episode_0116

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With the resolve that I would never help them unless they bowed their heads, I walked slowly.

If I walked away like this, the elves were finished.

No help from the hero,

no chance to revive the World Tree—everything would be over.

So.

They had to grab my leg at this point.

‘Please! Help us! Just say one word!’

That would be enough.

If they bowed their heads just once, I was ready to help them passionately.

“Hel…”

The elf village chief cautiously opened his mouth.

Yes!

You can do it!

Just say, “Help us!” That’s all you need to do!

“Hel…!”

Say it! Ask for help!

“Hel… Help?! We don’t need your damn help, you bastards!!!”

“?”

“How dare you insult us with lies! You mere humans! Do you really think you can revive the World Tree?!”

“Ah… So that’s how you’re going to be?”

“You’re no different from demons! A wicked race that deceives us!!! Get lost!!!”

The elf chief roared in fury.

“Hmm…”

The other elves all seemed to follow the chief’s lead.

Humans couldn’t be trusted.

There was no way mere humans could revive the World Tree.

…That was the vibe I got as they drove us away.

Well, fine.

“If that’s how you want to be, then I guess the World Tree is a lost cause.”

“We don’t need the help of some lowly race that dares to call our great mother by such a name! Get out of the forest!!!”

“Alright… Keep living like that, then. I’m leaving.”

I settled down a short distance from the elf refugee village and pondered.

‘Ugh, those stubborn mules.’

If they had just bowed their heads once, things would’ve gone smoothly.

But because they were a stiff-necked, old-fashioned race, everything got messed up.

‘What do I do now…?’

Honestly, the World Tree wasn’t a must-save.

In the original Prophecy RPG, there was no way to save or revive it before its death.

Its death was part of the original story.

Not saving the World Tree wouldn’t trigger any major event,

and it wouldn’t prevent me from building affection with the elf spirit priestess noona.

I only wanted to revive it because doing so would skyrocket her affection for me.

If it was too much trouble, I could just leave it be.

‘This route was the easiest way to woo the elf noona, so I was planning to go for it if possible, but…’

Forget it.

Seeing how those elves acted, I lost all desire to help them.

So.

Let’s stick to the original route.

Kill the World Tree zombie,

then travel with the grieving elf noona and slowly build affection.

…Or so I thought.

“Hero-nim!”

“?”

“Hahk!… Hahk!… Hero-nim!”

A beautiful green-haired elf noona came running toward me, her ample chest bouncing.

“Hahk!… Hahk!…”

She ran so frantically that she collapsed in front of me, gasping for breath.

“Please… Just help us once…”

And then she bowed her head.

Not just a slight bow—

her forehead touched the ground in a deep prostration.

It resembled a dogeza, the Japanese act of kneeling in apology.

This was unimaginable for the stiff-necked elves.

‘Wow… Never seen this before.’

The one bowing was the elf spirit priestess noona, who was supposed to join the hero’s party.

Phinae.

She was practically the only decent person among the elves, kind-hearted to the core.

But.

Right now, Phinae was still steeped in elven society.

She had only learned what the elves taught her,

and she only thought the way they wanted her to.

Because of that, her opinion of humans wasn’t great either.

‘In the game, after traveling with the hero’s party for just a week or two, she realized how much the elves had biased her against humans and apologized for misunderstanding them, but…’

Not yet.

She still thought poorly of humans.

So I asked her:

“Weren’t you the ones who didn’t trust us?”

“Yes… I still doubt you now…”

“Then why come?”

“I regretted doing nothing before… I don’t want to regret doing nothing again…”

“So that’s why you came?”

“Yes…”

“What about the other elves?”

“They said humans can’t be trusted… That resurrection magic is impossible… That there’s no way to bring back our great mother… That it’s all lies…”

“Well… That’s a normal way to think.”

In Prophecy RPG, resurrection magic didn’t exist.

Ah.

There was one exception.

The Holy Grail of Sacrifice.

If you sacrificed one max-affection companion, you could revive a dead ally.

But.

Since it required sacrificing someone,

it was more like an “ally exchange” than true resurrection.

‘Still, reviving the dead was technically possible, so many speculated that ancient resurrection magic might exist, but…’

No one ever found it.

So players agreed that Prophecy RPG had no proper resurrection magic.

…Given that,

it was only natural these people didn’t believe in resurrection magic.

No one had ever succeeded in using it before.

But.

If I showed them, they’d believe.

“Lia.”

