Editing Dark Elf:Volume1 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 2===

It was difficult to think while suffering from pain, hunger, or thirst. Just like your body’s reflexes took priority over logical thinking when touching a hot kettle. Only the detectives in stage plays could get by on last-second flashes of insight. The logic would only catch up to you after it was too late.

Klaus the Deer ran through the forest while looking for traps until it grew dark. Only after coming to a stop and looking back did he realize something important.

(She used her bow like a whip, but she never did launch an arrow at me.)

Nor did she use any Archdragon Magic.

He pondered that for a bit, but there was no point in staying a deer. He might be able to trick the other dark elves searching for him, but he also didn’t want to be hunted down as tonight’s dinner.

He dispelled Camouflize with the usual white steam.

He had two Witch Pumpkin stems’ worth left. But that only applied to the bioconcentrated magic derivative, so he was still hungry. Since he had eaten some, his stomach was begging for food even more intensely than if it were entirely empty. But Little Girl would be more heavily guarded now and he doubted that would work on the other dark elves. Slender had noticed something was off about his deer form, so the others might as well.

And with anyone other than Slender, they would shoot him with a hunting arrow or even blast him with Archdragon Magic.

…''That’s too risky a gamble.

He could not expect to subsist off of food given to him by others. His only option was to secure some magic derivative, acquire food, and search out the dark elf village on his own.

This was no longer as simple as borrowing some tools to bring his future wife back home with him.

The dark elves were attempting to resurrect the 10km dragon Brashgain.

He had to stop that, but he had too little to work with. Food, a place to sleep, and other survival concerns were an issue, but his lack of information was even more of a problem. He lacked a map of the Forest of No Return and he didn’t know where the dark elf village was. How the dragon would be resurrected from his bones, what kind of magical materials were needed, the details of the ceremony, and the amount of time remaining were all unknown. That rotten teacher hadn’t explained anything for him. But he would rather she stayed dead than return from the depths of hell to explain it all for him now.

…''I need help.

His thoughts turned in the natural direction.

Little Girl was so innocent she would probably help him if he asked, but he couldn’t share any secrets with her for the same reason. There was too great a risk of her telling the adult dark elves any secrets he told her. And without giving any thought to the consequences. Then he was dead for sure.

That just left Slender.

She was old enough to know what she was doing, but she had still chosen to save a human like Klaus. If she was willing to save one human boy, surely she would want to stop the destruction of the entire species. He also wanted to prove to her that he had not been preying on a little girl deep in the woods. He had to shatter that idea before it could set in too deeply!!

He could not speak her language. He did not know her culture, customs, rules, or taboos.

He still didn’t know why they had tried to burn him alive for seeing her bathing. Did the dark elves just value purity that highly, or had that bath been part of the ceremony to resurrect Brashgain? Could she be a dark elf princess needed for the ceremony so no one was to interrupt her while she purified herself? ''Oh, no. These fantasies are getting me a little too excited. And all those furious dark elves seem a lot cuter when I think of them as shrine maidens or maids trying to protect their one and only princess.

…''I have nothing to support that idea, though. There’s too much I still don’t know about the dark elf world.

But…

“All I really have to do is win my future wife’s heart, right? And who needs a flask of aphrodisiac to do that?”