Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

Chapter 73: The elf king's wish (1)

"You're... The elf king?" I questioned, repeating his words.

"Yes, I most certainly am." He answered with a sweet smile.

"Nah, that's cap." I waved my hand in front of my face, making a 'no' motion.

"A bottle cap?" He tilted his head in confusion.

"No, I mean that's a lie," I explained, "the elf king should be surrounded by bodyguards and such. And yet, look at you, strolling here all by yourself and greeting four strangers so casually."

"On the contrary, why would I need protection if I'm the strongest elf alive?" He said with a polite smile on his face.

"Even the strongest of all has their weak moments." I retorted.

"True, but I have no care for such needless fear. If I die, then I die." He chuckled.

"...Elena didn't tell me that the elf king is a lunatic." I said to Jeanne, who looked shocked, confused, and ready to fight at the same time.

"My view is just a bit different. Does that make me a lunatic?" He questioned.

"Well, since you said you have no problem dying, mind dying for us?" I said as I picked up my rifle with shaking hands and aimed it at him.

"I wouldn't mind dying when my time comes, but it's not my time yet," he laughed mockingly, "do you seriously expect to kill me with that unsteady aim of yours?"

I said nothing and gripped my rifle harder, trying to stabilize my aim. That damn poison!

"Now, would all of you please relax? I've been waiting for a chance to converse with humans, you see," he giggled, "mind chatting with me for a bit?"

General Emilio pulled out his needles, but immediately stopped when he was about to throw them at the elf king. His needles had been cut in half without any of us noticing.

"Tch!" General Emilio cursed.

"Pardon me, it seems that I haven't made myself clear enough," Erenduill said, "what I mean was, let's have a rational conversation or you can just die here."

"What do you want?" I quickly asked before any of us could do anything rash again. Our target may have come to us oh-so-conveniently, but that didn't mean it was a good idea to rush in without thinking.

"My desire is simple. I want to express my sincerest gratitude to you humans." He grinned.

"...Jeanne, do elves not have psychiatrists?" I whispered to her. This dude seriously had a few screws loose. God of this world, truck-kun, whoever, couldn't you transmigrate a psychiatrist into an elf's body here? I thought it'd be a good investment.

"I've heard from your brother that humans did unpleasant things to your kin. Was that a lie, or are you the one lying to us?" Jeanne questioned Erenduill with a frown on her face.

"That was true, uncle Ioriell didn't lie!" Firiell answered the question instead.

"I see you've met my little rebellious brother," Erenduil smiled, "and yes, humans did pillage our village and killed my father, and did other unmentionable horrendous things to us."

"Then why do you thank us instead? Spooky." I scoffed.

"Have you ever heard of the phrase, 'the end justifies the means'?" The elf king's lips curved into a beautiful smile.

"Yes, I have." I answered.

"Well, I agree whole-heartedly with that phrase, you see," he continued, "I wouldn't trade this 'end' for anything else."

"Speak clearly. I'm not as smart as you elves." I sighed deeply.

"Well, allow me to explain from the start, then--"

"No. We're going to be caught by your brother's goons if we listen to your speech. We have no time for that." I quickly rejected his explanation.

"Ah, then I would like to formally invite you to our castle, the safest place in our kingdom." Erenduill grinned.

"I refu--"

"Sure. I take it that you will escort us inside?" General Emilio interjected and agreed to Erenduill's request.

I immediately turned to look at general Emilio, and saw that his face, as usual, was lacking any emotions. Just seeing that diminished my will to protest. As much as I would like to disagree and play it safe, he was my general. And I assumed he had his own reasons to agree, too. An experienced general like him probably knew better than me, a stranger, anyway.

"Of course, allow me." Erenduill smiled with delight and positioned his hand across his chest, giving us a slight bow.

General Emilio just nodded and walked forward to begin following the peculiar elf king. I followed him a few steps behind, still keeping my aim on Erenduill's head. However, general Emilio seemed to have noticed this and raised his hand, signaling me to cut it out and lower my rifle, so I listened.

Gah, what had we got ourselves into?

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Surprisingly, it didn't take long for us to reach our destination, which was the orc kingdom's castle. It wasn't because we conveniently fell into a nearby lake, though. In fact, we fell quite a long way from there.

Instead, it was because the elf king had a freakishly large living tree that he could summon from the ground. Well, rather than a living tree, it resembled more of a tree monster, since it had a face and all.

Right after Erenduill summoned it, its branches--or forelimbs, I guess, grew longer and we all stepped onto it. Afterwards, it brought us up and dropped us on its shoulders while it marched towards the castle.

