82
082 ― What Should Be Done
At first, Rona showed hostility. She seemed to sense that some unknown being was watching her. However, after confirming Jin-woo's appearance, the hostility melted away like snow. She disappeared from within the telescope view. In an instant, she kicked off the ground and leaped up to the branch where Jin-woo was.
"Jin-woo!"
"It's been a while, Rona."
Her brightly smiling face clearly showed delight. Jin-woo also relaxed and welcomed her. He was equally glad to see her.
"What happened? Why are you here?"
"It's a bit of a long story to tell... Did you come to this village alone?"
"Yes. I had business and was temporarily staying with the Ellea family when news came that a Dark Elf had appeared in this village."
The Ellea family is the lord's family that the village chief had sent the spirit to. Rona, who had been staying there as a guest, heard the news about the Dark Elf and volunteered to come deliver the lord's message. She said she thought she should at least do this much of an errand since she had received such excellent treatment.
"But to think Jin-woo was in that village! You really do live diligently, don't you?"
Her beaming smile hadn't changed at all from when they had parted before. Seeing that reminded him of the days in the waterfall cave. Though every day was tough with sword training, those days were equally full of memories and fulfillment.
"Well then, let's go back to the village for now."
"Is that okay?"
"I'm already acquainted with all the villagers, so it's fine."
Rona made an even more puzzled expression. It was already strange that Jin-woo existed in this world, but he was already acquainted with the village Elves? Still, they couldn't keep talking on tree branches, so she came down to the ground and returned to the village with Jin-woo.
When the two returned together, the village chief made a bewildered expression.
"What happened?"
"We know each other. We met once before in a Gate."
The village chief nodded with understanding, saying ‘Ah’. Though she had never entered a Gate herself, she knew well what kind of place a Gate was. In such a place, one could become friends with beings from other worlds. Conversely, one could also become enemies.
"I was in the middle of introducing myself. I'm Rona Garcia, a knight belonging to the royal palace. I was staying with the Ellea family on business when I heard about this incident and came to deliver the lord's message."
"Wow, a royal palace knight."
The village chief was startled and became more cautious upon learning of Rona's status, which was even more impressive than expected. Just being a knight of a noble High Elf family was already an existence to look up to for commoners like them. Moreover, if she were a knight belonging to the royal palace rather than a family, that alone made her equivalent to nobility. In fact, it was common for royal palace knights to receive better treatment than mediocre lower nobles.
The village chief looked around nervously, not knowing what to do as the other party's status was higher than expected. Though she tried to hide it with her years of experience, she couldn't conceal her trembling voice.
'Social status seems more important than I thought in Elf society.'
Until now, he had only met Rona or the Elves of Belen village, so he hadn't known. But seeing the two Elves face each other, he could understand the importance of social status in Elf society. At this level, there would probably be such a difference between High Elves from truly great families and commoners that they couldn't even make eye contact.
'Is it really because they're born different?'
In Earth's history, whether noble or commoner, everyone is born the same. But Elves and High Elves were truly different from birth. Where in the World Tree they were born, from which flower they bloomed. And how many nutrients they had when they blossomed. The High Elves called nobles were beings different from ordinary Elves from the moment of birth.
"The lord says he cannot protect this village."
"What!? Did he really say that?"
At the cold answer, the village chief's expression became as if her heart had collapsed. Then Rona quickly waved her hands and spoke.
"Wait, there's more to the story. The Dark Elves' provocations have been frequent lately, and there are limits to our forces, so we cannot protect everywhere. Therefore, the lord wants you all to move further inside."
"Inside the forest? Is that really okay?"
"Of course. He said he cannot stand by when not only your lives but also your souls are at stake."
"Such a great decision..."
The village chief's eyes trembled. It wasn't trembling from the sorrow of having to abandon their original village. It was closer to being moved. She was curious why, but didn't want to interrupt the conversation, so she didn't ask. But Rona seemed to read her thoughts like a ghost and whispered quietly.
"This Fairy Forest has purer and denser Magi as you go toward the center. So they don't let just anyone go inside."
He hadn't explored the inside of the forest, so he didn't know that much. Then perhaps the royal palace was built at the center of the forest.
'I thought Elves' lives would be free. Surprisingly, there are restrictions.'
Social status was thoroughly divided, and living areas were separated, too. It seemed like a stricter society than he had imagined.
"Frustrating, isn't it?"
"Huh? No, well..."
Perhaps noticing Jin-woo's thoughts, Rona spoke with a self-deprecating smile. When asked if it was frustrating, Jin-woo couldn't outright say yes, so he just trailed off his words. But even that was an answer. Rona shrugged her shoulders and continued her conversation with the village chief.
"It won't be an easy decision since you're abandoning the homeland you've lived in for so long. Please discuss it thoroughly with the villagers before deciding."
"If we decide to go inside..."
"I'll escort you to the new settlement location. There might be another Dark Elf attack along the way."
Hearing that, the village chief seemed relieved and patted her chest. She then asked for understanding and left to consult with the villagers.
"Jin-woo. You'll come along too, right?"
"Of course. I don't have anywhere else to go alone."
Actually, he did have somewhere to go. His goal was to infiltrate the royal palace and sneak into the white tower. But for that, he needed information, and more importantly.
'I should find an opportunity to talk to Rona about it.'
He couldn't act separately from Rona, who was a royal palace knight. Whether she knew Jin-woo's thoughts or not, Rona was simply happy to be acting together with Jin-woo again.
