39
039 — To New York
Morning broke. The white tower was welcoming a guest from early morning.
A lady-in-waiting who served the queen politely greeted the guest at the main entrance of the tower.
"Please come in, Sir Garcia."
"I'm not late, am I?"
"You're earlier than the appointed time, so it's fine. However, Her Majesty has been waiting for quite some time."
"Ah."
The one who came to the tower at the queen's summons was Rona Garcia. She was a knight of the royal palace and one of the few 5th-tier knights in the Kingdom of Delphinia.
Hearing that the queen was waiting, Rona quickened her pace.
It was quite common for her to be summoned like this, mainly to serve as the queen's conversation partner.
'I'm the only one of her age in the palace.'
Most of the high Elves who oversaw state affairs in the royal palace were over 400 years old, and Elves over 800 years old were also common.
The queen's age was 151, which was not just young but practically childish compared to them.
With such a large age gap and carrying the important positions of being the kingdom's queen and the World Tree's priestess, there was no one who treated her comfortably.
Rona, who uniquely entered the palace at a young age, was the queen's most familiar knight and friend.
"Your Majesty. I have brought Sir Garcia."
"Rona!"
The queen, who had been looking at the ground floor with a bored expression in the greenhouse garden prepared on the tower's terrace, smiled brightly and ran over upon seeing Rona.
That innocent, puppy-like appearance warmed Rona's heart. For Rona, who found the royal palace suffocating, the meetings with the queen, who was her peer, were times she could spend comfortably.
"Tea and refreshments are set up over here. Then, please have a pleasant time."
Cher, the lady-in-waiting, set down a perfectly prepared refreshment set and politely departed.
Every movement overflowed with dignity, because even as a lady-in-waiting, she was by no means of humble status. She, too, was a high Elf, the daughter of an elder belonging to the Council of Elders.
"Come, come sit here, Rona."
"Yes."
The queen, who became even freer after Cher left, seated Rona across from her and personally poured tea.
"What brings you here today?"
"Mm. I wanted to hear stories from the outside again."
As expected. That was the only reason the queen would summon her.
The queen, born from the most noble flower of the World Tree, was a priestess ordained by the World Tree from birth.
She had never left this tower and would have to spend her entire life in the tower until death.
Compared to Rona, who crossed through Gates encountering all kinds of beings and conflicts, it could be said to be an extremely restrictive life.
Trying not to let her pitying expression show, Rona propped her chin with her finger.
"I see... Shall I continue the story of the 5th tier from where we left off last time?"
"Mmm~ It's true that there are hardly any knights other than Rona who can tell stories of the 5th tier."
The reason Rona could become a knight of the royal palace at the young age of 200 and even have private audiences with the queen was that she was one of the few 5th-tier knights in the kingdom.
A 5th-tier knight literally meant someone capable of operating in the 5th floor of the Gates.
They were few in number throughout the entire kingdom, and there wasn't a single Elf as young as Rona. It could be said that Rona was the only one who could tell the queen stories of the 5th tier in a friendly manner.
"If the 5th tier doesn't appeal to you, how about battles in the 3rd tier? The faction wars of the 3rd tier are quite unique, so there are many interesting episodes."
"Rather than that, um, well..."
"?"
The queen's attitude was strange. Seeing her hesitating, Rona soon understood the reason.
The queen already had something she wanted to ask. But for some reason, she was reluctant to ask.
She could speak comfortably to her, so why was she hesitating?
"Your Majesty. Whatever question you ask, I will answer with all sincerity. Of course, I'll keep it absolutely secret from those stubborn elders."
"R-really? You'll really keep it secret?"
"I have never told the elders about any conversation I've had with Your Majesty."
Rona's words contained 100% sincerity.
Beyond simply the loyal relationship of king and knight, she was treating the queen even more faithfully.
If her stories could add even a little color to the queen's life, which was destined to live forever in the white tower with only white...
As a knight or as a friend, there would be nothing more fulfilling than that.
So she comforted the hesitating queen and finally got her to speak.
But then.
"There's... A man I'm concerned about..."
"...Excuse me?"
"Actually, I saw a human male yesterday..."
