Green Special Gate (2): Primitive Elves and the Crimson Dragon
Tatadak—
“...”
Elves appear on both sides and atop the trees. Four in total, all nocking arrows aimed at me.
Why?
No, more importantly, how are there even elves here? They said everyone had been evacuated before I entered.
“Hold on, I don't know why you're doing this, but I'm here on the queen's request!”
I shout that as I pull out the seal Silvaria had shoved into my hands in case of any trouble.
But the elves...
They spit out incomprehensible words.
Then they scowl at the seal I've drawn.
“...What's going on here? Dragon?”
Bern finally catches up and asks upon seeing the situation.
“How should I know?! I'm wondering the same thing right now!”
“What...?”
The elves keep their bows trained on me. I don't release the elf I'm holding either, eyeing them carefully.
A few things catch my notice. First, their outfits are different from any elves I've seen on Earth—like primitive clothes woven from leaves.
Second, they're all armed with bows. I saw earlier that Earth's elves can handle guns. Bows aren't used in real combat anymore unless it's for show or a specific Awakener.
Their gazes shift to Bern.
“What are they saying?”
“No idea. They have a structured language, but...”
It's not ours, Bern says.
“B-but after the gate incidents, the language barrier was supposed to be gone...?”
Ha-eun chimes in cautiously from behind.
There's a reason we could communicate seamlessly with other races like elves. A phenomenon brought by the gates' effects: the Babel effect.
Since the gates appeared, people on Earth could understand any language spoken or heard.
But that effect is useless here—these elves' words are total gibberish.
“...No translation magic?”
“As if the world has something that convenient...”
If that were possible...
Wait a sec. It doesn't have to be magic, right?
“You know, now that I think about it, there is something convenient like that.”
It's in my bag, but if I let go of this elf, they might attack again...
“Bern, hold this guy for a—”
Shring—
“Got it.”
“No no no, don't draw your sword first!”
Bern's blade hovers right in front of the elf's throat. Luckily, the elves just draw their bowstrings tighter—they haven't loosed yet.
Whew, seriously...
I frantically rummage through my bag and pull out one of my treasures.
A treasure that aids with language translation. I haven't used it since returning to Earth because the language issue vanished.
It's small, so I kept it just in case—and now it's coming in handy. It guzzles mana, though...
But communication is key.
“Ah, can you hear me?”
I hold the small fragment to my mouth and speak. The elves start to say something, so I quickly press it to my ear.
Still awkward. If only I'd fully restored it instead of just a fragment.
“...! Who are you! Why are you in our forest?”
“A dragon?! Those horns and tail! It looks like that red bastard!”
“Whoa, calm down first. We're just here exploring this gate at the elf queen's request.”
“Queen? Gate? What are you talking about?!”
Hmm... definitely not ordinary elves. They don't even know about the queen?
“Release the hostage!”
“Damn... those lizard scum...”
“What's with that elf next to it? A traitor?!”
“We must kill them now! In these chaotic times...!”
Ugh, headache. Speak one at a time, at least.
Withdrawal: 300,000 won
Details: Item Usage Fee
Damn, it chews through cash fast too.
“Hold on, let's talk it out. I'm from the Elf Holy Kingdom.”
“Holy Kingdom?”
“We must kill them! That's a hasty lie!”
“P-please ignore me and for the future of the elves...!”
But the conversation isn't progressing at all. And with the hostage ready to die, the mood shifts back to combat.
Whoosh—Bern sheathes his sword and grips another at his waist. Like he's ready to draw and decapitate the elf in front of him anytime.
“...Moonlight Sword?”
“No, the shape is slightly different. A fake?”
But the elves' eyes lock not on Bern, but the sword.
Bern, confirming that, grips harder and speaks.
“...Bena?”
“No. Wait. More importantly, isn't that sword an artifact?”
“It is.”
“They recognize it?”
“...”
Damn, frustrating. If this escalates to a real fight, how do I explain killing an elf to Silvaria?
“This guy's the elf Sword Saint or something? You don't know him?”
“That reptile dares insult us again!”
“The Sword Saint is only Lord Kairan!”
...Kairan?
Wait.
“Hold on. Kairan, you said?”
“Yes! Our rightful king and the chosen proxy of Etherian!”
...Long-winded title. From what I know, too many titles mean a short life.
Anyway, not the point. These elves call Kairan their king.
But... she's from at least ten thousand years ago. And not even from Earth.
