Chapter 77
77. The Night from 20 Years Ago
There were several reasons I had chosen the Dark Elf faction, but looking back, none of them were really that important.
What I had tried to abandon, but could never quite let go of, had in the end simply been driven by a base desire.
Was I paying the price for my petty desire now?
"Come to think of it, you were rather insensitive to the state of the world, weren't you? You must have been surprised that the village's atmosphere had changed."
Eleanor, who had tugged me by the hand, said with a small smile.
As she said, the Dark Elf village had a very different atmosphere from when I'd been here on the 7th floor.
Structures that looked military in purpose had been newly built here and there, and an odd tension hung in the air.
Eleanor began explaining why, but I already knew the reason.
The 8th floor is the future of the 7th floor, a point in time some twenty years after the ending of Chapter 1 of the faction quest.
It is also the point in time after the three great powers, which had been in constant conflict, finally came to armed clashes.
The cause of the armed conflict is described differently depending on the actions of the challenger who completed the faction quest on the 7th floor.
If they aided the High Elf faction, it was said that way; if they aided the Kingdom Army faction, that was said instead; and the same if they aided the Dark Elf faction.
The NPCs would mention that the challenger’s actions in supporting a faction had served as the spark that ignited the conflict.
Of course, in game terms, it was nothing more than a script that played under certain conditions.
Only the details of what was said changed depending on whether the faction quest had been completed; the basic background of the 8th floor would not change no matter what.
Even if the challenger had done nothing and simply climbed up, the three great powers would still end up clashing somehow.
-That's how it went. Those tree-hugging bastards finally lost their damn minds. It was what I wanted, though.
Eleanor added one last bit of trash talk about the High Elves and briefly wrapped up the story of the past twenty years.
It was so short and simple it was hard to believe it was a story covering twenty years.
Was I being oversensitive for thinking this was the system's fault?
"Yeah...?"
I answered offhandedly and kept walking. As I did, other Dark Elves gradually began to peek out one by one.
"Honey, over there... isn't that the human?"
"Oh my, they look exactly alike. Could it be that human's child or something?"
"Hasn't enough time passed for a child to be grown? It's been twenty years."
"I heard humans are fully grown in twenty years."
Their clothes were a little different, but they were people I'd seen several times on the 7th floor. Even the smallest NPCs recognized me.
Even if it was twenty years, it probably didn't feel all that long to elves, who had long lifespans.
They also say any experience with humans leaves a particularly strong impression, and I'd pulled off something pretty outrageous to boot.
"Y-you!"
As I was walking along like that, a familiar voice called out.
"It's that bratty human! What, you came back again?"
Rizmel stood there in clothes that were quite different from what I'd seen on the 7th floor.
Her hairstyle had changed a lot too, and she was wearing a dress that didn't suit her at all, with piercings in her ears as well.
And Rizmel wasn't alone. Beside her was a male Dark Elf wearing matching piercings.
"That's right, say hello. This is my husband."
The fact that Rizmel had changed completely in that short time made me think of many things.
**
Rizmel's husband was someone I knew too. I'd seen him on the 7th floor.
But he hadn't seemed all that noticeable, and he hadn't looked like he had any special relationship with Rizmel either.
Something must have happened in the span of those twenty years, which I couldn't understand.
Whether that relationship had really existed in the first place was another matter.
"You seem surprised. You were quite close with Rizmel."
"Well, yeah."
"Hmm, Rizmel's marriage was sudden for us too."
We had only run into each other briefly while passing by, so after exchanging a light greeting with Rizmel, we parted ways.
Eleanor briefly explained their love story after seeing how surprised I was by Rizmel's marriage.
In the process, I also learned a little about Dark Elf marriage customs.
"In the past, elves believed that the World Tree's blessings flowed in through the ears."
It was also the significance of the matching piercings they wore, and of what ears meant to elves.
"Wearing the same ornament there means that you'll share the same blessings and walk through life side by side."
For elves, the ear held the same significance as the left ring finger does for humans. Matching piercings were basically wedding rings.
"They didn't always wear jewelry from the start. Originally, married couples would carve matching scars into their ears."
Hearing that story, I could understand why the High Elf female knight Mercedes had been so enraged.
