Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: The Silent Woman (1)
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Swish—
The elf, who had spent the night wide awake, finally rose from the bed.
The fluffy bedding felt utterly foreign to her.
About twenty years had passed, perhaps.
In all that time, the only place she was allowed to sleep was the cold, hard ground.
She glanced around.
Glanced around again.
Her uneasy eyes darted about ceaselessly.
She knew nothing would happen, but the persistent anxiety was impossible to shake.
"..."
Stepping outside, she walked toward a certain place.
"..."
The door opened quietly, revealing a soundly sleeping figure.
Chris, was it?
Her hand gently stroked the eyes wrapped in bandages.
Stroke—
Even in her muddled state of mind, she could feel it clearly.
This person had wept in her stead.
He had endured emotions she never should have had to face, shedding tears of blood.
Twitch.
As Chris's body stirred, she hastily pulled her hand away.
Her hand, covered in wounds and scars, might have disturbed his sleep—she worried.
"..."
Even as she crumbled under the curse, she had sensed Chris.
A firm, immense heart—yet warm and comforting.
Unlike the presence she had felt then, Chris's body was ordinary.
His mana was no different from a regular human's, and his physique was far weaker than a knight's.
With a body like this, he had overcome that horrific curse?
"..."
The elf stared at Chris for a long while, then her eyes widened round.
The anxiety she had felt moments ago vanished as if washed away.
The calming aura emanating from Chris soothed her heart.
An atmosphere reminiscent of the World Tree.
Even the scent was similar to the World Tree's.
Stroke—
Sitting quietly beside Chris, she let out a soft breath.
Here, she might be able to sleep peacefully.
If she closed her eyes, the faces of her kin might finally fade away.
"Disappointing."
"...There were circumstances."
The two old men's eyes narrowed slyly.
"Ahem... A man always has his circumstances, doesn't he?"
"We suspected as much when you two came out together."
Closel old man was eyeing me openly with a lecherous gaze.
He seemed to have misunderstood my circumstances for something else entirely.
"No, not those kinds of circumstances..."
I was flustered too.
After returning from the elf forest yesterday, my exhausted body had collapsed into sleep the moment my head hit the pillow.
I passed out instantly.
And when I woke up refreshed, what do I find?
A woman lying next to me.
The elf I had rescued yesterday.
"It wasn't like that..."
"You promised to become our grandson-in-law, and already this?"
"When did I ever promise..."
I'm the victim here, I tell you.
How was I supposed to notice the elf sneaking in while I was asleep?
Closel old man snorted at my rebuttal.
"You sensed ghosts like a hawk inside the barrier... And now you expect me to believe that?"
"I didn't do it on purpose!"
I didn't even know why I was making excuses in the first place.
I had no intention of becoming their grandson-in-law, and it was all just bewildering anyway.
"Ahem..."
The old men belatedly glanced at the elf beside me.
Closel old man spoke in a dignified tone.
"May we know your name, miss?"
"..."
The elf's expression didn't change at the old man's question.
Coldly emotionless.
Perhaps embarrassed, Closel old man started to offer a handshake but withdrew his hand.
"She doesn't talk much. Please understand, old man."
"That's understandable enough."
I had roughly explained yesterday.
Given what she'd been through, her state wasn't normal.
The old men seemed to get it.
Closel old man turned back to me with a sly look.
"So, you know it, right?"
"...Pardon?"
"Her name. You can't tell me you spent the night together and don't even know that."
"That sounds really weird when you put it like that."
Of course I knew her name.
"Serena, I think it was."
"Hoo..."
Serena's face remained cold.
It hadn't been this intense when we were alone in the room...
Everyone except me was watching Serena carefully.
Even the spirits who had followed us.
"...Serena? How about a smile?"
Serena's lips twitched upward slightly.
But the moment her gaze left me, the smile vanished.
"Hm..."
She still seemed to have a ways to go.
Just yesterday, she'd been wracked with agony, after all.
Then I heard someone calling me.
"Oh! Sir Chris!"
I'd been itching to run into this guy.
A priest who serves the gods, yet nowhere to be seen when it mattered—now here he is.
