Chapter 386
The ecology of the Great Forest, the forest where Elvenheim was located, was unique and mysterious . It was life between the Red Plateau and the ice-colored Arctic, where even weeds couldn’t be found . From an ecological point of view, there shouldn’t be an environment, yet the rate of growth for the flora and fauna was unimaginable .
However, everyone knew the cause of it—the world tree, Yggdrasil . In the old myths, its branches extended to distant stars . It was the source of life that fertilized the soil and allowed plants and animals to live here .
‘But aren’t the trees too big? It will block all sunlight and raindrops . ’
Trees that couldn’t grow to 10 meters outside the Great Forest were ~25 to 50 meters tall inside it . Theodore had been concerned back when he flew above them, but according to Mitra, there was no problem .
Due to the influence of the world tree, the deficiency wouldn’t occur because the plants received nutrients and moisture as one body . The reason why the forest remained abnormally sized was that the world tree created an ecosystem that transcended the environment .
At this moment, Mitra puffed up her cheeks from a distance .
[Theo, are you listening to my story?]
She noticed due to being connected to him by the soul . Theodore was surprised by her words and replied without hesitation, “Ah, I heard it all . The power of Dmitra is a heavy burden on the world tree . Therefore, you concentrated your efforts on boosting the natural abilities of the forest by dividing your body into smaller ones?”
[Yes! I worked hard as Theo asked!]
After she demanded praise a few times, Theodore stroked Mitra’s head and admired her idea . He knew that a god could fall to an ancient elemental after losing their divinity . However, after regaining her divinity, Mitra had turned part of her strength into ancient elementals . Moreover, the bodies also had the ability to act on their own . Theodore had thought that the speed of the forest’s growth was oddly strange after being disrupted by so many battles . That was actually all due to Mitra .
“You did a lot better than I thought . Great job, our Mitra . ”
[Hoing! Hooing!] Mitra pushed her head against his hand as she was once again praised . She also let out her distinctive cheers . Anyway, she seemed to be ticklish at the top of the head, so Mitra was laughing too hard . Theodore barely managed to place a finger against her mouth . “Mitra, I want to ask you one more thing . ”
[Yes?]
“You were riding on Tres . I remember that he was small a few months ago . . . ” Theodore looked down at his cloud-covered feet . There was a fox running while shaking his three tails . Tres couldn’t fly in Theodore’s arms because he was too big, but he managed to keep up with Theodore by running . Of course, Theodore controlled the speed .
[Tres? Ah, Yellowy . ]
“ . . . Yellowy?”
[The fur color is like this, so he is Yellowy!]
The name was so tacky that Theodore got chills .
“Y-Yes . Yellowy . Why did Yellowy grow so suddenly?”
[Umm . . . Tiger Auntie taught him . Ah . ] Mitra was reminded of something and started to chatter again . [That’s right . Yellowy said that this was his original size . Due to one aspect of his being a creature and the other aspect being a spirit, his mind needed to develop to in order for his body to grow bigger . ]
“ . . . I see . The mental age was lower than his spiritual power . Thus, his body is slow to grow . ”
[From now on~ the longer he lives, the bigger he will become!]
In fact, it was strange that a three-tailed fox would be the size of a dog . As Mitra explained, this was the right size . He wouldn’t get bigger or smaller for a while . Theodore thought about it while moving unconsciously .
‘By the way, is ‘Tiger Auntie’ a nickname for the Tiger King?’
The Tiger King couldn’t complain since Mitra was the mountain god .
‘She didn’t like leaving the Baekun Mountains, but it seems like she is doing well . ’
At that time, the Tiger King had lost a lot because of Lust and was humiliated . It wasn’t just the living creatures . The millions of variants had also destroyed the natural environment .
Meltor had quickly regained control of the Baekun Mountains, but it had become a land where no spirits could live . The damage to the animals and plants was a secondary problem . The main problem was that the dragon vein itself was greatly damaged . In the end, the spirits were forced to choose the option of migrating .
“Mitra, what about the other spirits here? Are they doing well?”
[Yes! They were a bit awkward at first, but now they are fine . They often talk to the elves and have helped restore the forest . ]
“Yes, help them to make it a second home . ”
[Of course! If you live in this forest, everyone is a friend of Mitra’s!] Mitra’s bright smile was particularly dazzling today .
‘Let’s walk a bit before going to Elvenheim . ’
After hearing Mitra’s story, Theodore didn’t perform space movement . Instead, he looked at all the changes that had occurred to the Great Forest . He looked at the forest which had burned in the fight against Laevateinn and the ground which had blackened in the battle against Jerem and Nídhöggur . The battles that had once threatened the world tree and Elvenheim were over, and the organisms in this forest were living for tomorrow .
“Eh? M-Mitra!”
“Mitra! Go eat potatoes!”
“These days, the raspberries are ripe!”
Sometimes the elves looked up at the sky and greeted Mitra .
“I-Is that?”
“He has come! Everybody say hello!”
“The sixth dancer, Ziavisida, greets you!”
They immediately recognized Theodore and showed a polite attitude .
‘ . . . It is going well without me having to intervene . With Mitra, the elves, and the spirits working together, they will revive this forest in 15 years . ’
No one else knew it but the role of the Northern Great Forest and the world tree was to control the resentment of several species .
Sloth was dispelled, and the mana concentration of the material world was destined to decline over the centuries . The elves were more sensitive to the concentration of mana than humans and would find it difficult to live outside the Great Forest after around 500 years .
There would be no problems with their daily activities, but they wouldn’t be able to use spiritual medicine and it would be easy for them to get sick . Thus, Elvenheim and the Great Forest had to remain .
Tak .
Theodore drew out a distant future and realized that his feet had landed on the ground . He arrived at the point he had set as his destination .
