81
081 ― Knight of the Royal Palace
Jin-woo frowned. From the way he spoke, it seemed like he knew him. But Jin-woo had no memory of this guy.
However, even if he couldn't remember the face, he could make a guess. His only connection with Dark Elves was from that incident back then.
'Must be those guys who attacked me when I was with Bulkar.'
There had been Dark Elves who attacked in the Primeval Forest, targeting his and Bulkar's souls. At that time, they were greatly outnumbered, so they focused only on escaping. In the end, they even jumped off a cliff wearing parachutes.
Back then, they had no choice. He was still quite weak and had no way to overcome the surrounding Dark Elves.
But now it was different.
"Kill him! It's revenge for our comrades!"
The Dark Elf from that time shouted in a similar voice as before. At his voice, the subordinate Dark Elves put weight on their toes to strike at Jin-woo.
In that brief moment. In that extremely short time before they could even flinch, when only their weight had shifted.
Seureok―
The leader's head flew off.
"......!"
"Bo, Boss!"
The leader's expression as his head flew through the air was exactly the same as when he had just given his orders. His mouth wide open, giving commands to his subordinates in a booming voice.
However, that head had separated from his body and rolled degururu on the ground. The Dark Elves' faces turned pale. Even with their dark skin, the change in emotion was clearly conveyed.
Jin-woo plunged between them and swung his sword.
"Uaaaaak!"
"Aaaaak!"
The Dark Elf bandits couldn't resist even once. They couldn't parry or dodge Jin-woo's sword. The most they could do was take one step back during the time it took for two or three comrades to die.
Even a wolf that had plunged into a flock of sheep wouldn't be this overwhelming. The Dark Elves, with some backbone, tried to raise their swords to counterattack, but their heads were the first to fly off. In the end.
"R-run! Run away!"
"Hurry and flee!"
Not even a few seconds after Jin-woo had jumped in, they decided to flee.
They began to run away in all directions in confusion, having lost their leader, and being mere bandits with no discipline to begin with.
There was no sight of them retreating in formation. They just ran away like beasts, surrendering their bodies to instinct alone.
At that moment, the village chief's eyes flashed, and she gave orders to the villagers.
"Now's our chance! Shoot!"
Whether it was an urgent command, her words were stronger and more concise than usual. Several villagers who had been hiding bows and arrows immediately raised their bows and shot.
Though they were untrained villagers, they were still Elves. Born excellent archers, they knew how to shoot sharper arrows than most human soldiers.
―Uak!
―Aaaak!
Several Dark Elves who were fleeing were hit by arrows in their backs and collapsed. But they couldn't kill them all. A few managed to hide in the forest and escape successfully.
Even after that, they remained vigilant of their surroundings for a while, but the remaining bandits had already fled.
Only then did the village chief let out a big sigh. It was a deep sigh of relief.
"You've come back, Jin-woo. Thank you so much."
"I came here on business...... What on earth happened?"
At Jin-woo's question, the village chief sighed again. This time it was a sigh full of worry.
***
"Jin-woo! Jin-woo! You came to play again!"
"Yeah, it's been a while, Mari."
In the village chief's house, Jin-woo was being served tea and dried fruit. Beside him, Mari was moving around without sitting down. She seemed very excited to meet Jin-woo again.
"Mari, won't you sit down and try some of this? It's very sweet."
The village chief deployed a skillful lure, guiding Mari to sit down. Unable to resist the temptation of sweet fruit, Mari immediately sat in the chair. Still, she secured the seat next to Jin-woo.
Watching Mari odokok odokok chewing the dried fruit with her small mouth, Jin-woo chuckled. With the child now quiet, Jin-woo looked at the village chief. His eyes demanded an explanation.
"Huuu...... Actually, there's not much to explain. A bandit group came and tried to kill us all."
"Don't bandits usually demand money and valuables? Trying to kill everyone......"
"It doesn't seem like an ordinary bandit group."
The village chief continued her explanation, adding that she had only heard rumors.
"Do you know that we Dark Elves have formed an alliance?"
"I heard you joined hands over the matter of the Mother World Tree withering."
"That's right. The Dark Elf king, commonly called the Black King, and our Queen dramatically reached a reconciliation and signed a treaty to solve the problems of both races together."
However, there were few who welcomed the alliance. Though they were the same Elves, they were born in different places and lived in different places. They had cultivated separate cultures for a long time and had been hostile to each other.
With such a history, they couldn't become peaceful overnight with just one treaty.
"Dark Elves targeting souls and committing banditry......"
"It's as you suspect. They say the Black King is secretly supporting bandits and criminals to collect souls. Of course, it's just a rumor."
To a village chief in such a rural village, it was just a groundless rumor. It might have even sounded like a conspiracy theory.
But only today did she realize. That it wasn't a rumor but a fact.
The village chief brought her fingertips together, and white light appeared in her hands. Jin-woo had seen such a sight several times before.
Rona had done it, and so had April. Even Ego Sword used green light clusters, though not white.
That light was a spirit.
"Would you tell the lord about what happened here? As quickly as possible, please."
The light blinked twice as if understanding, then disappeared in an instant. It shot away toward the distant sky at an extraordinary speed.
"With a spirit, we can deliver news in just one day. Then they'll probably dispatch knights or soldiers."
