Chapter 229
Chapter 229
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Most Truthful and Pure Elf
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Rapita decided to put off the conversation with the sylph she'd so longed for since ancient times.
There weren't many matters more urgent than that, but it seemed one had just arisen.
"F-Follow me...!"
Rishir.
Why was the half-spirit guardian she'd left in the human city here of all places?
She grabbed his hand and hurriedly left the area.
"J-Just to be sure, but you're a hallucination, right!?"
"Pardon?"
"You should be in Bondales! Why are you here!? And showing up right when I'm in danger to help me... No matter how I think about it, unless I'm going insane and seeing illusions, this doesn't make sense!"
"...!"
Rishir was stunned.
'I accidentally entered a dungeon, accidentally used an ancient relic I got by chance, accidentally met the forest at night, accidentally found out she was my mentor's mentor, accidentally learned nature magic, accidentally got help from a high elf, and accidentally got thrown into the elves' city—... This is way more realistic than that!?'
For a moment, he was even convinced by her coherent(?) argument.
"Just as you say, Princess... I might be a hallucination you created...!"
"...!"
"R-Rishir! What are you—"
"Ah. Just kidding, Sir Gondola. Your words were so coherent that—"
"Gondola!"
Only then did the elf princess call out to her guard.
"W-What's going on here!? Tell me I'm not going insane and seeing things!?"
"No, this isn't some delusion—"
Mid-sentence.
Gondola looked at Rishir.
He, too, started thinking the princess might have a point.
"...Rishir, are you perhaps a hallucination I created?"
"W-What do I do...! This guy's messing with both their minds!!!"
The elf Ratsil paced anxiously at the sight of the two genuinely confused people.
Rishir felt an inexplicable pang of guilt.
"... Ah! Whatever!!! Just follow me for now!!!"
In any case.
Color began to return to the elf princess's face, which had been growing paler by the second.
Rishir headed to Rapita's private chambers with her and explained the sequence of events that had led to the situation.
Rapita fell into thought for a moment before bursting into laughter.
Tears glistened slightly at the corners of her eyes.
"So that's what happened... For a second there, I really thought I'd gone mad from extreme stress and was seeing things..."
Rishir tried to empathize with Rapita's feelings by putting himself in her situation.
'If I were dealing with something unbearable in Ilraddain, and suddenly Fienne and Rona from Bondales popped up and fixed it all in a snap...'
He found himself nodding involuntarily.
'Yeah. I'd definitely start doubting my own sanity first.'
Rapita was about to continue, chuckling at Rishir's expression—
"Huh?"
—when she widened her eyes and pulled out the necklace she'd hidden in her clothes.
"Ah..."
Rapita's green eyes sparkled even brighter.
The emerald on the necklace.
The gem that had lost its light when the high spirit departed had regained its glow.
This meant the sylph had returned to her.
"W-What's this..."
Rapita let out a laugh.
After all her efforts had yielded no response, the high spirit's turned heart had come back with a single human's words.
As an elf, she was confused whether she should honestly rejoice in this situation.
Of course.
No matter how great the confusion, it couldn't surpass her joy.
"Sylph..."
Rapita gazed at the necklace and desperately called the name.
"It's late, but now I think I understand how foolish I must have looked back then—in front of you."
She recalled the memory that had started it all.
Her beloved half-spirit—
Refusing to accept that Perrin had chosen a human over her, she'd stubbornly tried to impose her will using the sylph's power. Her shameful self from that time.
"..."
Rishir was shocked.
Was this mature woman really the same headstrong elf princess he'd met back then?
—Have you forgotten that half-spirit child now?
The high spirit seemed to share the sentiment, shifting her attention from Rishir to her.
"Sylph...!"
A choked laugh escaped her.
The elf princess beamed brightly and began pouring out all the words and emotions she'd bottled up.
Their conversation began.
"..."
Watching them, Rishir felt a fresh surge of awe.
'I didn't realize it back then... but looking now, it's incredible.'
A high spirit ruling over nature itself.
Even abundant, powerful groups like the Yellow Tower scrambled desperately for its attention.
'To form an equal contract with such a high spirit...'
As Rishir sincerely admired this, a familiar voice echoed from his inner world.
-Cutie!!! That pointy-eared bitch is nothing compared to you!!! Don't you have a great spirit like me!!! Think about it!!! Can that trash burn down a forest like I can!?
'No, she's a wind spirit to begin with.'
-That's because she's a rootless mongrel spirit!!!
'...Are you really the one to talk about spirit roots?'
Rishir naturally continued his conversation with Dungaleon.
Perhaps because he was focusing on his inner world?
"Hm?"
Rishir suddenly felt a sense of wrongness.
At some point, he could no longer hear the elf princess and high spirit's conversation.
Moreover, he couldn't sense their presences at all—proving this wasn't just the conversation ending.
Rishir hurriedly looked toward where the elf princess had been sitting.
"Lady Rapita?"
The elf princess was gone.
