The Paranoid Elf Queen Turned Me Into Her Sister

Volume 3, Chapter 22 ~ Am I Also One of the Oppressors?

“Let’s stop here, Mr. Kledin. As the Commander of the insurgents, you surely have more important matters to handle.” Arriving at the city gate, I gave a slight bow toward Kledin, who had personally come to see us off.

“You two came all the way from Coleman City, it would be a breach of etiquette if I did not personally see you off, wouldn’t it?” Kledin still behaved appropriately, his etiquette precise, the noble mode of conduct deeply ingrained in his every move.

Whether such insurgents, with such a leader, could truly become a force to reckon with, I could not say. After all, circumstances create heroes, and before matters reached a conclusion, anything was possible.

We would just have to leave it to fate.

But one thing was certain: whether or not the insurgents succeeded, the wheel of history would not change its trajectory, and what was destined to be crushed under that wheel would not escape.

This seemingly mighty Empire was like a drunken giant collapsed by the roadside; apart from its intimidating bulk, it was nothing but fat and flab, ready to collapse at the slightest push.

Having realized that this insurgent army was not born to rescue the people from fire and water, I felt there was no reason for me to remain here.

In this otherworldly medieval-like world, the mindset of nobles being inherently superior was deeply ingrained, and knights were among the hereditary nobles. One could not expect those of the noble class to possess any sort of true awakening.

Since our conversation could not align, it was best to part on good terms.

Upon hearing I was leaving, Kledin did not try to force me to stay, his words respectful, behaving like a gentleman, giving me full courtesy.

But I could tell that within his words was a hint of wanting me to stay. During our conversation, Kledin had continuously expressed views like “we are the same kind of people,” “we belong to the same class,” hoping I would resonate with him, remain, and help him, leveraging my noble status to gain various conveniences, or even foreign aid.

In the end, he was disappointed. I showed no intention, and aside from courtesy and politeness, he could not read any willingness to cooperate from my words.

Although they carried the banner of overthrowing the Empire’s corrupt rule, the Empire was no longer as strong as it once was, but even a dead camel was bigger than a horse. If the Empire were not being dragged down by cultists from other regions, his lone force would not be enough to sustain itself.

Precisely because he saw that I was not a noble from the Empire itself, Kledin hoped to befriend me, making promises to bring in foreign intervention and support.

But reality proved that his wishful thinking was naïve, and such petty thoughts could not escape my eyes.

Watching Kledin’s act from the side, Yimi secretly clicked her tongue, inwardly despising how humans were so full of schemes.

So pretentious, so ugly.

“Commander, are we really going to let them leave so easily?” The blue-skinned man cast a somewhat sinister glance at our backs. “Since the founding of the insurgents, no one has left Mosuo City alive without permission.”

“They have been to our lair; if they colluded with the Empire and sold our information to them, wouldn’t we be in great danger?...”

“No need. They won’t sell us out to the Empire.” Kledin said confidently.

In truth, he was not confident at all. The only reason he let the two of us leave unharmed was that he did not want to offend more noble factions.

The Empire was already a headache for him, and if he were to provoke foreign forces now, it would be unbearable.

Now was not the time to make enemies; the best policy was to pull other noble forces together to help him resist the Empire.

Of course, these were not things Kledin would share with his subordinates. He knew well the hatred his subordinates bore toward nobles, and if they learned he intended to cooperate with nobles, it would diminish his prestige within the army.

I had seen through Kledin; this knight, righteous in speech, was filled with nothing but self-interest inside.

How he had become a monster could no longer be traced, but regardless of the cause, all that remained in his heart now was personal gain, and as for how many would die in this war, he couldn't care less.

I realized that whether it was the Empire or the insurgents, none of them truly cared about the lives of the people. In their eyes, these were merely cold chips, not living beings with lives of their own.

The Empire’s high echelons disregarded human life, resorting only to bloody suppression, and could not be relied upon.

If it had been the old Teresa, what would she have done at this moment?

I could not help but think this, and unknowingly, I began pondering more about what kind of person the former Teresa had been and whether she had influenced my current personality.

Whether in my previous life or this one, there was one thing certain.

I could not stand by and do nothing.

“You want to stop that monster?” Yimi suddenly spoke, her emerald eyes calmly fixed on me, her empathy allowing her to vaguely sense what I was thinking at that moment.

“Before that, I will send you back to Coleman Academy.” I rubbed Yimi’s fluffy little head, using our height difference.

At first, bringing Yimi along had been partly to protect her; she had no obligation to follow me on these dangerous ventures.

“No need.” Yimi irritably brushed away my hand from her head. “What, are you afraid I’ll harm you, so you don’t dare keep me by your side anymore?”

“This time, it’s not a sightseeing trip. It’s dangerous.”

“Don’t bother. I’m going with you.” Yimi stared at me. “The more dangerous, the better. I even want to watch you die.”

Seeing Yimi’s stubbornness, refusing to leave me no matter what I said, I could only give up.

“Hey.”

“Hm?” Hearing Yimi suddenly speak, I snapped out of my thoughts.

“Why do you insist on meddling in this business?” Yimi asked. “These oppressed humans are pitiful, but we have no obligation to rescue them, and besides, we can’t, and would lose our lives in the process.”

That was Yimi’s perspective. Perhaps it was realistic for an elf, but it was the truth. She would help a struggling individual without hesitation, but to sacrifice herself for an outsider, she would never agree.

“Humans or elves, are they not all living beings of this world?” I said. “All things have spirits; this was what the Elf Mother Goddess said. Be it insects or forests, everything fulfills its duty, and that is why the world remains stable.”

