episode_0066

Very bright eyes. There are probably not many people who can maintain a calm face even when receiving gazes like that. My face got hot and I was reminded of how shameless the leaders of the pseudo-religion were.

“Ah, anyway, the story went in a strange direction, but whatever it is, it doesn’t change the fact that you were wrong. Right, Arzen?”

I couldn’t say anything bitter towards the person who was looking at me with an open look of envy, so I passed the baton to Arjen.

“Hmm? Ah, that’s right.”

Seeing that Arjen also went back to the main topic only after I spoke, I felt like I was asking too many questions. Now, the moment has arrived to see what Arjen will do to Ispi.

“Umm… Mmm? Umm….”

Contrary to my expectation that he would say that he would kill Isp with a single blow, Arjen kept tilting his head as if he was so hesitant.

“Arjen? What’s wrong?”

“Ugh… No, I guess it got better.”

“Eng…? Suddenly?”

I knew that he was a moodist who often changed his mind, but this was the first time I had seen him leave someone who clearly harmed him.

“Just a little while ago, you were talking about how convenient it would be to burn the entire forest, right?”

“Well, I did say that.”

Arjen stutters and expresses shame at his change of attitude. Even without thinking too deeply, I could immediately understand why she was doing this. I liked ESPI.

That in itself is irrelevant. No matter what, no one would kill someone they like. However, what I was really curious about was why Ispi suddenly fell in love with Arjen.

“I’m asking because I feel like it’s impossible, but isn’t it because that elf gave me a huge boost?”

It was natural to be attracted to someone who treated one’s loved one favorably. Even to me, the cheers of the people of Elatrobe praising Arjen during the meteorite incident sounded very pleasant.

“Well… Isn’t that okay?”

Sure enough, Arjen admitted that it was my guess.

“It’s not that it’s impossible… It’s so easy to forgive someone who indirectly threatened my life just because they treated me kindly…”

Since it was an issue directly related to Argen’s safety, I couldn’t help but feel anxious. I was worried that if the adventurers invading Lair praised me before I died, they would see it and let me live.

“Then should I kill him too?”

As she lightly lifted her hand, a sharp sharp sensation of death passed through the air and onto her skin. I quickly dissuaded Arjen. I said I thought about letting him live, but I didn’t want to instigate him to kill him.

“Um… are you saving me?”

Ispi himself, who almost died but survived, also had a bewildered expression on his face. I felt this way when I requested an audience, but seeing how he managed to survive made it seem like this elf had a tough life.

“I don’t necessarily mean that you will be spared by doing something that will please you. The intentions weren’t bad, the results were better, and well… killing you doesn’t make anything better.”

There are many reasons to add, but the main reason is that I like it and keep it alive. Until now, I was the type of person who would do anything else if it made me feel relieved.

‘It’s getting better.’

I could have criticized Arjen for why he would forgive someone after being harmed, but I felt proud that Arjen had finally acquired the virtue of ‘tolerance.’ Even when I destroyed Eletrobe’s meteorite, I saved countless lives, but I felt like they only listened to me because it was my request, but now Arjen himself has forgiven someone.

“But, you have to be punished, right?”

“Bee, punishment…?”

Arjen spoke firmly. It meant not killing them, but asking them to pay for their sins and reflect on themselves. It is truly tolerance itself. In other words, it also meant ‘there is no next time.’

“That looks good. It would suit Eugene perfectly.”

Arjen is eyeing the square bow on Ispi’s back. As everyone in the room focused their attention on the bow, Ispi lifted the bow and held it out in front so he could see it clearly.

It was a shabby-looking bow on the outside, but it caught the dragon’s eye, so it was probably not an ordinary item. Asking for a life as a price to pay instead of sparing it means that it is literally worth a life similar to life, isn’t it?

“This bow… is a new weapon handed down from generation to generation in the village…”

The Gakgung, which seemed just ordinary, had an unusual title. It seemed that ISP had insufficient authority to take his own life with that.

“Oh really? So how does it compare to the village? If you were to ask the village elves to compare your life or a bow, it would be the bow, but if you were to compare it to the village, wouldn’t you choose the village?”

Arjen implicitly emphasized the fact that he came with the intention of burning the entire forest. Ispi seemed to have nothing more to say and calmly held out his bow to me.

“Huh? You really want me to get this?”

