Apocalypse Dark Elf Style -Magical Tribes Reincarnated in the Modern World

TL: Xean || ED: Cubic

TN: Final part for Chapter 2.

†

I, Sheena Glaive Zoainmeri, couldn’t imagine it, but the same thing happened to me last night.

It happened probably because he became conscious of it.

A dream of pain.

Most of my past was accompanied by suffering.

Ridicule and prejudice. Discrimination and malice. Hostility and contempt.

There was a time where I had accidentally taken off my hood in the city. The residents had thrown stones at me. Even the small child, who had welcomed me at the city gate and given me flowers he’d picked saying, “For you, traveler-san!”.

I stumbled upon the White Elves of the North in the forest. They shot arrows at us as if they were hunting. It wasn’t their forest, but rather the one we had been settled in for the past few days, but they took it from us for no reason. They didn’t need a reason to ostracize the Dark Elves.

When I accepted a request from the underworld, I was betrayed. They tried to kill me to keep my mouth shut but I killed them instead. Many of my friends had also been targeted for a long time. In the end, everyone died.

I became friends with a woman from the same tribe in a tavern. She gave me a bracelet saying it was a token of good fortune for my tribe. I wore it around the castle, and before I knew it, I was being chased by an order of knights. A few months later, I finally found out what she was up to and met her again to make her pay, but by then she had been dismembered and put in a box as a toy to be rented out for a night. She was moaning and groaning and had forgotten how to speak, and the cold blade I had intended to use on her in return for the bracelet might have saved her in a way.

For a while, I had been working with a young half-ogre girl. My first and last companion. It was just a random occurrence, but it was the last time I was with anyone for a long time because I finally realized my place in the world. A bitter memory of failure.

“You… You abominable cursed race!”

─I know. But why? No one told me the reason.

“You dark elf. You must be a lowly criminal.”

─You’re the ones who made it impossible for us to live otherwise.

“You’re an eyesore. Disappear, get out of here!”

─Then, how long do I have to live with my shoulders hunched? Until when? For how long?

I won’t lose to pain. I’m not going to lose.

I continued laughing pretending to be strong. I needed to laugh to delude myself that I was strong.

But pain was still pain, and I liked 『something』 that didn’t involve pain.

Climbing on top of the tall Zoman tree, I watched the seven-colored sunset of the Celestial Festival without a care in the world.

I felt the migratory winds of the Great Plains of Godot rushing directly from the horizon on the hills beyond the Lost Forest.

The blue morning sun that rose with the sound of activities on cobblestone streets, the hexagonal leaves flowing through the river between the stepping stones, and the crunch of crystal frost under one’s footstep while strolling in the winter light.

There was just one “out of place” in this “world”.

Perhaps I was more needy than anyone else.

So, I thought, we were equals. One equals one.

Then, it was okay to want it.

I thought to myself that I wanted to remain, to exist, to feel.

But why was I not allowed?

… 「A dark elf huh」, 「What kind of face is that」, 「You stink」, 「It’s bad luck just looking at you」, 「Scary」, 「Die」, 「Get lost」, 「Don’t come back」, 「You’re disgusting」, 「You make me want to vomit」, 「Die」, 「Die」…

Turning my back on the voices of malevolent people, I reached out to the world.

Why was I not allowed? I was in the right. The world was wrong.

Then if so. If I can find a world where that was not the case─

What if there was a world where 『outliers』 were allowed to live normally, and there was a chance to get it?

Not as a representative of the oppressed race.

Well, I don’t mind if there was a little of that in there.

But I wasn’t psyched about it.

I just decided to fight for myself, for what I desired more than anything─

That was why I decided to fight.

My lashes quivered delicately. After a moment, my eyes opened gently.

The soft sheets tickled the tip of my nose. It wasn’t straws in a stable or the bed of a cheap hotel that reeked of someone’s bodily fluids. I slowly raised my upper body and stretched like a cat, my ears twitching. I squinted at the morning sun streaming in through the window.

It was pretty good. The mornings in this world were quite nice. It was especially nice that the Holy Church, which considers dark elves to be demons incarnate, wasn’t here to suddenly attack us with the prayer of the sun.

Right next to my body was the face of a boy, his eyes still closed. Was he still not used to sleeping side by side as we did yesterday, or was the incident at the hotel affecting him in some way? It didn’t look like he was having a nightmare, but he does appear to be in pain. I guess he was an honest person at heart. He was sleeping with a frown on his face, showing signs of distress with his brows wrinkled.

