"Oh my, what should I do? I'm so sorry."
Nemara was dripping his drink with his eyes closed.
When Jakrion, who was standing next to him, hurriedly tried to wipe his face with his sleeve, Nemara pushed it away.
"Stop that."
This time, Kirrin hesitantly pulled out a handkerchief from her chest.
"Uncle... here..."
Only after Jakrion took the handkerchief from Kirrin did Nemara finally wipe his face with it.
"You seem quite shocked."
"How could I not be? Marriage out of nowhere? Judging by the scream just now, it seems the Principal is hearing this for the first time too."
When I turned around, Kirrin, who had been looking at me, hurriedly lowered her gaze.
"Is it normal for Dark Elf fathers to unilaterally decide their daughters' marriages?"
"A child's opinion is of no importance."
Nemara, having finished wiping his face, spoke up.
"Especially the opinion of something as weak and useless as that."
Nemara disparaged his daughter without hesitation in front of others, and Kirrin couldn't say anything in response.
So that's what this is about?
He tried to have me kidnapped by his children so he could tell me to marry Kirrin?
What is this, some nomadic tribe's way of choosing a son-in-law?
No, that's not it. I keep hitting roadblocks because I'm trying to understand this with human common sense.
This might be the normal procedure for Dark Elves.
But even accepting that as their procedure, this is still ridiculous.
Why would Kirrin and I suddenly get married?
There must be some reason behind Nemara's decision.
"But why should I do that?"
"Are you saying you refuse?"
"It's not about refusing or accepting. Shouldn't I hear the circumstances first?"
"Kirrin may be subpar as an assassin, but she takes after her mother and has a certain charm as a woman."
Nemara ignored my question and said something completely irrelevant.
"Being of mixed blood, she lacks the cold rationality typical of Dark Elves, which would make her easy to live with. Her naivety is a flaw, but that could sometimes be an advantage."
It's not cold rationality but psychopathic tendencies, I'd say. Anyway.
"No, I mean, why are you suddenly talking about me marrying your daughter?"
"Don't worry about the dowry. I can provide a house if you want. You won't live here, of course. A spacious detached house near the academy on the continent would be appropriate."
Is this Dark Elf not even going to listen to what I'm saying?
He seems to be treating my marriage to Kirrin as a foregone conclusion.
"So marry her."
Nemara said firmly.
"Take Kirrin with you. I will provide whatever you lack."
"Hmm... I feel like I keep asking the same question, but why exactly should I marry Kirrin?"
"Because having something like that as my daughter is shameful."
Nemara coldly spat out with a chilling glare.
"A half-blood Dark Elf is a stain that should not exist in our clan. I want to get rid of her from my sight as soon as possible, so take her away immediately."
"We rarely see each other at the academy anyway, so what's the point? And how can you speak so carelessly? That's really too much."
"Too much? Absolutely not. The professor simply doesn't understand because he's human."
"Regardless of being human or whatever, there are values that transcend species. If you dislike your daughter so much, why did you have a half-blood child in the first place? Did someone force you at knifepoint?"
"If I had known something like that would be born, I wouldn't have."
Nemara continued his verbal abuse without budging, and soon sniffling sounds could be heard from behind.
Kirrin was crying.
"She's inferior as an assassin, so I sent her to the city to earn her keep in other ways, but she can't even properly perform the principal position she was given."
Nemara continued regardless.
"She'll soon be kicked out of the principal position too, bringing shame to her father who had to beg the Emperor and lose face. Do you think I can just sit by and watch that? For such garbage that's of no help whatsoever..."
"P-please stop...!"
Someone interrupted Nemara's words.
Surprisingly, it was Jakrion who had been standing beside him.
Nemara slowly turned to Jakrion.
"What did you tell me to stop?"
"They've heard enough... both Kirrin and... Professor Dian..."
Jakrion spoke with great difficulty, his voice strained.
His clenched fists were already trembling.
"Jakrion."
Nemara asked quietly.
"Did you just interrupt me?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
Jakrion knelt down and bowed his head low.
"How impudent. Perhaps you're relying on your brother's support. Do you think I'll soon step down as the clan head?"
"That's not it...!"
"Father."
At that moment, Drebron approached.
"Please forgive him. I will make sure he is severely punished so this never happens again."
After silently looking at Drebron, Nemara nodded briefly.
Drebron then roughly grabbed Jakrion by the nape and pulled him to his feet.
"And Father, may I humbly make a suggestion?"
"What is it?"
"I understand that for humans, marriage is a major turning point in life, and they approach it with great caution. Perhaps we could give Professor Dian some time to think?"
