Chapter 13
BountifulHarvest… In other words, the elf queen Silvaria led us to the reception room with Narsil.
It feels a little strange having the queen herself show us around the castle.
Creeeak—
“This way.”
The reception room we arrived at wasn’t the majestic place I’d imagined. It was neater and more modest than I’d expected.
They’d made the outside of the castle so magnificent, though.
It was quite striking how the interior was furnished with tasteful, elegant decorations instead of objects meant to symbolize authority.
“We followed the teachings of our predecessors. Grand, but not extravagant.”
Perhaps she’d read my thoughts. Silvaria gestured toward our seats as she spoke.
…This really was completely different from the elves I knew.
They’d been the sort to indulge in pointless luxury just to put themselves above others.
“Thank you for inviting us.”
I placed one hand over my chest and bowed my head slightly as I replied.
Ha-eun’s eyes widened as she watched me.
What… did she think I had no manners at all?
I may look like this, but I’m a Gold Dragon.
As a renowned dragon, I’d attended my share of formal gatherings.
If someone showed me courtesy, of course I’d return it.
Of course, even while doing so, dragons don’t casually look up at anyone.
This greeting meant, ‘You and I are equals—or I’m your superior—but I’ll still show you courtesy.’
As if she understood what I meant, Silvaria smiled and said,
“Please, have a seat. I imagine we have a lot to discuss.”
Then she glanced briefly at Narsil and continued.
“I heard there was an unfortunate incident on your way here. I apologize on behalf of the elves.”
“Oh, I was wondering about that, actually. Between that painting hanging outside and everything, you don’t seem to have a very good impression of dragons.”
A brief moment of silence.
She must have spent that instant wondering how to explain it.
After all, it was bound to be a sensitive subject with one of the people involved sitting right in front of her.
“In the past, there was an incident in which our mother, the World Tree, was completely burned down.”
Oh, they call the World Tree their mother here, too?
So it’s the same with every group of elves.
“The one who committed that atrocity was a dragon.”
“So that was the dragon in the painting earlier?”
A red dragon.
Red Dragons were generally associated with fire and wrath.
Just as I, a Gold Dragon, represented gold and greed.
And if it was powerful enough to burn down the World Tree, it must have been far stronger than Terra, at the very least.
What had they done to anger a dragon like that?
“I’m not trying to criticize you. I’m just curious. Could you tell me what happened?”
“It was more than ten thousand years ago… The records were lost in various incidents, so we don’t know the exact reason.”
She held out a book that had been prepared beside her.
“According to legend, that dragon didn’t merely burn our mother. It tried to burn her down, roots and all.”
Burn her down, roots and all…?
If I imagined going to war with the elves in earnest…
I didn’t think I’d go so far as to destroy the World Tree’s roots.
It would be difficult to destroy roots that reached all over the world, and of course, the elves would put up fierce resistance.
Wouldn’t just burning the upper part, without all that hassle, have left the elves unable to recover for centuries?
…Or was there some other reason it had to destroy the roots, too?
“But if that’s the case, why invite me here? I’m a dragon, too. The others here surely won’t think well of me.”
I asked sincerely.
If they’d gone through such a terrible ordeal that they nearly lost the World Tree, it must have left a tremendous trauma.
I’d expected her to say that she was less wary of me because she was an elf who even watched my stream.
But that would only apply to one elf, Silvaria.
“There are several reasons. First, we can’t remain prisoners of the past. We’ve shunned dragons for a long time, but… things are different now.”
She went on to explain each reason in turn.
First, she pointed out that this was an entirely different world, and that the nonhuman races needed to improve their relations with one another.
Since humans ruled Earth, it seemed we had to band together if we wanted our voices to be heard.
That wasn’t something I was particularly interested in.
“And… I decided that we need your help.”
There it is. That’s the main point.
“Our mother, the World Tree, continues to lose her strength and wither away.”
She looked at the World Tree’s Leaf hanging around my neck, her voice growing more forceful.
“The moment you held that leaf, our mother whispered that you could help us.”
“Really?”
“So…”
“I don’t mind helping, but there’s one thing that concerns me.”
I spoke as I tapped the horns growing from my head.
“I’ll say it again: I’m a dragon. And I’m a dragon who embodies greed.”
Silvaria gave a slight nod.
As if she wasn’t going to deny it.
“How do you know I won’t suddenly give in to greed and tear the World Tree apart? Or burn it down like the dragon you just mentioned?”
