novel[22nd Round] The Day You Were Born
| ← Ch.343 | Ch.345 → |
"Are the half-breeds so great that even Noebius couldn't resist them?"
Fsuh!
After leaving the angels' city, I immediately returned to Festival, constricting space to shorten my travel time.
The news I received was still shocking to me.
Of course, if the angels lied to me, they would pay for it!
But if it was true...
I needed to be on the lookout too.
"Did the death of some dragon shock you that much, Demon Lord?"
"He's not just some dragon. He's special."
"Ah, right. He's Demon Lord Kang Han Soo's friend. I understand now. You're grieving..."
"That's not it."
That was a touching story, but his death itself didn't matter.
Weaklings could never be my friend in the first place.
Despite that, someone was able to kill him.
"Was he really that outstanding?"
"When I destroyed the planet Fantasy, he remained unharmed and even challenged me."
"Oh yes. Ssosiel mentioned that. She never stops showing off her incredible husband."
"Then you can roughly imagine how strong Noebius is."
"Well ... I wasn't very impressed because I lived in a different environment. I grew up listening to news about people destroying stars."
That made sense.
If one kept hearing news about stars being decimated by others from a young age, it would become so normalized that it wouldn't be much different from traffic accidents on Earth in terms of impact.
Anyway...
"Let's check the city hall where he used to hang out."
The world of Fantasy had evolved at a very fast pace since I distributed flush toilets.
After two millennia, its topography had changed so much that I couldn't recognize it, but Festival remained almost the same.
However...
A lot of young elves now roamed its streets. It felt like a baby boom happened here 100 years ago.
And starting early evening, suspicious sounds often echoed from the houses in the city.
"Oh yeah, baby~"
"I love you! Oh!"
"I love you too!"
"Agghhhnn!"
Average individuals wouldn't be able to hear them since a thin noise-insulating wall blocked such sounds, but even Hanjo's skills would be enough to hear the cheerful claps that came with them.
Chpok! Chpok! Chpok! Chpok!
That was the voice of Mother Nature, telling the tale of new life being born.
"Wow, elves are as active here as humans are..."
Hanjo, whose face flushed, seemed unable to decide where to direct her gaze.
"Yes, they are well settled here."
A tyrannical monarchy was a very unstable political system.
Under such circumstances, the power of the monarch dictated the fate of the entire state.
Because of this, human dynasties couldn't last long. After all, not every offspring could become a great ruler.
But everything was different for elves.
If a Chaos Elf with eternal life proved themselves to be a competent monarch, their country would have endless progress and glory until some natural disaster destroyed it.
Of course, that didn't mean Elfheim was a perfect king.
I noticed a poster on the wall of one of the houses.
"Dear Citizens, Mayor Elfheim greets you. Make love diligently until you gain wonderful offspring. If you succeed, they will take care of you once you're old and frail. Prepare for old age now and be the first to show off to your neighbors. Thanks to my lovely granddaughters, every day is now full of happiness for me!"
As expected, they implemented a policy promoting childbearing, but there was no institutional support for it other than public relations.
The campaign itself could hardly be called normal, though. All Elfheim did was brag to the townspeople about his granddaughters.
What was even more absurd than that was that it worked.
"My God! This is the first time in my life that I've seen such a policy. The mayor encourages competition to increase the birth rate of their species..."
"At least, he doesn't force it."
The city hall building was as I remembered it.
Elfheim usually sat on the second floor by the window and looked at the breasts of women passing by.
But he wasn't there today.
We had to look around.
I jumped up and looked through the second-floor window.
"Demon Lord, there's no one there at all, let alone the mayor."
"Hmm..." The room didn't look deserted.
On the table was a map of Festival, with lines drawn using crayons symbolizing boundaries.
Some territories or countries were marked with a big red X.
At first glance, one might think that this was a military headquarters and not the mayor's office.
But with crayons and scrapbooks scattered all over the place, it felt like a simple childish joke.
Now what?
"Is it worth going in search of him?"
"You don't need to search for him."
I didn't attack the one who suddenly answered me.
I knew her, after all.
The married woman who accompanied me some time ago appeared once more.
Shadow A.
"You're early, Sir Hero. I thought you'd only show up a few months after finding Lanuvel."
"And your outfit has changed a lot in such a short time."
Her dress was modest, but her prominent breasts were clearly accentuated.
"Does it suit me?"
"Don't ask me."
It wasn't just her outfit that had changed.
Shadow A's expression, now that she had become a normal non-teacher elf, was a mixture of happiness and anxiety.
"You came here to meet Elfheim, right?"
"Yes. Where is he?"
"He's at home. He is so obsessed with his granddaughters that he pays almost no attention even to his wife and daughter."
***
One man and two girls were sitting on a soft sofa in front of the window, from where there was a beautiful view of the emerald lake, colored with the orange reflection of the sunset.
