The Regressed Mercenary's Machinations-Chapter 737: I’ll Have to Change the Plan (1)

Ereneth had always been a bit different from the other elves, even as a child.

She was born with remarkable talent in both spirit magic and combat. Whenever she learned one thing, she would grasp ten more, and even without formal instruction, she would invent new combat techniques on her own.

For an elf to possess talent in combat was unusual—because battle only held meaning if one triumphed over another. And that was the sort of talent that suited elves the least.

She was brimming with curiosity too. She would often sneak off to visit elves returning from the cities just to hear stories about the outside world.

“The forest is so dull. Yesterday and today are the same. Nothing ever changes. But the human world—every day is different.”

As time passed, Ereneth accumulated knowledge of the world beyond the forest, and with it, her longing for it grew stronger. The High Chief and the elders watched her with concern. From time to time, there were elves like her—those who harbored excessive admiration for the human world, only to end up hurt in the end.

— I’m all grown up now! I can become the ‘Voice of the Forest’ too!

At some point, Ereneth began pleading to be allowed to go out into the wider world. But the elders refused. In their eyes, Ereneth simply wasn’t ready.

Though she didn’t show it outwardly, their repeated rejections left her filled with disappointment.

“Why not me?! Even those weaker than I am got to go to the city! I’m strong! I’m even stronger than Sylan!”

Judging one another by strength wasn’t the elven way. But Ereneth had begun to think in ways completely unlike an elf.

Left with no other option, she wandered the forest daily, refining her spirit magic and training in combat techniques. It became her only solace.

Then came the news—an intruder had been spotted. She had wanted to join the pursuit team, but for some reason, she was rejected.

Frustrated, she stormed out of the village and trained alone. And that’s when she encountered the intruder.

A human. From the outside world she’d longed to see.

Ereneth’s first thought was that she wanted this human all to herself.

“This isn’t my fault. It’s the High Chief and the elders’ fault for not letting me go. I have so many questions I want to ask him.”

Just like that, she justified herself, choosing personal curiosity and desire over her duty as an elf.

Of course, Ereneth knew humans were excellent liars. She didn’t blindly believe everything Ghislain said.

“I’ll pretend to believe him for now, lull him into letting his guard down. If I play along, I’ll figure out the truth. Besides, he’s interesting.”

That was her plan—to deceive Ghislain for the time being and observe. After all, she had found something she wanted to do with this human.

Naturally, Ghislain could read her intent from the fleeting expressions and tone in her voice.

“Tsk tsk, too clumsy.”

At her current level, {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Ereneth had no chance of fooling him. She simply lacked the experience.

Still, it was a bit unexpected to see this kind of alluring side to her.

“Well, she’s still young.”

Hadn’t he himself been a little terror when he was her age?

Ereneth, too, had many sides to her.

“Hmm... now that I think about it...”

In the future, she would come to embody the dignity and nobility befitting the title of High Chief of the Elves. But even then, she would occasionally show a sly side that didn’t quite fit the image.

Up until now, Ghislain had thought her personality had been shaped by the war against the Demonic Realm. But seeing her like this... perhaps she was simply born that way.

“...So that’s her true nature.”

Every time he looked at her, Ghislain was reminded why elves were considered noble beings. And yet, there were times when Ereneth didn’t seem like an elf at all.

That discord—he realized—stemmed from her own nature.

In the future, she would become refined enough to hide that nature, but right now, she still lacked that refinement. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“Well, this might actually be a good thing. Better to extract some intel while she’s still naïve.”

Ghislain was skilled at extracting information even from casual conversation. He decided to use this opportunity to build a closer rapport with her.

But he would soon realize how arrogant that plan had been.

“I’ve asked the elders so many times, but they kept refusing me! So I figured I’d sneak out in secret... Are you even listening?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m listening.”

“Is it because you’ve been running around? Why do you look so tired?”

Ghislain’s face had gone pale without him realizing it—and for good reason.

“Wh-what a chatterbox...”

Ereneth, excited beyond measure, was endlessly chattering away.

At first, Ghislain tried to respond, but eventually, he just nodded wearily.

Even Ghislain—hardened by Belinda’s nagging and Claude’s nonsense—was no match for Ereneth’s chatter.

— Sis... just kill me already...

— Master, please, shut that mouth up. Seal it. I don’t care about elven gossip anymore.

Even Astion and Dark were so exhausted that they simply shut their consciousness off entirely.

Seeing Ghislain’s weary expression, Ereneth puffed out her cheeks in a pout.

“What? Is my story boring to you?”

“No, not at all. I’ve just been a little distracted keeping an eye on the surroundings.”

“Hmph, leave that to me. I said I’d take care of it, didn’t I?”

And she really had. She had sent spirits to watch the area and report if anything unusual happened. If any elf did come snooping around, she’d hide Ghislain and lie with ease.

And not a single elf doubted her word.

The more Ghislain saw of them, the more he was impressed by how deeply elves trusted one another.

That these same elves would turn into such bastards in the future... he still couldn’t believe it, even now.

At her confident words, Ghislain nodded, still pale.

“R-right. I’ll trust you. Now, where were we?”

“Right, so the problem with us elves is we’re too closed off. We don’t even try to interact with humans properly, and we’re forbidden from going outside freely. That’s why there’s no progress, even after centuries. So I think...”

Ereneth went on and on about how dull, boring, and unchanging elven life was.

Clearly, she had a lot bottled up.

How much time had passed? After pouring out her heart, her expression had softened noticeably.

“Sorry, I talked way too much, huh? There’s no one I can say this stuff to back home. But I feel better now. Thanks for listening.”

