episode_0117

Pine trembled in fear.

Attacking the Daughter of God alone was enough to bring divine retribution upon her entire clan—

But she had attacked the God Herself.

She had shot an arrow at Serena, the Goddess of Light.

She had no choice but to shudder in terror,

no choice but to press her forehead to the ground and beg for forgiveness.

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

She apologized, even offering her life.

Then,

Lady Serena spoke.

“Attacking me is fine. You didn’t even prove it was really me, and my daughter blocked it well, so I’m not hurt.”

“Ahh…”

“But what you did to my friend Cain? I’m not forgiving that so easily.”

“I’m sorry!!! I’ll atone for that too!!!”

“You should apologize to Cain.”

“I sincerely apologize!!! Lord Cain!!!”

“Hmm…”

Cain, the friend of the Goddess of Light, Serena, hesitated before speaking.

“First, let me tell you about myself.”

“Huh?…”

“I’m from another world.”

“Another world?…”

“I’m an otherworlder who saw the future of this world through Serena’s power and then crossed over.”

“You saw the future?…”

“I did. A future where the World Tree is murdered by the elves, and the demons turn it into a zombie.”

“Ugh…”

“A future where elves, hearing the voice of the fake World Tree created by demons, turn themselves into zombies.”

“Everyone… becomes zombies?…”

“Yeah.”

“Ahh…”

“So I tried to change it. I was going to help—just one word from you, and I’d revive the World Tree and rewrite the future where the elf race perishes. But…”

Cain spoke, slightly annoyed.

“Those stubborn bastards kept insisting I shouldn’t help? Well… then there’s nothing I can do. Guess I’ll just watch you all die.”

“!!!!!!”

She was about to beg for help immediately.

But.

Cain’s words came faster.

“…But I’m not planning to abandon you completely. I don’t like the elves, but there’s at least one who bowed their head and asked for help.”

“Th-then!…”

“I do plan to help. But those guys didn’t bow, so I can’t help them properly.”

“Huh?…”

“First off, without the elves’ help, reviving the World Tree is impossible.”

Cain explained.

There were two things needed to revive the Great Mother, the World Tree:

1. A leaf left behind by the World Tree. 2. The elves’ plant-growth magic.

“First, just getting the World Tree’s leaf is a problem.”

The World Tree’s leaf is an elven treasure.

The elder holds it,

and just consuming it fully restores HP/MP while temporarily boosting all stats—the ultimate recovery/buff item.

It can be brewed into a World Tree Elixir for explosive buff effects,

or crafted into World Tree equipment.

Normally, you’d only get it after resolving the World Tree incident and earning the elves’ favor.

…Or so he explained.

“There’s a future where it’s resolved well?”

“There is.”

“What kind of future?”

“You stay with the elves for months, providing continuous mental care, then cooperate to exterminate the zombie World Tree.”

“And then?”

“You capture the demons controlling the zombie World Tree, then extract the World Tree’s soul trapped inside.”

“There’s a soul?!”

“There is. Saying goodbye to that soul is the best happy ending by prophecy RPG standards. By elven standards, it’s the ultimate happy ending.”

“Goodbye…?”

“But that’s the game’s story. Right now, if the conditions are met, reviving the World Tree isn’t just a dream.”

“!!!!!!”

“The problem is, I doubt those elf bastards will just hand over the World Tree’s leaf…”

“If it’s that, I’ll persuade them somehow and bring it!”

“You think they’ll give it?”

“Huh?…”

“I know you’re ignored in the village because you can’t use magic properly or shoot a bow well.”

“Ah… Ugh…”

“You think they’ll just hand it over if someone like you says, ‘I’ll save the World Tree, give me the leaf’?”

“B-but…”

“Those stubborn bastards would never give it. They’d just point fingers, calling you a disgrace for being tricked by a human, and that’d be it.”

“Ugh…”

Cain was right.

She couldn’t use magic properly,

couldn’t shoot a bow properly—she was the shame of the elves.

A stupid fool who couldn’t even use spirit magic right.

Would they listen if she spoke?

‘No way…’

Even she knew the chief wouldn’t listen to her.

“But if Lady Serena were to speak…”

“That won’t work.”

“Huh?…”

“Only the hero’s party knows that puppy is Serena. It’s top secret.”

“Top secret?…”

“It’s a secret we have no intention of revealing to anyone else.”

“I know what ‘top secret’ means… But why are you telling me this?…”

“Because you’re part of the hero’s party.”

“……What?”

“You’re part of the hero’s party.”

“……What?”

“I said, you’re part of the hero’s party.”

“Ah… Me, in the hero’s party? That’s impossible… How could a useless elf like me do something so great…”

“Really?”