“I don’t know how much I can do, but to watch and do nothing, I cannot.”

“If I clearly have the power to stop all this yet do nothing, how am I any different from the perpetrators?”

“...Then why, back then, did you betray your own kind?” Yimi fell silent for a moment, then questioned me harshly.

“Are human lives lives, but the lives of your own kind are not? Or is it that your overflowing sympathy is only for outsiders?” Seeing my serious expression, recalling the scenes of me slaughtering my own kind and her family, Yimi felt a suffocating pressure in her chest, unable to tell whether it was irritation or resentment.

“...”

Remembering the fragments of recovered memories, standing covered in blood among the corpses in the elf village, I could not answer her question.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” My reaction surprised Yimi. Normally, I would laugh off such words, not taking them seriously. Why now was I silent, my expression somewhat dazed?

As if...

As if I were admitting that it had been my own hands that had done those things.

Yimi did not know why, but seeing my somewhat dispirited reaction, she became more anxious than I was.

“Hey, say something, will you? Don’t just stay silent.” Yimi grabbed my hand, her nails digging into my flesh.

“Yimi, have I ever told you that one of the reasons for this journey is to recover my lost memories?”

“So, you’ve finally remembered some things from before? What memories have you recalled?” Yimi pressed.

“...”

I remained silent, making Yimi even more anxious, and just as she was about to continue questioning, a strong, pungent stench rushed into our noses, and at the same time, that familiar, extremely uncomfortable sensation overwhelmed us once again.

“That monster is nearby?!” Realizing what that smell meant, Yimi’s expression changed.

“No, it has been here.” I realized something, took down the longbow from my back, summoned my domain, kicked off the ground, and sprinted away.

“Hey, wait for me!” Seeing only a golden silhouette vanish in an instant, Yimi stretched her two pale, tender legs to follow, but I was so fast that she could not keep up.

The foul stench in the air grew thicker, eventually becoming almost tangible, making Yimi feel unbearable discomfort. Covering her mouth and nose did nothing to block the nausea, and to keep up with me, she could only grit her teeth and force herself forward.

As we drew closer, my expression turned grave, the faint smile that always lingered on my lips completely gone.

When I arrived and saw the walls of Kolint City, the entire city was already engulfed in flames, with a massive breach torn into the city walls, countless broken bricks and rubble piled like trash on the side.

The city gates were tightly shut, but there were no guards outside. Climbing through the breach into the city, I found it had already become a living hell, the blood-soaked mountains of corpses and seas of blood even more gruesome than what Kanz City had been.

Clearly, it had been here.

In just half a day, it had turned an entire city-state into ruins.

How many families, how many lives, had this city held?

Aside from the unbearable stench, the ruins were filled with endless sorrow and despair.

I felt as if I could reach out and touch the souls wailing in agony, silently telling of their pain, the heartbreak of being separated forever from loved ones in an instant, lying in pools of blood with dying breaths and shattered hope, their eyes, which would never see tomorrow, painting for me image after image that I could feel in my soul.

Was I too late again?

A familiar scene sparked my memories.

“Even if you are the Elf War Goddess, what can you do?”

I half-squatted, clutching my forehead in pain, and looked up. The scene shifted, revealing a silver-haired, wheat-skinned girl with horns standing before me, surrounded by green- and red-skinned monsters.

“You might be able to withstand thousands of troops, but this resentment accumulated over a hundred years, the resentment of tens of thousands of people, how could you bear it alone?”

“Extreme desires give birth to corresponding Divine Authority.”

“My beloved, elves worship the Sacred Tree, so the Divine Authorities born are mostly related to nature. Demihumans live by hunting, so their Divine Authorities are often related to hunting. Humans worship the war god Carreto, so their Divine Authorities often manifest as weapons.”

“But desires have not only a positive side but a negative one as well. Negative desires are still desires.”

“When tens of thousands harbor deep resentment against you, their collective desire to overthrow and topple your rule, do you think such power can be stopped by human will alone?”

I remembered.

No wonder I had felt a sense of familiarity when hearing Felicia’s words; that ancient text was not baseless.

I remembered that the source of this world’s power was nothing other than the intense desires and wishes of all beings.

Because of heavy exploitation and oppression, humans developed the thought of resisting the Empire. Even if they only dared to think about it and not act, enough resentment was generated to cause the appearance of the Corpseblossom.

The Corpseblossom was born from the “wishes” of these people, the weakest retaliation of the dying against those who had exploited and oppressed them, forcing them into destitution.

They did not dare speak a word against the Empire’s brutal rule, and perhaps the Empire’s rulers, with all their schemes, never expected that the ones who would shake the foundations of their rule would be the very people they saw as livestock.

Their resentment went out of control, attacking all living things indiscriminately.

Until their resentment reached its end, that monster would not stop its destruction.

So...

I looked at the ruined capital with mixed feelings.

Everything seemed to make sense now, and from this, many other things became clear.

Yet as I approached the truth, as I learned the truth, I felt no relief.

If this truly was the case, then the elves had likely suffered the same problem as the humans.

That was, resentment from exploitation had given birth to enough malice to create a Corpseblossom, corrupting some of the elves.

Then...

Those elves who had become part of the Demon Race opened the gates of the Land of the Elves to the demon armies outside, letting them invade the forest.

And as the Elf War Goddess, second daughter of the previous Elf Empress, in a sense, the former Teresa had been one of the oppressors...

I found it hard to accept this truth. Even knowing that Teresa was not me, it still pained me so deeply I could hardly breathe.

So, was the former me truly the same as the Empire’s rulers...?