Chapter 111

The introduction of a sapling that even devours spirits shattered the innocence Wendigo had been harboring in his heart.

He thought that a being called the World Tree would be more… loving of nature and valuing life.

‘I had lowered my expectations halfway when I realized spirits were all crazy, but it still can’t help but hurt my heart.’

While Wendigo was looking at the sapling with eyes tinged with strange disappointment, he heard the sound of a branch breaking from the side.

Wendigo reflexively turned his head to the side.

That was where Dario was…

“… Aren’t you too scared?”

“A sapling that even devours spirits must be how dangerous to an ordinary person like me! I don’t want to approach such an ominous object!”

Dario was backing away behind Wendigo with an extremely disgusted expression.

His words were quite sensible, but Wendigo stared at Dario as if dumbfounded.

No matter what, it wasn’t normal to put the lord one serves in front.

Freyja seemed to think so too, as she pointed at Dario while cackling:

“Oh my, oh my! This is the first time I’ve seen such a cowardly and disrespectful guy among those whose talents Wendigo acknowledged!”

“What the king expected of me wasn’t courage or strength, you know? People who use their heads like me ensure their own safety while offering wisdom to their master!”

Dario boldly stated his conviction.

Even nonsense can look different depending on how it’s spoken.

His voice was unwavering and his eyes showed no shame, so Elhemina and the elves guarding her were nodding with convinced expressions.

Of course, this didn’t work at all on Wendigo. He dismissed Dario’s claim with bewilderment:

“Shut up and come to the side. If the World Tree had intended to attack, it would have done so already.”

“But…”

“Shall I tell the warriors about your actions when we return?”

When Wendigo asked while pointing behind, Dario’s mind spun rapidly.

Those guys were willing to risk their lives to subjugate the elves just because they said they would only talk directly with the king, so if they knew he had hidden behind the king…

“Ahem, actually I was just joking. Having a conversation in such a dark atmosphere might negatively affect negotiations…”

“Wow… he’s really trash.”

Freyja, who was second to none(?) in terms of character, marveled at Dario’s attitude changing as easily as flipping a palm.

On the other hand, Wendigo wasn’t very surprised, as he had known what kind of person Dario was when he employed him.

Rather, it was the elves who were greatly surprised. In their minds, Dario had been quite a… solid young man.

“Um… Are you not Dario of the Kapustin family? Perhaps a twin born from the same womb?”

“If not that, perhaps a relative? The Dario I saw was… quite honorable.”

“……”

Perhaps even a con artist can’t help but feel embarrassed when their true nature is exposed.

Elhemina sent a coldly frozen gaze, but Dario avoided answering and stared into space.

Wendigo looked at Dario with displeasure and then addressed Elhemina:

“I’ve listened well to the story, but something is strange. As far as I know, your homeland is a bit further north than the Empire… Why did you cross the lands of the Kapustin family?”

“That’s…”

Elhemina showed reluctance at Wendigo’s question. To explain the reason, the story would inevitably become long.

Freyja, seeming to have sensed something from Elhemina’s reaction, stroked her legs and whined to Wendigo:

“Darling~ It seems the story will be long, can’t we sit down to talk? A beauty’s legs are delicate, you know.”

“Don’t call me darling, it’s creepy. And what spirit has aching legs…”

Flinch.

When Wendigo scolded Freyja, Elhemina’s ears, which had been watching cautiously, twitched.

Wendigo’s head turned sharply as he caught that sight, and Elhemina’s pupils trembled as those empty eye sockets glared at her.

“I-I’m sorry. I just thought it would be impolite to make you listen to a long story standing…”

“Oh my. How sweet of the elf to listen to my words! Wendigo~ Don’t be like that, let’s sit and talk. They must have chairs in their village!”

Freyja nonchalantly blurted out words suggesting they walk into enemy territory.

Dario pointed at Freyja with his finger in disbelief and shouted:

“Wait, wait wait! Are you saying we should go into the elves’ den?!”

No matter how much the other party was showing an attitude akin to surrender, isn’t it human nature for attitudes to change when situations change?

