Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The World Tree Shakes Its Branches (1)
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I'd spent two full days resting.
Now, when I opened my eyes, there was no more pain.
It was a bit regrettable that they were still red and bloodshot, though.
We were in the process of leaving the baron's territory.
"Your recovery was faster than expected."
"That's a good thing."
Purrung—
The horse I was riding let out a soft whinny.
Right now, we were just walking slowly, but once we started galloping, it'd get boring again.
At that moment, someone came running from afar.
"Wait a moment!"
"Hm?"
She looked youngish.
Approaching auntie age.
Definitely older than me, though.
"You're the one who was doing divinations, right?"
"The divinations are over."
Her expression looked quite urgent.
She seemed to desperately want something.
But running like that right now isn't good for her...
"I... I have something I really want to ask. Just a moment of your time..."
"Hmm..."
When someone looks this desperate, what's the big deal with sparing a little time?
I lightly dismounted the horse.
"If it's quick, sure. What's on your mind? Wealth? Not romance..."
Her face lit up instantly at my response.
Her emotions were pretty volatile.
The question that came from her mouth was a bit unexpected.
"A baby... I want to know when I'll have a child."
Honestly, she looked more desperate than anyone else I'd met in the baron's territory.
How badly she must want a child to make that face...
In this case, I didn't even need to grab the rattle.
I tucked the rattle into my belt and opened my mouth.
"You haven't realized it yet."
"Pardon?"
"It's already happened."
"...Pardon?"
"The child has already come to you."
It was clear in my eyes.
The small, pure soul nestled in her lower abdomen.
Judging by the soul's condition, as long as there were no issues, the birth would be smooth.
Her eyes went wide.
"No way... It never happened before...!"
"It's true. Congratulations. And no more running like that."
The face of a mother who had a child.
Pure happiness, without a trace of anything else.
Honestly, seeing expressions like this is the most rewarding part of being a shaman.
Bringing happiness to the living and the dead.
It might not require great power, but that smile is the essence of this work.
The new mother rummaged through her pocket.
"I heard I should give an offering fee... Here's 10 coppers! If it's okay, could you also do a divination for the child who'll be born..."
"Hmm... That's not possible."
It's best not to do divinations or read the Four Pillars of Destiny for children if possible.
"The future changes based on how you live. If I do a divination for the child... it might become fixed."
"Ah...!"
"And you don't need to give an offering fee. You'd have found out soon anyway."
As I tried to mount up again, the new mother grabbed me.
And she forced 5 coppers into my hand.
I couldn't refuse.
I knew it was an expression of her joy.
"Thank you so much!"
I grabbed the saddle and mounted up.
We hadn't been traveling long when Hans spoke up.
"So that's what a shaman does. Hmm..."
A pleased smile hung on the lips of the two old men and Irene.
Probably the same on my face.
Would smiling with white hair and bloodshot eyes be scary...?
I had a feeling it wouldn't be good for prenatal care.
"Hmm..."
Irene spoke up amiably.
"We have about a week until the elves' forest."
A week.
Not a long time at all.
Unexpectedly, Astor County and the elves' forest weren't far apart.
It was a region at the edge of the empire, bordering monster and beast territory.
That was the elves' forest where Irene lived.
It was also the central forest, like the elves' capital.
Assuming we kept riding, we could arrive in about ten days.
"Hmm..."
Just two weeks.
The prophetic dream and its interpretation.
The deity had shown an empty rattle and told me to hone my shamanic skills.
But wasn't the timeframe too short?
"This is weird..."
We'd even avoided the warp as in that prophetic dream.
So what was this lingering unease...?
"Hey, Hans."
"Yes, Chris."
"Does Illia show people things in dreams too?"
"Saints and saintesses occasionally receive revelations through dreams."
Good.
Now I had reference material.
"How do the revelations come?"
"How to put it... They're very poetic."
"Hm?"
"A famous example is the oracle about the continental war."
Hans recited reverently.
"Night has come, yet it is not night. Dawn has broken, yet it is still night. Do not lose your way."
