Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: The Queen's Secret
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-Whack!!!
The staff slammed into my head. Fuck, why does she keep hitting me on the head? My brain cells are dying, you know? I wanted to argue, but no words came out properly. Damn it, even if I let everything else slide, this old hag won't.
The other elves caught me in my half-conscious state and propped me up. They laid me down beside the queen and fastened one end of the shackle that had been on my wrist to hers. Men and women shouldn't even touch after seven years old, and here these irreverent bastards were.
"This is..."
More importantly, the shackles they used on the queen and me were the problem. When it was just on my wrist, I hadn't noticed a thing, but now that it was connected to the queen, something felt different.
"My life force is draining away..."
No wonder I'd felt dizzy—it wasn't just from getting my head bashed. Life force, mana, purifying power—every bit of strength I had was slowly flowing through the shackle into the queen. So that's what the enchantment was for. My mind grew hazy like drowsiness overtaking me, and my eyes began to close.
Am I dying?
No, probably not. That much power wasn't draining out. It was more like getting an IV at the hospital—one drop, two drops at a time.
"Is it stable?"
Blanche's voice reached me through the fog.
"Yes. Extremely stable."
Someone checking my pulse.
"If too much flows, the queen might wake up."
"Don't worry. The Rope of Life is perfect."
"Keep monitoring for the time being. And tighten security."
"Yes, Lady Blanche."
The elves began burning some strange incense by my head.
Sandalwood? Cypress? Foxflower? Damn, my brain wasn't working. I couldn't even move my body. Meanwhile, my power kept draining away steadily through that "Rope of Life" or whatever. Not enough to kill me outright, but...
Wait.
Right, the mana wasn't draining enough to kill me all at once. Just a little at a time, like an IV drip, as I'd thought earlier.
So their goal wasn't to kill me.
They wanted to use me as the queen's auxiliary battery.
Figuring that much out was a relief, but...
Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do.
An intense sleepiness kept pulling at my eyelids. The Rope of Life, my ass. More like the Rope of Sleep. Rope of Sleep...
"Snore..."
Despite my desperate efforts to hold out, I finally closed my eyes.
* * *
Darión Silvanus opened his eyes in a strange place.
"Where...?"
The surroundings were pitch black. He waited for his eyes to adjust, then looked around. Not far off, he spotted familiar statues—the elven heroes who had protected Lüset from the invasion of the Cursed Land...
That meant Darión was in the underground crypt of Lüset's royal palace.
"Why am I here...?"
Darión muttered blankly. It wasn't a question expecting an answer. Just words spilling out as he tried to sort through his stunned mind.
But.
-Darión.
A response came.
A voice delicate yet powerful, beautiful yet fearsome.
It was the queen, Dianta's voice.
It sounded muffled and distant, like hearing it underwater, but he was certain it was her. Darión spoke into the void with a dazed expression.
"Queen... Your Majesty?"
-Ah, I knew you would hear my voice. My dear child. You've always listened closely to me since you were little.
"Of course. Though lately I haven't been able to see Your Majesty, how could I ever forget your voice..."
-Hush, Darión. We'll have plenty of time to exchange news later. For now, grant me my request.
"Request..."
Darión felt chills run through his body. The queen making a personal request was rare—nay, an honor.
"Anything, Your Majesty."
-Lend me your body.
"...Pardon?"
Despite her bold words, Darión stupidly asked her to repeat herself. Lend his body? Was such a thing even possible?
-Normally, your mother should have responded, but you're the one I can connect with now. So please, heed your queen's request.
"O-Of course..."
-I knew you'd say that. My lovely child of the Silver Forest, let's go help your friend together.
"Friend... you say?"
-Theodor.
Theodor! Hearing that name snapped all the forgotten memories back into place. Right, while passing through the dark elf villages one by one, he'd been kidnapped by a little dark elf girl in a carriage. And then, and... As the chaotic memories flooded in, Darión shook his head.
-Hush. Calm yourself, Darión. That child was me...
The queen had been the dark elf girl? Hard to believe. Darión unwittingly grimaced. How could a lowly dark elf child be the queen...
-I know it's hard to understand. I wanted to save that child before she committed more sins. I had no choice but to sacrifice you... But in the end, it helped. Now I can borrow your aid.