If carving matching scars into the ears was a vow of marriage, then what did it mean to have your ears cut off by someone else?
Mercedes's ears didn't even have piercing holes, let alone actual piercings.
I also remembered Eleanor laughing when I threatened to rip her ears off, saying she'd never heard such an insult before.
So I'd done something incredibly cruel after all. Though not a shred of guilt came to mind.
-Tap.
Before long, I'd arrived at the lodging I used on the 7th floor.
Eleanor led me straight to a room. It seemed she wanted to hear my story as soon as possible.
But I'd only left this village two or three hours ago at most, so of course there was nothing to tell.
"Come on, tell me."
But it was very hard to ignore the dreamy look in Eleanor's eyes.
[Story time: I almost died on the 22nd floor]
[Snow Mountain Training Day 23.txt]
[Shit, I got backstabbed by that demon bitch lol]
I remembered the community story threads I'd read while living in seclusion on the 1st floor.
And I recited them as if they were my own experiences. Eleanor listened to my story with sparkling eyes.
"Hehe, it's been a long time since I heard you tell stories like this."
But that was a mistake.
"Still, for some reason it doesn't sound like something you actually went through."
Come to think of it, Eleanor had seen right through me from the moment we first met.
"Your expression hasn't looked good for a while now. What happened during that time, my dear?"
Eleanor had never been someone my clumsy lies would work on in the first place.
**
It wasn't something I could explain with my lousy storytelling, nor something that could be understood just by explaining it.
My lie was exposed immediately, but I still couldn't tell her the truth. Eleanor wore a bitter expression.
"If it's hard to put into words, you can show me instead. You know the method, don't you?"
Eleanor tapped her own forehead. She must have been referring to the Dark Elf secret art that allowed thoughts and memories to be shared.
"Sorry, I can't."
I shook my head. Eleanor, in turn, nodded.
"Yes, I won't force you. If you're making such a pained expression, there must naturally be a reason."
"It would be a lie to say I'm not curious, but my patience far exceeds my curiosity."
"I'll wait patiently until the day you tell me yourself. What of it? I have several hundred more years to spare."
Knowing just how great Eleanor's curiosity was, it was a kindness I found hard to accept easily.
But Eleanor herself spoke with an expression that was not only calm, but relieved.
This wasn't the first time I'd seen that expression.
It was the same expression I'd seen on Eleanor's face twenty years ago, and on my own face just last night.
That night, when she noticed I was a little reluctant to leave this place and was satisfied with that alone.
"I'm always on your side."
Once again, Eleanor said no more than that and quietly left the room.
-Phew.
I let out a small sigh and, after a brief moment of thought, sat down cross-legged. At times like this, I needed to focus even more on training.
Let's not worry about things I can't help. Let's focus only on what I can do.
There were still more than ninety floors left to climb. I couldn't afford to be shaken already over something like this.
I closed my eyes and meditated, shaking off useless stray thoughts and focusing on the flow of mana.
-Thump, thump, thump.
But the tiny sound of a heart beating boomed in my ears like a drum, distracting me.
And mana responds directly to its owner's will and emotions.
Because my mind was utterly chaotic, my concentration kept slipping, and the mana wouldn't move as I wished.
"Fuck... seriously, this is fucking bullshit."
I gave up on the meditation that refused to go the way I wanted no matter how many times I tried, and stood up.
I couldn't feel the flow of mana inside me at all; all I could sense was an intense presence I'd never once failed to notice.
The owner of that presence was naturally Eleanor. Strangely enough, even though we were this far apart, it still felt vivid.
Maybe it was because Eleanor had particularly strong magical power, or because we'd once shared senses through the Dark Elf secret art.
It was an irrelevant fact. It just meant my mana-sensing ability was still far from sufficient.
"Huh...?"
No, come to think of it, there had been exactly one moment when I couldn't sense Eleanor's presence. It had been just a few hours ago.
Right before I completed Chapter 1 of the Dark Elf faction quest and left the village.
The Eleanor from back then, who seemed to be only halfheartedly pretending to be human, gave off no presence at all.
Even if the Tower of Trials system had turned her into an ordinary tin-can NPC, her mana shouldn't have disappeared.
Then what exactly was this presence I was feeling from Eleanor?