Raising the Elf’s Genius Slayer

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Chapter

Yonia screamed as soon as she regained her senses. This was just a few minutes after Enok had cast a Clean Magic on her and laid her down on the bed in the Magic Tower.

“Hey────!! Enok────!!!”

It was no joke; it almost pierced my eardrums. Enok looked at her with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you really insane!?”

Yonia could not calm her rage at all. The horrifyingly splendid eruption of power still vivid in her mind. If she had been swept away by it, she would have vanished without a trace.

“Why are you so reckless!? Don’t you care about your life!?”

“It’s precious, isn’t it?”

With a look that suggested it was a given, Yonia lost her grip on reason.

“What the hell…!”

A delightful banquet of skilled elven curse words. Enok, who had memorized them well, patted Yonia’s shoulder lightly.

“Calm down. They say it’s not good to get angry.”

“Do I look calm!?”

Yonia shouted, puffing up her cheeks.

“Eri! Are you listening!”

[Yes.]

Like it had been waiting for its cue, Eri popped out from Enok’s chest and hopped onto Yonia’s shoulder. Enok instinctively felt it had become 2 against 1.

“Do you think this makes any sense? Someone who doesn’t care about their own life would even dare to do that!?”

[Of course it doesn’t make sense! Dad needs to be more cautious!]

“Right!?”

[Yes!]

The elf and the spirit united to glare at Enok. He scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“Uh… I don’t want to die either.”

With her teeth clenched, Yonia managed to take a deep breath. And then, *huff…* she let out a big exhale to calm her mind.

“I’m not joking. I’m seriously asking you. You really have no interest in your own life, do you?”

“Hmm…”

“That’s a sickness. A mental illness. All solutions to problems start by realizing that, haven’t you heard?”

I had heard of it. From Rionne. Also from the story she told about the past. Wasn’t it something she said to her father too?

But Enok had something to say too.

“I’m special.”

“…What?”

“So it’s fine. Just because I’m different doesn’t mean it’s a sickness. If I think that way, then that’s just how it is.”

“You really…”

Yonia frowned. On her shoulder, Eri lifted off the ground. Enok and Eri’s gazes met. Eri spoke.

[Dad. Please think about it seriously at least once. Everyone is worried about you. Me, Yonia, Undine, and… Mom too.]

“……”

[If you get hurt, everyone will be sad.]

“…I know.”

I remember Rionne’s worries. I remember the image of her despair in those blurry memories. I recall her when she lost control and raged.

“So I’m being careful. Sometimes I forget, but.”

I don’t want to die. That’s the truth. It would be a regret to die without achieving what I want.

But it’s also an unavoidable fact. After all, I was born with the fate of Heavenly Death. A fate of ending everything, even tearing the very sky apart.

Does that ‘everything’ include myself? Enok often wondered.

However, what Eri wanted to say was far beyond that.

[Also, it seems like you’re trying to find all meaning in Mom. You don’t really care much for elves who exalt you as superior, do you?]

“Well, maybe a little.”

There is an unbridgeable wall between elves and humans. That thought was without any lie.

[…That’s not what I meant, and you know it. You have to live your own life. Everything is about Rionne, Rionne. Mom isn’t living Dad’s life for you.]

“……”

Yonia, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke up.

“You’ve mentioned that you were engaged to Rionne once. Do you love Rionne?”

She packed her words onto the tip of her tongue and waited. A love that would burn oneself would not be what Rionne desires either. Love isn’t like that. You must stand firm yourself to be able to give love. She had much to say.

“Love…,”

And so Enok’s eyes sank.

“…What is love?”

When asked the reverse question, he couldn’t help but feel a little flustered. But it wasn’t a question he couldn’t answer.

“What is it? If they’re not around, you miss them, you keep thinking about them, and you want to take care of them, that kind of thing.”

He had never experienced it, so he couldn’t explain it well.

When Yonia stared at Enok, he continued.

“What’s the difference between that and friendship? A close friend could think that way too.”

“Ugh, you don’t think about kissing your friends or anything, right?”

“That’s just lust.”

Enok’s expression was cold as he spat that out. He was usually close to expressionless, but this was sharper than usual.

Yonia swallowed her pride internally.

‘Is there some bad memory surrounding this…?’

It felt like she had touched a sore spot. She took a step back.

“Anyway, if you’re going to do something like that again, at least let me know. I might get endangered too.”

“Okay.”

Nodding, Enok left the room. Yonia, who was nervously rolling her eyes, turned to look at Eri. The spirit also seemed to have a lot on her mind.

“…I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”

[No. Probably not.]

“…Well, that’s good then.”

[Haaa…]

With a sigh, Eri’s body scattered into ki, seemingly returning to Enok’s side.

“Really, I didn’t say anything wrong…?”

Yonia groaned.

*

Enok walked through the hallway of the Magic Tower, now deep in thought. It was a topic he often contemplated.

‘Why does Rionne cherish me so much?’

It was hard not to be curious. She had lived for a long time; she had once gone on adventures too. Hadn’t she met anyone in a similar position to him during all that time?

Just because he was Heavenly Death? Because he was talented? Was it simply because of that?

“Tsk.”

That was an unsettling factor. It was a matter he couldn’t be sure of and, honestly, a matter he didn’t want to dig too deep into.

