Great Forest (5)
That head of his wasn't sitting there for nothing after all.
"Hmm. You know your stuff."
"Don't worry. I'm not that petty an elf."
Not that petty an elf, he says. He sure looks petty to me.
"Then maybe don't say it. There's no reason to go out of your way to make yourself look petty."
"Now that you mention it, you've got a point."
As if I didn't already know he was doing it on purpose.
"Petty little knife-ear."
"Hey now. Is that any way to speak to the Elf King?"
"Anyway, enough of that. Let's just enjoy the banquet."
I had no intention of dragging this out any further. The smart move was to get out of here before something ominous kicked off. Drink as much Elf's Dew as I could manage and sweep up whatever I could while I was at it.
But this damn Elf King, for whatever reason, shoved a cup toward me.
"Let's talk a while."
"Didn't we already cover that?"
Talk? With the Elf King? All I could feel was pure wariness. What the hell was he thinking? I couldn't read him at all.
Or maybe he'd already read me, and that was why he was doing this.
Either way, this vermin of an Elf King was wearing a distinctly sly look.
"Who in their right mind would refuse a chance to talk with a beauty like you?"
"The king of the elves, who never even spares humans a second glance, sure spouts a lot of nonsense. Besides, I'm—"
"Well, you're still a woman, aren't you? A male's eyes are bound to get drawn to a pretty one. Can't be helped."
Grind.
Honestly, this bastard. One of these days I was going to hang him out to dry. Not right now—later, once the White King business and the Four Heavenly Kings business were finished. Then I'd set the World Tree on fire and see how he liked it.
"That's far enough. Unless you want to watch the World Tree burn."
"Just a joke. Still, there are a few things I'm curious about."
"Like what?"
The Demon King, after all? If so, this was going to get annoying. This knife-ear loved his little word games, so the odds were pretty high.
"I hear this White King fellow's been doing rather well for himself lately."
"Yes."
"The old you would never have left him alone. Not with that temper of yours. Or has Olivia's personality simply grown softer with age?"
Well, he wasn't entirely wrong.
"Noah had the Hero Party title and nothing left to lose. But I'm an imperial noble now."
"Keh-keh-keh. You've gotten used to the secular world. Different from the days when you used to cause incidents left and right."
Where was I even supposed to start explaining? Or did I even need to explain at all?
"Even so. If something made me angry enough, I could still tie the White King down and turn all of Atlan into a hell of meteor showers right in front of his eyes."
That lie was half-true.
I'd already slaughtered Noah's entire kin. Turning the people of a little country like Atlan into offerings for falling stars would be no trouble at all.
If he ever truly pissed me off, that was exactly what I'd do.
Good and evil. Justice? Those things were nothing but boring. Whatever I felt like doing—that was justice.
Even so, the Elf King was rolling his eyes in a strange way.
"Empty bluster. It would take quite a lot to make you that angry. Still, it's something to look forward to. A tyrant would run to save his own skin, but if the people who form his national strength—the ones fueling his wars of conquest—died right before his eyes, as a king he'd feel the absolute worst for failing to protect them."
"You talk as if I'm actually going to rain meteors on them."
As if he really thought I would.
This knife-ear was stuck in his forest and still knew far too much about me.
"I may lag a little behind you in raw power, but I have eyes that see the future. Your fate is so strong that I can't tell when, exactly..."
Long ago, the Elf King had also held the duty of protecting the World Tree. Elves who served the World Tree and sometimes foresaw the future.
Apparently he was one of those. And he seemed to know quite a bit about me as well. Just what kind of future had he seen?
I didn't particularly want to hear it—especially after the matter with the archives.
I wanted to keep it hidden. Whatever the future me became, whatever kind of thing I turned into, I didn't want to hear it from him.
But this damn knife-ear was definitely going to try to tell me anyway.
"One possible future, I'm sure. Or did you see a future where I become the Demon King?"
I'd meant it as a half-joke, but the Elf King's expression didn't look good at all.
What, for real? No way.
"Then is there even any need to go after Atlan? Among the human powers, the Empire is the strongest, isn't it?"
"You already know that. Did you actually see something?"
Saying it that way only made me more curious. I knocked back some Dew and pressed him.
For some reason the Dew tasted especially sweet today.
"Who knows. Leaving that aside—"
"Still as good as ever at making people uneasy. So what else did you want to say?"
The next part would probably be the real point.
"What do you intend to do about the great war that's coming?"
"In the end, this is similar to what we just talked about. Well... I don't really have any particular thoughts."
I had none. Because I had none.
All I had to do was empty my head and leave it empty. There was no reason for the Elf King to stick his nose into it.
"Hmm? No particular thoughts?"
"Since you're the one saying it, the war itself seems certain. Even so, as you said, I'm not the type to move recklessly anymore."
I'd already taken a few measures regarding the war here and there, and there were also the things I'd set in motion under self-justification so long as the Emperor didn't get in the way.
If I had my way I'd visit the kingdom too, but I was already in contact with the princess over there. She was competent enough; she'd handle it on her own.
