Great Harmony (5)

Right now, the Order’s internal affairs are more important than anything else. And while it’s true that they’re falling behind in those internal affairs, they’re in a state where they can’t accept help from outside.

What good would it do to accept black money from suspicious external forces of unknown identity? It would only give justification to their enemies.

This was Lebevre’s logic. No force could escape this logic. Whether it was the royal family of a kingdom, the head of a merchant group, or adventurers from a large guild, they were all entangled in the interests and affairs of this world.

“Where on earth could there be someone free from such constraints!”

Lebevre shouted, almost as if denying reality. No matter how he thought about it, there was no answer. Accepting help from anyone seemed like a self-defeating move that would only give justification to the opposition.

However, he himself knew. That what he was doing now was nothing more than a desperate struggle.

That’s how unrealistic and mysterious the events unfolding before his eyes were.

“Me.”

The girl grinned and pointed to herself. Hearing those words, Lebevre felt as if his breath had stopped for a moment.

“Others absolutely don’t know about me. All I want to do is ensure that this world doesn’t perish again like it did back then.”

“Is that really possible? Unless you… what… unless you just dropped out of thin air, how could that be?”

“It’s similar to dropping out of thin air.”

He unknowingly came close to Isilia’s true identity. Since she was planning to reveal her identity as needed anyway, she casually told him about her real identity.

“I don’t want the events from 10,000 years ago to repeat.”

The High Elf, the origin of elves that had existed since the mythical era. Revealing this was actually a risk for Isilia too, but now was the time for such a bold choice.

Lebevre, greatly shocked with widened eyes, swallowed dryly.

Like the elves, he could have doubted at first, but he didn’t. It was a kind of intuition. The bizarre experience he had just moments ago also greatly influenced that intuition.

“I’ll ask just one thing. If you can answer this, you must surely be a being who lived in that era.”

Lebevre, whose heart had already begun to waver, struggled to open his mouth towards Isilia. If it was true, she was indeed a person from 10,000 years ago. It meant she was someone who could talk about the Order’s myths that were said to have started from the mythical era.

His voice unnecessarily changed to be extremely reverent. After all, this was related to the holiness of the Order.

‘What on earth is he going to ask… I don’t know everything either.’

Despite trying to manage her expression, Isilia felt unnecessarily tense. Lebevre was a key executive of the Order, and the Order of Light was a large and historic order tracing its history back to the mythical era.

The light they worshipped was a transcendent light that drove away even the darkness of night and underground.

No matter how advanced mado-civilization became, the expensive luminous stones and light-emitting spells couldn’t quite recreate the glory of that era, so for the people of the Order, the light in the myths was literally a miracle bestowed by God.

“No, wait a minute.”

Isilia’s eyebrows twitched as she listened to the explanation with tension. The more she heard the explanation, the more she felt a sense of déjà vu. Because the god they worshipped, which Lebevre was explaining in detail, was somehow very familiar to her.

“Are you talking about electric lights?”

“Don’t speak the name of that being so casually! Even if it might be perceived differently by you… to us, it’s a revered being.”

As she muttered in disbelief, the startled Lebevre waved his staff. Meanwhile, Isilia, whose guess turned out to be true, completely lost her focus, her eyes losing their concentration.

“According to the Order’s traditions passed down from ancient times, it’s confirmed that there was a powerful angel who followed that being from the beginning.”

Regardless of her reaction, Lebevre used top-secret information recently revealed through ancient documents to test Isilia.

“It is said that this angel, with immense power, helped that being spread the miraculous light widely across the world. However, it was said that this angel had a dark side that could instantly destroy vast areas of land when angered. Do you know the name of this being, one of the angels serving that being, who comes with lightning from the sky?”

“Nuclear power.”

“If it’s a lie… huh?”

The answer came out so easily. The surprised Lebevre was at a loss for words.

‘I’ve gotten used to this now.’

On the other hand, Isilia let out a hollow laugh. She had already experienced several times how 10,000 years could twist things, and to what extent.

It would probably be forever impossible to properly guess exactly where and how things got tangled and twisted, but Isilia had now gained the ability to think from the perspective of people living in the current era.

“It seems I know what you call the angels helping your god… there’s wind power, hydropower, solar power, and various others. Well, should I say more?”

As it was purely an amusing situation, Isilia raised the corners of her mouth.

While most of those present couldn’t understand, Lebevre faltered, his mouth twitching.

‘How on earth did the power of holy force come about? Did it really just become real at some point because people started believing in it?’

What Isilia was really curious about was just one thing.

It’s common for stories from the past to be gradually modified and distorted as they’re passed down, but the fact that these stories gained a special quality called holy force, comparable to mana, was a separate issue.

However, seriously investigating the connection was impossible even for her, a being who had traveled through time.

* * *

“This can’t be. Are you really an elf who lived through that era…”

“Save your surprise for later. Let’s look at the present and future rather than the past. My offer is still valid.”

Snorting at the sight of Lebevre slumping down, I showed him the promissory notes I pulled out from my chest.

Seeing the actual items before his eyes, his eyes widened even more. Surely, with this money, he could gain the upper hand in the power struggle.

“I can withdraw money from the merchant groups and hand it over as soon as tomorrow. If I’m involved in the middle, the source will never be traced. Even if they do trace it, I’ll step in personally.”

Confident in passing any inspection with the help of spirits, I was willing to become a courier myself.

How could he not waver when I’m saying this much? Lebevre had already completely come over to our side.

“What’s the reason for reaching out to the Order to this extent?”

“As you probably know, we need to find a way to counter the erosion that’s been increasing on the continent recently. It seems that the World Tree, which the elves revered as a sacred tree in ancient times, could be the solution, but it looks like we’ll need holy water to revive it.”

I frankly stated the purpose, as there was no need to hide it. I could see his eyes trembling in succession at the words erosion, World Tree, and holy water.

“If that’s true, it’s certainly worth using the holy relic. Come to think of it, the World Tree of the elves might not be the only solution to resolve the erosion.”

“What do you mean by that?”

I tilted my head. Lebevre, changing his voice seriously, glanced around even though he knew no one was there.

“Recently, the Hero’s Star has appeared. It’s top secret, but I can tell you.”

But the words he whispered in my ear were certainly worth it. My eyes widened at the word ‘hero’.

What is a hero? This was one of the pieces of knowledge I already knew from hearing about it. Personally, I thought they were probably descendants of climbers born with special powers in ancient times.

Perhaps the climber who became the origin was a high-level climber incomparable to someone like me who couldn’t even start.

I remember a person of American nationality, whose name I’m not sure if it was Brown or Brian, one of the characteristics of the so-called Star Knight was that he could transcend momentarily with the power of a special star floating in the sky.

The descriptions of these heroes appearing in history overlapped so much with the descriptions of that climber.

“That’s quite an interesting story, isn’t it?”

Whether they inherited only the good points of their ancestors, or how widely his descendants might have spread, the hero is when that power sporadically emerges like atavism in his descendants.

Rather, as if getting stronger with each generation, all the heroes in history were monsters who left their names in bold.

“We also know about heroes. Do you know anything more about heroes?”

“Should I say I know? I’m not unaware.”

I smirked at Arisa’s words. Come to think of it, isn’t the power they call the hero’s power also a legacy of the past, connected by the power of the stars in that universe that hasn’t changed for the past 10,000 years?

“Heroes can stop the erosion.”

I said with certainty, my eyes sparkling.