Unbeatable Part 2: Dark Elf – Aldrizzt

The Legend of Sun Knight Side Stories

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)


Unbeatable Part 2: Dark Elf — Aldrizzt – translated by dahlys

Neo sprinted all the way out of the city. Being a holy knight, which was the class with the greatest endurance, he did not need to stop to rest at all, so he ran late into the night. He was already quite a distance away from the city and had entered the forest a long time ago, but he continued sprinting, stopping only when he saw a lake.

He had stopped running not because he was tired, but because the reflection of moonlight off the clear surface of the lake stirred his interest in taking a bath.

After taking off his sweat-soaked clothes and throwing them on the ground, he jumped into the lake eagerly. Although it was a summer night, the water in the forest lake was cool. It was a little cold when he first entered the water, but it felt extremely comfortable after a while.

Neo swam in the lake for quite some time before leisurely leaning against the bank of the lake and admiring the starry summer night sky. He then felt a little hungry, so he decided to head ashore. He was just about to search for clean clothes to wear when he noticed the very empty shore…

“Eh? Where’s my luggage?”

He looked left and right but did not see his luggage. Neo finally remembered that all he took with him when he left was a packet of dried rations he had taken from the kitchens. He did not bring anything else along, so of course he would not have any luggage.

In a situation where he had no clean clothes to change into, he had no choice but to pick up the clothes he had tossed aside. The clothes reeked of sweat, and because he had carelessly dumped them on the ground, they were now covered in dirt as well.

I have to wear this stuff again? Neo made an expression of complete disgust. But no matter how disgusting and smelly the clothes were, wearing them was better than running around naked.

With one foot already on the bank, he had just decided to climb ashore and wear his clothes when he heard some sounds nearby. There was the rustling of tree leaves, the clash of metal on metal, and even the shouting of people. Combining the various sounds together, it seems like… a fight is taking place?

Neo raised an eyebrow and put his dirty clothes down. Instead, he picked up his sword and slid back into the water.

Perhaps some people are here to ”give” me clothes. Even if their clothes are too smelly to wear, at least they will have some “luggage,” right?

Thinking about this put Neo in a good mood, so he took things easy as he watched the developing situation.

The sound of rustling leaves was growing louder and louder. A second later, a human dashed out from between the trees in the thicket… Wait, that’s not a “human.”

Neo’s eyes widened slightly.

The person actually had a head of pure white hair, a color which was very different from the ashy white hair of an old man. The person’s long hair was as white as snow and it looked natural, unlike the graying hair of an aging person.

In the next second, he immediately noticed an even more prominent feature. The person’s skin was a color that was nearly black!

White hair and black skin, only one race in the world has those features.

Dark elves.

The person appeared to have seen Neo, but he obviously did not have enough time to pay attention to a human in a lake. He immediately turned around and walked backward while firing off several magic spells.

The magic spells looked like huge blades, but they were half transparent. As each spell shot past a tree, a slash mark immediately appeared on the tree trunks and the trees split into half where they had been slashed, like they were cut by a real blade.

Is that Wind Blade? That didn’t seem quite right, since Wind Blade was transparent and colorless, but the wind blades before him were slightly black in color.

Is it a dark elemental attack that imitates Wind Blade? Then I shall call it Dark Blade! Neo raised an eyebrow. Although he was a knight, he was not unfamiliar with the magic spell, Wind Blade… His student Grisia often used this magic spell as a fan, and the person he fanned with this spell was, with 80-90% probability, Neo himself.

Of course, the power used for fanning purposes was much weaker, so weak it could not even cut a strand of hair.

After firing the spells, the dark elf did not relax. He constantly shifted his feet lightly, and every time he moved a step, a small arrow would pierce the ground where he had been standing.

Hmm… This dark elf knows how to use powerful magic spells, so he should be a mage, but his physical skills are not bad at all! At that moment, as Neo was leaning on the bank of the lake, relishing the show, an arrow happened to fly straight toward him. He caught it easily and opened his hand to take a closer look. The arrow was small but well-made. It was only as long as his palm, but the workmanship was extremely good — the arrowhead was very sharp and the fletching had been specially crafted.

“Be careful, the arrow is poisoned!” The dark elf suddenly turned around to shout.

The dark elf actually gave me a warning?

Neo felt that this was a little weird because dark elves were not a kindhearted race. In truth, they were a notorious race. All dark elves, from grown adults to young children, and from men to women, were without exception, evil and despicable.

But it turned out that the dark elf hadn’t lied. At that moment, Neo discovered that even though he had only touched the arrow shaft, his finger was already beginning to turn purple.

He praised silently, What amazing toxicity! After that, he cast some holy light and expelled the poison. Although he had lost the favor of the God of Light, something as minor as removing poison was no problem at all.