If war broke out, they'd come help the Empire, at least.
"True. In the end, humans must live by going with the flow. Getting used to that might not be so bad."
What was he trying to say, laying out the atmosphere like that?
"Besides, I'm just a figurehead Taesa. I'm not some shadow power pulling the Empire's strings from behind, so when it comes to war I really don't have any special thoughts."
Even in imperial society I'd probably just look like a young lady who knew nothing about war.
I had no idea how things would develop from here, but for now the situation was going to continue exactly as it was.
The Elf King had called it a great war. Maybe the Empire would end up in a more precarious position than expected, and maybe the future where I dropped meteors on Atlan would grow out of that war.
"I see."
But it was unfair that only I had to sit here and take it.
Was that something you said right to my face? In front of the Empire's Taesa? Talking about war and me destroying the Kingdom of Atlan?
Then I was going to land at least one hit of my own.
I needed to work off even a little of this shitty feeling. Didn't I?
"More than that, I've been getting an ominous feeling myself."
"An ominous feeling?"
"Yes. Strangely enough, it feels like something always goes wrong wherever I go."
Now you get a taste of what I've been dealing with.
"Huh. What on earth are you talking about?"
"They just found the New World Group in Ribelt, after all. Tsk tsk."
Meaning something was going to kick off properly in your neighborhood too.
At my words the Elf King gave a bitter smile as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, then drained his Dew in one gulp.
A moment later he suddenly frowned, as if he'd seen something again.
"When you put it like that, it really does feel thoroughly ominous. Maybe I ought to tighten management of the World Tree right this— No. That's strange."
"Spirit King!"
An elf who had been managing the World Tree in front of the Treasure World Tree burst into the banquet.
Right in front of the Elf King, the Empire's Taesa, and the elven elders, he shattered the atmosphere without a second thought.
Wondering what could possibly be going on, I simply watched—until the Elf King spoke first.
"What is it? What's the rush?"
"Something strange is happening at the World Tree!"
Huh? Wait. Don't tell me. Did something actually happen just because I dumped a curse out of my mouth?
I glanced toward the World Tree. It definitely felt different from a moment ago.
"What? Something strange at the World Tree?"
"Look over there!"
The elf who had made his report pointed at the World Tree.
"What in the world is that?"
Only then did everyone see what was happening to it.
The leaves of the World Tree were losing their strength one by one and falling away.
Leaves that held the light of the world. Leaves of the World Tree, so dazzling they were called the sun of the elves, were drifting down.
"What on earth is going on? Find out immediately!"
"It's serious. Strange cracks have appeared on the branches of the World Tree."
Strange cracks?
I rolled my eyes and examined the flow of mana streaming from the World Tree for a moment.
Vast mana still overflowed without end, but little by little, something grotesque was eroding one part of that mana. It was clearly similar to demonic energy.
No—perhaps it was demonic energy itself. The one thing certain was that nothing like this had ever happened before.
What in the world was going on?
"Strange cracks? What exactly came out of them? Demonic energy? Shariel!"
"Yes!"
Shariel ran over to us. Her face didn't look good either; she must have sensed some strange omen herself.
"Can you tell what that is? As the future priestess, you should know."
"The World Tree is in pain."
"In pain?"
The Elf King had probably already sensed the demonic energy flowing out. Even so, he clearly hadn't expected anything this strange.
"A foreign energy is eroding the World Tree."
"A foreign energy?"
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
A grotesque sound like a wail was rising from the World Tree. It felt as though something was afraid, crying out in agony.
"Elders and the rest of you—check the World Tree's condition at once."
The Elf King gave the order to the elves, then dropped heavily back into his seat.
"Strange things are happening. Did you do this, by any chance?"
Why would you even ask me that? From a Taesa's standpoint, messing with the World Tree right now would only drag the Empire and the elves into war.
With the White King already out there, we couldn't afford a war with the elves. Looking at the geography, that would leave us with elves on one side and the White King free to pour in from below—far too convenient for an invasion.
"No. Why would I do something like that? Has nothing like this ever appeared in elven records?"
"Until now, nothing of the sort has— Wait."
Had something occurred to him?
"Is there something you suspect?"
"What if, as you said, the New World Group has gotten involved with the elves?"
"But it shouldn't be easy for the New World Group to get in here. Your Majesty should know that better than anyone."
I'd already warned him earlier and he'd brushed it off as fine. This knife-ear might have a bit of pride, but he still protected the Great Forest thoroughly.
And yet his expression was terrible. He knew that, and still looked like something was itching at the back of his head.
Right. If something this abnormal was happening to the World Tree right now, there was only one real possibility.
There was a traitor among the elves.
Honestly, I didn't know whether a traitor would even appear among the elves, or whether there was any reason for one to appear.
"Yes. That's the problem."
"You mean betrayal from the inside?"
No way. The rock-solid unity of the elves, crumbling? And if someone betrayed the World Tree, that was an instant one-way ticket to becoming a Dark Elf.
"There must be a mole."