The Elven Village

40 - The Elven Village

"Oooh…"

Before the awestruck Kukuri stood a divine dragon.

Pure white scales with red eyes. Though about ten meters in total length, it didn't feel intimidating at all.

"C-Can I touch it?"

"Just a touch."

Having received permission, Kukuri touched Lavi's scales.

"Huh, they're smooth. And a little warm."

"Don't touch too much."

Make up your mind.

Kukuri waved to Sei and Mako as they mounted the dragon.

"How long do you think the round trip will take?"

"Less than a day."

True to her word, Lavi began moving at tremendous speed.

"Faster than a salamander!"

Mako said something or other, but Sei was in no position to care about that.

Though there wasn't much wind pressure thanks to the barrier created by wind magic, and perhaps due to some magical force at work, he felt no inertia.

Still, it was terrifying nonetheless.

"With this, we don't even need to teleport."

As Sei said this, his map occasionally showed responses.

Elves. But according to the map, the settlement where the hero was being protected was deeper in. Almost at the very heart of the Great Forest.

Lavi covered a distance that would have been impossible on foot in less than half a day.

"Land around here."

They descended to a slightly open area in the forest. The hero's response was just barely within Sei's map radius.

It was the [Immortal] hero. One who, because of her immortality, couldn't even die - a pitiable soul.

"From here, I think it's about a day's walk to the elven village. Should be faster if we use body enhancement magic."

"Ah, wish we had horses."

As expected, having horses ride on a divine dragon would be out of the question.

Even so, this forest had very little undergrowth.

Many great trees towered overhead, but perhaps their leaves blocked the sunlight and prevented undergrowth from flourishing, because walking was quite easy.

Occasionally he sensed animals, but they fled as soon as they noticed them.

"This place has kind of a mystical atmosphere, doesn't it?"

Mako murmured. Real forests weren't like this. Something like the dense jungle in the great wetlands was probably what a normal forest was supposed to be.

Perhaps this forest maintained this state due to the elves' care?

As Sei was thinking this, a single elf's marker on his map steadily approached.

A watchman elf, perhaps? Sei proceeded forward with slight caution in his steps.

Though it was sudden for Mako and Lavi, an arrow thudded into the ground in front of them.

Some incomprehensible language rang out - words filled with wariness, most likely.

Immediately after, the same message was conveyed in Common Language.

"Halt, human! This is elven territory!"

Though the speaker remained hidden, Sei's map showed their location.

Sei raised both hands and stated the purpose of his visit.

"I came because I heard a human hero is being protected here. I mean no harm."

"… Wait a moment!"

He sensed magical power moving.

It wasn't directed at them. And it was slightly different from magic.

It was probably what they called spirit arts. He'd heard about it, but this was Sei's first time actually seeing it.

… Actually, there were lizardmen who could use spirit arts too, but Sei hadn't witnessed it.

After a short while, a single elf dropped down from a tree.

"Oh… An elf…"

Mako was moved, but Sei observed with a slightly more composed gaze.

She was a beautiful girl. Hair like golden threads, with jade-colored eyes. Her build was slender, but every movement betrayed the presence of well-trained muscles.

Her clothes appeared to be woven from plant fibers, dyed green, and her boots were likely made of leather.

Her name was Lairamia. Age, 170. She possessed spirit arts as well as magical skills. And she also had archery and swordsmanship skills - quite the combat-oriented elf, it seemed.

"Follow me. I'll take you to the Grand Elder."

Saying so, Lairamia took the lead and began guiding Sei, Mako, and Lavi.

He'd thought the journey would be silent, but this elf seemed quite interested in humans.

After introductions, she asked various questions about how human settlements were. They tried to answer her questions as best they could, but neither Sei nor Mako were originally from this world. And Lavi remained as taciturn as ever.

Sei thought that if Kukuri were here, there would have been an incredible exchange of conversation.

"We've arrived."

After conversing enough that Laira - as she'd already told them they could call her by this nickname - had grown familiar, the group arrived at the elven village in less than an hour.

"H-Huh? Wasn't that kind of fast?"

Mako turned to him for confirmation, but Sei was equally astonished.

He hadn't been checking his map constantly, but the distance was clearly shorter than expected.

"In the forest, elven feet are swift."

Offering an explanation that explained nothing, Laira continued forward.

"Space was compressed along the way."

Lavi said matter-of-factly, but how did that work? He hadn't sensed any magical power at work.

This elven village was more vast than he'd imagined.

Wooden houses lined up in orderly rows, surrounded by even more expansive fields. The population exceeded ten thousand.

"I always thought elves were known for their bows, but what do you do for food?"

"What do you mean?"

"In my mind, elves don't eat much meat."

"Your image of elves is strange. Bows are necessary for hunting game, and the elf population isn't small enough that we could survive on meat alone."

Indeed, working in the fields were elves who were somehow both sturdy and slender at the same time - a difficult combination to describe.

"Do elves have trouble putting on fat?"

Perhaps the term would be lean and muscular?

"Compared to humans, that seems to be the case. The humans I've seen were all thick."

Thick. She probably wasn't referring to Mako specifically, but the girl still felt a bit shocked.

"By the way, what is that…?"

He'd noticed it since emerging from the forest, but approaching it again impressed upon him its sheer enormity.

"You mean the World Tree?"

Ah, so it really is a World Tree, Sei thought with an odd sense of satisfaction.

It was a tree far larger than even the other great trees. Both in width and height.

After all, it stretched upward until it reached the clouds. The thickness needed to support that was difficult to even imagine. By all logic it should collapse under its own weight.