“The antidote!”

The dark elf suddenly ran toward him and threw a small bottle to Neo. He then spun around again to face the unknown enemies in the thicket.

Right after he turned around, he let out a muffled groan.

Neo glanced at him and saw that an arrow had pierced the dark elf’s arm. Also, the dark elf had no time to pull out the arrow, as he had to retreat a few steps in order to dodge the volley of arrows that came next.

Suddenly — possibly because they had used up all their arrows, or because they saw that the dark elf had been shot — the hidden enemies in the bushes walked out… What? They’re also dark elves!

There are about four… no, five of them? Three were holding extremely small crossbows and the other two wielded rapiers, which suggested they belonged to warrior-related professions.

“Seems like my adventure is not bad at all! Right at its beginning I’ve met dark elves, which are extremely rare creatures. I have never heard of anyone else seeing dark elves for the past hundred years, yet the moment I meet them, I meet a large group!” Neo watched with great delight. He felt a little hungry, so he grabbed the bag of dried rations and started nibbling on them.

However, it seemed that the unusual dark elf no longer had any hope of escaping death. Not only was he poisoned, he was also alone. In addition, he was a mage with a frail body.

No matter how I think about it, he’s dead for sure! Moreover, he looks like he’s completely taking a one-sided beating and merely trying to delay his time of death.

The two warriors raised their rapiers and stepped out of the bushes. Although they still assumed a vigilant stance, they were smiling as if their plan had already succeeded and they were going to easily catch the mage in the next second…

The two dark elves took one step together, but a second later, those “two” had become “many pieces.”

Oh? Neo squinted and looked carefully at the flesh and blood flying everywhere. The cuts were very clean, he hadn’t seen what kind of attack it was, and the flesh and blood flew really high and far… Was it Dark Blade?

Then where on earth were those Dark Blades fired from?

Just now, when the archers had stopped shooting and the group walked out from the bushes, the mage had already been kneeling on the ground dejectedly due to the poisoned arrow. That was why the two warriors had lowered their guards, causing themselves to be cut into pieces in an instant… Perhaps, they died before they even realized that they had been attacked.

The remaining three archers were clearly extremely alarmed by this scene and had all frozen in shock.

The mage raised his head and said something in the dark elf language.

Although Neo couldn’t understand a word, he could guess the rough meaning from the mage’s expression… It shouldn’t be much different from “you guys are dead.”

Right after that, the three archers were split at the waist and fell into six pieces. The cuts were also extremely clean. Those cuts were probably caused by Dark Blade.

Magic was not Neo’s forte, so he really couldn’t figure out how the mage had done this. Still, he felt awfully curious.

Tsk tsk! Neo couldn’t help but think, What a pity, if only Grisia were here! He could definitely explain what’s going on to me… In addition, he would probably learn how to do it! But, come to think of it, maybe letting Grisia learn such powerful magic isn’t such a good thing after all.

If my student becomes strong, he will not be so easy to bully when Teacher returns to the Holy Temple.

The dark elf turned around and looked at Neo. Neo immediately applauded generously and praised, “What incredible power! I’ve never heard of a mage dispatching an entire squad singlehandedly before. Your strength is not bad!”

On hearing this, the dark elf peered at the human in the lake cautiously, and asked tentatively, “Will you please return the antidote to me?”

At least he’s polite. Neo tossed the bottle of antidote back casually. The moment the dark elf caught the bottle, he hurriedly swallowed the antidote. He then pulled the small arrow from his body and threw it on the ground.

Afterward, he looked toward Neo. Although the dark elf did not seem as wary as before, he did not appear trusting either. With a little hesitation, he said, “You… I am a dark elf.”

“That’s right! You’re really dark.” Neo said lazily, “Anyway, do you have any spare clothes? Could you lend me some clean ones?”

“…”

The dark elf stared at the human in the lake. A second later, he fainted.

The next time he opened his eyes, Aldrizzt was absolutely sure he was going to be in a prison or someplace similar. After all, he was a dark elf, and there was a human beside him when he finally couldn’t endure anymore and had fainted.

Humans had always treated dark elves as an evil race. If they saw a dark elf, they would definitely not have let him go easily, and would have tried to kill him immediately.

The most tragic thing was how the humans were right. Dark elves were indeed an extremely evil race, and no one understood this fact better than Aldrizzt.

Why can’t I be like all the other dark elves, and take evil for granted? If I were like that, wouldn’t things be a lot easier? Aldrizzt thought, a little depressed.

But he knew that if it were that easy to be evil, he would not have become a traitor and a fugitive from his own people. They had left him no choice but to escape from the underground world onto the surface. Still, he could not shake off his dark elf pursuers.

