Chapter 98

Chapter 98 – Abandoned mine road

“I’m so sorry! Even though you’ve been so kind to me!”

“There, there, that’s enough, are you sure you want to go, to that… elf country?”

As Seri bowed again and again, Randall, the owner of the Wandering Bird’s Nest, put on a worried expression on his good-natured face. The elven city, Elnasa, at the foot of the World Tree. Seri wanted to go there. When Randall asked her why, she told him that an acquaintance had saved an injured elf by accident, and she had met him at some point in the past. The elf also knew Seri’s father, who had passed away. He said that the sapling of the World Tree that the elven village had been protecting had been destroyed by a demon, and that, if they did nothing, there would be serious trouble.

He said that he had to go to the elven capital as soon as possible and tell the High Elves, the royal family, and the Great Sage. Seri wanted to help him on his journey. At first, Randall wondered if Seri had become momentarily infatuated with the elf, but he shook his head.

“According to him, my father told him that my grandfather and grandmother lived there while he was still alive. So I’m going to go tell them that my father is dead.”

In Seri’s eyes there was a hint of expectation as she answered, a hint of expectation for her own relatives she had not yet seen. It was no wonder. One day, she suddenly lost her father and mother and went on to live a lonely life. When she learned that her grandparents were in a distant land, she couldn’t help but want to go see them.

“But… are you sure about that? In our business we usually deal with adventurers, so… even if you, Seri-chan, enter Elf City…”

Randall’s concern was because Seri’s ears were different from the others. A half elf. A being born of a human and an elf. They were neither human nor elf, and were unique to the union of the two races. Many half-elves who did not fit in with either humans or elves spent their lives as adventurers, mercenaries, or peddlers; wandering birds who never settled down.

The staff of the Wandering Bird’s Nest often dealt with adventurers, so they had no aversion to half-elves. And, of course, neither were the customers Seri dealt with. Fortunately, in her hometown of Doria, Seri was not forced to leave because her father, an elf, contributed his magic and knowledge to the development of the village.

But the elves were different. In fact, when Doria’s village was burned to the ground, Seri was the only one who escaped, and she ran into the forest, but was captured by the elves. And they put her in a stone prison. If Wynn and the others had not met her then, she would have been trapped in a stone prison for a long time, or worse, she would have lost her life.

The reason the elves hated half-elves so much was because they were mostly born as abominations, due to the misfortune of the case where a human male attacked an elven woman.

Seri, a half elf, was going to a place filled with such feelings. Randall had reason to be concerned. However, Seri smiled at him.

“It’s all right. An elf named Liesbert-san will accompany us. And Abel-san will also come with us.”

“Oh, old man. don’t worry, I’m here! I’ll take care of protecting them!” Next to Seri, Abel, clad in leather armor and with a brand new, barely used sword still clutched at his waist, thumped his chest.

They would be with Liesbert, an elven warrior with a history of being able to use both magic and swords, and Abel had offered to accompany Seri, who planned to hire an adventurer as an escort along the way. As for Seri, Abel, the second son of the Wandering Bird’s Nest couple, who also had no prejudice against half-elves, had no particular objection either and gladly accepted the offer. However…

“And the other day you came home in tatters…”

“Yeah, because you’re an adventurer… your mother couldn’t believe it. Hey, it’s not too late for you, why don’t you quit?”

Randall couldn’t help but feel that Abel was unreliable. Hannah, who was weak on Abel, simply worried that her son might be in danger on the road.

“I’m fine! Dad, Mom. I’ve gotten even better after that experience. Even now I’m being treated like a full-fledged member of the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Really? I hope so…”

Randall looked at his son’s confident face and restrained himself from saying more. Members of the eastern branch of the Simurgh Adventurers Guild, to which Abel belonged, was currently out of town on a special guild mission, according to a client. In other words, with only Abel being in town and without a mission, he could guess a lot of things, but he couldn’t say anything about it.

