Chapter 621 – People of Forests, Wildernesses, and Steppes (10)
─Cudangtan! The elf that spewed out blood fell.
I brushed off the window and changed it to a bracelet. Because it was such a quick clash, not much blood was spilled in the first place.
“Kuhak, keuhuk…”
Blood poured from the elf’s chilchong that had become Teketeke.
I looked around the area and confirmed that the fight was over.
No one was hurt on our wives’ side either. Even the group of elves who noticed from a little distance, perhaps thanks to the difference in numbers, only had arrows stuck in their shoulders.
‘Annoying bastards.’
Now I have to interrogate the soul and absorb mana, but it seemed like it would be cumbersome because of that bastard.
I’m going to dig up information from the laggards anyway, so should I kick them out?
“Ah, Existing One…”
At that time, the elf that had been cut into pieces in my hand muttered. In just a moment, he had become an old man with wrinkles. I was impressed with my tenacity.
“What. Are you still not looking?”
It seemed that he was postponing his death in pain, probably because he had so much mana even after using his life force sparingly.
“Stay still, bitch. I won’t hurt you anymore… ?”
I turned around to finish it off and was startled.
Something like a centipede’s legs sprouted from the eyes of the youngster. The elf spat out something that looked like another bug’s leg from his mouth and shouted.
“… Your children, even at the moment of their death, wish only for a new era!!”
Jijik… ! The bald elf’s body turned into a lump of mana that was a disgusting color like a swamp.
Intuition made decisions faster than reason.
Oh oh oh oh! He blew mana into the spear that turned into a bracelet.
If Veronica is right, this spear is now one with me.
Then, just as mana strengthens the body, the exorcism possessed by the spear can be strengthened with my mana. I put my spear in front and hit the shield diagonally with rune magic.
And then, the dying elf’s body swelled like coke with Mentos, causing an intense explosion.
Aaaaa!!!!
It was more powerful than the sword he had just blocked. Looking at the reduced amount of mana, if you were caught carelessly, you would have to get another bottle of elixir.
“… Nord!!”
“My dear!!”
“It’s okay, I’m fine.”
Nefertiti and his wives rushed to me in panic, but I was fine with no injuries due to the anti-magic power of the shield and spear inserted at an acute angle.
However, it was a bit of a problem that the bald elf’s soul was gone because of the self-destruction.
“… A human bomb.”
I clicked my tongue as I walked out of the exploding area where acrid smoke bloomed.
It’s also unfortunate that he couldn’t absorb the mana of a guy who had 2-3 times more mana than the other elves, but this kid was definitely a kid who instigated the others.
‘He must have known more than the other elves.’
Conversely, it was almost obvious that even if you interrogate the souls of other elves rolling around there, you would be able to find out.
If that’s the case, I have no choice but to ask someone who knows more.
Shuwaaaaah-.
After confirming that the old god’s mana, which bloomed from the dead elves, was absorbed into my body, I got off my horse and faced a strange elf approaching alone.
I defeated others and came as a representative alone.
It meant that he intended to talk in as mild an atmosphere as possible, and that he was willing to convince us, who would have been upset.
And that fact gave me hope that that bastard would be more communicative than the guys who tried to kill us.
The dark-haired male elf stopped at an appropriate distance and bowed his head.
“Excuse me for the awkward atmosphere. My name is Mahjan, an elf from Tatarnia.”
“It’s Nord. You don’t have to introduce your wives.”
I turned off the beast return and brushed off the dirt.
“Explain.”
“… Where can I start?”
“From start to finish.”
Mahzan pursed his lips at the clear request.
It was more like a new employee thinking of an excuse before breaking down, rather than a PPT presenter thinking about the introduction.
Tirsi, who had been stabbed for no reason—even though it didn’t touch my skin—touched my hair and made an impression as if she didn’t like it.
“It’s all your fault that we were attacked. Is it hard for you to properly explain the reason?”
“No, it is not. Excuse me.”
He’s a pup who often apologizes. Have you ever had a social life?
Mahjan shook her head and said.
“As you may have guessed, we are the ones who came to obtain the by-products of the World Tree. Of course, I want you to pay the price to Nord and make a deal.”