Am I really going to be hunted all my life, never understood by people of other races? Am I going to live out the rest of my days as a lonely fugitive?

Aldrizzt wallowed in self-pity for quite some time…

“The clothes are rather clean, but you are too skinny, so they are a bit tight.”

Aldrizzt froze for a moment, then suddenly lifted his head up and saw that he was surrounded by forest… He also saw one human, and this human was wearing one of the few intact clothes he had left.

I’m not in prison?

The human sat down and casually threw a bag of something to Aldrizzt. The latter opened it and realized that the bag was filled with dried rations.

“Please return the clothes to me… I don’t have many left.” Aldrizzt’s train of thought was a mess, as he couldn’t understand what this human was trying to accomplish. However, he still understood what the most important thing was.

He was not so petty that he was unwilling to part with some clothes, but he had many more days ahead of him. Although mages had always had high earning potential, so he did not lack the ability to earn money, and could become a hunter or a mercenary, he was a dark elf. No matter what he did, the moment he was seen by any human, he could not escape the fate of being hunted to death.

Even entering a city to buy clothes was an impossible task.

The human raised his eyebrows, indicating that he did not have the slightest intention of returning the clothes to Aldrizzt. He only said, “My name is Neo.”

Aldrizzt replied reflexively, “I am Aldrizzt.”

After saying that, he looked at the clothes Neo was wearing, and wondered whether he should ask for their return again.

At that moment, Neo snapped unhappily, “Big deal, it’s just some clothes. I can even give mine to you — just wash them and they can be worn. The quality is much better than yours too! Anyway, you fainted because of hunger and fatigue, so you should eat something now.”

Aldrizzt thought about it for a while, and also concluded that there was no need to fuss over some clothes, so he simply started eating. The moment the dried rations entered his mouth, he finally realized just how hungry he was… The group of dark elves had been hunting him for three days, so he had not had time to properly hunt for food for three whole days.

Neo observed Aldrizzt eating with great interest. The latter was also looking at Neo with equally curious eyes.

Their eyes met, but neither of them turned away. Neo continued to observe the other party blatantly, but Aldrizzt just smiled politely and continued eating his dried rations.

White hair, black skin, and red eyes. Even if he wore a hooded cloak, it would be difficult to hide the unique characteristics of a dark elf. In reality, it would be very hard for Aldrizzt to survive on the surface, because the dark elves’ notoriety was known far and wide.

Neo enthusiastically started guessing as to why a dark elf would forsake the underground world and come to the surface. Is he an escaped criminal? Or is he fearless because someone is backing him? Hm… from the fight just now, the chance of him being an escaped criminal is higher.

At the same time, Aldrizzt was also observing Neo. He could not accurately estimate the age of a human being, and could only guess from the latter’s golden hair, blue eyes, and nearly wrinkle-free skin that Neo wasn’t very old.

Although he guessed that Neo was not very old, he felt that Neo was a seasoned veteran. Both his attentive posture and sharp eyes showed that Neo was not a person to be underestimated.

In addition, Neo had the elegant poise of an aristocrat, and this elegance was so natural it was as if he had been born with it. This made the dark elf deeply suspect whether the other was a noble of extremely high status or not.

But no matter who he was, Neo was not afraid of him. Aldrizzt was very certain of this fact. This made him feel rather excited, because regardless of what Neo planned to do later on, at the least, Aldrizzt would have someone to talk to… How long has it been since I last had a proper conversation with another creature?

After quickly finishing the dried food, Aldrizzt could not wait to open his mouth. He said, “Hello, Neo.”

Neo raised an eyebrow, grinned, and playfully copied Aldrizzt’s way of speaking, “Hello, Aldrizzt.”

After greeting Neo, Aldrizzt didn’t really know how to continue the conversation, but suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Neo’s sword and blurted, “Are you a warrior?”

“I’m a knight.” Neo raised his hand and gathered a small ball of holy light on his palm. He added, “A holy knight.”

“A holy knight?” Now Aldrizzt’s curiosity had truly been piqued.

To a dark elf, “holy knight” was a job that existed only in legends. Among his people, who tended to lean toward the dark element, nobody had the ability to choose a career involving the pure holy element.

“You’re a mage, right?” Neo simply could not hold back any longer, and he immediately asked, “Where on earth did you hide those Dark Blades just now?”

“Dark Blades? You mean %&@#? Is it called Dark Blade in the human language?” Aldrizzt said something in the dark elf language, and then smiled. He stretched out his hand, knocked on the ground, and said, “I hid them underground.”