I smiled silently at the look on his face.

This world seemed so peaceful, but it probably only ‘seemed’ like it on the surface. It was just that life and death weren’t placed as close here, but there was a different kind of pain here, a thorn that hurts just as bad.

This boy knew that. That was probably what he meant last night.

He withstood it, and continued to endure.

Perhaps he believed that he had arrived at where he wanted to be, but was that really the case?

Surely, there was no escape yet.

Part of me and part of who I am. To reach the end, there would be endless pain.

I was reminded of my companion, whom I had shared moments with in the residue of my dream. I hadn’t slept near anyone like this since then.

Would this boy be able to bear the pain of being with me?

Was I hopeful that he would endure─

Or was it just anxiety?

Even so, I let out a sigh of relief.

“In the future─ I’m counting on you, partner.”

I whispered with a gentle face as I poked his cheek a couple of times.

Too bad Rensuke did not see it.

†.

“So, what are your plans for today?”

“I’ll look around for a person with magical power or other magical species. It won’t be that easy to find them, though. But even if I do find one, don’t worry, I won’t try to fight them.”

“What should I do? My shoulder is completely healed. I can consider this as the end of the recovery phase, right?”

When I woke up, the flesh on my shoulder had somehow regained its original shape as if it had been raised up from the inside, and now it was indistinguishable from its normal state. There was almost no pain.

“Oh, that’s good news. However, you can’t move in the daytime.”

“No, I─”

Sheena pressed her finger against my mouth, blocking my rebuttal.

“For the time being, you should do what you always do. It’s a good thing I don’t have a family register, but you do. I don’t want you to attract attention when we’re working together. That way, I can keep moving without worries.”

“You’re saying you don’t want me to be a runaway or a missing person… or a criminal and have the police looking for me.”

“Yeah, that’s rightー.”

There was also the matter of that yakuza man. He was a very bad man who was involved in drug trafficking, and since it was Slime who actually did the dirty work, we didn’t think too much about it… but we were undoubtedly important witnesses. It wasn’t surprising that the police were looking for us based on our traces. It was a good idea not to stand out too much.

“So we’ll stay separate during the day. We should try not to make any flashy moves.”

I understood the logic behind it, but honestly, I don’t like it. I didn’t want to be separated from her.

Sheena smiled wryly, probably because she could tell what I was thinking.

“Don’t worry. I’ll pick you up if you need anything. I can always find you no matter where you are, because you’re my partner.”

I detected no dishonesty in her words. I’d been watching her since we met, I was able to read her. I felt a little more relieved.

“You and I are already partners in life, you know. I can’ t let another person become my partner. I will need a lot more help from you in the future.”

“Then… I understand”

“Okay. Are we done talking? Well, I guess I better get going.”

Sheena turned with a light step and put on her shoes at the door.

“Then, see you later.”

After making a joking gesture of salute, she opened the door and began to leave.

With her back to me─

‘Sheena’, I couldn’t help but call out to her.

“Hm?”

She took half a step into the hallway, and then turned around.

Beautiful brown skin illuminated by the morning sun. The way she carried herself was devilishly aloof, and her gaze was confident, as if there was nothing she was afraid of. Her lightly pigmented hair shone with a mysterious color in the clear morning air, swaying in the breeze of the outside world.

She stood as the sunlight filtered through the trees and landed on her.

The image of her burned into my mind, and I forgot the words I was going to say.

“… It’s nothing.”

Sheena’s mouth pouted lightly.

“I thought you were going to say something exciting to me just before we parted. And here I thought that Rensuke was going to give me a surprise… Well, goodbye.”

The door closed.

I exhaled softly as the remainder of her scent was completely lost before my eyes.

I lifted and stared at the palm of my hand.

I become aware of the regenerated flesh’s weight on my shoulder.

I remembered the sound of the last word she had said to me, “goodbye”.

To tell the truth─ there was still something I needed to ask her.

The explanation she had given me so far was still insufficient.

It was only natural to ask. If it had been anyone other than her, I would have asked without hesitation. I would not have let them go until I heard the answer.

─Treeman. Family members. Partners. A transformed body.

How long will my body stay like this? Will it eventually return to normal? Etc.

But these weren’t the questions that I had wanted to ask just now.

So I didn’t ask.

Because the question seemed too tactless and meaningless in front of her disappearing figure in the morning light.

Or maybe because I was afraid to ask her….

For how long will I be able to stay with you?