Hegni was an incompetent king.
More precisely, he was a dark elf whose only talent was fighting.
In the age of gods, dark elves were rare. In the distant ancient times, when monsters were pouring out of the giant hole and spreading across the land, the dark elves had fought to protect their race's sacred peaks, the Alv Mountains. They were overrun by the countless grotesque beasts, causing their population to shrink dramatically. Meanwhile, the white elves, the lineage considered normal elves in current times, had been led down the Alv Mountains by their high elf at the time who had chosen not to sacrifice them to fight the monsters.
The dark elves cursed the white elves as cowards and disgraces and hoped to one day revive their dark tribe. They dreamed of the day the dark high elf, whose lineage was said to have continued, would rise up and lead them again. And for the sake of that dream, the dark elves—or rather a specific hardheaded group of dark elves who had holed up in a forest—were desperate to take out the white elves in the forest whose tribe was flourishing. Even though they were all still elves, despite the differences in magic and magical ability and skin color.
Hegni was not a high elf, but he was nonetheless chosen as the warrior king of the dark elves' capital. He was not good at dealing with other people. More to the point, he was scared of his fellow elves, who tried to force concepts like pride and self-respect on him in the name of some duty. He was a more sensitive and easily hurt elf by nature. All things being equal, he would have been tragically bullied by his fellow elves.
Fortunately, though—or perhaps unfortunately for him—he had a talent for battle. To an unimaginable degree, the arrows and magic of elves famed as the marksmen of the forest were useless against him. The white elves who faced him cowered while the dark elves who had him on their side were filled with delight.
And because of that, he was exploited.
His clan spent all their time warring with the nation of white elves that lived in the same forest as them. And whenever hostilities broke anew, Hegni was always forced to stand at the head of a host, leading the warriors into battle. If he did not manage to strike down enough enemies, they would hurl abuse at him. And he knew that in the village, there was no end to the sniping at him behind his back. Before he realized it, and rather fittingly considering his personality, Hegni started to feel that the gaze of others was the most terrifying thing in the world.
In the remote, far-off frontiers of the continent, there was a giant lake, and in the middle of it was a forested island of fairies: Heodenings. Unbeknownst to and closed off from the rest of the world, it contained two states, one of dark elves and one of white elves. Isolated from its surroundings, it was a place of continuous battle. The end result of fanatical self-obsession.
Hegni, who did not know where he was in what should have been a wide world, started to think of the mysterious giant forest where the sacred tree and every other tree covered the sky as a graveyard.
And at the same time, he started to despise himself for being so small and so foolish, for being unable to change anything.
And in the end, Hegni started to love the darkness, where he could not be seen by anyone other than himself. The darkness was his one true friend. Kneeling down at the roots of a big tree and letting his worn-down body be embraced by the darkness became a daily routine for him.
And one day, when he was exhausted after a particularly fierce battle, after abandoning himself to the darkness, in a dream or a hallucination, he met a certain witch.
"You've worn down your body and even your soul so much, and yet you don't try to change anything?"
Hegni hugged his knees tightly, looking away as he answered the witch's question.
"I can't change anything, because my determination is weak and I'm trash. I'm scared of all the eyes looking at me in disappointment and blame. I'm scared of being laughed at. I'm embarrassed to keep living. That's why, at the very least…I want to fight and die with my trusted sword."
There was a being who had caught Hegni's interest. The other king, who led the white elves he fought.
Unlike him, that king was handsome and gallant. He had golden hair and a sharp, piercing gaze. The difference between him and Hegni, who was an incompetent king, was like the difference between heaven and earth. The title of king had caused Hegni all sorts of pain, but that white elf who constantly strove to be a proper king was dazzling to him. It made him envious and jealous. Hegni, who was consumed by a sense of inferiority, wanted to win against that man. Even if it meant trading blows, he wanted to run him through with his sword.
After all the fighting that was the only thing left that he wanted.
"I see. Then I shall set you free. Once I do, maybe you'll be able to achieve your dream."
He felt like the witch smiled after she said that. But when Hegni looked up, she was no longer anywhere to be found. He decided that she must have been an illusion he had seen in his exhaustion.
The battle between the fairies that was the pinnacle of unsightliness intensified dramatically after that day. The arrogant pride of the fairies that was on display for all to see demonstrated their true repulsiveness.