I am his father, but even I don’t believe that this boy will succeed as an adventurer.

To get to the Elven capital of Elnasa which was located in the middle of a large forest, they had to go through the Kingdom of Lyon, the Kingdom of Carthiate and the Temple Territory of Emerdia. It would be a long journey. Traveling to a foreign country with a different culture was much harder than one could imagine.

However, Randall, who had been against Abel becoming an adventurer, had a reason based on deep thoughts as to why she was not opposed to Abel accompanying her on this journey. This was because the purpose of the trip was not to kill demons, but to escort Seri to Elnasa. There would be dangers along the way, such as bandits, beasts, and demons, but it seemed that an elven warrior would accompany them, and Randall hoped that this trip would help Abel see the reality of being an adventurer and desist.

“All right, Seri-chan. You be careful out there, okay? I’ll make sure the shed in the courtyard is open so you can come back anytime you want.”

“Yes, thank you. Randall-san.”

“Well, maybe just the shed, but I’m not promising any of the work.” Hanna folded her arms as she said that. “No way, I’m going to have to hire someone else now that I’m going to be working on my own…” Letting out a sigh, Hannah placed a small bag in Seri’s hand. “A parting gift.”

Randall looked a little surprised, but when Seri opened the bag and saw what was inside, her face lit up. Inside were some silver and gold coins.

“Don’t get me wrong, okay? From the beginning, you were better at your job than I thought you would be. And it’s just that, after recalculating your work efficiency from your apprenticeship period, the money I had been paying you wasn’t right.”

“I appreciate that, Hannah-san.” Seri bowed her head.

Hannah, who seemed to have noticed that Randall had been looking at her, turned her head away, looking disgruntled.

“Hey, Abel.” It was Mark who spoke now instead of Hannah. Unlike when he was the leader of the group of children, Mark, who was being trained as a cook and innkeeper by his father Randall, looked at his brother Abel with the look of an older brother.

“Wha-What’s wrong…?” Abel took a step back at being looked at so seriously.

In fact, Mark was a burlier man than Abel, who was an adventurer. Like Randall, he was tall, and his arms were also incredibly thick from handling a heavy pot one-handed every day. And Abel, who had never beaten his older brother in a fight since childhood, was so sad that he was born the younger brother that he couldn’t help but give in to Mark.

“You’re too quick to get carried away and do reckless things. Listen, your job is to take Seri to the elven country and bring her back, do you understand?”

“I know, I know… bro-brother, take care of mom and dad… I’m counting on you.”

After the exchange of words between the two brothers, Seri and Abel said goodbye once more and left Simurgh, dismissed by the people of the house of the Wandering Bird’s Nest.

Their companion, Liesbert, was asked to wait in front of the gates of Simurgh as the presence of elves in the city would make him stand out. Over the past few days, they had seen knights, not guards, standing on the street corners of Simurgh. When Seri and Abel were about to leave the capital, they were also subjected to a stricter background check than usual. As a half-elf, Seri’s background was checked especially rigorously, but she had properly paid her city taxes and was a citizen of Simurgh. Abel, of course, had been born and raised in the city, and also had a certificate from the Adventurers Guild, so they were able to leave without further trouble.

Outside the city walls, merchants, adventurers and mercenaries dressed in traveling clothes were cooking in their tents among the shacks and people of the slums. Their faces, covered with dust and grime from the long journey, showed not only deep fatigue, but also irritation. A representative of the merchant corps with several wagons could be seen challenging the knights at the checkpoint.

“I haven’t had this many checkpoints since we were at war with the demons, what’s going on here?”

“Rumor has it there’s a rebellion on the border.”

It seemed that the people outside with their tents were waiting for a checkpoint. As they shooed beggars away from the slums, the travelers exchanged information among themselves. Seri and Abel hurried past them.

A young and beautiful girl was coming out of the city gates even with so many people in the way. The adventurers, mercenaries and other ruffians who had not been able to enter the city yet and were still in the sun waiting, threw Seri a look as if they were undressing her.