As a fellow line of work, it was intolerable behavior.
"Crawling out now, are you?"
"It's not like that! I have duties from the church too..."
Hans's excuse was this:
Reporting the necromancer's appearance to the church had taken ages.
The matter was serious, so the meeting dragged on.
By the time he wrapped up and rushed to the battle site, I was already gone.
The excuse sounded plausible, but it still grated.
"Sigh..."
"Sir Chris! I heard the rumors. You got a partner... Is this her?"
"...Partner?"
I had no clue how the rumors had spread like that.
My head throbbed.
It had only been minutes since I left the room—how was word already out?
Serena didn't seem to care.
If anything, she was wary of Hans's arrival.
A stranger appearing—given her situation, it was natural.
"Hey, you, back off."
"Pardon?"
"The patient's uncomfortable."
"Ah... If she's hurt, I can heal—!"
After shooing away the indignant Hans, I tried to slip away to somewhere quiet.
But that seemed impossible too.
Elves were trailing me everywhere I went.
"Sir Chris is awake!"
"The Savior of the Elves!"
The atmosphere was far hotter than when I first arrived.
Back then, it was popularity; now, it was outright adulation.
Very burdensome.
And for good reason...
"Is that Sir Chris's rattle?"
"Could you shake it once...?"
The elves were watching my every move.
I awkwardly rubbed the back of my head, and reactions exploded again.
"I heard he was injured—his head, maybe...?"
At those words, a solemn air fell over the elves.
"We can't stand by while Sir Chris is wounded. Any elves with potions?"
If I left them be, every potion in the forest would converge here.
Not wanting more chaos, I opened my mouth to stop them.
"I'm not injured, so no need..."
"..."
"..."
What was with this silence?
"Fighting a necromancer without a single scratch..."
"As expected of Sir Chris..."
The elves had no injuries either, really.
Some got hurt at the curse's peak, but given the monster horde's scale, it was negligible.
"Isn't it the same for all of you...?"
"So humble too..."
Wasn't this reaction a bit much?
I wanted to crawl into a rat hole.
"Haa..."
Then my savior appeared.
"Sir Chris."
Romnel approached with poised steps.
She looked much more vibrant than when collapsed.
Her spirit's condition was perfectly stable too.
Maybe because she was in the same line of work as me, she toppled over just like I did.
Shamans aren't usually this frail.
Fainting mid-ritual is rare to begin with.
It's just that the scale of events here is extraordinary.
"The World Tree has conveyed its will."
The divine message had come down?
I still had unfinished business with the World Tree anyway.
"Good timing."
Romnel walked toward the World Tree with a gentle smile.
The elves followed behind me, forming a procession.
Like a festival was underway.
"What did the World Tree say?"
"The will I heard was simple. It wants you brought there."
As expected, a straightforward divine message.
I'd felt it hearing about oracles from Hans, but mine were worlds apart.
To the point where I thought my shaman performance was truly subpar...
"Let's go, then."
The more I walked, the more elves swelled behind us.
Enough to fill the area around the World Tree.
"Hmm... Indeed..."
Holy energy overflowed from the once-empty tree.
Now it truly resembled a sacred tree.
"Gotta restring the sacred cords and replace the talismans."
Much of the gold cords had blackened and rotted from the curse's aftermath.
The talismans were shriveled too, unlikely to function.
"Uh... Um... So, I just need to come here...?"
"That's what the World Tree said."
"Hmm..."
No signs of anything happening.
Should I shake the rattle?
As my hand went to my waist,
A strange sound reached my ears.
Crack—
Something splitting.
The sound of wood cracking.
The noise spread once more.
Crack—
"...Huh?"
Thud—
A branch about the size of my leg.
With fresh green leaves.
"..."
"..."
"..."
An eerie silence fell.
Inevitably so...
A branch of the World Tree had snapped off.
"..."
The moment I saw the branch, I knew.
This was the offering fee.
Payment for the ritual, you could say.
Great news.
If only it hadn't happened in front of all the elves.
The elves were wrapped in silence.
I awkwardly spoke up.
"...It wasn't me."