—It was probably inevitable that they would be destroyed by the goddess who so valued beauty.
Hedin was a young, wise king.
But at the same time, he was a white elf who was an embodiment of the fairies' tendency to look down on everything other than themselves. He appeared intellectual, but his true nature was far more severe.
When enraged, his features warped unattractively, and he would slaughter those who defied him like a merciless tyrant.
Hedin was hailed as the brilliant king of the white elves.
Of course he was not actually a high elf. Hedin understood better than anyone that his title was just the royal fantasies of provincial elves living deep in the woods. But even if it just extended their foolish make-believe longer, once he had been anointed king, he fully understood that if he did not fulfill his duties, his incompetent people would die.
Because Hedin considered himself competent, he did not try to escape his duties as king. Running away would be the same as lowering himself to the level of those trifling fools he most despised. His pride would not allow that.
At present, the source of his concerns, or rather his annoyances, was the dark elves continuing to attack his city. They were true barbarians who lived in the same forest but could think of nothing more than eradicating their own fellow elves. Judging the conflict with them to be the most inefficient use of resources, he restrained the other white elves and sent out a peace envoy. However, the dark elves were single-minded in their response: "We shall reclaim our Hildr."
In the long history of these two elf tribes fighting each other, there had been a single period where they negotiated a temporary nonaggression pact.
As proof of their commitment, the dark elves had handed over the holy woman Hildr, a miraculous healer. And Hedin was descended from her.
Even though terms like white and dark are thrown around, to begin with elves were all the same race. Their children's skin color was mixed. And since the dark elf lineage only entered the pool once, it naturally weakened, meaning Hedin had naturally inherited the traits of white elves most strongly. Hedin was Hildr's descendant and thus would forever have her blood. What the dark elves were demanding was nothing more and nothing less than to wring every last drop of blood out of him.
—Fools.
Hedin spat back in response. And the negotiations fell apart.
He was fed up with the daily battles. Those puppets of pride and duty seemed to take more joy in fighting one another than they did with dwarves who were supposed to be their natural enemy. They truly never bored of fighting. Because he was the king, Hedin took command in terrific fashion, and wielding the powerful magic that was his birthright, he annihilated the dark elves. He became a symbol of terror to the dark elves while being a powerful leader for the white elves.
While that never-ending battle was raging, ironically, Hedin's talent as well as that of the other king on the dark elves' side continued to grow. They became preeminent powers, despite being trapped in their narrow world. If someone from outside their world saw them, they would not believe that neither of them had received Falna. Their strengths became such that before they knew it, they could no longer be contained by the world that they were trapped in.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Muttering the same thing over and over in his mind, Hedin had pondered ripping off his crown and casting aside his country more than a few times. And he had lost count of the number of times his face had been warped by the reality that if he did that, his country would be destroyed, which would leave a blemish on his record—the equivalent of a defect in the world—that would last forever. Stuck in that hideous situation, Hedin had become a slave to his pride.
And one day, in the evening in the king's room, the great window open so he could see the sacred tree from it, Hedin, who had been drinking alone, met a certain witch, perhaps in a manifestation of an illusion brought about by his
drunkenness.
"Despite understanding everything, you continue to be a slave to your country?"
Hedin downed his glass of wine and laughed mockingly at the witch's question.
"I called myself king. Even if it is a narrow, foolish little world, I will carry out my duty. No matter how fed up with it I am. If I cast it all aside, then I'd become something worse than an incompetent. If I have to choose between being a slave and being an incompetent, then I, Hedin, would choose the former. And besides, I've long since decided I would die on the battlefield."
There was a being who had caught Hedin's interest.
The other king among the dark elves who had transformed into a glistening blade. A victim of the vagaries of the world who, despite being king, did not, could not live up to his title. And despite all that, he was stronger than anyone. A single incomparable genius great enough to overcome a hundred incompetents by himself. Hedin utterly detested that bundle of contradictions, a disgraceful failure who was simultaneously peerlessly skilled. And at the same time, Hedin was filled with an intense competitiveness, not wanting to lose to that other king, who was the only other being in this world that Hedin had acknowledged.
Hedin, who was an embodiment of pride, wanted to win against the one man he judged capable of killing him. Even if it meant trading blows, he wanted to pierce that dark elf with his lightning.
