The meaning contained within the signifier “elf” ran deep and wide.
It was the result of conflicts accumulated over several hundred years.
After the Empire’s wars of conquest, the elves who had gathered to live in the Great Forest were defeated by humanity and forced to begin a life of wandering.
Of course, those who had been robbed of their homeland were hardly going to leave quietly.
Local skirmishes broke out everywhere, and resentment accumulated in proportion to the blood shed by both sides.
Trapped within that cycle, the elves became humanity’s sworn enemies and were eventually driven all the way to the distant Northern Region.
Naturally, there was no reason for humanity to view elves favorably.
Hadn’t I heard people whispering just moments ago?
The derogatory term “pointy-ear” was proof enough of what kind of beings they were considered among humanity.
Every now and then, I could even hear someone mutter “filthy elf.”
It was an assessment I simply couldn’t understand.
After all, just look.
Look at the adorable elf girl burying her head in my chest.
Unlike before, her gray hair had been neatly groomed, to the point that it gleamed with a healthy sheen.
Her body, which had once looked not merely slim but almost gaunt, had now filled out considerably, finally revealing its slender curves.
‘Avian.’
She was the girl who had once been a spy for the elves who infiltrated the Academy.
She had disguised herself as a merchant, only for me to catch her trail and expose her identity, after which we had even left for the North together.