Episode 168. The area of the elven city, Rastilia
Great Forest, was not accurately measured, but from what I experienced in the game, I thought it might be about twice the size of the empire.
Considering that the Rodelene Empire is the largest country on the continent, it may seem large, but considering the numerous races living within it, it was not that big.
‘It’s a wonderful view.’
We arrived on a griffin, one of the mounts of the elves, but Rastilia’s wind knights rode instead of horses.
Rastilia, the city of the Great Forest Elves who followed Aimir, was called a city, but its size was comparable to a small kingdom.
Of course, most of the territory was made up of forests, but the scene unfolding before my eyes was something I had never seen before.
“Welcome to Rastilia.”
Aimir said with a smile.
I didn’t mean to show off, but it seems that I was admiring it.
“thank you.”
“Isn’t it very different from human cities?”
“yes. That’s amazing.”
I honestly nodded.
If the village of the Hwanin tribe was a charming scenery that seemed to come out of a fairy tale, this place was a definite ‘city’ that felt grandeur and mystery.
Above all, a tree that draws attention and cannot be expressed even in the word huge, or gigantic, made me shudder.
It is a tree said to have been gifted to the elves by the gods they worship.
It was ‘World Tree’.
“Come on, Amir.”
Aymir’s escort urged.
He spoke while being wary of his surroundings, but it seemed to be because of the stinging stares he felt from all sides.
“human?”
“A human is here.”
“Who is it?”
Rastilia was a place where access to outsiders was strictly controlled.
When entering, it was physically impossible to enter because you had to pass through a barrier made of magic circles, not just entering.
“I think we should go in quickly.”
“All right.”
I didn’t want to cause trouble for nothing, so I stopped looking at the city and ran after the party at a brisk pace.
The place we got off at Griffin was not far from the high priest’s residence, so we were able to arrive after a short walk.
‘It’s a bit annoying that I came alone.’
The elves of Rastilia had no concept of a king.
The elders of various families and the priests of the gods served by the elves coordinated the management of the city.
Of course, the god they serve is an ancient god that existed.
smart.
“This is Amir, Hegriu. I have brought guests.”
The high priest’s residence was more modest than expected.
It was a small cottage with a pond in the inner corner of splendid and magnificent Rastilia.
It didn’t look like someone was guarding the door, nor did they have a servant.
Sigh.
“Would you like to come? ah! You are the one who holds the seed. Thank you for coming all the way. My name is Hagriu, the former priest of Rastilia and the first breath of the forest.”
“My name is Adrias Cromwell. nice to meet you.”
I was a little surprised by the story of having a seed, but I passed it on calmly.
It seems that I can really communicate with God.
After a light greeting, entering her cabin was the interior of a typical family home.
For a high priest of Rastilia, he lived a very frugal life.
If you look at the position, it is higher than the Archbishop of Kasion Holy Land or similar to the Pope.
“I will serve the car.”
“Hegriu-nim, I will bring you!”
Aimir hurriedly tried to step out, but Hagriu waved his hand with a wrinkled smile.
“Now you are my guest too, so let me serve you.”
“All right.”
Relaxed.
Based on the information I knew, I thought that the corruption of the World Tree had already progressed quite a bit.
I don’t know if the elves are aware of the situation, but what I’ve felt while looking around so far is that they may not be aware of the seriousness of the situation more than I thought.
“I’m sorry for bringing you all this far away. You couldn’t be far from the World Tree, so I invited you out of necessity.”
Hegriu, who had served the car, lowered his head and said.
I shook my head at her excessively polite appearance.
“no. Thanks to you, I am just happy to be able to see Lastilia with my own eyes.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
“If you don’t mind me, can you tell me why you invited me?”
I heard a story about receiving an oracle.
What I’m curious about is the contents of the trust.
The god the elves worship was, as far as I know, an ancient god called ‘Tapio’.
‘Am I bound to this space like Lethe?’
