The Elf Journey In The Western Fantasy World
Chapter 172: The Bond He Dare Not Name

Chapter 172: The Bond He Dare Not Name

He only knew about it because he had stumbled across it by chance in the past.

"Light elves and dark elves were once one, but due to their different elemental affinities, they came to live apart. However, the two are inherently complementary. Every dark elf spends their life searching for their destined ’soul-bounded partner’—but such a bond is rare and cannot be forced."

Illiya didn’t dare think any further. That possibility... was more far-fetched than the idea of his teacher not secretly reading porn novels behind his desk.

Was it really possible for something with such an impossibly low probability to happen to him?

And yet, aside from the explanation that he might be the dark elf’s fated soul-bounded partner, there was no other reason that could explain why Drow was so protective of him.

This thought began to take root in Illiya’s mind, growing larger and more tangled with every passing moment. It’s roots sinking deep, so deeply that even if he wanted to pull them out, it would be impossible to do so cleanly.

Illiya wanted to control himself, to stop thinking about it but he couldn’t. He could only let it run wild. Yet this theory troubled him deeply.

The idea of suddenly having a soul-bounded partner truly caught him off guard.

Could something with such a ridiculously small probability really have happened to him? Did Drow know it from the very beginning? Or had he already discovered that Illiya was his soul-bounded partner and deliberately gone to Haneulseong City just to orchestrate a "chance" of meeting him?

Countless thoughts swirled through Illiya’s head like a storm, refusing to be driven away. The more he thought, the more frustrated he became and the more his head throbbed.

Light elves didn’t have particularly strong emotions about the idea of a soul-bounded partner. But the dark elf clan was a different story entirely.

Their attitude toward their soul-bounded partner was extremely solemn—so cautious it was almost obsessive.

They treated their soul-bounded partner as something too fragile to hold tightly, too precious to let go.

Compared to how demons doted on their Demon King, dark elves were even more extreme.

But Illiya was a good elf of the new era, a model three-good-elf (good mind, good strength, good moral character).

There was no way he was going to play the role of someone who was constantly being protected.

Elves could fight. Elves could fight very well. One elf could take on three enemies alone!

If he truly allowed himself to be treated as the weaker side and constantly protected by the dark elf, then that would make him a failure of an elf. More importantly, regarding this whole situation, Drow already knew that he was going to face danger during the war, but he couldn’t stop him from going.

As a result, he had grown anxious, even to the point of gradually becoming more and more obsessed.

Letting someone so originally kind and pure be pushed toward a darker path—that was definitely not a good thing.

Still, seeing as Drow hadn’t revealed the truth about their soul-bounded partner, it was clear he had made the decision not to burden him with that knowledge.

He probably didn’t want him to carry that weight in his heart.

As expected, these dark elves really were selfless when it came to those they considered important in their lives.

It seemed the teacher had been right all along.

When it came to dark elves, the best policy was to avoid contact altogether.

However, if one day you truly did come into contact with a dark elf, and there was no way to avoid them, then you had only two choices, either distance yourself from the start, or accept their goodwill and begin to see them as part of yourself.

Though, truth be told, the first option didn’t usually work out, because in the end, you’d still end up in the second situation anyway.

But overthinking wouldn’t help.

As a young elf with very little experience in the world and technically still a minor, Illiya decided to stop worrying about all these complicated matters for now.

After all, the dark elf hadn’t truly pierced that last thin veil between them yet.

If the "enemy" didn’t move, neither would he. If the dark elf didn’t say it, Illiya would simply pretend he didn’t know a thing.

So yes, avoiding the issue might be shameful, but it really, really worked.

After finishing his mental summary of this life-defining dilemma, Illiya finally made up his mind to leave this place and head for the Demon King’s palace study.

He was going to speak with Sebastian about the matter of the fallen demons.

Ever since arriving in the Demon Realm, Illiya still hadn’t started working on the matter he’d intended to. But it couldn’t be helped, everything about the demons was genuinely fascinating to him, especially the kinds of hidden details unknown to those on the mainland.

For example, the previous Demon King had been obsessed with flaunting the existence of his Demon Queen.

The origin of the war had begun simply because the Demon King was such an obnoxious show-off that someone finally had to punch him. Or how the Demon Realm lost the war simply because the demons didn’t want to fight seriously, instead using what were essentially defective goods (which were actually considered high-quality by standards of the people in the main continent) to brush off their opponents...

Everything in the Demon Realm was new and intriguing to him.

After all, he was just a minor—a young elf.

Being distracted by shiny, novel things and forgetting his actual responsibilities was completely understandable, right?

Illiya tried his hardest to find excuses in his heart to justify his lack of focus, just to put his mind at ease.

Fortunately, his self-reassurance was rather successful this time.

Once he made up his mind, Illiya set off toward his intended destination.

The location was technically a bit remote, but that was only in comparison to the Demon King’s palace.

In truth, it wasn’t very far. With Illiya noticeably picking up his pace, he soon arrived in front of the study door inside the palace.