The young-looking guy had pretty grown-up girls huddled on his sides. It smelled of crime, but that wasn't the case.
"Grandpa, I can't sleep."
These three belonged to the same family.
"Haha! Old stories are the best for situations like this!"
"It can't be... Again?"
"My dear granddaughter Selenis, on the day you were born, the very forests of Festival whispered your name to me."
"What about me, Grandpa?"
"Haha! My dear granddaughter Selvenus, the day you were born, I danced non-stop."
"Lies. Last time you said you danced when my older sister was born."
"Selenis, Selvenus, listen carefully. You two are unprecedented miracles. For our people, any newborn is an unthinkable jewel, but your mother overcame all the laws of nature. She prayed every day for a successful birth and felt delighted when Selenis was born healthy. But after her, Selvenus appeared. You two cried with each other. Twins. That was truly a miracle. All the elves blessed you all night, chanting your names.
(Omitted) I prayed to the Earth Spirit King to give you strength, the Fire Spirit King to give you courage, the Wind Spirit King to give you agility, and the Water Spirit King to give you flexibility. I then prayed to the Soul Spirit King for him to brainwash all the creatures of Festival and make everyone love you. Moreover... Ah! My beautiful treasures have already fallen asleep. I hope you two have sweet dreams."
... I almost fell asleep listening to him myself.
But I didn't interrupt him since Elfheim seemed very attached to his granddaughters.
Their house was much larger than before. The number of its residents increased from two to four, so it was only natural for them to do some renovations.
I slowly made my way into it.
Elfheim, who was hugging his sleeping granddaughters, looked at me.
But he wasn't surprised. He was expecting my visit from the moment Shadow A returned.
He didn't say anything, not wanting to wake his granddaughters up, and simply pointed to the second floor.
I examined the two girls who killed Noebius.
? Race: Wonder Elf
? Level: 999+
? Job: Goddess of War (Battle → Damage ↑)
? Skills: Spirit MAX, Genius MAX, Gifted MAX, Omnipotence MAX, Charm MAX, Earthquake MAX, Scarlet Flame MAX, Storm MAX, Tsunami MAX, Rage MAX, Blessing MAX, Immaturity MAX, Luck MAX, Infinity MAX, Chaos MAX, Absorption MAX, Love MAX, Courage MAX, Hope MAX, Slaughter MAX, Tracking MAX, Spine MAX, Vital Energy MAX, Immortality MAX...
? Status: Sleep, Blessing, Patronage
They had a whole bunch of fraudulent skills.
In principle, there were enough of them to make Z-rank skills, but they were too rare and useful to be used as a sacrifice for overcoming their limits.
But the absence of at least one or two Z-rank skills suggested they either didn't know how to overcome their limits or weren't interested in it.
In any case, even such skills weren't enough to defeat Noebius.
If so...
[Retribution]
[Sister]
[Elf]
Divine powers!
They weren't deities but Apostles of Gods.
However, the purity of their divine powers, borrowed from others, was extremely high. Their Retribution even instinctively made me have goosebumps.
That was it.
The absurd power that allowed the young elves to defeat Noebius himself!
" ... Let's talk about it later."
I didn't wake the young elves and went upstairs as Elfheim indicated.
Climbing the stairs, I saw a picture of Elf K with her daughters on the wall.
I had already guessed it from the moment I arrived here, but now I was certain who the girls' mother was.
Hanjo, who quietly followed me, whispered, "Demon Lord Kang Han Soo. Elfheim's granddaughters are pretty good for their young age, but they don't look strong enough to kill Noebius."
"That's how they look like for those who aren't deities."
"Ah..."
"It's best not to challenge them. I don't know the principle behind it, but their power can erase you in an instant."
"Is their strength that great?"
"I think so."
I didn't know which god endowed those innocent children with such dangerous powers, but they were probably determined to destroy the solar system.
Looking around the second floor, I noticed one common feature.
"Their father isn't in their family photos."
I had a passing thought about Elfheim and Elf K's relationship, but that wasn't the case.
He didn't touch her even when he was locked with her in the same space for many years. It would be weird if he suddenly did the opposite.
Then who was their father?
Their race "Wonder Elf" showed no signs of blood mixing. However, their precocious bodies still hinted that they were born from the union of a man and an elf.
My thoughts stopped the moment I saw Elf K entering the living room after cleaning the children's room.
Looking at her, I couldn't believe that she was a mother of two. She looked the same as before.
Had her prolactin failed to do its job?
For a couple of moments, the elf hesitated but was still the first to initiate a conversation.
"You really returned, Hero..."
"Yes, I have?"
"Thank you for the precious gift you left me."
"It's my pleasure."
"Could you give me another one?"
"... I'll think about it."
What gift were we talking about?
| ← Ch. 343 | Ch. 345 → |