Welcome to the Special-Grade Guild! ~ The Beloved Elf Poster Girl Soothes Everyone’s Hearts ~
Chapter 120

120. High Elf Nature

Mara-san and I went around, talking to the High Elves, and they all seemed to snap out of it quickly. As expected of High Elves, how efficient.

Those who realized what had happened started explaining it to the others, and since their numbers were small, everyone had regained their senses in no time. I’m glad.

“Ah, how cute… a new life.”

“I wonder if it’ll slightly prolong our existence?”

By the way, everyone had readily accepted me. It even felt like I was being welcomed. And I’m afraid to ask just how much this “slightly” they’re talking about is.

“…Maybe we didn’t need to hide her so desperately, with this reaction. …No, we were under mental interference, it might have reached Schelmelhorn sooner, this was probably for the best.”

Mara-san muttered this, lost in thought, her hand on her chin.

“B-But my Father-shama’s the Demon Lord. He’s not a High Elf, you know…?”

Everyone was welcoming me so warmly that I decided to confess. They were surprised to hear that my father was the Demon Lord. Th-That’s right…

“But High Elves can be born even if they’re half-breeds!”

“…Eh?”

But their reasons for being surprised were different from what I’d expected. Apparently, they’d believed that half-breeds would be born as Elves. And so, to protect their species, the High Elves from long ago had forbidden interactions with other races and had even cast a curse.

But I’m definitely a High Elf. They said they could feel it, just by looking at me. I could sense it too, vaguely.

And so, it seemed like everyone was most surprised by the fact that I was a High Elf. “Everything we believed in… it was all a lie!?”, right? It’s like finding out that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. Or maybe not.

“That being said, our incredibly low birthrate hasn’t changed…”

“But our race won’t die out. We have hope now!”

“That’s right. We should have interacted more with the other races.”

Voices like these came from all around. I see, so most were open to interacting with other races, once they knew the truth. Of course, there are also some who are hesitant and would rather stay in the village forever.

“If I remember correctly, the environment of the village is special. The air here is clean, and the magical power overflowing from it is beautiful, so that’s why high elves live longer. I heard Zahariash-sama talking about it with Yenna-sama.”

“Oh, really? That’s news to me.”

“It’s only natural. It seemed like it was something she only realized after leaving the village and living outside. Those who stay here wouldn’t know.”

High Elves are naturally long-lived and powerful. And the environment here made them even more so. From my perspective, even demi-humans live incredibly long lives, and I’d probably have to watch those I care about die, one by one, so I wasn’t fond of the idea of living that long.

“…Now I want to see the outside world even more. Should I spend the rest of my life outside?”

“O-Oh, me too…”

“Me three!!”

A certain number of them wanted to leave, even though that meant shortening their lifespans. I could understand their feelings. Maybe the day will come when High Elves won’t just be characters in fairytales? Or maybe that’s impossible, because their numbers are so small?

Even so, they’re all surprisingly… easy-going. I had expected them to be more religious, more rigid, with dangerous ideologies, having lived in such a closed-off space, with their biased views, for so many years. Well, it was a prejudice, I admit. But even that sign at the entrance had been ridiculous. Only High Elves could read it, and no one other than the patriarch would even see it. Maybe it’s High Elf humor? They’re unexpectedly lighthearted…

“When you live this long, you come to realize various things. Like how unnatural our way of life is. We knew it, but we had no intention of changing. Even if we hadn’t been under mental interference.”

High Elves are naturally pacifistic, apparently. And cheerful. I couldn’t imagine it at all, thinking about the patriarch and how they’d mercilessly eliminated other races in the past.

“They don’t care about the small details. Like who’s married to who, or who went to the outside world. Or about the patriarch massacring other races, or his daughter running away. What you consider unforgivable, for us, it’s just a minor detail. And we mean no harm. I apologize, but that’s just how we are.”

And that’s why people started to develop prejudices against High Elves, that their very existence was doubted. They considered it a trivial matter. It feels like… they’ve transcended humanity. Patriarch-san, maybe they’re already close to being gods? They’ve always been, like immortal sages?

“To simply live, in harmony with nature, until the end. That’s our sole purpose.”

Apparently, those who weren’t interested in the outside world still hold this belief. No matter what anyone does, they’re not even interested. It was true that they emanated almost no human presence, as if they were one with nature.

Those who wanted to spend the rest of their lives in the outside world, on the other hand, they had their own will. Mara-san said that maybe those with the purest blood, who’d only ever interacted with their own kind, were the former, and those who were a little different were the latter. Or maybe it’s the other way around, we have no way of knowing.

“I’ve developed desires. I’m a High Elf who has sinned, in a way. I’ve grown tired of these seemingly eternal lives.”

She murmured, “Would it be inappropriate to say that I envy Yennaliearl, a little?” And then she, and the other High Elves who shared her opinion, lowered their eyes.

“…You can all do as you please, but first, we have to do something about that. Think about that, later.”

Gil-san said this after a moment of silence. That’s right, the patriarch and the Demon King were still fighting!

“I thought it was going to be an all-out war with the High Elves, so I guess we’ve avoided the worst-case scenario.”

“An all-out war?”

We then finally explained why we were here, and what we were prepared to do. We should have told them sooner!

“…I see. But even if that were the case, we don’t have the power to fight, you know?”

Mara-san said that they could defend themselves, so we wouldn’t be able to eliminate them, but that’s about it. Apparently there were only two who were suited for offense, the patriarch and Yenna-san. It’s a parent and child thing, I thought, randomly.

“Hmm, so that means there’s no one here who can…”

Gil-san trailed off, and Mara-san, picking up on his words, answered bluntly:

“There isn’t. Unless those two decide to stop fighting, or until there’s a winner.”

It seemed like this situation was even more serious than we thought…! F-Fa-Faaather…!