Chapter 104 – It isn’t Going as Planned (1)

The Forest of Eternity greeted a morning that was a bit more chaotic than usual.

“I want you guys to match levels!  You guys are still too weak!”

“However, we became Dark Elves, and we’ve become stronger. We no longer want to be treated as a resource or a slave by the humans.  Even if we have to push ourselves, we have to get stronger quickly!”

“We are already pushing ourselves too far. You should think about your comrades, who’ll mourn your death!”

“Koo-oohk······.”

“There are large Dungeons.  The hero ordered us to attempt it with a party of 20 members.”

“Will you be eating breakfast before you go?  Mycenae brought a lot of tasty food from the heart of the continent. ….there is enough to fill this square.”

“How did Mycenae get so strong?  Is this true for the other Dark Elves, who went out into the continent?”

“As expected, we acted too rashly.  If there are ones that needed to be punished, it isn’t the Dark Elves.  It should have been us…….”

He was used to Elves, who loved peace and silence.  It felt foreign when he saw them insisting on power and strength in the morning.  He had to sleep cuddled in Maetel’s arms.  In the early mornings, he escaped from her embrace, and he monitored the activities of the Elves.

“Hero, I’m already awake.”

“Good morning.  …..are you going too?”

Artpe had been monitoring the movement of the Elves, and the first one to approach him was the Dark Elf elder.  She was the first one to accept his proposal.

Normally, the Elves moved through the forest wearing light equipments.  The Elves were wearing leather armor that protected their vital organs, and they had a bow and quiver slung across their backs.  They looked really cool.

“Elves that live the longest within the Forest of Eternity are named the elders.  Basically, the elders are the strongest in terms of skills, spells and battle experience. We trained our skills for several hundred years, yet our skills were comparable to Mycenae, who is barely over 100 years old.  It caused a good amount of shock amongst us…..”

It seemed Mycenae had exceeded the century mark in terms of age.  He unexpectedly learned Mycenae’s greatest secret.  She was so sensitive about it that she never talked about it.  In any case, he wasn’t interested in her since she was an ajumma.

Artpe nodded his head as if he hadn’t heard anything important.

“Mycenae had to fight tooth and nail in the outside world for survival.  The time she had spent out there differed in quality to the time you guys spent here, so it can’t be helped.  Still, you guys will make up for the difference starting now.”

“The elders will take turns in guarding the World Tree.  The rest will head to the Dungeon.  That is what we have decided.”

“It is good to evolve.  Do your best.”

The Elves knew that they had made a mistake, so they were working hard to rectify it.  They were much better than humans in doing this.  It looked as if the deep-seated prejudice towards the Dark Elves were breaking down, and the solidarity between the Elves and the Dark Elves would become cemented.

“I’m guessing you will be leaving today.”

“You are quite perceptive.”

“If you weren’t leaving, we were thinking about leaving one of the Dungeons for the hero’s party.  However, it seems you will be leaving all of the Dungeons in this region to us.”

“Ah, it isn’t like that.  We are already at a point where the Dungeons in this region won’t raise our levels.”

If one went by outward appearance, this was a topic that an adult should take control.  However, this very young human had already reached an unfathomable level.  This truth once again made the elder surprised.

“This generation’s heroes……   You guys are really really incredible.  Moreover, there are two of you.”

“Oh, I hear you.  Why do you think there are two of us?”

“It means that the Demon King’s power is that strong.  God puts importance on balance.”

“Hmmph.  I’ll kill both of them someday.”

He didn’t hesitate to reveal his ambition as he turned around.  The elder burst out laughing as she called out after him.

“Oh, hero.”

“What?”

“Please take care of Mycenae.”

“No.  I don’t want her.  Take her back.”

At Artpe’s firm reply, a deeper smile somehow appeared on the elder’s face.

“We really did much harm to the past Dark Elves.  Despite this fact, Mycenae didn’t hold any grudge against us.  Instead, she always worried over the forest.  She worked to help us.  We’ve finally realized our mistake, and we want to to find a way to compensate her.  However….   We don’t have much we can do for her.”

“I can’t do anything for her either.  At the most, I can give her a discount.”

