Ch.187Chapter 187 – Waiting for the Full Moon (4)

A moment later, the marketplace floor was decorated with what looked like corpses.

“Hey, get up! You were talking about inferior races, but it’s already over?”

Beatrice was taunting an elf whose whites of the eyes were showing as she lifted him up.

“Judging by the lack of response, I think he’s already a corpse.”

“The necromancers would love this.”

Beatrice said as she casually put down the corpse she was holding.

Soon, cheers erupted from the previously quiet surroundings.

“It feels so good to see those damn bastards get beaten up!”

“They get destroyed by unarmed people even when holding weapons? And they cause trouble with such skills?”

“With that level of ability, no wonder they weren’t selected as knights or rangers, those damned young masters and misses!”

“Hey, silver-haired miss, if you’re with those people, there’s an arena here… You’re not interested? But surely a big star like you would…”

Turning toward the last voice, I saw Eve firmly rejecting someone’s business proposal.

Then Eve, Sera, and Chris approached us.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Do I look like I would be?”

“No.”

Eve said with a smile.

“But why did these people pick a fight in the first place?”

“They demanded we hand over our lunch.”

At my answer, Sera looked at us incredulously, then stared at the red-haired elf sprawled on the ground.

I spoke to Sera.

“Pathetic, isn’t it?”

“Truly pathetic.”

It’s hard to believe all this happened because someone wanted to steal a single lunch.

“I wonder if they were really that hungry…”

“Chris, don’t actually think they’re beggars just because we’re using that expression.”

“Everyone!! What’s happening here?!”

While Sera was correcting Chris, who seemed to be making a strange misunderstanding, a voice called out from a distance.

I turned to see Pine falling from the sky.

-Screech!!

“So she came riding a griffon.”

I had wondered why she was falling from the sky.

Pine took out a rope from her chest, tied it to the griffon’s leg to slow her descent, and landed right on the red-haired elf’s back.

“Ugh!”

“Oh, excuse me.”

There wasn’t a hint of apology in her tone.

For a moment, I thought I saw a shadow cross Pine’s face.

“I was flying from far away and only saw the fighting. What exactly happened here?”

“Well…”

Just as I was about to explain what had happened, the red-haired elf who had been stepped on by Pine raised his head and shouted.

“Pine, who are you talking to?! Arrest these inferior races immediately!”

“Hmm, you’ve gotten involved with troublesome ones, haven’t you?”

“You know them?”

“Sadly, yes.”

Pine said with a smile.

“Are you ignoring my voice right now?! Is the Blue Pine clan going to ignore their assaulted kin and side with outsiders?!”

“As I explained before, they’re isolationists. This trash… is quite infamous around here. For being noisy.”

She tried to gloss over calling him trash but ended up saying it anyway, suggesting he must be quite the piece of work.

“You really have it tough.”

“You have no idea. We’re all on edge because tonight is already a dangerous situation, and here they are causing a disturbance.”

“Piiiine!! Can you not hear our voices?!”

At those words, Pine gently stroked her ear and said:

“Hmm, did a bug fly into my ear? It’s so noisy…”

“Sorry to ask this, but do bugs actually get into your ears?”

“It happens occasionally, but we elves have an ancestral secret technique for that.”

As Pine said this, her long ears began to flutter like wings.

It seems like a waste if those fluttering ears are just for shooing away bugs.

“Pine!! What are you doing instead of arresting those inferior beings right now?!”

“Sigh, next time I recommend focusing on hitting their mouths.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“How dare you treat the Red Oleander clan this way!”

The elf was still barking orders from the ground, unable to get up due to his injuries.

“But will this be a problem?”

“You all are under that person’s protection, so you’re exceptions from the start… but these guys are going to be let off with a warning anyway, which is honestly annoying…”

It seems we won’t have any problems due to our backing.

Looking at Pine, who seemed thoroughly annoyed, I asked:

“Why are they getting off with just a warning?”

“By your standards, this gar… bage would be considered nobility, at least.”

She tried to gloss over it again but just said it outright.

I’m surprised there’s a world where someone like this is considered nobility.

“Still, I can’t just let them go. Should I call my colleagues and throw them in jail for now?”

While Pine was deciding how to deal with these elves, someone approached the red-haired elf.

“Chris?”

Despite my call, Chris didn’t respond and sat down next to the elf.

Then she gently placed a coin beside him.

“It’s not much, but it should be enough to buy a loaf of bread.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry I can’t give you more, I don’t have much myself.”

The elf lying on the ground stared blankly at the money, then looked up at Chris with a dazed expression.

“Poverty isn’t something to be ashamed of. Well then…”

We had been joking about them being beggars, but it seems Chris actually believed the elf was truly destitute.

‘And the amount is so small too.’

That’s barely enough for bread scraps, not even a whole loaf. Since Chris isn’t well-off herself, she probably thought that amount would be sufficient.