Both Seri and Abel were deeply relieved when they were finally reunited with Liesbert, who had been waiting for them, after being subjected to the stares for so long. Liesbert’s hood concealed his long ears, a characteristic of the elven race, and his body was wrapped in a traveling cloak, but the aura he emanated was not that of an ordinary person.

When Seri joined Liesbert, those who had been stealing furtive glances at her desisted with a click of the tongue. Although they could not yet enter the city, the time would come when they could. It was not in their best interest to get into a fight with someone who was obviously very skilled. The three of them turned their backs on Simurgh and walked away.

‘Are you sure this was really a good idea?’ No sooner had they started walking than Liesbert’s light blue eyes, characteristic of the elven race, looked straight into Seri’s eyes and he spoke.

‘Yes. I’ve always wanted to see the village where my father was born.’

‘I see.’

‘Liesbert-san, is your wound well?’

‘It’s almost completely healed now, don’t worry… Or so I’d like to say, but I’m afraid we’ll have to let him fight for us if we go into combat.’

The wounds on Liesbert’s back and right arm had already closed, but he could still feel the discomfort if he moved the muscles. The broken left arm was still fixed with a splint. Even if the bones were fused together, it would take more time for the weakened muscles in his left arm to return to normal. Until then, he would have to fight with only his right arm. Above all, Liesbert, an outstanding sword fighter and mage, was confident that he could take on any number of ordinary bandits and goblin-sized demons.

Liesbert looked at his unsplinted left arm and frowned, then turned to Abel, who looked a bit worried because they had been speaking in Elvish and he couldn’t follow the conversation. When Seri translated Liesbert’s words into human language, his face lit up. He brought his hand to his sword, which he wore on his hip. He was a young man whose emotions were easy to read. Seeing such innocent young men reminded Liesbert of the young men in his village who were his subordinates. And all because of a skeletal demon coated in miasma. They were overwhelmed by such overwhelming power and, sadly, died. Liesbert closed his eyes tightly once and opened them again, and stepped ahead of Seri and Abel with mighty strides.

We have to hurry.

The sapling of the World Tree that the village had been protecting withered and shattered in front of Liesbert’s half-dead eyes. The offshoots growing from the roots of the World Tree that stretched across the land supplied new spirits and magical power to this world. He did not know what the demon planned to do by causing the death of the world tree, but if the saplings died, the surrounding forest and life would eventually turn to chaos and become a forest of miasma-infested plants and demons. Before that happened, he had to go to the elven capital and tell the High Elves, the noble elven race, and the Great Sage Tiara Sciurus Velf.

According to the information Seri had heard, the Brave Mavis was also on her way to the Kingdom of Lyon. She wanted to tell the Brave about this situation. If demons were involved, it was likely that the Brave’s power would also be needed.

‘Damn… it would be a lot easier if I could use “Gate”…’

‘What?’

‘It’s nothing. I’m talking to myself.’

“Gate” was a type of transfer magic that could be used on the saplings of the World Tree. The World Tree and the saplings of the World Tree were connected to each other by their roots, and it was possible to transfer between them from “Gate” to “Gate” in an instant. He had been using “Gate” to go to and from his friends’ other villages, and now that his village’s World Tree Sapling was gone, he could not find the location of the other villages and would have to follow the path like the others.

With only the ability to speak Elvish, Liesbert would not have been able to find lodging or food in the human villages. So he was very lucky to meet Seri, who was following behind him. Thanks to Seri’s mastery of the human and Elvish languages, Liesbert, who had lost not only his village and his compatriots, but also everything he owned, was able to buy everything he needed for his journey in the city of humans. It was a shame, but until they reached Elnasa or an elven town, he would probably have to depend on Seri to handle the money.

Then I’ll have to protect her at all costs, won’t I?

