Chapter 132: Elf (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 132: Elf (1)
In a manner truly fitting for a RoFan, a sword erupting with explosive mana—devoid of any of the "definitions," "bonds," or "love" associated with the Flower Arrangement Club—shot forward.
—Y-you cowardly bastards!
The spectating wood golems—no, the Wood Style Rangers—shouted in voices thick with betrayal.
They had been enjoying the show when the group suddenly started fighting amongst themselves, but the moment Daisy unleashed the mana she had compressed into her sword energy, they realized they had been duped.
However, unlike the Wood Style Rangers...
Tiny Daisy’s voice couldn't be heard.
Judging by the way her mouth was curved into a smirk, she seemed to be saying something like, "Who told you to wait?"
And so, the "big and beautiful" sword seen for the first time in a while struck the Wood Style Rangers' giant wood golem... but failed to cut it in one go.
Well, that was only natural.
She had chosen sheer, ignorant size over the sharpness of compressed sword energy.
Consequently, Daisy’s attack resembled industrial logging more than a sword strike.
—You damn fly!
But our Wood Style Ranger was far too slow for its size to block it.
In contrast, Daisy, despite the absurdly massive mana concentrated in her sword, was incredibly fast.
...It couldn't be helped.
I’m a liberal arts major so I don't know the specifics, but isn't there a saying that as size increases, weight grows exponentially while muscle strength fails to keep up?
Of course, this is a world with mana where you can just say, "I solved that crap with magic!"
But perhaps the dark mages hadn't developed that far yet.
In a sentai show, the enemies would usually grow giant to ensure a fair fight.
Unfortunately, the genre of this world wasn't a sentai show; it was a RoFan.
Though, looking at Daisy’s behavior, it might actually be a brave hero story.
—Our Big Tree!
Ultimately, the giant wood golem—the fruit of a dark mage’s love, friendship, and hard work—was logged, defeated by the business-like "all-in on mana" strategy of the RoFan male lead’s party.
To ordinary people, a monster wave is a natural disaster in its own right.
Surprisingly, however, in regions where monster waves actually occur, they are often treated like festivals.
Of course, this only applies to powerful nations like the Empire, our Kingdom, or the kingdom of those Magic Spammers.
If handled correctly, the monsters—which serve as expensive materials—essentially deliver themselves to your doorstep.
Why am I mentioning this?
Because dark mages are similar.
Once they appear, even a single one can cause massive damage.
Furthermore, they tend to show up in parties, making them incredibly troublesome to deal with.
Yet, as befits those who move more diligently than Imperial agents, once you catch them, you can often farm unexpected research results.
A prime example is the magic sword obtained by the Empire.
Of course, they still haven't solved the mind-control issues associated with it.
However, they had a history of using it to slightly buff that Minor Sword Emperor brat, and they had even signed a contract to provide the Empire with a certain quantity once it reached the commercialization stage.
...Well, the Empire probably agreed to hand it over so easily because they think our Magic Tower is incapable of reverse-engineering it anyway.
It was such an accurate assessment that the lack of a rebuttal was truly pathetic.
Back to the point.
Due to this incident, the Empire was able to farm a great many things once again.
First, the massive quantity of narcotics... if used correctly, they could be repurposed for medical use. Seizing them for free was a gain.
Additionally, the remains of the super-giant wood golem provided a massive amount of timber.
Wood is a material found everywhere, but surprisingly, it’s also a material that isn't easy to use freely.
On a cosmic scale, some even say wood is rarer than gold.
Of course, this wasn't outer space but a fantasy world, and wood was everywhere.
While people usually looked the other way if an individual used some from the back hill of a rural village, any serious logging by a nation or a merchant guild required following all sorts of regulations.
Even with permission, if an elf was discovered in the forest during the process, logging had to stop immediately.
Well, the elf would probably force the stoppage before anyone could do it voluntarily.
Regardless, timber was a precious resource managed by the state.
Furthermore, wasn't this wood sturdy enough to withstand a sword of absurdly massive mana, even if it wasn't pure sword energy?
The dark mages had clearly performed some kind of treatment on the wood.
Treating a wood golem of that size with magic was an insane feat, but I figured it was possible for those icons of diligence who visited the Academy every time their cooldown was up.
However, I had grossly underestimated the dark mages.
The scope of those diligent dark mages' activities was far wider than a mere mortal like me, who only traveled back and forth between the Kingdom and the Empire, could ever imagine!
"...What kind of crazy talk is that?"
The dark mages who tried to spread narcotics in the Academy were arrested thanks to the efforts of the Flower Arrangement Club.
I naturally thought it would end as a minor incident.
But that was no longer possible.
"The wood used was from the World Tree..."
The World Tree.
A tree revered as sacred by elves, a staple that exists in every fantasy world.
However, the World Tree here had a slight difference from the ones in typical fantasy.
"It seems the dark mages got their hands on one of the forgotten ancient trees..."
In this world, when the "cooldown" is up, the World Tree dies of old age.
In a way, this was more realistic.
No matter how much of a god-given tree it was, it was still just a tree.
