Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: The Sacred Tree, Aktria
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Do-jae and the silver-haired Gray Person stepped out of the room.
The source of the creaking sound was a wooden staircase.
The spiral staircase, built around a tree trunk, had wide gaps between its steps and was poorly secured with thin ropes, making it quite difficult to keep one's balance.
However, watching the silver-haired Gray Person descend, he understood why the stairs were so flimsy.
‘Her movements are incredibly light.’
She moved with elegant grace, quickly reaching the ground.
Her body possessed incredible agility and flexibility.
Do-jae, though still about five meters from the ground, simply jumped down.
He landed softly on his feet.
A height like this was nothing to Do-jae, so landing in one go was far more convenient than precariously climbing down the stairs.
"Oh, I haven't even introduced myself, have I? I am Sarieta, the chief of this Nightingale Forest. Please, just call me Sari."
Sari said in a bright voice, spreading her flowing skirt and giving a slight curtsy.
Thinking she had quite a multifaceted personality, Do-jae gave a light nod in return.
"I'm Lee Do-jae. You can speak informally with me too. As for age... you're much older, after all..."
In terms of age alone, Do-jae was so much younger that he should have been using the utmost formal address, but in appearance, he looked much older than her.
It wasn't easy to use honorifics with Sari, who looked closer in age to his younger brother, Do-young, than to him.
Besides, in Do-jae's world, they were human and monster.
For Do-jae, speaking informally to each other was the best way to keep things simple.
"Really? Okay! That's an unusual name, Lee Do-jae. You know, I've always wanted to be friends with a human. The one who saved me that day... Anyway, we're friends now! It's nice to meet you, Lee Do-jae!"
Sari seemed pleased with Do-jae's response.
But her words made Do-jae scratch his head.
‘I don't remember agreeing to be friends...’
In any case, since they had agreed to speak informally, Do-jae decided to clarify his name.
Being called by his full name felt a bit distant to him, even if Sari didn't realize it.
"Just call me Do-jae. I don't know if your people have them, but Lee is my family name, and Do-jae is my given name."
"Aha! It was so short I thought it was all your name. Do-jae... Do-jae? Do-jae! How's that? Right?"
Sari's voice rang in his ears.
She pronounced his name with a slight, unfamiliar accent.
He nodded at her bright, expectant gaze.
"So, what do you think of our village? It's pretty, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It's beautiful."
Do-jae looked up at the forest.
The houses built in the trees, the log bridges connecting the branches.
And the Gray People living among the trees.
It was an incredibly peaceful village.
‘So monsters live ordinary lives too.’
What if they didn't have gray skin and lived on the ground instead of in the trees?
Would they be any different from humans?
Do-jae watched the Gray People for a moment, lost in shallow thought, before snapping back to reality.
‘This is no time for idle thoughts.’
He couldn't just stand here staring blankly at the Gray People.
He had to find a way to get out of here and return to where he came from.
"Sari, do you know anything about quests?"
"Quests? Hmm... An inquiry? An exploration? I'm not sure what you mean."
Sari not only didn't know about quests, she couldn't even grasp his intent.
That meant Sari was an entity unrelated to quests.
Do-jae tried rephrasing his question.
"Um, is there a... 'great being' here? Or have you ever heard of Elatra or Altein?"
"Elatra, Altein... The names sound familiar, but maybe not... By 'great being,' do you mean a god?"
"Maybe something like that?"
"A god... I see! Follow me."
Sari set off with energetic steps.
Do-jae stared blankly at her retreating back.
‘Do gods actually exist in this world?’
Do-jae had been burned once by Elatra.
Remembering that Elatra, whom he had thought to be a guardian deity, was actually a woman mad with bloodlust, he couldn't let go of his suspicion.
"What are you doing? Come on!"
Sari was already some distance away.
Half-skeptical, half-hopeful, Do-jae started to follow her.
***
"Is that a human? Look how pale he is."
"In my youth, we used to trade with humans sometimes... Brings back old memories."
As he followed Sari, Gray People began to appear from all over.
While he couldn't make out the words of those farther away, the meaning of the Gray People who came closer was transmitted clearly.
"Sari, is there some kind of spell on me? How am I able to talk with you all?"
Sari smiled and greeted each of the approaching Gray People before answering Do-jae.
"Ah, it's a spell called Mind Exchanging. It's much more powerful than that earring you're wearing, Do-jae."
"Mind Exchanging?"
At Do-jae's question, Sari explained the magic in more detail.
The Mind Exchanging spell wasn't some simple translation magic like the earring Do-jae had received from Kim Soo-kyung of the MID.
In other words, it was a spell that conveyed intent itself, rather than translating and interpreting language.
This made it an incredibly high-level spell that enabled communication between different species.
Its only drawback was that, since it converted intent rather than sound, the spell only worked within a specific range. Though, considering he could even hear the chatter of children peeking at him and Sari from across the path, it hardly seemed like a drawback.
*Click.*
Do-jae unfastened the earring and showed it to Sari.
Then he made a request.
"Can you cast that spell on this, too? It seems like a pretty useful spell."
