After All This Effort to Get Here
Xu Jun looked like he was about to cry. "Lord knight commander1, esteemed knight commander…why did the elderly you have to show up here?"
–Was this not Olan2 city, where humans and Lesser Elves mixed, but rather the Sacred Highlands?!
–Wasn"t it said that the Holy Light Elves were arrogant and would never bother entering the Lesser Elves" dwelling place?
"Put away your idiotic expression," the beauty appeared delighted by Xu Jun"s fearful loss of speech. "You didn"t recognize the wrong person and you also don"t have to doubt where you are. Indeed, we are to the east of the Sacred Highlands in the city of Olan.
"As for why I would appear here, Xu Jun, use your head and think about it."
Xu Jun thought, who the h.e.l.l knew what kind of fishy things were happening within the Holy Light Elves" race. All in all, as long as the Holy Light Elf knight commander before him didn"t antagonize him for his remarks, it was enough. With the Holy Light Elves" stubbornness, if they were to develop hostility towards him, they would probably pa.s.s down the legend of the detestable brave, Xu Jun, within their race for the next few hundred years. They were quite vindictive.
For Xu Jun, he definitely did not want to be known as evil by a certain race. As a powerless brave lacking a strong background, only good publicity could save him from disasters.
He couldn"t help but sigh within his heart, "Being a brave really is difficult."
If he had known that he was going to cross over into this world earlier, this baby would not have played as a brave! Was it not enough for him to have become a n.o.ble, enjoying bountiful food and wine, or a priest who had the opportunity to become the pope?! –No, no, no, if he knew he was going to cross over, he simply would have not played this game!
However, his sighs were full of suffering to the ears of Prince Ryan–His Majesty Demon King Rozenke. Rozenke was infected by this emotion and his heart was filled with despair. "But Xu Jun, there are deeds which you were predestined to accomplish."
His Majesty the Demon King, who had never believed in prophecies, once heard a prophecy. The prophet elder of the Bright G.o.d Church–an elder from the Snow Blade Kingdom–had once divined that a brave would kill the demon king and save the world. He had said that the brave was a profession and not an adjective to describe people. The person to kill the demon king would not come from the Bright G.o.d Church nor were they some killer soldier or mercenary. No, it would be a single brave.
His ident.i.ty was that of a brave, as was his fate.
Rozenke had never believed in fate. He sneered when he had first heard that the prophet elder hailed from Snow Blade Kingdom. He believed that it was a desperate thought created by humans after feeling an immense fear which stemmed from their inability to defeat the dark and powerful demon king. They were unable to defeat him, so they most likely made an impossible prophecy to boost their confidence of surviving.
However, he would now occasionally think back to that prophecy; he would think about the relationship between that prophecy and Xu Jun.
"The prophecy had been made long ago, that a brave would defeat the demon king. You are that brave, Xu Jun."
It really was strange. As the victim of the prophecy, Demon King Rozenke spoke to Xu Jun with a tranquil tone. He seemed to have embraced what had happened and wanted Xu Jun too to embrace his "fate" as well.
Xu Jun: Obviously this fate was determined only after I had opened an account, great lord…whatever profession players chose would be what the prophecy talked about. This game"s routes were well-developed. _(:зゝ∠)_
The exchange between Xu Jun and Demon King Rozenke within his heart didn"t even take a few seconds. The Holy Light Elves" knight commander stared at Daeniste and Nar from beneath his veil. "…Bright G.o.d Church?"
He snorted. "Follow me, Xu Jun. It seems that you have forgotten your vows. After leaving, you had never cared about the Holy Light Elves" situation again. I will take you to see Her Majesty the Queen. Keep up."
Her Majesty the Queen? A kindly face with long, white hair appeared in Xu Jun"s mind. The Holy Light Elves" Queen was very old, having lived for five thousand years. The years had taken her shallow and childish qualities away from her. Young Holy Light Elves always liked to hold their heads up high; they were confident and seemed to have an air of, "Yours Truly"s race is number one in the world." When Xu Jun first contacted the Holy Light Elves, he had felt extremely uncomfortable. At the time, he had saved two Elven children who had been kidnapped. On the road to the Sacred Highlands, he had been surrounded by ignorant Holy Light Elves.
Back then, he had thought the Holy Light Elves to be unreasonable and immature3. However, their queen was impressive. She performed her duties impartially and won back Xu Jun"s goodwill.
…He had originally planned to sneak into the Holy Light Elves" treasury to loot, burn, and kill out of anger…but, with great difficulty, he restrained himself.
Therefore, he readily accepted the Holy Light Elf knight commander"s invitation. "It"s not good for me to see Her Majesty the Queen with empty hands right? I remember that Her Majesty the Queen loved to eat cotton candy. I"ll go buy some first."
The knight commander, who was walking in front, suddenly turned back. "When did Her Majesty the Queen ever love to eat cotton candy?"
Xu Jun: "…Her Majesty Queen Aikar mentioned it before…"
The knight commander took a deep breath, " Xu Jun, Her Majesty Queen Aikar has already pa.s.sed away. We held a funeral for her last year. The current queen is the former Princess Ellie. –If I were you, I would definitely not stupidly buy some cotton candy for Her Majesty Queen Ellie… she"s allergic to it."
Xu Jun"s eyes widened, dazed.
Queen Aikar had pa.s.sed away a year ago? How is this possible! He had clearly visited the Holy Light Elves half a year ago—that"s wrong! This wasn"t the game world anymore! He opened his mouth and gasped. This was the first time that he had so clearly understood the difference between this world and the game world since "crossing over."
