episode_0035

A bird was flying over the capital of the Northern Kingdom. It had something tied to its leg. It was a carrier pigeon, one of the ways for people to communicate with each other over long distances. The carrier pigeon was flying freely and looking for a building.

The owner who tied the note to himself was instructed to deliver the note to someone in the building. To be exact, it was because of the magic he had been given.

Anyway, the free-flying messenger finally found its destination. Among the many buildings in the capital, it was one of the largest buildings standing out on the street, despite not being a nobleman’s mansion. In fact, its exterior was decorated in a splendid manner, as if it were a palace.

It would not have been strange to see such a great deal of criticism in the royal court. And, in front of such a building, a man stood looking at the Western Palace.

He was a tall, thin man with one eye that was not open properly due to a scar. The other eye contained a sharp gaze and a sharp gaze. His body, dressed in a manager’s uniform, had muscle formations here and there, making him look like someone who did not work in the hospitality industry.

He was the manager of the ‘Temptation of the Blue Rose’, which boasted the highest level among the numerous bars and pleasure houses in the Kingdom of Steraria.

The man stretched out his hand. The hawk landed carefully on his hand. With a blank expression, the man quickly pulled out the note tied to the hawk’s leg. Holding it tightly in his hand, the man whispered something to the hawk and sent it flying into the sky.

The Jeon Seo-gu flew into the blue sky after completing his mission. The man, who had been watching it for a while, turned his steps back into the building.

“Mr. Belzeph, this is the guild master’s business. I was with you in the emergency messenger area. ”

As soon as he entered the building, he opened a door and went deeper, and in a very narrow space with only a table and a chair, he spoke politely to a man sitting in that chair.

A man with gray curly hair, green eyes, and slightly dark skin, with one leg on the table and his fingers intertwined, looked thoughtful, then opened his mouth in delight at the manager’s entrance.

“Ah. You finally arrived. The situation has been unstable for some time now, and an emergency mission! Is the end of the world approaching?”

As he spoke, the man stood up. Belzep de Strauss. The third son of the Strauss family, a troublemaker, a runaway son, and one of the seven high-level adventurers of the Southern Kingdom.

He was one of the talented individuals who entered the Adventurer’s Guild at the same time as three of his peers, breaking the record set by Glenn for the youngest person to become an adventurer.

“I wonder if Senior Glen is doing well. I heard he’s been recovering quite a bit recently. Oh, you don’t know who Glen is, Karl! There’s a senior who’s two years older than us, younger than us!”

“I’ve never seen it, but I know it. Isn’t it the famous ‘Red-Eyed Glen’?”

“Yeah, that’s right! I haven’t been an adventurer for over a year, but I’m secretly famous! That’s great, senior!”

With a groan, Belzef read the contents of the note. The guild master’s note contained a brief message.

Red Eye Resurrection. The Saint’s Descent. Omen Confirmation Required.

It was only three sentences, but the clever man immediately understood the meaning and smiled.

“Hmm! This is a big deal. This is really a big deal! Do you know why, this is a big deal, Karl?”

“I don’t know, Master.”

To the manager, Karl, who answered in a businesslike manner, Belzef’s eyes sparkled and his face brightened, unlike someone who would make a fuss about something so serious.

“Last time, I sent you a rather long and gentle message, but this time, it’s an emergency message with only three sentences! Haha, this is it! If the content was so pathetic, I’d erase it from my mind, but this is far from pathetic! I wonder if the end of the world is really approaching!”

The man who had been talking nonstop approached the coat rack behind his desk. He quickly put on a nice coat that he would wear when going out, and spoke with his still lively face.

“Kaal! From now on, I’ll leave the management of the store entirely up to you! I’ll be very busy, you know. Starting right now!”

“Where is your destination? How long do you expect to be there?”

Perhaps already quite accustomed to Belzef’s antics, Manager Karl calmly asked questions about the destination and duration.

“First, I’ll go to Morbius Academy and meet my brothers! After that, I’ll throw myself into the mission at the request of the country! The period of time… I guess we can set it to about a year at most! Haha, that’d be great if the world doesn’t end in the meantime!”

“Please leave the store to me. Have a nice trip, master.”

Without any objection to Belzef’s absurd answer, Manager Karl simply lowered his head.

Leaving Karl behind, Berzef waved his hand and left his office. He looked like the wind. He was like a free wind that did not stay in one place.

“I’m sure the Schwenheiser brothers heard about this! Oh, I’m a little worried about Saber! I’m sure the elves will treat him well, but I hope the news gets through. Hahaha! This kind of huge disaster in just one year, my heart is pounding with fear!”

Belzef left his shop with a happy smile on his face, not like he was saying he was scared. His destination was clear, and the people he had to meet were also clear.

