Editing Dark Elf:Volume1 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===

He needed to perform some research and then act on that research.

He stuck his note-taking stick below his belt and finally started walking. He was afraid of missing the signs for traps and forks in the path when it was this dark out, but it was less of an issue than he had thought. He had always needed a light back in the royal capital, but once his eyes adjusted, he could make out the outlines of everything with just the starlight.

…''But I can’t get started without knowing where Slender is.

Given how they had last parted, he doubted they would get any closer if he approached her now. His pessimistic side was shouting questions at him. How long would he have to wait before she cooled her head? And even if she did, how could he be so sure his proposal would be accepted? He was short on time. This forest was notoriously easy to get lost in, so he would never find her if he started searching at random. He needed to go back on the offensive while he had still seen her recently. Unless he wanted to break down in tears later on.

He wanted to see her as soon as possible specifically because she was angry. The longer she was left with that misunderstanding, the harder it would be to convince her of the truth.

…''I love you, Slender, but not because I’m into younger girls. Please understand that nuance, my wife!!

So he ended up searching for his own footsteps in the forest.

“Dammit, is this them? No, I’m not looking for boot prints. I was Camouflized as a deer at the time. Ugh, and I’m hungry too. So these hoofprints are what I’m looking for. Man, I really shouldn’t have started thinking about meat.”

This felt as useless as gathering back up his own spit, but it was necessary. If he could find his trail, he could follow it back the way he came and return to where Slender and Little Girl were.

He walked slowly and carefully through the dark forest, surrounded by chirping bugs. After a while, he recognized his surroundings. This was near where Little Girl had attacked him earlier. But the place was already deserted, so she and Slender must have gone elsewhere.

Still, he would have overlooked the location altogether if he hadn’t been observing his surroundings so carefully. The hunter girl had even collected the remnants of the meatballs from the ground.

…''Does that mean I’ll have a hard time tracking Slender by her footprints?

No, it was too soon to give up hope. He changed what he was focused on and viewed the grass and ground once more.

“There we go.”

Slender was a fully-trained hunter, but he did see a few smaller footprints. Those had to be Little Girl’s. Slender intentionally covered her tracks, but that girl still left a trail.

…''Little Girl again? I’m basically stalking her now, aren’t I?

That was concerning, but he was in no position to worry about it now. Surely his future wife would understand. He still wasn’t sure why Little Girl was out this late, but he wanted to believe Slender would be looking after her – and thus he could find her by following Little Girl’s tracks.

That was when he heard a dry cracking sound through the chirping of the bugs. He never would have noticed it in the noisy royal capital, so he was amazed at how much his time out in the wild had changed him.

He ducked down, gulped, and narrowed his eyes to peer into the darkness.

“''Kooob, jutnnn!''”

He heard an elongated voice. He did not know what it was saying, but it sounded quite young. He also recognized it as Little Girl’s voice. He was getting even worse if he could recognize her by her voice now.

And she did not seem to have noticed him.

She seemed less accustomed to moving through the forest than Klaus. It made him anxious just to watch her. He was looking for Slender and didn’t really need to observe Little Girl so closely, but she was the only one leaving any hints for him at the moment.

…''And if I follow her, I might be able to find Slender.

The dark elves had been out and about during the day, so they were not nocturnal. They may have worked on shifts. But that still left Little Girl’s presence here a mystery. Why was she out during the night shift? Did dark elf culture not include the concept of a bedtime for children?

Klaus watched his footing and avoided breathing through his mouth even on this difficult route. He mimicked the path she took and eventually heard another voice.

Bingo.

Another dark elf spoke from beyond some low bushes. He could not see her yet, but it was the kind of gentle female voice they never seemed to use with a human like him.

…''Bingo, but I don’t think that’s Slender. Am I in trouble if it’s another dark elf?

He was briefly afraid, but…

“''Pitb, u ip toigb.''”

“''Ak, ito bae? Yonn gaqo, Punoqi. Qay, kay idaew yo inn diwko wajowkot.''”

Klaus was surprised to find how relieved he was.

The voice from beyond the bushes was the dark elf who had appeared to be Little Girl’s mother back at the burning site. She must have escaped Professor Dissection and the knights. Slender must have been helping Little Girl escape because those two had gotten separated in the confusion.

…''So she wasn’t playing with a deer in the forest to distract herself from the pain.

He reflected on that fact.

He had to be careful not to make any noise, so he couldn’t say any of it out loud.

…''She can still enjoy herself. That’s one thing I managed to protect. It may have been one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever had, but I was the one who drove off the knights with my camouflage magic.

