That Place After All
The clear glass of water sat on the table in front of the sofa.
Christina reached out and dipped her fingertip into it.
Plop.
“Here, let’s say this is the World Tree.”
Her slender finger traced the shape of a tree across the tabletop with water.
“There was an Elf King and a princess.”
Once more, she wet her finger and drew a simple male elf and a young female elf.
“After the World Tree’s prophecy, the Elf King gave his blessing for the princess to marry Rand.”
A face resembling Rand appeared beside the princess, and a small ♡ settled between them.
“The problem comes after this. The thousand-year war with the demon race. Rand fought hard to help the elves, but the result… as you already know.”
Christina spread her hand and wiped away the water drawing of the princess.
A brief silence fell.
“Rune, do you remember the story about how the elves began to treat the dragon race as enemies?”
Since it was something he already knew, Rune simply nodded.
“Yeah. I also know both the elves and dragons turned their backs on him. But Rand’s situation seemed even harsher than I imagined.”
Rune gazed down at the water-drawn figure of Rand and continued.
“Even after he gave them the Seal of the Forest, every elf blamed him and cast him out into the desert. That felt far too cruel to me.”
A gaze full of admiration lingered on Rune.
“It was excessive. Rune, I believe the cause was the curse of the High Demon of Lust and Indulgence, Lepanon.”
“That guy?”
“He fled before he could properly confess, but it’s certain.”
Christina’s eyes grew icy as she went on.
“It’s such a shame that the one I saw wasn’t his true form. I did manage to strike a blow to part of his spiritual body, though.”
Rune recalled the events of that time.
No wonder light kept bursting from behind the mask like that.
She had dealt him several blows that should have been near-fatal, yet unfortunately she hadn’t been able to kill the demon.
After all, it had only been an avatar, not Lepanon’s true body. That much was obvious.
The thought that he would naturally recover with time crossed both their minds.
Then Rune asked about another being’s whereabouts.
“Was the Elf King there too?”
“……A part of what had once been him was there.”
Rune understood the implication without difficulty.
So it wasn’t a simple death.
The Elf King must have met an incredibly cruel and humiliating end.
Lepanon really does have terrible taste.
The reason he had invited Rune and the others was probably to show them whatever remained of the Elf King they had been searching for.
He must have expected some kind of reaction, only to have Christina summoned and forced to flee with her tail between her legs.
Christina spoke again.
“Soon after, an elf named Belianus asked me to help with the Elf King’s funeral. He said he wanted to purify the late king’s remains.”
The water drawing of the Elf King on the table was already beginning to dry.
The temperature inside the room was warmer than expected.
“He also asked Rand to attend the funeral with us. We both agreed to participate.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Rune nodded.
The Elf King’s funeral was the greatest and most important event for the elves.
Being formally invited carried significant weight—it meant the elves no longer intended to reject Rand.
“When is it happening?”
“In five days. Belianus said the elves wish to express their gratitude to you as well… but if it would be uncomfortable, I can send you back to my lair first.”
Rune thought for a moment, then gave a small nod.
“I’ll attend too.”
“Good.”
Christina gently ruffled Rune’s black hair.
“What about my brother?”
“Just as you asked, he’s helping Heungmi heal the elves. For someone who claimed he didn’t want to, he’s working quite diligently.”
Christina smiled faintly, and Rune let out a small chuckle as well.
“That’s just how my brother is. He says he won’t do something, but his body can’t stay still.”
“Pfft.”
To Christina, Rune was exactly the same.
Despite seeming quiet and uninterested in worldly affairs for a child, he would often cause more trouble than an ordinary hatchling.
At other times, though he appeared indifferent, he could never turn a blind eye to someone in need.
Her smile deepened.
I look forward to the day you all become Elders.
Christina stroked Rune’s head once more.
It would be nice if I could see that day with my own eyes.
Meanwhile, completely unaware of her inner thoughts, Rune was feeling extremely embarrassed.
Is it because we haven’t seen each other in a while? She’s been petting me nonstop today.
Rune was still a long way from growing into an adult. As a hatchling, he had no choice but to quietly endure the affection.
But inside, he was thinking something else entirely.
I think I have an idea where that bastard might have run off to.
To hide his thoughts, Rune closed his eyes slightly, as if enjoying her touch.
A moment later, Christina withdrew her hand and spoke.
“Of course, that’s one thing. But to not contact me immediately when it involved demons? You should have reached out right away.”
“……I kept informing Rand, though.”
At Rune’s protest, Christina shook her head.
“I just finished speaking with Rand as well. To think he took ‘look after the hatchlings’ so literally. Of course he should have told their guardian.”
She let out a deep sigh, clearly quite frustrated.
Of course, Rune had also understood Rand’s personality and had been operating right on the edge of what was acceptable.
If Christina had been with us, none of those things would have been possible.
With a touch of guilt, Rune felt a little sorry for Rand, who had only been slightly lacking in caution.
The warm and cozy atmosphere was shattered, however, by Christina’s declaration of evening training.
Three days later, in the evening.
The village at sunset was bustling with people finishing their last sales of the day and others hurrying home.
The atmosphere was completely different from a week ago, when the air had been thick with the stench of the sick and the rotting.
“It feels so good to be outside. The breeze is so refreshing.”
“We almost never got to see this again.”
“Was the sunset always this beautiful?”
