Volume 9, Chapter 11 – The Dark Elf Tribe

“Where is our benefactor?!”

“To think someone could kill those two wicked half-dragons… a savior has finally been born among us Dark Elves!”

Before long, more than half the village—including those who had been working in the fields—appeared at the entrance of the path. Curiosity and wonder were written on nearly every face. But when they saw Fia, with her black hair and pointed ears looking like a fairy of the night, they collectively widened their eyes and gasped. The cacophony of chatter vanished instantly, replaced by stunned silence.

“A Goddess…”

“How beautiful. Her hair and clothes are glowing, and her skin is so lovely. I’ve only ever seen such attire on Lady Mimiu!”

“She must be our savior!”

Even from a distance of over ten meters, Fia could hear the Dark Elves’ excited exclamations. As these gaunt elves, dressed in simple cloth, drew closer to her, they grew quiet, wearing expressions of hesitant awe. It was only when Ed stepped forward to introduce them that the crowd’s trepidation began to ease.

“Chieftain, these are the ladies I met in the forest, Lady Dofilia and Lady Claire. I didn’t even see them move before those two half-dragons were subdued! They’ve come from the World Tree Continent and possess magics I’ve never even seen!”

To Fia’s surprise, the person Ed addressed as Chieftain was a Dark Elf woman roughly three hundred years old. Her skin was paler than the other Dark Elves, and her figure was closer to Estelle’s; the only flaw was that she looked a bit skeletal due to malnutrition. Fortunately, her outfit—a short top that bared her midriff and a cinched miniskirt—gave her a touch of exotic allure. If she were to give a score, Fia would give her a six out of ten. Furthermore, Fia noticed that most of the warriors who arrived were female, while those working the fields were male. It seemed to be a female-dominated tribe.

“Ohhh…” Seeing Fia’s healthy, rosy-white complexion, the Chieftain’s eyes filled with wonder. She swallowed and took a cautious step toward Fia, looking as though she wanted to touch her but didn’t quite dare. “She’s as exquisite as Lady Mimiu. It feels as if she might break if I barely touch her.”

While Fia knew the Chieftain was praising her for being as beautiful as a porcelain doll, she wished the woman wouldn’t use such misleading phrasing. If Anastasia were here, she would have certainly reminded the Chieftain to mind her words.

“Hello. I am Dofilia, the Witch of Calamity from the World Tree Continent.”

“Dofilia… the elves of the World Tree Continent use such complex names. Ah, right! Where are the half-dragon corpses? And Ed, did you handle your fiancée’s remains properly? If the half-dragons catch our scent, the village is doomed!”

The Chieftain’s words sent a wave of tension through the surrounding elves. Several female elves wearing white headbands and holding wooden staves looked particularly distressed.

“Of all things, why did it have to be half-dragons…”

“We should hurry and hide in the forest. That’s a forbidden zone by the old Dragon Sovereign’s order; the half-dragons won’t dare go there.”

“Don’t forget Ed saw those two inside the forest. If you ask me, we should take this to Lady Mimiu and let her decide our fate.”

“But Lady Mimiu has been trapped under the roots for days; her fate is unknown. Going there now would be looking for trouble…”

“Sigh.”

Countless suggestions eventually dissolved into a helpless sigh. Finally, everyone looked at Ed. As long as he had covered his tracks well upon leaving the forest—perhaps by throwing the corpses down from Dragonfall and burning a section of the forest to mask the scent—they might escape the half-dragons’ pursuit.

Ed stammered his reply.

“La… Lady Dofilia brought the corpses back. I didn’t set any fires.”

“Isn’t that reckless?! Take some men back and clean up the traces immediately. Hurry! Lady Dofilia, as for those corpses—”

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The Dark Elf Chieftain looked around Fia, searching for the half-dragon remains. Her eyes were full of confusion when she saw nothing.

Ed cried out in wonder when he saw me use spatial magic earlier. The Dark Elves here must not know how to use storage magic yet.

Even though it was a common sight to her.

Fia released the two half-dragon corpses from her storage magic, then handed over the deceased female Dark Elf, wrapped in cloth, to Ed. While some showed pity upon seeing Ed’s grim expression, most eyes were glued to the half-dragon corpses.

They looked on with fear, novelty, and desire. As Ed had said, every part of a half-dragon could be used as medicine, and the heart and liver were miracles that could save someone from the brink of death. Such materials were expensive even on the World Tree Continent, let alone in the peril-filled Dragonfall.

“Oh… ohhh…”

The Chieftain and the tribal elders alike stood with mouths wide enough to fit an apple.

“Real half-dragons… and… and appeared out of thin air! I’ve only seen such magic from true dragons!”

“Hide the bodies quickly! We’ll trade them for grain at the market another day!”

“Lady Dofilia, please, you must come into our village! It’s nearly noon; we will prepare a feast to entertain you—using the meat of these half-dragons!”

