Chapter 198: Yernil
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 198: Yernil
The Owl's Hunt silenced our sounds, and the general-purpose Chameleon Camouflage made us translucent, but there was one thing we couldn't avoid.
Scent.
The 8th floor was teeming with ancient creatures, many of them ferocious predators. For example, the cave bear currently sniffing its way toward us.
"Grrrr..."
In terms of raw strength, it could easily overpower Aimus, and despite being an animal, it possessed a few skills.
Should I use magic?
A strength and weakness of my Memory Book was that most of my spells were area-of-effect and loud. I had smaller spells, of course, but they lacked destructive power.
Using a big spell could expose our location, but I had no other choice...
"Triple Shot."
Suddenly, from within Ingelam's coat, Yernil drew her bowstring.
The large movement caused parts of her body to break through the chameleon's camouflage effect. The bear noticed us.
But Yernil was much faster.
Before the beast could make a move.
'Mark of Resistance Nullification!'
'Venom Cloud Shot!'
'Magic Arrowhead—Scroll of Nerve Paralysis!'
The three skills imbued in her Triple Shot flew in like a volley of rocket arrows.
Fwip-fwip-fwip!
The first arrow left a mark that nullified resistance, and the two arrows that followed struck that exact spot.
Along with immense damage, the Venom Cloud Shot injected a potent toxin into the bear's bloodstream. The Magic Arrowhead activated the Scroll of Nerve Paralysis, turning the beast's body as stiff as a log.
"Guuh..."
The bear's body slumped sideways, powerless.
Like a doll pushed over by a foot.
"I was worried that using Blowgun Breath would be too loud and pierce through the Owl's Hunt," Yernil said.
"Well done."
Honestly, if I had been controlling Yernil, I would have used the exact same skills.
"Let's finish it off for good before we go!"
Yernil fired another series of arrows into the paralyzed, fallen bear.
That was also exactly what I was about to suggest.
Our Yernil has really grown so much.
"Don't worry, Caleb."
Yernil was bursting with confidence.
"I can detect other monsters approaching, you know. And if we can't avoid them, I can just take them out quietly with my arrows, like this! Swoosh!"
She made a flashy chopping motion with her hand.
"You're very reassuring, Yernil."
"Hehe."
Yernil pulled her arrows from the now-dead cave bear.
"It's been a while since it was just the two of us on an adventure."
"You're right."
I remembered the time when Yernil and I trembled as we wandered through the 1st floor together.
So much was different now.
Both of us were 8th-floor adventurers.
We pulled our coat tight and set off again.
*
Besides monsters that approached based on scent, there was one other thing we had to be wary of.
Traps.
"…!"
Around early evening, as we were passing through a small thicket after crossing a wasteland, a rope hidden on the ground suddenly snagged Yernil's ankle.
In an instant, it flipped her upside down and left her dangling from a tree.
Me along with her.
"Ugh!"
It was because of Ingelam's coat. With my left arm in the left sleeve and Yernil's right arm in the right, the coat had bound us together.
As we were hoisted into the air, I reflexively pulled out my wand and aimed it below, while Yernil had already nocked an arrow.
Yernil!
I was genuinely moved.
To be caught in a trap and not even scream, but instead, to glare with wide eyes, scanning the surroundings in preparation for a follow-up attack?
You're already a fine 8th-floor adventurer.
Though with the sound suppression magic active, a little scream would have been fine.
"I don't think any enemies are coming," Yernil said, having scanned the entire thicket.
She sliced through the rope with her arrowhead.
If she had been alone, she would have landed gracefully, but since she was carrying a sack of potatoes tied to her by a coat, we both tumbled to the ground.
"Let's go!"
"We need to be more careful with traps."
"Okay!"
"Let's stick to bare ground as much as possible and avoid stepping into thickets."
*
A full half-day passed.
We still hadn't managed to rendezvous with Aimus and Back Attack.
"I think they're close. They're hiding their presence too, so the sounds are very faint, but I can hear them sometimes. Aimus is..."
Yernil closed her eyes and concentrated.
"The sound of him drinking a potion."
Sound Mapping really is an incredible ability.
"They're that way."
I checked the direction Yernil was pointing and decided to make camp.
"It's too late today. Let's set out tomorrow morning."