"Are you planning to request protection from them?"
"More precisely, we're thinking of relocating. What with the Erosion incident before and this attack now, it seems the land's energy has weakened."
It was like a kind of superstition. There hadn't actually been any particular change in the land's energy.
But having been peaceful for 300 years and then experiencing crises twice in such a short period, such thoughts were understandable.
"Won't it be difficult for the entire village to move? Settling in a new place will also be work."
"It will be hard, but it's fine. We Elves are originally a race that wanders through forests anyway. The past 300 years were unusually peaceful, but moving villages isn't something we experience just once or twice."
Come to think of it, Elves don't even farm. At most, they tend small vegetable gardens.
Moreover, in the forest, even a child like Mari moves around more skillfully than an experienced Hunter. So there wouldn't be much burden in abandoning the village and moving.
"Jin-woo! This time you'll stay and play for a long time, right?"
Having finished a piece of dried fruit, Mari asked while jjok jjok sucking her fingers. Jin-woo smiled bitterly. He was planning to leave immediately since he had to go to the royal palace.
However.
"Village chief, how long will it take for the lord's knights or soldiers to arrive?"
"It depends on the situation, but if Dark Elves have appeared, the lord will dispatch them urgently. Three days, no, maybe they'll arrive in about two days."
Dark Elves' attack was clearly a hostile act. Of course, if questioned, they'd probably say 'those are bandits and criminals, so they can't be controlled'.
'About 2-3 days.'
Jin-woo's destination was the royal palace of the Delphinia Kingdom. More precisely, the white tower inside the royal palace. The building where Fermue was tending to the World Tree.
However, he didn't know the way, and moreover, as a human, there was no way he could easily enter the royal palace.
In the end, it meant he had to sneak in somehow.......
'I need information. Especially information about the nobles.'
When talking about Elf nobles, these would be those called High Elves. He needed information about them.
"I'll stay in the village until the lord's knights come. It would be terrible if you were attacked again."
"Really?"
At Jin-woo's words, Mari's eyes sparkled.
Two or three days was certainly not a long time. But for Mari, what mattered was that Jin-woo had just said he would stay.
***
Jin-woo received a great welcome from the village and was treated with utmost care. Though utmost care only meant a cleanly washed sleeping place and a slightly richer meal.
But considering how rural this place was, that alone was enough to feel their sincerity.
Night, when everyone was asleep.
Jin-woo climbed alone to the rooftop and looked at the mirage of the World Tree visible in the distance.
'Can you hear me?'
He asked just in case. Since he had met with the World Tree's roots in Belen Village before, it might be possible this time too.
If he could meet here, there would be no need to go all the way to the royal palace or obtain information about High Elves.
However, no matter how much he called, the glass orb in his chest didn't shine.
'Then how about this?'
Jin-woo took out the God of Sky's scabbard from his inventory.
The scabbard was covered with the ominous energy of erosion. That energy seumul seumul flowed out, then climbed up Jin-woo's wrist and forearm like a snake, coiling around with its energy.
'This thing is doing it again. It does this every time I take it out.'
Despite cutting through so much Erosion and black flames until now, this kind of energy was a first. The behavior that followed him well, as if it were a gentle sheep.
If it had been even slightly aggressive, he would have thought to break it completely. Was it sensing that thought and seol seol crawling? He wasn't sure. How could a person know what a scabbard was thinking?
Anyway, he had taken out the God of Sky's scabbard with the thought of luring the World Tree.
'The roots I saw back then had shown intense greed for Erosion energy.'
If it detected the Erosion energy emanating from the God of Sky's scabbard, it might rush over deukdal like before.
He had taken it out with that thought, but it remained quiet.
'No reaction.'
This method also failed. Jin-woo put the scabbard back in his inventory and quietly sighed.
It seemed there was no choice but to visit the white tower directly.
He returned to bed and sought sleep.
And the time of two days passed in the blink of an eye.
"Jin-woo. They say a knight will arrive soon. A spirit brought word."
"Is that so? Should I hide somewhere?"
"I'm sorry to the village's benefactor, but...... Please, I beg you. If they know a human is in the village, the lord will be alarmed."
The village chief spoke as if truly embarrassed. Jin-woo didn't particularly mind. The village chief's request was perfectly reasonable.
Leaving the village, Jin-woo climbed a distant tree and settled in. Then he took out a portable telescope and observed the village entrance.
Before long, one Elf walked toward that place. The village chief and several village elders went out to greet her warmly.
'One person.'
Only one person came. It would be a knight, not a soldier.
She wasn't wearing the kind of armor commonly associated with knights. She wore free clothing convenient for moving through forests, with at most light armor covering her chest.
A bow and quiver were also visible, making her outfit closer to a ranger than a knight.
However, the outfit wasn't what mattered.
What caught his eye more was the familiar face and black hair.
'No way......'
Then the person beyond the telescope raised her head. She seemed to look around, then quickly detected this presence and met eyes through the telescope.
Despite the considerable distance, detecting him so easily showed extraordinary skill.
"Rona?"
The one who had come was not the lord's knight but a knight of the royal palace. Moreover, someone active in the 5th floor, equivalent to an S-rank Hunter in Earth terms.
It was Rona, who was also Jin-woo's sword instructor.