Editing Dark Elf:Volume1 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 8===

Three round stones arranged in an equilateral triangle warned of a trap.

Two sticks arranged like a lowercase “y” warned of an easy-to-miss animal path. He had been forced to try both options to check (and nearly died when some thick bushes got in the way), but the longer stick indicated the correct path.

An empty bird’s nest woven from a thorny plant…he wasn’t confident on this one, but he guessed that indicated an animal’s hunting ground. That guess was based on the fur and droppings he had found there.

The bright ribbons tied around tree branches at eye level were decoys meant to distract crafty humans, so he had to watch out for those. There was a good chance of a trap nearby.

While writing all this on the side of a handy stick, Klaus was forced to frown.

…''Should I have devised a way to indicate direction first?

He looked up at the sun shining through the branches. He had heard plenty of rumors related to the rings in a tree stump or the side of a tree with moss growing on it, but how did those methods actually work? He needed to know the direction before he could draw a map.

This “conversation” with the dark elves continued. That was only his personal interpretation to help fight the loneliness and they might not be happy if they heard him put it that way, but he had to absorb as much information as he could.

He could not expect everything right away, so he gave up on the direction and focused on the figuring out the signs.

“Does this indicate a patch of herbs?” groaned Klaus.

He found another new sign. He had no idea where they had gotten it, but a crab shell smaller than his palm had been half-buried in the ground. The sign here was the scent, not the color or shape.

This area was clearly being maintained. Garden may have been a better word than patch. There was a small clearing in the forest, allowing the sun to shine through. Lots of small, bright fruits similar to berries were growing there. Since they were not Witch Pumpkins or Ghost Turnips, they did not contain the magic derivative he needed for his camouflage magic. But he did have his ordinary hunger and thirst to deal with. What if he gathered these up and ate them? He gulped since he was currently more bothered by thirst than hunger, but he quickly shook his head. Something felt wrong. He took another careful look around.

…''These fruits are growing at hip height, so why hasn’t a single one been gnawed on?

He had nearly been eaten by termites and a Palmtop Mouse just from lying on the ground.

He recalled the dark elves’ poison arrows and the herbal insecticide Curvy had used against the termites. The forest might look calm, but it was actually teeming with life. This garden was unnaturally clean, which scared him. It would be best to avoid eating anything he didn’t recognize.

…''Or if I have extra, I can place whatever food I’ve found on the ground and watch to see if any other animals eat it.

He recalled the collection an eccentric collector in the royal capital had opened to the public in their mansion’s garden. The eucalyptus eaten by koalas was poisonous and hyenas preferred to eat rotten meat. Animals were different enough that seeing one eating a food was no guarantee, but it had to be better than nothing.

And…

“?”

Klaus crouched down low. He had heard something he had heard countless times in the royal capital and the maintained human roads: horse hooves. But that made no sense. Whatever picture books and fairy tales might say, wild horses did not live in the forest. Horses were cowardly herbivores, so they preferred the open fields where they could see clearly and use their speed to escape. They would avoid the hilly forests where visibility was poor. And the dark elves did not use them. How could they when they would never come across any? So what was this?

After some more thought, he gasped. If no horses should be here, there was only one answer. A human was riding the horse and guiding it with reins. The human road had to be nearby!

He suddenly realized that his standards of what was natural and unnatural and what was comforting or concerning had shifted from those of humans to those of the wild animals. He just about laughed out loud. He had no idea what day it was since he had passed out twice, but he doubted it had been more than one full day. If he had gone longer than that without anything to eat or drink, he would have died before coming to again. He had let the forest reshape his thoughts an awful lot for such a short time.

He stuck his note-taking stick in his belt so he wouldn’t drop it and placed the earring in his pocket.

“H-hey. Heyyy!”

He waved his hands and walked from the garden and through the bushes. He had not spoken to anyone in a while, so his voice was scratchy. At some point, he had grown so accustomed to being alone that he had begun to forget how to talk to other people.

But he still forced his way through the bushes.

And he collapsed on the other side.

