The Elf Elder's Request (2)

"Ramella!"

"Leyton!"

Leyton clearly knew her. The instant he climbed out of the underground, he dragged his still-battered body into a run and threw himself toward Ramella.

"What happened to you?! Weren't we supposed to have escaped together?"

"Yeah. Those people caught me, but that man over there saved me."

"Really?!"

Hearing that, Leyton came over to me and bowed deeply.

"Thank you for saving Ramella."

"Ah. Yeah. Sure."

With that, Leyton drifted back to Ramella's side, and the two of them fell into a hushed, huddled chatter. Those two... They were still just kids — well, they looked like it — and yet it already seemed they had a thing going.

"What happened to those people?"

"Well..."

After we'd taken down the Golem, I had chased those bastards deeper underground — but they were already gone. They'd probably gotten what they came for and slipped out of the Hidden Temple.

"Elena. Do you happen to know an elf named Braust?"

"Huh? Braust? Yes, of course I do. How do you know about Braust?"

"Well, actually..."

It was the name of the elf from the recording. I'd only caught it in passing, but now that I knew he was real, I started explaining to Elena what I had seen in the footage while clearing the Scenario Quest.

I couldn't claim the recording showed the absolute truth. I hadn't fully pieced the facts together myself. But the odds that it was genuine were high. The later footage had clearly depicted everything that had just happened here — which meant the earlier footage was probably true as well.

"Come on. There's no way. Braust would never do something like that."

"I'd like to believe that too."

Elena seemed fairly close with Braust. And from the way she spoke, he was clearly someone who commanded a great deal of trust.

"That's right! Braust isn't that kind of elf!"

"You must have seen it wrong!"

It wasn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just Elena. Even those little elf kids were insisting Braust would never have done such a thing, and I had to admit I was starting to feel a little confused.

Is he really not that kind of elf?

A man trusted this deeply. I found myself wondering why someone like that would have done something like this at all.

"We need to get to wherever the other elves are... Do you know where they went?"

"Yes! I know!"

Ramella seemed to know exactly where the rest of the elves had gone.

"Can you show us the way, then?"

"Of course!"

She answered with overflowing confidence, then led us out of the Hidden Temple toward a destination of her own.

The moment we stepped outside, the green light had already shifted — not back to the mountain we had come from, but to someplace entirely different. Ramella held up the necklace she was wearing, swept its glow across the surroundings, and tugged us off in one direction.

Where the hell are we?

The green light was already drifting toward a new heading, as if preparing to relocate once again.

I guess I should be grateful we didn't end up back in that zone. The mountain was almost certainly sealed off because of the Mushroom King. Getting out of there should have been impossible — so did this light somehow exist outside that influence? I had no idea how we had gotten out, but just being somewhere else was more than enough for me.

But where is this, exactly?

I looked around, but there was nothing nearby that would tell me where we were. After walking a little farther, Ramella stopped and started glancing about.

"Are you lost?"

"Oh. We're not going anywhere. We're waiting."

"Waiting?"

"Yes. This is a good spot for traveling."

I'd thought she was looking around because she had lost the way, but that didn't seem to be it.

We waited a little while. Then something began to take shape right in front of us.

What is that?

In an instant, something like a magic circle began to etch itself into the air, and a portal bloomed into existence before our eyes. It looked like the kind of thing the elves used to travel, and I couldn't help wondering how it even appeared. Still, I kept a tight grip on my knife and stayed on guard in case it was an enemy. Meanwhile, Ramella bolted toward whoever was stepping out of the portal.

"Brother!"

"Ramella!"

Ramella's older brother — an elf.

"Where on earth have you been?! I was so worried!"

"I'm sorry, Brother."

"No. You're back safe. That's all that matters."

He had clearly been sick with worry over her disappearance. He pulled her into a tight embrace and wouldn't let go.

"But... you are Lady Elena, aren't you?"

"Yes. It's been a while, Rhymer."

"Where in the world did you go? The Elder was terribly worried."

"I'm not entirely sure what happened myself."