“Including the apology fee for being attacked?”
“Yes. Even if it rots, it is an envoy of the country.”
It’s nice to be crispy. I pushed my finger across the forehead of Lalilura, who was checking me almost paranoidly, and pointed at the corpses of her elves.
“What are those bastards, and why are they targeting us?”
“… They are Tatarnia elves like us. It must have been instructing Baiznia to steal the by-products of the World Tree.”
“It’s pretty straightforward. Do you have any evidence?”
“Other than that, there is no reason for the same Tatarnia elves to betray us and act independently.”
Mahzan speaks with confidence. I smiled.
“Those guys are the ones who came with you until the middle, right? Surprisingly, it seems that even you are not united.”
“… I apologize.”
“Don’t just keep apologizing.”
Mahzan hesitated when I said it in a casual way.
“Even the elves in Tatarnia are like this. Plus, it’s true that it’s hard to figure out just how scattered our other people are all over the world.”
It’s a bit of a contextless introduction, but I didn’t bother to point it out.
I would have thought that something more desperate than me had to say, and I would have said it, but there was no need to cut off my pulse as I was choking on Kusari.
“I heard that there are many elves and their descendants who did not migrate east and remained in the western continent.”
“Yes. Not many, but there are.”
You weren’t from Tatarnia in the year Yerna, were you?
She’s a High Elf and Supreme hag born before the fall of Alfheim, but that doesn’t matter now, so pass.
An elf who was not from the East, but remained in the West after the fall of Alfheim.
And their descendants.
Elves seen in countries like Britannia were almost like that.
Their numbers are not large, and there are even fewer naturalized elves like Hotulusil.
Because of its rarity, Year Yerna, who had been researching my thesis, had even roasted and boiled an undergraduate of an elven tribe at Germania’s university.
Still, thanks to her telling me the news of her disappearance in Yerna, I was able to find the world’s bitch in her ghost town, so my fucking life is nothing new.
Mahjan said shyly.
“It’s been a thousand years since we moved to the east. The elders of the first generation have already passed away, and we who were born and raised in the wilderness… To be honest, I am more familiar with the wilderness than the forest.”
An elf who is more familiar with driftwood than plants.
It was a bit funny, but it was worth it.
Even on Earth alone, did not the generation and descendants who went through war have different perceptions even about the same past history?
It’s been a thousand years since Alfheim burned.
Even for elves who live a long time, 3 or 4 generations is the time to change. There must have been a generational conflict.
“Are you saying that there is a background to be bought by Byznia? At that point, there must be elves and half-elves born in the nomadic union or Baiznia, not in Tatarnia.”
“… Yes. Because not all elves could become one under Alfheim’s life.”
Mahjan bitterly affirmed.
As long as it is not an act of betrayal, it is not a sin to go on your own path.
Descendants of elves who came out of Tatarnia and became naturalized in other countries might define their identity as ‘nomadic Mongolians’ instead of ‘descendants of Alfheim’.
Just like the Koreans in my hometown.
Mahjan said, putting strength on his drooping shoulders.
“At this rate, it is certain that the Elves will only fall into disarray. That’s why we really need the by-product of the World Tree that Lord Nord got.”
“It must be a little too late to use it as a symbol of pride, right?”
“It will be enough. A new world tree will grow in Tatarnia.”
I was a bit surprised by that story.
‘You’re going to grow a new world tree?’
Why? No, how?
It sounded absurd, so my impression was naturally frowned upon.
“I don’t think the world tree I know is the kind of tree that makes the decision to plant it so lightly.”
“Yes. Of course, it is not a real world tree. We plan to build a tree in Tatarnia that absorbs the mana of the World Tree, which is said to have existed in Alfheim.”
A tree that absorbs the mana of the World Tree.
‘Is that the one I saw at the pyramid of Sehetefibra?’
The eyes of Tirshi, who were listening together, were also different. If it was that big tree, it was certainly majestic enough to be used as a symbol.
“Today’s fellow countrymen are lost and wandering, unable to unite. We believe it is because they do not have a hometown to support them.”
Mahzan said, looking at the elves who had become manure for the meadow like a person who chewed bitter herbs.
