Editing Dark Elf:Volume1 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 12===

''Man, now that was a feast.

Klaus had filled his stomach with honey so richly sweet it left his tongue tingling, but no new ideas occurred to him. If anything, he was feeling sleepy after satisfying his body’s needs.

“For now, I just need to get out of here. Immediately!”

The sun was already setting. In case the dark elves would search the entire area around the remains of the fire, he needed to find somewhere far from here to sleep.

He could tell he had only gotten one Witch Pumpkin stem’s worth of magic derivative from the honey, but it meant a lot to have gotten it in the evening. That meant he could last the night even after what he had gained the night before ran out.

He would have to figure out what to do about Slender later. Whether he was asleep, awake, eating, or starting fires, he kept thinking about her, but at the moment, he needed to find a safe place to sleep and somewhere he could think without any interruptions. If he screwed this up, he might find he had no way of avoiding a dead end later on. However…

“Kh.”

He noticed something while searching for someplace to sleep. He slowly crouched down to hide behind some bushes. He knew moving too quickly would make noise and draw attention to himself.

He had noticed a sound, which was unusual for the dark elves. The priest he called Glasses stepped on some underbrush while walking nearby. She did not look worried. She was smiling and chatting with Curvy who appeared to be on patrol.

“''Konna. Aew lajjuqj?''”

“''Uw’v i kiduw. Oxoq uq opotjoqfuov, uw dawkotv po ykoq u gaq’w ga uw.''”

The way Glasses let out a heated breath and wiped the sweat from her neck and cheeks with a cloth was weirdly sexy.

As scary as they could be, they still had times when they smiled together like this. Glasses eventually waved goodbye to Curvy and left along a different animal trail.

…''Maybe she was just out jogging. Do unaging dark elves worry about staying fit and dieting? Well, even the young will get clogged arteries if all they do is eat fatty foods.

This was hardly a surprise since they were not like the monsters in plays that essentially appeared out of nowhere. The dark elves ''lived'' in this forest. They would have daily routines. When he watched more closely, he spotted more of the dark elves than just their signs. For example, he saw Mother and Little Girl out picking small berry-like fruits.

…''But wait. Did that little girl in a sheer dress just tap her fist against her lower back when she stood back up? I could practically hear her saying “oh, my back” from the motion alone. Does that mean she’s actually an old lady? Could Mother be the younger one? Does she not wear the clothes of a hunter or a priest not because she’s already retired, not because she’s still in training? I-I still don’t know anything about dark elves, do I!? Do they start to shrink back down after they reach a certain age!?

“''Bae’to va hnozudno, Qunwibi.''”

“''U faengq’w renn ahh wkuv aewhuw awkotyuvo.''”

Short Hair began to hold herself and fidget bashfully when the others apparently complimented her revealing dancer outfit. The gold decorations and yellow gems jangled every time she moved. Dancers appeared to have a superior position in their society – something others wished they could be. So were they like the elites of the priests?

Klaus had been right to wash off his artificial scents in the river. He was still a good distance away, but he could actually see this defenseless side of them now.

And when he held his breath and observed them from afar, their expressions were no different from the humans in the royal capital. Some looked sleepy and some were smiling, but they were all enjoying their day.

He hoped those smiles could be directed toward humans someday.

But the truth was they were attempting to resurrect a 10km dragon.

And he may have been asking too much of them after what Professor Dissection had attempted to do to them.

“…”

He came to a stop and wondered if everything he was doing out here was a waste of time. He didn’t understand Slender now that she had attacked him out of the blue, he had no chance with the other dark elves, and Little Girl was an old lady. What could he change through understanding them? Humans could never thrive in the Forest of No Return, no matter how hard they tried. Wasn’t he just waiting for his inevitable death out here? He could see so many girls with silver hair and brown skin, but they were so far removed from the concept of a wife. He felt like he was doomed to be single until the day he died.

While worrying in the deep forest, he looked weakly up into the glimpses of the night sky overhead.

He saw a dark shape there: smoke.

“!?”

He spun around and looked in the direction of the fire he thought he had extinguished, but he immediately realized that was a completely different direction. This was not his fire reigniting.

…''Then where is that smoke coming from?

He thought maybe the dark elves were cooking something, but the smoke looked awfully toxic for that. Yes, this smoke was intentionally colored in a way not seen in nature.

The word “intentionally” led him to the answer and he spoke the possibility that came to mind.

“Smoke signals?”