Volume 5 Chapter 4 Elf Twilight and the Conditions for Salvation
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Guided by Sylvia, we were shown to the largest mansion at the base of the World Tree. It was a palace of nature, where the thick roots of the World Tree writhed upward to form the walls and roof.
However, the village atmosphere on the way there was far too silent. The few Elves we passed looked at me with shock, and once Sylvia explained, “He is the Spirit King,” some looked confused, while others made way with clear awe. Their eyes didn’t hold hope so much as a fragile, desperate light, as if they were guarding a flame about to be extinguished.
”…There aren’t many people here.”
Beautiful tree-top houses lined the path, but many were dark. Though well-maintained, there was no “scent of life” in them. It was like walking through a museum where time had stopped after the inhabitants vanished.
The square, which once must have been filled with children’s laughter, now only echoed with the wind rustling through the leaves. This village was slowly, yet surely, heading toward its “end.” The scene made that reality physically palpable.
We were led into a secluded room in the mansion, where one woman awaited us.
She was a beauty, draped in luxurious fabrics with wavy silver hair cascading down to her waist. She wore intelligent glasses perched on her nose, and though her eyes behind them were as gentle as a madonna’s, the atmosphere radiating from her body was extraordinary. Even through her clothes, her form was violently voluptuous. A rich, heavy scent—like that of a perfectly ripened fruit—hung in the air, thick enough to be suffocating.
”I am honored that you have come. I am the village chief, Erland—desuwa.”1
The woman stood and bowed with an elegant grace. Her voice was as beautiful as rolling bells, yet it carried the dignity of royalty.
”I’m Ryuichi. Are you the Elder? You look awfully young to be an ‘Elder.’”
As I blurted out my honest impression, Erland gave a refined, delicate laugh.
That vibration alone was enough to make her ample chest sway, heavy and full. She had to be a G-cup at least. The weight of her flesh, sagging with gravity, combined with her status as an Elder, exuded an illicit charm that a young girl simply could not possess.
”Elves are a race that does not carve aging into our bodies. Even so, I am over three hundred years old, you see.”
”Three hundred? You’re a real veteran then.”
”Indeed. I have heard the story from Sylvia. The golden spirit energy overflowing from your body… and the power to understand our language. You are, without a doubt, the ‘Spirit King’ spoken of in the ancient covenant.”
Erland straightened her posture, looking at me with a serious gaze. The air in the room grew tight.
”Ryuichi-sama. Please, I beg you, listen to the plight of the Elves.”
She began to speak of a fatal biological flaw inherent to the Elven race. This issue had plagued them ever since the first High Elves descended to this land thousands of years ago.
”We Elves can absorb the ‘Elements’ from the atmosphere to wield mighty spirit power. But the price we pay is an extremely weak ability to conceive new life.”
”Weak—how so?”
”Even if we pledge ourselves to a fellow kin, receiving a child is rare—desuwa. If we are lucky, we might manage to bear one in our hundreds-of-years-long lifespan. At this rate, we cannot even sustain our population.”
If only one child is born to every couple, the population effectively halves with every generation. It was a slow, inevitable decline.
”We once numbered in the thousands, but now, there are fewer than a hundred left in this village… And our women only have a short window in which they can conceive: between the ages of twenty and one hundred.”
For long-lived Elves, their reproductive period was shockingly short. Even if they looked young, once they passed one hundred, their function as a womb was lost.
”The number of young women meeting those conditions is now only a handful.”
Only a handful. Was that the last hope to connect the future of this village? Erland touched her own abdomen sadly. The gesture was somehow lewd, as if she were cherishing her own empty uterus.
”For someone like me, over three hundred, that role is no longer possible. I can only watch the fate that the young girls must bear.”
So, the Elder herself was exempt. It was a pity, considering her wide, child-bearing pelvis and soft flesh, but biological limits were inescapable.
”That is where the existence of the ‘Spirit King’ in our legends becomes the key.”
