I really only stop

Black is both the color of the beginning and the color of the end.

The moment before birth and the moment after death, what appears before the eyes is the blackness of nothingness.

It is like a bond that symbolizes the curse, tightly linking people's birth and death.Going around for decades, the circle called life returns to the black starting point again, and has been closed since then, without any new sparks.

Anyone who understands this truth for the first time will doubt the meaning of life, but as the years grow, this instinctive confusion is gradually diluted by the excitement along the way.At that time, people will naturally know the answer to that question.

It is true that life starts with black and is destined to end with black, but the process can be extremely exciting.

Although the beginning and the end are the same, life is by no means a circle returning to the origin again, but a straight line that can go in any direction.

What we have to do is to fill up this colorless straight line with color as much as possible until it is full, even the black at the beginning and end is nothing compared to it, so that we can calmly communicate with it. world farewell.

However, there are always those people whose straight line is filled with blackness from the very beginning, and there is nothing but despair in front of them.

It never ends.

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Ever since he could remember, the world in front of Oedipus has been dark.

Not only because of this weird name, but also because of his elf ears, which are obviously different from humans.

In a remote village called Jack's Village, people have never even heard of the legend of elves.This physical feature, which is different from any orc race, can only remind them of a frightening existence—the demon race.

It's just that people are so vigilant. It's been 280 years since the last war between humans and demons. According to the law that everyone knows well, there are at most 20 years before the demons from the demon world will provoke the war again.The current atmosphere of restraint amid tension is already the best situation for Oedipus.

"—Hey! Pointy-eared child, come and make me laugh, and the reward will be—bah."

The strong man reeking of alcohol spat a mouthful of dirt on his feet, but there was no trace of anger on Oedipus's face.He winked proficiently, showing a [funny] expression.

Seeing that he was so obedient, the drunk laughed and walked away, and Oedipus also wiped his shoes with a clod as usual, and continued walking towards home.

This level of ridicule is not even considered a provocation, and there is no need to get angry at all.The person who is truly frightening from the bottom of his heart is actually behind this door——

"My child, you are back."

——Before Oedipus pushed the door, the door opened like a prophet, and the woman who walked out had a beautiful face and a warm smile, just like the person who walked out of the painting.

The fly in the ointment is that her ears are extremely oddly shaped.The shiny upper part of the auricle completely disappeared, leaving only a frightening jagged section, which looked extremely strange.

Oedipus will not forget the origin of this wound.

Once upon a time, when he just started playing in the street and was bullied by others because of his sharp ears, he cried and threw himself into his mother's arms. The fragments cut off his ear little by little.

Rough shards of glass are far inferior to the sharpness of a knife blade, and the last part involved even has to be pulled by hand to pull it off.However, the beautiful woman seemed to be unable to feel these things, her eyes were full of tenderness.

"Do this, and you won't be treated as an outlier."

she says:

"Mom help you? Or do you come by yourself?"

Not caring about answering, Oedipus just cried and covered his mother's wound with his hands.To this day, he still clearly remembers the temperature of his blood.

[You can't ridicule, you can't despise, and you can't provoke others.Oedipus, you must be a being that brings joy to others.Then, you have to experience this joy with your heart and bring it to more people. 】

Such a very warm sentence literally, combined with the scene of blood flowing at that time, is enough to become the shadow of Oedipus' life.

Since then, he has collected jokes everywhere, practiced funny expressions, and never fought back even if he was humiliated and hostile. He just put on a clown-like posture and performed inappropriate farce.

Every day when he came home, his mother would greet him at the door on time and ask him the strange words that never changed:

'Oedipus, have you brought joy to others today? '

I was ready to answer "Yes, Mom", but Oedipus waited for a long time, but Eve did not ask the next question.

He raised his head in doubt, before Oedipus could ask, several figures standing in the room caught his attention first.

The most important thing about the women in gorgeous robes is that each of them has the same pointed ears as themselves.

