Chapter 128
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Opening the Negotiation Table (1)
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Everglow Forest.
A place where everything shimmers faintly.
Where all things are gently preserved.
Thus, a mystical forest where spring lingers year-round.
But this place wasn't special from the start.
Originally, it was just an ordinary forest nestled in the Eastern Mountains.
Then, three hundred years ago, a band of elves settled here, and everything changed.
They were descendants of elves who had once served dragons.
Weary of the human world.
They chose seclusion.
They wove special magic over this forest.
They crafted their own paradise.
"So there's no winter chill all year. No scorching heat either. It's like a place where perfect spring days stretch on forever."
At the edge of such an Everglow Forest.
Lloyd smirked as he took in the mystical sight.
'Coming here in person, it really is.'
No, it was so real it was nothing like the novel.
The gap from his mere imaginings was enormous.
'Not just spring. Over-the-top spring. The biting midwinter wind from outside moments ago? Gone. Unknown flowers in full bloom, butterflies, honeybees—the hallmarks of spring...'
"...Achoo!"
Haviel sneezed after sucking in pollen.
Lloyd panicked.
"Hey, shh."
"Sorry. A-ah..."
"Cover your nose and mouth, quick."
"...Mmph!"
Haviel barely stifled the sneeze.
Lloyd's glare stabbed over.
"You? You do know where we are, right?"
"I do."
"Then why fire off a sneeze like that? Wanna meet the elf ladies that bad?"
"Urgh, couldn't help it. Hit me out of nowhere."
"Not a pollen allergy or anything, right?"
"Of course not... Ah... Aah..."
"Whoa?"
"Ah... Hoo... F-fine now."
"..."
Doesn't look fine.
Lloyd probed, relishing the suspicion.
"Nah, that's an allergy for sure. Big problem. You see this? Pollen floating everywhere."
And it was.
Way past "a lot."
Worse than Korea's winter smog.
Felt like someone clapping ancient chalk erasers right in your face. Or pollen snowing down like heavy flakes.
All because eternal spring ruled here.
But if Haviel had some undiagnosed pollen allergy?
That spelled trouble.
"You're a Swordmaster, though. Can't control sneezes?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Physiological reaction."
"Hold up. So even a Swordmaster can't hold it forever down there?"
"Correct."
"Hmm. Swordmasters ain't all that."
"..."
"Anyway, won't cut it. Here, wrap this around at least."
"..."
Haviel took the proffered handkerchief.
Tied it mask-like over nose and mouth.
Breathing eased a bit.
"Follow me."
They skirted the forest's outer edge.
Along the way, Haviel recalled Lloyd's plan from eight days back.
'Just steal it.'
Steal Elensia tree sap.
Solves the insulation issue.
He'd leaped up.
Absurd, he'd protested.
Sneak sap from elves in Everglow Forest of all places.
Felt more realistic to teach chickens swordplay for tiger hunts.
'Even I couldn't.'
Sure, Swordmaster.
But still no confidence.
Might fool elves elsewhere, but Everglow Forest?
'They sense even the slightest air shift here. Fool them? Is Lloyd overrating my skills?'
He worried.
But his worries aside, the plan rolled on.
That day, Lloyd sought the baron.
Laid out the details.
Stubborn clash between Lloyd and the baron.
But the outcome?
Same as always.
Lloyd's unyielding stubbornness and airtight plan turned the baron into a yes-man.
'And we set out.'
Next morning, departed the barony.
Seven-day trek ended just now, arriving here.
Finally, an unanticipated tactic.
"Alright. We'll start from here."
"Collecting Elensia tree sap, right?"
"Yeah."
Lloyd halted.
Haviel faced him.
"So what do I do?"
He'd prepped something for sure.
Lloyd always did.
'Elf turf.'
No dropping guard.
Even as Swordmaster.
Here in the forest, their senses matched his at least.
'Fool those senses and snag sap. What kinda plan?'
Haviel waited, face set.
Lloyd's answer only hardened it further.
"Run."
"Pardon?"
"Run. Straight ahead."
"What's that mean?"
"Can't run?"
"Of course I can."
"Good then."
"So... just run?"
"Yeah."
Lloyd smirked.
"As far from here as possible. As fast as you can. As noisy as hell. Into the forest. Oh, don't get lost."
"...You mean play decoy."
"Yep."
"Not worried I'll be in danger?"
"Nope."
"..."
"I'm the one worried about me."
"What're you..."
"Think about it. You're a Swordmaster, right?"
"Yes."
"With Triple Circles too?"
"Yes."
"So no matter the Everglow elves, they won't be a real threat to you."
"That confident?"
"Yeah. And one more: I'm dead certain I'm in way worse shape."
"You, Lord Lloyd?"
"Yep."
This one's rock-solid.
Lloyd glanced around.
"You can handle yourself no sweat, but me? What do I got?"
"So while I stir up chaos, you grab the sap."
"You're catching on."
"But it's too risky for you."
"It's fine. Got a method in mind."
