Chapter 440: Elf Village 6
「It doesn’t matter to us, right?」(Maevis)
Yes, Maevis said it straight.
「We are friends, so please help me!」(Kuleria)
「In the first place, we hired you as our escorts so that you would help us in this crisis!」(Etoul)
「For what purpose did you think we paid so much to hire you as our escorts?」(Shararil)
「「「「Eh...?!」」」」(Red Oath)
Apparently, the true purpose of the Elf Trio was something else.
It’s not according to the order of the Elders,
It’s more like “Lucky, we don’t have to get permission to take the girls here!”
That’s why they made sure not to say anything at the village mayor’s house...
「Well then, we’ll go where there are no people」(Kulereia)
Saying so, Dr. Kulereia grabs and pulls Mile’s hand.
「Eh... Eh... Eh eh eh...」(Mile)
Mile is confused...
「It can’t be helped.
For the time being, I’ll just listen to you...」(Rena)
Rena, who is usually angry, said something plainly understandable.
「I agree. It seems like you’re in trouble.
And above all...」(Pauline)
Following Rena, Pauline then Maevis continued.
「Yes, it looks interesting!!」(Maevis)
＊ ＊ ＊
「...I see. In order to pull back those who want to live in the city, the Elders force them to have a face-to-face meeting...」(Mile?)
Red Oath finally understands the circumstances in the explanations by Dr. Kulereia.
It seems that Etoul and Shararil have long been married, and Dr. Coulerea is already in the marriageable age.
...Although it’s called “the right age”, it seems that this period will continue for over 600 years though...
Elves are living for so long that living with one person endlessly will eventually become painful, so they change their partner many times.
Even though they say goodbye, it’s not a divorce that is terrible, but it seems that most of them remain good friends thereafter.
After all, they aren’t at the age that easily gets upsetting...
Of course, if they stayed with the same partner until one of the partners died, it seems that some people wouldn’t remarry after the death of the other person.
Unlike human beings, the life of the survivors is too long, they might live alone for many centuries.
It seems that there are few such cases because they are still young physically.
Perhaps, because of its longevity, the idea as a race is basically different from that of human beings.
If it’s such a race, there might be necessary to rush to get married.
At least until they are about 200 to 300 years old...
However, even for elves who have been married many times and dozens of times, “First marriage” seems to be something special.
It seems that their family members, relatives, and other people have complained to them to the point that can be called noisy.
...Anyway, the village elders and the single men are in trouble as young unmarried women go to human cities one after another.
That’s why “The girl who left for the city and reached the age for her to have her first marriage” must return to the village regularly.
Then they would have a face-to-face meeting with young people of this village and the neighboring villages. It seems that such a rule was made a long time ago.
And there seems to be a custom for both men and women that their first marriage must be with young people.
... That’s right. Without such rules, a young man (Shota/Kouhai) can’t win the experienced and wealthy seniors (Senpai).
There are no disadvantages due to their appearance and physical deterioration which won’t change for the next few hundred years.
And it would be fatal for young inexperienced (beta) men if the girls prefer the strong, manly, mature (alpha) senpai or uncle who doesn’t look much different from a young man.
「Anyway, every time, those clinging, persistent men (boys) came again and again.
They would never allow their wife to leave the village, let their wife taking care of the house, children while they could do whatever they want...」(Etoul)
Etoul was angrily telling so.
「Is that because the elves have the ethos of being arrogant that women need to do housework and take care of their children at home?」(Mile)
「「「............」」」(Elf Trio)
And the Elf trio answered Mile’s question with a bitter silence.
「「「「............」」」」(Red Oath)
And in response, Red Oath also remained silent.
It was the same for humans.
Maevis fled because her family against her idea of being a knight,
It’s also related to the fact that Pauline is leaving her father’s store to her brother and trying to open a new company.
「...I would like to hear more about your story...」(Rena)
Rena catches up, saying that it has become an interesting story.
Maevis and Pauline seem to be getting more and more interested.
「I see...」(Mile? Rena?)
When the girls heard in detail rule from the elf trio, it didn’t seem to be anything strange.
Women must not leave their villages, they should have an early marriage with a young man from their village or a nearby village,
Follow the old customs, they must choose a young man (Shota/Kouhai) for their first marriage partner over a mature man (Ikemen/Senpai/Sensei).
And then the thwart attacks from their families.
The women’s side insisted: “Uhm, even humans with very short lives, it’s normal for a young woman to leave the village where she was born and to study various things.”
Their family complained: “These kids (girls) are almost one-quarter of their lives, far from having their first marriage, there’s no shadow of a man.”
The women’s side objected: “But this is normal, neither parents nor others should say anything.”
Anyway, the Village will strongly insist that all the Elf girls must go along with that. They were really told so. It’s not a lie.
Red Oath can understand that...
「...I somewhat don’t feel like being made fun of......」(Mile? Rena?)
“There’s no shadow of a man”, Rena murmured.
These Elf girls, they didn’t even live one-tenth of their lives. And the village obstructed them from doing what they want, pushed them to marry. But women don’t want to be forced to devote their lives to caring for their husbands and children so that their husbands can live how they like.
Red Oath can understand those feelings.
Although they are a different race, they are also girls who work hard for their dream...
「「「「Leave it to us!!」」」」(Red Oath)
Rena’s group talked in sync.
＊ ＊ ＊
「Everyone, thank you for coming」(Elder)
The next day, the elders were giving instructions to the people who gathered at the village meetinghouse (hall).
Not only the unmarried people in this village but also the neighboring villages gathered here, so it was the Elder’s turn, not the village chief.
Of course, it also means that he has the longest marriage history and has the best number of marriages, and he is the greatest senior on that road.
In addition to the Elder, there are young people from the neighborhood who haven’t been married for the first time.
...Even if they are called “youth”, they are elves, so...
In term of human age, they are still too old, from middle-aged to the old man but they still look like young adults (this world considers 15 years old as an adult),
At most, they are around the age of 20, so there isn’t any discomfort.
At first glance, it’s just a wedding party.
The number of participants is not very large.
In the first place, the Elves are few in number and their age range is very large, but there aren’t many of them can meet the limited conditions “People who aren’t married yet and are of marriageable age”.
Most of them are those who “have already married for the first time and are now married for several times, or during the free period until the next person is found.”
Therefore, not only the people in this village but also the neighboring villages are involved.。
Of course, it is also related to the legend from the ancestors that “If you repeat marriage only in the village, you will not get new blood and you will decline in a race.”
In the old days, there seemed to be an excellent civilization, so it seems that such “important knowledge that affects the survival of species” has been properly conveyed.
And besides the Elders, the Participants, and the special invitee, Red Oath, there are only pretty old women who act as Waiter role, “Cheering role”, “Back pusher/supporter”, etc.
... Elf men prefer young women while young women tend to prefer older, more dependable men like their fathers.
The fact that other women didn’t participate was probably to prevent being distracted by the “non-targets”.
It’s really rare for men to be a Mother-con but many women are father-con and many men are sis-con.
......Elves.
It was a dark race...