9 – Pilgrimage
“Sir Siz. There was no danger detected from here to the World Tree.”
“Good job. But don’t let your guard down and request backup troops.”
“Yes. Understood.”
The high elf hunting captain, Siz, gave orders to his subordinate and looked at the human in front of him.
Gaul Crud.
The human who claimed to be a druid was tied to a rope and walked through the forest with difficulty.
“Beep. We’re almost at the World Tree. I’ll go ahead, so you live happily and come later.”
[Don’t give up, Gaul! There must be a way!]
Gaul was a human who was abhorrent even from the perspective of a high elf.
He had a tall and muscular body, black hair and eyes, and a masculine face.
His appearance was decent enough for an elf’s eyes, but the terrible smell of sawdust that emanated from him was unbearable.
It probably meant that his mana was severely contaminated.
Shiz frowned and examined the mana that Gaul possessed.
‘He’s indeed a monster.’
Gaul’s mana had a green color that could be considered the exclusive property of elves.
But unlike the transparent green of elves, his mana was a dark and murky green stained with the blood of spirits.
Shiz had encountered such contaminated mana several times.
Adventurers who invaded the great forest and cut down the spirit trees. The so-called woodcutters, the humans who showed such mana.
‘But that’s not all.’
But Gaul’s mana was different from the woodcutters he had killed so far.
The woodcutters he had seen had only a tiny amount of mana contaminated by cutting the spirit trees, but Gaul had an overwhelming amount and intensity of contaminated mana.
Now he could understand why the elves of the village wanted to kill Gaul.
Looking at his mana, it was like seeing a monster that had swallowed a whole forest.
‘There’s no way such a woodcutter exists.’
But rather, because of his overwhelming mana, it was hard to label Gaul as a woodcutter.
It was understandable, since it was impossible for a mere human to deforest a whole forest.
He couldn’t be sure that Gaul’s mana was contaminated by logging, because it was too extreme to be possible.
Maybe it was not logging, but some other reason that polluted the mana.
Shiz decided to put aside the thought that Gaul might be a woodcutter for now.
‘He claimed to be a druid, after all.’
Didn’t he insist that he was a druid himself?
It was also the statement of the tree spirit, who was sensitive to mana and hostility, and there was even the trust that the goddess of nature had bestowed, so it was not something he could ignore.
That’s why Shiz was taking Gaul to the city of the high elves on the world tree, ‘Eldenore’.
He wanted to ask the goddess of nature for her trust again, to get a definitive answer on whether Gaul was a druid or not.
‘It doesn’t matter either way.’
In fact, Shiz didn’t care much whether Gaul was a druid or not.
As the daughter of the high elf chief and the contender for the next chief’s position, she didn’t care what happened as long as she could prove her strength.
If Gaul was a fake druid, she would execute him with all her might, and if he was a real druid, she would proudly challenge him and prove herself.
The honor of the high elves was born in the fight against strong enemies.
Shiz never intended to leave the formidable foe in front of her alone.
“We received a support request and came from Eldenore! We will join the ranks too!”
“Okay.”
There can only be one strongest warrior in the great forest.
It should not be a druid, but herself.
Shiz vowed that and glared fiercely at the back of Gaul’s head.
“Let’s go.”
The golden spear that surrounds her, Shiz Lanches Owl.
Her green eyes were burning with a fierce ambition.
* * *
There is always a way out, even when the sky falls.
With that thought, he lifted his head to look for an escape, but he could not see the sky, only the branches of the World Tree.
He had been dragged all the way to the city of the High Elves.
He sighed and looked around.
“It’s huge.”
The World Tree, which he faced up close, was like a massive wall that blocked his entire vision.
Wasn’t it said to be 5km tall?
A tree that grew twice as high as Mount Baekdu.
He could not believe it, and he felt no admiration.
He just repeated in his head, ‘It’s huge.’
“That’s the city of the High Elves.”
There was something else that caught his eye.
The city of the High Elves, Eldenore, formed around the World Tree.
The majestic cityscape filled his sight.
[Isn’t it amazing and beautiful? Eldenore is the capital and the sanctuary of the elves.]
Eldenore looked like it was climbing up the World Tree.
The gigantic World Tree and the beautiful city that bloomed on it.
He was clearly in a lower position, but it felt like he was looking down from a high place. The cityscape was in full view.
The capital and sanctuary of the elves.
It was a beautiful and splendid scenery that was worth its value.
“It wouldn’t be so bad to die here.”
[Hey! Don’t give up!]
I expressed my honest impression and looked around the village blankly.
Then, a loud greeting sound came from right in front of me.
“Welcome!!!! Boss!!!!”
I was startled and looked ahead, as I was distracted by the village.
Then, I saw a bunch of gangsters lined up on both sides, bowing their waists at 90 degrees.
Who are these scary-looking people?