The ancient gods had long since disappeared.
However, seeing that the World Tree, the divine object of Tapio, is still alive and descending to the oracle, it seems to have remained as in the case of Lete.
In fact, in the game, I didn’t know much about the ancient mythological age, but I was able to clear the game enough, so I wasn’t very interested. It was only now that I realized that this series of events had something to do with ancient times, but at the time I thought it was just a setup for Hidden Peace.
“I heard the story from Amir. There are people who understand that we have a problem and want to help. To be honest, we don’t need any help. As expected, there are small problems, but they are not big enough to enlist outside help.”
“But why me?”
“The trust came down after almost 200 years. The person who embraced the seed visited the Great Forest, so it was an instruction to lead him to the World Tree.”
It’s an oracle that coolly scratches an itchy spot.
According to him, it was as if I had the opportunity to visit the World Tree myself.
“How did you confirm that it was me who had the seed? There were two other outsiders besides me.”
“I noticed that.”
Amir, who had been listening to the story, interrupted.
“I have a sense that is inherited with a rare probability only in the Palalem family. With that sense, I knew that Adrias-nim was the person Hegriu-nim talked about.”
Oh, that was it.
Is that why Maximin and Isabelle were also called to Mercure’s house to check on them?
Aimir’s characteristics were already known from the game.
Her trait had no name and was simply called Intuition.
Instead, the only subjects that his intuition worked with were intelligent races and individuals such as elves and humans.
‘If my intuition worked in all situations, I should have realized that the World Tree is corrupting.’
Judging by their attitude, they don’t seem to know that the world tree is corrupting.
The oracle is also funny. I don’t know why they didn’t tell me that the world tree was corrupting and just told me to bring it.
I felt it while experiencing Lethe, but as an ordinary human being, I could not fathom the will or will of God.
“Then are you going to see the world tree right now?”
“hmm….”
I won’t have time or space.
He wanted to immediately run to the World Tree and figure out the problem with his own two eyes, but Hagriu let out a drool.
“I ordered Adrias-nim to come first, but the meeting is still in progress.”
Amir spoke on behalf of Hegriu.
“A meeting?”
“The contents of the oracle have also been passed on to the elders of this city. Now, because of that, a meeting of elders has been held and we have been unable to make a decision for several days.”
“Are you saying this is a meeting about my going to the World Tree?”
“yes. After all, it’s not an ordinary problem to lead an outsider or a different race to the World Tree.”
No, they’re having a meeting about whether I’m going to the World Tree or not, putting aside the big issue?
These gentlemen are shoveling very hard. I can see why it was like that in the future.
For reference, when the main story of the fallen world tree begins, Rastilia has already been destroyed.
Since it was destroyed in an instant due to the corrupted World Tree, there were no rumors about it.
“This is why it took four days to invite Adrias. At first, even inviting Adrias-sama was met with fierce opposition.”
“For now, I have succeeded in inviting Lady Adrias by pushing through with my authority, but the possibility of achieving the oracle is slim. We elves are very closed, so the situation is not positive.”
Aimir and Hegriu spoke in turn.
Then you could have asked why I invited you, but I said that the beginning was half.
Since you’ve already reached Rastilia, you’ll have to see the end.
You can eat one main story for free, and if it goes well, you can buy the favor of the elves.
Above all, the rewards to be obtained by saving the world tree were not easy.
‘If you solve the Corrupted World Tree episode, you will receive an equipment set and various rare materials as well as achievement rewards.’
The reason I’m more excited is that the world tree has much better specifications than the fallen world tree.
The equipment set of the Fallen World Tree is also a huge item at this point, but can you get a better item than that?
Gotta go even if I can’t eat it.
“How long can I stay here?”
“ah! No worries about that. Since you’ve already been invited, Adrias is a guest in Rastilia. You can stay as long as you like.”
As Amir spoke, he suddenly tilted his head.
