Chapter 63
“The Great Forest looks like it was formed by a gathering of forests, but it is actually a part of the World Tree.”
“The entire Great Forest?”
“Yes.”
Entrance to the Great Forest.
I was moving alongside Pavan, listening to his story.
“The trees and grass of the Great Forest do not burn easily, nor are they easily cut. This is precisely because they are all part of the World Tree.”
“Fascinating. So it will continue to grow like this? Increasing its size?”
“Yes, because the Elves want their Territory to keep expanding.”
“Even if it encroaches on the domains of other races?”
“That is correct.”
I hadn’t really heard much information regarding the Elves' personalities.
But just looking at their desire to expand the Great Forest indefinitely, I could roughly guess.
“They really are knife-ears.”
I suppose you could call it the arrogance unique to long-lived races.
Their mindset of not caring as long as their own land expanded was truly ridiculous.
“Then the Verdantia Kingdom will also be in danger as time passes, since it will eventually be swallowed by the Great Forest.”
“Based on my predictions, it seems it will earnestly be swallowed in about 100 years.”
“100 years, huh.”
At least they’ll perish later than the Empire.
As I looked around while having those thoughts.
I got a strange feeling.
“This is the Entrance to the Great Forest, but I don’t feel any Human presence. It seems there are beasts, though.”
No matter how dangerous the Great Forest was, shouldn’t the entrance be fine? Or so I thought.
Even to a layman in herbs like me, precious-looking things immediately caught my eye.
It was hard to understand why there wasn’t a single Herbalist in a place like this.
“From what I’ve investigated, it seems they charge a fee.”
“They charge a fee?”
“Yes, they allow entry into the Great Forest only for a certain period, and anyone who intrudes outside of that period is killed on sight. It seems they have formed an agreement like this.”
“Can you even call that an agreement?”
“Since Elves are cowardly, they must have investigated the Troops more thoroughly than anyone else. It is presumed that the moment they calculated they could unconditionally defeat the Verdantia Kingdom, they started spitting out unreasonable demands.”
“Hah.”
So basically, just because they’re strong, they pick fights and act tyrannically toward a weak Human Kingdom.
But despite that, they have so much fear that if it seems like someone might kill them, they just run away.
“What a truly funny Race!”
Cowardly thugs and hooligans who know how to value their own lives are a reality.
I thought it was both realistic and truly ridiculous.
Swish, swish.
Even while we were talking, the surrounding scenery changed rapidly.
Even though we couldn’t move at high speeds like before, it was a speed that ordinary knights wouldn’t even dare to try to follow.
“It is expected to take at least three days.”
“Is it because of the Barrier?”
“Yes, the Elves have deep knowledge of Magic and spirits… Moreover, they show ridiculous talent in Nature Magic.”
However, at the mention that it would take at least three days even at this speed, I expressed my disappointment.
It meant wasting unnecessary time like this when every single day is urgent.
“Their tendency to just grab the World Tree and run away is really annoying.”
Suddenly, I was reminded of the treasure-holding goblins that appeared in games.
A Monster that giggles and runs away if you don’t catch it within the time limit.
Usually, they would have been considerate enough to make it easy for the user to catch.
The monsters here showed absolutely no sign of doing that.
“We don”t even know if they’ll give us the treasure or not, but they sure are good at running away.'
The World Tree.
Honestly, if I could have it, it was right to take it.
If I couldn’t have it, it crossed over to Maselin’s side.
“Then it”s right to burn it.'
I would have to at least destroy it.
The wealthier and more powerful the Maselin Kingdom became.
The probability of the Empire falling would naturally go up.
I didn’t clearly know what connection these two had.
But it was clear that the connection operated on such a principle.
While I was having this and that thoughts.
“Your Highness, the reason it takes three days is due to the subtle wavelengths created when breaking through the barriers.”
Pavan’s words continued.
“Subtle wavelengths?”
“Yes, we naturally won’t get caught when breaking through the barriers leading to the World Tree. However, when passing through a Barrier, a truly extremely minute wavelength spreads out.”
“One wavelength is fine, but if we break through the barriers in an instant, the wavelengths will grow larger and the Elves will become vigilant, is that it?”
“That is correct. So it takes a total of three days to proceed in three stages.”
With those words, Pavan stopped.
“Therefore, it is impossible to break through any further today. It seems best to rest here before moving on.”
“Alright, I will follow that opinion.”
The Great Forest was truly absurdly large and wide.
It didn’t feel like the Amazon Jungle, but rather looked like absurdly wide mountains and forests tightly clumped together.
A place where looking around revealed nothing but green, trees, and grass.
Pavan, perhaps familiar with this place, skillfully took off his armor and let out a long breath.
“Phew, if the performance of the potion I made was better, this wouldn’t have happened, I apologize.”
“There is no need to apologize.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
He’s tall.
Pavan’s first impression came to mind again just now.
A physique close to 3 meters.
And the clunky-looking armor that completely covered that physique.
To think he moved at a speed matching mine in that state.
Even when he set down his breastplate, the Ground caved in.
“Is it the ridiculous physical prowess unique to the Giant Race?”
Come to think of it, this was my first time seeing Pavan in a disarmed state.
“Is there a reason you usually wear Full Plate Armor like that?”
“It’s so I don’t forget.”
Swish.
Pavan said so and took off his helmet.
