Chapter 17 Who is the Strange One?
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Since elves in this world are considered humans in a broad sense, and sometimes they call themselves humans, they do not have any xenophobic ideas towards humans.
The long life span and the study of magic made this village different from the human village he first encountered. It seemed unexpectedly wealthy... or maybe not, perhaps they just simply had enough to eat?
But being in this deep mountain, it's impossible to have any delicious food.
"...But I didn't expect that the elves' barbecue skills to be so good."
"After all, I'm free." Frieren, who looked unmotivated, gave an answer without thinking. The answer made sense, but it made him want to complain.
The look of wanting to say something but not being able to made Frieren raise her eyebrows subconsciously: "What?"
"....It's okay. I just thought it would be great if I could adapt to this place as soon as possible."
"There's no point in adapting. You'll leave soon."
"Is that so?"
"Everyone who comes here is like this. I heard that no one lives longer than a hundred years."
"...That means he's dead."
"Ah... it seems so?" Frieren sighed in a tone that was a little lacking in emotion, staring at the flames in front of her. "Human lifespans are really short. You die of old age before you get familiar with the world."
"I'm not saying... how slow are you?"
"What does that mean?"
"I'm slow to warm up... Never mind." Ash felt that humans' slowness was a little different from hers, so he simply ended this meaningless topic and asked, "Can I ask you something? When are you going to teach me magic?"
"Take a short break."
"Let me confirm first, how long is your short break?"
"Thirty years?" Frieren didn't think much about it and gave a time that seemed about right: "With thirty years, you will be able to adapt to this village and start studying properly, right?"
"Are you serious?" he asked, dumbfoundedly, while Frieren looked puzzled: "Why would I lie?"
"...What should I do? I suddenly want to hit someone."
"Huh? Do you have a tendency to violence?" Frieren subconsciously moved away from him and even regretted arranging a place for him to stay.
This obviously defensive look made him put one hand on his forehead and try to suppress the boiling emotions in his heart, working hard not to hit her on the forehead:
"That's not it! The weird thing is you--! Normally speaking! I can learn C language from the very beginning to the very end in thirty years!"
"What language is that? It sounds weird."
"....."
He couldn't explain how the C language worked. In short, he was speechless for a moment. He just covered his face and began to worry about the next communication and life living in this village.
Although he was also an immortal, for a while... he was still unable to get used to the concept of time, which was so different from his past.
But since he was already here, he was not willing to just leave like that, so he forced himself to make an agreement during the meal to start learning magic tomorrow.
...
...
The next day, the agreed time arrived.
He was going to ask Frieren to teach him magic, but when no one showed up, he went straight to Frieren's hut, and when he opened the door, he saw...
".....What is this?"
The lower half of the silver-haired elf's body remained on the bed, but the upper half had fallen out of the bed, with the side of her face pressed against the ground... She was really using her face to support half of her body, and just looking at it made him feel a little pain in his face.
After being dumbfounded for a moment, he squatted beside Frieren and poked her face with his hand:
"Hurry up and wake up, Frieren, the sun has already risen."
"…"
"Hello."
"…"
"Are you Dead?"
Frieren didn't respond at all, which gave him a headache, and he flicked her long ears with his fingers.
However… still no response.
"...You don't want to wake up even after this? Then there's nothing I can do." After thinking for a moment, Ash raised his hand, grabbed her ankle, and lifted her up.
This elf, whose age is unknown and whose body shape is similar to that of a loli, was lifted upside down.
Under the influence of gravity, the pure white skirt flipped over, revealing the girl's simple white panties.
"…I used to wonder why there's underwear in this era. Now I'm wondering why this elf hasn't reacted to her underwear being exposed. Are all elves like this?"
Looking at the plain fabric without any embellishment, and not sensing any fragrance, only made his headache worse.
The elf didn't make any noise, no matter how much he shook her, which made him question if there was something wrong with the elf population.
However, just as the words left his mouth, a voice came from the side: "…No, it's just that Frieren likes to sleep in."
"Is she really this naive? It's the first time I've seen someone sleep this deeply." He turned his head and saw an elf girl, dressed simply but wearing a dark cloak, who looked more mature than Frieren, standing at the door.
"Is this your first time meeting someone, newcomer?" The girl observed him curiously.
"I guess so. My name's Ash, what's yours?"
"Millie Alde."
"Really? That name's a bit too long. Can I just call you Millie?"
"It's not that long, but your name's a bit short."
"By the way, do you know magic?"
"Huh? Isn't this conversation moving a bit too fast?"
"I think it's fine."
"But before we talk about that…" Millie tilted her head, looking at Frieren, who was still hanging upside down in her hand, and asked, "Shouldn't we put Frieren down first? Her face is turning red."
"It's all red. Normally, that should mean she's awake, right?"
"Yes, I'm awake, but I don't want to get up."
"Why not? Your underwear's showing." As he spoke, he continued to shake the girl upside down in his hands, as if shaking a rabbit he had casually picked up.
Millie pointed out the problem expressionlessly: "She's never left here, so she's a bit slow with things like that. Besides, to us, you're no different from a three-year-old child."
"What a hassle… What a strange person."
"Indeed, she might be a bit strange for a human." Millie glanced at Frieren hanging in his hand but quickly looked back at his face. "But for a human, your behavior is also a bit odd, isn't it?"
"By the way, do you know magic?"
"…You're back to that again?"
"Because it's important."
"You're really something."
"Can you please stay on topic?"
"Well… either way, let's put her down first, shall we?"
...
In the end, after a bit of a tug of war with Millie, Ash threw Frieren back onto the bed, deciding not to pay attention to the person who refused to get up even though her skirt was exposed.