Chapter 625: Chapter 608: Fah–?!

Author: Eguchi Ren

Eguchi Ren: It’s a day late, but at least it’s up now.

Gumihou: The chapter appears to have been written in a hurry, adjusted the details so that the scenes made more sense. Not going to note these because otherwise, the numbers are just going to just litter the entire chapter

“You know Elland, Jorgen?”

I was so shocked by this revelation that I jumped out of my chair. Although, in hindsight, it shouldn’t be that surprising considering how small the Elf (High or otherwise) population was. Not to mention, Elland-san was quite a… memorable character.

“Hm, from what I know, he’s not that well-liked in certain communities. He’s trained at my village before and is pretty good with a sword. I heard he joined a party called [Lightning Storm]…”

The Guild Master and I exchanged a look. Willem-san of all people should know what party Elland-san was from, right?

However, from the confused look on his face, I guess he must have forgotten or just could not remember at the moment.

“So, uh, you said that the Elland you know is an Adventurer from the [Lightning Storm] party?” I asked, “You’re, ah, you’re sure that you haven’t mistaken him for someone else?”

“Nah, back when I was active, [Lightning Storm] was a fairly popular party. He’s pretty famous since there aren’t that many Elves affiliated with Adventurer’s party back then.”

‘Back when he was active’? Just how long was that? Wait, didn’t he say that their group was stuck on the island for the last 300 years? Also, I thought regular Elves only live up to 300 or 400 years.

Which part of this is trustworthy?!

Ah, maybe they lived so long that they just mixed up the centuries…

“Ahem, the Elland we are speaking about is a Guild Master at Doran City…” I said, trying to gauge his reaction.

“Oh? Is that so? Well, ‘Elland’ is not that strange a name for Elves…” said Jorgen cautiously. “Um, could you tell me more about this… Guild Master Elland?”

“This… may take a while to explain…” I begin.

“Is that so?” Jorgen pulled up a chair and sat down resolutely. “I’m ready now.”

I sat down as well and started revealing the various things done by that dragon maniac Elf.

A long time later, I looked at Jorgen again.

He dropped his head into his hands after my second Elland anecdote, but now, he was draped over the chair, his head lolled back and the entire person had completely whited out.

He looked like the very definition of HP 0.

“J-just what is he doing? How could he- what is he doing as a Guild Master?!”

“Ahem, well, ah, not to pry but, may I know how you know Elland-san?” I asked. Although Elland’s exploits were pretty outrageous, Jorgen’s reaction appeared to be on the extreme side.

“I really don’t want to say anything after hearing all of that, but to be honest… he’s… a relative…”

“Fah…?! Wait, a r-relative?!”

“A-are you serious?!” Willem-san was also shocked.

“H-how?”

“He’s my older brother’s grandson…” said Jorgen.

“So… you’re like, his great-uncle?” asked Willem-san.

Jorgen gave us a pained look as he said, “To be fair, my brother is a bit of an oddball even among High Elves…”

“An oddball?”

“That’s right, he really, really loves the city life. I mean, we High Elves would occasionally visit the city, but we don’t tend to live there long-term. My brother would suddenly send a letter now and then, just when we nearly forgot about his existence. That’s how rare we see him…”

“Ahah…”

“Then, one day, he turned up at our village with a human girl.”

“A-a human girl?”

“That’s right, apparently he had been living as a carpenter somewhere and had gotten involved with a human girl. He just appeared and introduced her as his wife. His wife! Not that we have any prejudices against humans, but think of the lifespan difference!! When questioned further, it was apparent that he had just picked up a girl from some town and brought her to the village!!”

Jorgen sounded more outraged for the girl than his brother choosing to have a relationship with a human girl…

“Like, the whole village questioned his decision, asking him how he planned to live with the heartache of losing someone he loves due to a short lifespan, and do you know what that punk said?”

“Uh, no?”

“He said ‘You can’t choose who you fall in love with’, exactly in that condescending manner!!”

“Ah, I get why you would be annoyed,” I said as I nodded in a heartfelt manner.

“And then, and then, just 20 years later, my stupid brother returned to the village, crying and sobbing because his precious wife suddenly died due to an epidemic!”

“Ah.”

“Tch, he was inconsolable for years after that. However, each time we tried to introduce a nice High Elf girl to him, he treated us as though we were the annoyances! After that, just as suddenly as he had returned, he left the village again!!”

“I see…”

“The next time we heard from him was through a letter. Which said that he had married an Elf. A regular Elf…”

“That’s… better than a human, right?”

“She died before my brother, of course. Since an Elf’s lifespan is only half a High Elf’s lifespan.”

“My condolences…”

“Then, he got himself a second Elf wife.”

“… …” This brother sounds like quite the character.

“Anyway, my brother had a son with his second wife. Elland is the son of his second wife’s son.”

“Eh, ah, I-I see…”

Not really, but I’m not going to admit that.

“That aside, after my brother married his third wife, he left his son with us. By then, his son, my nephew, already had his own son. It was unclear who the mother was, probably another Elf or a human since it is difficult for High Elves to conceive. Ah, since you mention that Elland is still around, his other parent is most likely an Elf, considering how he is still in the living world.”

“So, uh, you already know Elland since he was a child?” I ventured since that was the only solid fact I could grasp.

“Haahhh, that’s right. Like I said, it is difficult for High Elves to conceive, so it was rare to have children running about the village. In a way, I supposed we spoilt him. He grew up well enough and even came back to visit when he was an adult. I must say, the last time he visited our village was during a Green Dragon subjugation.”

“So, a dragon subjugation…”

“Indeed,” said Jorgen grimly. “It took a whole team of High Elves three days and three nights to subjugate the dragon. I remember Elland being extremely moved by the event and… well…”

“Well…”

The three of us crossed our arms and sighed.

That was probably the start of Elland-san’s perversion.

“It had been mentioned by many that Elland is quite similar to my free-spirited older brother… but I guess we have truly spoilt him too much. I can’t believe he turned out this way… truly, I apologise for the trouble my family caused you…”

“No, no, I mean, it’s not really Jorgen’s fault, right? After all, it takes a village to raise a kid,” I said. “Um, that is…”

“Indeed, looks like our entire village is at fault for raising such a strange creature…”

“No, no,” I said lamely, trying my best not to blame him for anything.

“However, please rest assured.”

“Eh?”

Jorgen’s voice had gone from apologetic to determined.

“Since he is a family member, and since we are in Mukouda’s care. I shall make sure to crack him down to the root of this issue. Ha ha ha.”

“Uh, sure,” I said, feeling a bit weirded out by Jorgen’s eerily stiff ‘ha ha ha’.

I’m starting to feel a little sorry for Elland-san.

[Gumihou: Well, that was unexpected. Don’t get me wrong, the plot in this chapter is solid, the details were just a little all over the place.]

[1] Add/adjusted details

There were some inconsistent bits like how Jorgen said ‘he trained at my village’ and then Mukouda was like ‘how did you know him’

Gumihou: …didn’t he just explain the how about two paragraphs ago?