“The nun seems to be the cruelest of all.”

“Especially since she’s doing it out of pure goodwill, not mockery.”

The red-haired elf seemed to be in such mental shock that he could only stare blankly at the coin.

Seeing this, Pine smiled and took out a coin of her own.

“Should I offer charity too?”

“W-what do you take me for!”

“Oh, brother! Let’s retreat now! If we continue, we’ll only become more pathetic!”

The female elf who had been grabbed by her hair and thrown to the ground by Beatrice earlier finally got up and started restraining the man.

The man struggled to his feet and pointed at us.

“Just you wait, I will drive all inferior races from this land!”

By that time, we’ll probably have already left this land.

In response to the losers’ cries, Pine cheerfully shouted:

“Where are you going?! You need to go to jail!”

“Damn it, we’re retreating!”

As the elves fled, Pine mounted her griffon again and said:

“Well then, I’ll go catch them.”

“Will you be alright?”

“They can’t outrun a griffon no matter how fast they run.”

Pine said this and then added quietly:

“My colleagues have been complaining about stress anyway, so maybe I’ll call them all and let them have some fun tormenting these guys.”

“…”

“You’d like that too, wouldn’t you?”

-Screech!

Pine said as she stroked the griffon.

“Well, I’m off to hunt… I mean, enforce the law!”

“…Don’t work too hard.”

With those words, Pine flew off on her griffon.

She looked oddly excited, which probably means bad news for those strange elves in more ways than one.

“…I hope she catches them all and locks them up properly.”

“My, are you worried that Miss Pine won’t be able to do that?”

Eve asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

I shook my head slightly.

“No, just a feeling.”

For some reason, I had a sense that those elves were facing a dark future.

+

We spent the rest of the time resting, and night fell deeply.

“Why did you come to me?”

[Don’t you think you’re being too stiff with me?]

Tonight, while our group was waiting at our assigned positions, the lich suddenly appeared before me.

I don’t want to treat him like a complete stranger since I know he’s friendly toward me, but something about him being a lich still makes a corner of my mind remain vigilant.

[To be honest, I don’t have any major business with you either.]

“Then shouldn’t you go back to your position?”

[I can return immediately when needed, so don’t worry.]

The lich said this and sat down in front of me.

Looking at the campfire we had lit in case we needed to stay up all night, the lich fell into thought for a moment.

“What are you thinking about?”

[Thoughts from when I was alive.]

The lich said as he picked up a twig from nearby and threw it into the campfire.

[When we went to the holy ground.]

“Where?”

[The area now called the Metis County.]

Speaking about that holy ground, the lich quietly said:

[‘She’ seemed to be doing well?]

“You mean the priestess?”

The lich nodded silently.

“Do you know each other?”

[In my living days, we had a very deep connection. Truly, an extremely deep connection.]

“Hmm.”

There’s one relationship I can guess.

I picked up a twig and threw it into the campfire as I spoke:

“Health… I’m not sure if that’s the right word for her body, but she was doing well.”

[Was she noisy?]

“She was.”

[Still the same. Really.]

I heard the lich chuckle.

“So, why did you come here?”

[I wanted to tell you one secret about the World Tree in advance, just to you.]

“A secret?”

At my question, the lich nodded and said:

[Do you remember when I told you the World Tree has two functions?]

“One was gathering and purifying mana from across the region.”

The lich nodded at my words.

[The other one lies in the roots of the World Tree.]

“What’s in the roots?”

[Heroes.]

After saying that, the lich continued quietly:

[In the roots of the World Tree, heroes lie sleeping.]

“You mean it’s a grave?”

The lich shook his head at my question.

[It’s a kind of seal. A place where heroes are put to sleep, waiting for the day when they will be needed again.]

“A seal, huh.”

[However, it’s hard to say they have physical bodies. They’ve been transformed into mana-based life forms.]

“Mana-based life forms?”

At this unfamiliar concept, the lich nodded and explained:

[Literally, life forms whose bodies are composed of mana. When that mana is depleted, they perish forever.]

The lich then continued quietly:

[The heroes sleeping below have their souls intact, but their bodies have been reconstructed with mana, and they sleep beneath this land. And when that time comes, they will rise again… and fight until their mana is depleted.]

“Is it similar to the state of the priestess who guarded the seal?”

That priestess also seemed to have a body composed of holy power.

The lich both nodded and shook his head at my question.

[Similar, but not the same. She would be called a guardian spirit, a state where holy power can be infused from outside.]

“So for mana-based life forms, it’s impossible to infuse mana from outside?”

The lich nodded.

[The advantage is that they’re easier to create and preserve at once, but…]

He explained that once in that state, it’s essentially the same as death.

[They accepted that fate of their own will.]

“That’s impressive.”

