Nidavellir.
The room, lit only by four lanterns, was silent. Olga seemed to be looking at the elders, and they looked at her, as if studying each other, and it was the latter who decided to break the silence and start the conversation.
- "Olga Discordia," began the elder sitting in the middle.
- "Three hundred years have passed since you left us on your great mission. And now you have returned, but you have lost your purity and most of your strength. You have no child in your womb, let alone a pure-blooded one," said another.
- "And you brought a half-breed from outside into our home, and more importantly, a human," finished another elder, at which Chloe stood behind Olga, and I rolled my eyes.
- "We are inclined to believe that you have fallen into debauchery, just like your sister."
- "And therefore, your status as queen may be reconsidered, as well as the appropriate punishment."
- "Unless you explain all the details to us," concluded the last elder, at which Olga kept her usual expression, the elf who had brought us there smiled maliciously, and I processed the information I had received.
So, Olga had to get pregnant by someone specific, allowing only him to touch her body. And although they used the word "debauchery", there might be some differences in their culture from what I knew. Also, it was clear from all this that the elders had more power than Olga, the queen. It's too similar to the situation with the demons in DxD.
However, there is one point. They said "half-breed from outside", which could only mean one thing, explaining the presence of humans in the city, given the dark elves' attitude towards them. And if my assumptions were correct, added to which was the theme of this world, the dark elves, pure-blooded, I mean, were exclusively women, and they needed a man of any other race to reproduce. For this purpose, a human would be the most convenient, since he did not live long, had a passable appearance, and did not stand out for his particular strength.
And if we go by these guesses, Olga, as a pure-blooded dark elf, should have given birth to someone just like her, but with a human or anyone from another race, that would've been impossible. Unless, of course, there was some kind of magic involved. But what about her sister?
More information was needed, but that didn't make it any less interesting.
However...
I smiled.
Everything had become too dreary, and I hadn't had any fun in quite a while. Besides, the lack of information could be filled in by Olga, or however things turned out. Heh heh.
- "I'm really sorry, but why are you all so... serious? Smile, laugh, joke... oh, I mean, joke around. You can always make your day better, or the conversation, you know," I said suddenly, just as Olga was about to answer the elders.
Of course, the reaction to this was obvious. Everyone present stared at me in silence, slightly shocked by my audacity. The only ones who stood out were Olga and Chloe, who clearly did not expect me to say something like that.
- "Elders, I will take this lowly one away..." began the elf who was the first to recover, but he was interrupted.
- "Wait with that, Zask. The man seems interesting to us," said the elder in the middle, to which the elf reacted with such surprise as if a meteorite had fallen on his head.
- "He's a mage. And a very talented one," added another.
- "He'll do."
- "Me? 'Talented'? What are the standards here?" I chuckled, remembering that I now seemed like an average mage by all standards, for the world of DxD, of course. "And 'he'll do'? Can you elaborate?"
- "Dark elves, like the higher ones such as Celestine, are monogenders, and therefore require a male of another race to maintain the population," Olga explained. "Usually, it is a human male who is brought from outside by dark elves who have left Nidavellir for this specific purpose, and upon arrival here, they must receive approval from the elders or me."
- "Oh, oh? So you basically brought me here as your husband, huh? I'm embarrassed, flattered, and even a little scared. But you're pretty, I'll admit it," I smiled when my guess was confirmed and Olga showed no noticeable reaction. "Are there any downsides?"
- "After approval, males are constantly monitored and can never leave Nidavellir," the elder continued after Olga. "In your case...?"
- "Romani Archaman."
- "In your case, Romani Archaman, we are willing to make some concessions if you prove your worth to Nidavellir and our entire race."
- "What?! What about our laws, mother?!" the elf exclaimed, and I raised an eyebrow when I heard who he was to the elder. Apparently, her proposal had shocked him so much that he forgot about the chain of command. "You can't just..."
- "Be quiet, Zask. You..."
- "No, I won't be quiet!" he declared, causing the atmosphere in the room to change rapidly. "Not only did the 'queen' fail in her mission, like her damned sister, but she also brought him here, a human, without consulting anyone! Where is your pride as dark elves?! Why should we..."
- "You know, you're funny," I interrupted him, when the elders and Olga were about to intervene, judging by their body language. "I've drawn several conclusions from what I've heard, and one of them amuses me greatly."