A great realization dawned on Neo. However, there was still something he didn’t understand, so he asked again, “The warriors could have been chopped to death by Dark Blades coming out of the ground, but the archers were split at the waist, so there’s no way they were killed by Dark Blades hidden underground! The angle is totally wrong!”

Aldrizzt smiled and said, “This is a forest, Neo! Besides dirt, what else is most plentiful?”

“You hid the Dark Blades in the trees… You’ve got skill.” Although Neo did not have a good understanding of magic, under the circumstance where his student was better at magic than swordsmanship, he had had no choice but to learn many things about magic.

Hiding Dark Blades underground and in the trees. Although this sounded simple, magic was not very stable and had to be controlled precisely such that the enemy wouldn’t notice anything. Thus, it wouldn’t have been an easy feat.

Otherwise, the Pope wouldn’t have made the classic expression — a jaw drop — when he saw Grisia using Wind Blade as a fan.

“What mage wouldn’t want to fan himself when he is feeling very hot? The problem is once you lose control, never mind fanning yourself, you could fan your own head off! Who would risk their lives just to cool themselves down?”

However, Grisia had already been fanning himself for many years and had not been decapitated yet. From then onward, Neo realized that his student was an absolutely brilliant mage!

The tragic thing was, he was a holy knight.

Aldrizzt observed Neo carefully, as this was the first human who had ever chatted with him. He discovered that Neo was in deep thought, and that he was making an incomprehensible face like he had seen something bizarre… Aldrizzt could not resist asking, “Your expression is a bit weird. Why is that so?”

“I’m grieving for my student.”

Aldrizzt made an “ah” sound, then said apologetically, “I’m very sorry, I didn’t know it was something like that. Your student… should be quite young, right? That is indeed very regrettable.”

Neo shrugged and said, “He’s not really that young, seeing as he’s already twenty.”

“Twenty? Then how old are you?” Aldrizzt was stumped. I remember that humans live for a hundred years at most, so if Neo’s student was twenty, then I suppose that Neo, the teacher, should be at least forty?

Neo gave a resplendent smile and said, “Thirty.”

Even though he felt that something was a bit off, Aldrizzt did not know much about humans. Everything he knew about them came from books, so he didn’t think there was anything strange about a teacher and his student having an age difference of only ten years.

“To humans, a twenty-year-old is indeed not considered a child, but it’s still too early to pass away at that age. What a pity.”

“… Who died?” Neo was stunned.

On hearing this, Aldrizzt was also bewildered. He said with a little uncertainty, “Your student?”

Neo stared blankly for a moment. Then, he suddenly broke out in laughter, getting louder and louder until in the end he was hugging his stomach and howling hysterically. He laughed so hard he could barely speak. “G-Grisia, he… he’s alive and well. W-with the amount of holy light he has, anyone could die except for h-him!”

“But weren’t you grieving for him?” Aldrizzt was rather baffled.

Neo laughed loudly as he said, “I… I was grieving for his job!”

“Job?” Aldrizzt was even more confused. What is there to grieve about regarding jobs?

The instant he thought about his student’s job, Neo stopped laughing. It was so tragic that he couldn’t laugh even if he wanted to. He said a little dismally, “My student is a genius mage.”

So? Isn’t that a good thing? Aldrizzt became more puzzled. Seeing this, Neo patted his sword to remind the dark elf.

Aldrizzt stared into space for a while before remembering that Neo was a holy knight. A holy knight’s student is a genius mage?

“That… is really worth grieving about.”

Although he said that, Aldrizzt kind of wanted to laugh. How could a holy knight raise a mage?

“What are you laughing at?” Neo rolled his eyes and snapped unhappily, “It’s getting late, so hurry up and eat the dried rations in your hands. We’re going to find a city and register our party.”

“Party?” Aldrizzt asked, not comprehending the slightest bit.

“That’s right!” Neo said casually, “A party with a dark elf and a human… let’s call it the Dark Human Squad! How does that sound?”

Horrible! Aldrizzt thought reflexively. But after that he froze for a while… What did I just hear?

A human is inviting me to become his companion? He fell silent for quite some time. Although he was a little happy, he was mostly filled with suspicion.

“Why me? I am a dark elf.”

It’s fun precisely because you’re a dark elf! Neo shrugged and said, “Count yourself lucky! I originally did not want to find a companion, but I have no choice since I forgot to bring my luggage when I left! Thus, I have to find a companion who has luggage.”

Isn’t it easier to just find your luggage? Even though Aldrizzt wanted to refute his argument, he did not dare to remind Neo for fear that he would really go and look for his luggage instead of looking for a companion with luggage.

To a dark elf who had escaped from his own race and wandered onto the surface, a human who would talk with him was extremely precious. Therefore, he did not want to give up on this companion. Even if this companion had other motives, as long as he had no intention to hurt him, Aldrizzt could even turn a blind eye to that.

