Elf Tensei Kara no Cheat Kenkoku-ki

Vol 05 Extra Chapter 2 Erucy’s Future and Cyril and His Family Sometime After

「Father! Welcome back.」

「I'm back, Kuuna.」

A little girl with fox ears ran towards me. She was my youngest daughter, Kuuna. She inherited her mother Kuu's beautiful golden hair and golden fox tail.

「Father, father!」

She clung to my leg, then quickly climbed up my body. Before I knew it, Kuuna was sitting on my shoulders, wrapping her legs around my neck for balance.

Although she was only three years old, she possessed incredible physical abilities and a remarkable aptitude for magic. Kuuna could even use my magic just by watching me. She was always betraying my expectations, in a good way.

In terms of raw talent, she surpassed all her siblings… no, even me. She was a true prodigy, almost terrifyingly so.

「Kuuna, be careful.」

Kuuna, chirping happily, pointed towards the house. I smiled wryly and firmly grasped her legs as I began to walk.

Then, an elf girl approached from the house. She appeared to be in her mid-teens, with golden semi-long hair and elf ears. She, too, was my daughter, born from my union with Lucy.

「Ah, Kuuna! You surprised me when you suddenly ran off!」

「I heard father's footsteps, so…」

Surely, atop my shoulders, Kuuna was proudly twitching her fox ears.

「Don't spoil Kuuna too much, Dad! She’s too free-spirited… and doesn't listen to anything I say!」

Lushe puffed her cheeks, trying to sound like an older sister. But I knew well that her words lacked persuasiveness.

「Lushe, aren't you the one who spoils Kuuna the most? Even the dress Kuuna is wearing today is your latest creation, isn't it?」

Kuuna was dressed in a frilly pink one-piece. It was a very cute design, unmistakably Lushe's work.

She had always loved making clothes and had pursued that path. She went to the commercial city Erin, and spent about three years there learning under the master tailor who made the wedding dresses for Lucy and Kuu. After completing her apprenticeship, she returned to Erucy.

Since coming back, she had been running a clothing store, doting on Kuuna, and having fun dressing her up in various outfits.

「It's not like I make them just to please Kuuna. She's just my model for children's clothes…」

「Lushe-oneechan clothes’ are cute, I love them.」

As Kuuna said this, Lushe's eyes softened. She came over, lifted Kuuna from my shoulders, and hugged her. Kuuna flailed her arms and legs, struggling for freedom, but Lushe didn’t seem to notice. Yes, Lushe definitely spoiled Kuuna the most.

◇

「I'm back.」

In the end, Kuuna was whisked away by Lushe. She's probably being subjected to mannequin treatment in Lushe’s workshop right now. Kuuna had desperately stretched out her small hands towards me, pleading for help with her eyes and voice, but I pretended not to see. If I interfered there I wouldn’t know what Lushe would do to me next.

「Welcome back, Cyril.」

「Welcome home, Cyril-kun.」

Lucy and Kuu greeted me. In the past, I had prepared homes for both Lucy and Kuu, deciding each day where to stay. It was a consideration to avoid making either of them feel uncomfortable. However, as we each had children, and the children became close, living separately became unnatural. So, we built a large house and started living together.

「I'm glad you're not injured, Cyril.」

「Yes, especially after you nearly died last time, I was really worried.」

「…Last time, I let it accumulate a bit too much. That was a mistake.」

Since the seal on the Erna was broken and re-sealed at the cost of Suzina and the others' sacrifice, I had been reducing the accumulated Erna regularly.

If I allowed the accumulated Erna to overflow, I probably wouldn't be able to contain it a second time. That's why I created a system to process the Erna in a more manageable way.

I built a device that attracts Erna in the lowest level of a maze-like structure, gathering it, and transforming it into monsters without letting it accumulate. Regularly defeating these monsters prevented the seal from breaking.

「Hey, Cyril, can you see properly with that eye?」

「I'm fine, Lucy. I can see. It took five years, but I've finally gotten used to it. In fact, I can see things that I couldn’t before.」

My eye had transformed from its original blue to an emerald green.

