299 – 287. With the Dragon-5
After spending a night in the Valley of the Fog.
Felex came to us as we prepared to leave early in the morning.
“I’m sad that you’re already leaving even though it hasn’t been that long since we met.”
“I’m sorry, but there’s a long way to go.”
“I’m sure I’ll have to move quickly even for just one second to avoid the eyes of the kingdom and get to the ruins in the desert.”
“…… “As expected, you know everything.”
“Of course! As a wise man of future poetry, there is nothing that I cannot recognize. “The only drawback is that I have to keep my mouth sewn shut at all times to prevent myself from speaking out.”
“I wish I had the ability to see the future.”
“hahahahaha! “Don’t say things like that, even if it’s just a joke.”
Felex smiled brightly and tapped my shoulder.
However, his smile was soon turning into a bitter smile.
“I regard future poetry as a curse, not an ability. “It was only stated that it cannot be revealed, but there are many other restrictions as well, and no matter what we do, we cannot escape the inevitable future, such as the death of a precious person.”
“Ah… ….”
“Rather, I think I envy you for not knowing the future. So, I hope you don’t envy Mirae City.”
“I understand.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Felex suddenly reaches out to me.
Without hesitation, I held his hand and shook his hand.
Just as I was about to let go of his hand and leave, Felex suddenly grabbed his arm and bumped my shoulder with his.
I was surprised for a moment by the modern greeting method, but then I heard his quiet voice.
“I will take good care of my precious daughter.”
“Oh?!”
“And beware of the hounds of foreign media. “As soon as the hunting dog spots you, it will pounce on you and rip off your neck.”
Same tone as the letter found in Felix’s dungeon.
Even Felix from the past knew that I was Bern.
How much does he know? Why has he been speaking differently until now? What kind of creature is the foreign hound?
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While I was hesitating with so many things I wanted to ask, Felix fell away from me.
With the addition of Breeze’s ears, it became difficult to ask questions.
“I hope your travels will always be filled with good luck. And this child will guide you on the way to the elf forest.”
“Awww~!”
“Now, wait!”
A wolf arrogantly comes forward at the call of Felix.
He waved his tail, telling me to follow him, and then took off on his own.
In the end, I had to follow the wolf’s tail without even being able to satisfy my curiosity.
In the meantime, as I ran alongside Breeze, the events of last night came to mind.
‘It’s so f*cking awkward…’ … !’
I became dizzy as Felix’s story and the memories of last night mixed together.
If I had been able to talk to Breeze, I would have felt a little more at ease.
However, without saying a single word, we followed the wolf, who endlessly guided us along the way.
I pretended to sleep after Breeze’s surprise kiss, so I have to talk to him first…….
The moment I met her face, I felt like she would find out that I had been pretending to sleep through my expression.
While I was contemplating what to do, I suddenly heard Breeze’s voice next to me.
“I… “It’s over there!”
“Uh, huh?”
“You said the next destination was the Elven Forest, right? I wanted to ask what you plan to do when you get there…….”
“Well, the Elven Forest is a transit point, so I don’t have any plans to do anything big. “I just want to see the elf village and the world tree if possible.”
What was the world tree like in the past and did the saint of the Earth Mother exist?
I wanted to confirm this even at the risk of opposition from the elves.
It may be related to Marianne’s genealogy.
“The fog is thinning.”
“I guess that means we’ve finally escaped the Valley of the Fog.”
The wolf who was leading us naturally turned around and went back the way he came.
The guide ends here. From this point on, he was directly showing through his actions that it was not his territory.
If you go down the hill connected to the canyon, you will enter elf territory.
The terrain didn’t change much, so it was relatively easy to find the way.
“Oh… ! “It’s so big!”
“The tree you are looking at right now is probably the World Tree.”
“Wouldn’t it be very comfortable to make a nest out of the branches of the World Tree?”
“To do that, we have to go to war with the elves first.”
A panoramic view of the forest from the high ground.
Since it was the only place to look up at the World Tree, Breeze was worthy of attention.
However, considering that the branches of the World Tree are a rare material on the same level as Orichalcon, the idea of building a nest with branches was absolutely impossible.
“Let’s stop sightseeing and go down slowly.”
“Wait a minute.”
Breeze suddenly pushed her body back and stretched out her arms in front of her.
When she blinked, there was an arrow with a sharp tip in her hand.
An arrow flew without a sound.
Considering the direction of progress, precision fire was fired from the lowlands to the top of the valley, so there was only one race with such technology.
“Get the hell out of our land! Human!”
“Next time, we won’t end with threatening shots!”
Threatening voices were heard from all over the forest.
This was the result of forgetting to use perception-impairing magic while leaving the valley.
I realized that elves tend to reject outsiders even in the past.
It was a natural result since it was a time when nature was being destroyed for land development and there was a strong perception of elves as commodities.
“As expected, the guard is strong. “It’s a pity, but let’s give up on seeing the village and go around the ridge like this.”
