I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

18 – 18. Nostalgic Memories

A wolf with rough and nimble legs.

A lion with strong, strong claws.

The monsters were dangerous and powerful enough to require several knights to subdue each one.

It is impossible to tame them through education, and according to what is known to the public, they can only be controlled with the special powers of Dark Elves.

If normal elves can control the plants in the forest, dark elves can tame the monsters in the forest.

If done well, you will be able to interact with other races more than elves.

No matter what race, even demons, monsters were a nuisance to the world.

However, the Dark Elves refused to interact with other races.

Rejecting humans as well as elves almost like them, they cultivated their own world.

Of course, some Dark Elves or mixed races who have escaped from some groups will entrust themselves to other races, but it is said that there are only a few of them, and most of them cannot adapt well to society.

Because dark elves are often ostracized.

Even if they have beautiful looks and rare abilities similar to elves.

No matter how the individual himself lived and what he thought, the Dark Elves themselves had lived a brutal predatory life, so it was like a guilt-by-association for the race itself.

“Looks like you went out for a walk with your pet?”

“Chew that bastard’s head off!”

However, this demon had no thoughts about such a dark elf.

In the first place, they didn’t even feel the value of distinguishing them from elves.

In the end, there was no difference between elves and dark elves and arrogant dwarves who mistakenly thought they were special.

“Sit down.”

Before the monsters completely attacked him, the demon stood still and said with a smile.

“What are you doing?!”

The Dark Elves are greatly taken aback by the scene that followed.

“Why are you following the words of that demon?! You stupid monsters! Bite that bastard by the nape of the neck right now!”

I barely uttered a single word to sit down, but it was because the monsters suddenly obeyed the demons.

Just 5 seconds ago, the monsters who were trying to eat the heads of demons quietly put their buttocks on the floor.

“Yes, nice… A little different breed than the kids in my forest? It must be a relative.”

A demon who caresses the monsters in front of him with a kind and warm hand.

“The monsters got scared…?”

But on the other hand, the petted monster couldn’t do that.

On the outside, it looked like a strong monster, but in reality, it was terrified and shaking.

Of course, since monsters are creatures, it is natural to be afraid.

But no matter how strong the demons were from birth, there was a problem with all the monsters of that size getting scared and not following the orders of the Dark Elves.

In the first place, it is the power of the Dark Elves that controls the mind, so how could they be frightened?

“You shouldn’t treat monsters like that, you should be kind and gentle like me. Look, how calm you are.”

I don’t know where he is kind and gentle, but one thing is clear.

That demon is by no means an ordinary demon.

At first, I thought it was just a stray soldier from the ruined Demon King’s army, but now that I look at it, the magic I see with my eyes tells me that it’s not an ordinary demon.

I should have noticed that sooner if possible.

For example, right at the moment the demons appeared.

However, I forgot to check even such a basic thing because that demon touched the Dark Elves’ wrath.

The dark elves took a step back in panic.

If you picked the wrong opponent, it was right to retreat now. There was no need to fight here for nothing.

Bye-!

“…Where are you going?”

Of course, that is only when retreat is possible.

Cracks begin to form in the ground centered on the demons, and the black barrier surrounding the ruins reveals its shape.

“I can’t believe there’s a barrier all over this place-“

“I tried to reach out kindly and talk to you first, but you guys didn’t. Should I be kind enough to let you run away?”

The demons are approaching. It is impossible to escape.

I already recognized in my head that the Dark Elves themselves were like beasts caught in a death trap.

“For once, tell me why I have to let you go, because if you make me understand, I will let you escape.”

That wasn’t meant to be sent alive either.

It is only possible to run away.

It was nothing more than allowing a desperate mouse to die.

“You guys must have liked this method too, right?”

It was clear that the demons would probably chase after them like ghosts in about a minute after they let them go.

Asmodian eyes looking at the Dark Elves were cold.

The golden eyes, which contained nothing, seemed to swallow everything they looked at.

“Alfred, wait a minute.”