“In that case, please give me your guidance,1 Neo.”

Neo raised an eyebrow and replied, “Please give me your guidance too.”

Because Aldrizzt was there, Neo could not run for the whole day like he had done before. Hence, the traveling speed was not very fast, and they did not walk out of the forest even after walking for a whole day.

When night fell, the two of them had no choice but to stop walking. They decided to spend the night in the forest.

Aldrizzt said politely, “Neo, if it’s not too much trouble, please start a fire. I’ll go find some dry hay to make a simple bed.”

“Start a fire?” Neo raised an eyebrow and said naturally, “Isn’t that the mage’s job?”

In the world of dark elves, physical labor had always been a warrior’s job, but… he was now in the human world… Maybe in the human world, starting a fire is the mage’s job?

Although he was primarily a dark mage and was best at gathering the dark element, gathering some fire element to start a fire was not a problem.

But even if he used magic, he still needed something that could be burned. Aldrizzt stood up and had resigned himself to picking up some dry branches to start a fire when Neo shouted at him from behind, “Oh, and after starting a fire, help me wash my clothes.”

Seeing Aldrizzt’s stunned expression, Neo spread his hands out innocently and said, “If you wash my clothes so that I can wear them tomorrow, then I can return your clothes to you!”

“…”

Although it sounded reasonable, something seemed wrong. I had to lend my clean clothes to Neo, and now I have to wash his dirty clothes, just so that he can return my dirtied clothes to me?

Despite it being completely unreasonable, Aldrizzt didn’t mind washing the clothes as Neo was currently the only person he could have a decent conversation with.

With the feeling that washing the clothes once was harmless, Aldrizzt nodded.

“Thanks!”

Aldrizzt caught the dirty clothes that Neo threw over expressionlessly while the latter tactlessly lay down on the bed that Aldrizzt had made, eating the game that Aldrizzt had hunted and barbequed, all the while looking very relaxed as he left all the work to Aldrizzt…

But Aldrizzt couldn’t say anything about this, since it wasn’t that Neo was too lazy to do anything. It was just that:

Neo had learnt how to start a fire, but he must never start a fire, because the whole forest would burn down if he did.

Neo knew how to hunt, but he must never hunt, because he would get so lost he would never come back.

Neo was willing to take turns to wash the clothes, but he must never wash the clothes, because they would become rags after being washed by him.

Neo had also tried cooking, but he simply must never cook, because besides half-cooked food and charcoal, he could not cook anything a human and dark elf were willing to eat.

Regarding all of the above, Aldrizzt was not really bothered. Besides, whether Neo was there or not, he still had to start a fire, cook food, and wash clothes. Now, at most he just had to wash one more set of clothes.

Nevertheless, for Aldrizzt the worst thing was, Why doesn’t Neo know which direction we must head to in order to reach a city? He can’t even remember which direction the city he had lived in for forty years is!

Therefore, even if Aldrizzt could use the positions of the heavenly bodies and the way the forest grew to determine direction… it was totally useless! After all, they didn’t know which direction led to a city.

Aldrizzt had no choice but to choose a direction at random and walk out of the forest. The first time they exited the forest, they found themselves at the edge of a cliff. I even got scolded by Neo for not knowing how to fly despite being a mage! After being scolded by Neo, he was forced to start studying the Spell of Flight.

The second time, he decided to cross the entire forest and exit from the opposite direction, but halfway through, he discovered that the deep forest was actually elven territory. Although “elf” and “dark elf” both contained the word “elf,” there was a blood feud between the two races. The moment one met the other, they would most certainly fight to the death. Thus, if he dared to step into elven territory, he would definitely be turned into a sea urchin by the elven master archers.

The third time they tried to walk out of the forest, they saw a desert. Aldrizzt was beginning to seriously consider whether he was currently experiencing a bout of bad luck, or whether Neo was jinxed.

“Tsk tsk! We walked the wrong way again?” Neo said coolly, “Not that I want to say this, Aldrizzt, but why is the path you choose always so lousy?”

When he heard Neo’s words, Aldrizzt finally couldn’t stand it anymore. He turned and yelled at his companion who didn’t know how to do anything but make cynical remarks, “How dare you say that! Why don’t you even know the direction to the city you lived in for forty years… Wait! You said you lived in Leaf Bud City for forty years?”

He finally figured out what the contradiction was. Suspicious, he growled, “Didn’t you say that you are only thirty years old?”

“That’s not important at all.” Neo immediately changed the topic and emphasized, “The important thing is, what are we going to do now?”

“I don’t know that either,” Aldrizzt said, extremely discouraged.