"...Can trust it?"
"Worried about me now?"
"No way."
"Then?"
"Worried the liege lord will chew me out if we lose you."
"Ah. Hit with that job insecurity dread fitting these unstable times?"
"Spot on."
"Touching, almost teary. Won't can you, so watch your own hide."
"...Got it. I'll trust you."
"Trust settled? Then go already. Back in thirty minutes flat."
Haviel dipped his head briefly.
That nagging young master, prickly as thorns.
But he knew.
Decoy or not, Lloyd was blatantly courting far greater risk tonight.
'Please stay safe.'
Could Lloyd snag sap without tripping their senses?
Wasn't finding another way more sensible than this reckless gamble?
But they'd come too far to back out now.
'And Lloyd's still brimming with confidence.'
He got it now.
That attitude meant Lloyd had an ace up his sleeve.
'So trust it and roll.'
Shing!
Sword drawn.
Ground kicked in the instant.
Like a pent-up beast roaring free.
Sword thrust skyward.
Mana Circles clashed.
Boom!
Fierce Blasting erupted upward.
'I'm here! Catch me if you can!'
Haviel dashed deeper into the forest, faster, putting max distance from Lloyd.
Dozens of pale green silhouettes streaked after him, slicing through the woods.
♣
'Damn, they are fast.'
Right after Haviel bolted for the forest heart.
Lloyd hunkered in the underbrush, eyes on his vanishing direction.
Haviel long gone from sight.
Instead, Blasting shots streaked skyward from there.
Pale green flashes flickered now and then.
'Elves, chasing already.'
Elf senses were no joke.
Deceiving them here? Near impossible.
'But that's surface-level talk.'
Only after scanning thoroughly did Lloyd rise.
Shovel gripped in hand.
'Underground changes the game. Can't fool 'em fully, but buys time.'
Scrape. Scrape.
Dug with utmost quiet, caution.
Soil damp, yielding soft.
Scarce stones.
Digging proved no ordeal.
His careful strokes deepened the slanted burrow.
Fifty centimeters. One meter. Two.
Tunnel now hid him fully.
'Time for phase one camo.'
Out, strewn leaves and twigs artfully.
Mimicked an animal den.
Back inside.
'Now the real tunneling begins. Energizer.'
Ding-dong.
[Asrahan Heart Method option, Energizer activates.]
[Triple Circle efficiency pushed to the limit.]
[No fatigue for 20 minutes.]
Kiiiiing!
'Whew, missed this rush!'
Power flooded every limb.
Triple Circles whirled at max.
Endless vigor surged, ion-drink-ad style.
'Let's go!'
Papapapapak.
Sound still hushed.
Shoveling relentless fury.
Tunnel bored horizontal.
Under the surface.
Five meters. Ten. Twenty advanced.
Zero fatigue throughout.
Path ahead mapped prior.
'Any second now for roots.'
Dig site's truth: mere twenty meters from the Elensia tree.
But couldn't just bull-rush the trunk.
Bare approach for sap?
Bark knife-work?
'They'd wreck me.'
No doubt.
Iron-Blooded Knight had a similar bit.
Adventurers tried that, nabbed by elves with zilch to show.
Lloyd shook his head recalling.
'Two fatal flaws in their play. One: Surface exposure. Two—and bigger—bark slits yield what, a few drops a day?'
Want volume fast? Hit the roots.
Failings' hard lesson.
Elensia stored sap in roots.
'Slice choice thick ones, squeeze 'em out.'
Plan reaffirmed, Lloyd powered final digs.
Energizer near expiry, root spotted at last.
'There we go.'
Tstststst!
Other skill humming ongoing.
Surveying's underground scan lit up five meters ahead crystal-clear.
'Root confirmed.'
Shovel bit harder.
Tip neared root.
Thunk!
Lloyd's lips curled triumphant.
'Bingo.'
Found it.
From then, digging turned finesse.
Like spooning slick acorn jelly. Or teasing ancient pottery free unscathed.
Soil scraped gingerly, root untouched.
Sweat poured unknown how long.
At last, Elensia root gleamed in torchlight.
'Whoa.'
No kidding.
Lloyd snatched the nearby torch.
Root thick, glass-clear. Smooth bark cradled milky fluid aplenty.
'That's the sap.'
Verified? Harvest time.
Sliced three roots clean.
Oilpaper multilayered, no drip, backpacked.
Harvest success.
But no complacency.
No rash burrow exit.
Torch pressed to remnant root instead.
Casual toss:
"Sisters creeping up from behind, freeze. One more step or keep bows trained here, and this root gets torched crisp?"
Low murmur filled the tunnel.
Approaching elf women froze.
"You're... cornered in a dead-end burrow, pulling a hostage stunt on us?"
Muira, the lead elf woman bow-trained on Lloyd's back, shot back incredulous.
Lloyd beamed leisurely, sunny.
"Yes."
They won't shoot.
Guaranteed win.
Torch grazed root tip with conviction.
"Don't like it? Fire away."