Chapter 271 Aronēze [with illustration]
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Finally… I finally got one.
…Dark Elf Clan Mazushina Settlement, Aroneze…
”There!”
I followed the tracks—what looked like a gray deer’s—deep into the forest. When I spotted the mother deer with its fawn in the distance, I nearly cheered.
Two full days of searching, and finally.
The mountains in the Demon World really are sparse with game.
I pressed a hand to my growling stomach and killed my presence, creeping closer slowly.
Tch. The fawn’s presence made her extra wary.
”Dark spirits, steal their sight!”
I called to the dark spirits hiding in the shadows of the trees. The small black orbs drifted toward the mother deer and engulfed her head in a cloud of inky mist.
Suddenly plunged into darkness, the mother panicked.
But she couldn’t abandon her fawn. She thrashed her head, trying to shake off the black fog.
Now!
I raised my short bow and took aim at the mother.
And just as I was about to release—
”Ah! There she is! Big Sis Aroneze! The clan chief is calling for you!”
”What—?! You idiot—!”
A voice from behind, loud and sudden—my concentration shattered, and the dark spirits must have been startled too, because the mist dissipated from the deer’s head.
Her vision restored, the mother bolted into the forest.
”Huh? Oh, wait—were you in the middle of hunting?”
I spun around to see the youngest girl in the village: Sueva, beaming with a clueless grin.
”Y-you—! I was this close! That was our dinner, and you let it run!”
The game I’d finally found…
”S-sorry, Big Sis Aroneze…”
”Ugh… no, I overreacted. Next time, check the situation before you call out.”
I must have been on edge from hunger.
Regretting that I’d yelled at one of the village’s precious children, I apologized.
”…Okay. I’m sorry. sniffle”
”Don’t cry, Sueva. So the old crone called for me, right? Let’s head back together.”
”Okay!”
I softened my expression to show I wasn’t angry anymore and patted Sueva’s head—the same dark blue hair as mine.
Her face lit up with a huge smile as she tackled me in a hug.
Kids are unfair, really.
I chuckled wryly to myself, and with Sueva, I headed back to the village perched on the mountain slope.
My stomach growling the whole way.
I left Sueva at the clan chief’s run-down house and stepped inside.
In the living room sat my grandmother—the strongest clan chief among all the Dark Elf clans—and my mother, the next in line.
Both wore grim expressions.
Ah. This is bad news, then.
Had the village finally run out of food?
It wasn’t just us. Other Dark Elf settlements were suffering from food shortages too.
All because we’ve been forced to live in these mountains and forests where spirits and game alike are scarce.
Even among the enslaved races, Dark Elves are especially despised by the demons.
We were created by demons, yet during the great war a hundred years ago, we fought against them—and they still hold a grudge.
Even though before that, they mocked us as “half-demons” and looked down on us. Humans and distant elven ancestors did the same.
But even if our skin changed color, even if we were shunned by wind, water, and earth spirits, even if we made use of the forbidden dark spirits—we are still proud elves. Not once have we ever thought of ourselves as demons.
That’s why Grandmother and Mother and the others, during the great war, when the elves were on the brink—they led all the Dark Elves to join the fight.
Even if we’re despised, even if we’re looked down upon—because we’re elves, too.
But we lost the war. We became prisoners, fitted with Subjugation Collars, and made slaves of Succubus Management.
According to Grandmother, it was the only choice. If they’d refused, they would have been slaughtered like the humans were.
I was born after the war, but I was collared when I came of age.
Still—we may be subjugated, but we are not defeated in spirit.
However, the mountains and forests under Succubus Management’s control are far from bountiful.
Right now, we barely survive on aid from the elves. It’s likely their way of making amends—for persecuting us in the past, for the warriors we lost in the war while fighting for their sake. Not a single one of us bears a grudge against the elves, yet they insist on being honorable.
The elves, it seems, are valued by Succubus Management for their craftsmanship—clothing, jewelry, magic accessories. They’re better off than we are. The dwarves and dragonewts too, from what I hear.
But we Dark Elves? All we can do is hunt and work leather. And even that is taxed by Succubus Management—leaving us barely enough to scrape by.
Without the elves’ aid, our numbers would have dwindled drastically.
In short: Dark Elves are the only ones living in poverty.
So I sat down across from my grandmother—and my mother seated beside her—bracing myself for bad news.
”What do you want, Granny?”
”How many times must I tell you to call me ‘Clan Chief’…? Ah, never mind. It’s too late for that now.”
I expected the usual scolding, but instead she just sighed and gave up.
My mother wore a similarly heavy expression and sighed as well.
Tch. My bad feeling was spot on.
”Why me? Because I’m the chief’s granddaughter?”