“And… there’s already an elf who received the hero’s party crest… Peroo… the greatest archer of the elves, who’s also skilled in magic and spirit arts… A true hero…”

“Well… that guy did exist.”

Cain spoke.

A-rank Peroo.

The greatest archer of the elves,

the greatest mage of the elves,

and the greatest spirit-user of the elves—a hero with all three roles perfectly balanced.

A remarkably outstanding hero,

and at first glance, anyone would assume he was the hero party candidate.

But.

He wasn’t part of the hero’s party.

“Huh?…”

“That guy wasn’t a hero party candidate.”

“Th-that can’t be… He has the crest… There’s proof he’s a candidate…”

“It’s all fake.”

“Fake?”

“To be precise, the crest was misdelivered due to a distortion magic cast on the elven forest.”

Cain explained.

In the prophecy RPG, when they first visited the elven forest, they thought Peroo was a hero party candidate.

The elves said so,

and he had the crest, after all.

Plus, his stats were A-rank, so they recruited him into the party without suspicion.

But.

Peroo wasn’t a hero party candidate.

The distortion magic in the elven forest had misdelivered the crest.

“At first, it was hard to tell because the stats were similar.”

A level 1 A-rank and his stats were close enough.

So they assumed he was a level 1 A-rank.

But.

In reality, he was a level 50 B-rank.

Not a level 1 A-rank,

but a high-level B-rank.

That’s what he was.

As the hero’s party leveled up, the gap between him and the other A-rank members grew.

By mid-to-late game, he became so weak that fighting alongside him was a struggle.

But.

They still didn’t realize it.

They thought he was just strong early and weak later.

Or maybe he was a special awakening character.

After all, Alice was just a nuisance A-rank who’d team-kill if left unchecked,

but with the cursed ring controlling her magic outbursts, she became strong enough to be called A+-rank.

They thought Peroo was like that.

But.

After seeing the ending, they learned the truth.

Peroo wasn’t a hero party candidate—

he was just an ordinary person who got the crest due to distortion magic.

Of course,

he was still stronger than the average human.

He was B-rank, after all.

But.

He wasn’t fit for a hero’s party made up of A-ranks and above.

…That’s why Peroo couldn’t make a wish.

Because he wasn’t part of the hero’s party.

He didn’t even have the right to make a wish—one of the privileges of the hero’s party.

…That was the truth.

So then?

Who was the real hero party member?

It was you.

Elf Spirit-user Pine.

The A-rank magic DPS of the hero’s party.

…Or so he said.

“Huh?…”

“You’re the real hero party candidate.”

“Me?…”

“Yeah.”

“Haha… That’s ridiculous…”

“Is it?”

“Huh?…”

“From the start, being an A-rank—the standard for hero party candidates—doesn’t mean you’re strong right away.”

“Th-then?…”

“It means you have the potential to become A-rank.”

“Potential?…”

“You might be weak now, but with effort, you can become an A-rank powerhouse.”

“But… I’ve been trying… learning spirit arts… studying magic… practicing archery… I kept practicing, but I couldn’t do anything right…”

“Of course you couldn’t.”

“Huh?…”

“You have a talent for fire magic, but the elven forest only teaches water, wind, and earth attributes.”

“F-fire magic?…”

“Yeah. You’re an elf spirit-user with a genius-level talent for fire magic.”

This was why Pine was treated like trash in the elven village.

A fire mage,

in an environment where fire magic wasn’t taught.

Perhaps because they were a race that protected the forest.

They despised fire, which attacked the forest, so much that they didn’t even teach it.

She never knew she had a talent for fire.

But.

After receiving a fire magic tome from someone,

she awakened to her talent and grew rapidly stronger.

Or.

When she heard the World Tree’s soul begging to be killed—

when she resolved to end everything by burning her suffering mother away—

Pine’s talent finally shone.

Flame Mage Pine.

Elf Spirit-user Pine, who awakened through a contract with the flame spirit born from burning the World Tree.

That’s the Pine I know.

…Or so Lord Cain told her.

“I… have that kind of talent?…”

“You do.”

Additionally, after awakening as a flame mage, her other elemental talents would unlock, making her the ultimate spirit-user capable of wielding all elemental spirit magic.

But.

That was for later.

“For now, let’s start with fire magic.”

Cain pulled out a few magic books as he spoke.

“From now on, I’ll teach you. Trust me—the hero’s party’s teacher—and learn hard!”

“Yes! I’ll learn with all my heart!”

Lord Cain said I had talent.

So I was determined to learn hard, but—

Growl~

“Cain! Let’s eat first! I’m hungry!”

“Hmm… Should we eat first?”

“Yes! Let’s eat first!”

It was Lady Serena who demanded food,

so I couldn’t possibly say I wanted to learn magic right away.