Chapter 75
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Never Provoke the Elves (5)
Amelie strode majestically at the front. The pursuit team marched in perfect formation behind her, moving with disciplined precision. It felt just like watching one of those North Korean propaganda parades.
I stuck right by Clara's side, terrified of getting separated from her. If we ended up apart in a situation like this, I really wouldn't stand a chance against Amelie—not even a counterattack.
As if she'd decided to toy with us outright, Amelie had positioned Clara and me right up front. Thanks to that, pretending to play along was sheer torture. At least she wasn't paying us any attention, which was a small mercy.
If she had been, we'd have been found out ages ago. Amelie and the pursuit team pressed deeper into the forest's heart. The beautiful sight we'd glimpsed from outside was gone now, replaced by the filthy entrance to the woods.
Purple moss reeking of poison draped the area, tangled with sticky spiderwebs that defiled the forest. Could demons be involved? The thought crossed my mind briefly, but I dismissed it just as quickly.
The elves' forest was one of the few places that survived intact until the very end in the original story. Sure, the woods had become polluted, weakening their power compared to their heyday.
But if demons had meddled, the elves' forest wouldn't have fared any better than the dwarf duchy or the twelve tribes. The cause of the pollution had never been properly explained, though.
So the community had speculated it was something else. Could this be Amelie's doing too? But there wasn't enough info to be sure.
"No matter how many times I come here, it always puts me in a foul mood~."
How long had we walked? Upon reaching the deepest part, Amelie whistled softly and muttered to herself. With everyone else silent, her voice echoed unnaturally loud.
I stared at it wordlessly. It was a tree, sort of. But nothing like a normal one. For starters, it was gigantic—beyond anything ordinary.
Its condition wasn't normal either. Countless eyes writhed on the trunk, and roots bursting from the ground chewed and swallowed everything in their path.
It was less a tree and more a living creature. A monstrous one at that. The horrific sight nearly made me puke; I swallowed it back down, tasting stomach acid's sour bite.
"Poor, pitiful Cluna. Still sacrificing yourself so diligently today."
"Amelie?! How are you here...?!"
"You know, I've never understood it. Why should we—the ones with power—be the ones to sacrifice?"
And just like that, we met Cluna again. She was covered in wounds, blood pouring from them. Had she been fighting that tree alone?
No, no. Stay calm for now.
Amelie had used the word "sacrifice." That meant Cluna was offering herself up to the tree alone. My head spun with the implications. Then Amelie burst into loud laughter.
"We just offer up worthless trash as tribute, right? That should keep it quiet for at least a hundred years. Isn't that so?"
"I've told you over and over— a hundred years isn't enough time for the next generation's sprouts to grow...!!!"
"So what? When the time comes again in a hundred years, we offer another tribute. Who knows, maybe it'll buy us two hundred next time?"
"Amelie, you...!!!"
"Hey now, don't move on your own. Unless you want to see this child get hurt."
At that moment, Clara—who'd been right beside me—made her move. She stepped forward. The instant she stood next to Amelie, Cluna, who'd been watching in stunned silence, cried out in shock.
"No need to take off the mask; you can still tell who it is, right?"
"Clara...?! Why?! I thought you went back!"
"That's what we made it look like. You know the elves' forest is already as good as in my grasp."
"...What do you want, Amelie."
"For you not to die. That's all I need."
Ah, now I get it. Drawing from my experience with countless anime and novels, the forest's pollution stemmed from that tree. Offering tribute to the damn thing reduced the corruption.
But it couldn't be just anyone. The tribute's quality determined how long the tree stayed dormant. I didn't know the details, but probably based on magical power.
In other words, Cluna had planned to sacrifice herself. To fully restore the forest by offering herself to the tree. But she couldn't just tell Clara that outright.
So she'd had no choice but to leave for the forest alone, claiming it was a vacation. Clara, however, hadn't stayed put. Mother-daughter instincts—she must've sensed her mom was in danger.
"I've got the gist of it."
"What?!"
I snapped my index and middle fingers together. The sound echoed, and the world around us turned gray. Only then could I finally remove the mask. I turned my head.
I could see the masked elves.
I let out a sigh as I looked at them.
When the hell am I getting rid of these masks? Damn it.
When did the forest's pollution begin?
Few elves knew, aside from a tiny handful. Was that handful blessed or cursed? Cluna couldn't answer that question.
If it were just a tree, destroying it might've been an option. But it wasn't just any tree. It was the World Tree, worshipped since primordial times.
To the elves, it was no different from a religion. That's why they revered nature—and trees—in particular. Things were milder now, but...
In the past, they'd even imposed that worldview on other races. It had once let elves dominate over half the continent. Though they'd been beaten back by the allied forces.
[Couldn't we just cut it down?]
[We can't do that. The World Tree is what sustains our forest.]
[What about us, then?]
No adult ever answered that question. Cluna had thought about it since childhood. Was prosperity born from someone's sacrifice really better than none at all?
Her conviction hardened when her own mother was chosen as tribute. The so-called World Tree absorbed tributes as nutrients, enriching the forest in return.
The elves kept that fact hidden. Human sacrifice would disgust other races. Even knowing it was shameful, they couldn't break from the old ways.
The elders chose the tributes. And the next one selected was none other than Clara—Cluna's daughter.
[Why my daughter as tribute?!]
[Don't forget your duty as a guardian, Cluna.]
[You were originally next, but your accumulated merits earned you this concession: your blood kin instead.]
[That's absurd...!!!]
It made her want to vomit. In the end, she was just bait to lure her in. But she couldn't turn away. What about the innocent elves outside?
If she ignored it and fled, someone else would have to sacrifice. Cluna couldn't allow that. She'd learned too much from the founding hero.
[Then I'll be the tribute.]
In a way, it was the obvious choice. But she had no intention of going quietly. She had enough power now.
So she resolved to deal with the corrupted World Tree. If she lost the fight, she'd become tribute. If she won, she could return. It was a decent plan.
"Poor, pitiful Cluna. Still sacrificing yourself so diligently today."
"Amelie?! How are you here...?!"
But an unexpected interloper appeared. A comrade she'd fought alongside back-to-back until now. Amelie had barged in on her own.
Originally, Amelie had been excluded.
[Why not just use other elves instead of Cluna or Clara? We have plenty.]
She'd suggested that nonsense in front of the elders and been shot down flat. Yet here she was, showing up with a group of elves in tow.
Cluna tried to stop her. She knew what Amelie might do. But she couldn't. Because she recognized the elf behind Amelie.
"No need to take off the mask; you can still tell who it is, right?"
"Clara...?! Why?! I thought you went back!"
Masked and cloaked, but the movements and build were unmistakably Clara's. A fake? No, she wasn't so stupid she couldn't tell.
No one could deny it. It was really Clara. At the same time, Cluna realized Amelie's scheme: use Clara as a hostage to sacrifice the elves behind her.
"...What do you want, Amelie."
"For you not to die. That's all I need."
The answer was just as expected. Amelie was someone who followed through if she set her mind to it. Attacking her might kill her, but then what?
From the looks of it, Amelie had imprinted mind-control seals. In her final moments, she could order them sacrificed to the tree—including her daughter.
Choosing her daughter might doom the elves behind too. She couldn't vouch for all their innocence, but surely some clueless ones were mixed in.
In this desperate moment...
Strangely, only one human came to mind.
"I've got the gist of it."
And, like a lie, that human's voice rang out.