Chapter 62
Arveda’s daily routine was incredibly simple.
When she woke up, she would heartily eat the meal prepared by the servants.
“Mmm! Truly excellent today as well. It tastes amazing! The seasoning on the meat is especially superb!”
“Thank you.”
“Please continue to make it like this from now on!”
“…Then should I continue to match it perfectly with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s diet?”
“Shh! Shh! Quiet! This is top secret; you must never let this information leak anywhere.”
“…!!! I will keep that in mind, absolutely!”
After sending unsparing praise to the Chef.
She would lie in bed for a moment and take a nap while digesting.
Upon waking up, she would stretch her arms straight up.
After that, she would take a shower and finish grooming herself neatly.
“Your Highneeeess.”
Stomp stomp, she would enter the Imperial Palace and look for Bellon.
Bellon was nowhere to be seen during this process.
“He must be busy.”
Rather than rummaging through the Imperial Palace, she would head straight to Bellon’s Private Quarters.
Roll roll.
She would take out the doll she had prepared in advance and throw it onto the bed.
And dive right on top of it, occupying Bellon’s bed.
She had a lonely life as an Executioner.
The catalyst that ended that life was her walk with Bellon.
Arveda felt a special affection for Bellon.
“Oops.”
After rolling around in bed like that for about ten minutes.
Arveda belatedly realized that Bellon was currently not in the Empire.
Normally, she would have noticed something like this right away.
Perhaps because she had slept so soundly, she only remembered this important fact too late.
“Uwaaah! I wanted to go too.”
Swish swish swish.
Kicking her feet into the empty air, Arveda voiced her disappointment.
She had wanted to go together.
'What’s the problem with being strong? Being strong is good! I could protect Your Highness too!'
Arveda’s Spirit had been completely crushed by the Tin Can’s rejection, which said she couldn’t go because she was too strong.
“But then again, Your Highness isn’t exactly… the kind of person who needs someone to protect him.”
Bellon was strong.
He was so absurdly strong that, honestly, he was even quite terrifying at first.
She had never seen anyone that strong before.
“No, a person? He can”t be put in the category of a person. He’s just… just purely the Strongest on the Continent, isn’t he.'
When the covenant was fulfilled and the Dragon Family came to visit,
Arveda could feel just how nervous the dragons were.
The pressure was immense that a single slip of the tongue could cause the entire dragon Race to disappear.
Barely overcoming that pressure, the dragons carried on their conversation with Bellon.
“Of course, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself didn”t care about such things at all.'
It was always the weak who had to walk on eggshells around the strong.
The dragons probably couldn’t let go of their tension even on their way back.
Actually, that was why she understood the decision made by Pavan, Tin Can, this time.
“Even if the Tin Can mobilizes every trick in the book, it’s hard to completely hide Your Highness’s power, huh.”
The only ones going to the forest where the elf resided were the Crown Prince and he.
The reason was that the Crown Prince’s power was too immense.
The moment more personnel were added, they were bound to be discovered.
Furthermore, the Imperial Military Power had absolutely no talent when it came to hiding their strength.
Even knowing that being excluded from this World Tree Relocation Operation couldn’t be helped.
The sadness of not being able to go together didn’t easily fade.
“Still, I gave them an energetic send-off last night!”
Please let nothing bad happen.
Muttering that briefly, Arveda sprang up from the bed.
She had done all the most important things before starting her day.
“Teo!”
“Yep!”
“Let’s go! To beat up the Black Mages! And to help out with various tasks!”
“I’m ready! Let’s go right away!”
Now it was time to get to work in earnest.
+++++
The Western Continent was where we arrived disguised through Magic, Mystic Power, and the Giant’s wisdom.
In the Western Continent, kingdoms large and small were packed closely together.
The place Pavan and I arrived at was the Verdantia Kingdom, the Kingdom closest to the Western Great Forest.
And we arrived here.
“From now on, we must move while blending in with others as much as possible.”
“You mean we shouldn’t use our power?”
“Yes, moving at high speeds is no longer possible.”
“Is that so?”
Pavan said that the speed at which we broke through in just one day from The Center of the Continent to the Western Region must now be forbidden.
“elves are extremely sensitive. Especially if there is even the slightest feeling of a threat to their lives, they will absolutely never show themselves.”
“Even in our current state of hiding our power? When we merely moved quickly?”
“Because they think we could kill them with that speed. Generally… elves operate on the premise that the other party might kill them.”
“But couldn’t we do that once we get near the Great Forest? What’s the point of controlling our speed now?”
I threw various questions at his words.
“elves are specialized in detecting anomalies. These are signs that are different from usual… Meaning, if something that doesn’t normally happen suddenly occurs within their Detection Range, they become extremely vigilant.”
“And is speed included among those elements they are vigilant about? Wait… we haven’t even gotten near the Great Forest yet, and we’re just at the entrance of the Kingdom. Are you saying the elves' Detection Range reaches all the way here?”