***
It seemed quite a few opinions were exchanged among the village Elves. Arguments like how could they abandon their village, there was no guarantee the new settlement would be better than here, and so on. But ultimately, the opinion narrowed down to moving. They couldn't ignore the Dark Elf threat, and if not now, there would be no opportunity to build a nest inside the forest.
Eventually, they packed what belongings they could and began moving inside the forest.
'It's not as slow as I thought.'
Though it was a march with young children, the pace wasn't particularly slow. Elves were a race where even 5-year-olds running around in the forest was normal, so it made sense. Of course, they didn't just run recklessly to avoid stragglers or accidents from moving too fast.
"My spirits are guarding well, so Jin-woo doesn't need to worry."
Seeing Jin-woo looking around at the procession, Rona said that. Around the villagers moving through the forest in a long line, several white lights floated around. Those were all spirits controlled by Rona.
"It's certainly reassuring."
"Right?"
It reminded him of when he obtained the Ego Sword's spirit while fighting Johan. Rather than being obtained, it was more like he could temporarily control it, but even then, it had been better than expected. He could grasp all the passages of the underground labyrinth with the spirit, making the battle with Johan much smoother. Though it was ambiguous to use as a direct attack method, there was nothing better for surveillance and various other uses.
"By the way, can you tell me now? How are you here?"
The villagers were already on the move, and she was thoroughly guarding them using spirits. Thanks to that, they now had enough time. Enough to hear a long story.
"Thanks to this guy."
—Kiing
When Jin-woo showed the Ego Sword, Rona looked at it with wonder, then her eyes became serious.
"It's a sword with our souls in it, isn't it?"
"I got it when I first entered the 2nd floor before. There was a black mage named Johan..."
Jin-woo slowly told her about what happened then. About fighting Johan and how he had an Ego Sword with Elf souls in it. And how afterward, he came out through a blue portal but landed in this Fairy Forest instead of Earth.
"At first, I was going to hide in the forest and wait until the next Gate opened, but Erosion's minions attacked the village. I ended up revealing myself while saving them, and somehow became treated as a benefactor."
Jin-woo explained everything except for one thing. Except for the eroded World Tree, he saw after defeating the Black Knight. That story was something even Fermue hadn't listened to seriously. Even if he told Rona, it would only plant unnecessary suspicion.
"I see..."
Rona closed her eyes as if she had heard quite an impressive story. Then she opened them slightly and smiled at Jin-woo.
"Thank you. For protecting them."
There was no need to thank him more. He had already heard enough of such words from the village chief and other Elves. Having finished his story, Jin-woo now turned the topic to her.
"More importantly, how have you been? You went to the 5th floor, right?"
"Yes. I recently went to the Dragon Star Realm, and there was this ill-tempered dragon... Huh?"
She stopped mid-chatter as if something was strange.
"But how do you know?"
"Know what?"
"That I went to the 5th floor. Even within the royal palace, only a few know about it."
"Didn't you say it to Fermue?"
At Jin-woo's question, Rona tilted her head.
"Fermue, who is... Huh?"
Then immediately, her eyes and hands began trembling as if she had heard something she shouldn't have.
"Fer, Fermue, by any chance are you talking about that Fermue... I know? No, right?"
It wasn't a question to confirm. It was a question, hoping he would deny it. But Jin-woo cruelly nodded easily.
"That's right. Your que— Mmph!"
"Shh. Shhhh!"
He was about to say queen, but Rona rushed over, frighteningly, and covered Jin-woo's mouth. She then looked around hastily, checking the surroundings. Fortunately, there was no one else besides the village Elves walking in a line, and no one was paying attention to their conversation.
"Phew..."
"I guess you can't speak carelessly about it."
"Of course! Even if it's not just any Elf, what would people think if such words came from a human's mouth!"
It was an understandable story, so Jin-woo answered that he understood. Then Rona controlled the surrounding Magi to prevent sound from leaking and asked Jin-woo quietly.
"What happened? How does Jin-woo know that person's name?"
Even though she had blocked sound, she avoided the direct word ‘queen’ as much as possible. Jin-woo also answered while avoiding direct mention.
"Because I met her."
"Met her!? How?"
"I met her in the tower. I heard then that you were friends. So I thought you would have heard about me too."
It seemed Fermue either hadn't told the story of meeting him, or couldn't. There was also the possibility that they hadn't met recently enough to talk about it. Rona seemed to have been on the 5th floor until relatively recently.
"How could Jin-woo and the que— no, that person... Ah, by any chance, are you the human soul that person mentioned meeting before?"
"That's me."
"Oh my!"
At this truly unbelievable story, Rona was shocked. From what she heard, the queen's meeting with a human soul was something shown by the Mother World Tree. That meant the human soul, namely Jin-woo, had some kind of relationship with the Mother World Tree...
'Why would Jin-woo, who isn't even an Elf?'
She couldn't even guess what relationship he, a human, had with the Mother World Tree. And she didn't know what purpose the Mother World Tree had in making him and the queen meet. Everything was full of unknowns. But Rona felt somehow familiar with this.
'Come to think of it, it's been like this since I first saw him.'
Even when she first saw Jin-woo, she had felt an inexplicable whim. That whim saved him, led to their connection, and now she was walking with him in the Fairy Forest. In that process, there wasn't a single thing Rona could understand.
"Then, by any chance, is Jin-woo being here..."
"I came to meet Fermue. I have something to ask the World Tree."
He had planned to talk about it when he saw the right timing, but there didn't seem to be a better timing than now. Jin-woo spoke only the plain facts without a single lie, and Rona didn't know what to do with that story.