Chatting away while putting on and taking off animal masks and face coverings, they were elves who had nearly been turned into demons. Most of them had been locked away in the basement of the royal palace.
After recovering, they were rediscovering the vitality of daily life and regaining their laughter and energy.
Walking among them were two boys—one wearing a red cat mask and the other a black rabbit mask.
The boy in the red cat mask spoke grumpily, as if annoyed.
“To think I’d have to wear this ridiculous mask again.”
“What’s wrong with it? No one recognizes us, so it’s actually pretty convenient.”
The slightly shorter black-haired boy replied casually.
The red cat mask seemed displeased with the black rabbit mask’s answer and snapped back.
“Why on earth did something as childish as these become a trend?”
It was true.
Animal masks and face coverings had recently become all the rage among the revitalized elves.
The combination of eyewitness accounts of a white bird and a blue bird scattering healing blessings together, along with the story of the ‘lucky rabbit mask’ that had started in Belianus’s village, had created the perfect storm.
The main reason they’re masks is probably to hide faces still bearing traces of the skin disease.
Even Belianus had subtly encouraged the trend.
It was exactly like him—the same man who had decorated his office with a demon’s head to boost the elves’ morale during the war.
No matter how you look at it, he really knows how to read a crowd.
He clearly had a talent for politics.
While coolly analyzing the reasons behind the animal mask craze, Rune bought a skewer from a street vendor.
It was well-seasoned meat on a stick, perfectly balanced with spices sprinkled on top. The flavor had soaked in nicely.
“Spicy.”
Perdikion lifted his mask slightly askew and took a bite of the skewer.
Even as he complained that it was too spicy, he kept devouring the meat without pause.
“Still tastes good, though.”
At Rune’s calm remark, Perdikion chewed with his mouth full and gave a grudging compliment.
“So this is the work of those cooks we saw back then? It’s pretty decent.”
The meat skewers were the creation of the husband-and-wife chef duo, Elin and Jeff, who had performed brilliantly at the royal palace.
Following Rune’s advice, they had used the remaining wine from the palace to make a sauce for the skewers.
Since it was a sauce, it paired well with both vegetables and meat.
“Speaking of which, did that little white bird go to the palace again today?”
After polishing off the last piece of meat and burning the skewer stick with fire, Perdikion asked.
“Yeah. Apparently there’s chaos every time the ingredients run out. So many places are asking for it that he can barely keep up.”
These days, Baekya went to the palace every morning and shed tears into a massive barrel of wine.
Thanks to that, Rune had newly realized just how talented the bird was at fake-crying.
He seems to enjoy it, so I’ve just been letting him be.
At first, Rune had felt sorry for making him cry so often after giving the order, but now the bird woke him up every morning with cheerful chirps.
He was really insistent about wanting to be sent off quickly.
Baekya’s popularity was enormous. Every time the bird entered the palace, the elves erupted in cheers.
This was largely because the elf guards Campbell and Merin enthusiastically recounted the heroic tales of their adventures with Rune’s group.
Their storytelling was so entertaining that it was even raising the popularity of Rune and the rest of the party.
“That little guy’s working hard too.”
The red cat mask shook lightly from side to side.
“Thanks to him, Rand’s situation has improved a lot. In many ways, it’s turned out well.”
Receiving praise from all sides, Belianus had testified about everything that happened in the palace without holding anything back.
Not only had the group’s achievements been recognized, but the elves’ sudden change in attitude toward Rand had exceeded all expectations.
There was even talk of appointing him an honorary elf. That said everything.
Perdikion, however, didn’t seem entirely pleased.
“I wouldn’t say it’s purely a good thing.”
“That’s true.”
There’s no denying they’re trying to ease their guilt for having misunderstood and mistreated Rand all this time…
Only time would tell what choice Rand, who felt that weight most closely, would make.
Rune tossed the finished skewer stick into the shadows.
The two had already reached their destination.
“Is this the place? The one you wanted to check?”
“Yeah. We’re almost there.”
On the outskirts of the village.
It was a place that carried a solemn atmosphere quite different from the lively village.
Here, the World Tree’s massive, house-sized roots lay exposed.
This was the site where the elves performed their traditional funeral rite, the ‘tree burial.’
“So many died.”
“It seems so.”
Beneath the surface of the surviving elves’ desire to wear masks and savor life even a little, lay the sorrow of death and the place where elves returned to their mother, the sacred tree, were laid to rest.
Suddenly, Perdikion looked around with a strange expression.
“For some reason, I feel strangely unpleasant. And it’s not just because this is a graveyard.”
“I feel the same.”
Rune’s gaze turned toward the thick roots of the World Tree.
On the surface, it only looked a little dry. There didn’t seem to be any major abnormalities.
So it really is that place.
Traces of power, like someone’s footprints, visible only to Rune, who had absorbed demonic energy.
Tap.
To confirm, Rune lightly leaped forward and approached the tree trunk.
He reached out, placed his hand on the tree, and resonated the demonic energy he had absorbed.
Vwoong!
From the deepest part of the World Tree, another demonic energy wriggled in response.
Found it.
Like worms gnawing through the tree, the foul things had completely filled its core.
Rune followed the unpleasant line of connection with his gaze, lifting it upward.
It must be up there. Lepanon.
The moment Rune looked up at the World Tree soaring endlessly into the sky and tried to pull his hand away—
Whoosh!
“!”
“Rune!”
Demonic energy wrapped around Rune’s wrist.