Chapter Index

    Episode 109 – The Giving Tree 24 –

    As I looked around to go outside, the entrance clearly caught my eye.

    First of all, it didn’t seem to be a secret space.

    [Even if that child were here, we wouldn’t be able to talk to him. That’s why this land was just a space for spirits.]

    As we were heading out, the world tree explained a bit of TMI.

    Perhaps he was concerned that I might misunderstand.

    Pass through a huge tunnel made of plants.

    What I saw when I came out was that it was close to a mess.

    “Wow. It’s a mess.”

    The place I came from was one of the roots of the world tree.

    A place away from the main residence of Abenheim.

    Even in those places, I could see that things were going badly.

    “Say… What on earth is that guy? How can you mock me like that? ”

    The Guardian made a loud roar in the distance.

    Because he was looking for me.

    Plants bound humans.

    It may be true only for humans, but the guardian treated even elves harshly.

    Considering that Alice and the president at least stopped at the level of arrest.

    It seems like there was still a little bit of reason left in him.

    “Elf elder Perwell. Is it true that you stole the branches of the World Tree?”

    With those words, Perwell tied to the plants comes into view.

    Perwell, who had been captured and was dragged by the guardian’s words, closed his eyes and opened his mouth.

    “Yes.”

    Perwell may have thought I was telling the truth, but he readily admitted to the crime.

    The elders were shocked, and the Guardian’s face crumpled.

    The contrasting aspects of Perwell were combined to create a truly heterogeneous landscape.

    “Why?”

    “Because I thought elves were declining.”

    “decline? If we were worried about that, we had to develop new technology. Rather than handing over valuables to another country and creating chaos.”

    “There is no need to take a more difficult path. Unless the technology can only be used by a specific race, such as the dragon’s dragon or the vampire’s blood magic, is it really necessary to go down that path?”

    “If an outsider comes in, spies are bound to boil over.”

    “If you are there, even if there is a spy, it won’t be a problem. Are humans weaker than elves and are leaving Abenheim alone?”

    Conversation between Perwell and the Guardian.

    Both sides were correct.

    Whatever his intentions, Perwell committed an act that bordered on treason.

    The guardian of the World Tree could not avoid criticism for turning his back on the elves.

    From my perspective, who knows the truth.

    Because he didn’t care about elves after all.

    The elves aren’t important.

    The beautiful Abenheim was just important.

    Guardians are not agents of God.

    Just another friend missing a friend.

    “Anyway… What you did cannot be forgiven.”

    “If the elves disappear someday… You also cannot be forgiven.”

    “That’s contradictory. They said it would be safe even if a spy infiltrated because of me… Why are elves ruined?”

    The Guardian swayed public opinion with words that seemed reasonable.

    It actually made sense.

    The reason why humans did not invade the elves was because the internal circumstances were not revealed and the result could not be inferred.

    Perwell refuted that statement.

    “If the end is the end, extending the future is a reasonable method. Until I was born. There was no alchemy for humans, and humans lived somewhat as parasites on dwarves.

    However, now that alchemy has been invented, dwarves are living completely as parasites on humans. Because they could not maintain their superiority when alchemy was born.”

    Dwarves had a technological advantage until the dawn of alchemy.

    There was much more knowledge, but humans were lacking.

    If they had studied alchemy thoroughly, the dwarves might still be at the top.

    But the world is a result.

    They have been eliminated and, with the exception of a very few, live as alchemists in human society.

    With only the pride of having previously belonged to a prestigious dwarven family.

    However, the Guardian also refuted what he had to say.

    “Humans and elves are different. Long ago, when I founded the Elven Empire. All humans liked to cause internal strife. Even though I taught it, I thought it was unnecessary and useless.”

    The faces of several of the humans caught by those words frowned.

    Since they criticize themselves, of course they have no choice but to do so.

    Alice and the president seemed to have a lot to say.

    For now, I waited until the situation was figured out.

    It was because I was sure to lose because I had not prepared anything to fight the Guardian.

    “Humans and elves are different races. Just as magic is useless to vampires. What would make an elf better by learning those skills?

    Human technology for humans. Elves have elf skills.”

    The guardian was a commonly seen human figure.

    A being who thinks that his experience is everything in the world.

    Before the Elven Empire, there were no people other than vampires and dragons who founded a country.

    He regards those who were fortunate enough to learn thanks to him and those who did not learn as equals.

    And the last sentence.

    Because of that sentence, everything became a lie.

    The elf elders around him seemed to agree with those words.

    Like I said before, it’s probably because they look down on humans.

    But guess what?

    Their trust will soon be broken cruelly.

    It was then that I decided to appear.

    “What kind of nonsense are you saying?”

    As my voice resonates, everyone’s eyes focus on me.

    And both elves and humans were incredibly embarrassed.

    After meeting with the guardian, various loud noises were heard.

    And when the guardian came out at one point, the other elf elders thought it was over.

    A completely different situation occurred than they expected.

    In addition, the guardian of the World Tree appeared quite wounded.

    It may be because he was desperately looking for me.

    In the end, I was able to fight the guardian.

    The elders must have been confused because it was a metaphor for the fact that they ultimately succeeded in escaping.

    Even more so because I appeared intact.

    “How… !”

    “This can’t be right… !”

    “Nonsense… !”

    The elf elders were shocked to see me appear unharmed.

    They probably thought I was mortally wounded in the fight with the guardian.

    In fact, I almost died.

    It’s just that the World Tree restored me.

    “Humans are… How much stronger have you become? !”

    Amid the astonishment of the elves, I felt a little better.

    Even if it’s an illusion, the thought of being able to compete against the strongest man in the land makes you feel good.

    The Academy, led by Alice, was mesmerized by my appearance.