“She seems very satisfied with the life she has made for herself.  If she continues to be with the hero, I believe wholeheartedly that she’ll be able to gain even more happiness with the hero.”

“Hmmph.”

Artpe didn’t reply to her anymore. He just waved her away.  The elder let out a relaxed laughter as she took leave.  When he read the meaning behind her smile, he thought about Mycenae’s figure from yesterday.  He became worried.  He was reminded of the fact that Mycenae had tried to lay claim to Artpe since his childhood.

‘Maetel excessively intervenes in my life.  One is enough…..  Ooh ooh ooh.’

In his past life, women had caused a lot of headache for him.  Somehow, it had gotten worse in his current life.  He kept sighing as he walked towards the Elves below the World Tree.  They were about to head towards the Dungeons.

“Hey, you guys.”

“Hero!”

“It’s the hero!”

“He’s young.”

“He’s handsome.”

The Elves acted like five year olds as they kept repeating the word ‘hero.’  They gathered around him.  It seemed they were fascinated by the fact that he was a hero.  He let out a bitter laugh as he waved his hand.

“I want all those that are going to the Dungeons to come to me in order.”

“He’s going to give us a Blessing!”

“Nope.”

He didn’t place a Blessing over the Elves.  He used Reinforcement.  One round of permanent Reinforcement didn’t consume much Mana.  Their armor became lighter, and their weapons became much sturdier.  It was enough to allow them to escape from situations that would have killed them.

“My body feels lighter!”

“It feels as if my bow gained more elasticity. The hero’s power is amazing!”

“Elder!  You should come receive his Blessing!”

Elves, Dark Elves and even the elders benefited from Artpe’s Reinforcement skill.  When they checked their gears, they all had a happy expression on their faces.  He quickly sent away those that received the Reinforcement.  He moved onto the equipments of the next batch of Elves.

“The World Tree is happy.”

“Just saying thank you will be enough.”

However, the Elves were telling him the truth.  Artpe had already used Reinforcement on the equipment of the Elves that numbered in the tens of thousands.  Suddenly, the World Tree shook slightly, and a branch broke off from the World Tree.  It fell to the ground.

“Ooh-huhk.  We’ll die if we get hit by that!”

“It’s an incredible large branch!”

The branch fell right in front of Artpe.  It had hit the ground after falling for several hundred meters, yet it didn’t break.  It was a testament to how strong the branch was.

“Oh, it’s the World Tree!”

“Oh oh oh.  The World Tree has given such a large present to the hero!”

“I think the wind broke that….ah-yaht.”

At some point, Mycenae had approached Artpe from the back.  She smacked him on the back of his head.

“This is a gift of appreciation given to you by the World Tree. Even the Elves rarely get this present, so you should accept it with thanks.”

“You are like a fanatic······.”

The broken branch from the World Tree was fairly thick, and there were a lot of branchlets attached to it.  On top of that, there were a great number of healthy leaves at the end of the branch.

Despite this fact, Artpe calmly picked up the branch, and he put it away into his Dimensional Pouch.  Regina, who had been watching this sight, saw a small branch fall towards her.

“The World Tree is giving away much today.”

“It is to be expected,  She personally stopped the humans….”

“M…me!  I want one too!”

“I want a branch from the World Tree-nim!”

“All right.  Let’s immediately rush the Dungeons!  Let us gain power that will allow us to protect the World Tree!”

“Let’s do that!”

It might be the result of half the race becoming Dark Elves, but it seemed assertiveness was somehow becoming normalized amongst them.  Artpe decided to think of it as a good sign.

However, there was a Dark Elf that continued to stare at Artpe as she stood next to him.  It was none other than the ‘high rank’ Merchant Mycenae.

“Artpe-nim~  Are you going to sell that branch to me?”

“I’m not selling even a single leaf to you.”

“You are too much!”

“If you think that is so unfair, you should do something that’ll make the World Tree give you a branch in thanks.”

“You are too much!”

“Ah, Artpe!  What are you doing over there!”

“Oppa!”

The Elves were bustling about early in the morning, so of course, Maetel and Sienna woke up from their sound sleep.