A pure white face was revealed, and pale mint-colored hair floated up for a moment before falling calmly downwards.
He made a bold and deep impression.
Pavan gave off the strong impression of a striking beauty with bold features.
“In here, various pieces of information are contained, starting with my name.”
He showed me the text written inside the helmet.
Pavan’s personal information was truly written there.
Starting with his name, his birthday, body measurements, and his tastes and hobbies.
It was safe to say that an entire profile was written inside the helmet.
“…Is it because you lost your memories?”
“That is correct. To be exact, I am continuously losing them.”
“Continuously losing them?”
“Giants… were originally a wise Race. I wish to tell you more than this, but I cannot remember anything else… and because of the covenant, I apologize.”
At Pavan’s words, I understood his situation to some extent.
“Is that why he said he forgot how to make the potion?”
I turned my gaze to look inside the breastplate.
There were also texts written there of incredibly diverse contents.
“If it is not something written on my armor like this, I forget it quickly. Even things that suddenly come to mind, I quickly forget them once I come to my senses.”
“Is it the Curse of Oblivion?”
“If it were a curse, I would have been able to resolve it exactly like Luminix, but it is different.”
Do the Executioners all have their own circumstances?
“But how on earth did the Great Prophet form a covenant with such people?”
I muttered that inwardly.
- It was the fastest just to burn the Great Forest
- The moment the World Tree took root in Maselin, the synergy was ridiculous
- To think that the possibility for all citizens to form a Spirit Contract would arise as soon as the World Tree was planted!
- Not everyone could become a Spirit Master, but the fact that it was possible at all was ridiculous
- Was that why? Was that why she didn’t take care of us?
- I want to ask Mirne again, why she didn’t accept the immigration of our imperial citizens
- I wanted to ask her if it wouldn’t have been fine before it became the Demon Realm
Suddenly, the Crown Prince’s Memory rose abruptly to the surface.
The contents revealed just how fraudulent the World Tree’s effects were.
Honestly, I had guessed to some extent, but after knowing it, I felt it was even more ridiculous.
“Anyway, did the Crown Prince continuously beg Mirne to at least save the imperial citizens?”
It was astonishing to think the Empire had to beg a mere Kingdom.
Because he knew the entire future, he mobilized every possible means to save even one more person.
“But Mirne didn”t listen.'
Just how many times did he try?
And at the same time, I wondered why the Crown Prince in this regression turn hadn’t made this kind of attempt even once.
“The Crown Prince in the story I knew should have also been able to regress, so why did he stay so lethargic?”
Was it some kind of coercive force created by the system attached to Mirne’s side?
Right when various questions were coming to mind.
“Is it tomorrow? The day those filthy humans said they’d come take some herbs?”
“Right, it’s tomorrow.”
“What does it matter if they don’t have some herbs? They live short lives anyway. Can’t they just endure the pain or die?”
“I agree with you, but we still made an agreement, so it can’t be helped.”
“Tch.”
The voices of Elves could be heard from nearby.
“…!”
Pavan hurriedly put on his armor.
I also placed my hand on the hilt of my sword and slowly turned my body toward the direction of the sound.
There were a total of two Elves.
The two, who appeared to be a man and a woman, revealed themselves exactly where we were.
“Anyway, did you hear? About the World Tree.”
“Ah, the thing Eiloren is struggling to make a sapling out of?”
“Yeah, did she say she’d give it to a Human after talking to them? Anyway, I think it was something like that.”
“What? Hey, no way, no matter how much of an eccentric Eiloren is, she’s not at that level. She’s still a High Elf, the epitome of Heterogeneous Race Hatred!”
“Right?”
They couldn’t see us even though we were right in front of them.
This was a part that showed just how ridiculous an effect Pavan’s potion was producing.
“But a sapling?”
Are they trying to separate a World Tree Sapling and give it to Maselin?
“It seems they haven”t even properly met Mirne yet… but they already have such a favorable impression of her?'
This might be too much of a wild guess, so I’ll pass on it.
As soon as I heard the word sapling, I revised my goal.
'I’ll take the World Tree, and I’ll take the sapling too.'
Because I had to eliminate all elements that could cause variables when they crossed over to Maselin’s side.
And right then, I thought about taking both.
[ Villainess remains in place ]
“…?”
The Villainess Ring displayed an unexpected message.
“What does”remains in place' mean?'
That question only lasted a moment.
“Rather than going to the entrance like this, I think I should just go touch the World Tree once. We’ll get dirty if we mix words with humans… Shouldn’t we undergo Purification beforehand?”
The female Elf spat out those words.
“Hmm, now that I hear it, you’re not wrong.”
The male Elf agreed with those words and turned his back.
It seemed they were planning to head straight to the World Tree.
“Can we take them hostage? How about it?”
I asked Pavan whether we should secretly follow these Elves or catch them.
Since he said they were a cowardly Race, I thought they might abandon their comrade and flee if push came to shove.
However,
Thud!
“If either of you moves, I will kill you.”
“…”
Before my thoughts could even fully connect, Pavan already had his sword pointed at the necks of the two Elves.
“Your Highness, I have found a shortcut.”
As soon as I heard those words, I realized.
No matter how cowardly these guys were, they cared terribly for their own kin.
If so.
“Well done. Since we have two items for negotiation, we’ll be able to see the World Tree right away.”
Now, all that was left was a friendly conversation.