"Hm...?"
I had no idea what that meant.
How do you even interpret something that vague?
It was a riddle of an oracle.
"It was a major oracle, and even the church couldn't figure it out. They only understood after the continental war began. The saintess who received it was unconscious for three months."
As expected, the performance was subpar.
"They receive some really cryptic stuff..."
Truly great shamans receive signs before national fortunes cloud or disasters strike.
But there were no tales of them coming as riddles like that.
"Tch..."
So oracles come like that...
I should've looked into it when shamanism was similar.
I hadn't even seen anyone with Spiritual Eyes besides Gullak...
Vessels that hold gods are called divine vessels, and they're not that rare.
Even half-baked ones that could barely hold stray spirits should've been visible.
Yet in this world, there wasn't even anyone sensitive enough to notice spirits.
"Has something happened with the gods?"
"...Pardon?"
"No dreams?"
"Of course there have been. It's said a single ray of light appeared in the darkness."
Hans shrugged proudly, like it was a great achievement, but it was way too vague.
"I might have to meet them to know, but there might not be any proper divine vessels..."
This thought might be right.
From the fragments of info, shamanic abilities here definitely hadn't developed.
Time would tell.
"You can't receive oracles, right?"
"Haha, even saints praised as children of god need help from many priests to barely receive one. I'm far from it."
"Hmm..."
Parmon old man spoke up casually.
"If you're worried, why not do a divination yourself?"
"I already did. It's just ambiguous."
There was a Ghost Gate Killer sign.
Indicating I'd get caught up in scandals.
Funny thing was, that Ghost Gate Killer had suddenly vanished.
"Hans, tell your master to watch out for scandals."
"What's a scandal?"
"Getting talked about by people. Probably something bad this time."
"My master is a renowned priest. Priests don't carelessly badmouth others."
Klein old man had removed my Ghost Gate Killer.
That's why I told him to give an offering fee...
Because of him, I'd end up getting more in return than the 5 silvers.
Other than that, the only bad fortune was illness from curse backlash.
Amusingly, there was even a job luck sign.
"Jeez... No need to do it if you weren't going to."
Parmon old man smiled softly as he spoke.
His smiles were getting gentler day by day.
"You, aren't you tired? I saw you heading somewhere with a doll at dawn..."
I'd momentarily forgotten this old man was a Sword Master.
Why peep on something so embarrassing...
"Let's start galloping."
With that, we rode endlessly.
We galloped nonstop, except for horse rest times and sleeping at night.
The first day passed, then the second.
We kept riding.
By the third day, something felt off.
The land spirits were gradually weakening.
Even Irene, who handled spirits, hadn't noticed.
The gnome just had a displeased expression.
Fourth day.
A soul came.
Just like before, I found its remains and buried them in a sunny spot.
Fifth day.
That's when misfortunes started piling up.
No prophetic dreams, just noisy ones disturbing my sleep.
The closer we got to the elves' forest, the thicker the misfortunes became.
Sixth day.
We bought food in the territory we arrived at and rode right away.
The feeling wasn't good.
And now, we were at the entrance to the elves' forest.
"Too fast... way too fast..."
To arrive in such a short time...
I'd asked the rattle countless times, but only one sign came down.
Hans Uncle's soul-filled bottle appeared, with the word "curse" lingering on my lips.
No negative signs about entering the elves' forest.
"It's connected to the curse..."
Not arriving via warp was probably to show me this.
"Let's go in for now."
The deeper we went into the forest, the heavier the gloomy feeling became.
"Irene, really no feeling at all?"
"It's the same as the forest before we left."
"Weird..."
The black auras from the World Tree divination weren't visible.
Well, it was something that hid itself tightly...
This gloomy feeling was probably its trace, seen through my Spiritual Eyes.
And the moment I took one more step.
"...Hm?"
A soul slid out from inside a tree.
"...Elves?"
Not just one or two.
So many they filled the surroundings.
One arm of each was raised.
Pointing toward one place.