While we rode in silence, I took the time to carefully observe everything. At the end of the ride, I had noticed a few remarkable things.

First, this thing could grow as many branches as it wants from anywhere on its body, but it seemed like it could only freely move 4 of them, which made it look a bit more like a human in terms of limb structure.

Second, I could sense its mana and peek at its status, which meant that it most probably was another monster, not just a summoning skill.

Third, we would be decimated if we were to go against this annoyingly overpowered elf king, if we were to only judge by status alone. However, real-life battles didn't always rely on stats, so we might be able to do something if we tried hard enough.

Fourth, and the most important one, its name was blackie, apparently. I didn't even have to ask, but this elf king just kept praising it while calling its name, so...

"We have arrived." Erenduill announced, even though we didn't need the announcement anyway, since the castle was so humongous already.

Blackie dropped us off at the castle entrance, and I immediately noticed something was off. There were guards scattered everywhere, which was normal, but the thing was...

"Good evening, king!"A guard excitedly called out to Erenduill as he waved his armored hand at us. By armored, I meant it was something that looked like either paper or leaf, but in the shape of an arm bracer.

"I see you've returned, king!" Another guard chuckled lightly, greeting the man who was walking in front of us.

"Ah, king! I've been waiting!" An elf who didn't seem to have any armor on her ran up to Erenduill, "what would you like to have for dinner today?"

"Hmm, I was thinking of something simple like pasta, but could you please prepare a full-course meal for 5? We've got guests tonight." Erenduill replied with a bright, blinding smile.

"Of course!" The female elf nodded happily and turned to bow at us, "good evening, esteemed guests, it is our utmost honor to have you here. I am this castle's head chef and I shall be the one preparing your meals today! On that note, is there anything specific you want or don't want?"

"No." General Emilio replied instantly, while I was still stunned at the sight.

"Alright! Then, I shall go and prepare them immediately. I hope you'll have a great stay here!" She bowed to us, and immediately left the scene while merrily skipping around.

"Come. This way, please." Erenduill gestured for us to come and enter through the grand front door, and so we did.

The castle itself didn't seem to have much elvish influence on it, presumably because this was originally the orcs' castle, and they had been occupying this place for like, almost two weeks maybe?

It was made of concrete and bricks, unlike that old abandoned house we stumbled upon earlier. Even though they had some exposed brick walls, they just somehow added to the forest aesthetic. Vines grew here and there, but not too wildly. The lawn was trimmed neatly in every corner, but still long enough to give the grass a room to breathe.

They even had a fountain between the main entrance and the gate. It had a simplistic 5-tiered round design, with slightly greenish water flowing through it. The smell of the water and the plants here surprisingly blended well, making me yearn for more.

Even though we were in the enemy's territory, but I really loved how this place didn't even try too much to look pretty or presentable, and yet still stood out for its beauty.

"Welcome back, my king." An old-looking elf with a butler costume greeted us, and took Erenduill's coat, before leading us all into the dining room.

See, this was the weird thing that bothered me so much since I stepped foot into this castle's ground.

How come all of the guards and servants here were so... Friendly? Normally, it would've been a normal sign, but as Elena had taught me, the elves' hierarchy system was extremely hard-wired. So shouldn't they be showing utmost respect towards the king? And yet, how come they all acted so casually like they were greeting a friend?

"Please, take a seat wherever you'd like," Erenduill said as he gestured towards the empty, long dining table that could fit around 16 people, "don't worry, we have no ill intent. You don't have to worry about being poisoned, trapped, or ambushed."

I bit my lips. No matter how good things looked right now, I couldn't help but feel anxious and suspect every little thing here. Ah, did I have trust issues? Was it truly me who needed a psychiatrist?

"Sure." General Emilio replied concisely as usual, and took a seat in the middle of the table.

Jeanne sat across him and a few chairs to the left. I and Firiell picked a seat that was on the same side as general Emilio, but we were separated by quite a number of seats. It seemed that we all had the same thing in mind.

We didn't come here to play, but to carry out a mission. Every small decision here must be in accordance with that mission. By sitting spaced-out like this, we could lessen the chance of all 4 of us dying simultaneously due to traps or something. It was something minor, but no matter how small it was, a decision was still a decision.

Erenduill's lips curved up and his eyes glinted as he saw that all 4 of us had been seated. He then took the farthest seat at the end of the table, and rested his chin on his hand.

"Alright, now that we're in a proper place, shall I begin explaining from the start?"

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