If they spotted him, they would take him right back to be burned at the stake. And they had wiped out the knights with their Archdragon Magic, so he was being awfully carefree with them this close. But he was glad he still had enough of a heart left to be warmed by this scene of a mother and daughter reunited.

Of course, this was all his own self-righteousness speaking and they would still attack him if they found him. He had seen more than enough of the dark elves’ Archdragon Magic. He had deserved it, but Professor Dissection had been obliterated by that magic along with the terrain around him. The fates of Page Loinbelt and Sir Rainbook were still unknown, but death did not discriminate. Klaus would be just as dead as anyone if he let his guard down.

And with all of that in mind, Klaus Knockburn slowly approached the bushes without straightening back up. He couldn’t do anything without information, not even survive.

…''I need to get closer.

He was afraid, but he had to do it. He prayed to the goddess. He still hadn’t seen Slender. She was more reasonable than the other dark elves (not that he could understand anything she said), so he had to find her and get her help if he was going to find any way to stop Brashgain’s resurrection.

He was pretty sure it took him a full three minutes to approach just one meter. Then again, his internal clock had completely broken a while back, so who knows really. Bushes made for an uneven wall, so he was afraid he would be spotted through one of the gaps. But he managed to get close. ''Please let Slender be there too,'' he prayed while taking up position directly behind the low bushes. He could not stick his head above them, so he would have to look between the thin branches of the hip-height bushes. And he gulped.

…''What if they’re looking back at me from the other side and our eyes meet at close range?

He shook his head to dispel that horrifying idea. He couldn’t chicken out now. If he gave up his search for Slender, he had no path forward.

He held his breath and leaned his face in close.

His next clue had to be found between those branches.

What he saw first was lots of brown skin.

[[Image:Dark_Elf_v01_bw3.png|thumb]]

Little Girl was cheerfully raising her arms while half-naked Mother removed her clo-

“!?”

Klaus jumped and reflexively looked away from the mother and daughter.

But he found more brown skin there.

…''Kyahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Sl-Sl-Sl-Slender!!

He thought his heart was going to stop.

Why?

Why was he seeing so much brown skin in the great outdoors with no walls or doors to hide them!? She had her hands on her white leather vest and she was opening it wide right out in the open!!

“''Wkiqmv hat ijtoouqj wa jeitg pb pawkot iqg po numo wkuv, Fkitnawwo.''”

“''Gaq’w yattb idaew uw. U kig wa rtorito hat pb qujkw keqw iqbyib.''”

Mother seemed to be smiling and speaking to Slender from the direction he was intentionally not looking. He had to fight the instinct to look in the direction of her voice when he heard it. As a cool beauty, Slender replied while coldly not looking in the woman’s direction, but one of her long ears was twitching. She was apparently using it to join in the conversation.

And at the same time…

“''Ikk, wkuv uv qufo.''”

…''Ah!!

Even more of Slender’s brown skin was shining in the moonlight. She had finally removed both the white vest and the inner garment covering her chest. Slender though she was, she did have some curves there. ''Wait, were you using the vest’s strap to push them up, my wife?'' But even if they were small, they were more valuable than diamonds of the same size. Their jiggliness was revealed before his eyes. They were definitely small, but they weren’t nonexistent.

…''So what happens now!? I thought a dark elf had to marry any guy who took away her clothing and equipment and thus left her defenseless (and naked). But now I’ve seen all three of them naked.

Klaus started to sweat profusely.

The human mind had a tendency to work overtime at the least useful times. In other words, it tended to spin its wheels.

…''Does that mean, um, polygamy? Is that a thing in their culture? And the two I’m trying not to look at seem to be mother and daughter, so am I actually going to end up married to Slender + a dark elf mother and child!? This is…this is getting out of hand!!

What if Slender and Little Girl were sisters? His life experiences were nowhere near enough to prepare him for this. How was he supposed to handle a family structure that convoluted?

…''No!! Th-the other two aren’t naked. I have seen more of the mama’s skin than I’m comfortable with, but she’s not naked. So I’m still safe! I’m dedicated to Slender! I don’t need anyone else!!

Also, hadn’t the previous time suggested the actual reward for seeing a dark elf naked was being burned alive? A shadow fell over his face. ''That would be a problem. Are they going to burn me to death thrice to cover all of three of them!?

If so, he was not in for a good time. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if he carelessly shook the bush’s leaves. If he was spotted here, it would shatter his future wife’s love for him. But he doubted he could escape unnoticed if he tried to run away now, so he had to stay here and survive.

Still, this situation only introduced more questions. The dancers he had seen before hadn’t been naked, but their revealing outfits had suggested the dark elves viewed bare skin as sacred. So was this some kind of religious ritual? But that idea died when he heard some splashing water.

…''Water? Wait…

Come to think of it, wasn’t the smell of vegetation awfully strong here? And everything was damp. They were next to a river. His adorable future wife had removed her clothing on the rocky riverbank and folded it up at her feet.

…''And I doubt she’s skin diving for fish.

His continued observations showed the water only came up to Slender’s knees.

Which meant…

“She’s bathing?”

“''?''”

Slender looked up with her distinctive long ears twitching, so he clapped his hands over his mouth. It took all his willpower to avoid taking a reflexive step back. His heart rang loud in his ears. He had screwed up, but making an audible footstep would only make it worse. He would only confirm her suspicions.

He could find a better time to send his future wife a love letter or present.

…''How did she notice me!? What did I do wrong!?

He held his breath and remained entirely motionless while battling his own doubts. Slender stared toward the bush for a while with no clothing covering her soft skin. She even crouched down to keep her bow within reach. The look on her face was deadly serious, but that pose meant he could see everything!!

Then some more skin moved into view. It was gentle Mother with her droopy ears. He hoped like hell she was a sensible person and he discovered she had plastered some white leaves over the wet brown skin of her very large breasts. That appeared to be the dark elf version of a ''bathing suit''. That meant she was covered up, but only in the most technical of senses.

Little Girl also had the white leaves plastered to her much flatter body as well as some kind of vine around her hips, but she was crawling through the shallow stream like a dog and tilting her head, which made her bathing suit was just as inadequate.

“''Uv vapowkuqj wko piwwot, jutn?''”

“''Uw’v qawkuqj.''”

Finally, Slender ever so slowly pulled her hand away from the bow lying on the riverbank. She still seemed curious about the bushes, but Little Girl pulled on her hand to guide her into the river with Mother.

…''So she wasn’t certain? If she was, I bet she would have been bow-whipping this bush.

Klaus relaxed his stiff back a little. Even that scared him so much he thought it was taking years off his lifespan. Mother was washing Little Girl’s back with some soap bubbles while the daughter kicked her feet excitedly, but he was more focused on Slender who was sitting on a large rock by the water and wrapping a vine around her hand.

Yes, there were bubbles. Those white leaves appeared to be from a type of soapbark, so they produced white bubbles when rubbed. Slender rubbed one against the vine around her hand and then washed her upper arm. To wash her own back, she undid the loop, held it in both hands, and rubbed it up and down.

…''I see. That’s clever.

Klaus was impressed. Impressed by their technology and culture, not by the way the white bubbles slowly dripped down her curves when she poured water over herself from a leaf rolled into the shape of a cup!! And there were plenty more perfectly legitimate observations to be made!!

…''Jutn. Twice now, Little Girl seemed to refer to Slender that way.

He was also curious about the beginnings of their sentences. Words indicating people, such as “you”, were more likely to appear there.

If he had time, it might be useful to analyze the dark elf language bit by bit. Even if he couldn’t learn to speak it fluently, it would mean a lot to pick up a word here and there.

Or so it seemed, but was that really correct? He was gradually losing confidence. ''Oh…oh, wow! Slender is doing calisthenics while she bathes. She has to be really flexible to do the splits and then bend backwards like that. Ooh, and look at her chest jiggling. …No, no, stop. Don’t let your future wife’s devilish body distract you!! You need to stay focused…but so jiggly…

Once he did manage to focus, a shadow fell over his face.

…''H-how can I ever escape from these bushes and then get to know Slender better!? I-I don’t see how I can escape being cooked more thoroughly than a pizza!!

The dark elves had a custom of bathing. The forest appeared to have a disinfecting plant they could use as soap. And they had vines and light stones to scrub their bodies with.

…''Is that all? That’s not much research to go off of. Hmm, if she only uses natural materials, maybe I could gift her a bath product from the royal capital. No, I can’t. First, I don’t have anything from the city. And second, gifting a girl a bath product would just come off as creepy. If I want to get to know her better, it has to be something inoffensive, so stop thinking about her in the nude. Dammit, and now I’m really craving pizza. I wonder if a dark elf would have ever had one cooked in a proper pizza oven.

But then Klaus noticed something.

He continued to observe Slender while she thoroughly washed herself in the clear stream.

Unlike Little Girl and Mother, she had been carrying a bow with her. Since she had stripped down to bathe, she must not have been there as a bodyguard. But she had been invited out here by that mother and child under the assumption that she would need her bow. That meant she had the bow with her for a reason. Or at least, the bow’s presence would not get in the way of whatever they were doing.

He was getting sidetracked, but it was possible none of his direct observations here were going to get him any closer to Slender.

…''Could it be?