There was no hostility in my words.
My tone was the same as always.
I was simply curious.
I was aware of my instincts and how dangerous I could be, after all.
That was all the more reason I wanted to ask.
How could she trust me?
“Did you invite me here just because the World Tree told you to, without giving it any thought or weighing the consequences?”
Of course, whether it had been the World Tree’s idea
or Silvaria’s decision
didn’t really matter.
I was going to get a treasure here and leave, either way.
But I had a feeling her answer would determine how much I enjoyed the process.
“…Narsil. Would you mind covering your ears for a moment?”
“I cannot do that, Your Majesty. How could the commander of the knights—”
“It’s all right. There’s something I’d like to discuss privately with these guests.”
When Silvaria gave a resolute look, Narsil nodded as if there was no choice.
Then Silvaria snapped her fingers, and a soundproofing spell took effect.
“Would it be all right if I called you Goldie…?”
“Whatever you’re comfortable with. BountifulHarvest?”
“Hehe… You asked why I invited you here, didn’t you?”
Her tone grew much more casual. She fiddled with her Hunter Watch and brought up a small screen.
A clip of me raking in donations from my viewers.
A clip of me getting the Forest Jewel Fragment and staring at it in awe.
A clip of me getting flustered when I saw Terra in her polymorphed form, and so on.
“At first, I was just curious… but after watching you all this time, I’ve come to feel that you’re clearly different from the dragons in our books.”
“How are they different?”
“Your emotions. I’ll be honest. I thought dragons were beasts without feelings.”
At that, Terra’s expression twisted into a scowl.
Of course, it wasn’t particularly intimidating.
“Hehe… Doesn’t that make us even?”
“…Even?”
“You called us ‘pointy-ears’ on your stream, didn’t you?”
“Ah… haha… Well…”
She’d suddenly hit me right where it hurt.
What kind of word choice was that for a queen?
…Or was this her real personality?
“I don’t want to think of you as something to fear or hate. I sometimes wonder if your feelings might be just like ours.”
After saying that, she paused to catch her breath.
Then she gave a small laugh and continued.
“But I suppose I still need to learn more, don’t I? To make sure my judgment isn’t wrong.”
Well.
That was a little embarrassing to hear.
Still, it didn’t make me feel bad.
Whenever people saw me, they either reacted with fascination or fear.
It was almost always one or the other.
Someone who saw me as a person, as an equal, rather than a beast.
Was Ha-eun the first person since then?
“So when I first heard about you from our mother, I was secretly excited. I wanted to meet you in person.”
“Pfft… All right. I like that answer.”
Smiling, I reached out my hand.
“Then let’s hear what this favor of yours is.”
I thought the elves on Earth
might actually be all right, after all.
***
After hearing her out, the situation was roughly as follows.
The World Tree was withering, and the cause seemed to be the strange Gates appearing nearby.
But they were too dangerous for the elves to clear on their own, so they wanted to ask me for help.
In other words, they wanted me to explore a strange kind of Gate.
And as payment…
“I thought about it quite a bit, but you already have one of our mother’s leaves, don’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“I figured another branch wouldn’t be much help to you, so I prepared something else.”
At that, Narsil held a thick capsule out toward us.
Narsil slowly opened it, revealing a fragment of something kept inside.
“During the dragon invasion, a piece of its claw was severed in battle. We’ve kept it all this time. Would this interest you?”
“Oh… May I take a look?”
When Narsil handed me the capsule, I could sense a mysterious energy swirling within it.
Even after ten thousand years, I could feel its burning mana and rage.
It was a thrilling sensation unlike anything I’d ever felt from a monster on Earth.
And if I handled this right… I might be able to absorb the power that remained in it.
Grin—
I’d thought that since they were offering me a treasure, they’d give me another piece of the World Tree.
I never imagined they’d have something like this.
“All right. I’ll take this.”
Should I call it an Ancient Red Dragon’s Claw…?
Its value and rarity certainly made it a treasure.
If I refined it further, I could turn it into something even more magnificent.
If I could restore its former luster, it’d be quite a sight.
And it’d be easier to extract its power, too.
“So, all I have to do is clear the Gates nearby?”
“That’s right. But the sun has already set, so please take it easy tonight. We’ll also assign someone to accompany you to the Gates.”
“Huh? Someone? I don’t really need anyone.”
Ha-eun and Terra would be more than enough.