Enok stepped out of the Magic Tower and stood on the plains outside. A hideous pit, so deep that even the blazing sunlight couldn’t reach the bottom, was a mark left by Enok himself. Just like his heart, which he couldn’t bear to look into.

Boom-!

As he stomped his foot, the ground transformed into plasma, rising around him.

[Dad.]

He knew. She was telling him to be careful. Enok nodded at Eri, who had returned, and quietly dealt with the plasma.

His training, however, remained perilously dangerous.

*

Enok hadn’t only received from Iris. According to her wishes, he had also learned several magic spells to assist in experiments.

“Oooh…! Finally, the accurate wave equation…!”

“With this, quantum magic will progress several fold! Thank you!”

Amidst the commotion of excited mages, Yonia slyly gauged Enok’s mood. Did it seem like he had cheered up? She confidently walked over to him and spoke.

“What’s up?”

“Hmm? Oh, just.”

Noticing his usual blank expression, Yonia let out a sigh of relief. At that moment, Iris approached them with purpose.

“I have something to say for a moment.”

With her gesture, Enok and Yonia glanced at each other. Yonia whispered softly.

“…Isn’t it because you broke all the decorations in front of the castle?”

“Ah.”

That made sense. Yet, she boldly led them into a quiet room.

“I thought you might know this already.”

Iris began her explanation, calmly unfolding her words.

“Almost certainly, Haken Welt will come after you.”

“Yeah?”

Enok tilted his head, never having thought of that. Iris sighed, now accustomed to the reaction, and explained further.

“You guys… or rather, Enok, you did. Anyway, Adolf and Gray are both higher-ups in Haken Welt.”

“So?”

“Well, naturally, Haken Welt will come after you. Whether for revenge, or for prestige. And those guys are quite pragmatic. There’s a possibility that a top-ranking officer could come out this time.”

Adolf and Gray possessed considerable power. But power is relative. Among the higher-ups of Haken Welt, they ranked low.

Enok wasn’t lacking in strength, but he wasn’t quite at the level where he could take on a top officer yet. If they crossed paths, it would mean certain defeat. That wasn’t good.

“Of course, while you’re here, you can relax. They aren’t insane enough to wage war on the Magic Tower.”

Though this Magic Tower was just a branch, the Empire had countless Magic Towers. Their combined strength was nothing to scoff at, but there was one force that Haken Welt would clearly be wary of.

The master of all Magic Towers, the Great Mage Rondalf Magicion.

“Magicion?”

“Oh, what? You know about that much?”

Iris nodded in surprise.

“Father of the mages, descendant of Pagandal Magicion.”

“That’s the one who created that Circle, right?”

“Right.”

“I remember hearing that he was an elf.”

Enok firmly recalled that Rionne had taught him that Pagandal Magicion was an elf.

“Correct. However, one of Pagandal Magicion’s descendants ended up marrying a human.”

“Oh.”

Interest sparked in Enok’s eyes. He urged Iris to tell more with his gaze, and she wore a wry smile.

“I don’t know the details either. It was too long ago.”

“Shanak Magicion.”

Yonia was the one who spoke up. When Enok looked at her, she opened her mouth with a somewhat bitter expression.

“She’s an elf who went mad from loving a human.”

“…Why?”

“Why else? Because of lifespan. What would it feel like to watch your beloved wife, your children, your grandchildren, all grow old and die before your very eyes?”

Yonia gazed deeply at Enok, more intensely than usual.

“So elves avoid getting entangled with humans as much as possible. Their lifespans are just too short.”

“……”

“Almost none of the elves who have loved humans have reached a happy ending. For elves, a partner is half of their soul. A fleeting flame ignited in a moment during an incredibly long lifespan burns away the rest of their life.”

Marriage among humans is merely a formality. However, marriage among elves is different. It’s literally an act of binding souls. They entrust half of their soul to their partner, receiving half of their partner’s soul in return.

If such a partner dies? It’s as if they had lost half of their soul. The half-soul they had received from their partner also departs to the afterlife, leaving the elf behind in eternal sorrow that can never be filled.

“Do you get it?”

Yonia’s heavy gaze pressed down on Enok’s shoulder. What she wanted to convey wasn’t anything different.

“In your case, you won’t have to worry about lifespan. The common thread among elves who loved humans without reaching a tragic ending is that they all loved talented humans.”

“Exceeding limits…”

Once they surpass the realm, the lifespans of humans and elves aren’t that different. In fact, they can even end up having a longer lifespan than elves who fail to transcend.

Yonia hadn’t spent much time looking at Enok, but she had a vague understanding of his talent. Given some time, he would surely overcome his limits.

“Do you know what I’m trying to say?”

“…You’re telling me to take care of myself. It hasn’t even been long since you said that.”

“Because I feel like you wouldn’t listen otherwise. If you really care about Rionne, you need to be careful.”

Yonia scoffed dismissively. But Enok was more intrigued by something else.

“So, what happened to that Shanak Magicion elf?”

At that question, Yonia rolled her eyes. A moment of contemplation passed before she finally spoke.

“God of Life and Death. Ever heard of it?”

It was a name Enok had never heard before. He frowned when suddenly, a reaction came from elsewhere.

“Th-the God of Life and Death…!?”

Iris’s eyes widened in shock.

“The God of Life and Death was a Magicion!?”