Why did Sandulbaram come looking for me?
I slowly approached the unexpected guest.
As I drew closer, Sandulbaram looked up at me with a cold expression, as if reprimanding me for having fun with the girls. But knowing her, I understood it stemmed from her discomfort around men.
She had a fear of men.
The original exclusive quest revolved around resolving her fear of men. Of course, it would be a cliché story of her overcoming it through various events with the protagonist… but still.
Anyway, I opened my mouth towards the half-elf who unexpectedly visited me.
“Alright. What brings you here?”
“I need Sir Quartz’s help.”
Help… huh.
I wondered what the half-elf, who was usually so out of touch with social skills, wanted to ask me.
“There are many others who could help.”
“It’s a request that only you can fulfill, Sir Quartz.”
“Let’s talk in the reception room first.”
At my suggestion, Sandulbaram nodded eagerly.
As we walked through the door of Yeomyeong-gwan to the reception room, we didn’t exchange a word. I couldn’t figure out what to discuss with the socially challenged half-elf.
Bringing up a strange topic might just ruin my image, and that would be my loss.
I opened the door to the reception room and plopped down on the sofa.
Sandulbaram sat opposite me, keeping her mouth tightly shut while staring at me. She had a look that suggested she didn’t know where to begin.
…Come to think of it, did she fear men?
It was surprising that she came to ask me for help.
“Well then, let’s start again.”
I spoke first and waited for Sandulbaram’s response.
How much time passed? Sandulbaram slightly parted her tightly closed lips and said,
“I need Sir Quartz’s help. It’s a request that only you can fulfill…”
A request that only I can fulfill? Was there something like that? I scratched my chin and rummaged through my brain for information about Sandulbaram.
Sandulbaram.
Half-elf.
Her specialties were archery and spirit magic.
And… weak foresight.
She was a heroine entangled with the protagonist due to Harpas.
As a traditional elf heroine, she had her own popularity, after all.
But Harpas died at my hands before he could do anything.
So what could it be that brought her to me?
Recalling the head of Harpas hanging in my room, I could only ask her in confusion.
“Why is it a request that only I can fulfill?”
“…The World Tree has been contaminated. We need to purify the World Tree… and we need your power, Sir Quartz.”
…The World Tree has been contaminated?
“Is it true that the World Tree has been contaminated?”
“…Yes.”
The dark expression on Sandulbaram’s face confirmed this shocking news. For someone who rarely changed her expression, the fact that the World Tree, the spiritual pillar of the elves, was contaminated would be a huge shock.
For me, it was equally shocking.
In the original story, the World Tree nearly got contaminated due to Harpas’s schemes, but here I had killed Harpas a year early before he could even try anything.
And yet… the World Tree is contaminated?
At this timing? In this manner?
The information wasn’t revealed through a High Elf envoy until the second semester of the second year in the original story, right?
“…Have you requested help from the Empire?”
“…No one is willing to listen to a mere half-elf.”
“I see.”
Sure enough, the elven ruling class had not sent an envoy, so it wouldn’t be surprising if no one would heed a unilateral plea for help.
Humans didn’t understand the importance of the World Tree at all.
The problem was that to these humans, the World Tree was merely a myth and nothing more. The elves had monopolized it for thousands of years.
Humans who hadn’t received the grace of the World Tree couldn’t possibly understand its importance.
“If the imperial court had received an official envoy explaining the situation, it would have still been difficult. The situation in the imperial court is a mess right now.”
“Then…”
From the occasional news I heard, it seemed tensions were escalating, and there were ominous warnings of imminent military clashes.
Thinking it over again, this country’s future looked bleak.
Maybe it’d be better to purge them all and set up convenient puppets to manipulate from behind the scenes. To save this world, I had to eliminate as many obstacles as possible.
“So, is that why you need my help?”
Sandulbaram nodded with a complex expression. In her slightly visible eyes, there was an unhidden expectation. There was a foolish hope that the Demon-slaying hero would somehow manage to help.
“…Yes. We truly need your help, Sir Quartz.”
She bowed her head with a desperate look. I was torn between whether to be happy to see a face that could only be seen in heroine-exclusive quests or feel the weight of the request that I simply couldn’t dismiss.
The contamination of the World Tree meant that the power protecting this world had weakened.
Whether it was a demon or an outsider behind this, it was undoubtedly an external threat, and I had to stop the contamination of the World Tree.
“…I understand what you mean. But why did you come? In a situation this significant, shouldn’t an elf envoy have come?”
“…Well, this is my unilaterality… The higher-ups are trying to resolve the situation with their great powers. But…”
Unilateral? I looked at Sandulbaram in surprise. She confidently said she came to make a rash decision, but then fell silent as if despondent until Ashley came to bring tea.
“Are you asking me because you think it’ll be impossible even with the powers of the great ones?”
“Yes. It’s simply my intuition…”
Sandulbaram gave a weak nod.
The great ones… So High Elves are beings born with tremendous power, so they could typically handle most issues on their own.
The problem, however, is that if the World Tree is contaminated, it must be some demon or an outsider involved, and no ordinary being could easily resolve this issue.
In the original story, they were barely able to deal with the aftermath of Harpas.
“Your request has a critical issue. To resolve the contamination, I need to access the World Tree, but for that, I need the permission of the great ones. But I doubt they would allow me access to the World Tree.”
“Isn’t that something Sir Quartz could manage on his own? Your name is well-known among us elves…”
“But you’re still just a human.”
At least from the perspective of the great ones.
To them, a three-year-old toddler is merely a child, no different from a ten-year-old. They might give me slightly different looks, but it wouldn’t matter much. However, if even a half-elf like Sandulbaram is aware of the contamination, it means things are considerably advanced.
“How many elves are aware of this contamination?”
“Everyone among the elves knows. It’s visibly decaying…”
So the situation has already progressed quite a bit, huh.
That’s not good news. The earlier any problem can be suppressed, the lesser the damage it usually incurs.
“I understand for now. However, I hope you can understand that I cannot leave right away.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“And since you asked me for help, you’ll have to guide me.”
In the original story… the location of the elves’ land, Yggdrasil, was revealed, so it wasn’t impossible to go there on my own, but if a human knew about the secret elven land hidden from them, it would cause suspicion.
So I had to accept the guidance of this half-elf in front of me.
“Yes. I plan to take leave as soon as the day turns, and then head out immediately.”
“Bold move.”
Choosing to take unilateral leave and guide me back home could not have been an easy choice.
“If I don’t act boldly, I’ll lose everything.”
As if recalling past trauma, Sandulbaram wore a somber expression. Her mind must have been replaying past events. I stood up as if to interrupt her thoughts.
“I will leave in two days. I’ll sort out the necessary preparations, so pack your things and come to Yeomyeong-gwan the morning after tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
The half-elf girl also rose from her seat and looked up at me. I stared at her intently and quietly asked,
“…Before we leave, may I ask one thing? Why did you think I would be the one you needed help from?”
“…I just had a feeling it would be so. It’s hard for me to say, but…
…I have a good instinct.”
Sandulbaram lowered her head with those words that she often muttered in the original story.
“Please take care of me, Sir Quartz.”
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