Setting everything else aside, even if Kairan really is their king, as a woman, they'd recognize “queen,” right?
“...King? Wasn't Kairan a woman?”
“This bastard...”
“...Wasn't she?”
She was clearly a woman in yesterday's illustration?
Am I wrong? Well... elves would know better than me.
“...The hero Kairan was indeed female.”
Bern says so too? Who's right, then?
As I'm failing to grasp the situation—
———!!
A massive roar suddenly echoes from the sky.
“Shit!”
“So this was a ploy to stall us!”
A massive shadow looms overhead. I look up at the sky.
“Oh...?”
A dragon's form enters my vision. Scales a fearsome crimson. Even at high altitude, its enormous body is crystal clear. And the raging fury emanating from it.
Squeeze—
“G-Goldie...?”
Terra trembles, clinging to me as she senses the aura too.
First off, no such beast exists on Earth. I'd have noticed if it did.
Let me sort my thoughts. Primitive-clad elves before me, their king and proxy Kairan. And this unidentified colossal red dragon.
Hard to believe, but it all points to one conclusion.
No way. Is that the dragon that burned the World Tree?
Conditions met.
Gate collapse initiated.
But still.
“It's weaker than me?”
I could probably take it.
Unlike last time, we're ejected from the gate like we've been booted out in a hurry, and we head straight back to the Holy Kingdom's castle.
We try to report what we saw, but...
“I watched it all. Take this first.”
Silvaria hands me a cola with a grave expression.
Cola out of nowhere...?
“First... when we explored the gate, we didn't see anything like that.”
“Could be my special perk's effect.”
“And those on the screen were definitely elves, but...”
She says she has no idea about their language either.
But the colossal red dragon I witnessed? On that, Silvaria speaks with conviction.
“Comparing the broadcast dragon to the one that clashed with the mythical hero Kairan... the similarities are striking.”
Such dragons aren't common. Two at once is practically impossible.
Especially since it appeared inside a special gate, so Silvaria proposes a hypothesis.
“Could the gate be recreating the day Kairan beheaded that red dragon?”
Low odds, but not without merit. Gates are an utter mystery.
This one was an even weirder green special gate. Anything could happen.
Of course... it's still just a hypothesis.
“Ha-eun, know anything?”
“I-I'm not sure... Um, maybe my brother...”
Ha-eun averts her eyes as she says it. Doesn't seem keen on that option.
Fine, shelve it for now. Let's sort what we can figure out immediately.
“About Kairan—the elves called him a man. Anything on that?”
“Kairan is female in the myths. Beyond that, we don't know much...”
Plenty of inconsistencies when you think about it.
“If it's showing the day the World Tree burned, it doesn't match the records at all.”
King, not queen. Proxy, not hero. Etherian, not Holy Kingdom. And they recognized Bern's Moonlight Sword artifact.
“We're digging through remaining records, but...”
“Won't be easy. For a race that's crossed worlds over ten millennia.”
“Indeed. And... with this, your contract is complete.”
Elves behind her hand me capsules.
Our deal was to explore and clear the special gate—so yeah, it's done. The gate's cleared and vanished from the site.
We even got major intel inside.
From here, it's the elves' problem.
But.
“You didn't think I'd bail now, did you?”
“...”
“Get the contract papers. If you tell me to leave now, who knows what I'll do.”
I saw that ancient red dragon with my own eyes. Massive events are brewing—think I'd miss out?
Definitely bigger treasures waiting.
Plus, that message from the gate.
One step closer to the World Tree's Truth.
Status windows don't lie. If it's progress toward truth, then we're advancing—for better or worse.
“Terra, can you process this?”
“This is... t-too big. It'll take time, but yes, it's possible!...”
“You can do it?”
“Yes! I'll do my best!”
“Good, good. I'll share some if it works out.”
Great, processing that claw fragment into treasure will take a bit. Plenty of time to fix the World Tree issue.
“First contract clause is mine: I own all byproducts from solving this. And...”
We'll need to re-enter the gate anyway, so those byproducts are mine.
In exchange.
“I'll fully restore the World Tree.”
Silvaria's expression turns complex.
And at that moment.
Creeak—The reception room door opens cautiously, and Narsil enters—someone we hadn't seen.
As if fate is toying with us.
“...Northwest walls. A new green gate has appeared. Rank still unknown.”
She announces the new special gate.
“Narsil.”
“Yes.”
“Could you fetch a pen and paper?”
Looks like things are about to get fun.