Dario looked into Wendigo’s eyes and offered loyal advice:

“It’s nonsense to follow those who just revealed they have a sapling that even devours spirits! If you’re tired, we could order the warriors to bring chairs…”

“Enough.”

Wendigo raised his claw and brought it to the corner of his mouth.

At this firm expression to be silent, Dario’s lips quivered in frustration.

He was so unwilling to follow that he expressed his emotions with his whole body, fidgeting his fingers and waving his arms, but…

“Stop it~ If there was someone strong enough to kill Wendigo, your fate would have ended here from the start anyway.”

“Dario of the Kapustin family. You seemed brave when we met on your family’s lands… You’re more cowardly than I thought.”

At the words of the two beautiful women, Freyja and Elhemina, Dario felt irritation rising rather than stubbornness.

Strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong with Freyja’s words, but depending on the situation, correct words can be even sharper.

He wanted to shout and burst out in irritation right away, but he could only silently scream.

Wendigo’s claw was still signaling him to be silent.

Sometimes, social skills that have reached mastery can torment their owner.

---

The elves’ village was utterly desolate.

Apart from communal housing made by combining and transforming a few trees, there was only the grazing of chickens and pigs.

Above all, it seemed far from the rumor commonly known on the continent of a race that loves peace…

“Are all the elves here warriors? It’s full of people with battle markings on their bare bodies.”

Wendigo asked as he looked around at the elves glaring at him.

They were very different from the imagined image, with trained bodies regardless of gender, and seemed unashamed to expose their bodies except for vital areas.

The battle markings were quite unique; patterns drawn with thick golden liquid were functioning as a kind of magic.

Above all, they seemed to have no intention of hiding their fighting spirit, as their eyes were full of it.

Elhemina looked at them and sighed deeply, bowing her head to Wendigo in apology:

“I’m sorry. Originally, there were others besides soldiers, but… for certain reasons, we became separated from them.”

“There’s no need to apologize. Unless they drew weapons carelessly… They look like warriors who can temper their hot fighting spirit with cool reason.”

Elhemina worried that the warriors’ fighting spirit might provoke Wendigo, but Wendigo rather favored the elf warriors.

The stubbornness to not abandon duty even while recognizing the other’s strength, and the coolness to not be swayed by emotions, were worthy of respect in themselves.

When Wendigo favorably evaluated the warriors, Elhemina inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, as rumored, the Forest King seemed to be a gentle spirit unlike ordinary spirits, not easily angered.

Elhemina glanced at Wendigo while asking the elderly elves guarding her to bring chairs…

“I don’t need a chair, it’s fine. It would be work to bring a chair to fit this size, so I’ll make one myself.”

Noticing Elhemina’s concern, Wendigo waved his hand as if to say not to worry, then shaped an ice throne and sat on it.

Shortly after, centered around Wendigo’s throne, Dario, Freyja, Elhemina, and two elderly elves sat on chairs facing each other.

“Then tell me. Why you came up from the south, what you intended to do with the sapling, and how you plan to act from now on.”

At Wendigo’s question, Elhemina gathered her thoughts and opened her mouth.

---

The founding ideology of the Elvenhome Republic was the unification of the Great Forest, and the patron of that ideology was the World Tree.

The Elvenhome Republic, backed by the World Tree, boasted a power that no one in the Great Forest dared to face.

The council of elders and successive administrators, wary of gods and spirits, tried to protect citizens by planting World Tree saplings from the outskirts.

Thanks to this, the Elvenhome Republic slowly expanded the World Tree’s sphere of influence and achieved peace for the republic…

“Having no enemies to be wary of sometimes became poison. The republic couldn’t endure peace and fell into civil war.”

The perfectly isolated republic achieved culture and growth in peace, but also headed towards the path of indulgence and corruption.

Naturally, the citizens of the republic were angry and denounced the corruption of the leadership, and the leadership, fallen into indulgence, tried to suppress the citizens by force.

The problem was that all citizens of the republic were elves, elves can live over 300 years if long-lived, and most elves had experience serving as soldiers of the republic.

