Every Morning, My Mirror Saves the World - Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Ruiyin had no idea how long she had been falling through the dark. In the end, just as when she had arrived, she hit the ground without the slightest warning. Something hard and raised slammed into her abdomen, nearly making her cough up blood on the spot.

Dizzy and dazed, she looked down and was startled to find two long legs beneath her body, with the other person’s knee planted firmly in her stomach.

This was not Tio’s warm tower.

The instant that realization struck her, Ruiyin rolled over and tried to spring up. But a hand suddenly pinned her back down hard, and the thing digging into her stomach drove upward with even more force. This time, Ruiyin really did spit out a mouthful of blood.

“If you don’t mind…” she said through clenched teeth, “could Your Excellency’s noble claw… get off my wound?” Your fingers were digging in, you bastard!

That noble claw did not move away. Instead, it pressed her down even harder, while the other hand lightly stroked the feathered arrow still lodged in her wound.

“An arrow of the Dark Elves. So, an intruder?”

A slightly hoarse male voice sounded above her head. Perhaps because of the height difference, his voice carried an inescapable arrogance. Her body suddenly grew light, and Ruiyin was already dangling in midair by the collar.

He had a slender, graceful build, lithe and well-toned, his entire body wrapped in pure black clothing. The tight outfit somehow carried an intense air of ascetic restraint, with silver buttons fastened all the way up to his chin. Silver hair, deep honey-colored skin, a handsome face blessed by heaven itself, and a pair of crimson eyes narrowed as they stared coldly at Ruiyin.

“An intruder.” The man of the Dark Elves gazed at her icily. “I never imagined she would send me such a gift.”

“You…” Ruiyin had only gotten halfway through her question when she saw something half-exposed beneath his cloak: a flat red Memory Crystal.

Tio!

That woman had given the teleportation point crystal to a man of the Dark Elves! Damn it, so she had planned to bury both Ruiyin and Lars from the very beginning!

In her heart, Ruiyin chopped that name to pieces a thousand times over, then silently swallowed back the blood that had nearly surged up again. She had underestimated her opponent. Now it seemed that creatures like the Dark Elves could not be taken lightly, even when they were brain-dead.

Her forced suppression of anger, however, was taken by the other party as surrender. Clearly, this man of the Dark Elves very much enjoyed seeing his prey submit. He swung Ruiyin by the collar twice, the corner of his lips curving into a satisfied smile.

He slowly leaned close to Ruiyin’s ear. His breath as he spoke softly was like a cold snake, winding ambiguously around her ear. “I won’t kill you. In honor of our having met once before, I will present you as the finest gift to Her Majesty the Queen…”

Ruiyin lifted her head and looked at him in confusion.

“Who are you? Have I met you before?” She fell into very sincere, deep thought.

The man’s face twitched violently to one side.

“You actually dared to forget…” he said through gritted teeth. “Someone who nearly took your life… and you actually forgot?!”

Since coming to this world, she had seen two of the Dark Elves in total. One was Tio. The other one…

“Oh!” Ruiyin came to a sudden realization. “It’s you! That porn extra Lars and I almost killed together!”

The man’s face twitched violently back again. He said coldly, “So human memory is no better than an insect’s?”

“Sorry,” Ruiyin apologized with complete sincerity. “It’s just that you suddenly put clothes on, so I didn’t recognize you right away. Actually, last time, when I wasn’t looking at your face, I really did think you were extremely handsome.”

“…” This time, he did not know which direction his face was supposed to twitch.

Purple with rage, the man of the Dark Elves viciously shoved Ruiyin back down onto his knee. He curled his index finger and gave a soft whistle. From deep within the jungle came the sound of feet trampling fallen leaves, and before long, a ground lizard appeared in front of them.

He roughly slung her over his back, then flipped himself up onto the ground lizard. Through gritted teeth, he said, “If the Dark Moon Festival weren’t still short one sacrifice, believe me, woman, I have a thousand ways to make you regret ever being born into this world.”

Ruiyin shrugged indifferently. As the supreme master of running her mouth, she regarded this level of threat as completely beneath notice. She seemed entirely unconcerned about what he intended to do to her, closing her eyes without a care as she bounced along on the ground lizard’s back.

But where no one could see, Ruiyin bit down on her lip and gripped her other, faintly trembling wrist with one hand. It was as though only this could suppress the fear hidden in the deepest part of her heart.

Calm down, Ruiyin. Don’t panic. Don’t hope. Don’t resist. Don’t look back.

At a time like this, only by staying alive would she have a chance to find a way to save that idiot who had acted on his own.

In the nighttime jungle, the ground lizard stepped lightly and silently over the fallen leaves, running all the way down the mountain. Ruiyin kept paying close attention to the route beside her. Just as the scenery began to look increasingly familiar, the ground lizard finally stopped beside a shallow spring.

The spring steamed with heat, and in the middle stood a large rock that could serve as a screen between the men’s and women’s baths. It looked incredibly familiar.

