hour part-time job could be in danger.
‘If only she weren't my first customer.’
If there was one thing I'd learned from my years in the workforce,
it was that earning a living on someone else's money was never easy,
and that there was always a reason for a high hourly wage.
‘Dealing with customers like this must be why the hourly wage is so high.’
The manager had definitely said
there were quite a lot of troublesome customers.
Right.
This was only the beginning, wasn't it?
I had to endure it.
For the sake of 30,000 won an hour.
I let out a short sigh and scanned the barcode on the ‘Elven Chips’ sitting on the counter.
Beep-!
1,500 won.
“I’ll pay for it myself, so eat that and hurry up and leave.”
“Huh, really?! Employee, you shall surely receive the forest’s blessing! I, personally, shall bestow a blessing upon you……”
“Forget that. Just make sure you bring money next time.”
“Of course! Next week is payday, so I certainly will……”
“Here, take it.”
I placed the bag of chips in the elf's arms.
“Th-thank you. I shall repay this kindness……”
She hurriedly tore open the bag and put a chip in her mouth.
Crumbs were spilling everywhere.
I was the one who'd have to clean all that up.
Crunch!
At that moment.
Friella's pupils dilated wildly.
“Ahh……. A taste of home……”
The light began to return to her teary eyes.
“These Honey Butter-flavored Elven Chips really deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. What a comforting flavor.”
Crunch!
Her face lit up as she noisily munched on the potato chips.
Somehow, she looked like a squirrel.
“I think I can make it to work tomorrow. The urge to quit on the spot has completely vanished……”
Friella even began to smile brightly.
Without realizing it, I looked away.
Even with her grimy face, that radiant, carefree smile made my heart pound.
‘That elf buff is incredible.’
No wonder they were called a beautiful race.
My heart was pounding even after seeing Friella, who had just gone full menhera and thrown a fit while sobbing.
After eating a few more Elven Chips, she seemed to have calmed down a little and turned her gaze toward me.
“Ahem-ahem, I swear in the name of Friella, Queen of Elven Wood. I shall never forget what happened today and will repay your kindness!”
I shrugged.
What could an elf who'd been groveling over not having even 1,500 won possibly repay?
“Just don’t cause any trouble.”
“T-trouble? I brought this branch here despite feeling as though I were coughing up blood!”
“……”
“Hmm.”
Friella began looking me up and down.
“To think I’d see a human in this city. Humans were as rare as dragons……”
She stared at me with eyes full of curiosity.
“How did that vampire manage to hire a human? In rough Taepyeong City, humans are practically an endangered species……”
After muttering for a moment, Friella licked her lips.
The manager had done it, too.
Why did everyone here swallow hungrily whenever they saw a human?
It made me uneasy.
“Ahem-ahem, I’m indebted to you. This is a small token of my gratitude. I originally obtained it to buy the Elven Chips, but I no longer need it, so you may have it.”
She held out the self-proclaimed World Tree branch she'd placed on the counter.
“If a human eats it, they won’t lack virility for 24 hours!”
“Ah, um……. I’ll put it to good use.”
It felt a little wrong to accept a suspicious object whose authenticity I couldn't even verify,
but I thought she'd throw another tantrum if I refused, so I accepted the World Tree branch and carefully placed it beneath the counter.
“Ahem-ahem, I know this is a little sudden, but if you have time, I could offer you a better job……”
“……”
This grimy little elf was offering me a better job than this one?
Impossible.
This was a lie.
What was this elf trying to do, ruin someone else's life……?
That was when it happened.
Jingle-.
“One Esse, please.”
A goblin in a suit entered, beckoning for cigarettes.
Seeing that, Friella backed away and left the store.
“I shall return soon with a formal offer! Until then!”
With the dreadful nuisance gone, I handed a pack of cigarettes to the goblin.
“Do you have one with a less hideous picture? If possible, give me one with an orc or undead on it.”
“Ah, yes.”
So even here, people cared about the no-smoking pictures.
***
Friella.
The noble queen of the elves.
Once the queen of the elves who guarded the World Tree, she was now merely a day laborer struggling to make enough to eat each day at Hunter Tower.
Explaining how she had ended up in such a state would take forever, so we’ll skip that.
“That clerk was really kind……”
After leaving the convenience store, she was moved by the kindness of another person, something she hadn't received in a long time.
These days, elves in Taepyeong City were treated as nothing more than troublesome, old-fashioned jerks.
Outdated beings who couldn't communicate and were stuck in old ways of thinking.
‘They do say old things are better…….’
It was unfair.
That elves should be treated this way.
They were beautiful and aloof.
An elegant race beyond compare.
At least, they had been when this city still had a forest.
“The world changes far too quickly……”
Too quickly for elves.
“Haaah……. Come to think of it, it really has been a long time since I last saw a human.”
Humans.
A race rarely seen in Taepyeong City.
She had heard that all the humans in Taepyeong City were descendants of the Hero and Saintess.
But he seemed to be a human who wasn't one of their descendants.
She recalled the young male employee who had smiled sweetly at her.
