A Letter from the Master
The Great Forest lay in the southwest of the Seosin Continent. Since it was inhabited primarily by elves, humans rarely ventured there. That was why the place had remained utterly quiet until recently—until a bloody wind began to howl through its trees.
“Hahk! Hah!”
A girl sprinted barefoot down the forest path like a madwoman. Her body was covered in countless small wounds, her hair a tangled mess. The clothes she wore could hardly be called clothing anymore; they were little more than rags. If her kin had seen her in such a state, they would have screamed in outrage. How could an elf abandon her noble dignity like this? As a proud child of the forest, shouldn’t she have stood and fought the enemy instead?
But the kin who might have said such things were already corpses scattered throughout the forest. Their bodies would soon become a single meal for the horrific monsters. Parents, friends, neighbors—everyone she held dear had been lost.
As the girl ran and ran, she recalled the final words of the elder who had stayed behind to fight.
—You must warn the neighboring tribes. Do not hesitate. Go, quickly.
Messengers had already been sent long ago. The elder had spoken those words anyway, perhaps to give one more child a chance to survive, or to ease the guilt of abandoning her people.
‘Just a little more. A little further and…’
She could live. She could deliver this tragic news. She could fulfill the elder’s first and final request.
Clinging to that thought, the girl forced her ragged breaths to steady.
Chwaak!
Without warning, searing pain tore across her back and she pitched forward.
“Aagh!”
A whip-like tentacle had raked across her spine. Fabric and flesh peeled away in an instant, blood pouring down in streams.
“Kgh…! Kk!”
The girl tried to push herself up from the ground, but before she could, another tentacle coiled around her ankle.
Chwaak! Puk puk!
“Aahh!!”
Blade-like spines along the tentacle sank deep into her skin. Agony exploded through her; her vision flashed white. She thrashed in vain as her body was dragged helplessly toward the monster.
Grrrk.
A massive maw filled her sight. Its mouth, already stained with the blood of countless elves, gaped wide.
The girl struggled desperately, but her strength had long since run out. Blood streamed from her back and ankle; her vision began to blur. When she realized escape was impossible, despair crept in. It would be easier to simply let go. Better to accept it.
“Close your eyes.”
A whisper reached her from somewhere.
The girl thought it would be the last thing she ever heard. But the monster’s grotesque sounds suddenly ceased, and the dragging sensation stopped.
She couldn’t understand what had happened. Fear of death and resignation to her fate were both swept aside by sheer curiosity. Slowly, she opened the eyes she had squeezed shut.
“I told you to close them.”
Crack. Crunch.
“Why don’t you ever listen, pointy-ear?”
The moment she heard those words, only one thought filled the elf girl’s mind.
Pointy-ear? Pointy-ear?
That was an insult other races used to mock elves. So why was another elf—the one standing before her—saying it?
“Honestly, this is why I hate pointy-ears. Never listen, always so full of themselves.”
No, but you’re a pointy-ear too, aren’t you? The girl wanted to ask, even in this absurd situation.
Chwaak!
A violet spear was pulled free from the now-motionless corpse of the monster. Black blood dripped from the blade, and foul smoke rose wherever it touched the ground.
“Hey.”
“……”
“Hey!”
“Y-yes?”
“You came from inside the forest, right?”
“Th-that’s right.”
“Any other survivors besides you?”
The girl nodded. She should have felt grief as she confirmed there were none, yet the sudden appearance of this elf woman had left her too stunned to process it.
What color had been mixed into the sky to create that shade? Sunlight? Silver? Or perhaps some other gemstone? It was a color she had never seen before. At first glance it looked like brilliantly shining hair, yet it also resembled a cloudless sky.
And the elf woman’s eyes—those blue eyes that seemed to gaze straight through her, beautiful yet somehow freezing.
“Ah, seriously.”
The elf woman leapt down from the monster’s corpse and drove her violet spear into the ground right beside the girl.
Kwajik!
“Hiiik!”
“Hey. Are you mute? Answer me. Are there any survivors deeper in the forest or not?”
“Ah… I-I don’t know. I just ran…”
“Is that so?”
The elf woman, Jenia Violet, muttered to herself while stroking her chin, then yanked the spear free. Up close, the girl realized it was no ordinary weapon.
‘H-how is it so huge…?’