But suddenly, the demon’s eyes changed.

“Huh? Why, do you have something to do?”

The reason seems to be that a human woman came out of hiding calling her demons.

The light in the eyes that felt fear just by looking at them disappears and they change to a somewhat normal appearance.

‘No, what did the human woman call that demon?’

The demon’s name is Alfred.

‘Damn it in this world.’

The name of the notorious Satan who openly kidnapped the chieftain’s daughter while subjugating the elite Dark Elves by force in the past.

It was an evil demon tribe widely known to humans and elves as well as Dark Elves, to the extent that once its notoriety reached a certain level, it stopped telling a crying child that Satan was coming.

Did they, after all, touch such a demon?

‘No, in the first place, we were chasing human traces, but that demon appeared out of nowhere.’

For some reason, the dark elves started to feel unfair.

Why did such a demon have to be here right now?

“The pattern on their clothes matches the shape of the remains of the ruins. Maybe the Dark Elves know information about this place.”

The words of a human woman are natural.

This is because it was the sanctuary of the ancestors of the Dark Elves, who were strictly forbidden to enter.

†††

“Aha, so this is the temple of your ancestors. In other words, it is like a sanctuary.”

“…Alfred, do we really have to do this?”

Arcel was embarrassed next to Alfred, her face dyed red and unable to lift her head.

“Huh? Is there something wrong?”

This was due to Alfred’s subsequent disposition after capturing the Dark Elf.

“Well, I would say, but this seems a bit like it.”

“But you might run away, don’t you humans tell you to keep the leash on the prisoners you captured in war?”

“Yeah, but… That’s just a metaphor. I’m not really asking you to put it on a leash.”

Alfred tied a Dark Elf’s hands, tied him up to his leash, and made him crawl on all fours as if walking a dog.

“And why don’t you hold the leash and let me hold it?”

I even gave that leash to Arcel.

There was a reason why Arcel was shy.

“You never know when or where something will happen, right? So I have to have my hands empty.”

Anyway, that Dark Elf is the one who ordered the monsters to kill Alfred a while ago, and instead of sparing the lives of himself and his comrades, he made them explain the ruins.

-Rather burn me to death! What do you think of me, you wicked Satan!

-Then I’ll burn you to death right away, because I also have a stake and a torch in my pocket.-

-…Please fasten your neck and leash.-

Of course, the first time he tried to put on a leash, he stubbornly refused, but when Alfred pulled out a torch with a burner from somewhere, he had no choice but to put on a leash.

In addition, something unknown magic was engraved on the leash.

Maybe that’s why the Dark Elves, who didn’t want to be on a leash until the end, became docile after putting it on.

It’s just suspicious.

“Besides, that leash was originally bought for you, so don’t worry. Once you fill it up, I have no choice but to follow your orders on the leash.”

“Wait, you just put me on a leash…?”

“Just kidding.”

Arcel was a little worried about whether he really wanted to be with Alfred.

Of course, since Arcel had nowhere to go, she had no other options, but this time she was genuinely worried.

Perhaps, just like in the past, she herself is being mistreated again.

Arcel suddenly recalled many memories from her past.

For example, Alfred manages to get the princess he was kidnapping back and is running with him, but in fact, Alfred, who was not a princess, was disguised as a princess.

-Oh, hero? Aren’t you hugging people too roughly?

-Sorry Princess. But never know when that satan will come after you… Alfred?!-

Or Alfred using the princess as bait to lure him into a cave where thousands of monsters live.

-This is a giant ant nest, but once an intruder enters, they never return alive. Cheer up! I’ll praise you the next time I meet you alive!

-Alfred…! Next time we meet, I will definitely slit your head!-

At that time, even after cutting down all the monsters, the resentment did not go away.

Especially after that day, Arcel suffered from insomnia because he kept having nightmares about being caught by ants.

Then I saw the current Alfred walking with a big smile on his face.

Strangely, his hand holding her leash trembled.

This was not a trembling caused by fear, but a trembling caused by forgotten rage.

