WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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Chapter 132: Parent of the Elves (9)

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After having an in-depth conversation with the Goddess of Thornbush, Bella spoke to Elbridge.

"I'm a Sentinel, and it's my duty to protect the sacred tree. With Jin and now Orion about to leave its side, someone needs to stay and guard it in case anything happens."

By remaining beside the sacred tree, Bella was saying she would not take part in the battle against the demons.

Of course, Bella's argument was sound. But knowing the full story, Elbridge found it difficult to take her words at face value.

'She doesn't want to lose the divine power of longevity by leaving the forest to hunt demons.'

Still, he couldn't force Bella to come when she clearly didn't want to.

"...All right."

In the end, Elbridge headed for the edge of the forest alone with Orion, just the two of them.

After they had walked for a while, Orion spoke.

"I thought this might happen."

Elbridge glanced at Orion, but Orion kept looking ahead as he continued.

"Lady Bella has always held firm to her own will, even before the Goddess of Thornbush. Today won't be any different."

It seemed the balance between Bella and the Goddess of Thornbush tilted toward Bella.

Elbridge shook his head.

"This is an unfamiliar situation. A believer refusing an oracle."

After being freed from the seal, Elbridge had encountered a new world.

A world where faith was something people traded. A world where conversion was not considered a flaw.

Yet some things had not changed. Even in this world, people did not defy oracles. Like Marcus, who followed them stubbornly even while feeling burdened by them.

Orion answered.

"Lady Bella doesn't believe she's refusing an oracle."

"Then what does she believe?"

"She thinks she simply disagrees with her daughter. Lady Bella sees the Goddess of Thornbush as her daughter before she sees her as an object of faith."

That was not entirely wrong, either.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield and Orion were on the Goddess of Thornbush's side.

Still, many people would likely think the Goddess of Thornbush had gone too far. There was no right answer here, only different opinions.

Elbridge's steps gradually slowed, then stopped. Before they got any closer to the Owner of the Index Finger, he needed to cut off Orion's index fingers.

As if understanding Elbridge's intention, Orion held out both hands.

When Elbridge took out a small dagger, Orion turned away as though he didn't want to watch.

The pain of cutting off a finger was no small thing. To distract Orion, Elbridge started a conversation.

"By the way, Orion. Why do Sentinels protect the sacred tree?"

Even in the past, well-informed people knew of the sacred tree's existence. But no one knew why it existed. They simply heard that it was a holy tree symbolizing the Goddess of Thornbush and accepted that explanation. Elbridge had been no different.

Yet, from what he had seen deep within Thornbush Forest, the Sentinels' attitude differed somewhat from what Elbridge had expected. They were less the guardians of Thornbush Forest and more the guardians of the sacred tree.

"You're asking about something even ordinary elves don't know."

"If it's difficult to talk about, you don't have to tell me."

"But I can tell you precisely because Sir Elbridge isn't an elf."

"Then... I'd like to know."

Still staring into the distance, Orion answered.

"Doesn't the sacred tree resemble Sir Jin and Lady Bella?"

"Yes. Their silver hair resembles the sacred tree's white leaves."

"It also resembles the Goddess of Thornbush. They say that when the Chief God accepted the Goddess of Thornbush into heaven, the Chief God sent down the sacred tree's seed to Sir Jin and Lady Bella. At that time, the Chief God reportedly said that as long as the sacred tree existed, the Goddess of Thornbush could remain in heaven."

Put differently, if the sacred tree disappeared, the Goddess of Thornbush would have to descend to the earth.

Elbridge finally understood why Jin and Bella always remained beside the sacred tree, and why the Sentinels protected it.

If the sacred tree vanished, the Goddess of Thornbush would descend to the earth, and the divine power of longevity would vanish as well.

Jin and Bella had no choice but to protect the sacred tree by any means necessary.

Still, Elbridge had one question.

"Why don't you tell the elves why the sacred tree exists?"

From what Elbridge had observed, the elves of Thornbush Forest were astonishingly ignorant.

About the sacred tree, the Sentinels, and even the Goddess of Thornbush.

Orion answered.

"If we reveal why the sacred tree exists, we would have to explain the relationship between the two Sentinels and the Goddess. If we explain that relationship, we would have to reveal that the Goddess of Thornbush ascended to heaven without accomplishing any great deeds."