The path in that direction was overgrown with grass, and with the night growing dark, it was the perfect place to step on a trap.
"Let's not make a fire."
It could attract monsters.
"But I don't have a sleeping bag."
Yernil had dropped her bag during the commotion with the Lancer. So now we only had one.
"You can sleep in my sleeping bag."
It didn't matter, since we'd be taking turns sleeping anyway.
"This really brings back memories."
"I'll wear the coat now."
One of us couldn't lie down while the other stood if we were sharing a coat.
Besides, even if Yernil wore it, she couldn't use the chameleon magic.
We played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would sleep first.
Yernil won.
"Hehe."
She slipped into my sleeping bag, lay down, and looked up at me.
"Caleb."
Blinking, Yernil asked.
"Yes."
"I didn't get to hear before, but what did you do before you were possessed?"
"I researched semiconductors, then joined an investment firm as an analyst. Mostly for venture companies..."
"Semmy-con-duck?"
"Semiconductors."
"What's that?"
"It's a material with an electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. If I explain it using the energy band concept..."
"S-stop. I'm sorry!"
Yernil quickly gave up on understanding.
"So it's basically a 'magic item,' right?"
"That's right."
I gave up on explaining, too.
"I lent money to people who did business with them."
"A bank?"
"Something like that."
"..."
Yernil's eyes were wide open, as if she wasn't sleepy at all.
"If you're not going to sleep yet, can I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead."
"What happened in the Fairy Forest?"
I was curious.
Until now, Yernil had never spoken about why she was cast out of the Fairy Forest.
But from what I could gather, it seemed someone in the Fairy Forest had helped another person enter the Labyrinth, and she was exiled for taking responsibility for it.
*
There's a sport called 'bowfishing.'
Instead of casting a line and reeling in a fish with a hook, you shoot the fish with an arrow from the shore.
A fishing line attached to the arrow allows you to retrieve both the arrow and the fish. It's banned in Korea.
But not in the Fairy Forest, of course.
Though there was a daily limit on how many fish you could catch.
Thwang!
The runner-up of the Fairy Forest Firefly Stream Bowfishing Tournament.
Yernil had caught a massive golden-white lotus fish with her arrow.
"Woooow!"
It was bigger than her forearm. It might even be bigger than her brother's record catch.
Thump-thump-thump!
Yernil placed it in her water bucket and sprinted home, ecstatic.
Elves had long lifespans, and it was common to find any random young elf in the Fairy Forest to be over a hundred years old, but that didn't mean there were no children.
Seventeen years old.
Still young even by human standards, and practically considered a child in the Fairy Forest.
Yernil's youth was as fresh and vibrant as the white lotus fish.
She ran straight for home, her pale, healthy limbs pumping.
The winner of the last bowfishing tournament had been her older brother.
His name was Yerha.
He was a man beloved by many in the Fairy Forest for his handsome looks, sensitive heart, and courageous spirit.
Yernil loved her brother, too.
And, as siblings do, she was also competitive with him.
"Brother!"
Yernil reached for the front door, ready to show off the giant white lotus fish. She was just about to turn the handle.
CRASH!
A loud noise came from inside the room.
With her Sound Mapping, Yernil knew what it was.
A water bottle, thrown by Yerha, had shattered against the wall.
"We're all being deceived by the elders!"
"Yerha!"
Shouts echoed from inside the house.
"I'm going to the Labyrinth."
"Yerha! The Council of Elders strictly forbids ordinary elves of the Fairy Forest from approaching the Labyrinth!"
"That's because they want to monopolize it for themselves."
"No! The Labyrinth is dangerous! Only those with exceptional mental fortitude, like the members of the Council, can resist its allure! And you..."
Her father shouted.
"You failed the Council's evaluation!"
"..."
The Fairy Forest was governed by a Council of Elders, composed of the Matriarch and the elders, who established, judged, and enforced the laws.
Yerha had tried to join the Council early on, but he had failed the evaluation.
"That's right. I failed. Just like..."
Certain elves were objects of admiration for people like Yerha in the Fairy Forest.
"Just like Dalstream."
"Yerha!"
"The Labyrinth is neither a blessing nor a curse. It's not a gift, nor is it a trap. But one thing is certain. We can't just bury our heads in the sand and avoid it like we are now. The Council is wrong."
"Please, don't be a fool, Yerha!"