Neo raised an eyebrow and asked, “If we try walking in every single direction, we will definitely find a way out of this place, right?”

Aldrizzt froze for a moment, then nodded.

“Then there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Neo said casually, “After all, I’m not in a hurry, are you?”

Of course, Aldrizzt shook his head. If even the human, Neo, is not in a hurry, then as a dark elf whose lifespan is five to six times that of a human’s, how could I be in a hurry?

“Is there anything you want to do?” Neo asked again for confirmation.

Aldrizzt shook his head once more, as the only thing he wanted to do was escape from being hunted by his people.

“Then even if we can’t walk out of the forest, why panic?” Neo shrugged and said, “Anyway, if we keep going around and around the forest, we will definitely find a way out!”

Hearing Neo say this and seeing Neo’s relaxed posture which indicated that he didn’t mind at all, Aldrizzt suddenly felt that he was too petty. Neo is right. So what if we can’t get out of the forest? To a dark elf like me, a forest might actually even be much better than a city, because at least trees, grasses and flowers wouldn’t discriminate against dark elves.

Compared to before when he was a lone elf, he now had somebody to talk with, so his current situation was much better than when he had been escaping alone… Although, he had to help his good-for-nothing companion wash clothes, hunt, cook food, and make beds. If not for Neo repeatedly calling him a companion, he would have definitely felt that he was actually Neo’s servant.

Still, compared to endless loneliness, Aldrizzt was willing to be angered half to death by Neo every day.

After considering all this, Aldrizzt was no longer panicking. He even asked his companion in a bored tone, “So for now, are we just going to walk and look around randomly, without any specific goals?”

“Of course there are goals,” Neo said, “I have a lot of goals.”

Oh? Curious, Aldrizzt asked, “What are your goals?”

“My goals? Let me think…” Neo gave a detailed breakdown of his goals by saying, “I heard that there are many master archers among the elves, so I think finding one to join our party would be good?”

Do you really not know that elves and dark elves like me are sworn enemies?

Aldrizzt was somewhat depressed. Perhaps the reason Neo doesn’t discriminate against dark elves is simply because he has no idea what dark elves are like?

“Also, I’ve never left the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound before, so I want to visit other countries.”

This can be easily done.

“It seems a bit difficult to fight a dragon, so I’ll leave that for last.”

…You actually know that fighting a dragon is “a bit” difficult?

“Oh! Between the Son of the God of War from the Monastery of the God of War, and Silent Eagle from the Cathedral of the Shadow God, who should I look for first?”

“…”

Aldrizzt started to wonder whether being a lone dark elf was not such a bad thing, after all.

Footnotes

1 “Please give me your guidance”: This is written as “请多多指教” (pinyin: qĭng duō duō zhĭ jiào), and is a greeting. It can also be used to ask someone (e.g. a teacher) to teach well.

80 Responses

  1. Gohankuten

    O poor Aldrizzt. To have been caught by Neo and made into a serv…party member. <..>
    At least Grisia can actually do all that stuff without much problem but he would be like Neo and force it off on someone else. And seems Neo does realize the danger Grisia could pose to him if Grisia learned more magic.

    • Alyss

      @Gohankuten
      Wait, I though Grisia was absolutely hopeless at camping-things…so he forces them on other ppl, right?

    • chicaalterego

      @Alyss
      nah, as long as nobody is looking he can do those things. using magic to start a fire, cook… but since the Sun Knight is not supposed to do magic, then he goes around being useless

    • Flitfish

      @Alyss
      He can do them with magic easily. It’s just that he thinks he’s not allowed to use magic in front of other people. His teacher already knows about his magic though so he can do the camping stuff for him. Besides, Grisia probably enjoys bossing around the other people and being lazy xD

  2. beta

    >With the feeling that washing the clothes once was harmless, Aldrizzt nodded.

    There it is! That thought is the opening the Suns look for, and the cause of a lifetime of endless stress, hassle and grief.

    • abersham

      @beta

      This is proof the Neo is Grisia’s teacher.
      They’re both leechers. I think their motto in everyday task is “if others can do it, make them do it”

  3. 15B

    T.T Aldrizzt, just which god have you made so infuriated that you ended up finding Neo…? Even if he wouldn’t kill a dark elf on sight, keeping him around seems to be more trouble than it’s worth for conversation…

  4. d1r31

    The life of a renegade Dark Elf is so hard. Perhaps harder after meeting Neo…

    Thank you for the translation!

  5. Aimee

    “…he must never start a fire, because the whole forest would burn down if he did.”