"Miss Ratsil? Sir Gondola?"
Even the guard knight and forest watcher.
The wrongness Rishir felt reached an extreme.
As he looked around in confusion.
"This is..."
He was no longer in the princess's private chambers, but in some other space.
Rishir looked around.
It was a space that seemed like a forest rendered in light.
"...!"
Rishir jumped to his feet in shock.
"Rishir!?"
"Huh?"
The familiar scenery unfolded again.
Back to the princess's private chambers.
"What happened!? Are you okay!? A seizure!? Your face looks a bit pale—is that a human thing?! Your eyes seem a little dull too... Human thing again!? Oh no, I don't know how to check a human's condition at all!!! Rishir!!! This is bad!!! If something's wrong, you have to tell me directly—"
"W-Wait...! Miss Ratsil, calm down—"
Rishir's bewilderment from the bizarre phenomenon vanished instantly under Ratsil's rapid-fire worries.
He even forgot his panic and focused on calming her.
"I just... saw a hallucination for a moment."
"Hallucination...? Rishir, did you—"
"...Lady Rapita? You mean—"
Rishir and Rapita exchanged meaningful glances.
Knock knock.
A knock came from outside the door right then.
Rapita approached and opened it to reveal—
"Yullin? Rasnian?"
Her two rivals, the other successors.
Their gazes didn't go straight to Rapita.
Their heads tilted oddly.
Their eyes passed over Rapita toward the room's interior.
Toward the hooded mysterious man.
"..."
Rapita stepped in to block their line of sight.
As if hiding her treasure from impure eyes.
Only then did the two successors' gazes turn to Rapita.
"What do you want?"
Yullin replied curtly.
"Nothing with you. The one I have business with is that man."
"..."
Rapita smirked bitterly.
What staggering audacity.
Having just witnessed Rishir's prowess, they'd come straight to steal talent. Rapita shook her head in disbelief.
"Even so, isn't this too rude? I'm right here, and you're trying to take my person."
"Isn't that for the person himself to decide?"
"...What are you saying, Rasnian?"
"From his perspective, the best situation is following someone chosen by the World Tree. In that sense, Rapita—you're hardly an ideal employer. Or colleague, for that matter."
"..."
Rapita gritted her teeth in frustration.
As he said, her current odds of World Tree selection were far lower than theirs.
At this point, she was nothing without Rishir.
"You there!"
Seizing the opening, Yullin pushed into the room.
"Want to come with us? I think I have stories that might interest you. Oh, and by the way—"
She gracefully pointed to herself with her palm, brimming with confidence.
"I can confidently say this: If you help me, I'll definitely receive the World Tree's selection and promise you the maximum reward. As a fellow elf, you understand what I mean, right—Yullin?"
"Yullin. Sorry, but I can say the same. No, it's what I should say."
The atmosphere turned chaotic with the successors' sudden victory declarations.
"..."
In that mood, Rapita cautiously gauged Rishir's reaction.
She desperately wanted to stop them—
But the pain of her past mistake—forcing his actions—held her back.
Yullin noted Rapita's hesitation and pressed harder.
"Instead of standing here, shall we move somewhere else? This seems a bit too humble for important talk."
Yullin beckoned Rishir politely, a far cry from her tone with Rapita.
And so.
Her suggestion to relocate happened instantly.
"Huh?"
Yullin looked around in surprise.
The others reacted the same.
They were no longer in Rapita's private chambers, but another space.
A space like a forest rendered in light.
—Offspring of the World Tree.
Someone addressed them from the space's depths.
The profound energy in the voice made Rishir and everyone straighten up in shock.
"No way, this is...!"
Their thoughts converged on one possibility.
World Tree's Selection.
—I have a request for you. Only you, the most truthful and pure elf among the World Tree's offspring, can fulfill it.
Their guess turned to certainty.
The being speaking to them was the World Tree's agent—
And at this moment, the selected elf would be decided through it.
The most noble and true elf!
This would greatly influence deciding the elves' long-vacant ruler.
Not a breath could be heard in the space.
They held their breaths, focusing on its next move.
—Offspring of the World Tree.
From the space's depths, a branch thick with leaves suddenly poked out and extended.
Like reaching out a hand.
—Most truthful and pure elf.
The branch pointed at one among the many elves present.
—And, great lord of the winds.
"""...!"""
It was decisive.
Gasps echoed through the entire space.
"W-Wait...!"
It was so close!
They glanced at Rishir before blocking Rapita's path.
"Agent of the World Tree—please reconsider...!"
"She didn't become the great lord of winds through her own power alone!"
Regardless.
The branch extended unhesitatingly toward its target.
—Will you carry out the World Tree's will?
"..."
The branch extended like a handshake.
It hung awkwardly in place.
Since the other party didn't grasp it, no matter how long it waited.
Finally, the target spoke.
"Um, I'm human, though?"
Rishir pulled both hands far behind him, wary of touching the branch.
—...
The branch trembled.