"Wouldn't that be good for Sir Jin and Lady Bella?"

If it became known that Jin and Bella had led the Goddess of Thornbush, who had accomplished no great deeds of her own, into heaven, the elves would most likely side with Jin and Bella.

Gods were not free from public opinion. If things went that way, the Goddess of Thornbush would find it difficult to pressure Jin and Bella.

As far as Elbridge was concerned, Jin and Bella had no need to argue with the Goddess of Thornbush.

Didn't they already hold a simple solution to a difficult problem?

But Orion shook his head.

"No. Sir Jin and Lady Bella do not want that."

"Why not?"

"The elves believe the Goddess of Thornbush ascended to heaven after accomplishing great deeds. Sir Jin and Lady Bella want the elves to continue believing that, and they want the elves to respect the Goddess of Thornbush."

Elbridge looked confused.

Only then did Orion look at Elbridge and add an explanation.

"Lady Bella once said that parents want the world to love their children."

Even while arguing, they did not strike at each other's sore spots.

Even while clashing, they faced one another and considered each other's feelings.

Elbridge found it hard to understand such a relationship.

"It's difficult."

"I think so too."

Perhaps he would understand Jin and Bella's feelings one day, after starting a family and having children of his own.

With that thought, Elbridge wrapped linen around Orion's hands.

* * *

Elbridge and Orion arrived at the edge of the forest.

The plant-type demon, which he had thought had finished growing, had grown even larger in the meantime. At this point, it could be called a small forest.

Marcus let both hands hang limply, every finger broken, and asked,

"Are plant-type demons normally able to get this big?"

"At this size, it's actually on the smaller side for a plant-type demon. What was remarkable was its growth rate. Plant-type demons that grow this quickly are rare."

It was time to discuss how to deal with the plant-type demon and the Owner of the Index Finger.

Rombel offered an opinion.

"How about we start by setting it on fire? Whenever we dealt with plant-type demons before, we started by burning them. If it burns well, we're done. If it doesn't, we can find another way."

The Pre-Sentinels recoiled in horror.

"You're suggesting we start a fire beside Thornbush Forest? No. Absolutely not. What if the entire forest burns down? It hasn't rained much lately, so it's dry enough already..."

Rombel looked at the elves with a sour expression.

"You're making that sound awfully easy when you're not the ones fighting."

With nearly everyone having broken fingers on both hands, there were not many people who could properly do their part.

There were only Elbridge, Rombel, Orion, and Jin.

Even those four were not fully intact.

Besides their missing index fingers, Jin also had no intention of leaving Thornbush Forest.

Elbridge thought,

'Rombel, Orion, and I have to enter that plant-type demon's territory.'

The three of them would have to face two demons.

Under normal circumstances, Elbridge would have called it madness.

But he did not think it was impossible. Everyone here had cut off their index fingers, so the Owner of the Index Finger was not particularly dangerous, and the plant-type demon was only fast-growing, not especially threatening.

The two demons' abilities did not complement each other, so they would have difficulty gaining much synergy, too.

'We have a chance. It's actually a pretty good one.'

Having made his decision, Elbridge spoke.

"Rombel. Let's try it. I think we can handle it."

"..."

Dwarves had strong pride.

Since Elbridge had said it was manageable, Rombel could not back down and say he could not do it.

* * *

"If something goes wrong, at least shout as loudly as you can. I'll support you with arrows right away."

With Jin's promise in mind, the three entered the plant-type demon's territory.

Elbridge felt strange. Rombel was three hundred years old, and Orion was several times older than Rombel.

For the first time in a very long while, Elbridge was the youngest.

Rombel took the lead, swinging an axe as he spoke.

"Watch your step. Keep checking above and behind you, too."

Everything inside the fortress created by the plant-type demon was hostile.

Sharp tree roots could shoot up from beneath their feet, and vines could quietly creep closer to strangle them. Plants that looked ordinary often turned out to be poisonous.

"The regeneration is fast, and it's so dense that moving is a little difficult. It's hard to keep a clear view, too."

Orion cut through a root trying to coil around his ankle with a sword.

"Still, isn't this fairly easy?"

"That's true. It isn't scattering poisonous pollen, and there aren't giant trees rampaging around like giants. It's just a little troublesome."