In the game, one could meditate and sleep. Sometimes, in order to obtain some materials, Xu Jun would meditate to speed up time. A lot of monsters took a long time to resp.a.w.n, so he would sometimes spend a month in one area to obtain materials needed for a set of equipment. An in-game month was about a single day to him. He spent his time like this within this seemingly dangerous, but unreal game world.
However, in this real world, time moved at normal speed!
Queen Aikar"s death was yet another blow to Xu Jun. In the Wilderness City, he had clearly realized that the death and war in this game were real and that he could no longer treat this as a game anymore. However, the death of someone he once knew still caused his heart to tighten.
One would always feel distressed at the pa.s.sing of time. Xu Jun thought of the elderly Elf Queen"s lovely voice and smile. He felt a bit depressed.
"I"m very sorry," he whispered.
"There"s no need to feel sad," the Holy Light Elf knight commander solemnly stated, "Her Majesty Queen Aikar has simply returned to the stars temporarily. Her great soul has found true rest. For us, death is simply another beginning."
Xu Jun: "…Big brother, you can"t believe in such outdated superst.i.tion!"
If you are like this, you"ll easily be taken by those cults, alright? By then, there will be yet another person performing self-immolation at Tiananmen"s gate!4
However, the Holy Light Elf knight commander expressed dissatisfaction at Xu Jun calling him "big brother" and his beliefs, "outdated superst.i.tion." "Please call me Jesse. We Holy Light Elves aren"t the same as you humans, who like to call each other brothers."
Then, he haughtily and coldly lengthened his stride, heading out of the city. Xu Jun apologetically looked back and smiled at Daeniste and Nar. "I had originally wanted to properly show you around Olan, but it seems like we don"t have the time to do so."
If he knew that a Holy Light Elf was in the city, then he would"ve properly tucked his tail under him and avoided capture!
However, as soon as he turned around, he saw Daeniste looking at him with a moved and admiring expression. He even grabbed Xu Jun"s sleeve and let out a soft cry, "Ahhhh, Xu Jun! Was that really a Holy Light Elf?! They were actually so friendly towards us humans?!"
Xu Jun could hardly understand what the word "friendly" meant anymore. "Are you sure that could be called friendliness?"
Wasn"t knight commander Jesse always sneering at him? The knight seemed like he wanted to spit out "idiotic humans" every time he opened up his mouth. Furthermore, that great lord had never opened his eyes to even look at you and Nar this entire time. Is that really called being friendly?!
However, Daeniste"s face was full of expectancy. "This is great, Xu Jun. I can already see the scene of humans and Holy Light Elves holding hands and working to create a better future together. Say, do you think we should ask for the Holy Light Elves to open up a church here at that time–no, an Elven dreamland?"
Xu Jun glanced towards Knight Commander Jesse. He discovered that the other seemed to have increased his speed.
It was no longer necessary for Xu Jun to lead everyone to visit the Holy Light Elves as originally planned. Knight Commander Jesse immediately drew up a one-time use teleportation array. Small pinp.r.i.c.ks of light rose from the ground and everyone, even Mantou, was sent to the Sacred Highlands.
When using teleportation arrays, the teleported person must be in a state of complete relaxation. They could not use any magic, otherwise, they could get rejected by the teleportation array. There was once an unfortunate person who had been cut in half for this reason. Their upper body had been teleported to their destination while their lower body had remained in the previous teleportation array. The person had died in a twisted and painful position.
Xu Jun had certainly heard of this story. When he was playing the game, he hadn"t really cared. However, now…who wanted to be cut in half at the waist!
He was even a bit cautious and carefully stood within the teleportation array. However, no one laughed at him. Everyone had heard of that terrible story. Even Knight Commander Jesse had adopted a wary posture.
"If it wasn"t for taking you back, I would never open up a teleportation array," the knight commander stated arrogantly.
Xu Jun thought, great, you"re handing me the pot for no reason5.
No one discovered that a blue shadow darted in as Jesse used the teleportation array. "He" was practically formless, and also barely occupied any s.p.a.ce. He simply quietly stopped at the teleportation array"s edge.
This mysterious character whispered softly towards the soul hidden in Xu Jun"s body, "Your Majesty, how are you feeling?"
Ice Lord Weize finally came! Because he was only left with his soul and residing within someone else"s body, Rozenke had no way of perceiving much information from the outside world. He only knew that Ice lord Weize had been following them this entire time, but he had not known where the other was. Now, however, the other was so close to him, so he could finally pa.s.s down an order.
Ice Lord Weize simply heard Demon King Rozenke solemnly say, "Weize, remember my order."
Weize bowed his head slightly with respect.
Weize respectfully bowed his head slightly.
Rozenke commanded, "Without my order, do not harm Xu Jun. He is very important to me now."
Ice Lord Wize: "…" Wait a second, Your Majesty. You held your breath for so long just to tell me this?!
Author has something to say:
My heart goes out to Ice Lord Weize_(:зゝ∠)_
Translator"s niche:
[1] Raw is 骑士长 (qi shi zhang). Baidu"s translator seems to like to translate "长" as chief or leader, so that"s what I used. Could also mean senior, as in older in terms of age or higher in terms of status, like a boss.⏎
[2] Literally translates to profound/mysterious orchid city. But decided to go with phonetic sounds, since the name would be kinda long and weird.⏎
[3] Raw is 事儿逼 (shi er bi) which basically means someone who likes to blow things out of proportion, making small issues big. I thought "immature" was the word that best captured the meaning.⏎
[4]An event that happened in 2001 at Tiananmen, where supposed pract.i.tioners of Falun Gong lit themselves on fire in the square. You can learn more here if you"re interested: ⏎
[5] Means pa.s.sing the blame. Jesse is blaming Xu Jun for having to use a teleportation array.⏎