    Uh, how did Neo survive(even in the Temple) for all these years? *shakes head laughing*

  6. KuwaNeko

    that’s so…
    oh god! Neo, he has no common sense does he… quite possibly the most illogical person I’ve ever read about…
    and Aldrizzt…. oh Aldrizzt…. so god damned cute… so innocent …. and such a bad luck (or is it good…) to end up with Neo….
    He’s so patient… I think i’d have exploded, having to stand Neo…

    ‘because at least trees, grasses and flowers wouldn’t discriminate against dark elves.’
    oh… that’s so heartbreaking. I just want to pat Aldrizzt’s head and say ‘there there’, so cute and sad

    • OnCuzImBored

      @MNeilG
      How on Earth is that a bad thing??
      Grisia at full potential would…destroy the pages of the original book or something and we’d have nothing to read >U<
      Don't ask me how he'd do it; he'd tramatize Yu Wo into burning all the copies of her book, or get God in real life to destroy every publishing company that dared to loose the terror that is Grisia upon the world, or something equally drastic XD

    • Immasweetslovinggirl

      @Breaketh
      Well he went agaisnt the king, and won. he asked for the princess hand in fight but tricked all the spectators when Roland fought for him, He got Roland to be the hell knight…Do you want me to continue?

  7. Aurelia

    And here we witness how awesome Neo is again. I really pity how the God of Light kept a walking disaster (albeit a handsome, strong one) alive for forty years… Oh Aldrizzt. /observes moment of silence.
    Anyway, thanks PR! (: /stuffs candy into hands

  8. lulumoon

    Thanks for the Chapter! I really want to see the Pope’s face when Grisia is fanning himself with the Wind Blades. Poor Aldrizzt, to think that you had to choose betweeen being killed, or being with Neo. A quick death, or endless chores.

  9. KuranNita

    Oh man! I didn’t even know how to say what I thought were FUNNY because all of it ARE funny! I laughed to death as I read them. Especially when Aldrizzt said that Neo can/know/willing/etc… But must never… because… And about his goals.. And ALL of them. Whew, I even couldn’t breath properly for awhile when I read this part/chapter, especially the first one I mention. And it’s good to hear about the explanation of the wind blade from another prescriptive. I thought it was easy to fan oneself using the wind blade since from Grisia’s prescriptive I get the feeling that it was natural to be able to do that. More when the reaction of the people around him about it (That I read so far) is cool and okay. XD Who would’ve know that it wasn’t that easy, even hard and dangerous, that, behind the scene, pope had made a jaw drop seeing it. I laughed to that too. Everything is funny, I would say it again and again because it’s the truth! *Laugh* An-anyway, thank you for this translation that made me laugh at the level that I rarely do!!

  10. “Although it sounded reasonable, something seemed wrong. I had to lend my clean clothes to Neo, and now I have to wash his dirty clothes, just so that he can return my dirtied clothes to me?

    Somehow I’m reminded of Ceo.

    • [PR]dahlys

      @黒
      Ceo: Grisia made my eyes all swollen from paperwork, and now I have to correct more paperwork, just so that my eyes are swollen enough to wink at girls successfully?

    • MNeilG

      @[PR]dahlys
      hahaha. not to mention ceo now “owes” Grisia a favor for helping him wink at girls! and Grisia is not one to forget favors (and grudges) owed to him! XD

    • [PR]dahlys

      @Alyss
      When you hit reply, you see a bunch of “Allowed tags” that you can use above the typing box. italics is < i > (without the spaces). you then have to close it with < /i >

    • Immasweetslovinggirl

      @MNeilG
      why oh why are you such a good wife canidate when you ARE JUST A CHARACTER tch all the good chracters for husbands and wifes are in books and anime…Is there not one man like this in the world today?

  11. SnowStorm

    I love Unbeatable!!
    They both are such a perfect pair for each other…

    • Alyss

      @SnowStorm
      YES omg the ‘evil’ Sun Knight and the ‘good’ dark elf. Plus that scene in Vol. 3 of LSK where both Sun Knights are talking about killing people to maintain the Sun Knight’s image, while Aldrizzt looks on disapprovingly XDDDD
      god, I love Yu Wo

    • immasweetslovinggirl

      @Alyss
      She truly is talented creating situations that are both funny and depressing at times, making the book extremly unpredictable and lovable…even if anyone isn’t a big fan of fantasy they can just read a few lines of a scene and want to read more just to see how it ends…i feel like this could be a very good book in America IF ONLY IT WOULD SELL HERE!

  12. MoonlightFlower

    Well now you know why Grisia changed from an innocent child, wanting to be knight walking among his brothers…. into you-know-what.

    He learnt from the best.