The man of the Dark Elves threw Ruiyin aside, then began silently chanting a spell toward the spring. As the incantation grew more and more complex, the hot spring slowly began to glow white.
Ruiyin did not know if it was her imagination, but his expression looked extremely unnatural…

“Um,” she asked tentatively, “I remember we once bathed here?”

“Yes.” His face was rigid to an almost terrifying degree. “And not only that. A certain idiot Silver Knight also pissed here after he finished bathing, and an even bigger idiot Apprentice Knight spent ages getting worked up here and nearly jerked himself off in the end.”

“…” Could he please not say something that disgusting out loud?

Maybe the revulsion on her face was too obvious. The moment he finished chanting the last line of the spell, the Dark Elves man spun around and began roaring at her as if he could not wait another second. “What?! This is where our entrance is! Do you have a problem with that? Do you?!”

His tone was one of utter self-abandonment, filled with the furious grief of, Which bastard came up with this rotten idea? The door being in a place like this embarrasses me too!

Ruiyin was willing to bet ten Galahads that the blueprints for this underground Dark Elves base had been drawn, ninety-nine percent for sure, by that Tio currently in the tower.

The Dark Elves kidnapper grabbed her by the collar and, with a face so dark it had gone purplish, splashed straight into the glowing hot spring. After a rumbling tremor, the ground beneath their feet slowly sank like an elevator. After a short stretch of pitch-black darkness, Ruiyin’s view suddenly opened wide.

It was a city that seemed forged from black iron. Seven enormous stalagmites giving off a faint glow rose from the ground and extended all the way into the dark, mist-wreathed sky. They were suspended in midair, and from here she could clearly see the buildings below radiating outward like tree rings. Temples, council halls, clusters of castles, markets, common districts… even the dilapidated slums were arranged with strict order, while the solemn, magnificent castles exuded an air of graceful luxury. The Dark Elves were born with a fanatical pursuit of splendid things. Even this abandoned underground city far surpassed human works in scale and architecture.

The stone elevator slowly descended to the ground. The Dark Elves kidnapper carried Ruiyin out in great strides. Yet before he had gone far, another member of the Dark Elves, who had clearly been waiting ahead, walked over.

“You’re late, Landatini.”

This was the first time Ruiyin learned her kidnapper’s name. Unexpectedly, it was… rather formal.

The waiting member of the Dark Elves slowly approached. He wore clothes in a style similar to Landatini’s, only not wrapped quite so tightly. He had a melancholy, solemn face, just as refined, though nowhere near as bewitching as Landatini. One look and you could tell he was a serious man meant for serious business.

“Is this the intruder Lady Tio brought back?” He reached out. “Give her to me.”

With Ruiyin over his shoulder, Landatini took a small step back, just barely avoiding his outstretched hand. “No need. I will handle this person myself.”

The serious man’s movement paused. He lifted his head, and his solemn, melancholy face seemed a little wounded.

“You…” he said slowly. “Are you trying to keep Lady Tio’s achievement all to yourself? I knew it. You never liked Lady Tio from the very beginning. Why don’t you like her? Lady Tio is so beautiful, so graceful, so noble, wise, and perfect… Ah, I understand now. What you truly want is to keep something bearing Lady Tio’s aura all to yourself, isn’t it? That is wrong. Although I once had such thoughts as well, I understand deeply that Lady Tio’s heart belongs only to the Dark God, and it is enough for me to gaze up at her from afar. So, Landatini, you should still…”

…Why had no one ever told her that even a brainless lunatic like Tio had brainless fanboys?

Expressionless, with a vein throbbing on his forehead, Landatini said, “You’re overthinking it, Xiluo’er. I am merely following Her Majesty the Queen’s orders and taking the offering to the cell.”

The serious man, Xiluo’er, looked up at him, his crimson eyes filled with bright sorrow.

“Ah, so you have indeed forgotten her. Lady Tio is our one and only Queen! That usurper even plagiarized her name. How could she compare to even a single strand of Lady Tio’s radiant hair? Landatini, abandon that usurper! Lady Tio is so tolerant, so benevolent, so dignified. She will surely forgive your momentary straying. She blah blah blah…”

This time, Landatini did not endure it. He swiftly drew the dagger at his waist and stabbed at Xiluo’er. Then, when the other man dodged in surprise, he decisively launched a flying kick, instantly blasting the man’s verbal barrage into the opposite wall. The skill of the move made Ruiyin unable to help wondering if he had some alternate nickname like “Whirlwind Kick Little Lan”…

Landatini carried Ruiyin down the street, passing through silent, deserted avenues and alleys. When they finally arrived at a heavily guarded grand hall, Ruiyin could not help asking, “Why… weren’t there many Dark Elves on the way here?”

Landatini stopped. For the first time, he looked Ruiyin directly in the eye, the corner of his mouth curved in an incomparably mocking smile.

“Because this is Antik,” he said.

“In the oldest language of the Dark Elves, Antik means the City of Oblivion.”

Author’s Note:

Next chapter features the idiot duo. Ah, that’s right, Galahad and Vigia reunited ages ago!

Whirlwind Kick Little Lan: As this novel’s male supporting character, I finally have a name! Everyone, applaud!