It was not empty boasting.

Not long after entering, the group had already made it through nearly half the plant-type demon's territory.

Things were going smoothly. Too smoothly, which made Elbridge sink into thought.

'Something's wrong.'

In Elbridge's experience, when things went this well, something was usually going wrong.

Then, after a moment of thought, an idea came to him.

"Rombel. We're heading toward the plant-type demon's main body, right?"

"Yeah."

"Let's change the order. We should eliminate the Owner of the Index Finger first."

"Why?"

"The Owner of the Index Finger draws in other demons."

"Ah, right. I understand."

Rombel understood what Elbridge meant with only that brief explanation.

The index finger was the second finger.

And because second implied the existence of first, the Owner of the Index Finger tended to draw in other demons one by one to use as shields.

If they eliminated the demon being used as a shield, would the Owner of the Index Finger be left alone?

Under normal circumstances, perhaps. But now, a passage that spewed out demons had opened.

If they eliminated the shield, the plant-type demon, there was a high chance the Owner of the Index Finger would, as though it had been waiting for that, draw in another demon to keep the number of demons at two.

Rather than preparing for a demon they knew nothing about, it was wiser to leave the manageable plant-type demon alive and eliminate the Owner of the Index Finger.

"But we don't know where the index finger demon is hiding in this forest. It would be better to find the plant-type demon's main body first."

"Let's do that. The passage that spews out demons should be nearby, too."

The three quietly moved through the plant-type demon's territory.

At some point, the plant-type demon stopped targeting Elbridge's group.

Rombel smiled with satisfaction.

"Looks like it's tired of attacking after we blocked everything it threw at us."

Elbridge did not argue with Rombel.

Still, he could do nothing about the unease he felt.

'Something's wrong...'

A short while later, they came upon a very small clearing. Rather than a clearing, it might have been more accurate to call it a part of the forest that was slightly less dense.

In any case, the plant-type demon's true body, the strange-looking tree that had appeared from the passage, stood at the center of the clearing. The passage that had spewed out demons was visible as well.

And unexpectedly, the Owner of the Index Finger was there too.

The unusually well-dressed demon, the Owner of the Index Finger, watched the group with red eyes.

Rombel smiled with satisfaction and pointed his axe at the Owner of the Index Finger.

"Good. Let's make this easy for both of us. Stick out your neck. I'll cut it cleanly, just like I did two hundred years ago."

But the Owner of the Index Finger did something Rombel had not expected.

The Owner of the Index Finger stretched out its right arm toward the base of the plant-type demon. Its arm naturally burrowed into the plant-type demon and pulled out a small orb.

It was the plant-type demon core.

Without the slightest hesitation, it crushed the plant-type demon core.

Rombel exclaimed.

"You're quick on the uptake. I'm so grateful I could cry. Come here. I'll finish you without making it hurt."

But Elbridge and Orion's expressions hardened.

They had decided to eliminate the Owner of the Index Finger first because they were worried it would draw in a new demon.

And the fact that the Owner of the Index Finger had eliminated the plant-type demon itself meant...

'The Owner of the Index Finger intends to draw in a new demon directly.'

Elbridge and Orion raised their swords and kicked off the ground.

But the Owner of the Index Finger moved slightly faster and approached the passage created by Mudpit.

Rombel had not grasped the situation and wore a confused expression.

"Rombel, you idiot! Stop it!"

Too late.

And once again, the Owner of the Index Finger did something the group had not expected.

When it gestured toward the passage, the dark red flow that had been swirling violently came to a stop.

It was a sight Elbridge had never seen before. Yet he instinctively understood what it meant.

The Owner of the Index Finger had personally blocked the passage through which demons were supposed to emerge.

Elbridge looked confused.

'Why? Why would the Owner of the Index Finger stop a new demon from appearing?'

Then, a thought flashed through Elbridge's mind.

'It didn't stop a new demon from appearing.'

What the Owner of the Index Finger wanted to prevent was a useless demon, like the plant-type demon, from emerging from the other side of the passage.

If so, where would the new demon appear from?

There was one demon they had seen near Thornbush Forest that was not here.

Rumble.

Elbridge felt a heavy tremor beneath his feet.

Elbridge muttered,

"Starwave is coming."

Footnotes:

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