The ground felt unusually hard. This was not the exposed dirt or the grass. It was somewhat uneven thanks to the roots lifting it up, but this was the stone pavement of a human road. That was enough to loosen his tear ducts. He very nearly kissed the pavement in his joy at discovering human civilization again.

“Help!”

“Ahh!?”

Someone shouted and tugged on the horse’s reins. With an upset whinny, the two muscular front legs of a warhorse wandered through the air.

Klaus had not looked in a mirror, but he could guess he looked horrific.

The thought occurred to him through his exhaustion and thirst, but it was too late to make himself presentable now.

The person riding the horse was…a surprise. The blond boy in lightweight armor designed for mountain travel had a baby face. He may have been younger than Klaus was. He probably wasn’t an actual knight.

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-who are you!? I nearly ran you over!!”

“Court Ma…Academy…Klaus Kno…burn…studying magical biology and came to this forest with Court Scientist Reika Kickpleats.”

His voice drifted in and out, but the knight(?) boy’s expression stiffened. He calmed his horse and descended from the saddle.

“You are from ''the'' Professor Kickpleats’s research team!? The jurisdiction differs, but I am in charge of defending the Hardjuicer Research Team. I am the honorable Sir Rainbook…’s page.”

…''He’s heard of Professor Kickpleats, huh? I don’t even want to know what kind of dishonorable stories are out there about that rotten freak of a teacher. Come to think of it, don’t researchers normally request professional guards? If that freak wasn’t so cheap, maybe none of this would have happened to me.

But he couldn’t complain too much about that missing teacher. The dark elves had taken his student ID, so he had her reputation to thank here.

He had to report accurately on what had happened.

“Reika and I got separated and I don’t know where she is. I just managed to escape from a dark elf village. I was nearly executed in some strange ritual and they’re still trying to hunt me down.”

“Sounds like you had a rough time of it. You can join us, so don’t worry. We have plenty of resources.”

That offer seemed to drive a small thorn into Klaus’s heart.

He only had one chance with each forest. If he left the forest now, he would never be able to find the dark elf village. That meant he could never meet Slender again.

He was honestly impressed he still had it in him to be more worried about that than his life.

“I have no way of knowing if you are telling the truth or not, but one look at you is enough to know you are worn out enough for it to be true. People cannot harm themselves to that extent even if it will lend credence to a lie. For now, you can have something hot to eat and get some rest. Um…”

“It’s Klaus. Klaus Knockburn. And you?”

“The honorable Sir Rainbook’s-”

“Not that. Your name.”

Did he add “the honorable” every single time? It gave Klaus some secondhand embarrassment, but he never had understood how noble society worked.

“My apologies. My name is Loinbelt. I am still a page studying under the honorable Sir Rainbook, so I have no family name to give. I am simply Loinbelt.”

The horse’s saddle was decorated with what looked like a noble coat of arms, but Klaus didn’t know how to interpret it. He had never heard of Loinbelt or this Sir Rainbook (which might be rude for a commoner like him). But since the boy had accepted him without demanding to see his student ID, it would be unfair to ask any further questions. Loinbelt urged him to ride the horse since he was clearly exhausted, but Klaus declined. He had ridden horse-drawn wagons, but never a horse itself. If he tried it now, while half dead, he was pretty sure he would be thrown right off.

The babyface knight’s page, who had either a rapier or short sword at his hip, stayed off the horse and walked alongside Klaus. While pulling the swift horse’s reins along with him.

“Are you sure about this? I mean, I’m glad you’re helping me, but you must have been sent out as a messenger or something to be out on the road alone, right?”

“Ta ha ha. I’m ashamed to admit I failed to put out the campfire correctly. I was told not to return until I had buried and put out all the embers. Fortunately, that allowed me to come across you in your time of need.”

He seemed very sincere for his young age. None of the haughtiness Klaus associated with nobles and knights.

“Also, you mentioned a few other names.”

“You mean the honorable Sir Rainbook!?”

“No, um, I was more interested in the Hardjuicer Research Team you said you were guarding.”

Klaus had no intention of leaving the forest, but there was something he had to do.

Meanwhile, the young warrior was clearly disappointed. Had he wanted to talk about the knight he served? (The Sir Family Name form of address suggested a high-ranking noble.) The blond boy was pouting his lips a little.