"What? Enchanting an object is trickier than just casting a spell... especially since this is already an enchanted item. Erasing the old magic and casting a new one is even harder. And it's not just any spell, it's Mind Exchanging! Not just anyone can do that."
"Really? Then forget it. It's not like there are any other Gray People worth talking to besides you."
"Wait! 'Not just anyone'!"
"What?"
"It means not just anyone can do it, so someone like me *can*. Give it here!"
Sari snatched the earring from Do-jae's hand.
And she gave him a meaningful smile.
"I'll turn this into a new item in no time! I just need to stop by the workshop, so wait a bit! By the way, 'Gray Person'? What's that?"
"Ah, it's what we call your kind. We refer to you as monsters called Gray People..."
Tucking the earring into her clothes, Sari frowned and glared at Do-jae.
Seeing her expression, Do-jae realized he'd made a mistake.
‘Was calling the Gray Person who saved me a monster going too far?’
Sure enough, Sari spoke to him in a slightly angry tone.
The voice he actually heard with his ears had also become much stiffer.
"We are not monsters! How could you think of our race as monsters? Do-jae, where on earth did you come from?"
"Sorry. It was a slip of the tongue. Then what should I call your race?"
"Tahuan Tuhirik!"
Two short words.
The words that reached Do-jae's ears were not interpreted, but heard as they were.
Meaning they were unique words that could not be conveyed even through intent.
"That's the name of our race! Got it?"
"Right. Tahu... what..."
"Hmph! That's what we call ourselves... Actually, the humans of the past called us Gray Elves."
"Gray Elves? Elves... but your ears aren't pointed. The other Gray... Gray Elves aren't either."
Do-jae recalled the entry on elves in the Monster Encyclopedia.
The fabled fairies that every human wished to see at least once actually existed within dungeons.
They were humanoid monsters with pointed ears and beauty so captivating you couldn't look away, but contrary to their appearance, they were extremely ferocious and skilled enough with a bow to pierce a heart from a kilometer away.
Countless hunters who encountered them in mountainous field-type dungeons died without ever knowing where the elves were.
"Ah, you mean the High Elves? They're a kind of distant relative to us. They love the forest and are a peaceful race like us... but I find them a bit insufferable. They have enormous pride just because they're a little handsome and pretty."
"Peaceful... I see... There's something else I want to ask, about the Great Cataclysm..."
"Oh! We're here! This is it."
Sari said, coming to a stop.
Over Sari's small shoulders, Do-jae gazed at the beautiful scenery unfolding before him.
"Whoa..."
A narrow path cut through a circular lake.
And in the very center stood a single, enormous tree, lush with fresh green leaves.
"That is the sacred tree, Lady Aktria. Do-jae."
***
*Swoosh—*
A cool, fragrant breeze blew, causing the green leaves to rustle and scatter a white light.
The white light rode the wind down to the lake, where it floated like stars adorning the night sky before slowly sinking.
Then, from all over the forest, creatures of various species appeared.
From small animals like rabbits and sparrows to large ones like wolves and wild boars, they all came to drink the water.
That wasn't all.
Mid-sized monsters like orcs, ogres, lizardmen, and dead ents also gathered one by one at the lake to rest.
"No way..."
Do-jae couldn't believe the scene before him was real.
During the Gaeseong suppression, hadn't the Red Orcs, the Dead Ents, and the Gray People divided the area into three parts and fought amongst themselves?
And now those same three types of monsters were gathered peacefully around a single large tree?
Do-jae's common sense had been shattered several times today.
"Do-jae, what are you dawdling for? This way!"
Sari had already waded into the lake and was heading toward the center.
Sari, wearing leather-strapped shoes similar to sandals, walked right in, but Do-jae took off his shoes and held them in one hand as he dipped his feet in.
‘If they call it a sacred tree, there must be something to it. I'll follow for now. Ugh, cold.’
The lake water was colder than he expected.
Do-jae followed Sari, slowly parting the water as he walked.
The lake water, which he had initially thought was just cold, began to feel warmer the deeper he went.
The water temperature hadn't changed, but a warm and comforting energy now flowed through Do-jae's body.
His mind grew calm, and the lingering pain from his wounds subsided.
"How is it? Feels nice, right?"
They were about halfway across the lake.
She lifted her skirt even higher and asked Do-jae.
She was a head shorter than Do-jae, so while the water was only up to his knees, she had to hold her skirt nearly all the way up her thighs.
"Yeah. It really does seem like a place where all races can coexist without fighting."
"It's all thanks to Lady Aktria's blessing. Everyone is equal at this lake."
"Sari. That tree you called Aktria, what kind of god is it?"
"Lady Aktria? Hmm... It's hard to explain. Why don't you just meet her?"
Sari smiled brightly and splashed the water.
Soaking Do-jae's head in the process.
"Once you meet Lady Aktria, all your questions will be answered. I visit her whenever I have something I don't understand. She'll be able to explain the Great Cataclysm better than I can, too."
Sari then lightly bounded ahead.
Do-jae watched her go, sighed deeply, then hitched up his pant legs and started to follow.
‘Alright, let's go meet it. A real god!’