The way he had insisted on following the rules, saying he couldn't accept a barter.
And how he had even paid with his own money because she seemed so pitiful to him.
‘Could he be interested in me?’
Otherwise, why would he willingly pay that much money for a complete stranger?
‘I am a little pretty.’
She hadn't had much time to groom herself lately because work had been so busy, but elves were beautiful by nature.
A race of beauty whose skin never blemished, even without makeup.
“I’m not exactly outmatched anywhere yet……”
Friella, Queen of the Elves.
She fell in love at the drop of a hat.
For advice, she opened the gallery.
A gallery anyone in Taepyeong City could use.
She posted a question asking for romantic advice.
[Title : [Romance Advice] Members, the young convenience store clerk paid for my food.]
Author : I’mTheQueen
I’ve only ever lurked, but I’m leaving a post because I’d like some advice. Haha.
Earlier, after finishing my night shift, I was so tired that... I stopped by the convenience store in front of the tower while still wearing my work vest.
But the young man working there initially put up a cold, impenetrable wall, going on about regulations.
So when I showed him my eyes welling up with tears just a little, he suddenly panicked, pulled out his personal card, and paid for me instead. ㄷㄷㄷ
No matter how much dirt and dust I was covered in, I guess I couldn't hide the natural beauty of the Elf Queen. ㅠㅠ (How embarrassing.)
I mean, wouldn't anyone who cheerfully spends his own hard-earned money on a complete stranger obviously be interested in her?
[24 comments]
RomanceElf : Ooh... Where do you find a young man these days who'd readily swipe his own card for a complete stranger? This is 100% a green light, member! I'm jealous of your youth. Wishing you a beautiful romance, ㅎㅎ
FactBomber : You damn elf, he just took pity on you and gave you charity because you were whining and stinking up the display. You seem to have a pretty serious delusion problem. ^^;
I’mTheQueen : └ Gasp... Watch your mouth! How dare you call the High Elf Queen an old lady! And elves always smell wonderful! ㅠㅠ
Tower A Section Foreman : Friella, you old hag!!! Turn off your phone and go the fuck to sleep!! We have to pour concrete in Section A by 7 tomorrow morning, so if you're late, I'm docking your day's wages!!!
I’mTheQueen : └ Oh, Foreman! I'm sorry! I absolutely won't be late tomorrow!! ㅠㅠ
DadJokeMaster : The attitude shift in the reply above is incredible LOLㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. She said she was a queen, but in reality she's a meek little lamb in front of a construction foreman LOLㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. That gave me the biggest laugh of the day. ㅎㅎ.
“Fuck……. It really is true, but……”
She hadn't even gotten back what she'd spent.
***
Before she knew it, it was 7 p.m., quitting time.
The convenience store door opened, and Manager Jinjo came in.
“Good work.”
It had been a spectacular day for a first day on the job.
Maybe that was why.
The tension drained away all at once, and sleep came crashing down on me simply because the shift had ended safely.
“Ah, Manager. You're here. I've finished balancing the register.”
“Hmm, you worked hard. You made it all the way to the end without running away.”
The manager patted my shoulder with a satisfied smile.
All that remained was to be shown to the lodging I'd been promised.
I was so exhausted that I desperately wanted to wash up and collapse into bed.
My body isn't tired, but my mental strength is at its limit.
“Where are the lodgings? I’d like to be shown there right away.”
“Ah, the lodgings? They’re upstairs in this building, so you can go up later. But, about that…”
Manager Jinjo cut me off and glided toward me.
“Yes?”
When I turned my head, I couldn't help flinching.
The manager's eyes, looking up at me, were glowing more intensely than they had at first.
Her white skin was slightly flushed, as if heated.
“Haaah, haaah.”
The breath leaking between her lips was strangely ragged.
I could feel her gaze slide from my face and settle heavily on my neck.
Her expression was perilous, as if she might lose her reason and pounce at any moment.
‘This woman really is a vampire.’
Just as I swallowed and started to back away, she carefully opened her mouth as if forcing herself to hold something back.
“Would you be willing to donate blood?”
“……What?”
“It seems it has been quite some time since I last tasted human blood. If you’re willing……”
Manager Jinjo licked her lips, faintly revealing her fangs.
No matter how thoroughly capitalism had tainted me as a modern man, donating my blood to a vampire had not been in the contract.
Besides, what if she really bit me and I turned into a vampire or caught some disease?
I drew a firm line.
“No.”
“Ahem! I-I suppose not, then? Blood is like life itself to humans……”
The manager's shoulders visibly drooped at my refusal.
But judging by the way she kept smacking her lips, she seemed disappointed.
Even if you look at me like that, no.
“I was going to pay you an additional performance bonus each time, but it can’t be helped.”
“A performance bonus?”
“Yes. I was going to give you 100,000 won for each blood donation.”
After finishing, she glanced at me.
It's a trap.
This is Kongming's trap.
I knew it was.
100,000 won.
Ah, this is one I can't resist.
“Ah, understood.”
I took the bait.
I was a modern man tainted by capitalism.