Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 131: The Elven Nation of Sylph(Part 1)

"Let’s see here...the population of Sylph is split into seven different locations, called settlements. Each settlement is named after a flower. And we’re currently passing through the Daisy Settlement," Remarked Celia, as she opened the guidebook that Jules had placed in each carriage and went through it.

"I see. This place sure looks a lot different to the cities, towns and villages in Persona...all the buildings are either carved into the trunks of large trees or treehouses perched on the branches," Responded Raven, as he stared out the window in fascination.

"They have pretty minimal technological advancements, so communicating with them is pretty tough, they don’t have phones or anything that allows long-range communication. So, the only way to communicate with them is through messengers and letters," Celia informed him, as she continued reading through the guidebook.

"Seriously? So, a messenger would have travel across the bridge with a letter if we want to send them any messages? And they’d have to then send their own messenger across the bridge to give a response?" Replied Raven in bemusement.

"Yeah, I guess so, it’s not exactly convenient, huh? Man, the Commander really went all out with these guidebooks, there’s a ton of info in here. Like here, Elves tend to live for around a thousand years, and because of that, they usually look down on humans. Apparently, it’s because we only live for around a hundred years or so, so they see us as little more than children. In additional to their long lives, they have great memories too, they can clearly remember stuff from centuries ago. Because of that, they’re a lot more advanced than we are when it comes to creating Spells, they’re capable of making much more complex Spells than we can," Continued Celia with a look of intrigue.

"Yeah, that makes sense. After all, they can retain a lot more knowledge, accrued over several centuries, than we can," Nodded Raven thoughtfully.

"Looks like the way they run their society is heavily influenced by their religion...but the way their religion works is a lot different to that of the Church of Persona in our nation. The Elves don’t have churches or any places of worship...they follow the teachings of the Goddess Sylph, which dictates that they must live in harmony with nature, treating it with great respect and care. That’s the reason why they haven’t made any technological advancements, they believe that things like electricity and vehicles go against their beliefs," Remarked Celia, as she flipped a page and skimmed through the text.

"Oh, so that’s why we came here in carriages instead of motor vehicles, the Elves might have taken offense to that," Surmised Raven in response.

"Yeah, probably. Oh, but they do have plumbing and running water, at least. That’s good...having to use the bathroom behind bushes and trees after our first hideout was destroyed was awful, I’m glad they at least have proper bathrooms here."

"Yup, that’s a huge relief, I’d probably end up trying to hold it in for as long as possible otherwise," Responded Raven with a wry smile.

"Oh, this part goes into more detail about the layout of the nation. They don’t have cities, towns or villages here like we do in Persona, most of their population resides in the seven main settlements, and there are also dozens of outposts and campsites set up throughout the rest of the nation to maintain the forests. It sounds like this entire nation is basically one massive forest.

Like I mentioned earlier, the place we’re currently in is the Daisy Settlement, and we’re heading to a spot in this location where they’ll teleport us to a different place called the Rose Settlement. It’s located at the center of the nation, and it’s where the conference will be held between our Queen and the leaders of Sylph.

Instead of a single monarch selected based on heritage, the leadership of Sylph is made up of seven individuals, who are bestowed the title of The Elders. They’re democratically elected, one from each of the seven settlements, and they have to be at least five hundred years old to be eligible for election," Explained Celia, as Raven noticed some Elves staring warily at the carriages.

"Wow, so they’d have to live around five times longer than we do to be eligible to lead the nation? I can see why they view humans as children."

"The election occurs every fifty years, though most of the Elves who are elected to take on the position of the one of the Elders generally stays in that position for at least three centuries, they usually don’t get replaced unless they do a really bad job at it, or when they decide to retire. Fifty years may seem like a really long time to us, but their perception of time is a lot different to ours thanks to their long lives. It’s estimated that a decade to them feels the same as a year does to us."

"Yeah, that tracks, they live about ten times longer than we do, so it makes sense that they’d perceive time ten times faster than we do. Gotta say, I kinda wish we were Elves...a hundred years is starting to sound pretty short now," Remarked Raven wryly.

"Hm...well, your lifespan might have increased after going through the Homunculus Ritual, so there’s a chance that you could live well past the human lifespan," Pointed out Celia.

"I...don’t think I feel very good about that. It’s not like I want to die sooner, of course, but there won’t be much point if I live way longer than you do, not to mention the others," Raven shook his head despondently.