    Alice had a sad expression just a moment ago. Maybe it was because he thought I might be dead.

    “Guardian of the World Tree. Are you really the guardian for the elves?”

    “… Was it worth it for you to say that? You are the one who sprayed the World Tree with a dangerous chemical that we don’t know what will happen.”

    The elf elders are shaken by those words.

    And then they become furious and make extreme claims.

    “That’s impossible!! In human terms, this is an attempted murder of a head of state! Even if you can’t do that, attempting it itself is a serious crime!”

    “Guardian! Please give the person who tried to dispose of the World Tree the death penalty!”

    “We must go to war with the human nations! I have a cause, so I agree with those who are hostile to the empire and judge them!”

    But unfortunately.

    Whoever holds the truth controls public opinion.

    And I was the one who realized the truth.

    “But what should I do? According to their logic… In the end, don’t you have to die the same way?”

    “I was just trying to protect… ”

    “You tried to kill me first, and I only threatened to survive. I never tried to kill you.

    It’s just that if you had attacked me at that time, the medicine in my hand would have accidentally spilled out and caused great damage to the World Tree.”

    “Just to that extent… The world tree never dies.”

    “What the elf elders said? Regardless of what is possible, the attempt itself is a serious crime. Unless you are a world tree. It’s the same.”

    After hearing those words, the minds of the elf elders became even more complicated.

    The Guardian attacked me, risking damage to the World Tree.

    I don’t know what the situation is, but I am certain that something big has happened.

    “I was just trying to protect that person. That man was trying to kill me! Even if you fail to save it, it does not constitute a serious crime!”

    “That’s right! There is no way the Guardian really tried to kill the World Tree in the first place!”

    “Not to mention that it is not a guardian for elves!”

    Of course, since it was a play on words, it was soon refuted.

    Because I did threaten you.

    “Isn’t it because of you that it got into that situation in the first place? I needed to meet the World Tree, but you couldn’t even tell me why and just refused.”

    Of course, now I know why.

    I guess he refused because he couldn’t meet him either.

    If the World Tree had been fine, it might have allowed us to meet.

    “By human standards, it is an audience with the head of state. Do you think you can easily meet such a being without an appointment?”

    But because the truth cannot be revealed.

    The Guardian argued, drawing on his own analogy.

    It seems like a reasonable analogy in its own way.

    He made a very obvious mistake.

    As he said, if elves and humans are different, different standards should be applied.

    Even if the target is not an animal but a plant.

    Of course, I said it all.

    I just didn’t want to let them meet, but they may have just turned things around for political reasons.

    But unfortunately.

    As the saying goes, knowledge is power.

    Having met the World Tree and learned the truth, I am stronger than him.

    “But everyone… Isn’t it strange… ?”

    Those words focus the attention of people around me.

    “First of all, it’s true that the two of us fought. That elf was stronger and it’s true that I ran away… Does anyone feel strange right now?”

    Both the Academy and the Elves are looking for questions about my remarks.

    I couldn’t find anyone.

    In a way, it was natural.

    Because you have to twist your perspective like Columbus’s egg.

    I kindly explained what questions I should ask directly.

    “That elf. Why do you think they won’t attack me? Why aren’t they attacking me when we were fighting just now and are still arguing in a hostile manner?”

    At those words, the faces of the elf elders became thoughtful.

    I was starting to realize it, but I tried to ignore it, but it came to the surface through my remarks.

    “You… You gave up your life… If I’m saving you, I’ll just skip itㅡ”

    “Can you kill him?

    I quickly cut him off.

    “Me, who may have been chosen by the being you have been waiting for for tens of thousands of years?”

    Because he couldn’t kill me.

    The guardian of the World Tree witnessed the World Tree’s first-hand activity for the first time in tens of thousands of years.

    I don’t know anything else, but the fact is that I have a clue.

    My remarks add to the confusion among the surrounding elves.

    This was even more so in the case of this statement because the guardian did not refute it and instead remained silent.

    Silence led to positivity.

    Confidence led to speculation.

    The speculation became a fait accompli.

    “What the hell… Who is the entity the Guardians have been waiting for for tens of thousands of years…? ?”

    Elves who were not elders were whispering around.

    They came because there was an uproar.

    When the elders realized the truth, they remained silent to prevent the rumor from spreading.

    It was impossible to stop the mouths of ordinary elves.

    “Aren’t there only two living beings for tens of thousands of years? World Tree and Guardian.”

    “Because the Guardian cannot wait for the Guardian… No way?”

    Rumors beget rumors.

    The rumor is packaged as if it is a fait accompli.

    If that is plausible, the speed will spread even further.

    It’s clear that there was a fight.

    However, the Guardian’s aggression has clearly decreased.

    He doesn’t even respond to anything I say.

    Rather, he was trembling without any trace of his previous appearance.

    “Guardian… ”

    The elf elders also felt something strange.

    I couldn’t hide my embarrassment.

    This was because it was probably the first time he had seen the guardian trembling.

    Ironically, it was the Academy that was least embarrassed.

    I don’t even know what a guardian is.

    I don’t even know what kind of stupid thing I did.

    Maybe it’s because I’ve committed so many strange acts.

    “Shall we talk in front of everyone first? Or just the two of us?”

    A suggestion that comes up in such a situation.

    It’s true that I know something.

    And through the sentence, I have been waiting for tens of thousands of years.

    It was hinted that the World Tree may have heard the truth.

    That’s probably why the guardian began to tremble.

    “I don’t know what you saw, but… It won’t go your way.”

    “You have to try it to find out.”

    After those words, he spoke to the plants and created a sphere-shaped space.

    The surrounding elves and the academy had also cleaned up.

    In the space where it was just the two of us.

    The meeting that will decide the fate of the elves and the academy has been concluded.

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