"...Wait a minute."
Yerha noticed the doorknob was halfway turned.
He slowly opened the front door.
Outside stood his terrified little sister, holding a white lotus fish.
Yerha nodded curtly to his parents.
"We'll talk later."
Then he took Yernil's hand and led her outside.
Yerha took his sister to a spot near the pond.
"You caught a white lotus fish."
He tried to reassure her.
"It's huge. Even bigger than the one I caught."
"Yeah..."
"I'm going to lose to you in the next bowfishing tournament."
"..."
"Don't worry too much about the fight I had with Mother and Father. It's nothing. Families argue sometimes."
"Brother. Are you going to the Labyrinth?"
"..."
"Don't go!"
It was a plea bordering on a beg, but Yerha didn't answer.
*
Yernil was a Sound Mapper.
From that day on, she listened to her brother's every move.
Because her brother, who had failed to get into the Council, was obsessed with the Labyrinth. Because she didn't know what he might do.
That was how, that night, she was able to find Yerha as he slipped out of the house, as silent as an owl on the hunt.
"Where are you going?"
"...I'm sorry, Yernil."
"Don't go!"
"I'm going for the sake of the Fairy Forest."
Yerha sat his sister down and explained everything, step by step.
The Labyrinth was a monster that had devoured countless ancient gods and people. The Labyrinth lured in adventurers and consumed them.
In that respect, the Council's explanation was correct.
But...
"Adventurers aren't just consumed by the Labyrinth. They can also gain power there."
The gods devoured by the Labyrinth were plotting a reversal. They poured their power into the Fountains of Blessing, offering it as a gift to adventurers.
It was the last hope, passed down from the age of myths to the present day.
"Just closing it off and ignoring it won't solve anything. On the contrary, we need to study it more diligently. Someday..."
Yerha said.
"Someday, the Labyrinth might cause a Great Eruption and devour everything on the surface. When that happens, the Fairy Forest won't be spared. The Council is wrong. Hiding won't solve anything. Yernil."
"..."
"So I'm going to become a Labyrinth adventurer. Like Archmage Dalstream. He's too old for active adventuring now, but I'm not. I will carry on his will. I will become a Deep Layer adventurer. And I will."
Yerha's goal was clear.
"I will kill the Labyrinth Master. I'll bear all the responsibility and risk. It's fine if I break the laws of the Fairy Forest. It's fine if I'm hated by every Labyrinth City in the world. The Labyrinth Master must be killed. And the Labyrinth must be destroyed. That's the only way I can protect you."
Yernil didn't understand any of it.
It all sounded like a fantasy to her, too difficult to grasp.
On that moonlit night, Yerha left the Fairy Forest alone.
*
"He deliberately went through Flandre, passed through Sohen, and went all the way to Madurai. As far from the Fairy Forest as possible."
She saw her brother again two months later.
The knights of the Council had captured him and brought him back.
His beautiful hair was a mess, and his entire body was covered in blood. And one of his ankles had been severed.
"The laws of the Fairy Forest forbid elves from approaching the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth is a trap that bewitches people, lures them deep inside, and devours them. You must not even be curious about it, nor should you enter a Labyrinth City."
The Fairy Matriarch delivered a cruel verdict.
"May this serve as an example to the other young elves."
Many people wept.
Yerha was that respected and loved.
"N-no!"
Terrified, Yernil rushed to the execution ground and shouted everything she could remember of her brother's words, a jumbled mess.
"Wait! The Labyrinth is going to erupt! It's going to swallow the Fairy Forest! My brother was trying to stop it. He was trying to protect the Fairy Forest by killing the Labyrinth Master! Please!"
She begged the Matriarch, but she didn't budge.
Instead.
"Yernil. There were traces that you stayed near the house for a long time when Yerha left. Did you meet Yerha then?"
"...What?"
"If you knew and let him leave, then you too must be exiled."
"Matriarch."
Yerha coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Yernil has nothing to do with this."
"Yerha. I heard the knights cut off your ankle to get you to confess."
The Fairy Matriarch looked at Yerha with something akin to pity.
"There was no need for that."
She took out a single scroll.
It was a scroll of Speak with Dead.
"Carry out the sentence."
That day, Yerha was executed beneath the great tree of the Fairy Forest.
And Yernil was exiled.