Chapter 633: Astonishing Ecology

The village chief of the first village in the Elf Autonomous Region agreed to meet Tauro and his party a few minutes later.

With Glasslow acting as an intermediary, he briefly explained what had happened when they entered the territory.

“Oh! It’s been quite a long time since a member of the dragonfolk has visited this land—ever since that adventurer who said he was just passing through on a journey! I’ll write a letter requesting an audience with the central Council of Elders.”

He quickly wrote the letter and handed it to Tauro.

Including the village chief, the elders of the village gathered one after another to see Ragune, a member of the dragonfolk.

All the elves who gathered shared their distinctive features—blonde hair, green eyes, well-defined noses, and beautiful, delicate physiques. Despite being called elders, they all looked quite young.

Only the village chief gave the impression of being elderly, with wrinkles and a somewhat aged appearance.

“You all look so young—about how old are you?” Tauro asked out of curiosity.

As he recalled, Prince Flue, a half-elf, had said that because he was half human, he matured at a normal human rate, though his lifespan was still long.

And ordinary elves, he’d heard, take about three times as long as humans to reach adulthood—so if they were elders, were they perhaps around a hundred years old?

“The village chief is about four hundred years old, if I recall correctly. As for me, I’ve just passed three hundred.”

“I’m around two hundred fifty, I think. I’ve forgotten the exact number.”

“I’m the youngest member of the village council of elders. I’m about two hundred, so I’m still quite young! Hahaha!”

The elders laughed as they boasted about their “youth.”

“Wha—!? Then how long do you live?” Tauro asked.

According to books, elves lived about three times as long as humans—but if the village chief was already around four hundred, the math didn’t add up.

“Well, let’s see… Many of the members of the Council of Elders in the Central Forest City are over five hundred years old. Of course, some die early due to war or illness, so humans once said our average lifespan was just over three hundred. But in truth, high elves can live around eight hundred years. Even we ordinary elves can live up to six hundred, if we’re fortunate.”

As the village chief explained, the other elders nodded in agreement.

“That long!? And yet elves seem to be such a small population…” Aeris remarked, noticing the mismatch between lifespan and population size.

“Hahaha! Our reproductive capacity differs from that of humans. Humans must keep having children because their lifespans are short, or they’d perish. But we, having the longest lifespans among all races, don’t have that concern.”

The village chief laughed as he explained the difference.

Now that he thought about it, on their way to the chief’s house, only one child elf—around ten years old—had come to see the unusual visitors.

“…By the way, how many children are in this village right now?” Tauro asked.

“Hmm? Let’s see… Including the one born five years ago, I believe there are five?”

“Chief, one of them came of age three years ago, so there are four now.”

Another elder corrected him.

“Oh, that’s right. Hahaha! There are four at present.”

The chief laughed as he shared the number.

That’s as bad as a village on the brink of…depopulation. But maybe the long lifespan balances it out? Tauro thought to himself.

Aeris seemed to feel the same, as their eyes met and they exchanged wry smiles.

“With so few children, it must be hard to find playmates. And if there aren’t many children, won’t your numbers keep declining?” Zion pointed out.

“Playmates? Hmm… I’ve never thought of it that way. Humans certainly have interesting ideas. Well… I suppose the forest itself serves as playmate for elf children. They play in nature while young, and their studies are overseen by one of us elders. It’s also then that we pass down traditions, such as the ancient pact with the dragonfolk. As for population, many elves lack strong interest in reproduction due to their long lifespans, so we don’t increase our numbers unnecessarily.”

Being taught by elders who had lived for centuries—just imagining the amount of history was overwhelming…

But as Zion said, wouldn’t they gradually go extinct at this rate?

Tauro found himself slightly concerned.

“Among the races currently living in this world, those who survive do so because they’re meant to, and those that perish do so because they’re meant to. One could say that if a race goes extinct despite its efforts, it simply lacked the strength to survive in the struggle for existence. However, the elves’ reproduction has declined due to their excessively long lifespans, and our chieftain has worried that their numbers have decreased significantly compared to the past.”

Ragune pointed out, like Tauro, that the elves might be slowly heading toward extinction.

She was referring to Chief Ryuga. Come to think of it, how old was he? He looked young despite likely having lived a long time…

Tauro found himself more curious about that than the ecology of the elves.

Tauro’s group stayed overnight at the village chief’s house and offered their usual curry as thanks.

The curry was well received here as well.

In particular, the younger generation—though “young” meant elves up to about two hundred years old—seemed hungry for spicy, stimulating food like curry, and were deeply impressed.

For the older elves, being accustomed to bland diets after so many years, they seemed to treat eating merely as a task for nutrition, with little expectation of enjoyment. But the younger elves had encountered this flavor before reaching that stage, and several female elves eagerly pressed Tauro for the recipe, prompting Aeris to step in.

“You don’t have to crowd him like that! We’re opening a shop in the capital, Sugar—if you come visit, you can eat as much as you like!”

“The capital, Sugar? —Wait, do you mean the former capital of the Lunesk territory!? …That would be difficult.”

The elf woman sighed, answering regretfully. The others reacted the same way.

“Right now, contact has been cut off, but we came here to restore those ties. If that happens, please come visit.”

Tauro said with a smile, and the younger elves looked at him—and at Ragune, a member of the dragonfolk—with hope.