Chapter 270: Making Friend
-----Fabian's POV
With just Ilfa and the dark elf now in the room with me, I can't help but wonder what's about to happen. It's clear to me now that Ilfa knew exactly who it was, but now I question why she asked me that question before. Did she expect me to single her out? But then what? Well at least things seem to have calmed down, although the elf still seems to be quite tense, still standing there as if she's still frozen, darting her eyes back and forth between Ilfa and I. Her skin was on the lighter shades of purple with her long light pink hair reaching all the way down her back. And unlike Ilfa, her eyes are clear, almost like a silver color as they glisten in the light, still frightened about what's going on.
Ilfa: "匚卂ㄥ爪. 丨'爪 几ㄖㄒ Ꮆㄖ丨几Ꮆ ㄒㄖ 卄ㄩ尺ㄒ ㄚㄖㄩ."
Elf: "丨'爪 丂ㄖ尺尺ㄚ, 爪卂ㄒ尺丨卂尺匚卄."
The elf bowed and took a knee which I thought was quite strange. I never knew monsters had certain levels of dignity to them. But I guess I do remember Ilfa demanding the human army and even the people in the academy to bend the knee to her. I guess there's a similar hierarchy between humans and monsters.
Ilfa: "丂ㄖ尺尺ㄚ?"
Elf: "千ㄖ尺 爪丨丂ㄒ尺乇卂ㄒ丨几Ꮆ ㄒ卄卂ㄒ 卄ㄩ爪卂几."
Ilfa: "ㄚㄖㄩ ᗪㄖ Ҝ几ㄖ山 卄乇'丂 爪ㄚ 卩尺ㄖ卩乇尺ㄒㄚ. 爪丨丂ㄒ尺乇卂ㄒ丨几Ꮆ 卄丨爪 山ㄖㄩㄥᗪ 乃乇 丨几 ㄒㄩ尺几 爪丨丂ㄒ尺乇卂ㄒ丨几Ꮆ 爪乇."
Elf: "丨 Ҝ几ㄖ山... 丨ㄒ'丂 ﾌㄩ丂ㄒ ㄒ卄卂ㄒ 丨 山卂丂 乃乇丨几Ꮆ ㄒ卂尺Ꮆ乇ㄒ乇ᗪ 乃ㄚ ㄒ卄乇 ㄖㄒ卄乇尺丂, 乃乇丨几Ꮆ ㄒ卄乇 ㄖ几乇 ㄒ卄卂ㄒ 卄卂ᗪ ㄒㄖ 匚ㄖ爪乇 卄乇尺乇 乇ᐯ乇尺ㄚ ᗪ卂ㄚ. 丨 ﾌㄩ丂ㄒ ㄒㄖㄖҜ 爪ㄚ 千尺ㄩ丂ㄒ尺卂ㄒ丨ㄖ几 ㄖㄩㄒ ㄖ几 ㄒ卄乇 卄ㄩ爪卂几... 丨'爪 丂ㄖ尺尺ㄚ."
The elf then bowed her head as I could no longer see her face as she stared into the ground. I'm picking up on a few words I've heard before here and there but I don't really know what is being said. But what I can tell is that the elf is speaking in quite a sorrowful tone, as if she's repenting.
Ilfa: "Fufu~ ㄒ卄乇几 ㄚㄖㄩ 丂卄ㄖㄩㄥᗪ ㄒ卄卂几Ҝ ㄒ卄乇 卄ㄩ爪卂几 千ㄖ尺 丂卩卂尺丨几Ꮆ ㄚㄖㄩ尺 ㄥ丨千乇. 丨千 卄乇 山乇尺乇 卄ㄖ几乇丂ㄒ ㄒ卄乇几 ㄚㄖㄩ'ᗪ 乃乇 卂ㄥ尺乇卂ᗪㄚ ᗪ乇卂ᗪ."
It was then that the elf slowly raised her head, but instead of looking up at Ilfa, she looked over at me while still kneeling on the ground.
Elf: "...ㄒ卄卂几Ҝ ㄚㄖㄩ."
I had no idea what she's trying to say to me, so I just smile at her in response. The words she just used weren't too complex to my ears which tempted me in trying to say the same words back, even though I have no idea what it means.
Fabian: "ㄒ卄ㄩ卂几Ҝ ㄚㄖㄖ."
Elf: "Pfft."