It was a massive polearm that radiated an intimidating aura. The blade gleamed with an eerie light, and she could almost hear a low, ominous hum coming from it.
She had never seen an elf wield a spear before. Most of her kin preferred bows, swords, or magic. In elven society, spears were considered inferior. Yet this woman swung hers without the slightest hesitation.
Wielding a spear. Calling her own kin “pointy-ear.”
Who on earth was this elf?
“Hero-nim! Hero-nim!!”
A man came running up, panting heavily. The word he used made the elf girl’s breath catch.
Hero. He had definitely said “hero.”
She had heard rumors of the heroes who had appeared across the continent, though the elves paid little attention to such matters. Still, one detail remained in her memory: among the eight heroes, there was only one who wielded a spear.
“Hah, hah… Hero-nim. Have you finished here?”
“Ages ago. How about your side?”
“We just concluded our engagement. Fortunately, there were no casualties—”
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“The only mid-grade monster here was the one I just skewered. Don’t tell me you suffered casualties against low-grade monsters. I’d rather not hear that kind of nonsense.”
“M-my apologies.”
“Be careful. I didn’t make you my adjutant so you could handle trivial matters. Your job is to cut down the useless ones. The ones who have no skill and only want to ride on my reputation. If you’re going to worry about anything else, hand the position back.”
The man shook his head vigorously, swearing he would live up to her expectations and never disappoint her. He even vowed to give strict warnings to the injured.
“Good.”
The Spear Hero, Jenia Violet, nodded in satisfaction. When her expression softened, the adjutant spoke carefully.
“Then, Hero-nim, what will you do now?”
“What else? We advance. From now on, assume there are no survivors inside. Treat anyone who approaches as a monster, a demon beast, or a Demon God Worshipper. Tell everyone to stay sharp and fight properly.”
“Understood. I’ll pass it along. Ah, and this child…”
Though injured, her wounds weren’t fatal, yet she couldn’t move on her own. That was why he asked.
“……”
Jenia stared at the elf girl for a moment, then spoke in a cold voice.
“Get rid of her.”
“Yes, understood.”
The man approached the girl quietly. “I won’t do anything, so don’t worry,” he said, then lifted her into his arms.
“Also, Hero-nim. This arrived just now.”
He held out a letter. Jenia snatched it at once. Very few people in the world would send her a letter, and if one of them had, it had to be important news.
Shrrrk.
She read the contents. The adjutant waited, wondering if the letter might change their orders. Instead, he found himself more flustered than when facing a high-grade monster.
The Spear Hero, whose demeanor was usually so harsh and sharp that it was a miracle she hadn’t impaled her own followers, was now…
“…Heh, ehehehe…”
…wearing a blissful smile, one that even looked slightly foolish.
“Hero-nim?”
“Hiee! Hehehe!”
“H-Hero-nim?”
“K-khem! Ahem. What are you doing? Aren’t we moving?”
“Ah… Y-yes. We’re going. So please stop glaring at me like that.”
That piercing gaze alone felt like being stabbed by her spear. Once the man had finally left with the elf girl, Jenia unfolded the letter again and read it several more times.
“Master… Master…! Hic, hah! Hik! Ahaha!”
Her face flushed crimson as she fidgeted, looking nothing like the dignified, noble elf she was supposed to be.
“Master, I’m coming soon. Just wait a little longer. I’ll stand proudly by your side, more than anyone else…”
Muttering to herself, Jenia swung her massive violet spear wildly. She had already planned to slaughter every monster in the Great Forest, but with such joyful news, she couldn’t afford to waste even a single second. She had to reach her master before that fox-like woman could wag her tail again.
The letter had not been sent to Jenia Violet alone. Messenger birds flew across the continent, each carrying a letter to its intended recipient. One arrived at a massive magic research institute in the central region. Another reached a group that had just set out. Yet another landed at the entrance of a dark, gloomy underground cave.
Though the locations and recipients differed, their reactions upon reading the letters were the same.
—Master has appeared.
—My great master. My respected hero. My benevolent parent.
Each of them used different words to describe him, but they all reached the same conclusion.
—I will stand before him more proudly than anyone else.
With the monsters’ movements having briefly subsided, the heroes who had been resting began to rise once more from every direction, preparing to patrol the outer regions where threats were steadily increasing.