“Um? Who?” Coincidentally, there was someone in this place . The person’s dark skin and silver hair belonged to the dark elves who were known to be extinct in the outside world . Additionally, he was one of only six high elves .
“It has been a while, Alucard . Has it been almost half a year?”
“ . . . Theodore!” Alucard rose from his seat, approached Theodore, and aimed his fist without hesitation . Theodore’s abdomen was so strong that a loud noise was heard .
“Keok . ”
“You foolish child! Why did you go so far as to leave behind the child you promised to marry?”
“I-I’m sorry . I was a bit busy . That’s why I’ve come now . ”
Sigh . . . Alucard kept grumbling, “You are the one driving the incidents every time, so you must’ve been caught up in something nasty . Of course, half a year isn’t that long for us elves, but you are human . ”
“ . . . Sorry . ”
“Don’t apologize to me . Be good to that child . ”
Alucard’s words were right . Theodore could’ve stopped by once before his honeymoon . Theodore scratched his head, a sign that he was reflecting .
“Ellenoa has many things to do today and will return in the evening . I also have a shift . It doesn’t matter wherever you go, but there is someone you should talk to . ”
“Um? Who is it?”
The place where the two people were speaking was a viewing area where only the high elves could go . It was a branch of the world tree that overlooked Elvenheim . For the high elves who could grasp precise situations with Ratatoskr, this view was a useful facility . It was at this moment that…
“ . . . Me,” a dreary voice spoke out from behind Theodore .
“Naia?”
“Yes . ”
As always, her dull hair and half-hooded eyes reminded him of a student who stayed up all night studying . It was the high elf Naia, who was well-known for her wisdom and poor self-management . Alucard put down his book when he saw her . “You came at the right time . I am going . ”
“Ah, work hard . ”
“Yes . Naia, don’t fall asleep again . ”
“ . . . Nagging . ”
“What?”
Naia’s head drooped, making Alucard sigh before he disappeared . Thus, only two people remained on the branch of the world tree .
“It has been a while, Naia . ”
“ . . . Yes, a while…”
Theodore greeted Naia first to try and resolve this awkward atmosphere, but it didn’t work . Naia sat in the chair where Alucard had just been sitting and stared blankly into empty air . If her eyelids weren’t moving occasionally, he might’ve thought that she had fallen asleep with her eyes open .
‘Why did you ask me to talk to this person, Alucard?’
Theodore would rather talk to Alisa or Lumia . Just talking to Naia felt disturbing . Look at those blurry eyes . Was she going to fall asleep?
“Excuse me…”
However, breaking Theodore’s prediction, Naia turned her head and talked to him, “You… have become the ‘great one’ . . . right?”
“Great one?”
“Border . . . surpassing… existence . ”
Theodore’s eyes widened at the unexpected words . The other high elves didn’t show any signs of awareness, so how did Naia correctly point out that he was a transcendent? He was unable to hide the question in his blue eyes .
“ . . . Don’t be, surprised . My clan can see another person’s ‘star’ . . . ”
“Star? What is that?”
“There is no clear notion . Vessel? Destiny, soul . . . I have never seen one before, so I am just guessing . ”
As the conversation continued, Naia’s sleepy voice became sharper . She didn’t speak well normally . The unused vocal cords loosened, and a clear voice was heard . It was a voice that even the high elves would only hear once every few years . Naia gazed at Theodore with clearer eyes . “A being born as a mortal and overcoming his birth . A transcendent who can break the thread of fate . If you are such an existence, why?”
Naia’s eyes filled with mysterious colors as she seemed to penetrate Theodore’s heart . “Why are you ready to die?”
“ . . . You can guess once but not twice . ”
“Of course . The eyes of this old clan are just a mere trick in front of a ‘great person . ’ There is no way to read you once you close your mind like you have now,” Naia said . However, she continued muttering like she was confident, “You were shaken when you first heard me? I saw it in the gap . I don’t know the meaning because it is uncertain, but ‘red star’―”
“Naia, stop . ” The words that were as sharp as a blade stopped Naia . It was because she realized Theodore’s words contained a ‘warning’, not malice .
Naia understood through her intuition . “I see . Am I not supposed to know?”
“Well, something like that . ”
“Okay, I understand . I will forget everything I said just now . ”
“Thank you . ”
If Naia had ignored the warning, Theodore was willing to erase her memories using forceful means . A high elf’s resistance to magic was ineffective against a 9th circle magician . However, he didn’t want to use such means against an acquaintance who wasn’t an enemy . Theodore was also very grateful that he knew to take precautions against something he hadn’t known about previously .
Naia’s eyes blurred again as she lost interest, but she said a few more words, “ . . . Still, I am curious . Tell me when things are over . At this old age, I am always curious . ”
Theodore accepted it .
* * *
The sun sank below the western horizon, and the cool night covered the land . Theodore watched the light change to darkness from a place that was closer to the sky than the land . It was one of the many branches of the world tree . Among them, there were long branches which stretched out to make an observatory .
“Theodore!” Finally, Ellenoa finished her work for the day and called out to him .
“Ella . ”
“Why didn’t you tell me that you were coming? You have been here for a few hours . ” Ellenoa felt sorry to keep Theodore waiting . She grabbed his sleeves with a pout .
Theodore saw her expression and smiled . “It’s okay . For the time being, I will stay in Elvenheim . ”
“Ah! I see . If you want to have a cup of warm tea . . . ”
“―Before that, Ella . ” Theodore grabbed Ellenoa’s hand that was holding his sleeve . “There is something I want to talk about . ”
“ . . . ”
The two of them looked into each other’s eyes for a moment . What did she read in his eyes? Ellenoa smiled and answered, “Shall we take a walk?”
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