“…… “I don’t like it.”
“Huh?”
“The point is that he shot the arrow without saying anything.”
“You said it was a threatening shot.”
“Threat? “Is the arrow aimed at your right eyeball only a threat?”
Ujikkeun-!
Breeze looked down and broke the arrow shaft she was holding with one hand.
Mana around him began to scream and his skin began to tingle.
This was a phenomenon that appeared when Breeze was extremely displeased.
“Even if you can easily get away with it, I can’t just get over it.”
“Then what do you want to do?”
“I’m going to rip out the eyes of the elf who just shot me with a bow.”
The forest, which had been noisy due to Breeze’s brutal killing, suddenly became quiet.
There was no way that an elf could resist Dragon Fear, an ability that imprints absolute fear.
It seemed like the story would only be about Marianne awakening to the power of the Earth Mother.
If the silence lasts longer, Breeze’s anger may demand that she sacrifice not her eyes but her life.
I had no choice but decided to mediate myself.
“Why don’t you make me kneel and apologize instead?”
“Why are you lowering your own value? “Your eyes aren’t something you can aim at with an apology, are they?”
“That’s right. A missing body part is not something that can be ended with just an apology.”
“Then why…?” !”
“… ….”
I stood facing her with my back to her forest so that only her breeze could see my face.
I showed Breeze putting my index finger to the corner of my mouth where I had drawn a long line.
It is an indirect expression of the idea that I have all my thoughts and that I would like people to trust me and leave it to me.
In response, Breeze made a disapproving expression on her face, but then collected the murderous words that had been scattered around her.
A street that respects my wishes.
“Ha… ! Okay, I’ll let you have your eyeballs removed. But it would be better to come forward right now instead of hiding.”
Even though he survived, Breeze still scolds the elves in the forest with an angry voice.
They crawled up the valley one by one, trembling and shaking.
I thought they would have lost their minds at Dragon Fear, but when they arrived at the valley, they bravely pulled the bowstring and were on the lookout for us.
As I watched the elves appearing one after another like that, I couldn’t believe my eyes for a moment.
‘Is this true…? ?’
70% Of the scouts were men, and they were not feminine men but sturdy young men.
The remaining 30% were female elves, and all of them had slim bodies.
There were no muscles as lumpy as a rock, only thin muscles were visible.
‘Wow, this is what a normal elf looks like!’
I was very surprised, but I didn’t show it.
In an era where there was little influence from foreign media, it was natural that the elves’ ideas were not reversed.
“Are you all?”
“Yes, that’s right!”
“Then now, the bastard who shot the bow just now, come out.”
At Breeze’s low voice, the arms of the elf scouts were shaking like aspen trees.
It wasn’t strange that I immediately let go of the bowstring I was holding out of fear.
In such a situation, there was no elf who obediently came forward.
The moment when Breeze was impressed by her as she showed no signs of coming to the end.
I stepped forward and spoke to the elves.
“Okay, everyone, calm down! “First of all, let me start by saying that we have absolutely no intention of harming you.”
“Who are you and why have you come to our forest?”
“We are just wanderers trying to pass through the elven forest. “I have no intention of causing trouble here.”
“There were often wicked people who spoke like that and secretly kidnapped their fellow countrymen…… !”
“We have the power to subdue and drag away all the elves here. “But you understand why I wanted to talk to you without having to explain, right?”
“Even so, I can’t believe it.”
The damn stubbornness of an elf.
I tried to solve it gently, but it made me resort to all kinds of tricks.
I found one of the scouts who was holding the bowstring precariously.
After that, he used electric magic to send an electric current through his hand to avoid detection.
“Ah, that’s it!”
“Wow! “aaah!”
The scout let go of the bowstring due to an electric current that was close to static electricity.
Aiming for that moment, I twisted my body so that the arrowhead stuck in my shoulder.
Soon, after being hit by an arrow, I lied down on the ground and pretended to be in pain, acting desperately.
Breese, who was watching the series of processes, made an uncomfortable expression, but quickly turned his eyes towards the elf.
“Hey, this is a mistake… !”
“First you targeted the snow, this time you made an open surprise attack, and now you’re making excuses that it was a mistake?”
“It’s not an excuse, it really was a mistake!”
“Really? “Then it won’t be a problem if I accidentally kill a few of the people here, right?”
“Pfft…” ! “I’m sorry, I surrender as an apology.”
The elves tried desperately to prevent them from entering the village.
All the elves placed their bows on the floor and raised both hands above their shoulders in submission.
‘I completely faked it.’
I deliberately gave up my shoulder to the arrow, but the wound was relatively shallow thanks to the body strengthening magic.
Nevertheless, the faces of the elves were turning pale as they continued to struggle in pain.
“Keueuuu! “Ah!”
“…… If you use the leaves of the World Tree, your wounds will heal quickly. “The leaves of the World Tree are in the village temple, so I will guide you there.”
It seems like this is my first time experiencing self-harm blackmail.
‘According to plan… !’