Chapter 35

**Overall Daily Ranking 12th! Overall Weekly Ranking 3rd!**

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Hildegarde, who had completely let her guard down around Mina, was sitting contentedly with the girl on her lap.

(_Does she look like a girl who just got the stuffed animal she wanted, or is it just me?_)

Leda's heart warmed at the cute side of the gray elf.

"…Do you perhaps treat me like a little girl, just like Mina?"

"Wh-What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"Your eyes say it all."

"…It's just your imagination. Yeah."

"Really? It seems suspicious…."

Hildegarde's apparent age is at most fourteen or fifteen.

It's understandable for a man in his thirties to treat her like a child.

Even if Leda is much younger in actual age, that doesn't change anything.

(_It's hard to treat someone who looks like a child as an adult._)

If she looked like a fully grown adult like Klaus, it would be easier to act appropriately.

However, Hildegarde's appearance and even her small gestures make her look like a girl not much older than Mina.

"…Well, I've been treated like a child for a long time, so I've given up… but I'm still dissatisfied!"

"Oh, you're treated the same way in the village too?"

"I'm even slower to grow than other slow-growing elves. Seriously. I'm supposed to be the village's top warrior. It's nice to be doted on, but I need more respect!"

It seems the elves treat Hildegarde similarly to how Leda does.

The elf girl pouted, expressing her dissatisfaction, but her gestures were still childlike and endearing.

"By the way, I'm three hundred and sixteen years old. To me, someone who has only lived for about thirty years is still a child."

"Hilde-nee is amazing! You've lived for so long?"

"Heh, heh. You can show more respect, you know? But for elves, three hundred is still quite young. The village elder is probably around a thousand years old."

"…A thousand!?"

"Wow!"

To be honest, for humans who can only live for about a hundred years, living ten times that long is unimaginable.

Even Hildegarde's three hundred years feels incredibly long.

"There's another elf village about a month's walk away. I've heard their elder has lived for two thousand years, though I don't know if it's true."

"I don't even understand. A thousand or two thousand years is unimaginable."

"Elves' lifespans are not that different from humans. Days pass by in a flash. I just wish those days could be good ones."

As they continued their light-hearted conversation, Leda had a question.

Hildegarde was initially wary of humans like Leda, but she didn't show any clear hostility or dislike.

Even the village elder initially showed strong wariness and a bit of hostility.

Despite being gruff, she had thanked them and now doted on Mina like a little sister.

Leda didn't know the detailed reasons why elves disliked humans.

(_I've heard that humans tried to kidnap elves._)

"Hey, Hilde."

"Um?"

"Can I ask why your people, the elves, dislike humans?"

"…Hmm. Even though you are humans and benefactors of the village, has anyone been rude to you?"

"No, no, don't misunderstand. Everyone has been nice. There was some initial wariness, but that's all."

"That's good. I don't want to make our benefactors uncomfortable. Hmm, but the reasons for disliking humans… It's not a pleasant story, you know?"

"Still, I'd like to hear it. I want to know."

"Leda, you are different. You could just ignore the elves' affairs."

To be honest, Leda herself wondered what she would gain by getting involved.

She hadn't done anything to the elves, nor had they done anything to her.

She hadn't been made uncomfortable; in fact, they had been kind to her.

The elves she had met were initially wary of humans, and some even seemed to dislike them, but nothing had actually happened.

"The main reason our race, the elves, dislike humans is that humans have tried to kidnap elves since ancient times."

"…I see."

"Although it has decreased in recent times, some of our kind have been forcibly kidnapped and made into slaves. We have raided towns many times to rescue them, but some could not be saved."

Elves are universally beautiful.

Hildegarde, standing before her, is no exception.

Despite her youthful appearance, she possesses breathtaking beauty.

Even without twisted desires, there are those who would not mind her youth.

She is that alluring.

"Originally, there was some interaction with humans. However, humans fight unnecessarily. Elves have been dragged into wars and had our forests burned. Gradually, we decided to keep our distance from humans. We set up barriers in the forest and used teleportation magic to prevent humans from knowing the location of our village. Before we knew it, the generations of humans had changed, and friendly relations had disappeared."

Now, they only go to nearby towns to buy supplies while hiding their true identities.

Elves make a living through hunting and weaving.

They hunt for food in the forest and weave their own clothes.

They can also make medicine from herbs they gather in the forest.

Unlike humans, they don't need money. They live self-sufficiently.

"Now, we have no real relationship with humans. The potion purchase this time was probably the first interaction with humans in a long time. Some elves complain that humans are taking advantage of us, which is true to some extent. Perhaps it's also because they have been hearing bad things about humans since their grandparents' generation."

I'm sure the humans who have harmed the village are no longer alive.

I want to believe that not all humans are like the merchants who take advantage of the elves.

"We elves don't like humans, but we don't hate them either. Humans have kidnapped elves, burned forests, and dragged us into wars. It's right to be wary of them. However…"

"…However?"

"Sometimes, elves become interested in such humans. Some even wish to live in human society."

"That's understandable, isn't it?"

To put it bluntly, there will always be those who are called oddballs.

"To my knowledge, about ten elves have left the village. But one of them was different."

"How so?"

"First, let me say that I don't like humans, but I don't hate the entire race. This elf fell in love with a human and decided to live as a couple."

"Whoa… That's…"

It might be more than just being an oddball.

Half-elves, who are half-human and half-elf, do exist, but they are rare.

Leda has only heard about them in stories, just like the elves.

"Furthermore, that elf was my sister."

"Huh?"

"In other words, my sister left the village and eloped with a human man! The biggest reason I can't like humans is because of my sister!"