Is this mother's relative?

He nodded cautiously to several figures, and Oedipus looked at Eve timidly:

"Mom, where did Dad go? Is he still drinking in the pub?"

No wonder Oedipus speculates so.His father is also a strange person in the eyes of everyone. He obviously has such a beautiful wife, but he spends all day in the tavern, and even when he comes home occasionally, he falls asleep.He didn't look at his wife and his son in the right eyes at all.

Logically speaking, even if that person never came home, it was common. Oedipus just wanted to use this question to break the silence at the scene.

However, he didn't get his wish.

Before he could fully see Eve's face, a gentle push pushed him in the direction of those pointed-eared women.The next moment, emerald green leaves appeared out of thin air, and with a blink of his eyes, Oedipus came to a land he had never heard of.

The wind is sunny, the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant, and the giant tree in the center is particularly conspicuous.

Instead of being stunned because of this, Oedipus took two steps back because of the guarded mentality he had cultivated since he was a child, and looked at the women in front of him warily:

"Who are you? Where is this? Where is my mother?"

【——】

No one responded, but a crystal tablet appeared out of nowhere before Oedipus.In the very center of the picture is a woman named Eve walking towards the tavern.

With the usual light steps, she walked into the tavern.And the man who was her husband obviously saw her standing out from the crowd, so he stood up and shouted something loudly.

Instead of getting angry, she smiled and approached her husband slowly.

As if he understood something, the man suddenly fell silent, his expression was confused and desperate.

Perhaps it was the effect of alcohol, or there was still a glimmer of hope left in his heart.The man suddenly burst into tears, tremblingly hugged his wife into his arms, mumbling something frantically, praying for the impossible miracle to appear.

Eve still maintained that calm smile—then, with her body as the center, the blast wave swept everything in the picture.

When the image was restored on the crystal tablet again, what appeared in front of Oedipus was the village of Jack that had turned into a bottomless pit.

Just... gone?

Sitting on the ground weakly, the young Oedipus wanted to cry, but found that he couldn't even shed tears.

Dad, mom, and that place that may not be beautiful at all, but it can be called "home" for the time being, are suddenly destroyed like this?

At this moment, the brain has completely lost its ability to judge, and Oedipus just stared blankly at the stone slab.

until--

"[Oedipus, did you bring joy to others today?]"

"Yes, Mom... Mom?"

The body had already blurted out the answer before the consciousness, and when the last syllable was about to be uttered, Oedipus came back to his senses as if he had just woken up from a dream.

Didn't mom die in that explosion?So who is asking me this question now?

"Oedipus, did you bring joy to others today?"

"Oedipus, did you bring joy to others today?"

Turning his head stiffly, what appeared in front of Oedipus was such a strange scene——

On every branch of the tall world tree, there is a beautiful elf standing.They were all staring in this direction, with a smile that Oedipus was very familiar with on their faces.

After some sporadic adjustments, they spoke together, and the countless voices that were too mellow and clear came together, but it could only make people feel a chill from the bottom of their hearts:

"Oedipus, did you bring joy to others today?"

——Just like her in memory, they just asked like this.

Chapter - 2 The Plan of 3/50

"Boom!"

Silently dropping the last hammer, Oedipus patted the sawdust on his body, stretched and stood up from the bench.

As if paying attention to his every move, Oedipus hadn't finished stretching his waist, a clear and gentle voice sounded behind him:

"Oedipus, what are you doing?"

"...No, it's nothing, mother."

His pupils paused imperceptibly, and when Oedipus turned his head, there was already a bright smile on his face that couldn't be distinguished:

"I'm just making a statue of you. It's been more than ten years, and I don't remember much of my mother's face."

"No, you restored 'Eve' very well."

Across Oedipus's body, Recilia reached out and touched the face of the wooden statue:

"It's just this expression...it's the first time I've seen it."

The statue of Eve carved by Oedipus himself, although the appearance is exactly the same as Eve, but the [maternity] on the face is impossible for elves.