As I stopped walking in confusion, Shiz, who was following me, calmly replied to them.
“Hey. Nothing happened?”
“We had nothing happen!! Thank you for your hard work, boss!!”
The target of the gangsters’ greeting was Shiz, who was behind me.
I glanced at the gangsters’ elves and saw that they all had tattoos on their backs and shoulders.
Only high elves who were appointed as warriors of the elves had tattoos. And most of the high elves were aggressive and crazy.
I recalled the information I had organized before coming here and frowned quietly.
High elves are crazy. Therefore, this place, Eldenore, the city of the high elves, must also be crazy.
The city’s scenery, which looked cool, began to look like a nightmare.
“Yeah. What did the boss say?”
“He said to come after receiving the trust!”
“What about Drea?”
“He said he’s not interested and he’s sleeping!”
“Got it. I’ll proceed right away, so open the temple.”
“Yes!”
After finishing the conversation with his subordinates in a flash, Siz started to walk briskly, dragging the rope that tied me up.
He looked like someone who was impatient to kill me as soon as possible.
Didn’t he get sick of me by now? He followed me like a gum stuck to my shoe even when I went to the bathroom.
I opened my mouth with a bitter smile towards Siz.
“What’s so urgent in your life?”
[Yeah, yeah! Gauel came to Eldenore for the first time! Let’s go slowly and see the city a bit!]
As the beep interrupted my words, Siz turned around and glared at us.
His green eyes stared straight into mine. His thick golden eyebrows narrowed sharply.
From Noble mtl dot com
From what I experienced so far, that was the expression he made before cursing.
“Shut up. If you’re a druid, you’ll see enough of this place in the future. What’s the problem?”
“I don’t want to live here even if I become a druid―”
“―Just follow me and keep quiet. Unless you want to die before receiving the trust.”
“……”
As expected, he was full of crap.
Since he was not willing to listen at all, I had no choice but to follow her with a limp.
“Ah, well. What else can I do but die?”
Did a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse feel like this? Or a prisoner being dragged to the execution ground?
I felt bitter for giving up everything, but at the same time, I felt relieved for accepting everything.
Yeah. Since it came to this, I might as well talk to the goddess who brought me to this world.
Why did she choose me of all people, what is she that she dragged me here, I should at least question her.
I sped up my steps as if to let things be.
The bird on my shoulder called me and sobbed, but my steps heading to death did not stop.
“This is the entrance to the temple where we worship the goddess of nature, Trias.”
The place I arrived at was a huge crack leading to the inside of the world tree.
It was a common crack caused by the wooden twist, but it was so huge that it looked like a canyon.
If there was a door to hell, it would look like that.
I swallowed my saliva and stepped forward.
“There are so many of them.”
Around me, there were countless elves looking down at me.
It was an enormous crowd, as if most of the residents of Eldenore had gathered.
But they all kept their mouths shut and watched quietly.
Thousands of green eyes pierced me in silence.
It was a scene where I could tell at a glance that the goddess’s trust was not a common thing for the elves.
“If you keep walking along the gap, you’ll see the temple. If you pray there, the trust will come down. Of course, only if you’re a real druid.”
“Are you not coming with me?”
“The trust is supposed to be received alone. We are preparing for the execution, so hurry back. Hey, Pii. You should also stay away from him now.”
[No, Gauul!!]
After finishing his words, Shiz released the rope that bound my body.
Then he snatched Pii from my shoulder and left without hesitation.
After that, he gave various instructions to his subordinates and prepared for the real execution. He seemed to be sure that I was not a druid.
“Hoo….”
I didn’t get to say goodbye to Pii, but I didn’t care since I would come back here anyway.
I took a deep breath and moved my steps into the huge canyon.
There was no way back since I came this far.
I’m going to die anyway, so let’s curse the goddess I dislike and die.
With that determination, I walked towards the temple of Trias with angry steps.
“Is that it?”
How long did I walk?
For some reason, as I entered deeper into the world tree where the sunlight came in, I saw a place that looked like a temple in the distance.
A mysterious sight of a colorful tree growing over a faintly glowing pond.
That tree must be the temple of the goddess of nature, Trias.
I decided that and approached the pond without hesitation.
– Kugugugung―――
That was when it happened.
“Kwuk!!”
A massive pressure accompanied by a ground-shaking vibration crushed the air.
I had no choice but to kneel down and bury my head in the pond as if I was stabbed.
At that moment, a majestic and beautiful voice echoed around.
『You have finally defiled this place.』
It was him.
He was the one who dragged me to this world.
I instinctively felt that and opened my eyes wide, struggling to lift my head.
『You are truly unbearable.』
The same voice as the hallucination I heard before I died.
Unbearably beautiful, but full of hatred.
『I want to kill you right now.』
The goddess of nature, Trias, had descended to this world.