It was just a giant tree with a bunch of buffs, various titles, and a massive size, wasn't it?
In terms of performance, Daisy—who possessed a sword of massive mana, every buff imaginable, and various titles including RoFan Heroine and Saintess, and could even walk on two legs—was superior in every way.
So, it was possible for a big tree to die of old age.
The real problem would be if the World Tree died without scattering saplings for the next generation.
"We're screwed..."
Or if the "remains of the World Tree," as the elves call it, were stolen.
"Can't we just hide it?"
"Too late. Information has already been sent to the Elven Forest according to the treaty."
"......"
Treaties between humans and heterogeneous species were mostly unfavorable to humans.
Not to the level of an unfair contract, but just slightly regrettable.
The reason most of those treaties were signed could be summarized as "Humans are sorry..." incidents, so it couldn't be helped.
The treaty Uncle Aeryun mentioned was the same.
"After forty-seven incidents, including the arson of a World Tree... a magical treaty was formed, so it cannot be hidden."
"......"
I knew they had messed up a lot, but I didn't realize it was forty-seven times.
Then there was no choice.
"So, what happened?"
"The High Elves, who were scheduled to come in the second semester, are coming early."
"I see."
"And they're bringing an elven delegation with them."
"When?"
"As soon as possible."
At those words, I closed my eyes and calculated the timeframe.
Final exams were about a month away, so...
"They might arrive during summer break..."
"......"
At that, Uncle Aeryun narrowed his eyes and asked.
"Planning to run?"
"Ahem."
I corrected his misunderstanding.
"Going home."
"......"
"It's what I do every year."
I wasn't running away.
I was simply returning to my dear hometown.
Anyway, that's how it was.
What is a World Tree?
I called it just a damn big tree.
But in reality, it was practically a cheat item.
"A massive amount of World Tree wood entered the Academy? How much?!"
To the point where even a Dwarf, who usually has nothing to do with trees, would have a fit.
"Even if it was only used for part of the exterior, it was enough for a giant wood golem that easily towered over the Academy walls."
"I'm going right now!"
I heard that if used as a weapon, its hardness rivals steel.
If used as firewood, it provides heat unattainable with normal wood.
And if made into charcoal and used in smithing, even an ordinary steel sword could gain the durability and sharpness of a masterpiece.
Naturally, the Dwarves wanted it too.
But the Elves monopolized it and wouldn't let go.
Now that such a World Tree had suddenly appeared, it was only natural for a Dwarf to lose his mind.
"...Stingy bastards."
The Empire held ownership, but unfortunately, according to the treaty, it couldn't be moved until the investigation was over.
"With that, I could develop the magic sword even faster!"
"......"
For a moment, I considered handing over some fragments I had secretly pocketed.
But once the Elves confirmed it, the Empire would release some of the stock anyway.
If I said it was for developing the magic sword, they’d give me some, so I decided to hold back.
Of course.
"How much did you take?"
"What?"
"The World Tree."
"What's that?"
She had a look of genuine ignorance, but when I tried to snatch her pouch, Boradori freaked out and scrambled away.
"You're trying to rob me in broad daylight!"
"That's an item on loan from the Kingdom. Don't you know I can take it back as your superior?"
"...I didn't take that much."
Judging by the way she pouted and hid the subspace pouch in her bosom, she must have made quite a haul.
"What are you going to use that for anyway?"
"There are plenty of uses. World Tree fragments are great catalysts for magic, and they can be used in sorcery too."
It was truly an all-purpose material worthy of the name World Tree.
"So. Why was this in the hands of dark mages?"
The World Tree had been managed by Elves—more specifically, High Elves—since ancient times.
Even when it was time for a World Tree to die and the Elves began their migration.
And even after the migration was successfully completed, I knew they managed the World Tree.
So how could the dark mages have so much of it?
"It's because it's a World Tree from an era when Elves couldn't manage it."
"......?"
"In the ancient era, when the Evil God still remained on this land and demons roamed freely. Due to the war between humanity and the demon tribe, the World Tree had to flee multiple times."
Simply put, in ancient times, the World Tree did its best to survive.
Thanks to that, it seemed to have scattered far more saplings to succeed it than it does now.
"A few of those weren't recovered. Villains who use those appear later..."
Violet narrowed her eyes, murmuring with a thoughtful expression.
"But those Power Ranger-looking guys... no matter how hard I think, I don't remember them..."
The same went for the lunatics trying to spread drugs in the Academy.
"Well, I wasn't expecting that much from you anyway."
Lately, Boradori’s information source had been quite unreliable.
Honestly, I had even wondered if she didn't know the source of the World Tree.
"I feel strangely insulted..."
"I was just thinking about a salary increase."
"It's summer now, so I guess it's getting hot!"
Seeing her murmur while avoiding my gaze, I decided to let it slide this once.
Well, more importantly.
"So, the Elves are coming. What are they like?"
"Ah, well..."
At my question, Boradori answered as if it were obvious.
"They're assholes."
As expected, it seemed right to just give up on Uncle Aeryun.