Into the Creations 1012

Chapter 1012 – 1012. Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family

I followed Zegner towards the center of the village.

When you think of an elf village, you vaguely imagine a mystical village with houses made of trees, but in reality, there was nothing like that. The housing style was similar to that of humans. The only difference was that each house had a large tree nearby. Perhaps from the sky, it would look like a forest rather than a village.

The streets were quiet. Not even the usual children were out. It wasn’t that there were no elves. I could feel gazes from the surrounding houses. They were probably cooped up at home because of the plague.

‘Surprisingly, the atmosphere isn’t bad?’

The Bitrase army was advancing, and the Polangpe Forest was plagued with disease. Yet, they were not panicking and were responding calmly.

Zegner stopped in front of a house. It was an ordinary house, smaller than the other buildings nearby.

“I will report the situation to the Elder first. You guys wait here. Elnoa, you come with me to see the Elder.”

“That’s…”

Elnoa looked at me. I nodded in agreement. Zegner, seeing that, clicked his tongue as if displeased.

“Elnoa, have you lost your pride as an elf after only a few years away from the village?”

“Zegner, it doesn’t matter if I’m an elf or a human. I’m satisfied with my life now.”

“…Don’t you think about returning to the village?”

“I only came to help the village. My life is in my master’s mansion, not in Belliak.”

“You’ve changed. You’ve changed a lot in just a few years.”

“You don’t seem to have changed at all, Zegner.”

The two of them went inside the Elder’s house. After a while, they appeared at the front gate. At their center was an old woman standing with a cane.

She was an old elf. Her ears were pointed, her back was bent, and her face was full of wrinkles. Her hair was lifeless white.

‘…If Seong Ji-gon were here, he would have made a fuss about how pretty she is.’

The elves of this world age. Their lifespan is 200 years, four times longer than humans, but they eventually die. Their childhood and adolescence are similar to humans, and their youth is very long. And their old age is similar to humans. In many ways, the elves were a blessed race.

“Welcome to the village of Belliak, strangers from the Kingdom of Rapelli. We have decided to welcome you as guests. I am Berika Munes, the Elder of Belliak Village.”

She looked like a shabby old woman, but her eyes were full of vitality.

Berika Munes.

She was a great mage of the Archmage Upper rank and a great spirit master who had a contract with a top-tier spirit.

“Thank you for welcoming us. I am Baron Eugene Prukerus of the Kingdom of Rapelli.”

“It is an honor to meet the young hero of the Kingdom of Rapelli.”

“Do you know me?”

“Just because we are in the forest doesn’t mean our eyes and ears are closed. But shouldn’t you be in the north?”

My army was in the north. And I had appeared in the north several times using space-movement scrolls. It was necessary to gain fame and merit.

“I’m sorry, but everything related to the north is confidential. I cannot tell you.”

“It’s understandable since it’s wartime. I’ve been rude. …Well, we can’t just leave guests who came to help us standing outside. Come inside. I’ll serve you tea.”

We went into Berika’s house. It was neatly organized. It smelled of medicinal herbs. We sat on chairs and were served tea by her.

“I heard from Elnoa. You’re going to send us to a safe place, right?”

“Yes. There will be no threat from the Bitrase army there.”

“Do you have a way to move us?”

“Yes, it will be over in a few hours. The elves of Belliak Village will reside in a city of the Kingdom of Rapelli, but they will be able to live as safely as they did here. I promise you in my name.”

“I think it’s the same wherever we go as long as the Polangpe Forest is burning. I don’t think you’re helping us without any favors. Favors without a price are scary. What do you want from us?”

The conversation flowed naturally. Berika was willing to abandon Belliak Village.

“There is only one condition. That you become my territory’s people.”

“…You mean to fulfill the duties as territory people.”

“Of course, I know that you have no foundation. So, I will give you privileges. I will provide housing free of charge and will not collect taxes for the next year.”

“……There are many excellent spirit masters in our village. Can you treat them all fairly without discrimination?”

“I treat people according to their abilities.”

I slightly turned my gaze to her side. It was where Zegner was sitting. Zegner’s expression was stiff and unpleasant.

“But can you decide alone without consulting with others?”

“I will persuade the others well. To be honest, Belliak Village is already hopeless. For the past 50 years… while I have been the Elder, it has been stagnant. There has been no development. If a little more time passes like this… Belliak will be left behind by the world. That’s not what we want. It’s time for us to go out too.”

Zegner, who had been quietly silent, opened his mouth.

“…Elder. Humans are vile. We elves may have to go through hell.”

“Zegner. The number of elves who have left the village in the past few years is over a thousand. The population of the village is decreasing rather than increasing. The village is declining. And we have no other choice. The Bitrase army is advancing outside, and the plague is spreading inside. Zegner, don’t be too afraid of the outside world.”

“I still don’t understand the Elder’s opinion. …But I agree that we will die if we stay like this. I will follow the Elder’s will for now.”

“Thank you.”

Things were going well.

I held back the urge to laugh. It was not too late to reveal my true colors after taking all the elves of Belliak to my territory.

‘Let’s make a trap. I need to inform Melissa in advance and order her to make a trap. And select the useful ones among the elves… and use the rest as slaves.’