“No…”

Fia could accept the earlier words, but being asked to eat half-dragon meat? She’d pass.

However, since she had already helped, she couldn’t just walk away. Earlier, she hadn’t realized how much of a threat the half-dragons posed to the Dark Elf tribes. Seeing how vulnerable they were, she knew that if she killed the half-dragons and then left, she’d regret it for life if the half-dragon tribe retaliated against the “Mi” tribe.

She either had to ensure the half-dragons wouldn’t come looking or preemptively warn the half-dragon tribe not to have any ideas. Fia unhesitatingly chose the latter.

“There’s no need to entertain me. I heard that the closer one gets to the center of Dragonfall, the stronger the resident races. Is the half-dragon tribe located toward that giant tree?”

“There is more than one half-dragon tribe. If you mean the one these two belonged to, their tribe is about a hundred miles east of here.”

“Good. Take me there.”

“Eh?”

The Chieftain thought she had misheard. She blinked in confusion and asked again.

“What did you say?”

“I said, take me there.”

“You… you haven’t investigated the half-dragon tribes, have you? They are extremely united, and every half-dragon possesses Third Rank strength once they reach adulthood! In the past, several of our larger Dark Elf tribes organized a rebellion against them, but the result was that we all became their food. We just have to offer tribute obediently. No matter how strong a Dark Elf is, they cannot fight a thousand. Please, My Lady, do not risk your life on an impulse!”

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“It’s fine. You just need to show me the way.”

“This…”

Seeing Fia’s resolve, the Chieftain was at a loss. She consulted the elders behind her. Although their voices were low, Fia overheard their exchange. They were split into two factions: one was full of confidence after seeing her kill the half-dragons and believed they should lead the way; the other feared that if she lost, the entire tribe would be implicated.

They represented an entire people; it was only human for the weak to choose evasion out of caution. Entrusting the future of the tribe to a stranger they had just met required immense courage and vision, so Fia did not force the issue.

I’ll leave here after sunset and head deeper into Dragonfall. She wasn’t rejecting the village because it was poor; rather, if she had the choice to stay in a comfortable city, she would naturally choose comfort. Claire had said that civilization grew more advanced toward the center, and Fia was also interested in this “Mimiu” everyone kept mentioning—that had to be the Dragon Princess Claire spoke of.

She wondered if she’d have the thick dragon tail common in fantasy stories. Even if she did, Fia wasn’t interested; she much preferred soft, fluffy tails like Nola’s and Tilulu’s over cold, scaly ones.

Giving the Dark Elf tribe a way out, Fia proactively suggested that there was no rush to find the half-dragons. Instead, she and Claire accepted the Chieftain’s invitation to visit her home.

As expected, the “Chieftain’s home” was just a larger thatched hut. Several simple wooden beds lined the walls of mud and dried grass, and in the center stood a wooden table that had been polished somewhat smooth. Three little girls with sallow complexions sat inside. Upon seeing Fia and Claire, they looked terrified and huddled in a corner. Fia even heard faint crying; they appeared to be only about fifty years old.

“Come here and greet Lady Dofilia and Lady Claire,” the Chieftain said with a placating smile. “Please don’t take offense, Lady Dofilia; these are my children. That half-dragon tribe often demands sacrifices from nearby villages. Seeing you as strangers, they mistook you for people sent by the half-dragons…”

Sacrifices probably means food.

How savage.

The image of half-dragons in Fia’s mind dropped another notch.

She pulled out a tray of roasted donuts—an irresistible lure for children—from her spatial magic and approached the Dark Elves huddled on the bed with a smile. Perhaps as a precaution to prevent their children from being chosen as sacrifices, the three girls smelled of sweat from not having bathed in a long time, and their faces were gaunt from chronic malnutrition.

Sniff sniff.

“What… is this…”

Slurp.

The moment they caught the scent, the three girls—who had been terrified just a second ago—all widened their eyes. Though their black hair was a messy nest, the innocence in their eyes was pure.

Fia held out a donut.

“This food is called a ‘donut.’ It’s from the World Tree Continent. If you like it, have some.”

To lower the children’s guard, Fia proactively tore off a piece and ate it. The taste was far too sweet for Fia, who didn’t care for sweets.

“…Is that the kind of cake only dragons get to enjoy? Lady Dofilia, how could you give us something so precious!”

Seeing the honey-sweet donut in Fia’s hand, the Chieftain hurriedly stepped forward to stop her from giving the chocolate-covered treat to the children. However, Fia simply handed a duplicate donut to the Chieftain, successfully stopping her intervention.

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Once the youngest child stuffed the donut into her mouth, the other two followed suit, tearing off pieces. As the explosive sweetness and the soft, refined texture of the bread melted on their taste buds, the children’s pupils dilated, and their eating speed accelerated.

“Mmm!”

“So sweet!”

“Thank you, Big Sister!”

What a sweet talker.

