Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: Yggdrasil's Gratitude
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'...As expected.'
From Lampang's words, I gained even greater certainty in the suspicion I'd already half-anticipated.
In my previous life, Veras had killed both Karma and Lampang. Even if it was a surprise attack when Karma was off guard, Karma was the Azure Wing.
No matter how skilled Veras was, he couldn't have pulled off an assassination unless his power perfectly countered Karma's.
Moreover, Karma had said he wove Maya's malice and poison together to create a single manual.
To learn a Heterogenous Power from a manual required overcoming the insanely low odds of matching wavelengths perfectly, but that was the only explanation that made sense.
On top of that, Maya had spouted that cryptic line about an "heir" appearing.
With all this circumstantial evidence, only a fool wouldn't put it together.
Of course, Lampang had no way of knowing that he and Karma had died to Veras in their previous lives.
"Veras... did he wield the same power as Maya?"
"That's a bit odd."
Tsk. Lampang bit his lower lip suspiciously.
"Veras's Heterogenous Power felt similar, but its nature was strangely different. He didn't have those bizarre mercury-like orbs like that bastard Maya. Instead, it was definitely..."
Bang!
As Lampang started to say more about Veras, the door swung open again.
It was Lena, Milia's older sister and bodyguard.
"You're awake, Jerome. How's your body?"
"Eh, so-so. Not bad."
I wasn't sure how they'd treated me, but the tremors in my hand from the mercury-damaged nerves were gone, so that much was true.
"Good. Then get ready. Lady Yggdrasil is summoning you."
Lena said only what was necessary and left the room as if her business was done.
...That blunt personality of hers hasn't changed a bit.
"Well, shall we continue this later?"
"...Yeah. Priest, get ready and come out. I'll head out first."
Smooth.
Lampang rose from the simple chair and left the room, thinking to himself.
'Well, the priest doesn't really need to know about Veras's power.'
The priest was already burdened with enough worries. Even though they'd agreed to travel together, Lampang didn't want to add more weight to his load. That was the official reason.
But personally, it was because Veras's head belonged to him—no one else, not even the priest. It was Lampang's alone.
So the priest would never cross paths with Veras, neither now nor in the future. Ever.
As we headed to the outskirts where the World Tree stood, Paolo and Milia were already there.
"You're late, brat. And you're wheezing after just that much? You've got a long way to go before you catch up to your old man."
"Mother!"
"Hmph!"
Milia restrained Paolo's unnecessarily gruff words, but Paolo just snorted.
Well, it was Paolo's way of saying she was relieved I was safe. Compared to how she'd blast me with killing intent out of nowhere in the past, it was a huge improvement.
...Probably.
-Welcome, humans. No, Jerome von Carviot and Lampang.
Unlike the grumbling elf queen, the World Tree greeted us with dignified grace.
-Thanks to you, I was able to purge the poison from the man who rotted my roots. I know not how to repay this great favor. Speak if there's anything you desire.
'Desire, huh...'
My initial goals had been just to heal the World Tree's seeds and resume trade with the elves.
But considering the "effort" it took to fix those seeds, ending it there felt like a waste.
'What should I ask for?'
Then, in my pondering gaze, I caught Lampang looking desperate.
Right. This whole affair wouldn't have even identified the cause without Lampang's help.
And having a powerhouse like him owe me a debt wasn't a bad idea either.
'Especially since I'll have plenty of use for him on the way to Olivia.'
Time to cash in a favor or two.
"Lady Yggdrasil, I don't need anything, but could you generously provide Lampang with some of your leaves? He's suffering from a similar poison to the one that withered your roots, and he needs treatment."
"!"
Sure enough, Lampang shot me a gaze filled with gratitude.
No matter how much he'd contributed, asking for the World Tree's leaves outright would have been awkward for her, someone with no prior acquaintance with the elves.
-My leaves... That's not difficult. But Karma was poisoned by something similar to what afflicted me?
Yggdrasil's spirit hardened its expression at my request and asked again.