“Adrias?”
“yes. Please speak.”
“hmm…no.”
Did you read something with your intuition?
Even if I read it, it didn’t matter.
I had no malice at all because what I was plotting was to save the elves.
“Then let me take care of you a little.”
* * *
After briefly talking with High Priest Hegriu, I headed to the lodging where I would be staying.
I know that Maximin and Isabelle are waiting in the village of the Hwanin tribe, but I’m sorry that the world tree comes first, but I thought I’d have to stay here for a few days.
“Is he the person invited this time?”
As I was leaving Hegriu’s house and following Amir, someone blocked my path.
“Foram, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see if you’re qualified.”
If it was Foram, it was a villain secretly corrupting the World Tree along with Seir.
Having already noticed his true identity, I could see that he never came to me with good intentions.
“Back off. I feel that your intentions are impure.”
As Amir also has intuition, he seemed to have read the other person’s intentions right away.
“Impurity? I just don’t like that we elves’ land is polluted by dirty, ugly human feet.”
Sreung!
Poram, who pulled out his sword without hesitation, revealed his will to live.
“Meryl! Whoike!”
Aimir urgently called out the names of the escorts, but I couldn’t help but frown upon hearing them.
They were Amir’s escorts who thought they were just extras and didn’t care, but I knew who they were the moment I heard their name.
‘It’s twisted. Was it in a hurry because I could go to meet the World Tree? Well, I must have thought that things could go wrong in the yard that came down to the oracle.’
Meryl Huike.
Both of them were a team with the breath of Seir.
As far as I know, these two don’t know about the corruption of the World Tree, but they were extreme elf supremacists, so they fell for Seir’s flattery.
I felt it every time in the game, but Amir’s intuition was lacking by 2%.
Whoo!
Break love!
I swung the sword first before me and the two escorts surrounding Aimir stepped forward.
The black sword was carried by the sword wind and attacked Poram.
Quaang-!
“Keugh.”
Perhaps not expecting my sudden attack, Poram drew his sword first and fell back with great damage.
At the same time, Merrill and Huike, who were hesitant, drew their swords and started attacking me.
“Adrias? Meryl? Huike? What are you all doing?”
Before you ask, know with your intuition and notice.
I shattered Meryl’s sword in an instant and charged Huike.
Perhaps underestimating my skills, Huike swung his sword in a panic, then slashed into the air and was quickly caught by me.
Fuck!
I didn’t know how to stun properly, so I hit it without controlling my strength.
Killing them would make matters worse, so I couldn’t kill them.
Awesome!
Poram came to his senses and swung his sword sharply.
As far as I know, his skills are far below Seir’s.
Considering that Seir, the leader of the Wind Knights, was an Aura Master, he was a confident enough opponent.
Kagagagak!
‘But it’s a bit strange.’
Is it much easier than I thought?
Are you powering down?
Push!
“Kuk.”
In the end, Poram, who was deeply stabbed in the shoulder by my sword, dropped his sword.
“Nonsense. How could a human at best have such swordsmanship?”
“…Are you serious?”
Have I become stronger
To be honest, I was bewildered because I won so easily.
“You can easily subdue Poram… ….”
Seeing that even Amir reacted like that, I must have gotten stronger.
Or maybe I overestimated Poram’s skills… ….
“Adrias-sama, I don’t know what the hell happened to this, but please spare his life. I will investigate the details of this incident and reward you properly.”
She already knew from her intuition that Poram had come with bad intentions from the beginning, so even if I attacked her first, she seemed to understand.
It’s only natural that I’m not crazy enough to start a fight on the elves’ home ground in the first place.
“What’s going on?”
At that time, the elves gathered from here and there, as if they had heard the commotion.
And some of them were completely unexpected.
“Elder Hugen!”
Amir called out his name.
Hugen Cordalbe Craxia.
An Aura Master Elf and the strongest swordsman among elves.
He stood facing me.