Elves abhorred half-elves. Seri was going to face that reality when she arrived in the elven capital, Elnasa. However, Liesbert vowed to himself that he would protect Seri from such malice.

◇◆◇◆◇

The unique air, a mixture of musty and damp earthy smells, gradually became less bothersome as their noses became accustomed to it. The inside of the abandoned mine road was high enough for two tall men, Oort and Wedge, to stand and walk with plenty of room to spare and was wide enough for five or six adults to walk side by side. However, the wooden supports that held up the weak points in the bedrock were corroded and cracked or broken from long years of use, so the group advanced along the abandoned mine road with great caution.

Wynn walked at the back of the group, just as he did when he came up the mountain road. The only difference was that on the mountain road they walked single file, but now Leticia walked next to him. For the light, they used a stick with “Magic Light” on it. Wynn also asked Leticia to give him one. “Magic Light” was one of the most rudimentary forms of magic and could be used by almost any knight. The reason they did not use torches was because in very rare cases they could react with some gases and cause a large explosion.

Fortunately, the abandoned mine road was not a den of demons like goblins and kobolds, nor of beasts like bears, as they had already found out when camping the night before. On the path to the abandoned mine, lit by “Magic Light”, nothing was moving, except for the occasional bat hanging from the ceiling and flapping its wings in annoyance at the sudden intrusion. However, it was possible that there were poisonous snakes feeding on bats, and since this was not the only entrance and exit to the abandoned mine road, it was possible that the monsters were nesting elsewhere. Wynn walked with a light underfoot so as not to let his guard down.

“Ugh… how disgusting~.”

“Really? Bats have cute faces when you look closely at them, don’t they?”

Cornelia and Lino, walking in the middle of the group, were having such a conversation.

“Why are these little things hanging upside down~? Why are they so stuck together that they won’t fall off~?” Lino whispered in disgust.

“We’ll get past them. Be patient until then.”

Wedge said as he walked past Wynn and the others, and she lowered her shoulders and turned her attention to the bird cage Cornelia was holding.

“…Haha, compared to them, even though you’re the same size, you’re still cute, right~?”

Cornelia was the only one who wasn’t carrying a stick with “Magic Light” on it, but was carrying a bird cage with a canary inside.

Oort and his friends, who had made their living exploring ruins and unexplored areas, knew that the canaries, which were always chirping, stopped doing it when they sensed something was wrong, so they bought one from Erz’s Adventurers Guild.

The reason Cornelia carried the Canary was because she didn’t have to fight if they encountered any demons. She could also cast a “Silence” spell on the canary’s cage to muffle its chirps.

Eight shadowy figures swayed on the rock walls, where the remains of a reinforcement still stood. The rock walls, wet from seeping groundwater, glistened. As they followed the wooden planks laid for the wagons, going deeper into the abandoned mine, the path began to descend and branches appeared.

When Cornelia looked back, she saw that the area not illuminated by the “Magic Light” carried by Wynn was naturally dark, and she felt as if she were being pulled into an abyss.

“There seems to be a small open space ahead.” They heard Louis’ voice as he led the way.

“Right. Let’s take a quick lunch break over there.”

When Oort said this, everyone let out a sigh at the same time. Wynn and Leticia also looked at each other and laughed after letting out a sigh at the same time.

“This is more exhausting than I thought.”

“Now I understand how mentally exhausting it can be to not be able to see the sky or the scenery around you.”

Wynn said, bowing his head, and Leticia nodded. Then Leticia pulled out a copy of the map. Wynn illuminated Leticia’s hand with the “Magic Light”.

“Looking at the map, is this where the open space is? It looks like it goes downhill from here.”

“So far we haven’t encountered any demons, so let’s hope we can get through this without any problems.”

However, Wynn’s wish vanished only seconds later. The high-pitched voices of Louis and Locke calling for attention echoed through the narrow path of the abandoned mine, and Wynn and Leticia hurried to join their friends ahead of them.