Chapter 61
Chapter 61
Ch. 61 .｡.:✧ Flag ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The aftermath of the battle with Kali was by no means small.
Vast forests were still left charred and barren.
The return of many elven remains brought a sea of tears.
And elves were climbing the World Tree every day, claiming to find a new place to serve as the World Tree’s Eye.
But there was no more time to waste in Elvenguard.
Yulia would soon come rushing, so we had to leave before that.
I had done everything I could do here.
The rest of the problems could be left to the elves to solve on their own.
“I feel a bit sorry for leaving after causing such a mess.”
In the center of the training ground where I had been indebted, a dead giant tree could be seen, snapped and fallen.
I wonder if I broke it for nothing.
It seemed like they would have a hard time cleaning it up.
“You’re late! The carriage is about to depart… Ah! Yoo-jin, you forgot your sword!”
Alicia got annoyed, but then she was startled to see my waist.
Indeed.
The scabbard that was always hanging from my waist was not visible.
But the scabbard was definitely here.
What kind of nonsense is this, you ask?
“I brought it.”
“Eek?!”
Swish.
As I touched the small bag fixed to the belt, its appearance changed in an instant.
The bag had become a long leather scabbard hanging there.
It was a new trait I had acquired while capturing Kali.
‘Camouflage’.
“Wh-what is that? Non-attribute magic? Did you awaken to something new again?”
“Yeah. Let’s go with that.”
“I’ve never seen that magic before. What tier is it? Yoo-jin, won’t you come to the Magic Tower with me? If you let me research that magic for a while, I’ll give you a small salary…”
“Absolutely not.”
When I firmly refused, Alicia’s spirits visibly dampened, and her rabbit ears drooped.
If I went to the Magic Tower, I would quickly rise to the top as a 1st-tier research subject.
That was natural, as there was no way there would be another person in the world who couldn’t use 1st-tier attribute magic at all but mastered 5th-tier non-attribute magic through headbutting, except for me.
Unless I was crazy, I wouldn’t voluntarily go to the Magic Tower to be dissected.
“Are you ready to leave now?”
On the path leading out of Elvenguard, the farewell crowd waiting for us was standing at the entrance.
Of course, the crowd only consisted of the high elf elders and the priestess.
“You’re leaving during such a chaotic time.”
“You have worked so hard. It’s an achievement that should be recorded and left for future generations as a great figure, but… Due to the special circumstances, we deeply regret and apologize for not being able to do so.”
“Oh, no. It’s fine. It’s okay.”
Recording me as a great figure and teaching about me for generations to come.
That would be a big problem.
I waved my hands and said it was really okay, but the elders seemed to think it was modesty and made moved expressions.
This is driving me crazy.
“It was a deal made with mutual agreement.”
“Still, gratitude is gratitude. If we don’t show proper courtesy, the honor of our Elvenguard will not remain. Please accept this gift. We apologize for not being able to prepare anything better due to the circumstances…”
The elder bowed his head and held out a wooden box to me.
The size was just the size of my palm, creating a scene that looked exactly like I was receiving a ring proposal.
Feeling strange, I quickly snatched it and opened it.
“This is…”
“It’s a mana stone crafted by Elvenguard’s best artisan over 10 years. Its performance will be a level, no, three levels above the mana stones traded in the market. Please accept it as a token of our sincerity.”
The mana stone emitted a brilliant light.
Indeed, this surpassed the level of high-grade goods.
It was probably because it wasn’t made to be sold in the first place.
It was likely an item made for rituals or something.
From the part about crafting it with dedication for 10 years, this was already an item whose value couldn’t be measured.
‘This is already the lower, lower, lower, lower version of the mana stone I’m currently using…’
But was it because my standards had become too high?
If it were before I met Tay, I wouldn’t know.
But now, such mana stones no longer caught my eye.
“Thank you very much. I will make good use of it.”
“Thank you for accepting it! Thank you!”
Only then did the elders rejoice with a flush on their faces.
As they said, it was indeed lacking, but it was still a useful gift.
‘It would be perfect for regifting.’
I had accumulated a huge amount of debt using the checks Cornelia had given me so far.
The next time I went to Cologne, I should give this to Cornelia as a gift.
And while I’m at it, I should get about 100 more checks.
The Briam family’s guaranteed checks had high credibility and were used conveniently in many places.
“Priestess. Do you have anything else to say?”
“Ah, um, that… Uh…”
Mia came forward, almost pushed by the elders.
She couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact with me, and her gaze kept circling the ground, her fingers fidgeting restlessly.
It seemed the lingering effects of last night hadn’t subsided yet.
‘Last night, there was a huge misunderstanding…’
Just imagining it made me feel hollow and laugh.
An opportunity to bond with a hidden NPC whom I had never exchanged a word with before?
I ran to it without being able to resist, but I never imagined that the NPC’s mind would be filled with naughty thoughts.
So why didn’t I do it?
Are you asking if I’m impotent?
‘Mia’s age is 76, so in human years, that would be…’
It was a simple division.
The age of majority for elves was 100.
The age of majority for humans was 20.
So dividing 76 by 5 would give Mia’s human age…
‘Oh. It’s dizzying.’
Just imagining it made me feel faint.
There was a reason why Mia looked young.
I didn’t want to see a system window suddenly popping up with an achievement unlocked, saying “You have acquired the trait, Early Adopter”.