”…You caught on. Yes, I’m afraid you’ve been chosen. Aroneze, you’re leaving the village.”
”Don’t joke about that!”
Her words confirmed it. I slammed my fist into the floorboards and continued, voice blazing with fury.
”Why me?! If you’re cutting mouths to feed, shouldn’t old Granny be first in line?!”
”Fool! I’m still young!”
”Liar! Elves, sure, but you’re two hundred and fifty years old—that’s ancient!”
Compared to elves—who are closer to spirits—Dark Elves have a lifespan less than a third as long. Living to two hundred and fifty makes you a venerable elder.
We do have higher fertility, and thus greater numbers, but food shortages and a lack of men have kept us from growing.
”At twenty-four, I shouldn’t be the one heading for the old folks’ mountain—you should!”
She’s lived ten times longer than me—so why should I be culled before her?!
”Argh! Listen! It’s a culling, yes, but we’re not throwing you into the mountains!”
”Then where are you throwing me?!”
Don’t tell me they’re going to drown me in the river, or feed me to a dragon?!
”A dungeon.”
”Huh? A dungeon? The one in Arus—the one with monsters?”
I heard there was one in our homeland too, before it was destroyed. The Dark Elf warriors would sell the items and magic stones they got there, and apparently, they lived much more comfortably back then.
And now I’m going to a dungeon? Those are strongholds for demon invasions. There shouldn’t be any in the Demon World…
”Yes, that’s right.”
”Aroneze, listen. The demons are planning to invade a new world.”
”What?!”
My grandmother and mother explained what the demons were up to now.
Apparently, they were preparing to invade a world called Earth.
On that Earth, only humans exist—and there’s no mana, no magic.
Succubus Management, tasked by the Demon God with reconnaissance, has been abducting locals and testing the abilities of Earth’s humans in a dungeon built for that purpose.
Those demons! Not content with nearly destroying Arus, now they want to destroy another world?!
But I tilted my head—what did that have to do with me leaving the village?
Then Grandmother dropped the bombshell.
”Aroneze. You’re going to be a slave to the humans of Earth—and you will fight in the dungeon.”
”WHAT?! Why would I become a slave to humans?!”
I’ve heard humans are cowardly, greedy lower creatures who’d take anything that moves, from what I’ve heard.
They say there are heroes among them, but that’s a tiny fraction of the billions.
Why should I—a proud Dark Elf—become a slave to some human?!
”Direct order from the Succubus Queen. It seems there’s a human on Earth with talent rivaling the Hero. As a reward, they’ve decided to offer an unmarried young woman from Succubus Management’s slave stock.”
”And why does that have to be me?! Get a dwarf, an elf, or a dragonewt!”
”Dark Elves are the most numerous. Besides, the elves help us, so we can’t ask them.”
”Then send a woman from another Dark Elf settlement! There are at least fifty women my age!”
Well, technically there are demons around, but with this Subjugation collar clamped around my neck, attacking demons is strictly forbidden. Break that rule, and the collar tightens until you’re dead.
I mean, even without a collar, it’s not like just anyone could take on the demons who’ve survived in Alku—a land where monsters roamed everywhere. You’d have to be at least at my grandmother’s level: born and raised there, dungeon-diving from a young age, surviving the Great War. But even those survivors are reaching the end of their lives, dropping in numbers every year.
For all those reasons, it’s completely impossible to raise my Mana Capacity rank in the demon realm.
Frustrating.
The fact that proud dark elves have been reduced to slaves for demons is bad enough. But what really makes me bite my lip is the reality that even if I alone raise my Mana Capacity rank, it won’t change a damn thing.
Grandmother must have seen the defeat on my face, because she spoke up again.
”And besides,” she said, her voice carrying that old-country warmth. “They say if you go to the humans, they’ll remove the Subjugation collar for you.”
”Really?!” I blurted out, my heart leaping at the prospect.
Hearing that this detestable collar could be removed—my heart leaped.
If that’s true, then I don’t have to be at anyone’s beck and call.
”However,” she continued, “in exchange, they’ll brand you with a Subjugation-effect crotch tattoo, apparently.”
”That’s the same thing!” I shouted. “No, it’s even worse!”
What in the world is this old woman saying?! A crotch tattoo would give them even more control over my body!
If I were to fight honorably, lose to a man stronger than me, and then be chained up and forced—that would be one thing. But getting turned on by some tattoo and then violated?! No way in hell!
”You said you wanted to have s*x with a man, didn’t you?” Grandmother asked, a knowing glint in her eye.
”A dark elf man!” I shot back. “Not a human!”
I’ve been asking them to set me up with someone for ten years now, and they still haven’t done a thing.
”Not possible,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “They all go to Succubus Management and barely ever come back. Dark elf men have higher libidos than elves, so they’re popular with Succubus Management.”
