First Concubine (1)

Translated by AmaLynne

Edited by AmaLynne

In the village of High Elves, there are two types of『chief』positions.

One is the position of『chief hunter』, which is held by the most highly skilled person in the village.

Literally, this is the position of the chief who is in charge of hunting animals and demons, and is chosen from among the villagers based on simple combat ability alone.

The other is the general position of『village chief』. The most intelligent adult in the village is appointed to this position, and as a general rule, the management policy of the village is decided by the person who holds this position.

Melfalude is in the former role of『chief hunter』.

The latter is headed by her mother, Faranda. Perhaps inherited from her mother, Melfalude has also been a smart person since childhood, but, Melfalude, who is only a little over 500 years old, has never been given the role of the village chief.

As for wisdom and knowledge, those who have lived longer have accumulated more. The older the chief, the better.

Melfalude’s age is already over 500 years old, but this is not enough for a village inhabited only by High Elves, at best, it is considered only to be『newly adult,』so it was out of the question of『village chief』.

However, if it’s just a simple skill with a bow, Melfalude has already surpassed her mother.

Melfalude level had reached 97, which was outstandingly high among the villagers.

Considering that the second-highest level in the village is 81, it is clear how high this level is.

The reason why she was able to raise her level so high was that Melfalude is resistant to the『miasma』.

The『Great Forest』, where the High Elves’ village is located, is filled with miasma except for the outer edges, and a large number of demons live there.

This miasma is harmful to humans, and if you breathe it into your body, your body will gradually become infected with disease.

At first, the illnesses are only minor, like catching a cold, but as the miasma stays longer, it can cause paralysis in the limbs and even blindness in some cases.

However, the degree to which the miasma affects you depends on your constitution, and for those who are not well enough to stay in the miasma for even ten minutes, their physical condition will be severely affected, while for those who are well enough to stay in the miasma for a few hours, there will be no effect.

This is the case with Melfalude. Ever since she was a child, she has been able to stay in the miasma for a few hours without any problems, and now that her body and level have grown considerably, she can stay in the miasma for five to six hours without any problems.

If a demon lives in a place with miasma, it will never leave that environment.

Therefore, Melfalude was always able to go deep into the『Great Forest』to hunt demons, and when attacked by an unbeatable opponent, she could always shake off the demons by fleeing to the outer edges of the forest.

This advantage, along with the slow aging of the High Elves, has allowed her to reach level 97, even though she’s still among the youngest in the village.

Melfalude was very proud of her abilities.

The miasma may be harmful to humans, but it has an energizing effect on demons. For this reason, many of the demons that live in the『Great Forest』are of a higher level than in other areas.

Also, when the armies of the Kingdom of Eldard once invaded a High Elf village, Melfalude played an active role in all directions and succeeded in taking the lives of over a thousand soldiers.

She hunts the ferocious demons that live in the miasma environment daily, and when war comes, she can produce enough results. In a sense, it was only natural that Melfalude had no doubts about the fact that she is『strong』.

Such was the case with Melfalude―――who was helpless in the battle the other day.

The enemy had invaded the village of the High Elves directly from the sky. Because the enemy’s first attack had wounded many of their archers, Melfalude fired an arrow with all her might from the start―――but it was easily repelled by the invisible barrier.

She continued to fire a second shot, but it was also blocked. Not wanting to give up, she fired her third and fourth shots, but the results were the same.

―――The bow she is so proud of was completely useless against the opponent in front of her.

After being confronted with this fact, Melfalude did not fire the fifth shot. She knew that it would be futile to even try.

In the past, when the Kingdom of Eldard invaded, some enemies used magic to create invisible barriers. Even so, Melfalude’s arrows easily defeated the enemy with invisible barriers.

However, the barriers created by the opponent this time did not seem to work. On the contrary, she didn’t feel like she was even able to do some damage to the invisible barrier.

While Melfalude’s heart was broken and she lost her will to fight. The villagers tried their best to stand up to the enemy.. but the result was the same.

The number of enemies was only two at first, then increased, but still 12 in total.

And yet―――far more terrifying and greater despair than the war with the Kingdom of Eldard, where thousands of soldiers had attacked, was felt by Melfalude.

“―――You were very reckless to fight with Yuri sister.”

After hearing the whole story from Melfalude’s mouth. The woman dressed in white chuckled somewhat amusingly as she said this.

She was a woman named Estoa, and although Melfalude didn’t know the details, it seemed that she held some kind of important position in the temple. She is also the『 first concubine』of Her Majesty Yuri.

The next day, Melfalude, who had been brought back as a『custody』by Her Majesty Yuri, was instructed to『meet all of my concubines, introduce yourself to them, and ask them to stay in their rooms for the night.』

It seems that Her Majesty Yuri is taking into consideration the fact that Melfalude only has acquaintances in the High Elf community and wants Melfalude to meet all of her side chambers so that she can make friendships here in the Yuri Empire.

Melfalude had thought that as soon as she was taken, she would be treated as badly as a sex slave, so she felt somewhat let down.

But, of course, Melfalude was grateful for this consideration.

So today, having just received instructions from Her Majesty Yuri, Melfalude went to the private quarters of the woman in front of her, Her Majesty Yuri’s first concubine, Estoa.

Apparently, Estoa had already heard the story from Her Majesty Yuri, and immediately welcomed Melfalude’s visit.

After tea and sweets were served, Estoa asked Melfalude to tell her the whole story, and she just finished telling her.

“I’ve fought her and I know I was no match for her..”

“From what I’ve heard, your Yuri sister took it pretty easy on you.”

“....She’s holding back? With that?”

“Yuri sister is a magician who specializes in『summoning』, but from what I’ve heard, she doesn’t seem to be using that power at all. She’s definitely holding back.

If Yuri sister wanted to, she could always summon an overwhelming number of dragons that would fill the sky from one end to the other. So if you were serious about destroying the High Elves’ settlement, the entire『Great Forest』would have been burnt to ashes by now.”

“Summoning a huge army of dragons..? How is that possible?”

“Fufu. Well, that’s what most people think.”

Once again, Estoa chuckled funnily.

It seemed impossible, but for some reason―――Melfalude didn’t think Estoa was lying at all.

“Eh.. A-Are you sure, Your Majesty Yuri can do that?”

“Yes, she can. I’m a priest, after all, and I don’t like to lie.”

“..I find that hard to believe..”

“Well, that’s what most people think, isn’t it?”

Estoa repeats the same line as before.

The smile on her face seemed to say eloquently,『It’s all true.』

The fact that she had fought against such a formidable opponent, even after all this time, made Melfalude feel a chill in her heart.