Her vanity thoroughly satisfied, Fia patted the head of the girl who had called her Big Sister, then cast [Clean] on her. As faint white particles of light enveloped the girl, the dirt on her hair and clothes vanished, and even her face looked much cleaner.

“Don’t eat so fast, you’ll choke.”

“My clothes are clean!”

“Big Sister Dark Elf who knows magic… you… you aren’t cleaning us up to use us as sacrifices, are you?”

“Even if it’s the last meal, it’s worth it! Having something this delicious is better than starving!”

What nonsense are they saying?

Fia thought to herself. She wrapped some donuts in oil paper and left them by the bed, then turned to the Chieftain. Compared to the children’s gluttonous display, the Chieftain—who appeared to be in her late twenties in human terms—was very dignified. She first used her fingers to pick off the chocolate coating and eat it before tasting the soft pastry inside. However, Fia felt the Chieftain’s expression was full of a sense of holiness, as if she were treating the donut as some sacred relic.

Notably, as the other elders trailing behind looked on longingly, Fia realized they likely enjoyed sweets too. She handed out a donut and a matching fruit drink to each of them. For a moment, the room was filled with the sound of swallowing and the slurping of straws. They had no qualms about getting oil on their hands as they ate in large bites.

“It’s sweeter than honey! This must be the ‘sugar’ the dragons talk about!”

“What is this crunchy layer on the outside? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Why can’t I see any fruit pulp in this water, yet it tastes like fruit?”

“It feels like heaven. I must be dreaming…”

The enchanted, dazed looks on the Dark Elf elders’ faces made Fia feel a pang of pity.

If conditions allow, it might be best to try and bring the Dark Elves here to Silvar. However, she felt that could only happen once the railway was built. Her teleport magic didn’t cover the southern part of the World Tree Continent, and if she simply moved the Dark Elves to the dense forests in the south, the environment wouldn’t be much more comfortable than Dragonfall.

Not wanting to just sit there, Fia took out a dessert for herself and Claire. She pulled her wooden stool closer to Claire and whispered.

“I think I understand why you wanted me to prepare so much food before we left, Claire. I could lure the information out of these people with just sweets.”

“I actually wasn’t thinking of that…”

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Claire had simply been worried that Fia wouldn’t be used to the local food culture since Dragonfall had a food scarcity.

“Mmh… thank you… nom … for your blessing. This divine delicacy is the best food I have tasted in my three hundred years. Not even weathered dragon meat can compete with such divine flavor. How can I ever repay you?”

The Dark Elf Chieftain, who was nearly sticking her tongue into the glass to lick the sides, looked at Fia while keeping her eyes on the last bit of pale yellow juice in the cup.

“Repayment is unnecessary. This is just a common snack. Once you all reach the World Tree Continent, you’ll see these sweets all the time.”

“Truly a Goddess… not only gifting us such deliciousness so freely, but even speaking of reaching the World Tree Continent so casually. Our people could try ten thousand times and still never reach that fertile land.”

“By the way, it seems the Goddess doesn’t have a husband? As an elven woman, traveling without a man to serve you must be inconvenient in many ways. You may choose any man from our tribe; being chosen by you would be their blessing.”

Another elder sitting beside the Chieftain slapped her thigh, acting in a very boisterous and uninhibited manner.

It really is a tribe where women are superior to men.

And they’ve unconsciously started calling me a Goddess…

Fia took Claire’s hand and lifted it above the table, explaining to the group with a wry smile.

“Claire and I are fiances. I only like women.”

“Eh? Aren’t you both women? While there are cases of women loving women in our tribe, you can’t have children that way, can you? Someone as beautiful and powerful as a Goddess should surely have excellent offspring.”

The Dark Elves all looked shocked. According to Dark Elf standards, while Claire was beautiful, her figure was far too “regrettable” to match an excellent beauty like Fia. Furthermore, the inability to produce offspring was a major issue; for a tribe that needed a large labor force, it was practically a taboo.

Fia’s cheeks turned red. Although everyone present was older than her, since she was currently being treated as a Goddess, she felt it best to take the Goddess’s stance and explain seriously.

“Well, it’s a long story. On our World Tree Continent, there is something called a branch of the Holy Tree. By using the branch and our elven innate Mana Surge, even those of the same sex can have children. On the continent, we elves have used this technique to develop into an empire of nearly a billion people.”

“A billion?! Increasing offspring?! There’s such a wonderful thing?! Goddess, please teach us how! Even if it’s just to let us witness a miracle once! Please, we’ll do anything!”

“Huh?”

Fia let out a dazed sound as the Chieftain and elders scrambled closer, their faces full of craving and hope. Then, she felt Claire’s tail poke her in the back. Fia instinctively looked at Claire, only to see her beautiful face flushed red with a reproachful look, as if saying, Look at what you’ve done.

How could I perform such a ‘sacred’ thing in public?!

Fia rolled her eyes in her mind.