"Is that so?"
Nemara's gaze turned to me.
"Would you like that?"
"Pardon?"
"Stay here and consider it, is what I mean."
"Here? In the Black Forest?"
"It was difficult to bring you here, after all."
So he means he wants to keep me here since it would be hard to bring me back again, and get my answer while I'm captive.
"Hmm, well. That's fine. Let's do that."
I readily agreed to Nemara's proposal.
Not because I was actually considering marriage, but because I was too curious.
About why Nemara was doing this to me.
If I left without knowing, I'd probably lose sleep over it for a long time.
But since Nemara would never tell me, I should ask the other Dark Elves.
Drebron must know something.
"Then I'll be leaving now."
Sharian followed behind Drebron, who was dragging Jakrion away.
Kirrin was still kneeling and crying.
"Please get up, Principal. Let's go."
"Okay..."
As I was leaving with Kirrin, I glanced back to see Nemara fiddling with his eye patch while looking somewhere.
His gaze was directed at a small side table next to a shelf of bones.
Where a withered bouquet lay.
What could that be?
Probably some rare poisonous herb used for extracting poison for assassinations, I guess.
# # # # #
Far from Nemara's quarters, in a secluded area.
A space similar to the previous one appeared, though somewhat larger.
This seemed to be the quarters of the Drebron brothers.
Only after entering here did Drebron finally release his grip on Jakrion.
As Jakrion straightened his clothes, Drebron reproached him.
"Jakrion. Are you in your right mind?"
"Father was being too harsh, wasn't he?"
"That's just how he expresses himself. What benefit did you think you'd gain by interrupting Father?"
"Kirrin was crying!"
Jakrion raised his voice, pointing at Kirrin who was still sniffling.
"How could I just stand by when he was calling Kirrin useless and garbage!"
Drebron said nothing in response to Jakrion's defiance.
"You idiot."
Sharian snapped.
"Is Kirrin the only one who gets scolded by Father? Is there anyone in this Black Forest who hasn't been cursed at by Father? So what if Father really got angry and killed you? What then?"
Sharian pointed to herself and Drebron.
"What are the two of us supposed to do? Are you really that thoughtless?"
"I was short-sighted..."
Jakrion turned away with a frustrated expression.
"Um, excuse me."
I interjected as the conversation died down, scratching my head.
"Could someone please tell me what's going on? I seem to be the main party concerned, yet I feel like I'm the only one left out of the loop."
"First, I must apologize," said Drebron, turning to me.
"We've shown an unseemly sight to an outsider. It must have been difficult to comprehend from a human perspective."
"Well... there are fathers among humans with personalities like Nemara's too. Anyway."
"You must be very confused. If we could speak openly, it might help, but we're not accustomed to that. Truthfully... even we don't know exactly what Father is thinking."
"You all don't seem to talk much to each other."
"As you can see."
Drebron gestured around.
"This is the Black Forest of the Dark Elves. A place where a race born for assassination lives, where even in broad daylight, not a single ray of sunlight properly enters. It's teeming with shadows who, despite sharing the same blood, constantly look for opportunities to stab each other in the back—a place full of betrayal and conspiracy."
"That's why we're innately incapable of revealing our true feelings to others. Even to family," Sharian added.
"Frustrating and foolish, isn't it? It seems stupid to make such a big deal out of something that could be resolved with a few words of conversation? But we can't help it. To our eyes, humans who talk openly seem strange. We wonder what makes them trust others enough to share their stories so easily. Especially when it becomes a mission, it becomes even more difficult."
Sharian's eyes turned to Kirrin.
"This situation is the same. From the beginning, we could have told the professor that Father wanted to discuss marriage with Kirrin and asked him to come with us. But we are creatures who learn how to kill before we learn to walk, and we live our entire lives on that skill. The most basic tenet of our profession is to never speak with the target. It's best if the target dies without knowing who killed them. The moment you speak with the target, the assassination has already failed."
"I apologize once again," Drebron continued after Sharian.
"As Sharian said, we received orders from Father to kidnap the professor, and once that became an order, we couldn't even consider resolving it through dialogue with the professor."
Yet you seem to be quite readily sharing your thoughts with me now...
Anyway, so there were communication issues due to the complex problems of racial characteristics and resulting psychological constraints.
"Yes. I understand. I get it all now. That's enough about that. So let's talk, shall we? About what's going on."
"The situation is this: Father wishes for you and Kirrin to marry."
"Why?"
"Because it was Maman's dying wish."
New information.
Maman? As in mother?
"Maman" seems like an odd term for Dark Elves to use.