But Belzef was confident. The end of these steps starting today would be filled with nothing but chaos, with no way of knowing what would happen even an inch ahead.

And the mad artist Bergère de Strauss couldn’t stand the thought of heading towards such a future.

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The Elven Forest has always been off-limits to anyone except special races or people. A specially woven magical barrier has always surrounded the Elven Forest, which serves to drive away any trespassers or warn the members.

For hundreds of years, no one with great evil intentions has dared to enter this forest. Only the magic-savvy demons have been able to break through this barrier, causing great suffering to the elves and other protected races of the forest.

However, in other words, if you visit the forest with good intentions, are a certain race, or are recognized by the Elven Forest or the Elves, you can easily set foot in the forest. Those who set foot in the Elven Forest in this way are qualified to set foot in and admire the Elves’ proud forest village, Sylvanella.

And now, inside the small tree-root mansion of Sylvanella, the heart of the elves, a girl with short ears was absorbed in something, handling books and manipulating devices.

Glasses covered half of his face, and a few strands of hair stuck out, making it look like he had been out of his mind for a while. He had considerable looks, but his appearance was completely unkempt, reminiscent of a high-ranking adventurer from the Southern Kingdom. Only, this one was a woman.

The girl was absorbed in something, with books and instruments suitable for alchemy and magic placed on her desk in a completely unorganized manner. She was confident that it was research suitable for this forest, this forest of elves.

Recently, he felt a strange sense of responsibility for the strange phenomena occurring in the elf forest, and he devoted himself to research every day, forgetting his own identity, in order to help the elves.

Originally, being so engrossed in research and being secluded suited my personality.

“Has your research made any progress, Estil?”

“…”

“Esteel?”

“Hot! Oh, yes. It’s Estil! Ah… Sieta… ”

The person who surprised the girl who was so absorbed in her work at the desk was someone she knew well. At first, she was startled as if she had been caught doing something bad in secret, but after realizing who it was, she let out a sigh of relief. A considerable beauty with long green hair and shining blue eyes was looking at her with a smile.

“Hold on, Sieta. I told you not to scare me. What if you drop the lab equipment like last time?”

“Hehehe. So this time, I waited for the moment when he was reading a book and spoke to him. Our little wizard? No, maybe it’s more accurate to say the alchemist than the wizard? Hehehe.”

The woman who approached with a playful air, Sieta Dreamside, was a high priestess who served the god of the elven race. The two daughters of Leones Dreamside, the chieftain and king of the elven race, grew up hearing that they were born with the destiny of being the successor to the royal family and the deity.

The younger sister, Vidia, took the path of royal succession, while the eldest daughter, Sieta, walked the path of a priestess. It was a tradition that remained from the elven kingdom that once flourished in the east to the point of forming a kingdom.

“Is the ceremony over already? They all came during the day.”

“Daytime? Oh, oh, oh. Estil? Don’t you want to look outside? I know it’s hard to tell the time in this room, but the sun has been out for a long time? People call this time midnight.”

Even as she said that, Sieta Dreamside still had a smile full of joy on her face and pressed herself against the girl sitting on the chair.

He put both arms around the girl’s shoulders and talked to her as if they were familiar people. The girl also didn’t blush and responded to Sieta’s attitude as if she was used to it. Although she was a little annoyed.

“I thought the weather was cold. It’s already that time?”

“That’s right. Hehehe. It’s good to work hard for us, but if you work hard day and night, you might have health problems, right? I don’t know if it’s for elves like us, but for ordinary humans like you, you have to be even more careful.”

“There are quite a few people who work all day, so you don’t have to worry, right?”

Treating me like a child. Estil Sabre answered curtly and pursed his lips.

Even though he had been living in the elven village for quite some time, he still had a hard time getting used to the way they treated him like a child.

At least I understood. Most people are at least 100 years older than me. Even the elf princess in front of me is 490 years older than me.

‘But he’s an adult, 24 years old… talking about it would just be a waste of time.’

Estill, who had recently exchanged greetings with a 24-year-old elf ‘child’ on the street, simply kept his mouth shut and made a glum expression. Then he decided to let his guard down.

“So. That’s what you came to tell me? Is Sieta my watch? Take care of your little sister. Huh.”

“Hoohoohoo. Our Estil, are you upset? Huh? Oh my, so cute.”

Now, as she openly embraced him, Sieta seemed even more delighted by Estil’s twisted attitude. Ugh. You should only do this to your own little sister!

It wasn’t so much that I hated it as that I felt disgusted. But it definitely felt awkward. If Sieta was an only child, it might be different, but if she had younger siblings, it felt awkward. It felt like I was taking someone else’s place.

So, Estil changed his strategy and changed the subject.

“How’s your sister? Is Vidia…still the same?”