Beautiful elf maids serving me… just imagining it made me feel proud.

“The story is going well. But there is a serious problem. The most urgent problem to solve. It’s the plague. Elder, what is the current state of the village?”

Elena asked sharply, crossing her arms.

“…1,725 people are suffering from the plague. They are separately quarantined inside the village. The death toll… is a total of 373 as of today.”

“It’s more serious than I thought. Eugene, we need thorough measures. If we move carelessly, the plague will spread throughout the continent. We must end the plague here.”

Elena was right. If we took them carelessly and the plague spread, everything we had built up so far could collapse.

The method I thought of was to isolate the elves on an uninhabited island. Until the plague completely disappeared. The elves might be dissatisfied, but it was better than dying at the hands of the army.

“One month. We can hold out against the Bitrase army for one month. If the army gets closer, we will activate the traps we have prepared. Please wait until the plague in the village disappears.”

Elena did not answer and looked at me. It meant that she would not infringe on my decision-making power.

I wanted to throw them on an island. But I needed to show consideration here. The elves were not completely in my grasp yet.

“I will follow the Elder’s opinion. But if things go wrong… please follow my plan.”

“What plan?”

“There is an uninhabited island. Please fix the plague on that island.”

“That’s not a bad idea. I want to follow that plan right now, but… there are things to organize. We need to persuade the villagers. Won’t you help us so that the villagers can open their hearts easily? There is a saying that those who help in difficult times are true friends.”

“We will help.”

It would be helpful to build up some favorability, even if I would throw them into the ground later.

We finished the detailed discussion and got up from our seats.

“By the way, you don’t seem to be of ordinary status… what is your identity?”

Berika was interested in Elena.

Elena smiled and linked her arm with my left arm.

Just as Berika was about to understand, Yuria said.

“She is a guest staying at the mansion for a while.”

“…She is a guest now, but there is no guarantee that she will be later. Maybe I will be your second master.”

“As expected of Lady Elena. Your jokes are worthy of a master of illusion.”

“It’s not a joke?”

Berika looked back and forth between Elena and Yuria and laughed heartily.

“You are young.”

I thought too.

‘I need to have a 3P soon and show them who’s the boss.’

***

We asked Berika for information about the plague. The information about the plague was too lacking. That’s how we found out a few things.

The plague started three days before the Bitrase army arrived in the Polangpe Forest. It started with eating a wild boar infected with the plague. It started with 8 people and gradually spread. By the time they realized it was a plague, more than 100 people were already infected. It was too late when they took action.

They quarantined the infected and made herbal medicines, but the plague did not subside. It was judged that the plague had already spread in the air.

We also asked Berika about the Randel Village. Berika, on the contrary, asked us with questioning eyes. What happened to Randel Village? The residents of Randel Village did not come to Belliak Village.

“There is something to try. I want to meet a patient whose life is in danger.”

“…I cannot allow anything like a biological experiment.”

“It’s magic. Magic that can eliminate the plague. Of course, I don’t intend to force it. I’m going to offer it to the patient.”

Patients who were on the verge of death due to the plague did not refuse. It was human nature to want to grab even a straw. The desire to live was the same for elves.

“Cough… please… save me…! I won’t resent you even if I die…! Give me that magic… cough!”

A patient with a haggard complexion said, spitting blood.

A blue butterfly appeared on Elena’s palm. The butterfly fluttered and landed on the patient’s head. The butterfly disappeared, and the patient’s complexion improved dramatically. The black spots that had risen on the skin disappeared. The plague was cured.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

The elves who had come to monitor us cheered. The plague had disappeared. They no longer had to fear the plague. They were chattering about such things and rushed to thank Elena. Elena became the savior of Belliak.

“Thank you! Thank you! Savior! Please tell us your name! We will remember you for the rest of our lives!”

“I am Elena Baldert. I was just following Eugene’s orders. If you truly feel grateful… you should feel it for Eugene, not me.”

“Thank you, Eugene!”

Elena passed the credit to me. I grinned.

Among the rejoicing elves, there was one elf who was horrified. It was Berika.

“That magic… um… were you perhaps a dragon?”

“I’m human.”

Elena said firmly, but Berika looked at Elena with suspicious eyes, as if she didn’t believe it.

‘Elena cured the plague with illusion magic. To be precise, it wasn’t a cure, but she used illusion magic to make it seem like the plague never happened.’

Elena’s Illusion Butterfly Technique. A terrifying illusion magic that makes illusions into reality and reality into illusions.

“Elena, how many people can you do in a day?”

“…30 people. If I use full recovery, it would be twice that.”

“Don’t use full recovery. It’s for emergencies.”

“I wasn’t going to anyway.”

“You have an uneasy expression. Did you find out something?”

“……It might not be an ordinary plague. Yuria, can you install the Eyes of Purification everywhere? We need to completely isolate the elves from the germs. That’s the only way to catch the plague.”

“If it’s installation… we need a large amount of magic stones.”

“I will support you. It’s for our village, so how can I not do that? If you need anything, please tell me without hesitation.”

With Berika’s support, things progressed quickly. The number of patients gradually decreased. Our popularity rose in proportion.

And four days later. The plague, which had been subsiding, was rampant again.