“Yeah!”

Lia drew her sword.

“Sophia.”

“Ready.”

Sophia used sensory-blocking magic to nullify her pain.

“Phinae.”

“Huh?… How do you know my name?…”

“Never mind that. First, I’ll show you that resurrection magic exists.”

“Huh?”

“Show her.”

“Okay!”

Lia sliced Sophia in half.

Since her pain was blocked,

she died without a single scream.

“Wh… What?!… What did you just do?!… Killing your own comrade?!… Is this what the hero’s party does?!!”

“I’ll revive her right now, so watch.”

“Revive?”

Tap!

Lia lightly flicked Sophia’s corpse.

Sluurp!

The bisected Sophia merged back together.

“Ugh…”

Sophia woke up as naturally as someone rising from sleep.

Then,

she looked at Phinae and said:

“See?”

“Wh… What do I see?!… Huh?!… How?!… She was clearly dead…”

“Our hero can use resurrection magic. That’s how I came back.”

“Resurrection?… Just like that?… Huh?… Wait?…”

Phinae was bewildered.

Resurrection magic was real?

And it could be used this easily?

Her mind was in chaos from these thoughts when—

“Lia’s different from other heroes—she’s not someone you can explain with common sense. Normally, resurrection magic doesn’t exist.”

“Th… That’s right?… It shouldn’t be possible, right?… It can’t be this easy?…”

“Exactly.”

“Th… Then how did you just…”

“I told you. Lia is Selena’s daughter.”

“S… So that’s how this is possible?…”

“Right.”

“You mean… the real daughter of the Goddess of Light, Selena?…”

“Yes.”

“Th… That’s impossible… But… seeing resurrection magic used so easily… It might be true… Huh?… Wait?…”

Phinae clutched her head, slowly organizing her thoughts.

“Haa… Haa…”

She steadied her breathing and calmed down.

Then.

She immediately pressed her forehead to the ground in apology.

“I’m sorry!!!”

“Suddenly?”

“I doubted the daughter of the Goddess of Light, Selena, and even attacked her!!! I sincerely apologize!!!”

Ah…

Now that I think about it, yeah.

The elves had attacked even after hearing Lia was Selena’s daughter.

That was a challenge against a god,

a sin so grave their entire race could be struck down without complaint.

So.

Bowing her head to the ground in apology wasn’t strange.

But.

I had no intention of scolding Phinae for this.

She was going to be a comrade,

maybe even family.

I could let this slide.

“It’s fine, so calm down and take a seat.”

“Thank you!!!”

After bowing at a perfect 90-degree angle, Phinae noona sat down with a tense expression.

In Prophecy RPG, she wasn’t like this.

She was relaxed, gentle, and kind.

But now, she looked like a soldier.

‘Is she nervous because she’s with the daughter of the Goddess of Light?’

Could be.

Elves were a devout race.

But.

The Phinae noona I liked was the easygoing one.

So I spoke lightly.

“Relax, no need to be nervous.”

“Ah… Understood!”

“Seriously, it’s fine.”

“Yes! I heard you!”

“No, I mean—just relax… Never mind…”

Now that I thought about it, telling someone to relax and expecting them to actually relax was weird.

‘I’d be the same.’

Back in my military days,

if a division commander patted my shoulder and told me to relax, what would happen if I actually relaxed?

‘I’d be screwed.’

“Oh, so you’re making yourself at home? Is the army your house? You think this is a joke?”

I’d get chewed out.

So.

Of course she couldn’t relax.

If a senior just one rank above was terrifying,

how much more terrifying would a god—a being of heaven and earth—be?

…Thinking like that,

being told to “relax” might actually be scarier.

So.

I had to approach this differently…

“Relax. If Cain says it’s fine, I won’t smite you or anything.”

“Huh?… Sm… Smite me?…”

“The Goddess of Light, Selena, is saying this herself, so relax and make yourself comfortable.”

“The Goddess of Light, Selena, is speaking… directly?…”

“Yep?”

“Selena-nim?…”

“Yeah! She’s my mom! Her real body’s in the divine realm, but right now, she’s possessing this dog plushie.”

“Th… Then…”

Phinae’s face began turning pale.

“We… We shot arrows at the Goddess of Light, Selena… We’re unforgivable sinners?…”

Phinae pressed her forehead to the ground at the speed of light.

“I… I’m sorry!!! I’ll atone for this sin with my life!!!”

(AI-generated elf spirit priestess Phinae.)