What else would I need?
“Please think of them as an inspector from the elves.”
“An inspector?”
“They’re on their way here now, so you can meet them. We’ll prepare a banquet for you. Narsil?”
“Yes. I’ll escort them.”
Oh… a banquet?
Ahem… It’d be rude to turn them down after they’d gone to the trouble of preparing it.
The proper thing to do was eat as much as possible and enjoy it.
“Oh, and there’s one thing you should be aware of. The person you’ll meet is a little awkward with emotions.”
Awkward with emotions?
When I tilted my head at that, Silvaria smiled gently and rose from her seat first.
***
Following Narsil’s directions, we arrived in a room with a long dining table, where the neatly arranged tableware caught my eye.
As the elves soon brought out wine as well, I sat down and said,
“It’s been a while since I’ve had a drink. I’ll have red wine.”
“Certainly.”
“Uwaaah…”
Meanwhile, Ha-eun seemed so awkward that she couldn’t sit still.
“I-It’s just… I don’t really drink…”
“Oh.”
Well, that made sense.
I’d almost said she looked like she couldn’t hold her liquor, but I managed to swallow the words just in time.
“Just sit wherever you like. You don’t have to drink.”
“Okay…”
“Goldie? Why aren’t you giving me a glass, too?”
“You can have juice. What’s a kid doing drinking alcohol?”
“I’m not a child, though…”
Only children said things like that.
The waiters had picked up on it, too, and brought her orange juice in a cup instead of a wineglass.
More importantly, it looked like the food was about to arrive.
“We’ll serve the appetizers first.”
The first dish they brought out was a bite-sized appetizer made with mushrooms.
But they were only giving me this much?
This wouldn’t even make a mouthful…
As I carefully sampled it, surprised by how refined it looked,
Ha-eun watched me and spoke quietly.
“Unnie… This is bringing back bad memories.”
“Hm?”
“Th-The elves I mentioned earlier, the ones who like mushrooms. It’s… worse than I expected.”
I was just about to ask what she meant when
the waiter came over with a plate.
But…
“The soup is here.”
Mushroom soup?
They served us mushrooms as an appetizer, and now the soup was mushrooms, too…?
When I looked at Ha-eun, she looked back at me and nodded.
…Don’t tell me every dish is going to be made with mushrooms.
I was just reaching for my spoon, thinking that, when—
Clunk—
“Sir Beren, the Sword of the Elves, will now take his seat.”
“Beren…?”
Narsil, who’d been standing behind Silvaria, turned around and stood at attention.
Then the elves swung open the enormous doors.
“….”
A middle-aged male elf walked through them.
He had two long swords at his waist.
But… this was the first time I’d ever seen a male elf.
What was he, a mutant?
“….”
The elf briefly met my gaze, twitched his brow, then went and took his seat.
Then he raised his palm to refuse the elf bringing him food.
He simply accepted a glass of wine and slowly sipped it, savoring the taste.
“Woooow…”
Ha-eun’s eyes sparkled as she watched him.
She looked like a girl seeing a celebrity in person for the first time.
“Ha-eun, is that kind of guy your type?”
I asked quietly, and she practically shouted in response.
“W-What are you talking about?! You don’t know who he is?! And he’s not my type!…”
Wow, that was quite a reaction.
“Who is he? Is this one of those times when I’m supposed to know?”
“He’s Sir Beren, the S-rank Hunter!”
An S-rank Hunter?
Hmm…
Oh, right. I remember now.
“That’s the guy they call the Elven Sword Saint, right?”
“That’s right!…”
Well… when I heard ‘Sword Saint,’ I’d imagined someone a little more refined.
Instead, he looked like a middle-aged man who didn’t take the best care of himself.
I was a little disappointed…
“…Are you the dragon the queen’s been going on about?”
“Hm?”
He suddenly downed the wine in his glass as he spoke.
Then his lifeless eyes immediately turned toward me.
“…Let’s spar.”
“…”
“I want to see for myself whether what the queen said is true.”
All of a sudden?
Was this what she meant by him being awkward with emotions…?
Hmm… To be honest, the request was so sudden that I’d normally have turned him down, but…
“Sure.”
This looked like it might be fun.
You don’t often get the chance to spar with a Sword Saint.
And more importantly, the money—no, the viewers—would love it, right?
Ah, there’s our queen, BountifulHarvest. Her eyes are already sparkling.