"Yes. It's not immediately life-threatening, but without a spirit medicine like peony, he won't fully recover."
-Peony... Indeed, that herb steeped in the southern sea's vital energy could purify even this vicious poison. But regrettably, my leaves won't suffice.
"?!"
Smooth.
As Yggdrasil's spirit extended its hand unexpectedly, a massive World Tree root began manifesting into reality.
Rumble!
The house-sized root shrank under the spirit's gentle touch.
Soon, it resembled an ordinary tree root, which it offered to us.
-You've seen my suffering, so you know. This poison is beyond what my leaves can handle. What good is giving something useless?
Unlike the ominous aura dominated by Maya's lingering thoughts, this true World Tree root brimmed with vibrant, azure life force.
-Take it. Even my root may not fully cure him, but it will at least halt the deterioration to some degree. It should suffice to ease Karma's pain until you obtain the peony.
'...The best reward possible!'
Yes. No material treasure could top this single root for me right now.
Though the Carviot count's merchant group had scoured everywhere for peony, no good news had come.
In this situation, where full recovery seemed impossible without crossing the archipelago to harvest it ourselves,
I'd been growing anxious watching Karma worsen bit by bit each day.
And peony wasn't just needed for Karma.
'I'll have to send plenty to Set via messenger when I get back.'
No doubt, Ishwar—one of Osiris Kingdom's Great Three Sages—was slowly deteriorating from mineral poison as well.
I'd felt guilty for not repaying Set anything since the wyvern hunt, but this would let me ask him to hold on with a clear conscience.
Besides, the root Yggdrasil offered was impressively thick.
Even reduced in size, this arm-thick amount would sustain both of them until we harvested peony from the archipelago.
-If you ever need the elves' aid, just say the word. I'll ask Paolo to help, so long as it aligns with the natural order.
"...Hmph. Lady Yggdrasil, why bother asking me something like that?"
Paolo grumbled, but she didn't object strongly.
With solid elven support secured, visiting Elunheim before Olivia had been a brilliant choice.
'Though I nearly lost an arm in the process.'
Still, not a bad outcome.
-And you lot, perhaps it's time to show yourselves?
As I happily imagined how to utilize the elves and Lampang going forward, Yggdrasil's spirit looked behind us and spoke.
Though the spirit addressed elsewhere out of nowhere, none of us were surprised.
They hadn't hidden their presence on approach—they'd simply waited patiently for our conversation to end.
"......"
The arrivals were the six elders. No, now the four elders.
Thud!
Tristan, at the forefront, dropped to his knees and bowed deeply to Yggdrasil and Paolo.
"...Forgive us. My foolishness and desire blinded me, placing Elunheim and Lady Yggdrasil in irreparable danger."
Unlike when I'd first seen Elder Tristan with Milia recently, he looked gaunt and unrecognizable.
It must have hit him hard. Understandably so—two elders he'd shared over a century with had returned to Yggdrasil's embrace in an instant.
"For this unforgivable sin, I offer my life...!"
Finishing his apology, Tristan gripped an arrow from his quiver and thrust it at his throat. Or tried to.
Clang!
"Urk!"
Tristan dropped the arrow from the sudden pain shooting through his hand.
Step, step. Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!
As Tristan failed to grasp the situation, Paolo strode up and slapped the cheeks of Tristan and the three elders.
"Queen..."
"Pathetic."
Paolo glared coldly at Tristan, who clutched his reddened cheek and looked up at her.
"An elder of Elunheim, yet spineless beyond measure. Do you seek to evade your sins through death?"
"B-But... to atone for my crimes, no other path exists."
"Don't spout nonsense. Lady Yggdrasil has fully recovered."
Paolo's gaze turned to Milia.
"...She no longer needs you. But for the new sprouts leading tomorrow to flourish, your experience is still vital. Cast aside your foolish stubbornness and labor for the clan's progress in place of the elders who perished from your idiotic mistake—until your dying day, with atonement in your heart. That is the only path to redemption."
