Absolutely Do Not Touch Eldmia Egga – Chapter 12

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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The news that a hero had been selected by the Imperial Holy Council spread through the village.

They said that the evil Demon King would be defeated and peace would finally return, and that they were already gathering the continent’s top geniuses and preparing for a counterattack.

Finally, the light was returning.

But when exactly?

They said the hero was around my age. If a kid who just turned 12 defeated the Demon King, it would truly be a mythical feat, but there were no signs of that happening.

The reason for gathering geniuses was probably to teach the hero. Then when would he go to the battlefield?

In 5 years? In 10 years? If we have to focus on the hero while enduring this period of uncertainty , isn’t it proof that we can’t stop the Demon King’s invasion in the meantime?

What about people like me who will die during that time? What about my parents and poor siblings who have already died?

What about the kind hearted servants? When will the souls of the people of the fief, who were only guilty of living diligently day by day, be commemorated?

It didn’t take long for my suddenly rising thoughts to reach that point. And my anger quickly cooled in the face of reality.

I knew. Even if there was a god, there would be no salvation for myself and the dead for a while.

If I grew up like this, I would probably lose my virginity when the leader forced me. If the leader died before that… well, it would still be similar.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Eldmia Egga.”

My days of just living while thinking like that were shattered.

His appearance resembled the mercenaries and adventurer warriors I often saw, with common short black hair.

His broad back was carrying a sword, and he looked tall and big for his height. His outfit fit him perfectly, as if it had been tailored made for his impression. So with his thin voice, I just thought he was a slightly short adult.

However, the face that was revealed when he turned his head was incredibly youthful, contrary to my first impression. 11 years old? 12 years old?

Based on his height and build, I had expected him to be a year or two younger than the leader, but if I only looked at his face, he was close to my second younger brother who died. One thing was certain, he was definitely not an adult.

It was a completely unexpected result. Looking at it that way, he felt like an alien rather than an ordinary boy.

But his eyes at least were simply sharp. I was merely checking him out slowly like that without any thought. Because of that, my mind couldn’t follow even when the boy aimed for that brief moment and jumped.

“And now goodbye you son of a bitch.”
He didn’t even shout, he just muttered it, but I heard it clearly.

Even as I intuitively felt that the leader, who was thrown back and fell, had died from a single kick that was hard to follow with my eyes, the only thought that came to mind was that his mouth was unexpectedly foul.

Someone stronger just came and knocked down the strong. Just like the Demon King’s army trampled our fief.

It’s just… that the leader changed. From an ordinarily strong leader to a leader as strong as a trainee knight in the fief. Since he seemed to be using aura, well, he was roughly at that level.

“Do you want a chance to live diligently or crawl out as a half-cripple?”

That’s what I thought.

“Yeah, they’re street urchins. They looked so pitiful, so I’m going to give them some work.”

Something completely different began to unfold.

“Did you see? Uncle Tex cut an additional 2 copper coins that are hard to come by for your sake.”

“This is Ms. Alisha, the owner and chef of the inn where you will be staying from now on. If you have something called a head, you will be able to easily feel the overflowing benevolence between Ms. Alisha’s lofty voice and swearing, so always be grateful and stay.”

“If you wake up early, you’ll have more things to do. Some places pay higher for working all day, and even if you only work half a day, you can do other work for the other half. I’ll teach you those things.”

He didn’t take anything away, didn’t lay a hand on them, and bestowed something we had never experienced since leaving our hometown.

It took too long to realize that it was goodwill. That’s why I couldn’t bear it. I had no choice but to put my question into words.

“When I was 8 years old, the village burned down in the first attack of the Demon King’s army, which was the fucking starting point of all this mess, and I lost my friends, acquaintances, and even my parents, becoming a monumental war orphan.

In a way, I’m your senior.”

The story of the Demon King’s army attacking a small village.

I had definitely heard that story too. The incident from 3 years ago shocked even my parents who always maintained their composure.

I heard that no one survived.

“You didn’t meet someone like Asirye… I mean, my benefactor elf, so I thought that’s why you were in that situation. You just didn’t get the opportunity. So I’m just giving you a chance.”

I almost burst into tears.

The boy was a boy, but he wasn’t a boy. There was no way he could be a boy. It was impossible for a boy younger than me to say, give, and understand what even adults didn’t say, give, or understand to us.

How was that possible? Even though he experienced such a thing at a much younger age than us?

Even though he was just a boy from a small mountain village, and not a nobleman?

“Of course, the people of this village are more familiar and precious to me than you. If you do a fucking terrible job or if I feel like it won’t work out, I’ll throw you all out and tell you to get lost. So whether this will really be helpful or not is still unknown.”

The boy was a light.

A true light that shone down when I was at the end of despair and about to give up everything.

How much despair had I felt?

When I threw away the pride and self-respect of a noble and lied about my status pretending to be a commoner just to live. When the wage that I’d received at the end of clenching my teeth and enduring through was robbed and taken from me.

When I couldn’t even properly resist those who obstructed anything I did and made me unable to do anything. When I struck down with a rock and killed a vagrant trying to rape me. When I cut my long hair that had been my pride with my own hands and hid.

When I ultimately got caught by the man called the leader and ended up following at his side like a doll.

In all those moments, I despaired countless times. To the point where I wanted to cry out loud, asking how that could happen in such a short time. I inwardly screamed, begging for help.

But then.

When I was about to give up everything, salvation suddenly approached.

The boy’s name was Eldmia Egga.

He was a famous person in Ogwen, known by more people than not, who always boasted about becoming an adventurer and leaving the village in 5 years, with his un-childlike words and actions and work ethic.

He was the light that rebuilt my shattered hope, which even the hero couldn’t do… the light I absolutely couldn’t lose.