If there were to be any way of saving this world, it would be by reaching a conclusion with him first. That was the only way.
"In that case, I'll release you from the yoke of being king. What happens after that is for you to decide."
The witch smiled and held out a glass of wine to him. Hedin's smile twisted as he took the glass and drank it dry.
When Hedin sobered up, she had disappeared. He wet his lips with water, thinking he had seen a foolish dream. From that day onward, despite being scared of him, the fairies' arrogance brought about by their king's power became unstoppable.
Incapable of loving one another they instead only scorned one another, revealing their incompetence for all to see.
—And because of that, it was only natural that the goddess would turn her back on a world without love.
The conflict between white elves and dark elves gradually devolved into a total war involving all their people. Other than children who did not know any better and had not yet been stained by anything, every last one of them picked up arms and joined the final battle as if it were a holy crusade. The drumbeat pushing for a final decisive clash that was building was abnormal, but neither Hegni nor Hedin made any effort to stop it. Both the kings and their countries felt that if they were going to be destroyed in this one battle then at least they could devote themselves to their desired battlefield.
In the middle of the mystical woods, the battle began on the border between the two countries. As was to be expected, the white elves with their skilled commander held the advantage throughout, but that only lasted until Hegni faced off against Hedin. After that, Hedin did not have the leeway to focus on anything other than his own fight and could no longer give orders, and as a result the armies' positions flipped. The dark elves had a greater military potential. That was the price the white elves paid for having continued to rely on Hedin's skilled command.
As the two kings' battle intensified, around them, one elf after another fell, and before they realized it, Hegni and Hedin were the only ones left standing on the battlefield.
Crimson bloomed, bloodshot eyes opened wide, and masks of rage covered their faces as their mortal combat unfolded. Despite the fact that the people and countries tying the two of them down were already gone, they pushed themselves to their limits because if nothing else, they would not allow themselves to lose to the elf standing before them.
And three days later, they still had not determined a victor. Suddenly, the witch appeared.
"You can't reach a conclusion. Even though I listened to your wishes and decided to welcome whoever survived."
They were in the center of the island surrounded by a river of blood and the corpses of countless warriors. She sat down on one of the undirtied crystals right next to Hegni and Hedin, who were breathing raggedly, beaten and battered.
The two swung around in shock as she rested an elbow on either leg and rested her cheeks on her hands. The goddess's eyes narrowed.
"Sorry I destroyed your countries. They were just too unsightly."
At those words, time froze for the two of them. Hegni recognized it instinctively while at the same time, Hedin understood it logically. The drumbeat to war that had been building among the elves had been her doing. She had delivered revelations to the elves like an oracle, provoking their pride, and inciting them toward their own destruction. In that insular little world, if a deity really had appeared, then the elves would surely have believed her words and obeyed.
"A king who tyrannizes his people and a king abused by his country— which is more unsightly? At least in this case, I'd have to say the latter is the one that makes me want to sigh more.
"It's amazing you both managed to reach such extremes," she added.
Hegni and Hedin were in awe as they faced the goddess, who was like the accumulation of all the beauty in the world. However, she merely continued to smile. Indeed, there was even a glimpse of mercy on display as she continued, "I just had to free you from that never-ending curse."
She was truly both a witch and a goddess. While there were those who were saved by her love, there were also those whose destruction was brought about by that same love.
Two sides to the same coin. Free-spirited and cruel.
However, in the eyes of Hegni and Hedin, who had been stuck in that cage of eternal struggle, she seemed utterly sublime.
"If I'm being honest? I just couldn't bring myself to forgive the two countries that were holding back two so splendid as you, so I used some dirty methods to snatch you away."
The two kings gasped as the goddess spoke without any hint of concern. Everything that she said was true. The goddess who had spoken only the truth asked them one final question.
"I've taken possession of these children's souls, and I've broken the world that was tying you down. My intention was to take you back with me, but… what do you want?"
Both of their answers were obvious.
Hegni, who despised himself more than anything, was granted light by someone who accepted him as he was, more than anyone else ever had. In front of her, and only in front of her, he had no need to hide himself in the darkness.
And Hedin was set free from his duty by meeting someone more suited to rule than himself. He was finally allowed to be free.
The two of them were saved by that haughty and cruel goddess. And from that day on, Hegni's and Hedin's souls were stolen by the goddess.