Why was that? Though directed at Tristan and the elders, it sounded to my ears like Paolo speaking to herself.
"...We accept the queen's command!"
Tristan and the three elders knelt and swore with voices thick with emotion.
The rift between old and new generations had nearly ruined trade with the elves, but this patched it up nicely.
'Met the vice-baron will love this.'
Now, my business in Banten was truly done. All that remained was departing for Olivia come spring.
With the elders' attitudes drastically shifting, trade with the elves resumed smoothly, as if the prior troubles had been a lie.
Whether Met the vice-baron had informed the merchant lords that I'd gone to meet Milia, as soon as we entered Elunheim territory, they swarmed us from the main road.
"Th-Third Young Master! How did it go?!"
Met the vice-baron voiced the question everyone burned to ask, laced with desperation.
"Met vice-baron, it's late—contact Baron Geibel tomorrow. Don't worry about this side; focus all efforts on the Holy Empire caravans."
"D-Does that mean...?!"
I drove the wedge into the expectant vice-baron and merchants.
"Trade with Elunheim resumes at dawn tomorrow. They've been stored outdoors a while, so inspect everything thoroughly for defects."
"Wooooow!"
As the cheering merchants roared, I chuckled and turned to head back to Banten.
"Third Young Master! Please wait a moment!"
Met the vice-baron caught up and offered a small pouch.
"A modest token from the merchant lords and myself. We realized elven trade became possible thanks to you, yet we'd offered no thanks until now—this seemed the perfect chance."
I briefly wondered if they'd offer this had my negotiations failed.
But no need to voice it.
"You're salaried, vice-baron—got any reason to thank me?"
I teased playfully, but Met grinned back.
"Of course. Thanks to you, I avoided Baron Geibel's wrath."
Baron Geibel's scoldings were fierce, alright.
"Well, I won't refuse."
Gripping the pouch, Lampang and I turned our horses toward Banten.
Some ways down the main road, Lampang suddenly asked,
"Priest, how much is in there?"
Come to think of it, I was curious too.
"By weight, maybe 50 gold at most...?!"
My eyes widened as I opened the pouch.
Good lord.
All jewels.
'At market rates, this is at least 500 gold.'
Considering Banten's annual budget of 2,000-3,000 gold before elven trade,
Calling it a "small token" was quite the understatement.
'...Banten's grown far wealthier than I thought.'
Looks like I could squeeze a bit more before heading to Olivia.
One day after the great storm that swept Elunheim subsided.
A band of uninvited shadows arrived in elven lands.
"Is that it?"
Whish!
The intruders were known as the Ghost Shadow Group.
Dispatched to the Vatican on Veras's orders, the Ghost Shadow Group had failed to connect the dots on their slain predecessors or infer Lampang and Jerome's link to Saladin.
They specialized in tracking, not piecing together fragments.
Veras eventually halted the Lampang pursuit and ordered them to prioritize something else.
Find his origin.
That single command had drawn the Ghost Shadow Group all the way to distant Elunheim.
"Hmm, I sense Yggdrasil's fragrance... but why no trace of what Black Wing called the origin?"
Despite crossing the continent to reach Elunheim, things didn't match. Had Black Wing misjudged?
As the squad leader puzzled over the mismatch, a squad member urgently sent telepathy.
-S-Squad leader!
-Found it?!
-N-No... you need to see this.
What the member found wasn't Veras's origin. Instead, it was traces of something else their master desperately sought.
The traces of the one who wounded famed blood sect Vladimir were notable, but not the priority now.
It was the beast that had devoured countless Ghost Shadow members.
Those traces lay before Elunheim's World Tree.
"...Return to Black Wing. Immediately."
The Ghost Shadow Group abandoned the origin hunt without regret and headed to Veras in Osiris Kingdom. Even if they hadn't fulfilled Black Wing's command, he'd understand.
They'd finally caught the White Wing's tail, lost in the Holy Empire.
Where the Ghost Shadow Group had stood, only a single gust of wind chased after them.