Hearing those words, Sieta’s expression, which had been clinging to him, finally softened. Ah, it’s good that the pressure has been relieved, but was this a bit too much? Estil felt regretful. She knew very well what kind of condition Sieta’s younger sister was in.

“Ugh… He’s still locked in his room and doesn’t seem to want to come out. Sometimes I hear him mumbling something…”

“It’s the same content as before.”

Estil sighed without realizing it. Vidia Dreamside. Sietta Dreamside’s blood-related younger sister, and at least in name, she was the princess who was the successor to the Elf Kingdom. It is said that she was born with tremendous magical powers and grew up hearing that she was ‘the most suitable person to be the heir to the royal family.’

Then, one day, she was unfortunately kidnapped by the demons and almost suffered a fate worse than death, but she fell head over heels in love with the human male who saved her. Of course, as is well known on the continent, Vidia was one of the warriors, and the human male who saved her was a warrior.

“Yeah. He was still muttering, “Warrior, Warrior.” He’s like my poor little brother… I can’t just sit by and watch him fall in love and then become lovesick. What is that damn love? I’ve never met a Warrior, but honestly, I’m sure there are plenty of cool human men out there.”

Although Sieta was a person of high religious standing, enough to be called a priest or priestess of the elven race, she had never seen him in person, as it was coincidental that she had difficulty meeting the warrior whenever the warrior visited the elven village.

Perhaps that is why he says this because he has never experienced the hero’s debaucherous temperament. That is what Estil, who had met the hero, thought.

“That’s right, I said it might not be a simple case of a love sickness. As I said before, it’s more likely that ‘that sign’ that appeared deep in the forest is connected. In fact, I said that Vidia’s complexion has noticeably worsened since ‘that sign’ was discovered in the forest.”

Estil once again expressed his opinion, which made sense.

Yes. Deep in the forest of the elves, in the ‘Tranquil Forest’, so named because humans and other races rarely set foot on it, exactly 13 months ago, migratory birds suddenly died all at once, a dark energy began to creep out from deep within the forest, and all the animals that had been staying there fled. A terrible strange phenomenon occurred.

However, the elves also had no intention of going deep into the ‘Forest of Silence’ to interfere, so they simply left it alone. More than anything, they were afraid of what would happen if they went into that place with that dark energy.

In fact, some of the animals that were unable to escape the forest were discovered to have been transformed into hideous creatures, and the elves began to suspect that something sinister was going on inside the forest.

Some of the elves who were sensitive to their surroundings began to groan and squirm openly, exuding negative energy. And, coincidentally, there was a human living in the elf village. A human woman who liked to study and experiment, and who liked to stay in a corner, buried in books.

“You said that your condition started getting worse 13 months ago, right? Then, about three or four months ago, you started to show a gloomy aura and locked yourself in your room.”

“That’s right. I haven’t met him, but I heard a warrior came to visit? He said he was on a noble journey, traveling around the continent to help those in need. He had some kind of altercation with Vidia. I haven’t heard the details. Do you have any guesses, Estil?”

Estil shook his head. He too had been locked in his room inside the tree roots, absorbed in his research, and had not witnessed the visit of the warrior or the reunion with Princess Vidia. He had some idea, but it was not something to be said lightly.

“I haven’t seen it myself. But even if we take that into account, it’s clear that the omen that happened in the forest shook Princess Vidia’s heart. I don’t know what it is, but it’s not a good omen. I’ll definitely solve it.”

“Thank you always, Estil. I appreciate you developing a nutrient for the forest flora and fauna, but you’re taking on this task as well.”

“Because I like it. You don’t have to be too happy. Sieta.”

“Hehe, if you’re going to do it, why don’t you call me Unnie?”

“Why me.”

Of course, it was Estil who blocked it like a knife as he dug deeper. Estil, who had defended Sieta’s childishness that wasn’t childishness, cleared his throat slightly and continued speaking.

“Anyway, just wait a little longer, and a potion that will not affect you even if you enter that forest will be completed. You can rest assured about the potion’s effectiveness. It was made through countless trials and errors, so this time it’s certain. Be sure to thank Treebeard for acting as the test subject. And since there’s still research left, I hope you can leave now.”

“Ah, uh. Okay. But, Treebeard…you know…”

The moment Sieta heard, he thought of a certain hot-blooded young elf who had received Estil’s potion with his eyes shining brightly, and trailed off. That guy, it seemed like he had fallen in love with Estil at first sight and participated in such a horrible(?) experiment…

It was really uncertain whether things would be okay in the future. Even though elves were said to be resistant to poison, it was questionable whether the potion that protected them from such a dark and gloomy aura would have been effective.

Well, Treebeard had been completely smitten with Estil until recently, so I felt like I could rest easy for now.

Sieta stood up, or rather tried to stand up, as she told Estil, “I’ll tell him how you are doing.”

“Ah. Right. I almost forgot what I really came for today.”