Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Ch. 49 .｡.:✧ Elvenguard (2) ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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‘I’ll have to remake the necklace.’
I detached the mana stone from the already broken necklace.
The mana stone still emitted an ominous light, but something faintly foreign could be seen inside.
A few crystals were dyed red.
Was that where Ifrit’s core was stored?
A spirit’s power came from its spiritual body.
With its core sealed inside, unable to create a spiritual body, Ifrit could no longer use its power and was in a helpless state.
Until I took it out, Ifrit had no choice but to be trapped inside.
‘Tsk. It feels a bit unsettling.’
For an improvised response, things had turned out well.
With the Great Spirit ignoring even the priestess’s words and advancing, I judged that conversation wouldn’t work.
So I hastily imprisoned it in the mana stone, but…
A problem arose here.
‘So why the hell was that bastard making such a fuss trying to burn down Elvenguard?’
When the spirit went crazy and ran amok, I naturally thought it must be Kali’s scheme.
But seeing it talk properly, it wasn’t being controlled by a druid’s power.
It was clearly in its right mind when it tried to burn down Elvenguard and the World Tree, causing that chaos.
For a being as great as the Great Spirit to try to burn down Elvenguard, there must be a justifiable reason.
But I had no idea what that reason could be.
‘What variable is it this time?’
In the 13th round, quite a few variables had emerged as I took a different path.
Perhaps Ifrit’s rampage was also caused by one of those numerous variables.
Here, the possibilities diverged.
First.
If a variable I created had caused a butterfly effect.
Second.
If a variable created by the heroines regaining their memories had caused it.
There was no way to know which one it was yet.
My head felt like it would split open from the pain.
“It worked out well. Right?”
“Just what are you, really…?”
Alicia, was staring at me blankly with wide eyes.
She was still trembling, perhaps because the strength hadn’t returned to her legs yet.
“I just happened to have a magic tool that perfectly fit the situation. Good job. Thanks to you, it was resolved easily.”
“…I did.”
Slish.
Undecided, who had approached my side at some point, bumped her forehead against my waist with a thud.
“You did well too, dude.”
“…Heh.”
When I patted her head, a smug nasal sound came out.
Ifrit’s firepower was stronger than expected, making it difficult to approach closely.
Thanks to Undecided spinning her body at an incredible speed and throwing the mana stone, I was able to embed it in the exact position.
“You didn’t wet yourself again, did you?”
“No, I didn’t! Who do you think I am, a pants-wetter?!”
Alicia, who was still sitting on the ground with her legs trembling, roughly retorted.
When I offered my hand, Alicia’s eyes slightly narrowed.
Then she carefully grabbed my hand.
“What are you doing?”
“What? Weren’t you trying to help me up?”
“No. I want my ring back.”
“This guy, seriously…! I almost felt touched for a moment, but I was a fool!”
Tuk.
Alicia, who had shouted in annoyance, took off the ring and placed it on my palm.
A ring worn by a woman…
The thought of putting my finger back in it made me feel strange.
“This can’t be! The Great Spirit’s spiritual body really disappeared?!”
At that moment, a group of elves rushed over here.
It was quite a rare sight, as they were a race that always walked leisurely.
Long and Pointy ears.
White hair.
Severely pale faces.
And even clothes that looked high-class.
They were high elves who were at least 800 years old.
Among them seemed to be the elders of Elvenguard.
Elves had a lifespan of over 1000 years and maintained their youthful appearance until just before death.
So in the past, I couldn’t distinguish between old and young elves.
But now, I could even see the ‘vitality’ visible on the elves’ faces.
“We are grateful for your kindness. If it weren’t for you, who knows what would have happened… Thanks to you, we were able to preserve the lives of 100,000 elves and the World Tree.”
“We express our infinite gratitude in the name of the Elvenguard Council of Elders.”
The elven elders gathered one by one, knelt down, and brought their hands together at their chests.
It was the first time I had seen high elves speak highly and humble themselves to a short-lived race.
It felt surreal compared to the attitude I had seen during the previous 12 rounds.
Well, if they were rude even to those who had prevented the great fire that nearly engulfed Elvenguard, that would be quite remarkable in its own way.
‘Mia?’
Through the elders who had crowded in, I vaguely saw a girl in white clothes.
Just by looking at her veiled face, I could tell.
The priestess chosen by the World Tree.
Mia.
But the moment our eyes met, Mia just turned away from me.
According to the setting, Mia never confronted other races, especially humans.
But I didn’t know the reason for that.
The game had gone bankrupt before the follow-up story for Elvenguard could be made.
It was easier to just think that the priestess abhorred humans.
“That wind magic just now! Who used it?”
“I… shot it…?”
“Oh. I didn’t know there was such a great mage among the demihumans. May I ask your name?”
“Alicia Yevgenia.”
“Yevgenia! The only family that produced a great mage in the north! What is your relation to the current head of the family?”
“He’s my father. I’m his eldest daughter.”
“Wow. I heard you had obtained a degree from the Magic Tower. I had no idea you had grown into such a fine mage…”
“Ehehe. I’m not that good.”
Alicia quickly let her guard down at the shower of praise flying from all over.
The Yevgenia family was quite close with the southern humans and elves, as there weren’t any mage families to interact with in the north.
Thanks to that, the conversation bloomed in full.
Fortunately, it seemed there would be no sudden turn for the worse in the atmosphere.
“But what kind of magic was that just now? I’ve never heard of a wind-type magic that subdues the Great Spirit in an instant. Could it be that the Yevgenia family has finally developed a 10th-tier wind magic?”
“Huh? What?”