“What do you mean, in the north there are plenty who became raiders because life is tough, but not everyone becomes a warrior. Even in places like the Empire where life is decent, most live as farmers…”

“That’s because you don’t know elves well.”

For young elves of the republic, serving as soldiers was close to a kind of entertainment.

Beasts were also affected by the World Tree’s influence, and blessed beasts accumulated enough power to be comparable to magical beasts.

Naturally, the republic didn’t want these beasts to increase. They periodically hunted the beasts through soldiers…

“For elves, that’s an irresistible stimulus. Especially for young people with boiling blood.”

“Most serve for about 30 years and then are discharged. By then, they’ve experienced most of what can be experienced in the military… They start to lose interest and look for new stimulation.”

“It wouldn’t be easy for the military to suppress those who rotted in the military for 30 years.”

Elhemina nodded in affirmation.

It wasn’t particularly difficult to supply weapons and armor to citizens who had served as soldiers.

If they brought wood influenced by the World Tree to woodworkers… so-called sculptors, they could make weapons and armor.

The citizens who overwhelmingly defeated those barely over 60 years old brought down the leadership and found peace again, but…

“The problem was that citizens started staging armed uprisings at the drop of a hat if they were displeased. Even the leadership was the same.”

If an unpleasing policy was implemented, rebellion.

If an elder they supported didn’t become administrator, rebellion.

If they didn’t like an elder walking down the street one day, rebellion…

“After repeating civil wars for a long time like that, the republic came to its senses when the gods started to show themselves again.”

“Of course, the merit of the outstanding administrator and the representative of the council of elders was great.”

“Honestly, doesn’t the administrator seem a bit strange? The way he controls the youngsters…”

“Have you forgotten how he crushed those who were plotting civil war? With the country in such a mess, it’s inevitable for the youngsters to admire a hero.”

Thus, the administrator and the representative of the council of elders, who had their abilities recognized, began to implement various policies to protect the peace of the republic.

And among them was included turning the citizens’ attention outward.

They decided to send out those who wished to leave the Great Forest.

“The expedition’s destination was the ownerless land in the southeast of the continent. An elder to lead the expedition, a legion commander to coordinate the soldiers, and various technicians set out together. But…”

“Someone holding a grudge against the elder staged a mutiny on the ship. Moreover, we faced a storm in the midst of it, so everyone was scattered.”

The soldiers, having lost their leader, had no choice but to act with Elhemina, a priest close to the leadership, as their leader.

With no way to head to their original destination, Elhemina planned to establish a base in the safest possible place and request help from the republic.

While gathering information like that, they headed towards the north, which was relatively peaceful and geographically close to the Great Forest.

“Hiding at the end of the world was an inevitable choice because we might be attacked just for being elves.”

“Hmm…”

Wendigo, who had been quietly listening to the story, briefly summarized Elhemina’s tale.

In the end, the leadership, having learned firsthand that stagnant water rots, decided to turn the citizens’ attention outward to suppress complaints…

“Isn’t that saying you’ll establish a colony outside to resolve those complaints? Since you couldn’t reach your original destination, it sounds like you’re planning to operate secretly in this land.”

“Pardon?”

At Wendigo’s question, Elhemina stared at him with a blank expression.

Wendigo stood up from his throne and urged an answer from Elhemina in an ice-cold voice:

“If you’re confessing your crimes because you want to die cleanly, I can behead you without giving you time to feel pain…”

“W-Wait a moment please! We have absolutely no intention of establishing a colony in the north!”

Elhemina answered with a pale face at the momentum that seemed about to behead her right away.

She had no ambition whatsoever to establish a colony and contribute to the republic.

Feeling the truthfulness in her voice, Wendigo asked puzzledly, pointing at her bosom:

“Then why did you show the sapling? Isn’t it because you intend to plant it?”

“That’s right, but… Wait, wait! Please listen to my story!”

As soon as Elhemina answered, Wendigo drew his ice sword from the ground.

As the ice sword imbued with sharpness that seemed about to behead her right away appeared, Elhemina knelt down from her chair with a tearful expression.

At 110 years old, in the prime of her life, dying in a foreign land was too unfair.