In Oedipus' memory, his mother's smile was always so gentle, but lacked real warmth.The extremely warm expression on the statue was actually fabricated by him based on the expression of the aunt next door he had seen.

"...Because I was really young at that time, I probably confused my mother's smile with someone else."

Without showing the slightest bit of what was in his heart on his face, Oedipus just smiled brightly:

"What do you want to see me for?"

"It's nothing, it's just that the meal is ready."

Lacey Levi pointed to the direction she came from:

"Unlike me, you, who have half of human blood flowing in your body, need to rely on food to survive. For this reason, I specially scanned a copy of top cooking skills, hoping to satisfy you."

"I can't wait."

The smile on his face was even stronger, and Oedipus made a gesture of invitation to Lacey Levy.Afterwards, the two embarked on the only path.

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Ever since I witnessed the explosion in Jack Village that day, I have been living in this place known as the [Mysterious Elf Holy Land].

Different from the impression of the birds singing and the fragrance of flowers when I first saw it, the more I stayed here, the more creepy I felt.

As the residence of the so-called [Elves], this house is the only one I live in in the entire Elven Holy Land.It is extremely quiet here on weekdays, not to mention frolicking, you can't even hear the most basic conversation.

All the elves gathered around the World Tree, silently staring at the [Original Seal] with empty eyes, as if they had no soul.

But they are by no means truly soulless.

At any moment, as long as I get close to a certain elf, she will naturally wake up, with that familiar smile on her face.

【All elves are actually one person】——I came to this conjecture for granted, and 【Mother】 never tried to hide this from me.

Whether it is Eve or Lacey Levi, they are all identities that she only uses when communicating with the outside world.No matter who she plays, she can be lifelike, as if it is not a disguise, but a simulation of an elf's life in her mind at an incredible speed, and then retell it truthfully.

Different from the legendary hometown that the outside world longs for, the holy land of elves hidden under a solid barrier is extremely quiet. In fact, it is a strange world with only my mother and me.

Fear, apprehension... It is inevitable for people who hear these things for the first time to have such emotions.Growing up in such an environment, I have long learned how to hide my thoughts and secretly plot a plan.

That's right, it is to find out the [truth] behind the weird facts of the elves.

Sitting down beside the dishes specially prepared for him by Lacey Levi, although Oedipus was full of surprises, he was making final preparations in his heart.

There must be something wrong with the status quo of the entire elf family. It feels like someone has silently invaded their brains and turned them into their own puppets.

Why did the shady send a puppet to the outside world to give birth to him? What is the purpose of the shady raising him? Will the shady suddenly brainwash him... All kinds of doubts and fears have never dissipated from Oedipus' heart .

Compared with death, the situation of other elves whose souls were taken out and left at the mercy of others made him want to escape more.

Therefore, we must find out the truth before the black people attack me.And today is the perfect opportunity!

The dishes that were supposed to be delicious seemed insipid under the many thoughts in his heart. While pretending to be feasting and burying himself in the dishes, Oedipus forced himself to think.

Unlike me, who was born with half of the human blood in my body and was conceived by 'Eve' in October, the orthodox birth method of the elves is directly born under the world tree.At this time, the mother (shady) will take the baby away, and when it reappears, the newborn who is only three or four years old on the outside is completely replaced by the mother inside.

That's right, the key lies in the [Newborn].

As long as she is rescued before the mother takes her away for brainwashing, the newborn may be saved from harm.

Then, I may be able to find the next key to the truth and escape from this constant fear!

Finally, after figuring out his plan, Oedipus said to Lacey Levy, who had been watching her eating from behind:

"Mother, recently I always feel that there will be strange noises in the surrounding forest at night. Do you know what's going on?"

"Sound?"

Tilting her head slightly, Lacey Levi's eyes never left Oedipus's body for a moment:

"Is it 'shashashasha' or 'battabata'?"