The World Does Not Exist for ■■

Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: ford53
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< Chapter 21: A Coincidence for the Heroine (2) >

“Coward…!”

The blonde-haired elf bit her lower lip.

Although it was a distance that would hardly be visible to the average person, through her mana-attuned eyes, she could clearly see the knife pointed at Rime’s throat.

“Are you finally ready to have a rational conversation?”

“Shut up! If only you hadn’t killed the branch manager…!”

As she screamed, the human stepped on Rime’s back with defiance. Rime gasped for air and collapsed like a corpse.

“Stop, please stop!”

The elf covered her mouth in shock. Once silence fell, the human nodded in satisfaction.

“I’m the one asking questions. You just need to answer.”

“…”

“Answer.”

“…Fine.”

The human’s golden eyes coldly swept over her body.

“Your name.”

“Miridis… Miridis Ipp Marx.”

As soon as she answered, the human’s brows furrowed.

“Marx?”

That surname, taken from Marx’s name, meant only one thing: she was of the bloodline of Demerond Ipp Marx, the leader of the World Tree Revolutionary Faction.

“…So you’re a princess.”

The human uttered words that sounded like a mix of mockery and admiration while stroking his chin with one hand. Despite the hand having been pierced by a knife, not a drop of blood flowed from his knuckles.

“Miridis, what business did you have chasing the branch manager?”

“…I had something to ask him.”

“Ask what?”

“That… ”

Miridis hesitated momentarily while looking behind the human. Behind his back, only visible to her eyes, two lumps of light twinkled.

‘Rellin, Lion. Not yet. Wait a little longer.’

After whispering in her mind to the lumps of light, Miridis continued speaking.

“…I wanted to ask where the bodies of the elves who recently died in Incheon had gone.”

“Ah, that incident… So you were after the Cleaners Guild? Nothing to do with the fact that the branch manager was a government official?”

“The government? Was he a government official?”

Miridis asked back, but the human continued with his own questions.

“So, why are you looking for the bodies of elves?”

Miridis inhaled the cold night air. For a brief moment, she remembered the two elves who had died.

Gon and Legon, her incredibly reliable brothers.

Her family members, who willingly left the forest to follow her to Earth, for her sake.

“…Do I need a reason to recover my family’s bodies?”

“…”

“That’s the only reason we chased the branch manager. So… please step back. I swear we won’t follow you. I don’t want to lose another family member.”

She spoke those words aloud but simultaneously gathered mana to transmit to the two lumps of light.

‘Lion, Rellin.’

With all her might, she prepared for magic, a spell of the utmost importance that allowed no margin for error.

One strike to bring down this despicable human and rescue Rime… Her mind was filled with nothing but that thought.

But in the next moment, the human suddenly flicked the knife upwards.

‘Could he have noticed?’

Startled, before Miridis could open her mouth, he thrust the knife.

“No!”

Thunk.

As the sound of the knife embedding deeply was heard, she clenched her eyes shut. She lacked the courage to face her family’s demise.

A moment later, Miridis shivered and opened her eyes. Then…

“Uh…?”

She let out a bewildered gasp.

Contrary to her fears, Rime had not been killed. The human had merely planted the knife into the ground beside Rime.

He dusted off his now-free hands and looked at the flustered Miridis, saying,

“Miridis. First, let me offer my condolences. Unfortunately, your family’s bodies are no longer of this world.”

“What do you mean…?”

Seeing her confused face, the human paused for a moment, then continued.

“The Korean government… had been collecting bodies from this land to sell to a necromancer. Your family’s bodies were also in the government’s body warehouse.”

“Necromancer…? Could it be?”

Miridis bit her lip, contemplating the worst possibility. Not only had her family’s bodies not returned home, but they might also have been used by a necromancer?

However, the human’s next words exceeded even her expectations.

“That body warehouse, I burned it down.”

“…What?”

“I suppose the bodies of the two dead elves would have disappeared along with the warehouse. It wasn’t my intention, but I apologize to you.”

The human genuinely seemed regretful as he placed his removed hat over his heart and bowed his head. Miridis watched his actions in a daze.

Was what he said true, or was it just a lie to get out of this situation?

Before she could settle her doubts, the human leapt, closing the distance to her in a breathtaking burst of speed.

Stopping in front of Miridis, he silently took out a note and a pen from his bosom, scribbled something, and handed it to her.

“This is the location of the ruined warehouse. If you’re thinking of going there, head to the address written on this note.”

The note contained a rough sketch and address. Miridis blinked at the sudden change in his demeanor but accepted the note without question.

“Hopefully, you’ll find something of your family’s remains.”

Leaving those words behind, the human turned to leave, or he attempted to.

“Wait, just a moment!”