Rhymer approached Elena and spoke with her, glancing over at me again and again. A human standing here was clearly putting him on edge. Given that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his people had been attacked by humans, it would have been a lie to say there was no hostility. Fortunately, Elena explained things well enough ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that the glare in his eyes eased somewhat — though he still seemed to be keeping his guard up.

"Brother! Don't look at him like that! He's the one who saved me!"

"He saved you?"

The moment Ramella said that, Rhymer dropped every last bit of wariness toward me. Then he dropped to the ground in a deep bow and offered his thanks.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"It's nothing. Please, stand up."

I pulled the overly grateful Rhymer back to his feet and explained everything that had happened. He offered to take us to where his people were staying, and led us into the portal that was still hanging open.

Whoosh!

The moment we stepped through, a landscape utterly different from the one we had just left unfolded in every direction.

Can they just use portals whenever they want? Was it someone's ability among the elves? They seemed able to travel freely through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠these things, and I wanted that power badly. Compared to us, who could only move with spell scrolls, a reliable means of travel like that would be a game-changer.

"This way, please."

Rhymer led us to a particular spot in this new location. And there, waiting, was the Elder I had seen in the recording.

"Elder. It's Rhymer."

"Yes. What is it?"

"Lady Elena has returned."

"What?! Elena?!"

At those words, the Elf Elder looked around wildly, searching for her.

"Elena!"

"Grandfather!"

Elena must have been just as overjoyed to see him. She ran straight into his arms.

I wasn't sure why I kept running into scenes like this today. That joy of reuniting with people you'd been separated from — I had felt it myself when I found my parents, so I understood it better than anyone.

Mi-seong's okay... right?

My little sibling always came to mind whenever I saw something like this. I told myself over and over that Mi-seong was fine, that everything was okay — but no amount of self-reassurance could stop the worry.

I'll head up to Seoul soon.

For now, I would wrap up a few things here and then make for Seoul. With that in mind, I walked slowly toward the Elder.

"You are a human... aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

The Elder, as expected, was in no mood to welcome a human. But once Elena recounted everything that had happened, he quickly let his guard down. That was when I told him about Braust.

"Impossible! Braust is not that kind of elf."

"He's right. Brother Braust would never do such a thing."

The same reaction as the other elves. Rhymer, too, seemed determined to hold the line that Braust couldn't possibly have done it. But even as the Elder denied it, I caught something uneasy flickering across his face.

"You know something, don't you, Elder?"

"Ahem... ahem."

When I asked him outright, the Elder turned his head, dodging the question. There was definitely something going on with Braust.

"Please tell me, Elder."

"A moment... might we speak among ourselves?"

"Just us, you mean?"

He clearly didn't want to talk about this in front of the other elves. So once everyone else had been sent away and only the White Dragon, myself, the Elder, and Elena remained, the Elder slowly began to speak.

"It was not long ago. Braust came to see me."

The Elder's story went like this. A few days ago, Braust had come to him with a proposal. They had been dragged into this other world, and from what Braust had seen wandering outside, the humans were growing stronger at an alarming rate — never mind the powerful monsters. They could hide inside the Hidden Temple for a while, yes, but sooner or later their position would inevitably weaken. If they kept living in hiding like this, the elves would gradually degenerate, and in the end they would be overrun by humans.

The truth was, the Elder had already recognized as much. If things continued this way, they might all die.

That was when Braust made his proposal.

"What kind of proposal?"

"He wanted us to join hands with the humans."

"With the humans?"

"Yes. He said there were people who knew how to grow stronger."

The Elder let out a long sigh as he said it, then went on.

"But after much deliberation, I refused. Humans, in particular, are a race that is not easily trusted."

Humans were a race that was not easily trusted — that was the Elf Elder's verdict. I couldn't argue. Even in a peaceful world, humans had a hard time trusting each other. In a world like this, it would only be worse.

"After that, I thought he had gone quiet. Then today, he said it again — that we would be in danger if we did not grow stronger ourselves. He claimed there was a rather fine hunting ground nearby, and he took most of our fighting force with him. That is when all of this happened."

"I see."

Even as he told this story, the Elder still seemed to hold onto his faith in Braust. He still believed Braust had done all of this for their sake.