I Became a 10,000-year-old Elf

“Your name is Lina? Good.”

The next morning, I changed clothes again and smirked at her as she fidgeted. It felt like I might have been a bit overbearing, but I didn’t really order her to do anything harsh, so I let it slide. The compensation I provided to Ethan includes the condition of receiving such services.

“Are you a beastkin?”

“Y-Yes. Though I’m probably not a purebred…”

When she flinched, surprisingly, her ears and tail also twitched together. They were real ears and tail, not graphics or makeup.

From my perspective, seeing it in person for the first time, it was incredibly fascinating.

“When I was in the tower, only a few people awakened as beastkin. I remember there were all sorts of people. Some were normal people who turned into wolves. I wonder if the beastkin remaining in this world now are their descendants?”

“The tower?”

“In that era you call the mythical age, 10,000 years ago.”

I shrugged and smiled bitterly at her bewildered look. It seems Ethan didn’t tell Lina about my identity, but honestly, since she’s going to be constantly by my side, I felt I couldn’t keep hiding it as it would be frustrating.

However, even when I spoke like this, Lina looked confused, unable to understand what I was saying.

“If beastkin are their descendants, then elves must be the same. Other races too.”

There were quite a few climbers who changed even their race, like me. Back then, we couldn’t even imagine that they would become the progenitors of a race.

They tried to conquer the tower and prevent calamities by doing so, but all failed.

Of course, if such events allowed for the birth of beings like Lina standing before me now, it would be my arrogance to call it a failure or calamity.

“By the way, why are you so stiff? Is it because you’re uncomfortable with the short clothes that expose your shoulders and legs?”

“That’s not it. Then what can I help you with from now on, Lady Isilia?”

“Just help me normally. Like what other maids do.”

Lina was still wary of me, but in fact, I had no intention of harming her at all. Her beautiful face and attractive body no longer really affected me.

It’s partly because my body has changed into this frail form, and above all, my mind is too tattered to harbor such primal desires or covetousness.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

I decided to take her out with me.

It was to properly observe this world that had been rebuilt after my world had perished, 10,000 years passing while I was doing other things.

“This should be enough.”

“W-Wait a moment. You haven’t put on socks and shoes yet.”

To prepare for going out, I took off my pajamas and changed into outdoor clothes. Clothes for a little girl the size of my palm that I thought I’d never wear in my life. I wore a modest dress with the skirt length coming above the knee and a hooded cloak, but as Lina was surprised to see, I was barefoot without shoes.

“I can’t wear shoes for a while.”

“…Pardon?”

“I need to be close to the ground.”

It wasn’t an eccentricity, but a kind of training method. Seeing Lina’s surprised face, I smirked and went out to the mansion’s garden without hesitation.

The moment I made contact with the floor, or more precisely the earth, I could receive a strong signal sent by the earth spirits through the skin in contact.

‘Is this enough?’

“—!”

The earth spirit that popped up in front of me said that just by having my skin in contact with the ground like this, the communion is amplified and the power of nature I can receive becomes stronger.

I didn’t even need to train on my own as I did in the tutorial.

It might be because it’s the power of a world incomparably larger than a single floor of the tower, but it’s certainly a cheat-like power.

To think I can get stronger just by staying still like this.

“You said this city’s name is Suan.”

“Yes, from what I know, it’s a name that’s been passed down since ancient times.”

After leaving the mansion together, Lina became my guide. Hearing again about the city’s name that I had already heard once from Ethan, I unconsciously snorted.

‘Then if we go up a bit, there should be Seoul.’

Similar place names that sound familiar, the shape of the Korean peninsula on the map that has mostly retained its original form though slightly changed due to the influence of the Great Apocalypse, and so on. Even though 10,000 years have passed, traces remain not just in artifacts or ruins.

“Suan is a free city. Because of the nearby Forbidden Area, surrounding powers have left it as a neutral zone. Thanks to that, the mayor elected by the city residents governs the city.”

“There are so many fascinating things…”

The city was teeming with people, and there were too many unique buildings and objects. It took time to understand even with Lina’s explanations.

It wasn’t a city in the Korean peninsula, but to me, it was another world itself.

The world had completely changed from both the Earth I lived in and the Earth’s history I had learned, and it was still developing even at this moment.

This place is clearly my hometown, but I felt like I had become a complete outsider dropped into another world.

“What’s this?”

“That’s a device for shaking off dirt stuck on shoes.”

“I can tell what this is. A drinking fountain, right?”

“…It’s an object for beastkin to groom their tails.”

In the end, I had no choice but to ask Lina about everything. Even if I tried to pretend I knew, it was impossible to get even one thing right.

“This is the main street, so there are many people and you might get lost.”

If there was one advantage, it was that such clueless behavior lowered Lina’s guard considerably. When we went to the downtown area with a large square and main street, Lina grabbed my hand first. Just like a parent holding a child’s hand tightly so they don’t get lost.

At this point, it seems she’s not just lowered her guard, but actually sees me as a little child.

“Then, what’s that statue?”

In that state, I pointed at the intricate statue in the middle of the city square. With some device, perhaps magic, the statue was shining even in broad daylight, illuminated.

Others seemed to find the statue unremarkable, either seriously observing it or passing by without a glance.

But I couldn’t react nonchalantly because its appearance was so strange to me.

“It’s a statue of a hero who, in the chaotic times long ago when this city was not yet properly established and monsters from the mythical era still remained harming people, led his followers and protected this land to the end.”

“This is…?”

Lina told me as if it were common knowledge. However, the statue I approached and looked up at was indeed strange.

The overall shape seemed to be human, but it was riding a horse with wheels attached to its lower body.

It was wrapped in something like thick armor. That armor covering the upper body looked like something that would keep you very warm if you wore just this one thing while walking outside in winter.

The helmet on the head also looked extremely sturdy. The entire face part could be lowered and raised, securing the field of vision and preventing injuries.

It was truly strange and bizarre, but it was absurd that there were not a few parts that looked familiar.

“They were knights who guarded the city and protected the citizens in the mythical era. There are clear records that even the people of the mythical era called them knights.”

“…?”

At that moment, someone approached us. The man who came up to us pretending to know us was a middle-aged man with a plump body, dressed quite neatly.

“Oh, how sudden. I am Evans, the owner of the Neor Theater.”

He introduced himself as we stared blankly. Whether he misunderstood something seeing Lina the maid, or he was just usually quite polite, his attitude was quite courteous.

“Suan here is one of the cities where traces of the tower remain, so research on the mythical era is very active. Scholars from other countries also come here to set up research institutes and study.”

“I heard an interesting story. You say people from the mythical era called those people knights? Perhaps, wasn’t there another word before ‘knight’?”

“Oh ho, you seem young but appear to be well-versed in mythology. There are various hypotheses about that. In fact, they trained various types of knights to build powerful military forces. Those were probably similar to mounted patrol units.”

“…”

He looked serious and not at all playful.

And I couldn’t even begin to guess where things had gone wrong. Well, it’s not like I knew much about prehistoric times either.

If someone claiming to be from that era appeared and said that the stone knife I learned was used in that era was actually a nail clipper, how would I have reacted?

“What do you think about the mythical era?”

Giving up on correcting him that delivery knights are not the knights you know, I asked him something else instead, since he spoke to me first.

I wanted to hear about the era I lived in from someone who might be a descendant of my family or acquaintances.