(Wait, is that really a tree? I couldn't see it when we were flying…)

When he appraised it, the tree's age exceeded one billion years. The scale was completely off. Its name was World Tree. Straightforward enough.

"It's so big and thick…"

When Mako made a comment that may or may not have been intentional, Laira nodded in agreement.

"It has existed since before we elves were born. It must have passed through a long span of time indeed."

"… How did elves come into being?"

"Spirits who took on physical form. Humans don't even know something like that?"

Even Carla hadn't known much about elves.

At most, she knew that elves were a race that existed before humans migrated to this world, and for some reason, interbreeding with humans was possible.

Currently, there were only two regions where elves lived in large numbers - the Great Forest and a forest within Ogress.

Six thousand years ago during the great war, the evil gods and demon gods created the Dark Elf race from among them, but that race also preferred to live in forests.

Dark Elves were initially often enemies of the elves, but now they weren't particularly hostile. In fact, they ventured outside the forests more often than regular elves.

Still, occasionally there were elves who lived out their lives outside the forest, and half-elves often lived in human society.

Incidentally, they didn't have a bad relationship with dwarves either, but their living environments were so different that they rarely resided in the same city.

Hence, there hadn't been much interaction with Ria or Carla, who had lived in the dwarven village.

Laira entered a particularly large building at the base of the World Tree.

There was no knocking custom, apparently, nor did she call out.

Sei and Mako quietly said "Excuse us" in small voices, but it probably wasn't necessary.

"This way."

In the room Laira led them to was an elf who was clearly different from the others.

Exceptionally muscular and large-framed, with wrinkles on his face that should be impossible for supposedly ageless elves.

"This is Grand Elder Quorfos."

The elf whom Laira introduced had pure white hair.

"Ugh…"

Sei went pale. He'd appraised him reflexively, and the age exceeded ten thousand years.

On top of that, his level was incredible. An even higher number than Carla's - 352.

And his race wasn't listed as Elf, but High Elf.

"Please, sit."

Offered chairs, Sei and Mako sat down. For some reason Lavi hesitated slightly, but sat down as well.

Laira also sat down as if it were natural, but she didn't seem intent on leading the conversation.

"I've heard the story. She's calmed down now, so you should take her back soon."

At Quorfos's gesture, Laira went outside. Following the context, she'd probably gone to fetch the hero.

"Now then, is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Um, you're a High Elf, right? Are you different from other elves?"

Sei asked about something that had been bothering him.

"Elves are born from other elves, but High Elves are born from the World Tree. And they become the Grand Elder of the elves. That's about it. Also, longer lifespan, superior combat ability… in other words, higher specs."

He spoke Common Language quite naturally, but something felt off about his words. Despite his appearance, his manner of speaking was youthful.

"Originally, I should have returned to the tree by now, but the next High Elf went to another world with a hero. So I'm still serving as Elder. But the next High Elf has been born, so I'll probably return to the tree within a thousand years."

"Return to the tree… Is that like dying?"

"Well, something like that. The soul returns to the World Tree, is cleansed, and is born again as a High Elf. It repeats like that."

That seemed pretty close to immortality.

"A divine dragon might understand my words more easily, yes?"

When Quorfos turned his gaze toward her, Lavi for some reason gripped the hem of Sei's clothes.

"Are you afraid? For a divine dragon, that's normally something you'd never feel in your entire life. But there are still parts of the world beyond the reach of divine dragons."

"… Are you perhaps strong enough to fight a divine dragon?"

"No, I couldn't possibly match an aged divine dragon. But that divine dragon is still young. Normally, the likes of evil gods shouldn't even be enemies for her, but she's simply too young."

"Um, can you perhaps see Lavi's level?"

To that question, Quorfos slowly nodded.

"A mere 120. No matter how much divine dragons may exceed their level, she couldn't defeat me."

"Um… just out of curiosity, do you happen to know my master's level?"

"Divine Dragon Reiana, yes? She's roughly around 350. Her human form aside, in dragon form I'd have no chance of winning."

Ria had trained Sei quite rigorously, but that apparently hadn't even been close to her full power.

Of course it wouldn't be. If she got serious, she could even win against gods that reached the heavens.

From there, they were about to shift to a different topic, but that was interrupted by someone entering the room.

She wore elven clothing, but her face was unmistakably Japanese.

"Shimizu-san!"

"Tsubaki-san!"

The two women embraced firmly, but Mako quickly noticed something odd.

"Huh? Shimizu-san, you're back to normal?"

Yes, the Immortal hero was supposed to have a damaged mind.

But the girl before them showed no sign of that.

"She was deeply traumatized, so I treated her. Fortunately, it wasn't too late."

The wounds of the heart that even Universal Healing couldn't mend. Quorfos claimed to have healed them.

No wonder even a divine dragon would fear him.

The Immortal hero agreed to return.

"Sorry, but I never want to go through that again. Tsubaki-san, aren't you going back?"

Mako gave the same explanation as before, and the hero nodded.

"Life here was good, but I miss Japan."

The girl, overcome with homesickness, returned on the spot.

"Thank you for healing Shimizu-san."

"I don't think it was anything worthy of thanks, but I'll accept your gratitude."

Quorfos smiled gently, but then his expression shifted slightly.

"Divine dragon, you are young."

When addressed, Lavi trembled with a start.

"As you are, you will eventually grow into a being that protects the world, but it will take too long. So…"

There was a hint of mischief in Quorfos's words.

"Would you like to try leveling up?"