「It's hard to believe your eye is artificial, Cyril-kun, it looks so natural」

I smiled faintly at Kuu's remark. These were the symbol and mark of a High Elf, the Jade Eyes.

Ashno had attempted to create a homunculus, continuing Suzina's research. She managed to craft a body, but failed to create a soul. Using that technology, she prepared this Jade Eye for me as a replacement for an eye I lost in battle against monsters. A normal eye would have been sufficient, but to gain enough strength so I never lose anything more, I was persuaded to have this Jade Eye transplanted. That was five years ago.

Thanks to that, since having the Jade Eye transplanted five years ago, I gradually transformed into a High Elf, and now I was completely one. That was a bit frightening.

Kuuna was born three years ago. She was the only child born after I became a High Elf.

I could only hope that this hadn't had a strange impact on her. …No, I mustn't escape from reality. She was definitely affected. Her extraordinary talent was one indication, and according to Kuu, Kuuna strongly exhibited traits of atavism, she had several of the characteristics present in the ancestor of the fire foxes that were described in fire fox lore. For example, the color of her tail, though golden like Kuu's, was a dazzling gold, and vermilion flames were mixed into Kuuna's fire magic.

Just as Elves had the possibility of becoming High Elves, among the fire foxes, there is a legend of a nine-tailed fire fox. Kuu thought that Kuuna might have the potential to reach that level. I even suspect that Ashno might have intended for this to happen. There are still things she hasn't told me.

「Both of you, don't worry so much. I'm becoming stronger and stronger.」

A significant change that occurred in the world was Ashno altering the very rules of the world itself. Magic is the power to temporarily construct new rules different from the basic laws. In Ashno's case, she created a power that distorts existing rules instead of making new ones.

As a result, the very nature of people in this world had changed, giving birth to concepts known as 【Blessings】 and 【Ranks】.

Due to the need to control the accumulation of the Erna, I regularly went to the underground labyrinth and slaughtered monsters, in the process I became incredibly strong.

「Hey, Cyril. I still think it’s dangerous to go alone.」

「Yes, we want to help you too.」

I appreciated their offer but shook my head. In the underground labyrinth, I often find myself in situations where I must summon the [Silver Dragon of Destruction], and I'm not confident I can protect both of them.

「It's okay. I'll soon be relieved of my duty. Right now, Ashno and the others in the Choline Kingdom are working on something. They're setting things up so that soon, everyone will be able to take on the labyrinth. When that happens, I won’t need to go to the lower levels; just culling the monsters in the upper levels should suffice.」

I believed in that future and was not sparing any technical assistance. It should take shape within another year.

「By the way, where are Sora and Rayna?」

I asked about the whereabouts of the twins, my daughter and son born from Kuu.

「I think Sora-chan went out for peace negotiations, and Rayna-kun is leading Nettle to escort her.」

「Those two are essentially managing Erucy now. They've been really busy lately.」

Sora developed an interest in politics and governance from a young age. Thanks to the thorough education I provided, she now acted as Erucy's leader in my absence, capably handling the responsibilities. Rayna, on the other hand, had always aspired to be strong and was now the leader of Nettle. He was oddly fond of Roleau and had been influenced by him, but he had grown up straight and true. So straightforward he was that he usually forgot to use his head, which gave me headaches in return.

「I see, with those two, Erucy might be fine even without me.」

All my children, except for the young Kuuna, had found and were walking their own paths. I felt a bit of loneliness. The end of my last remaining work, the protection of the Erna’s seal was also in sight.

「Cyril, it's fine, isn't it? We should just retire.」

「That might be a good idea. Let's leave everything to the children and enjoy the rest of our lives.」

I smiled wryly at their suggestion. That might be a possibility. Thanks to the traits of Elves and fire foxes, we can maintain our youthful appearance and vigor until the moment of death. If we decide to enjoy ourselves, we can do so until the very end.

「Let's go on a trip next time. A real vacation, without thinking about diplomacy or anything like that. Our wedding anniversary is coming up, too.」

The moment I suggested this, the two of them were unexpectedly delighted. So, such a simple thing could make them this happy. Why hadn't I done this before? I began to think of the best travel plan for them, utilizing my knowledge from diplomatic visits to various countries.