After a quick nap, about an hour passed.
The baggage carriage has arrived at a small relay station.
It seems they plan to rest the horses and take a break for a while.
“Wow. They’re still doing business at this hour.”
Even though it’s well past sunset, the market at the relay station is quite lively. Most of the customers stopping by at this early hour are just passing through.
Getting off the carriage and looking around for a bit, I notice a pair of white rabbit ears following me.
Turning her head from side to side, she seems to be looking for something.
“What are you looking for?”
“The laundromat.”
“Well, considering the smell…”
“Ah, please be quiet… I’m begging you…”
Alicia pleads with teary eyes. I was just about to tease her a bit longer, but I feel bad and can’t go on.
“Anyway, we’re leaving in three hours. There’s no time to drop off the laundry.”
“Ah…”
“You can wash it by hand. Use magic to dry it.”
“I can’t use magic right now. My magical tool broke…”
“If it’s a magical tool, just buy a new one.”
“It’s not that simple. I need a magical tool that fits me perfectly.”
“Wow, you’re picky.”
Right, that was the setting. As a noble lady, she has a pretty sensitive personality.
“So, are you saying you’ll carry it around and let it smell? That’s gross.”
“Ah, I know that. So I was thinking of getting a temporary magical tool…”
Alicia frowns as she stops in front of a general store.
Wands, orbs, staffs, and more… There are plenty of magical tools that look good, but they are all just poor-quality items.
Even I, who knows nothing about magic, can tell that. Alicia, who has been to the Magic Tower, must see right through it.
“Ugh… What is this?”
“Just buy anything. You’re going to use it once and throw it away anyway.”
“I can’t waste my sacred mana on such cheap stuff. Let’s go to the next store.”
“All these shops are about the same. Just use this.”
“…?”
I toss a ring, and it spirals beautifully before landing on Alicia’s palm. She stares at the ring with a reluctant look and then puts it on her finger, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Is this a mid-grade mana stone? Instead of this ring, I’d rather have that cheap wand…”
“What do you think?”
“This isn’t a mass-produced item?! Is this a high-grade mana stone? How can such a small stone have such mana capacity…?!”
“Are you jealous?”
“No? I don’t think it suits me, so I’m not particularly interested.”
Just wipe the drool off your mouth.
“But I’m really interested in the name of the artisan who made this ring.”
“I can introduce you…”
“Really?!”
Alicia probably realized the moment she saw the ring. The artisan who made this could process any mana stone for magical tools.
No matter how picky and sensitive the conditions, Tay would accommodate her.
He’s the perfect artisan Alicia needs.
“Let me hear about your magic training. If I’m satisfied, I’ll tell you then.”
“Ah!”
Of course, it won’t be for free.
“Is it delicious?”
“……”
Mi Jeong nods without answering. Now, letting her bite my nape and drink my blood has become a routine.
I never thought I’d stick with her for this long. I had planned to sell her after gaining a trait and a good companion.
Yet somehow, she has become a core member I can’t detach from after awakening.
“Hu, heeek.”
Alicia, carrying a backpack, looks at us in shock. She seems not used to traveling with a blood ghoul yet. She’ll have to get used to seeing this sight often in the future.
“I thought it was a slave…”
“It is a slave.”
“Considering that, you look quite close. I can see a deep sense of trust in the blood ghoul’s eyes toward you.”
“…… It’s not a blood ghoul.”
“Huh?”
“…… Mi Jeong. Name.”
She didn’t like being called a blood ghoul. Mi Jeong detaches her mouth from my neck and quibbles insistently. Alicia, taken aback, has no retort and just freezes.
“It’s honestly amazing. How does a blood ghoul follow someone so well…?”
“If you’re done with it, can you give me back the ring?”
“Ah. Right. Here. Thanks for using it well.”
Alicia suddenly snaps back to reality and jumps up to return the ring from her pocket. Judging by the smell, it seems the laundry has been finished nicely.
There’s no worry about a stench from the baggage. Thank goodness.
“Have you eaten yet?”
“No. What kind of food would there be at this hour…?”
“It would be better to eat something.”
“I’m planning to eat when we arrive.”
“Do you know where we’re headed?”
“Ah, right. Where are we going?”
Only then does Alicia look me in the eyes and ask. I thought she had gotten on the carriage knowing the destination, but it turns out she just jumped on recklessly to follow me.
“We’re going to Elvenguard.”
“……”
The destination is the elvish homeland, Elvenguard. Alicia’s expression slowly contorts at my answer.
It’s understandable.
Elves are hostile toward beast-folk. Strictly speaking, elves are antagonistic towards almost all races. Due to their long lifespans and affinity for magic, they tend to look down on and disdain other races.