- "Amuses you?!" He drew his dagger and bared his teeth. "Watch your tongue, worm!"
- "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," I waved him off and giggled. "So, your complaint is probably about the traditions and pride of the dark elves, but what do you have to do with these 'dark elves', huh? You're a half-breed, and I highly doubt that key positions are available to you, don't you think?"
- "That's true," Olga nodded and looked at the elf with undisguised arrogance and mockery. "Only purebloods are granted such privileges. It's an unwritten law since the dawn of our race."
- "You understand correctly, Romani Archaman," the elder supported her, and with each word, the elf boiled more and more until he finally snapped.
- "You... You'll pay for your words!" he shouted furiously and lunged toward me, sincerely intending to cut my head off, though...
It's been a while since I've mocked anyone, huh?
-0-
Olga always knew that Romani was strong.
He skillfully hid his power and always seemed to her like someone similar to Celestine, but more... human, which was to be expected, since she had summoned him from outside Eostia. The way he spoke, acted, and moved gave her the impression of a cunning and perceptive sage who was not afraid to express his point of view... just like her.
She was attracted to his strength, maturity, and intelligence, and if he were a dark elf, Olga would not have minded completing her mission with him, but... Romani was a god, a being who was mostly indifferent or blind to ordinary mortals, but with a kindness and selflessness that was evident in his interactions with her and Chloe.
His gaze never contained lust or savagery, even though Olga was one of the most beautiful women in the world, as she herself was well aware. This also added to his appeal in her eyes.
What's more, he somehow managed to "heal" the consequences of her and Chloe being taken by force by the Black Dogs and Volt.
This incident, one of the most horrific and traumatic for any woman of any race, for some reason did not seem so to her, nor to Chloe, as she learned after a short conversation.
It was as if she had just gotten a little dirty, nothing more. Olga didn't know if he had used his powers on them or if it was just his aura, but her gratitude to him was no less for that. She trusted him, which was rare for someone like her, and never regretted it, deciding to take advantage of her situation.
However, Olga then saw another side of Romani. A childish, almost infantile side, with hints of narcissism, curiosity, and sadism. This side of him did not repel her, which she found strange, but rather the opposite, as if this part of him made everything more interesting and colorful.
And when Zask, her half-breed relative, who three hundred years ago had tried by any means to hurt her or cause her trouble, attacked Romani, Olga felt it...
Power.
- "Kneel."
A speck of magic, pure magic, Romani, and Zask instantly fell to his knees, unable to move or open his mouth. And while Olga and, as she noticed out of the corner of her eye, the elders were stunned by such a smooth and skillful spell, because in Eostia it required time to prepare, concentrate, and pronounce, Romani crouched down in front of Zask and smiled at him.
And that smile, which at first glance seemed kind, but was filled with mockery and glee, as well as a sense of superiority emanating from Romani, for some reason made Olga feel a slight but strange excitement that she had never experienced before.
- "You see, I've been to different worlds. Not many, but they were all different from each other. The creatures, the eras, even the laws and systems. And yet one thing always remained the same. The foundation, the key that gave access to all the resources of the world... Can you guess what it is?"
In response to his question, Romani received only a muffled moan, to which he made a silly and exaggeratedly guilty expression.
- "Oh, I'm sorry about that. I somehow forgot that you can't talk right now. Heh heh," he said and comically hit himself on the head with his fist, then a smile returned to his face.
"The answer is strength. If you are strong, then the laws do not apply to you. Of course, there are exceptions, but exceptions only prove the rule, right, Olga, elders?"
- "Yes," agreed Olga.
- "Your words are wise, Romani Archaman," nodded the chief elder, Zask's mother. "What are you getting at?"
- "That now, like the Nidavellir, the dark elves will be ruled by Olga in principle, in practice, and on paper. Well, you will either obediently follow her orders, or it will become very difficult, hot, and bright here, understood?" Romani asked the elders with an extremely broad smile and falsely kind eyes.
And at that moment, Olga felt something. She couldn't describe the feeling, because she had never experienced anything like it before, but...
A slight smile appeared on her eternally stoic face, and it felt as if a whole flower garden had bloomed in her stomach.
She liked it... Definitely...
-0-
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