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Time passed, seasons changed, and in the midst of peaceful days, I turned 14.

That’s right! I had reached the stormy period of pu.ber.ty!

Kekeke… the irresistible urge was squirming.

“Just you wait, 500 push-ups. It’s not far away.”

In the meantime, my height had surpassed 175 cm. I had grown about 5 cm per year. My heart started pounding at the thought that if it continued like this, not 180 cm but even 190 cm might not be a dream.

No matter how much this was a world with wizards and aura-using prodigies, basic stamina and weight class couldn’t be ignored. Unless I became a lanky guy who was only tall, I would gain an advantage in fights with every centimeter I grew.

And I wasn’t just a lanky tall guy. The effects of deliberately putting strain on my muscles through mana and the daily exercises I had continued were tremendous.

The biggest reason I neglected exercise in my previous life was of course because I was too busy making a living, but at the same time, the minimal results from not being able to invest a lot of time played a part.

However, training using mana had a clear feeling of effect at least once a week, so it was addictive.

Above all, obstacles such as a child’s wandering, laziness, and the urge to play didn’t apply to me at all, so time was completely on my side.

Although the war with the Demon King’s army was not over yet, at least the area around Ogwen had been quiet since that day 6 years ago.

“…Eldi? You’re not going around eating weird things, are you?”

“Huh? What is this all of a sudden?”

“No, not only are you growing like a tree…”

My relationship with Asirye had become even stronger to the point where we called each other by nicknames.

As I grew taller, the work I could share with Asirye increased, and as we shared more work, our leisure time also increased.

Asirye had made it her hobby to watch me exercise alone as a means of enjoying the increased free time. She stared at me with a subtle expression.

“Your muscles are also increasing like a barbarian warrior?”

“No, a barbarian warrior? With such a sophisticated and civilized intellect, I’m a civilized warrior.”

“Your words are really…”

I couldn’t say I didn’t understand what she meant. Just looking at my body, there was no way anyone could think that this was a 14-year-old child going through puberty.

Even compared to a veteran warrior, my body wouldn’t lose.

“Where did you even find and learn those exercises? Most of them are things I’ve never seen in my life.”

“Eldmia-”

“-chan-ce. Yeah. Yeah.”

Now we understood each other instantly. I grinned and tried to hug her as I approached, but Asirye jumped up.

“Hey! Hey! You’re sweaty! Wash up first, wash up!”

When I playfully rushed at her, she ran away while laughing. The shadows in our hearts that had formed due to the events 6 years ago had greatly diluted for both Asirye and me.

Since it was about time to visit the city anyway, I washed up thoroughly, and Asirye hugged me with a smile. It felt strange that she now had to look up at me.

“You’ve become proficient in spirit arts too?”

“It’s all thanks to you, sis.”

I could now use the spirit arts that Asirye had shown me on the day we first met, which seemed like a trick.

No matter what I did, there were things that I couldn’t do. Until recently, they had suddenly started working, and rapidly increased in abilty. According to Asirye, humans as a race had a low affinity with spirits in the first place.

Fortunately, after living and sleeping with Asirye for 6 years, the spirits had definitely become familiar with me. This was entirely thanks to Asirye, separate from my efforts.

“Really? I don’t think that’s quite the case.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah. There were cases of humans who married elves and lived together until they died, but there were no cases where their spirit affinity, which they didn’t have, increased suddenly.”

“Maybe they just didn’t intend to use spirit arts?”

“Hmm. Now that you mention it, that might be the case.”

As I quietly watched Asirye pondering while rolling her eyes in my arms…… my attention started to be drawn to the elven scent and the feel of her skin! Emergency evasion! Emergency evasion!

“Anyway! I’m going to the village!”

As naturally as possible, I grabbed her armpits, lifted her up, spun her around two or three times, then put her down and nonchalantly put on my shirt and straightened my clothes.

Unlike my steadfast sense of reason, my pubescent spongy tissue absolutely refused to obey my brain’s control. As a result, I had been struggling mentally recently.

No matter how much I tried to discipline myself, reminding myself that she was my benefactor and a 126-year-old elf, it didn’t listen at all.

Taking advantage of that moment, the bad Eldmia and the even worse Eldmia appeared and whispered in my ears at the same time.

-All the better.

Heuung. I-I don’t particularly hate it, but fuck, that’s not it! It’s a crime, a crime! Are you trying to make Asirye a criminal?!

-Tsk.

The damn bastards clicked their tongues and disappeared. Where the hell is the good Eldmia? I wish he would save me from the sweet talk of those devilish bastards.
Morning was definitely the most difficult time to battle with my lower body.

Trying to act as nonchalant as possible, I gathered my things and mounted my horse, and Asirye, who was stroking his forehead, suddenly spoke as if she had remembered something.

“Come to think of it, Eldi. Did you hear? They say a nobleman was discovered in the village.”

“Isn’t that expression a bit strange? Like an illegitimate child or something was belatedly revealed?”

It had the nuance of a dungeon or hidden treasure being discovered.

“No, literally a nobleman. I only heard it as a rumor, so I don’t know the details. Something about being the last direct descendant and sole survivor of a family?”

“Isn’t it just the storytellers’ skills? It’s exactly the kind of topic they would love.”

“Haha. You’re right.”

It was truly a topic that could only appear in stories.

If a few more days passed, it was clear that all sorts of stories would be added, saying that the family wasn’t just a noble family, but a renowned mage family, and that he was called a genius.

But he had been hiding until he came of age to avoid factions and evil schemes, and that he would rise up and restore the family, and so on.

Perhaps because there was a lack of content, the people of this world loved overly dramatic things, it was a problem.

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