“Th-that, yesterday!”
“The meal was enjoyable, Priestess.”
“Ah…”
The priestess, who had been hesitating, turned pale.
She seemed to despair, thinking I was drawing a line.
I had already forgotten the minor mistake from yesterday.
Mia trembled for a moment, then sobbed and lowered her head.
“Y-yes… Goodbye…”
“Then I’ll see you next time.”
“What?”
“I will visit regularly to hear the World Tree’s prophecies. We can’t exchange such important confidential information through letters, right?”
“That’s right! Indeed!”
Only then did Mia raise her head and smile brightly.
Although her crying face was also nice in its own way, her smiling face was the prettiest after all.
“I’ll be looking forward to our next meeting.”
“Yes! I’ll be waiting! Keeping the World Tree’s prophecies!”
We will start as friends.
As friends.
After finishing my greetings with Mia, I was about to leave.
“Goodbye, Mr. Cheon Michael Jackson.”
“Lady of Yevgenia, please take care on your way too.”
“Bro! Bro! Bro!”
“…?”
Someone’s urgent voice came from behind.
Turning around, a boy was running towards me but was being stopped by soldiers.
That kid was… Who was he again?
“Let me go! I have to return the hat!”
Ah.
It was the child to whom I had given my baseball cap.
I gestured to the soldiers that it was okay, and the spears blocking the way were removed.
Then the boy ran over in one breath and handed me the hat.
“I used it well! Honestly, it looks a bit shabby, but! When I wore this, I felt like I had become strong like you!”
“Who said I was strong?”
“My father did! He said in the dungeon, you… Oh. This is a secret…”
The boy’s face turned pale, and he covered his mouth by himself.
It seemed he had heard about me from a survivor of the dungeon.
Sighing deeply, I knelt on one knee to match the boy’s eye level.
“You keep this.”
“What? Really?”
“Yeah. But keep one promise. You must not tell anyone else about me. Understand?”
“I’ll keep that in mind! I want to learn the sword! I want to become strong like you!”
An elf learning the sword.
A precious talent.
There were always few elves who wanted to do physical work.
I was touched and wanted to give him a piece of advice.
Even though I hadn’t reached the essence of swordsmanship, I was the only one who had trained three schools of swordsmanship to the point just before reaching the essence.
“Really? Then even if the opportunity arises later, don’t learn Merida-style swordsmanship.”
“Why? That’s an advanced swordsmanship only learned by chosen elven warriors…”
“If I tell you not to learn it, just don’t learn it, kid.”
“Okay…”
Merida-style, the traditional swordsmanship passed down in Elvenguard for generations.
Screw that.
Merida-style had only one advantage, and that was the element of surprise.
Because it was so bad that no one used it, so everyone couldn’t expect it.
Of course, that was also when it was trained to the extreme and there were other swordsmanship styles available.
Merida-style alone had such insect-like performance that it would be better to compare it to the intelligence of an ape.
‘The balance level is really stupid.’
Who opened the game without a single balance adjustment and ruined it?
I’m pretty sure they said which swordsmanship was good in the early game and which swordsmanship was the best and so on.
But after going through 12 rounds, it was revealed that it was all nonsense.
Later, when I reached the essence, Merida-style suddenly became strong.
‘No way.’
It couldn’t be.
Even if that was true, there was no way I would reach that level in this 13th round.
In the end, I had just forcefully crammed swordsmanship into a talentless body.
Reaching trait level 11, in other words, the essence of swordsmanship, was a realm allowed only to superhumans in some worldviews.
“Then the swordsmanship you want to recommend is…?”
“I’ve learned all sorts of things, you know? No matter how much elves boast about being chosen warriors, they’re far behind human sword masters in the end.”
The elders behind me were murmuring.
I’m sorry, but that’s the reality.
Even if elves made a fuss about establishing their own independent swordsmanship, the number of students would be at most 100.
But the scale of humans was on a different level.
A single school had anywhere from 500 to 10,000 students.
The total number of people was at least 100,000.
It was natural for the swordsmanship developed through the competition of that many people to be superior.
It wasn’t discrimination against races, but an unavoidable limitation.
“Enter a swordsmanship academy. I’ll write you a letter of recommendation. When you’re old enough to be independent, take this and go.”
“Belfast Academy…?”
I wrote the name of a solid academy on a note and handed it to the boy, who received it reverently and bowed his head.
So what connection do I have with that academy to write a letter of recommendation?
I have no connection at all.
Not yet.
‘I’ll have to stop by there later anyway.’
It’s a place I will have to visit someday.
The sword master there has a minor issue.
I’ll mention it when I go to solve that.
Later, an elven boy will come looking for you.
There’s plenty of time.
It will still take about 20 years before this kid reaches the age of independence.
“Thank you, big brother! For saving my father, and for all this…”
“Wear the hat properly.”
He was wearing it crooked, not knowing how to wear a hat.
I took off the hat, unfolded the creased part, and pressed it firmly onto the boy’s head before standing up.
“…Yoo-jin. The coachman. Is angry.”
“Then I’ll be going now.”
“Goodbye. May the blessings of the World Tree be abundant on your journey. And may you return safely to this place…”
The carriage was waiting.
It seemed we had to hurry.
I waved once to Mia and turned around.
I never looked back again.
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