“That is correct. Those among them with extremely sharp senses stand guard twenty-four hours a day, detecting any Anomalous Sign.”
“Hah.”
So they’re massive safety freaks, is that it?
I nodded at Pavan’s words.
“Do they know here that the elves are watching the entire Kingdom like this?”
“They know, but what can they do about it? Fundamentally, elves possess superior martial prowess.”
“So they’re just like, 'We’re strong, so we’ll keep watching you,' and staying in that state, taking it for granted?”
“Yes, to speak on behalf of the elves' position… it’s a feeling of, “We might end up dying, so what”s the problem with watching the Kingdom a bit?'”
To summarize Pavan’s words easily.
'They’re closer to knife-eared jerks than elves.'
It meant that since elves had nasty personalities and were even sensitive on top of that, we had to approach them really carefully.
So at first, I wondered, should we just charge straight into the Great Forest, secure the World Tree first, and then talk?
“If something happens, they immediately flee to a completely random location with only their Elite Members and the World Tree, right?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
I gave up on that idea after hearing Pavan’s advice before even trying it.
Was fleeing to a completely random location an option in the current situation? It was obvious where they would end up.
“The moment the World Tree appears in the Maselin Kingdom, there”s a high probability it will never be uprooted from there.'
Since I couldn’t do something that would only benefit Mirne,
Seeing the World Tree first was the top priority.
“You’re saying they’re still watching us even in our current state.”
“That is correct. From the moment we entered the Kingdom, the elves have continued to monitor us as strangers.”
“But even so, we can’t just kill time here to avoid suspicion.”
Relocating the World Tree to prevent the Empire from turning into a Demon Realm was indeed a very important task.
But that didn’t mean we could just keep wasting time in someone else’s Kingdom on it.
It was fine for now since Mirne was distracted by the Confession Attacks from various kingdoms.
But since it was obvious that this situation would be 100% resolved no matter what, we couldn’t be considered to have time to spare.
Of course, Pavan knew this well too.
“Actually, this is why only Your Highness and I came here. From now on, we plan to slip out of the elves' sight and begin our Infiltration into the Great Forest.”
He didn’t bother beating around the bush and got straight to the point.
Slide.
Pavan opened a hatch on the armor near his chest.
Swoosh.
He thrust his hand in there and pulled out two potions.
“What’s this?”
“It is a potion to deceive the extremely sensitive senses of the elves. The moment it is sprinkled on our heads, we will escape the elves' sight, and at the same time, an Illusion modeled after us will appear to deceive the elves.”
“How convenient.”
“I squeezed my memories as much as possible to make the most concentrated one. Actually, I wanted to make several, but after making two… I forgot.”
“…”
Pavan spoke like that as he sprinkled the potion on my head and his own.
Feeling the sensation of the potion wetting my hair, I stared at Pavan for a moment.
“Was Pavan”s Covenant about recovering his memories?'
Why did the Giant lose his memories?
And what on earth was the method to recover those memories?
“Seeing how he remembers that elves live inside the Great Forest, maybe the Giant is somehow connected to the World Tree?”
Perhaps in the Great Forest this time, we might be able to fulfill Pavan’s Covenant.
With such expectations, Pavan gestured that the potion’s effects were working properly.
Step by step.
We headed straight toward the Great Forest at a somewhat fast pace, though not as fast as before.
“Although we are deceiving their senses, this seems to be the maximum speed.”
“That’s a shame.”
“If we go too fast, the potion’s efficacy drops… I apologize for the many restrictions.”
“It’s fine, this much is enough.”
Now then, shall we go take a look at the World Tree?
++++++
elves must protect the World Tree.
There was definitely a reason, but they had forgotten it.
Perhaps the reason was no longer important.
“Just considering the World Tree’s Efficacy… I can only think that we absolutely must protect it.”
The elf, Eiloren, pushed up his glasses and stared at the World Tree.
It was a massive tree.
Soaring endlessly into the sky, its size was such that a single shadow from it could cover a small Kingdom.
But at the same time, paradoxically, it was also a tree that ordinary people could not see.
Humans probably wouldn’t know just how incredible this World Tree was.
Eiloren muttered so as he placed his hand on a World Tree Root protruding from the Ground.
“That the entire Great Forest can be considered the World Tree… an Inferior Race could never know.”
The Great Forest, said to be formed by trees gathering to make a forest, and by those forests gathering together.
In truth, its real identity was an environment artificially created by the World Tree.
Something that could change at any time depending on the World Tree’s condition - that was the true identity of the Great Forest.
“But I am also curious, to hear that those inferior races have lately been fighting fiercely among themselves.”
Eiloren was currently brimming with curiosity about the Kingdom that had been fighting fiercely lately, Maselin.
And even about the Princess who could be called the justification for the war.
“…Mirne, was it.”
Eiloren spoke the Princess’s name with a deep smile.
“We must take care of this before meeting Mirne.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
He was completely unaware that a Giant and a Crown Prince were slowly approaching the World Tree.