Rona made a dumbfounded expression.
Did she hear wrong? The words ‘human male’ coming from the queen's mouth?
"I don't know his name or face well, but I saw his soul briefly. Mother World Tree showed it to me."
"Ah, I-I see. Can you tell if someone is human or an Elf, or even male, just by looking at their soul?"
"Yes. Seeing souls is my job, after all."
The World Tree's greatest role was to nurture new life using souls as nourishment.
For a priestess who had spent her entire life tending to the World Tree, seeing souls was ordinary work.
"Why did Mother World Tree show you a human male's soul?"
"I don't know that either. But I keep thinking about it since yesterday... So I was wondering, Rona, do you have any episodes of being involved with humans? Preferably with a male."
"I can't say there aren't any, but that's..."
Rona swallowed and slightly averted her eyes.
She had never told any of her kin about meeting Jin-woo.
To Elves, especially Elves who went in and out of Gates, humans were nothing more than beings to supply souls to offer to the World Tree.
Beings that must be harvested without question when encountered.
Therefore, talking about humans among Elves would only cause disputes and nagging. She had never told anyone until now and had no intention of doing so in the future.
"You do have some! Please tell me. I'll just use it as a reference."
"Reference for what?"
"What humans like and dislike, things like that."
But she couldn't push away the young queen who approached with eyes full of curiosity.
***
Jin-woo stayed three more days in Belen Village, where Mari lived.
Of course, since the village itself was completely destroyed, all he did for three days was watch the reconstruction work.
Still, sometimes he helped move materials, became a conversation partner for young Elves who were interested in humans, and was dragged around here and there by Mari and the young Elves.
They were quite enjoyable days, and he felt he had somewhat blended into the village.
When he had spent three days like this, a Gate opened.
'It's time to go back.'
He told everyone he would be leaving. Since they already knew he was a human who would depart, the villagers saw him off comfortably.
Only Mari clung to Jin-woo's leg, shedding tears and sobbing.
"Don't go, don't gooo."
"I have to go, Mari. I'll come again."
"Again? When again?"
Jin-woo's words were stuck. Usually in times like this, one would say something like ‘I'll come back after ten nights’ or something similar.
But it was a promise he couldn't keep. Although he intended to come again someday, there were no plans in the near future.
"Mari, you can't be so stubborn."
"Mom..."
Eventually, Mari's mother came and took the crying Mari. Jin-woo nodded gratefully with his eyes.
"Well then, Village Chief. I'll be going now."
"Yes, please drop by anytime. Belen Village will always welcome you."
After exchanging final farewells like that and saying goodbye to Mari once more, Jin-woo entered the Gate.
[1st Layer: Primordial Forest]
[Find the Blue Portal. If you want to return home.]
Since he entered the gate from the Elves' world, the destination was naturally the Primordial Forest.
Now he just needed to find the Blue Portal here and enter it again. However, this time he had to keep his wits about him so as not to be dragged away by the Ego Sword.
"You're not going to do that again, are you?"
"Kee, keeeng..."
The Ego Sword made a dejected sound as if it were hard to guarantee. Well, it wasn't like the Ego Sword controlled the gravitational pull within portals, so what was the point of blaming it?
Jin-woo's steps searching for the Blue Portal were very light and cheerful.
During this time, he had learned elven walking patterns as much as possible by watching Mari's movements. Of course, he couldn't perfectly imitate them, but he had become able to roughly mimic them.
As a result, his exploration speed had become much faster, and he was able to find the Blue Portal in less than a day.
Next to it was also a Red Portal leading to the 2nd floor.
'I'll go to the 2nd floor again later.'
For now, it was the Blue Portal. While heading toward the blue one, Jin-woo glanced briefly at the red one.
'I should look for the Moonlight Forest's altar in the 2nd floor later.'
Combining the records of the Elven world he heard from the village chief, the information Jin-woo himself possessed, and the information about the 2nd floor, the conclusion emerged that the God of Moonlight Forest was the World Tree.
And simultaneously, the Erosion Lord.
It was just a record passed down through the ages, and even that was heard through oral tradition from the village chief rather than documents, so nothing was certain. But it was worth confirming.