She smiled sheepishly, her face tinged with embarrassment. Seeing her like that, Ghislain let out a small laugh too.

Whatever else may have been fake, that smile at least was genuine.

Despite still suspecting him to be an intruder, she was treating him like a close friend.

Cunning as she might be, Ereneth still had that innocent elven nature.

“Okay, now it’s your turn. What kind of life did you live out there in the human world?”

Finally, it was his turn.

Ghislain grinned.

As a mercenary, he’d not only heard countless outrageous tales but lived through more than his share of them. He was confident that even a naïve elf longing for the outside world would be completely hooked.

“I’m not bragging or anything... but I’ve done a bit of everything.”

And so, Ghislain began to tell his story—slightly embellished, of course. With each passing word, Ereneth’s eyes sparkled brighter and brighter.

For someone who had lived her whole life in the forest, his tales were more thrilling and refreshing than any game.

“Really? And then what happened?”

“Wait, that actually happened?”

“Wow, you’re amazing!”

“I want to be a mercenary too! It sounds so free!”

Ereneth listened to Ghislain’s stories, gasping in awe over and over again. When the listener reacts enthusiastically, the speaker naturally enjoys it too. Ghislain wore a deliberately smug expression and bragged a little.

“Yeah, I’m that impressive. That’s why I was able to receive a revelation. But you know...”

He shifted the conversation naturally and asked something he’d been curious about.

“My abilities don’t seem to work that well here. Even when I hide, the elves somehow manage to find me. You found me too. How do you do that?”

“Ah, that? How, you ask...”

Ereneth started to answer, then abruptly bit her lip. After a moment, she flashed a mischievous smile.

“It’s a secret. We’re not close enough to share secrets yet, are we?”

Sigh... she was like this even back then. Never tells you the important stuff.

Ghislain clicked his tongue. It seemed he wouldn’t be learning the secret behind how they detected him anytime soon.

The northern forest was still a fair distance away. The two of them continued chatting nonstop as they walked.

“All elves are equal. We only have a representative, that’s all. But humans have social classes, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard the coolest human is a prince on a white horse.”

Ghislain hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t quite sure how to explain that to someone with such little knowledge of the human world. That kind of thing only existed in fairytales.

“A prince on a white horse... Well, there’s Alfoy, I guess...”

“Huh? Is Alfoy a prince?”

“No, not exactly...”

There was someone who fit the image of a prince. Not now, but someone who would be reborn as one in the future.

“You’ll get to meet someone like that soon. A great guy named Julien. He’s cooler than most princes.”

“Really? I’d love to meet him. Ah, I want to go out into the world soon too. I want to experience all those adventures I’ve only heard about in stories.”

Ereneth’s face lit up with expectation. She still hadn’t grasped the ugliness of the human world. To her, everything was still a fairytale, pure and beautiful.

Ghislain gave a bitter smile. Now he understood why the older elves were so strict about education.

Ereneth must’ve been educated too...

Maybe that was just the nature of elves. Even if they weren’t naïve, they still believed in dreams more than reality.

Still, because of that, Ghislain was able to bond with her more quickly than expected. The more they talked, the more the initial awkwardness faded.

Although she still had her guard up toward humans, it had softened considerably.

As they neared the northern forest, Ereneth’s expression subtly hardened. Noticing this, Ghislain asked, “All I know is there’s a problem in the northern forest. What exactly happened?”

Ereneth paused, stopping mid-step and falling into thought. She seemed to be weighing how much she should say.

After a moment of deliberation, she resumed walking slowly and began to speak.

“We’re almost there. You’ll see the northern forest soon. But to give you a quick explanation... there was a war.”

“A war?”

“You humans might not know this, but high in the mountains of the northern lands live orcs—rough and powerful ones. The tribe is called the Red Fangs. We’ve been fighting them for ages.”

“Hm... So you were at war with orcs. We humans don’t know much about the areas surrounding the elven forest.”

The elven forest and the surrounding lands were all considered neutral zones. Humans hadn’t been able to expand their territory there.

If human cities popped up too close to elven settlements, there would naturally be more contact between the two races. That’s why the elves allowed just one trading city beyond the forest and no more.

Everywhere else remained wild, untouched by human influence.

“That’s probably why there are even more monsters in this era than in mine.”

There were many regions outside the elves’ forest untouched by the kingdom’s influence, crawling with monsters. The lords only cared about protecting their own lands.

No wonder the most common requests mercenaries received were monster subjugations or escorts to fend off attacks.

When Ghislain admitted he didn’t know much, Ereneth continued her explanation.

“It’s not like we fight every day. Every few years, those bastards invade again. They’re after the forest’s abundance.”

“So the northern forest was invaded this time?”

“Yeah. It’s the closest one to their territory, after all. But as always, we drove them back. In the forest, we’re invincible.”

Ereneth spoke with clear pride in her voice.

Elves didn’t deny emotions like pride or anger—they simply distrusted human greed, selfishness, and uncontrolled emotions.

In fact, they had even stronger pride and arrogance about their race than most others. The wise ones knew how to control their emotions, but Ereneth had yet to reach that level of maturity.

Her expression soon twisted into a scowl, and she gritted her teeth in anger.

“But those filthy bastards completely defiled our forest this time. Maybe they were furious because they couldn’t conquer it like always. So they resorted to something vile.”

“What... did they set it on fire?”

“Fire? That’s nothing. We can put out fires no matter how many they start.”

“Then what did they do?”

Ereneth shot him a cold glare as she spoke.

“They allied with human dark mages.”

Ghislain slowly looked around. The surroundings seemed to distort unnaturally—he realized they had crossed the forest’s boundary.

And what he saw...

The forest was rotting.

Everything had melted and decayed.