    – Greedy, from watching his teacher suffer
    – BS skill.
    – A super faker
    – Slave driving , push all chore to other people

    well there’re more… just can’t count ~.~ too much to count

  13. XiaoXun

    It’s official… Whoever Neo befriends is immediately subdued by him.

  14. Sono

    When I read his goals I thought that it would be impossible even for Neo… then i thought about it, and realised that very little is impossible for neo when it comes to insane thing, and that his appretnice has already done most of what he wants to do, and will probably get to meet a dragon (although probably not fight it) soon… unless you count the dragon’s saint brigandine.

    • Jasae BUshae

      @Sono
      one of the upcoming chapters for the current book is entitled ‘Tactic #7: “Choose Your Companions for Slaying a Dragon” so i expect fighting one will be coming up XD

    • darkgloommie

      @Sono
      Considering that Grisia basically said that the only thing that his teacher would be good for to call on would be to slay a dragon, it’s likely that’s gonna happen soon

    • Immasweetslovinggirl

      @darkgloommie
      I hope it does andi can’t wait for next month to see the new chapters i also hope they start the side stories up again too.

  15. kayue

    :DDD
    ‘Nuff said. Thanks. These two woul be an excellent series unto themselves.

  16. PlumaUmbra

    Thanks for the chapter.
    This one was a funny chapter, the jaw drop of the Pope, and the slavery thinking of Aldrizzt. :)

  17. Naavi

    Thank you PR this is awsome stuff.Thumbs up for you guys.I was laughing my ass off all the while.

    “Although it sounded
    reasonable, something
    seemed wrong. I had to
    lend my clean clothes to
    Neo, and now I have to
    wash his dirty clothes, just so that he can return my
    dirtied clothes to me?”
    Like teacher like student.

    I rememberd a skill Grisia did not learn from Neo.which is : flirting

    Poor Grisia he didn’t learn the most important one of Neos’ skills.

    • Immasweetslovinggirl

      @Naavi
      Somehow he will make do with the skills he has maybe one day Grisia will find someone just a s devious as he who is a girl and loves him like that…Or be forced into marriage one way or another

  18. AC

    Loneliness DOES drive people crazy… Aldrizzt, how can you stand the likes of Neo?
    I’m starting to love this elf…
    Thanks for the translations!

    • Gohankuten

      @AC
      How can the holy knights stand Grisia? Just something about the Sun knights that make people put up with them*cough*fear*cough*

    • Gohankuten

      @[PR]dahlys
      Sure but they are also scared of getting on his bad side lol. He may really treasure them but the holy knights know that Grisia would be their worst enemy they got got on the wrong side(as shown here where Grisia has no memory of them and is easily beating them up without really breaking a sweat)

  19. dollyfishe

    finally able to snatch time to read coz i had a black out for half day ^o^ good thing i had my android download it yesterday :D
    thank you for all the trouble

  20. NanoLaughing

    Aldrizzt’s is a Dark Elf, but he is truly a Angel from the God of Light! He’s not even (that) evil!!

  21. Bites

    Oh no you didn’t Mr. Bites. Oh yes Mr. Bites did^^

    Neo had learnt how to start a fire, but he must never start a fire, because the whole forest would burn down if he did.
    (Chuck Norris doesn’t need to start a fire, it will work itself out)

    Neo knew how to hunt, but he must never hunt, because he would get so lost he would never come back.
    (Chuck Norris doesn’t need Twitter, he’s already following you)

    Neo was willing to take turns to wash the clothes, but he must never wash the clothes, because they would become rags after being washed by him.
    (You heard the phrase, “For every action there is a reaction”. There is never enough time to react when Chuck makes an action.)

    Neo had also tried cooking, but he simply must never cook, because besides half-cooked food and charcoal, he could not cook anything a human and dark elf were willing to eat.
    (Chuck Norris can unscramble an egg)

    …Sorry, when I read that part of the story, Chuck Norris jokes was just.. it just happened.

  22. noodlecharm

    this story relieves me so much of my stress!!!!!! Wahahaha!!! good luck Aldrizzt! I like you! XD XD XD XD

  23. ZaX

    Wow NEVER would have known how hopeless Neo is besides swordplay. I can just imagine Aldrizzt dying from frustration soon!

    • immasweetslovinggirl

      @ZaX
      NO! Aldrixxt must never go away people would be sad ( i.e the people who pair him with Neo, and the Aldrizzt fan club i just started)

  24. Amaybee

    Omg. Neo is naked this whole time. Excuse me while I go fix my nose bleed. ☆*:.。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆

  25. ZwartWit

    Whoa Aldrizzt! Now I shall dub you as my personal Snow White!
    I mean, really, beside the unmatched body parts, he totally fit the Snow White description. Hair as white as snow, skin as black as ebony, and eyes as red as blood!

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