Erland leaned forward, pleading in a desperate voice. Her sweet body odor tickled my nostrils—a mix of floral notes and the thick, slightly fermented scent of honey.
”The legend says: ‘When the Elves face extinction, the Spirit King shall appear from another world. With spirit power like the sun, the King shall sow the seeds of life into the wombs of maidens, leading the withered garden to prosperity once more.’”
Sow the seeds of life. It sounded beautiful, but in this context, there was only one meaning.
”…Wait. Is ‘sowing the seeds of life’ a metaphor or something?”
I asked for confirmation, but Erland shook her head, looking entirely serious.
”No, it means exactly what it says—desuwa. Unless it is a seed containing the extraordinary spirit power of the Spirit King, our Elven eggs will not sprout. Ordinary humans, or even the current Elven men whose spirit power has waned over the generations, do not provide enough stimulation to result in conception.”
In other words, this was the situation: The Elven reproductive system was in a state of hibernation. To restart it, they needed “shock therapy” using my “origin,” which was infused with powerful spirit energy. It was like jump-starting a car with a dead battery by applying a massive surge of voltage. My sperm was the gasoline—and the ignition.
”E-excuse me… I’ve brought the tea…”
Just then, a quiet knock came at the door, and a young girl entered. She carried a tray with a fruit-flavored drink. Short chestnut hair, large eyes.
—There was no mistake. That was the same girl I’d seen watching me from behind the trees when I entered the village.
She placed the glasses in front of me and Erland, stiff with tension. Her hands were shaking, causing the tray to clatter. When she met my eyes, her ears turned bright red and she looked down. The nervous, animal-like behavior stirred a powerful urge to protect—and possess—her.
”So, in short, you’re asking me to get you pregnant?”
I took a sip of the tea, staring directly into the short-haired girl’s eyes to cut to the core of the matter. The tea-serving girl let out a strange, choked sound and froze.
”Yes. To put it bluntly, that is correct. I want you to pour your seed into the young women of this village who catch your eye.”
The Elder didn’t even change her expression as she dropped the bombshell. Impregnating the village’s women of childbearing age. It was the only way to save the Elves, and it was the “Quest” imposed upon the Spirit King.
”…Sylvia, did you know about this?”
I looked back at Sylvia, who was waiting behind me. Her face was bright red, and she was nervously twisting her fingers together.
”Y-yes… I didn’t know the specific method, but… when I received the Spirit King’s seed, I felt my belly grow hot and power welling up inside me. I’m sure that is the budding of life…!”
Sylvia had already received a massive amount of my sperm. The fact that her physical abilities had improved and her skin had gained such a luster was because she had directly absorbed my spirit energy. If that was the case, she was the most likely candidate to be the first to conceive.
”Ryuichi-sama. Please, save us. My body, and the treasures of this village, I will offer them all to you. Giving birth to your child is our greatest joy, and our only hope.”
Erland knelt on the floor, bowing her head deeply. It was a painful request from an Elder, staking her race’s survival on it. As a forty-year-old man, if someone looked me in the eye with a serious face and said, “Sleep with them to save the country,” I had no reason to refuse.
”Fine. I accept that role. If Elves can be saved by my seed, that’s a small price to pay.”
When I answered, Erland raised her head, showing a smile that bloomed like a flower.
”Oh…! I thank you, Spirit King!”
I smiled, then turned my attention to the girl, who was still frozen while holding the tray.
”Hey, you there.”
”Y-yes!?”
The girl’s shoulders jumped, and she snapped to attention.
”How old are you?”
”I-I’m thirty…!”
Thirty. By human standards, an adult woman, but for long-lived Elves, it seemed she was a fledgling who had barely reached adulthood. On the inside, she looked like an innocent child. No, she was arguably too young. Yet, strangely, despite her juvenile appearance, she gave off the scent of a mature “female.” I could sense a fertile, capable uterus dormant deep within that undeveloped body. In that moment, a piece clicked into place inside me.
”…I see. So that means you’re one of them, too?”
When I asked, the girl’s face went even redder, and she looked to the Elder as if begging for help. Erland nodded quietly.