Arjen nodded loudly to my question. I thought that the bow was too valuable for a weapon that was suddenly given to me, who had never shot a bow before.

“If you apply it with the wind spirit, you can shoot backwards with your eyes closed, right? Because elves usually fight like that.”

Well, if you just shoot roughly and ask Sirocco to adjust it, you might not end up making an embarrassing mistake. With that in mind, I received the bow with a light heart, and suddenly the bow began to glow.

“Wow, what is it!?”

The dull brown bow was transformed into a light yellow color like the inner bark of a tree, and patterns that looked like tree roots and unknown characters were embossed on the entire bow. The three of us, who witnessed the spectacular transformation of the bow before our eyes, had blank expressions on our faces for a while.

“What, what is it! What is this!”

I couldn’t understand at all why this new elf recruit became so cool when I got my hands on it. I was thrown into a different world with nothing and am adjusting to it and living with it, but starting with the spirit contract, all of a sudden these main character-like things are happening and I don’t know what’s going on.

“Dae, what on earth is Eugene?”

Ispi asks me with a puzzled look on his face. Neither the content nor the direction of the question was correct. Now it was right for me to ask her why this bow was like this.

“The village elders said that only those who love nature more than anyone else in the world can awaken the bow’s true form… This is my first time seeing it in person.”

So, it means that the nature of this world loves me the most. Arjen’s love alone is overwhelming, but I don’t know why I receive so much love. To begin with, I am not even from this world, so when did I say I was in love?

“Hmm…? Ah, I roughly understood.”

Arjen, who was alone and silent, seemed to realize something. After that, he started asking me questions. I whispered in my ear that it was a story about my origins that I couldn’t tell to ESPI.

“I’m just asking, just in case. In the world where Eugene lived, are there no animals or plants other than humans?”

“That can’t be possible.”

“Then have you ever hunted, cut down trees, or collected animals in your life?”

“Uh…nothing?”

If you’re talking about killing, I’ve never caught anything other than mosquitoes or flies.

“Huh? So what have you been eating so far?”

“That’s because there are people who specialize in slaughtering and people who specialize in logging… Ah?”

As the conversation progressed to that point, I too was able to come to one thought. People in this world also had their own occupations, but they did not set up factories to produce manufactured products like crazy or engage in aquaculture on a scale large enough to feed the world’s population.

Thanks to the development of magic, the convenience of living is not far behind compared to Earth, but it is impossible to say that there is no one who has not caught a rabbit or cut down a tree in their life. Those supposedly nature-friendly elves also have to damage nature for food, clothing, and shelter.

On the other hand, while living in the 21st century, I have had numerous instances of damaging nature ‘directly’ with my own hands. As I said before, all I did was get rid of bugs, so compared to the people here, I was truly nature-friendly. This bow in my hand was indisputable proof of that.

“…Isn’t this just a stretch?”

I don’t know who designed it, but it seems like everything you put together is just words. Suddenly, I became more of an elf than an elf.

“Isn’t this also what the World Tree means?”

I thought that if this was the true meaning of the World Tree, then all the elves in the world would have to wail. Regardless of what I thought about it or not, the expression on Espy’s face towards me became more and more burdensome.

“Now that this has come to an end, how about visiting the village? If we show that the village’s Noble Phantasm has revealed its true form, everyone may be more happy to accept it.”

“I think that makes sense… Oh no, let’s not talk about it.”

I don’t know how they can think that the village people will accept it as happily as they do when, for whatever reason, common sense tells us that a treasure handed down from generation to generation in the village has been robbed. It doesn’t seem like my head is a flower garden, but I felt like I was intuitively turning into a fanatic in real time.

‘It would be better if that fanatic didn’t worship me…’

I had no intention of stopping by the elf village. This is because I did not want to cause conflict. Wouldn’t it be okay to just sell Arjen’s name for a bit and keep the bow for a while and return it later? My thoughts were shattered by Arjen’s next words.

“I still had something to say to the elves, so it worked out well. Let’s go to the village.”

“Yes! Just follow me!”

ISP took the lead in guiding the village with bold steps. They’re wiping out villages, burning down forests, and guiding the dragon they were talking about just a few minutes ago to their village. It was just as I had first impressions at the time of the audience.

‘It’s an elf who has gone completely crazy.’