Episode 159
Now that we have confirmed the situation, there is no reason to delay.
We immediately left the territory and headed for the Dark Forest.
“…Mmm.”
It was just like crossing the border of the empire.
Mia looked over there with a dark expression and murmured.
“The ground is crying. resentment…Originally, it wasn’t this deep.”
“Aither’s grudge?”
“huh.”
She stopped for a moment as if she couldn’t understand it, touched the ground, and then shook her head.
“Something is strange. usually…No matter how many years have passed, it makes no sense that the grudge would suddenly grow like this in such a short period of time.”
“That’s right.”
Aether’s resentment had been growing for a long time indeed.
It is only natural that the grudge is so great because so many years have passed.
The problem is that this resentment is growing too fast.
Even the long-accumulated resentment could not cross the borders of the Dark Forest.
However, in those few years, the resentment had grown so thick that it could be felt even near the borders of the Empire beyond the borders of the Dark Forest.
‘Was it like this?’
Now, this change can be felt because she is Mia, an apprentice shaman.
Before the regression, no one would have been able to properly detect even this change.
Mia and Hedos were eaten by Baalzebub, and the church was barely able to organize an expedition.
So without any hindrance.
The madness in the dark forest would have easily spread outside the forest.
…madness?
no no
This is a grudge twisted to the limit.
The pure malice of wanting to make life mad and ruin it.
‘It’s a damn thing.’
A smile twisted on his lips.
Information about the ancestry of the elves was recorded in Remegeton.
Dark Aether.
Brilliant Hemera.
The two were famous among the ancient elves as being uniquely beautiful and outstanding.
It is not known what kind of discord there was between the two and how Aether was drawn.
But there must have been something.
It was an incident in which the sisterly relationship, which had been so strong, was twisted and irreversible.
Of course it’s not my business.
‘I shouldn’t have let my descendants get involved in my grudge.’
No matter how noble it was in the past, the current Aither is no more or less than an evil that seeks to spread malice beyond the forest to the world.
Understand the situation, but do not hesitate to punish.
that’s my theory
Anyway, I felt like I could move on foot now.
“The words end here. Anything more than this is going to be hard because of this goddamn weird vibe. I’m afraid I’m not going forward.”
Rian said that and got off the horse.
As the guy said, the horses couldn’t go any further.
The butler also stopped talking.
“It is impossible to force the horses to lead. As Confucius said, it would be better to walk from here.”
We released the horses.
As soon as we let go of the reins, the horses whined and ran away in the opposite direction.
“At this rate, it would be difficult to reach the forest within today. It’s getting pretty dark, so let’s just sleep here today.”
“Yes, I will.”
After the butler answered, he skillfully began to spread the tent.
* * *
Darkness was wriggling.
dark forest.
As if it wasn’t called that for nothing, the forest was full of darkness.
Even the trees that fill the ground are pitch-black.
And a huge kingdom at its center.
< Dock Alphaheim >.
There was an elf there.
An exceptionally heterogeneous existence in this place full of pitch black everywhere.
Would it feel like this if ‘nobility’ was literally carved?
Her bright blonde hair glows softly even in the dark, and her purple eyes are like jewels crafted by a sophisticated sculptor.
She was looking down at the forest from the tallest jet-black spire, wearing a dress woven of silver thread.
“How are you, Aether-sama?”
“Not bad.”
The woman called Aether looked back slowly as she said that.
A Dark Elf male stood at the end of her line of sight.
He wore a crown on his head with luxurious clothes.
A coffin that was only allowed to one person in this ‘Dock Alphaheim’.
Dark Lord Brakrion.
He was staring at ‘Aether’ with warm eyes.
“It is a monumental day. ‘Charon’ has more than half of the seats. It is unprecedented in history.”
“…Hmm.”
“You will not be disappointed.”
Ancestor of the great Dark Elves.
After all, Aether was no different from the mother of all Dark Elves.
He got down on his knees slowly.
“Life has to cycle. We have been waiting for our great Mother to visit us again.”
Aether did not accept the darkness from the beginning. At first, she, like her sister, was an ordinary elf.
like right now
‘Aether’ looked down at such a king with unknown eyes.
Then he turned his head to look back at the forest and continued.
“It’s malice that won’t be strange no matter when it explodes. If this is enough, we can achieve what we want.”
“That’s right.”
Brakrion nodded with a thrilled expression.
‘Aither’ looked at him like that, smiled and continued.
“By the way, it is very significant that Caron won the majority of seats. It means that the voices of wise men who have realized the contradiction of the forest have risen.”
“Your mother is right.”
Brakrion remembers.
When this ‘Mother’ came to the forest.
She easily defeated the evil that was eating away at the forest and appeared in front of everyone.
Appearance like the ancestors in the legend.
A unique pious atmosphere that makes you instinctively kneel… ….
furthermore. She had a symbol.
A miraculous symbol that can only be believed as ‘Aether’.
“Remember, King.”
She displayed a long staff in front of the king.