“Oh my! Pardon me. You weren’t planning to announce it yet? Then I’ll keep quiet about it until it’s presented at the academic conference. If this magic is made public, you will be the second great mage to come from the Yevgenia family…”
“W-wait a minute! I think there’s a huge misunderstanding!”
Alicia, who finally sensed something was off, waved her hands and shouted.
“Actually, I don’t really know how it happened either. I was just told to shoot the spell, so I shot it. The one who subdued the Great Spirit wasn’t me, but my companion.”
What a shame.
If Alicia’s conscience had been a bit more corrupted, I could have given her all the credit.
Inevitably, attention was drawn to me as well.
“Which family are you from…”
“I’m a nameless mercenary.”
“Ah.”
The faces of the elves, who had been filled with anticipation, stiffened.
Although they were trying their best to be polite, it was evident that their interest had rapidly cooled.
A short-lived race who wasn’t a nobleman and couldn’t use magic?
At that point, they were already out of the elves’ scope of concern.
But this time would be an exception.
No matter how insignificant the human looked, the fact that he had taken down the Great Spirit was true.
“Then, if you don’t mind me asking, what brilliant plan did you use to neutralize the Great Spirit?”
“Of course.”
I had been waiting for this moment.
With a faint smile, I held out the black mana stone to the elders.
The elders received the mana stone in confusion and began to examine it, passing it around to each other.
“Oh! There’s a faint trace of Lord Ifrit inside this!”
“What is this?”
“This is called a spirit ball.”
“Spirit ball?”
“It’s a magic tool that can contain any spirit inside.”
“Ooh…”
The elders listened attentively and expressed their astonishment.
I didn’t lie.
Everything I conveyed was the truth.
Of course, I chose my words carefully.
If I had expressed it as ‘imprisoning’ the spirit, they would have likely felt resistance.
“What is the principle behind it?”
“It automatically forms a spirit contract.”
“What? A spirit contract?”
“That can’t be. Lord Ifrit, the Great Spirit of Fire, doesn’t make contracts with anyone.”
“Moreover, when he was agitated like before, there’s even less chance he would make a contract…”
“If he had any complaints, wouldn’t he have jumped out of this magic tool long ago? What do you think it means when such a great being as the Great Spirit still remains?”
“What does it mean?”
“It means he found it very comfortable and to his liking inside. That’s what a spirit contract is. What else could it be?”
“…”
In an instant, silence filled the area.
It seemed they were at a loss for words due to my perfect logic.
Even Alicia gaped at me with her mouth wide open.
I had successfully persuaded them.
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“A spirit ball? Is this really true?”
“There’s no way! It must be a lie!”
“Even if it’s a lie, it’s true that the human mercenary had the means to subdue the Great Spirit.”
The elders around the round table exchanged words busily.
The Great Spirit had disappeared, and Elvenguard had been saved from the brink of destruction.
Nevertheless, the elders couldn’t just feel relieved.
Because of the unidentified weapon that had subdued the Great Spirit.
Figuring out its true nature was the biggest problem they currently faced.
“What was his name again?”
“His surname was Cheon. His name was Michael Jackson.”
“We’ll quickly investigate his identity.”
It was useless.
Mia shook her head quietly as she watched the elders discuss.
Unlike the rabbit demihuman, the human man didn’t seem to have much desire to make a name for himself, judging by his attitude.
There was no way the name such a man gave was his real name.
It was definitely an alias.
So no matter how much they searched the whole world, nothing would come up.
“Where are the guests now?”
“They should be unpacking their luggage in the place we provided for them to rest. You don’t need to worry, Priestess. We will express our gratitude and treat them with the utmost courtesy and sincerity.”
“I feel reassured to hear you say that.”
Mia was worried, as the high elves, who were always endlessly rude to short-lived races, seemed to have no intention of doing so to the heroes who had saved Elvenguard.
“Then how are you planning to reward them for this incident?”
“That’s what worries me. It’s an unprecedented event, so it’s hard to gauge how much we should reward them.”
It wasn’t help received from a single force or nation.
It was the first time since the founding of the nation that they had been saved from the brink of destruction by the help of just three individuals.
So it was difficult to come up with a clear idea of how to compensate them.
The simplest thing was, of course, money.
Even giving them enough money to buy a small principality would be insufficient for their achievement.
But what if they refused the money and demanded something else?
“I think we’ll have to hold another meeting to decide on the reward.”
“Yes. Let’s do that. The guests seem to be planning to stay here for a while, so I think it’s okay to say we still have time.”
It seemed they would have to gradually negotiate.
Mia dragged her body, tired from the long meeting, and walked outside.
But just as Mia was about to open the door and leave herself.
The elders hurriedly blocked her way.
“We will lead the way.”
“Please stay behind us.”
“Ah, yes…”
The elders surrounded Mia, looking around.
Mia left the meeting room as if being escorted by the elders, surrounded on all sides.
“With a human in Elvenguard, you shouldn’t be showing yourself around.”
“You’re overreacting.”
“It’s better to be careful. The World Tree’s prophecy has never been wrong.”
“Still…”
Mia tried to refute but soon closed her mouth and swallowed her next words.
They were right.
Although the World Tree’s prophecy was a bit vague, it was absolute, so there was no harm in being careful.
‘Still, I wanted to have a conversation with him at least once…’
The prophecy that came down a year ago.
-A lowborn human will take the priestess.
Since this prophecy came down, Mia had been forbidden from facing humans.
[T/N: aight now hold on a second… so now weve got Michael Jackson playing Pokemon? Goddamn this is getting interesting]
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