"Aww, you’re so cute sometimes, Raven," Smiled Celia as she scooted over towards him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, come on, I’m serious..."

"I know, but don’t worry...for starters, we don’t actually know if your lifespan is longer now or not, and even if it is, I’m sure we’ll eventually find a way to turn you back to the way you were. That would be kinda bittersweet to me, though...in case I haven’t mentioned it before, I think the way you look now is super cool," She grinned in response.

"You mention it constantly. But I guess you’re right, there’s no point in worrying about it right now, it’s not like I can do anything about it at present, after all. Let’s get back to the guidebook...is there anything else of note in it?" Raven asked her as he took hold of her hand and laced his fingers between hers.

"Let’s see...oh, this next part is about the nation’s defense force, the Elven Warriors. I guess they must be the Elves’ version of Knights. They mainly act as a police force, and also serve as an army if and when necessary. They’re categorized with four ranks...the lowest rank is a Stage Three Warrior, followed by Stage Two and then Stage One. And the highest ranks are the Grand Warriors...I wonder how strong they are in comparison to the Knights?" Mused Celia curiously.

"Well, they have way more time than we do to train and hone their abilities, so I’d wager that they must be pretty damn powerful," Surmised Raven after mulling it over.

"Oh, this part over here explains it. Because of their perception of time, they tend to not work much on their abilities early on in their lives, even through they also awaken their Magic around the age of ten, the same as us. As for how they age, they grow at about the same pace as us for the first twenty years of their lives.

After that, their growth significantly slows down for the next one hundred and fifty years or so, they age in a decade the same amount we do in a year. In other words, a one hundred and seventy year old Elf is physically at the same level of maturity as a thirty-five year old human.

Woah, and after that, they just stop aging completely for several centuries, when they’re more or less at their physical peak. They remain in that state until they’re around six hundred years old, when they start aging again.

They then continue to age around a year per decade again, until they’re around nine hundred years old, at which point their physical state is comparable to that of a sixty-five year old human. They then age twice as fast from there on, at a rate of about a year per five years, and they generally reach the ends of their lives somewhere between the ages of a thousand to one thousand one hundred," Read out Celia in fascination.

"They stay in their physical peaks for nearly four and half centuries? Their lifespans are starting to sound unnecessarily and unfairly long at this point," Responded Raven incredulously.

"Yeah, and to put it into perspective, the Age of Ancient Magic was just a little over a thousand years ago, so there could conceivably be at least a handful of Elves born during that era who are still alive now.

Okay, there’s one last section in the guidebook, but this part isn’t all that interesting...it’s about their appearances. Outwardly, they resemble humans except for their ears, but there are a couple of other minor differences.

Their hair colors are a lot less diverse than with humans, most Elves have varying shades of blonde hair, though there are some with orange and red hair too. And, very rarely, Elves with white hair can appear too. Dark hair colors like brown and black are completely unheard of Elves though.

Same with the color of their eyes too, dark eyes are unprecented. Most of them have blue or green eyes, and some have orange, yellow, gold or red eyes. That about covers everything in the guidebook...no, wait, there’s something added onto the inside of the back cover. Oh...it’s just a warning from the Commander to not do anything to offend the Elves," Sighed Celia in exasperation.

"She can be pretty high-strung, but I think her extra caution is somewhat justified in this case, at least to an extent," Laughed Raven in response.

"Yeah, I suppose so, we can’t afford to screw up here. In the worst case scenario, we could end up triggering a war against the Elves. Let’s see if she’s mentioned anything specific that we shouldn’t do...it starts with her reiterating that we should be on our best behavior here. The Elves highly value peace and serenity, so they have extremely strict laws against criminals to deter crime. Even petty crimes like theft and vandalism, or even causing a commotion, could result in execution. Huh. That’s, uh...that’s certainly one way to maintain order," Remarked Celia in bemusement, as she shut the guidebook and set it down.

"Yeah, that’s more than a little extreme. I doubt they’d execute any of us for causing a commotion or whatnot, though. Since they value peace, they probably wouldn’t do anything to give another nation cause to attack them, but at the very least, they’ll probably refuse to form an alliance with us and kick us out," Said Raven, before adding and peering out the window as the carriages came to a halt, "Oh, looks like we’ve reached the teleportation point. Guess the first part of this journey is pretty much over now, glad we got this far without any incident...let’s just hope that lasts."