Miridis, without realizing it, clutched at his sleeve. Why? What was she thinking? She couldn’t understand herself, so she fell silent for a moment.

What to ask… Ah, yes.

“Y-Your name! What’s your name?”

The man replied with a reluctant expression.

“Dung Beetle.”

“…Dung Beetle?”

Was it an alias? Miridis unwittingly moved her mana to check her translation magic. It was functioning normally.

“That’s… quite a unique name.”

“I do hear that often. So, is there anything else you want to ask?”

“No, I have nothing more to ask, but… that’s…”

The conversation did not continue. As soon as Miridis released the sleeve she was holding, the man gave a slight nod—a brief farewell.

Dung Beetle walked past her and disappeared towards the bridge. Miridis blankly watched his retreating figure, then remembered Rime and called the two lumps of light.

“Rellin, Lion. Pick up comrade Rime. Let’s head to the warehouse drawn on this note for now.”

***

‘The Writer’ was browsing internet newspapers when the headline of an article made him furrow his brows.

“Shock!! Extremist Elf Declares Enrollment at Rhodes High! Controversy over ‘Why an Elf at the Academy?’ Heats Up.”

When he clicked on the sensational news, a fairly well-known media outlet’s article appeared on his smartphone screen.

“Multiple testimonies secured from the Gapyeong Dimensional Gate!”

“The restless spirits of the World Tree cross the dimensional gate.”

“U.S. Department of State ‘Neither confirms nor denies,’ controversy ensues.”

“Sign of peace treaty? The price of the elixir fluctuates rapidly.”

“Some are also concerned about the students at the academy.”

He glanced to check, and the article’s views had already surpassed several hundred thousand and were heading towards a million.

At this rate, it would likely become news known worldwide within a few days.

‘What’s going on? This shouldn’t have been revealed yet.’

The Writer recalled the subject the article was hinting at and rubbed his forehead.

Miridis Ipp Marx.

The elf princess… or The Red Communist.

Like the heroines of his world, this heroine, with polarizing opinions, was a character whose identity was supposed to be revealed at the end of Chapter 1 after the entrance ceremony.

An elf of communist royal standing, hostile to Earth, enrolling in the academy was a key plot point leading into Chapter 3, but…

For the enrollment to be revealed before the ceremony had even taken place.

‘What exactly has changed?’

He tried to find a hint by looking at news from several months ago, but he couldn’t identify any significant turning points.

He had no idea where things had started to go wrong.

‘Should I be relieved that only the enrollment was revealed, not her identity?’

Tch.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Being confined here, both the speed and quality of the information he received were terrible. If only the entrance ceremony could be held soon and the story progressed, he might be able to do something…

‘The Blue Rat and the Secret Society. If I could just start a deal with one of them, I wouldn’t need to worry about this.’

He thought about the various information guilds within the world and smacked his lips. What good was knowing their identities if, at the moment, they were just pie in the sky?

As The Writer was sighing with these thoughts, someone knocked on his door.

Knock-knock.

‘Who the hell is it at this hour?’

The Writer swiftly hid his smartphone under the blanket and got up to open the door.

“Huh? Jeon Yunseong? What brings you here?”

Beyond the door stood a boy with looks so chillingly handsome… that is, even more handsome than the protagonists in the novels he had written.

“Just had some time to spare.”

“At this hour?”

The Writer gestured with his eyes toward the clock on the wall inside his room. It was 5:30 AM, well before the dormitory’s wake-up time at 7 AM.

“I thought you’d be awake.”

The boy said, flashing a bright smile. His looks could have made girls swoon, but The Writer was neither a woman nor a homosexual.

He actually disliked the boy’s appearance.

With him around, dating any female supporting characters was virtually impossible, but he desperately hid his true feelings and acted as a fellow student of the boy.

“Yeah? I was just getting bored too. Perfect timing. What do you want to do? Game?”

“Let’s spar.”

“…Spar?”

“You said you’d teach me martial arts last time. It’s tough during the day, but I can help out for about an hour in the early morning.”

The Writer struggled to keep his expression from contorting.

Indeed, he had asked the boy to teach him martial arts, but it wasn’t a sincere request—merely a way to keep the conversation going.

However, this boy, who had lived his whole life amidst the hatred of Koreans, seemed so unfamiliar with social interactions that he did not understand the concept of ‘polite but empty words.’

‘…I’m screwed.’

It was too late to say it was just a passing remark, especially since the boy was one of the potential protagonists he had in mind.

The Writer internally sighed and forced a smile.

“Ah, right. I did say that. I didn’t really think you’d actually offer to teach me, so I forgot.”

“What are friends for? Of course, I can help with this much.”

Internally, The Writer screamed in irritation. But what came out of his mouth was entirely different.

“Thanks for caring, Yunseong.”