Since all his party members were awake, he retrieved Regina, who was absentmindedly staring up at the World Tree.  The branch was in her hands.  He decided to leave the Forest of Eternity.  Even if he stayed longer inside the forest, there was nothing more to be gained here.

“Please contact me a bit more in the future.  If not, how will you be able to purchase skills and spell books at the right time?”

“Yes, yes.  Ah.  You friends are calling for you over there.”

“Ah-ooh.  Really!  They really are bad at reading the situation!”

Once again, Mycenae looked as if she wanted to leave with Artpe’s party.  However, she had friends, who had longed to see her over the long years.  Then there were the Elves, who were attempting the Dungeons for the first time.  It seemed she was going to stay in the forest for the near future to support the Elves.

“You look happy, ajumma.  I want you to live well here!”

“If that little brat wasn’t one of my exclusive customers, I would have…!”

Maetel’s expression indicated that she would be happy if Mycenae stayed in the Forest of Eternity for her whole life.  Maetel waved her hand as she took Artpe’s hand into hers.  Artpe’s other unoccupied hand was taken up by Sienna, and Sienna’s other hand was carefully taken up by Regina.

The hero’s party had grown to four members, and they looked like children leaving for a picnic. They left the Forest of Eternity.

“This place is really big.  I can see how a different race could live within it.”

They were on the road back to Tiata.  No matter how much they walked, the World Tree remained in their sight, so Maetel spoke those words.  Sienna also felt the same way as she added her own opinion.

“It feels as if we can find heaven if we climb to the top of that tree.”

“I don’t know.  Before you can climb to the top of the World Tree, you’ll be attacked by the Elves.  I guess it’ll be possible to send them all to heaven.”

“Oppa, you are too much!”

Artpe crushed the hopes and dreams of the girls with cruel reality.  When he turned his gaze away, he caught sight of Regina, who was walking alongside them.  She still had a absentminded expression on her face.

“What did you do with your branch of the World Tree?”

“I changed it into a bracelet.”

It was as she said.  There was a bracelet, which he had never seen before, around her slender wrist.

The brown fibers of the branch were intertwined, and the abundant leaves were covering the bracelet.

It was full of life energy.  It was an Artifact capable of amplifying one’s potential and latent power by its mere presence.

Artpe’s branch was much larger than her branch, but his branch amplified magical energy rather than life energy.  It seemed the World Tree’s gifts were tailored to the individual.

Maybe, if he used the Artifact on Regina……  No, he was making a rash judgement.  Artpe shook his head to dislodge the idea that had took root in his mind.

“If all the Elves were equipped with such Artifacts, the humans wouldn’t have dared to mess with the forest.  How foolish.”

“We received special treatment.  So proud.”

Artpe ignored Regina, who had on a slightly prideful expression.  At that moment, Maetel was able to pry her eyes away from the World Tree.  She asked him a question.

“Artpe, where are we headed?”

“First, I want to monitor the situation within Tiata, Aedia and Daitan.  I have to be sure to intimidate them, so they won’t bother the Forest of Eternity.  Then…..”

Their identity as heroes were already exposed.  They had to spread this knowledge to all the humans, so they can slow down the rampant actions of the Demon King’s army.  The information that the heroes were born in Diaz had been spread throughout the continent.  However, there was a different level of awareness when the hero talked about the threat.

“Of course, the humans won’t mobilize easily as the Elves.  Still, I have to prepare them.  It means my conscience will be clear even if the humans gets steamrolled by the Demon King’s army.”

“Your personality is the worst.  You are a rare piece of trash.”

“I like that part about him.  It seems Regina is still in the dark about this fact.”

“I feel bad for Sienna······.”

Artpe decided to ignore Sienna too.

“So what’s next, Artpe? Are we going to go find the male party member you talked about before?”

“Nope. Since Regina joined our party, we don’t have to try so hard to find the other members.”

“Shoulder shrug.”

She was being annoying.  He ignored Regina, who became full of herself.   Artpe spoke the most hero-like words he could think up.

“We are going to acquire all the treasure of this world.”

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