'How do I confirm that the God of Moonlight Forest is the World Tree and the Erosion Lord?'
No method came to mind immediately. Perhaps if he went to find the altar, something would work out somehow.
Anyway, that was for later. Right now, he had been away from home for too long.
Cheon Ju-hyeok might be causing a commotion over his failure to return.
"Let's go."
"Keeeng—"
Together with the Ego Sword, Jin-woo leaped into the Blue Portal. This time, instead of being dragged by the sword, he firmly gripped the sword and led the way along the path his soul guided.
When he opened his eyes next, it was a familiar ceiling.
***
"Whew."
Upon returning home, a sigh of relief came first. From the depths of his lungs, a breath filled with long fatigue flowed out.
'Wow, I was really tired.'
There had been so many events. There probably hadn't been a time when as many things happened as in this Gate.
Although there was much hardship, he had gained a lot as well.
With a rewarding sense of fatigue, Jin-woo opened the refrigerator door, took out a can of coffee, and drank it. Then, he checked his phone for the first time in a while.
'It's chaos.'
Sure enough, it was in chaos with various missed messages. Opening KakaoTalk, as it connected to the internet belatedly, various messages poured in.
"As expected, everyone thought I was dead."
Many of the messages were checking on Jin-woo's safety, and later on, they almost seemed to think Jin-woo had died.
Even Jin-woo could understand it. Having fought an S-rank Hunter and then gone missing, it would be normal to think he was dead.
Cheon Ju-hyeok probably thought he had seen something illusory or hallucinatory. Or he might think Johan had moved Jin-woo's corpse.
While checking their messages one by one, Shartia's message caught his eye.
—Shartia: Jin-woo, where are you? I don't think you were done in by someone evil like Johan.
Her message was waiting for Jin-woo's safe return.
Whether this was self-consolation to dispel sadness or genuine couldn't be known from the text alone.
—Shartia: You're hiding somewhere, building strength to get back at Johan magnificently, right? Please tell me that's the case. If you return, would you contact me? I'll become your strength and fuck up that damn bastard Johan.
Only the last sentence conveyed tremendous anger through the text. He had never seen her speak so strongly...
'I should call her right away.'
Jin-woo pressed call and found Shartia's number.
Trrrr... Trrrrr...
The dial tone rang. Twice, three times, four times. It kept ringing, but no one answered.
Eventually, a message saying the call was not answered played, and Jin-woo hung up.
"She must be busy."
She was probably handling some important business. As an S-rank Hunter, it wouldn't be strange for her schedule to be packed with all kinds of appointments.
Unable to help it, he called Ma Du-sik instead. Since this person was also very busy, he thought he might not answer, but...
—H-hello?
The call connected.
"Yes, Director. I contacted you because it seems some misunderstandings have accumulated while I was away."
—Hunter Kang Jin-woo? Is this really Hunter Kang Jin-woo?
"Of course. Have you already forgotten my voice?"
Imagining Ma Du-sik with his huge build making a surprised expression with round eyes was somehow funny.
It would be hard to believe. Who in the world would guess? That an E-rank Hunter fought an S-rank Hunter and returned safely.
But then.
—Hwoi! G-ghost, stay away if you're a ghost!
Ma Du-sik's trembling voice could be heard. Jin-woo barely held back the laughter that was about to burst out. It seemed it would take some time to clear up the misunderstanding.
After a while.
—You're really alive! You really came back alive!
"That's what I'm saying. The one who died wasn't me, but Johan. Did something happen because of that?"
—It's not just 'something happened'... Ah, no. That's not what's important right now! New York is in big trouble!
"Big trouble?"
Ma Du-sik explained in an extremely urgent voice. His explanation was very short and concise, and Jin-woo could understand everything that had unfolded in just 3 minutes.
'An Erosion minion in New York?'
For the first time on this Earth, an Erosion minion had appeared.
The fact that the location happened to be New York had nothing to do with Jin-woo. Although he bore grudges against Johan and David, the citizens of New York were completely innocent.
"Please contact the Management Bureau to prepare a private jet. To New York."
Although he had returned home after a long time, it seemed there was no time to rest.