The staff was twisted like a snake riding on it.
The nature of grief.
A Dark Elf holy relic known to have been used only by Aether in legend.
“I, ‘Aether’, do not want my hatred to be confined in this forest. Are you selfish? Yes, it’s selfish. But wasn’t that also natural?”
“That’s right.”
“The one who imprisoned me in this forest and abetted hatred and resentment was none other than the current human race. After all, everyone is responsible for this hatred. Rather, it’s funny that only me and my children were dealing with it unilaterally. What if that ‘hate’ goes outside?”
‘Aether’ smiled bleakly.
She knows the contradiction of Charon’s argument.
They are making an absurd claim that all mankind will become one with the ancestors’ hatred and resentment and progress further… ….
All are just excuses.
What she is saying right now is actually the true heart of the extreme clique called Charon.
“Unlike us who have adapted, humanity will doubt each other and die and kill without adapting.”
“is it so. Then we no longer need to be locked up. Finally, our clan can stand tall as victors.”
It was a sweet offer, like a whisper from the devil.
okay.
He spent a long time confined in the forest, humiliating.
really…It was a series of years that he could only lament as a king.
Yes, could there be a sweeter offer than this?
As long as their interests were aligned, it was natural for the king to regard her as the second coming of his ancestors and follow her wholeheartedly.
“What can I do?”
“On this happy day, I must do the most valuable thing. Shall we see the shrine maiden today?”
‘Aether’ spoke with a benevolent smile.
“First, I need to check how mature my malice is.”
* * *
The night sky was unnecessarily clear.
Tens of thousands of stars adorned the night sky.
Just looking at the sky, it was hard to believe that this was the place where Aether’s malice touched.
“…It is the night sky.”
Strangely, it reminded me of the past.
Memories of the days of the expedition led by Siegfried before returning.
– The damn sky is still the same. Anyone who sees it can believe that it is a peaceful place.
– May you have peace of mind. peace of mind.
– It’s not even funny. Where will the world come from having peace?
– I agree with that statement. It has become a very crappy world.
A saintess who used to look up at the sky with a pessimistic expression, but was so bad-mouthed that she was told to put on a pretense around the beast king.
Jihad, the fairy king, smiled bitterly at us.
And damn Siegfried.
There were times when Ryan was there for circumstances, but there were more times when he wasn’t there.
…Whatever.
My memory of being tangled with Siegfried was hardly good, but I remember that the night sky I saw before falling asleep was quite satisfying.
“What are you looking at?”
As I was staring at the night sky, I heard a voice from behind.
was lost
“Why are you talking to me?”
Kyaaak always! I must have been busy widening the distance like a cat.
Mia was startled, but did not stop approaching.
“What’s wrong with me coming? Besides, this isn’t anything to do with me… …”
“Well, that’s right.”
This incident is directly related to Mia.
The apprentice priestess was the key to this job.
Mia approached step by step and cautiously sat next to me.
“…Besides that, there are things I need to reveal to the hero.”
She wiggled her fingers for a moment and was silent.
After a while, he spoke cautiously.
“You mean a shaman. Actually, it’s more complicated than you think. First of all, my older sister… …That’s why the current shrine maiden is the same.”
“What if it’s a complicated being?”
“I wonder if it was like that…I don’t know. But at least my sister and I are a little special.”
After saying that, she stared blankly at the night sky.
“From my sister’s point of view, it would have been much easier for her to hand it over to me. If so, hehe… …No, I don’t know if I could have been with my dad.”
“Was the shrine maiden’s position something that could be passed on so easily?”
“I don’t know. But giving up everything for me wouldn’t have been a happy option for her.”
“I see.”
It seems that the current shaman and the apprentice shaman, Mia, were quite friendly.
I quietly listened to her.
Memories with my older sister, the burden of being an apprentice shrine maiden, how much pain a shrine maiden has to bear… …
Such stories flowed out of Mia’s mouth one after another.
There was some information I knew, and some I had never heard of.
In any case, it was something worth listening to.
Mia, who had been talking for a long time, organized her words.
“…Anyway, that’s what I want to say. You might have done it because you had to, but anyway, thank you for coming with me like this.”
“Thank you…”
I looked at Mia quietly.
apprentice maiden.
She is a girl who was supposed to be on a thorny path.
And now, she is in the same situation as volunteering to go down that thorny path.
But even so, he chose to accompany me anyway.
No, judging from the fact that he thanked me, he must have thought of solving it somehow from the beginning.
Either way.
“By the way, I have a question for you.”
“Ask me anything!”
Mia nodded and looked at me.
Mia looked like a young dark elf.
“How were the Dark Elves you’ve been watching?”
“That should change.”
An answer without the slightest hesitation.
“I think we need to break free from hatred and free ourselves from the spell of ‘Aether.’ It won’t be easy.”
“Right.”
I nodded.
is that your answer
I turned my gaze to the night sky again, hiding my feelings.
The night sky was still beautiful.
Great mage who transcends by regression