As the queen finished speaking, Darión glimpsed the truth unfolding in his mind. The little girl had teleported everyone in the dark elf village to an underground prison. She had planned to send Theodor's group to the seventh village's prison as well. But the queen had interfered with the child's soul, sending only Darión to the wrong place—the underground crypt of Lüset's royal palace.
-Time is short, Darión.
"...Y-Yes!"
-I'll put your soul to sleep for a while. Don't worry—close your eyes.
Darión obeyed, closing his eyes. Soon, he felt an unfamiliar yet somehow familiar soul and power settle into his body.
"Hoo..."
Queen Dianta's soul safely took root in Darión's body, and his eyes began to glow with her characteristic noble silver light.
Dianta waited a moment for her soul to adjust to Darión's body. It had wandered the "Dream Maze" for so long that settling properly took time. Of course, even so, it was much faster and stronger than interfering with the weakly connected dark elves. Probably because he was close blood kin.
Dianta clenched and unclenched her fist. Darión's mana surged wildly.
"This will do..."
It was fortunate that Darión's body meshed so well with her soul. Dianta—possessing Darión's body—quietly walked out of the royal palace crypt and headed for a secret passage only she knew.
* * *
-Pipipi...
A plump pipi fluttered before my eyes. Its short tail had this one long purple feather sticking out awkwardly, which was so funny I burst out laughing.
-Peep!
Pipi couldn't hold back and started pecking my crown. Hey, hey, you'll make me bald. This is a man's pride! I grabbed it to stop any more baldness—or rather, crown-pecking.
"No, but..."
How are you here? I muttered at pipi. I'd clearly gotten my head whacked by the elves and turned into the queen's backup battery...
-Piiiip!
While I was lost in thought, pipi thrashed wildly and escaped my hand. It flew off with a poof, landed on a tree branch, and casually preened its feathers.
"This tree..."
Lüset's Guardian Tree. Flowers on its branches were slowly blooming and wilting, blooming and wilting in repetition. Drawn like a moth to flame, I approached the Guardian Tree and placed my hand on its rough bark. The flowers stopped wilting and fully bloomed. Just like during the Proof Ritual.
At the same time, I could read the Guardian Tree's memories. Its memories were Lüset's history itself. Vast, endless recollections beyond words. Among them were memories of the current queen Dianta's birth and ascension.
And...
Memories from when the Guardian Tree was once a branch of the World Tree. The first ancient elf of Lüset had received that World Tree branch from the gods. That became Lüset's Guardian Tree.
The puzzle pieces fell into place.
"The queen is connected to the Guardian Tree, and the Guardian Tree to the World Tree..."
The three influenced each other. The World Tree to the Guardian Tree, the Guardian Tree to the queen.
That's why the queen had been trapped in her own front-yard Dream Maze.
"And the elf elders are exploiting this very moment."
When the kingdom's root—the queen—shakes, the wolves waiting for that instant pounce.
"But if the queen dies, it'll be a huge problem. That's why they're using me."
As a backup battery to keep her barely alive.
"So the top priority is finding the queen..."
Just dealing with Grizzle wouldn't solve it. Was the queen still in the Dream Maze? How do I even get to the Dream Maze?
As I pondered, a familiar voice echoed.
-...O...
-The... dor...
-...The...
Huh?
Is the queen calling my name right now?
Or did Blanche hit me too hard and mess up my brain?
Or...
"Am I dead?"
The moment that stupid thought crossed my mind, intense pain stung my cheek. Huh? Wait, pain? Isn't this the mental world?
-Smack!!!!
Now pain and sound too. Wait, wait! This hurts too much...!
-Smaaack!!!!
Whatever it was, the slaps on my cheek were getting rougher. Even through the haze, it hurt way more than Blanche's staff treatment. Why?
-Smaaaack!!!!
Pain beyond comprehension either knocks you out or wakes you up.
That's what happened to me.
"Gah!!!"
I shot up reflexively, like a student jolted awake by a teacher's knuckle rap during a boring class.
Looking around in a daze...
"You're awake."
Darión stood there, mana crackling menacingly in his hand.
No way—that's what hit me?!
"...Isn't this attempted murder?"