Her scoffing at my attempt to say the words made me feel quite embarrassed, but in a way I'm glad to see that the tension has gone down quite a bit now. Also I'm not sure why, but I feel like after hearing her laugh, it's almost like she's human for a moment. If she had normal looking skin and ears, then I wouldn't think twice after seeing that laugh.
Ilfa: "You really are something, Fabian. Very cute."
But now being called cute by Ilfa makes me feel all sorts of conflicting emotions. I am for sure not in no way cute, but I guess failing at speaking simple words would make me seems like a baby compared to the two of them.
Fabian: "Does she not know how to speak this language?"
Ilfa: "Sorry, she doesn't. Some of the elves here do, but not Rina."
Rina... So that's this elf's name? I wasn't planning on asking for it, but I guess it might come in handy if I'm to continue staying here.
Fabian: "You're not going to kill her, right?"
Ilfa: "I was going to, but I was pleasantly surprised to see you defend her. So plans have changed."
It was now Rina's turn to be left in the dark as I can tell she's confused on what we're saying.
Fabian: "So then..."
Ilfa: "Rina.丨'ㄥㄥ 卄卂ᐯ乇 ㄚㄖㄩ 匚ㄖ几ㄒ丨几ㄩ乇 ㄒㄖ 匚卂尺乇 千ㄖ尺 Fabian 卄乇尺乇 山卄丨ㄥ乇 丨'爪 Ꮆㄖ几乇. 丨丂 ㄒ卄卂ㄒ ㄖҜ卂ㄚ 山丨ㄒ卄 ㄚㄖㄩ?"
Rina: "ㄚ-ㄚ乇丂, 爪卂ㄒ尺丨卂尺匚卄."
Ilfa: "乃ㄩㄒ 丨千 ㄚㄖㄩ ㄥ乇ㄒ ㄒ卄乇 ㄖㄒ卄乇尺丂 ᗪ丨匚ㄒ卂ㄒ乇 ㄚㄖㄩ尺 卂匚ㄒ丨ㄖ几丂 卂Ꮆ卂丨几, 丨 山丨ㄥㄥ Ҝ丨ㄥㄥ ㄚㄖㄩ."
Rina: "ㄩ几ᗪ乇尺丂ㄒㄖㄖᗪ."
Ilfa: "Then, Fabian? Would you be fine with Rina taking care of you while I'm busy?"
Fabian: "S-sure."
At the end of the day, she did give me food and water, even if she was clearly unhappy with the job. But maybe the talk between her and Ilfa just now have settled that problem. Plus I feel like I'm on the upper hand now as Rina could've easily died if it weren't for me. I would try and take advantage of it, but the language barrier between us might prove to be a challenge.
Ilfa: "ㄒ卄乇几 ㄚㄖㄩ'尺乇 千尺乇乇 ㄒㄖ Ꮆㄖ. 乃ㄩㄒ ᗪㄖ 卩尺乇卩卂尺乇 卂 千尺乇丂卄 爪乇卂ㄥ ㄒ卄丨丂 ㄒ丨爪乇, ㄖҜ卂ㄚ?"
And with a head nod, Rina stood up from the ground before leaving the room. She took a moment to lock eyes with me once more before closing the door behind her. I end up letting out a heavy sigh of relief after sensing that this situation is finally over. But my relief would be short lived as Ilfa sat down on the side of the bed next to me, causing me to tense up for a whole new reason.
Ilfa: "So? I'm curious. Why did you save her?"
That's a very good question. It's hard to say the reason why I wanted her to live, but maybe it's due to multiple things. If I did call her out and let Ilfa kill her, then that'd only make me seem like any old human, which might be distasteful to Ilfa. Another reason was simply because she did go out of her way to actually feed me, even if it was quite troublesome.
Fabian: "...Maybe I just wanted to impress you, haha."
Ilfa: "Ohh?~"
Fabian: "You always say how peculiar and interesting I am. So I figured I should continue being so."
Ilfa: "Pfft. Very well. I will admit that I was not expecting you to do that. I was prepared to kill her the moment I saw you lock eyes with her. But you sure did surprise me when you said that."
I understand how weird that all was. A human taking pity on a monster? If someone told me that a month ago I would laugh. But the me right here and now can now somewhat understand the order of things here thanks to Ilfa. She still scares me to death sometimes, but that's just her circumstances, she can't control it.
Ilfa: "Hahh~"
Suddenly, Ilfa lays down on the bed next to me as I naturally make room for her to get comfortable, which prompted her to smile my way as her eyes lock on with mine.