“Yes. He is an authority on dark elves and magical biology in general. Hmm, I think he said he was going bug-catching in the forest himself because he failed to receive the cooperation of a bio-collector in the capital.”

…''That tracks.

Klaus Knockburn breathed a heavy sigh in his thoughts. The capital’s school was a big place. He had never met the old man, but if the rumors were true, then he was even more of a freak than Court Scientist Reika Kickpleats. It was unclear why noble knights were working for a commoner scientist, but since he never got in trouble for his eccentric behavior, he had to be fairly skilled (or have some blackmail material on someone in the capital’s leadership). So he might be just as good, or even better than, that rotten teacher.

As they approached the camp, Klaus saw a small clearing in the forest. Several large tents had been set up there. And it was all very noisy.

Boys and girls with similar lightweight armor and warhorses called over to Loinbelt. Did the still-unseen Sir Rainbook have more than one page?

“Hey, why are you taking a leisurely walk!? We’re already about to head out!!”

“Did something happen?”

“Our mission is to collect samples. The shy dark elves have finally shown themselves and Professor Dissection is a little too excited about it. As in, he’s literally got a boner. It’s creepy!!”

The eccentric’s nickname had apparently spread beyond the school.

Klaus Knockburn grimaced.

He felt a thorn in his heart.

All he wanted to do was get to know Slender better. By which he meant marry her.

He still didn’t know why the dark elves were hunting him and trying to burn him at the stake. Could Slender be their princess and he had interrupted some kind of purification ritual? That made it all sound kind of adorable. It pushed away the fear and hatred. And if she really was a princess, then she was might be too perfect.

Of course, he knew that his silly fantasies didn’t change the fact that they were trying to kill him.

Still.

Imagining what they would look like on the dissection table had been a mistake. He clenched his back teeth, dug his boots into the dirt, and could not help but open his mouth. If they were going to answer for their crimes, it had to be in a way he could accept. For example, having all those beautiful women gather around him and let him rest in their lap for about a week. Then he could probably forgive them with a smile. No, he definitely could.

He was the victim and he didn’t want them dissected. He hadn’t asked for this intervention. This was between him and his future wife.

“Excuse me. By Court Scientist Hardjuicer, do you mean Kyle Hardjuicer?”

“Huh? Who’s this filthy kid?”

“Please let me see him. I’m from the academy too. Just a student, though.”

They must have been in a hurry because they appeared to be leaving without folding up the large tents. Klaus found a man in his sixties inside one of the tents. Even this deep in the forest, he wore the kind of white coat only seen in the capital’s labs. He wore an outdoor cape over the shoulders of the filthy coat.

“You?” They had never met, but the eccentric managed to guess his identity while looking up from the parchment document he was reading with a monocle. “Oh, are you Reika’s #1 student? Not one for first impressions, are you? You reek of sweat and filth. Blood too. Is that part of your fieldwork?”

“You know who I am?”

It was just like “Professor Dissection” to be reminded of outdoor research by the smell of blood. But Klaus had half expected to be kicked out immediately, so this was a surprise.

He could not read Kyle’s expression. He could see it. The man was looking straight at him, but he sensed as little emotion as he would staring into the eye of a fish he had just caught.

“You are the one and only student who chose to take your elective lessons from Reika of all people. Word of something like that gets around. I wish my own students had that kind of perseverance.”

Why didn’t that sound like a compliment? His only value was in his proximity to his rotten teacher and his only positive trait was his perseverance instead of his intelligence or memory. He could easily imagine his teacher excitedly telling the other teachers she had found a lively masochist to torment.

“I heard you traveled to the forest yourself because you could not get a collector’s permission.”

“Indeed.”

“Are you really going to do ''this''?”

“''Indeed.'' Why even bring it up?” Professor Dissection failed to notice Klaus’s tone of disapproval. His wrinkled finger toyed with the edge of the parchment document in front of him. “I came here for ''Brashgain''’s bones and byproducts, but I am willing to shift focus if something in greater demand falls into my lap. I am ashamed to admit it to a student, but an eccentric like me needs to produce results on a regular basis to remind people why they keep me around. Little is known about how dark elves live for how well-known they are. They are like living fossils. They would be perfect to convince my patrons of my worth.”

“Sorry if I’m being dumb, but you would do that even to a dark elf?”

“Why wouldn’t I? They seem like the perfect candidate to me.”

“But they can speak of love just like humans can.”

“We can’t know that until we actually dissect them.”

The eccentric’s eccentricities reared their ugly head.

He was saying this about all of the dark elves, even Klaus’s future wife, Slender.

“The best way to determine if an animal is an herbivore or a carnivore is to check the length and contents of its intestines. If you see it for yourself, you can know for sure.”

Only because they had longer ears, were a different species, and had an unfamiliar language and culture.

“A dark elf cannot contain so much power inside such a skinny body. That means they must have something that ''amplifies'' the magic they use, but where exactly in their body is it located? It couldn’t be in their stomach, so my guess is either the chest or the butt, but what do you think? Not that our guesses matter when we will know for sure once I slice one open for myself.”

“I would expect this kind of talk during the Age of Navel Conquest when our people set sail and drew up a map of the world, but we’ve grown since then. The capital has even invited an elf priestess as a guest in the royal court. You can’t seriously think like this, can you!?”

“Oh, how I wish I could ''do it'' to her as well, but my requests keep getting rejected for some unfathomable reason. And just as I was losing heart, a new dark elf sighting comes in. Perfect timing, if you ask me.”

…''He’s even worse than I thought.

Magical biology was only a separate field because humans had decided these were “fantasy” creatures. They were still living beings just like humans. Professor Dissection wasn’t interested in Klaus. If he simply held his tongue, the man was no threat to him. On the other hand, the dark elves had tried to burn him alive as part of some horrific ritual. Yet he found himself taking the dark elves’ side here.

They were still better than this man.

You could tell an herbivore from a carnivore simply by observing them from afar for two or three days. Anyone could find the answer if they checked the footprints and chewed remains of plants they left behind. But he didn’t do that. And not because he wanted to avoid doing so much work. He never even considered any option but this one. It was the only thing he trusted.

Kyle Hardjuicer reached for his belt and grabbed a pocket watch that looked terribly out of place in the forest.

“It is time.”

“Please wait! I’m not done!!”

“We can continue once I get back. Oh, and I do not doubt you are who you say you are. In fact, I welcome you. I will freely share my results with you. I would very much like to hear some fresh stories from the Kickpleats lab, so how about we continue our chat ''while you watch me work tonight''?”

Klaus had not had goose bumps like this even when he thought he was going to be a meal for termites or a Palmtop Mouse.

This human was something else entirely. He realized now that humans were the most frightening creature of all. This man did not hate the dark elves, nor did he want their gold or gems. He was going to slice open someone’s body out of habit and custom.

Of course, struggling here was not going to solve anything. Klaus could not shoot fire or lightning from his hand. His only magic was camouflage. He was alone with the frail old man now, but there were dozens of real knights, expert warriors, waiting outside the tent.

He knew he stood no chance.

So he squeezed his eyes shut, clenched his teeth, and felt a weight in his gut as he got out a groaning voice.

“Professor.”

“Yes?”

“I freely admit my teacher is as much of a rotten freak as the rumors say. She is the absolute worst from the moment she wakes up in the morning to the moment she goes to sleep at night. I may be the only person left who can stand being around that undisciplined court scientist.”

He thought of Slender who had opted to speak with him over screaming when he had seen her bathing. He thought of the girl who had reached out a helping hand when he was being burned at the stake for some kind of rule he didn’t understand.

Was he supposed to abandon her now?

Was he supposed to hold his tongue while she was placed on the vivisection table, had her gut cut open, and her organs removed one by one? Just because her ears were longer, she spoke another language, and she belonged to another species?

Klaus Knockburn opened his eyes wide and touched the handle of a ceramic pot. He tightly grabbed that blunt object heavy with its liquid contents.

“But not even I can stand you.”

“…”

“Professor, there’s no love in what you do.”