Wouldn’t it be the wisest decision to make here to let Alfred loose his leash here?

Arsel looked at the leash that tied the dark elf.

“Ah, but I know that only you can solve it. If the leash is too tight, you can make it a bit looser.”

But Alfred was very meticulous about that part as well.

It’s not that I was teased by Alfred in the past for nothing.

It is true that I am grateful to him, but thinking about the old days gave me a strange feeling.

“By the way, weren’t all the Dark Elves that were around here kicked out before? But why did the dark elves come here again?”

“Come to think of it… Why did you guys come back here? Didn’t the hero of the past kick you out?”

In the past, the Dark Elves used this place as a base and plundered nearby villages and travelers passing by.

So in the end, the warriors mobilized and subdued them, and the Dark Elves were greatly defeated and fled.

Of course, for safety reasons, I didn’t go near the spring of Hylas, but the Dark Elves are also dangerous.

Arsel knew that the dark elves left the spring of Hylas and left for another place.

But I wonder if the Dark Elves have come back to this place that was once taken away by humans.

It was because there were probably other bases suitable for them.

“…We are looking for a place to evacuate our fellow countrymen who fled from their hometown due to the rebellion. But since the humans were suddenly catching elves at random, we had no choice but to come to a place out of sight of humans.”

“Dark elves…? But dark elves aren’t elves, are they? Besides, did you guys have a hometown?”

Arsel was surprised to hear the Dark Elf’s explanation.

I couldn’t even imagine that the humans would even capture the dark elves.

Of course, it was the case in the past that most Dark Elves were regarded as bandits and captured, but I didn’t think they would be in the same situation as the current Elves.

“It’s not like that. You humans and young elves identify these elves as dark elves, but in the past 500 years or so, everyone just called them elves.”

Alfred denied such Arsel.

Elfs and dark elves were originally not distinct.

“We also lived in the same hometown in the past. However, he left his hometown on his own when the conflict between his own people became more frequent.”

“Ah… I see. Mi, sorry But does that mean that there are elves who have fled from their hometown in this forest?”

“Not all. There are only some refugees.”

But that made me even more suspicious.

Elves and dark elves don’t get along very well.

Beyond being bad, I was close to becoming an enemy.

In the past, there was even a war between killing each other, so I didn’t know why the Dark Elves helped the Elves.

“The disputes of the past are not important now. If this rebellion goes wrong, the race of elves might be annihilated. Especially since the rebels are said to have reached the point of killing and killing each other. We need to put past grudges aside for a while.”

Hearing those words, Arcel remembered the past again.

-You’re saying you’re going to leave all of the Demon King’s opponents to us right now?! Are you trying to watch from behind?!

-You’re funny! Shouldn’t we say thank you just for providing us with food? It wasn’t this side that was exposed to the demon lord, it was that side!

A few years ago, a meeting held by the lords of each region when confronting the demon army head-on.

You don’t know when the Demon King’s army might attack, and even in the situation where several kingdoms have already fallen, their fights, big and small, for each other’s benefit did not end.

The more so, only the soldiers in the front suffered great damage.

Be on the defensive because reinforcements did not arrive in time, or thousands of people starved to death because food was not sent.

The memory of that time is still vivid because it was Arcel who watched with his own eyes while fighting alongside them on the frontlines.

“Ha…”

Is that why? A sudden laugh came out.

The Dark Elves, who harassed and plundered the weak, directly stepped forward and cooperated with the Elves in the face of a racial crisis, but it was because they only pursued each other’s interests until the end.

If the king of the demons hadn’t fallen, mankind might have perished.

How many soldiers died because of that bastard’s interests.

How many fathers and children’s parents have died.

“First of all, your friend’s work is more urgent, so let’s just listen to the situation and head to the spring of Hylas. It would be better not to contact elves as much as possible.”

“Oh, I see. That’s right… We’ve been to Hylas’ Spring on business…”

Arsel decided to follow Alfred to hear more about the Dark Elves.