”That’s right, Aroneze,” my mother chimed in, her tone matter-of-fact. “Even getting your mother pregnant took decades.”
”Aroneze,” Grandmother continued, leaning in conspiratorially. “I hear the human that Succubus Management has her eye on is packing quite the rod—even the succubi are head over heels for it.”
”Th-There’s a human like that?” I stammered.
A human with equipment that makes even Succubus Management swoon?
…No. Even so, the thought of lying with some lowborn human—no matter how starved I am for a man—no way in hell!
”Stubborn, isn’t she,” Grandmother observed.
”Yes,” Mother agreed, a sly smile playing at her lips. “I thought that if anyone would take the bait, it’d be this girl who spends her nights taking care of herself.”
”Wha—Mother!” I yelped. “How do you know that?!”
”Nighttime is the dark spirits’ domain, dear,” she replied smoothly. “And of course I also know that you sneak into the pantry at night.”
”Ugh…”
So this is what I get for relying on dark spirits to watch over me… Did they just fold because I’m not as strong as my mother? Or knowing those spirits, they probably tattled willingly. Pathetic creatures—they always cave to whoever’s stronger.
What’s wrong with that anyway?! I was hungry! Hunger is the worst thing for me!
”Aroneze,” Grandmother said, her voice growing serious, “we’ve been getting complaints from the villagers. They’ve tolerated you so far because you’re the clan leader’s granddaughter, but this year, food is scarce. They’ve reached their limit. The voices calling for food thief Aroneze’s banishment are growing louder. My granddaughter Aroneze, you were going to be banished anyway. So at least go and contribute as a sacrificial offering for the dark elf clan.”
”I-I’ll hunt to make up for it!” I pleaded. “Just don’t abandon me, Grandmother!”
I had no idea things had gotten this serious!
This is bad… Getting banished for stealing food—there’s no greater shame.
As a proud dark elf, I absolutely cannot let that happen to me!
”Aroneze, you really are…” Mother trailed off, then brightened. “Ah, that reminds me. I heard that in the dungeons Succubus Management created, you can trade Magic Stones for food. Apparently, if you defeat monsters, you can eat your fill every day. They say the humans’ slaves eat delicious sweets there every day, looking so happy.”
”W-Wait, sweets?!” I gasped.
Other than flower nectar, I’ve never had anything sweet. And candy? I remember when the elf elder visited once and brought some as a gift—it was so delicious I thought my tongue might melt off.
”Mmm,” Grandmother nodded approvingly. “If the humans take a liking to you, you’ll be able to eat as much as you want.”
”R-Really…” I murmured, my resolve crumbling. “Hmph. Well, Grandmother, Mother. It can’t be helped if it’s Succubus Management’s orders. I’ll go as the sacrifice. After all, I can’t let the elves who raised me go.”
It can’t be helped. This is the duty of a clan leader’s granddaughter.
Besides—a barbaric, vulgar, brainless human male? I can handle him.
I won’t let him lay a single finger on my body. In fact, I’ll turn him into my slave.
”Oh, is that so?” Grandmother beamed. “That’s my granddaughter! I’m so proud of you.”
”Aroneze, you understand, don’t you?” Mother pressed. “You must perform your duties well and win their favor. And don’t forget to send remittances back to the village. I want sweets, of course.”
”Mmm,” Grandmother added, “I’d like some liquor. Don’t forget now?”
”Hmph. Leave it to me, Mother, Grandmother,” I declared, puffing out my chest. “I’ll make this Mazushina Clan the wealthiest dark elf clan in existence!”
And I’ll clear my name as a food thief. One day, I’ll be the chieftain who unites all dark elves.
Whatever the circumstances, this might actually be the clan’s chance to escape a life of extreme poverty.
Heh heh heh… Just you wait, humans.
I’ll squeeze every last coin out of you—for myself and for my clan.
===
—And that’s the story behind the tag and pen name foreshadowing, lol.
Aroneze’s traits are: perpetually hungry, gets wrecked, and is a total disaster.
Notes:
• Aroneze – Job: Dark elf warrior and clan leader’s granddaughter; Relationship: Granddaughter: Grandmother; Daughter: Mother; ppearance: Dark blue hair; Item/Magic: Short bow; Note: Proud and hot-tempered Dark Elf. Prideful but desperate, perpetually hungry, prone to rationalization.
• Sueva – Job: Village child; Relationship: Youngest girl in village; Appearance: Dark blue hair; Note: Calls Aronēze “Big Sis”.
• Succubus Queen – The sovereign of the Succubus race and servant to the Demon God Zazard. She possesses a voice described as蛊惑的 (alluring/bewitching) and maintains a stance of absolute superiority over humanity.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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