[Indeed. They gave up the rest of their lives for future generations.]

There was deep sadness in the lich’s voice.

“Are there heroes from all races sleeping there?”

The lich quietly nodded.

[And among those sleeping in the roots, there is also a member of the old hero party.]

Somewhat surprised by the lich’s words, I quietly asked:

“How many?”

[Unfortunately, just one. Only one member of the hero party sleeps beneath here.]

After saying this, the lich continued quietly:

[This is her other homeland, after all.]

If it’s a member of the hero party whose homeland is the elven country, it must be the elf the lich mentioned before.

“The elf you mentioned in the background of the World Tree’s creation.”

The lich quietly nodded.

Then he spoke softly:

[Do you know why they are sleeping there?]

He mentioned earlier that they were waiting for the day when heroes would be needed, but he didn’t explain the specific purpose.

I quietly shook my head.

And the lich smiled as he answered:

[To protect this world from the demon race.]

“Are those heroes…”

[Most of them are people from the Demon War era. They’ve been sleeping until now, and the seal is maintained by the World Tree.]

A trump card to overcome a potential second Demon War.

That’s their role, the lich explained.

[…I don’t want to wake them up.]

The lich said quietly.

[Because the moment they rise is essentially when they truly vanish from this world.]

“You don’t want the seal to break because you don’t want to lose those people?”

[It’s a selfish reason.]

The lich nodded at my words.

[If the demon race advances near the World Tree and does something that the World Tree judges as ‘dangerous,’ it will cut off the mana that maintains the seal.]

And that moment would be…

[The moment the heroes’ seal is broken.]

But that also means their eternal death.

[I don’t want to lose them so meaninglessly.]

The lich said quietly.

[At least I don’t want them to go before me. Although they’re sleeping without any will, and they certainly don’t know about my struggles… still.]

The lich looked at me and said:

[That’s why I ended up involving you all in this matter.]

“So the ‘worst case’ you were truly worried about was the seal breaking and the heroes perishing.”

The lich quietly nodded.

[Of course, I can’t let the demon race run rampant in this world either.]

For a while, the lich and I just stared at the campfire without speaking.

“Why tell me this story?”

There are others in my group, and Pine too.

I was curious why he specifically sought me out when I was alone to tell me this.

[I wonder why.]

The lich pondered for a moment, then smiled and said:

[Let’s just say you remind me of an old friend of mine.]

“I see.”

Looking at the burning campfire again, I quietly said:

“Let’s protect it. That seal.”

[…Thank you.]

Silence fell between the lich and me again.

Then the lich soon spoke in a bright voice:

[I’ve talked too much about myself. Is there anything you’re curious about? I’ll answer as best I can within my knowledge.]

“Well…”

At that moment, I remembered something and searched my pockets.

“Do you know what this is?”

It was the fruit-like object that Chris had obtained at the holy ground.

I had been keeping it since then but had forgotten about it.

[…It’s a seed of ‘Yggdrasil.’]

“Yggdrasil?”

The lich nodded and explained:

[Long ago, before the current World Tree, it was a World Tree that existed in this land, also known as the Tree of Purity.]

The lich smiled amusedly and continued:

[It’s occasionally found in forests, dungeons, or labyrinths around this area… I didn’t know it would be in the holy ground as well.]

“Is it that precious?”

The lich nodded at my question.

[This seed contains tremendous life force. That’s why it’s also called the spiritual embodiment of birth.]

“Birth?”

[I told you Yggdrasil is called the Tree of Purity, right? Purity gives birth to life, something like that.]

“So purity symbolizes birth, that kind of meaning.”

[And that metaphor holds true power. In alchemy, there are cases where items with immense life force are needed, and this seed is among the highest grade materials for that purpose.]

The lich then smiled and continued:

[To give you an idea of how powerful it is, they used this seed to create the World Tree, which is a replica of Yggdrasil.]

“The World Tree is a replica of Yggdrasil?”

[In broad terms, yes. The function of gathering and purifying mana across Albheim is a newly added feature to the World Tree, so it can’t be considered a complete replica. It would be more accurate to call it an improved version.]

The lich spoke with what seemed like pride.

“Then this…”

[Give it to the alchemist girl. She’ll find a proper way to utilize that seed.]

And, the lich added:

[It’s an extremely valuable material that might never be obtainable again, so make sure to tell her not to use it for something trivial.]

“I will.”

I made a mental note to give it to Sera after today, or when the opportunity arises, and carefully stored the seed away.

And then.

There was an explosion.

[They’re here.]

All traces of the earlier gentle atmosphere vanished as the lich stood up, emanating mana and killing intent.

[I wish you good fortune.]

“You too.”

Soon the lich transformed into a shadow and disappeared, and I quietly looked up at the sky.

Another explosion sounded, and I raised my weapon, alert to my surroundings.