Even their culture is quite different. While humans, beast-folk, and dwarves feel like distant lands’ cultures, elves feel like aliens.
Thus, their food culture is unique as well. I’ve grown accustomed to it, but someone new would struggle to even touch it.
“Well, the food there gets better with time. If you’re trying it for the first time, maybe the bay leaf konjac or pine bark stew is relatively…”
“I’ll go eat quickly!”
In a flash, Alicia’s face turns pale, and she rushes out. We’re about to leave soon.
What if she doesn’t come back before the carriage departs? It might even be better that way.
‘I hope I don’t get kicked out after going. I’m suddenly worried.’
The purposes for heading to Elvenguard are threefold.
First, to meet the priestess of the World Tree, Mia, to hear the prophecy. The prophecy of the World Tree is quite abstract, so it might not help much.
Still, if there’s a chance to know even a little about the future, there’s no reason not to listen. My power to know the future is greater than anyone else’s.
Second, to train. Elvenguard’s atmosphere is filled with mana, making it a perfect environment for training since just breathing replenishes one’s mana.
Third…
“Clear the way! It’s urgent! Urgent!”
Bang.
The relay station’s door swings open violently, and a man holding a horse’s reins stumbles inside.
He pulls down his mask and buries his head in the water trough, gulping down the water desperately.
White skin, blond hair, and long ears. He’s an elf.
From the outfit, it’s clear he’s a messenger delivering official orders or news. He came running from the direction of Elvenguard.
What urgent news could a messenger have at this hour…?
I can’t help but think of something dire, like war or disaster.
I immediately separate Mi Jeong and approach the man.
“What’s going on?”
“Who are you?”
“I’m someone headed to Elvenguard. Is something happening there?”
“……”
The man evades my gaze and closes his mouth. After a moment’s hesitation, he looks me straight in the eye and says.
“Ha. Hiding it won’t do any good. You’d better not head towards Elvenguard.”
“Why?”
“I can’t disclose the details as it’s confidential… but Elvenguard is currently in a national emergency. A massive fire has broken out, threatening to consume all of Elvenguard.”
Oh no. This is worse than I imagined.
“Elvenguard is burning?!”
“Yes. You need to hurry.”
A massive fire in Elvenguard. Already, a bad feeling is creeping in.
That’s because in the last twelve cycles, there hasn’t been a single major fire in Elvenguard.
There are two possibilities. Either that messenger is lying to me, or some new variable has arisen in the thirteenth cycle, causing a real fire.
It’s more likely to be the latter.
“What do you plan to do?”
“Assess the situation. Put out the fire.”
“Excuse me?”
While Alicia balks behind me, I quickly load Mi Jeong onto the carriage and hop in myself. It took some time to persuade the coachman, who refused to go after hearing about the fire.
If we don’t hurry, a disaster of countless elf refugees will occur.
“How do we even put out a fire?”
Climbing onto the baggage cart reluctantly, Alicia asks. It’s a reasonable question.
Elvenguard is known for its dense mana in the air, making it a forest less prone to fires. The fact that a great fire occurred in such a place indicates it couldn’t possibly be natural.
Moreover, the elves, famous for having many great mages, failed in their initial suppression. That means it’s nearly impossible for us to extinguish the fire, whether we use water or magic.
“There’s a suspect believed to have started the fire.”
“Who?”
“The Great Spirit, Ifrit.”
As far as I know, there’s only one being capable of committing such monstrous arson.
The Great Spirit of Fire, Ifrit. If he is unleashing mana-consuming flames, it makes sense that they would threaten to engulf Elvenguard.
However, if you ask me why Ifrit would do such a thing, I wouldn’t have an answer.
Despite his notorious temperament, he doesn’t seem like the kind of being to engage in such dangerous deeds.
It’s possible he might be manipulated by someone else.
‘Could it be Kali already…?’
There isn’t a total lack of suspicion.
My third reason for heading towards Elvenguard is precisely to prevent the corruption of the World Tree that will happen in six months.
In the past twelve cycles, the World Tree has always fallen into corruption and transformed into a tree of death without fail.
Once the corrupted World Tree sheds all its green leaves, it blooms white flower buds.
And when those flowers bloom, it becomes the cause of an epidemic that spreads and destroys countless cities.
The culprit is one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Kali.
A former Druid. She used her Druid traits to encroach upon the World Tree, manipulating it and corrupting it into the tree of death.
‘Kali came six months earlier?’
That’s a power strong enough to manipulate the World Tree, which is endowed with divine authority. For Kali, making a spirit go berserk is probably no big deal.
If Ifrit, the Great Spirit of Fire, is being controlled by Kali, who arrives six months early in Elvenguard…
“I have a way to stop it.”
If we catch Kali, the rampage will end. We must hurry.