”Yes. She is Rune. She still has some childishness, but she has some of the highest potential for spirit power in the village.”
”I see. Rune, is it?”
I stood up and walked right in front of Rune. She tried to back away, but her back hit the wall, leaving her with nowhere to go. Her eyes spun in panic; she was on the verge of a breakdown. I reached out and lifted her chin with my fingertip.
”I have immense stamina. I’m going to fill you up without holding back, all the way to the depths of your little belly. …Are you really prepared to carry my child?”
Caught off guard, she was overwhelmed by my presence. Staring at me from point-blank range, Rune’s face turned so red it looked like it might boil over. She shifted her eyes back and forth between me and the Elder, her mouth opening and closing. Finally, as if reaching a resolution, she squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.
”I-I am! If it is for the future of the Elves… I, I will do my best!”
I was satisfied with that tragic yet youthful response.
”Haha, good answer. I’m looking forward to it.”
When I let go, Rune collapsed onto the floor, limp. Erland, and Sylvia, smiled with relief.
”Then, let us begin the preparations immediately. Tomorrow is the banquet. To welcome the Spirit King, and… to celebrate the start of the procreation ritual.”
Erland stood up, about to issue elegant instructions. I grinned and asked a question.
”Just to confirm, I should assume you’ll be joining in on that ‘banquet’ as well?”
She had said she was “exempt” earlier, but I had no intention of letting this beautiful Elder get away. Erland turned back and gave a bewitching smile. Her expression held not just a sense of duty, but a sticky, lingering desire that seemed to suggest she was craving it herself.
”Fufu… If the Spirit King wishes, I would be happy to oblige.”
Thus, a strange life began in the Elf village—a rescue mission through impregnation. The long night, set to heal three hundred years of thirst, was about to begin.
—
Summary:
The protagonist arrives at the heart of the dying Elven village and meets the Elder, Erland. She reveals that the Elves suffer from extreme infertility and can only be saved by the Spirit King’s unique essence. The protagonist accepts the duty to impregnate the village women, including the young Rune and the Elder herself, as a rescue mission.
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Trivia:
The village’s silence is attributed to the lack of “life scent,” suggesting a near-extinct state.
Elves can only conceive between ages 20 and 100.
Sylvia has already consumed the protagonist’s essence, showing initial signs of improved vitality.
Erland is over 300 years old, placing her outside the natural reproductive window, but she still engages in the ritual.
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Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Sylvia – Sylvia is a voluptuous, platinum-haired elf adventurer known as “Crimson Lotus.” Wielding a longsword and bow in a hooded green coat, this loyal Silver-rank warrior serves the Spirit King. Reverent toward the protagonist—from whom she received essence—she proudly guides them to her declining home village. She travels as Ryu’s servant, tutors John, and works with Nier as a protective companion.
• Erland – A village elder of the elves who guides the protagonist to the inner sanctum. The Elven village chief and Elder, over 300 years old, possessing a voluptuous and imposing presence. A beauty, draped in luxurious fabrics with wavy silver hair cascading down to her waist. She wore intelligent glasses perched on her nose, and though her eyes behind them were as gentle as a madonna’s, the atmosphere radiating from her body was extraordinary
• Ryuichi – Poison Snake, a 40-year-old, bearded Jipan silver-class adventurer with a plain build, is a pragmatic outsider known as the Spirit King. This cynical sorcerer manipulates golden mana, earth, ice, blue fire, and space to save the World Tree. Possessing immense spirit energy, he serves as a guide to the mansion’s women and uses healing magic to protect his dependents and newly acquired slaves.
• Ryu – A man with Interdimensional Magic who leads a growing household. He acts as a provider and protector for his slaves, while maintaining a pragmatic and blunt personality.
• Rune – A shy 30-year-old Elf girl with high potential, nervous and easily flustered.
• Hob – A species of Goblin with higher intelligence than ordinary Goblins. Speaks in halting words and shows fear toward the protagonist. Both hands were missing in the observed individual.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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