Fabian: "Tired?"
Ilfa: "A little... Didn't get much sleep this past week. Those stupid- oh?"
I found myself reaching up to her head as I gentle comb my fingers through her hair, gently patting her as I do so. It was scary, but seeing her surprised reaction like this made it all worth it, even managing to cut her off of her sentence.
Fabian: "...Y-you did well."
Although my body is moving with confidence, the same can't be said for my voice as I can already feel my face heating up from screwing up a simple sentence like that.
Ilfa: "Fufu. Thanks."
She then closed her eyes, letting me continue to pat her as I find myself moving my fingers to the black section of her hair. It's quite odd having such pure white hair, only to have this little section be completely black. I wonder if there's any meaning behind it?
Ilfa: "...You're curious about it."
Oops. I guess I made it too obvious there.
Ilfa: "It's fine. I can tell you. You've met Tarifa before, right? My sister."
Fabian: "Yes."
Ilfa: "Well, I say sister, but it's more accurate to say that she's a part of me. I felt it was convenient to not be alone, so I found a way to split myself. Tarifa has a part of my white hair you see, which in turn she also took some of my powers."
Woah woah, what?! Isn't this like a massive secret she's telling me right now? I feel like this could be easily taken advantage of. But it does make me happy to see that Ilfa trusts me enough to share this secret of hers.
Fabian: "So then, Tarifa is a clone?"
Ilfa: "Technically, yes. When I first created her, she took on my name, but I felt weird to call her by the same name as mine. So I gave her a new name."
Fabian: "Then how are your personalities so different?"
Ilfa: "Well it's been a long time since then. At the start we shared identical personalities, but she slowly took on her own as time passed."
Fabian: "Hmm. Then-"
Ilfa: "Shh. Save the other questions for later, I'm tired."
She then suddenly leant forward, pressing her lips against mine as if to shut me up before resting her head back down on the pillow. Just that small kiss alone caused my whole body to react as Ilfa smiled at me.
Fabian: "Y-y-you're not hungry?"
Ilfa: "Fufufu~ Why? Did you want to do it?"
Fabian: "..."
Ilfa: "After I rest for a bit. Plus, Rina's already back."
As soon as she says that, the door opened to reveal Rina once more, carrying with her a platter of food. This time with vegetables along with sliced up meat. It's my first time seeing vegetables in a while as all I've been eating is meat. So does that mean Rina took extra care this time around to give me a more balanced diet? But after noticing Ilfa, Rina stood by the door as if waiting for instructions. I then raise my hand with a smile, trying to signal her to come in, which she soon does, closing the door behind her as she enters.
Ilfa: "I'm going to rest for a bit. Be sure to eat up, okay?"
And with that, Ilfa closed her eyes as she laid next to me. Rina came to the other side of the bed, as I gently take the platter of food from her. But after seeing how many food is on there, I don't think I'd be able to finish all of it. It'd be hard enough to eat half of it.
Fabian: "ㄒ卄ㄩ卂几Ҝ ㄚㄖㄖ?"
Rina: "Pfft, hehe. ㄚㄖㄩ'尺乇 山乇ㄥ匚ㄖ爪乇."
I then gesture to the food, pointing at the food then at her, causing her to stop in her tracks before leaving. It took a few moments for her to realize what I meant as she just shook her head, but I insisted. We might have gotten off on the wrong foot, so I'd like to make amends in a way. And after a bit more coaxing from me, she finally gave in as she approached me once again, taking a seat on the opposite side of the bed from Ilfa, sitting next to me.
Rina: "ㄒ卄-卂几Ҝ ㄚㄖ-ㄩ."
She then spoke in a slower speed as I could tell she was trying to teach me how to say those words.
Fabian: "ㄒ卄卄卂几Ҝ ㄚㄖㄩ?"
She then nodded her head with a smile before we both take a piece of the meat on the platter.
Fabian: "Thank you."
It was then my turn to return my own thanks. I more or less figure out what it was she was saying, but I could still be wrong.
Rina: "Thyank Chuu?"
Fabian: "Close. Th-ank, you"
I do my best to articulate it as clear as possible, even opening my mouth when I can to allow her to see the positioning of my tongue.
Rina: "Thank you?"
Fabian: "Perfect!"
I give a nod back to her as we smile at one another as we continue to eat together while Ilfa sleeps on the other side of the bed.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone