episode_0046

Unknown Purpose

“….”

“….”

The atmosphere is incredibly heavy…. Once Alten calmed down, I was walking around with him to find Aria. But Alten was still plagued by guilt, following me with his head bowed deeply.

“…. Still something bothering you?”

“…. Sigh… In my 134 years of life, this feeling is new to me….”

“Hmph…. I thought you’d just brush it off curtly. I never imagined you had such an emotional side…”

“…. I’m also surprised by my own emotions right now. Did I… really have such a side…? I resolved to have a cool-headed personality after taking on the captaincy, but…”

“It’s okay, cheer up, Alten. More importantly, this Trahan. You said this weapon can only be used by its chosen master, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm…. So that means I was chosen by it… What happens if someone not chosen by it tries to wield this weapon?”

“Ah, I’ll show you firsthand. Give it to me.”

“…. What?!”

“I’ll use my own body to show you what happens.”

…. That sounds ominous. Well…. It’s not like electricity will suddenly come out of the sword, or it’ll become heavy, right…? Alten must have known that when he asked for Trahan… I tried to hide my unease and gave Trahan to Alten.

“Here, you….”

“Aaaaaaaah!!!”

What, it was true?! The moment Alten grabbed Trahan, an immense surge of electricity burst from it. As Alten writhed in pain from the electricity, I quickly pulled Trahan away from him. Then, the electricity surging from Trahan began to subside.

“Gasp… gasp… gasp….. Would it have killed you to just tell me!!”

“Pant…. You told me… pant… that experience is more important than words….”

“Crazy talk!! That’s not what that phrase is for!! What were you going to do if you actually died?!”

“Don’t worry. I used my shock absorption ability…. It does affect the mind, but only briefly, so I could endure it….”

“Then tell me beforehand!! You almost gave me a heart attack, you damn fool!! No, why would you go that far?!”

“…. Because I don’t know how to repay a human.”

….Ah…. Alten’s dejected words made my heart waver too. For 134 years, Alten had continuously been hostile towards humans… All he knew about humans was that they were slightly similar to him, ate meat, and were creatures that harmed them…

“…. Just treat me like you would any other Elf. Humans are no different.”

“…. Sigh…. My head is spinning. Seeing your exploration book, I’ve realized all my common knowledge was…. false, and that we Elves were being deceived by the Alaunes… My head truly aches.”

“Furthermore, Prosh Ajusshi said that high-ranking Elves were involved with the Alaunes.”

“…. So we were just pawns in the Alaunes’ hands, is that it…? Sigh…. I don’t know if I should trust humans now.”

“Just trust the humans you can trust. I’ll trust trustworthy Elves like you too.”

“…. Then I’ll trust you too, Zeke. By the way… you said your purpose was to find that black saintess, didn’t you?”

“Huh? That’s… Mmph!!”

“?!”

Just as I was about to tell Alten ‘yes’, someone covered my mouth and began dragging me into a dark space. Wh-Who is it?! Who is kidnapping me again?! I could hear Alten calling out to me from the bright area. I needed to remove this hand quickly…. What kind of strength is this…?

“Be quiet, human…!!”

“Yo… You….!!”

Suddenly, light began to leak from the pocket of my kidnapper’s clothes, and through that light, I realized the identity of this person. But…. why is this person here?! Th-This Elf…. It’s the Grand Elder who judged us earlier!!

“Gr-Grand Elder…!”

“Shush…! The Alaunes were just passing by over there, human…!”

“W-What?! You’re in cahoots with the Alaunes… ”

“…?! How did you know that….?”

“Zeke!! You…! Who… huh?!”

“Ah…. Captain Alten?! Why are you with a human!?”

What a chaotic mess…. The moment Alten was approaching with his spear aimed, he was utterly shocked to realize that his kidnapper was the Grand Elder. The Grand Elder was also greatly astonished by the fact that Alten was with me, a human. Seriously, what in the world is going on?!!

“Grand Elder-nim, how could you…!! Surely…. you’re not trying to kill Zeke!”

“Y-You…. How could you worry about a human… And how did you know that…!”

“Ah, come on! Calm down and let’s listen to each other!!”

I removed the Grand Elder’s hand and stood between the Grand Elder and Alten, calming them both. Afterwards, we talked next to the Grand Elder’s glowing stone. I conveyed Prosh Ajusshi’s story to the Grand Elder. Then, the Grand Elder sighed deeply and spoke.

“Sigh…. Prosh… That young Elf is still suffering even in death…. I’m sorry, Prosh….”

“No, didn’t you people kill Prosh Ajusshi? Ajusshi gave me Trahan and even entrusted me with the future of the Elves…”

“…. Right. Now I suppose I should explain. Captain Alten. You listen carefully too.”

“…. Understood, Grand Elder-nim. For now, I will trust you.”

“…. Thank you for trusting me even now, Captain. It’s true, as Prosh suspected, that the elders were colluding with the Alaunes. However… I had no intention of doing so. So they threatened me.”

“Threatened you?”

“The threat was that if I didn’t help, they would kill all the Elves immediately.”

“… What? You surrendered to the Alaunes just because of that?! We could easily handle Alaunes like them….”

“Captain Alten. The Alaunes are a race that has accumulated power since ancient times. However, they hid their power, so we couldn’t gauge its extent. They… have become powerful enough to annihilate us.”

“What…? Then why did they say they’d coexist with us….?”

“That was merely an act to lure humans. Their goal is the souls of humans, you see.”

“Human souls…?”

I, who had been continuously recording the Grand Elder’s words, was greatly shocked to learn that the Alaunes’ purpose was human souls, and dropped my pen. So…. they didn’t just lure humans to eat them… but aimed for their souls?!

“As Prosh said, they’re already trying to devour even the Elves who gained trust. The elders cooperated with the Alaunes to escape that predation.”

“But why do they need human souls…?”

“…. That’s…”

Alten and I, having heard the reason from the Grand Elder, were plunged into deep shock. While Zeke and Alten were hearing the Alaunes’ purpose from the Grand Elder, in a dark room, an Alaune with long purple hair stood before a seed emitting a faint light. Suddenly, another Alaune rushed in, panting, and shouted.

“Oh… Mother! Something terrible has happened!”

“Child…. Have you forgotten that one shouldn’t make loud noises here? Still, this mother understands your anxious heart. What happened that made you rush here so desperately?”

“Ou… Outside…. I can’t hear any news from our sisters who went outside…! I can’t see the spores of our sisters who went outside, Mother! It seems the humans the Elves sent here this time are strong! Could they all be dead?!”

The mother Alaune, hearing the shocking news from her daughter Alaune, paused her hands that were tending to the vine coming from the seed. Then, she chuckled softly, turned her head to her daughter Alaune, and spoke.

“Is that so…. Indeed, it is sad that my children have lost their lives…. But… thanks to them, I am glad to know that there is also one piece of good news…”

“What? Good news, Mother…? I’m afraid we might all die like this…!”

“My child, calm down. Within this place, none of us will die. And the fact that those humans are strong means…. our goal is finally within reach. Humans that strong…. they will become tremendous nutrients…”

“What…? Does that mean…. we don’t have to bother luring humans anymore?!”

“Yes…. You’ve all toiled for 1,500 years, my children. Now…. that day will come. If we absorb that strong human, we will be able to achieve our goal. Absorb that human, and absorb all the Elves. The time has come…”

“Mother…! Finally…!!”

“That day, our Mother was brutally murdered by a red-haired human. But we did not give up. We can now awaken our Mother from her eternal slumber. Worship her, children. Our Great Mother…!! The World Tree-nim…!!!”

“Ah…. Aaaaah!! World Tree-nim…!!”

All the Alaunes who heard this story from the mother Alaune cheered on the spot. Then, the mother Alaune transformed her lower body into a human form, put on a red dress, and slowly emerged from the room. She then smiled faintly, looking at her children below the railing, who had heard everything and were cheering.

“Our Great Mother was murdered by that human, and we have moved solely for the purpose of awakening her. Now, you no longer need to do the dirty work of luring humans, my children.”

“Oh… Mother! Mother!!”

“Go, children of the Great Mother…! Go and bring the soul of the powerful human that the Elves brought…! Afterwards, annihilate the Elves… and resurrect our Mother, the World Tree-nim!!!”

“Understood, Mother!”

“We will follow!”

“And we will tear apart that despicable red-haired human who killed our Great Mother!!!”

At the mother Alaune’s proclamation, the other Alaunes cheered and began leaving the room one by one. To kill the powerful human the Elves brought. And Alten and I were greatly astonished when we heard from the Grand Elder that the Alaunes’ purpose was the resurrection of the World Tree.

“The World Tree was an Alaune, Grand Elder-nim?!”

“No wonder it felt like the inside of a living creature… So are we currently being eaten? No, more than that, Alaunes have human upper bodies, but the World Tree was truly a tree, wasn’t it? How do you explain that?”

“The World Tree was brutally defeated long ago by a red-haired human. That man overwhelmed the World Tree with abilities never seen before. As a result, the World Tree suffered fatal injuries and reverted to a small tree, dreaming of the day she would be resurrected. And as her final struggle, she bore her children through her fruits. Those children are the current Alaunes.”

“…. Wait. In that case… the lifespan of the Alaunes is…”

“As long as they absorb living beings, their lifespan is infinite. Human, you must have seen them, too, right? Alaunes with childlike appearances and Alaunes with adult appearances.”

“Uh…. Yes. I certainly saw them. The Alaunes with childlike appearances are still younger Alaunes… right?”

“No. Their appearance is merely a shell to live in. Regardless of their age, they retain their original form. This story is reliable because it was told when the Alaunes were recruiting the elders. They told it to me as well, because they needed to show us how formidable they were for us to cooperate with them.”

“So the reason the elders easily sided with the Alaunes was….”

“It was because they knew how strong they were, and they knew they could easily annihilate us, Captain Alten. All the elders except me are on their side. And human. Haven’t rumors spread outside that Elves live in Probelitu?”

“Ah…. Yes. And this map too….”

I took a map out of my pocket. It was a map of the Kriton region I had obtained before leaving the Magrion area. The Grand Elder, after receiving the map from me, examined it carefully, then returned it to me and spoke.

“I don’t know who drew this map. But…. this information was definitely spread by the Alaunes.”

“Why?”

“They told me and the elders that they would use the Elves to draw humans here. They spread rumors outside that Elves lived here to pique human curiosity. Humans who wanted to enslave Elves like in ancient times, and humans curious about the Elf race who came to explore, visited this place. And they absorbed all of them…”

“So…. Probelitu, which I thought was a mysterious forest, turned out to be the Alaunes’ nest… And they even used words like ‘unknown’ to stimulate human curiosity… These vile bastards…”

“That’s right. And one more thing. Human, weren’t there no powerful demonic beasts when you came here?”

“Uh… Yes… only the Wisla Snake group…”

“The Alaunes completely annihilated all powerful demonic beasts themselves in order to absorb humans directly. The Wisla Snakes were demonic beasts that provided the Alaunes with necessary poison, so they purposely left them alive.”

No wonder…. Wisla Snakes do have poison. But was it compatible with the Alaunes’ poison…? But wait a moment. Demonic beasts have magic stones, which are powerful energy sources…?

“Grand Elder-nim. But were magic stones insufficient? Why human souls….?”

“They had already absorbed all the magic stones. But that alone wasn’t enough to resurrect the World Tree. They realized that human souls were compatible with them, and so they decided to use the Elves, who happened to have a bad relationship with humans.”

“…. Damn it… In other words, we humans are now just nutritious ingredients to those guys….”

“Sigh…. They even threatened me to prevent me from rashly informing the Elves about humans… even though the relationship between humans and Elves had already been resolved….”

“….? Huh?”

“Gr-Grand Elder-nim… W-What in the world are you talking about?!”

As a completely unexpected story came from the Grand Elder’s mouth, Alten and I were greatly flustered. Wait, what…? It had already been resolved…? But the Elves still shun humans now…?

“Previously… 1,500 years ago, the representative of humans and I met. At that time, the human representative bowed their head to me and apologized. The other humans around that human did the same…. It was the first such experience in my life. Perhaps because of that, when I opened my eyes, I had already forgiven the humans.”

“…. I’ve never heard such a story, Grand Elder-nim. Did the former captain also know this fact?”

“Not at all, Captain Alten. Because… the moment I returned to Proserpina with the gifts they gave me, the Alaunes and the elders they had recruited threatened me. That was the starting point of everything. Ultimately, due to their threats, I couldn’t relay this fact. Their surveillance was so strong that I couldn’t possibly inform anyone.”

“…. How could that be…”

“But I continued to hold onto hope. Dreaming that a strong being would appear…. And then… human. You and that strong woman appeared.”

“Huh…? What!?”

“I have the power to perceive others’ strength, human. You are strong too, but…. that saintess next to you. Her power simply cannot be measured…!”

“No, well… it’s true that Aria is strong but…. Wait. So you intentionally sent us here?!”

“That’s right. This place is a hell filled with Alaunes, but ironically, it’s also their stronghold. The moment I saw you, I instinctively knew that the time had come to resist them.”

W-What… I thought I had intentionally provoked the Elves so I could come here, and that the strategy had succeeded…. But it turns out the Grand Elder was using us?! Realizing that I had, in fact, fallen for the Grand Elder’s scheme, my mouth couldn’t close.

“So I tried to save at least you from the Alaunes, but…. how are you still alive…?”

“Ah… I threatened the Alaunes that I would burn the World Tree…”

“….. Wise.”

….. It’s a bit much to call that wise, though…? They are bad, yes, but… from their perspective, how is that different from saying I’d burn their mother…? The moment I let out a deep sigh, the Grand Elder suddenly took both of my hands and said.

“I ask of you. Stop the Alaunes. If the World Tree is resurrected…”

“If it’s resurrected…?”

“Beyond the Kriton region, this world will be in danger.”

“…. What? What?!”

Before the shock had fully subsided, I heard even more shocking news from the Grand Elder and froze on the spot. Alten also couldn’t close his mouth, staring at the Grand Elder as if he too was utterly shocked by the news. What in the world is going on…? I just came here to explore out of curiosity about what secrets might be here…. And now there’s a creature living here that could destroy the world, and the Grand Elder is asking me to stop the world’s destruction?!