“So I’m trying to reproduce the symbol of Alfheim. Melting the mana contained in the by-product, grafting it onto a tree that will become a symbol, and making it able to withstand the mana of the real world tree.”
“Did you find the root of the most important real world tree?”
The world tree in this world is literally a tree that extends throughout the other world.
The world tree I saw in Niflheim should also exist in [Middle Branch], Can I find it? Of course I was concerned about that, but Mahjan was confident.
“There is nothing to find. Because our ancestors sought refuge in the place where the world tree was rooted in the first place. That is where Tatarnia is today.”
Oh, yes.
‘I can roughly understand the context.’
Tatarnia is trying to get a by-product of the World Tree – new shoots.
Vaiznia notices it and tries to take it away.
And someone with a completely different purpose, something wriggling in the middle.
I finished my rough reasoning, thinking of a bald self-destructing elf who grew worms in his body. Then he asked while knocking on the abacus.
“How did know?”
“Yes?”
“How did you know we were the ones with the by-products of the World Tree?”
Mahjan didn’t think long and answered right away.
“Before ancient times, the era when the gods ruled. Some of the elven priests were given the mission of managing the roots of the World Tree that grew on the [Middle branch].”
“Therefore?”
“The priest’s bloodline continues to this day. I am also a blood relative.”
When I heard that, I remembered the magic circle that surrounded the roots of the World Tree and the elves who managed it. It’s not a complete gag.
“So, did you find out where we are with the power of that blood relative?”
“That’s right. We can know the location of the World Tree by a sign.”
Mahjan looked briefly to the far east and said.
“And some time ago. We detected signs of a new world tree, different from those previously identified, in the direction of Western countries.”
“It is too weak to be a new root. So, it’s probably a by-product, and it seemed like it would be a perfect material for your goals, so I turned my head around. And found us What, are you talking about this?”
“Yes.”
It was a back-and-forth conversation. It didn’t seem like a phrase.
That’s why I smiled.
“Compared to the first time I was asked for an explanation, the answer is pretty quick. Just like an answer I thought of beforehand.”
“… Yes?”
“There’s something you deliberately didn’t say.”
Ting-! He took out a ring and flicked it with his finger.
Mahjan took it in bewilderment, but she was astonished when she found an unusual pattern engraved in it.
The ring was taken from the killers in Byznia.
There was no openly carried pattern, but since those bastards were civil servants, they probably needed at least an ID.
That’s why they engraved patterns on different items.
It was a fact that I found out while interrogating the soul during the first raid.
“If you look at it, you seem to know what it is.”
Mahzan blanched like her bald elf.
“It’s not enough to just know the location of the by-product. There must be some means to determine who has the by-product. Otherwise, there’s no way they could have pinpointed us on this wide continent and followed us to a field like this.”
This kid chewed a distance of hundreds to thousands of kilometers and identified our location?
If that’s possible, we should call it World Tree Raider, which is comparable to Dragon Ball Raider, but maybe it was real.
I was a body that had accumulated quite a bit of fantasy time to argue about the reality of the supernatural powers of fantasy in another world.
‘But didn’t the Byznia killers find us before they did?’
Those motherfuckers lingered in front of my house with the information they’d gleaned from torturing elven captives.
Even if I didn’t know that the by-product the elves were looking for was the leaves of the world tree, I was 100% sure that the person who had them was me.
Even before crossing the wilderness.
“You didn’t cross the wilderness in a fist-to-mouth fashion. It identified me from the beginning and came to me.”
He consciously gave out a cold voice. Even thinking about it, a voice so cold that I felt scared came out and hardened the atmosphere like a field of ice.
“Let’s stop talking nonsense and go with an open mind.”
I stroked the bracelet like I was tying my sleeve.
If the eyes were not decorations, he would have seen that this bracelet was a spear that slaughtered traitors of about the same level as his own.
Mahjan’s face turned blue.
“Just one more time, if you get caught, you’ll fall behind.”
If I get caught trying to do one more trick, I’m sure I’ll want to throw the byproducts of the World Tree and all those things to the Byznia bastards.
Why, isn’t the Buddhist scripture across the river an orientalism-culture of the Orient?
