WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
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◈ The Regressor and the Blind Saintess ◈
Chapter 48: Edrin
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Aidrin's death.
It was absurd.
Aidrin was an ancient race, one of the beings closest to omnipotence among all creatures on this continent, having existed since creation.
Even those foolish orcs knew that such beings lived forever.
Rene was thoroughly startled by Freide's words and tried to ask for more details, but...
“We can discuss the details once we are inside the Great Forest. Rather than explaining it twice, wouldn't it be better to do so where Mari is?”
Freide dismissed the matter.
Mari.
They must have meant the Apostle of Abundance.
Rene suppressed her growing curiosity and answered with a nod.
* * *
It did not take long to reach the Great Forest.
They had originally been only a day's journey away, but had stretched the trip over two days in consideration of Rene's stamina.
“We should get out of the carriage here. There are no roads in the Great Forest wide enough for a carriage.”
At Freide's words, the group got out, left the carriage at the forest entrance, tied their luggage to the horses, and began walking deeper inside.
As Rene walked hand in hand with Vera, she heard a Rustle. Her foot sank into the ground, and she tilted her head.
“Fallen leaves?”
The fallen leaves reached her ankles. They were not merely scattered leaves, but dry ones that crumbled beneath her feet.
“Vera, are there fallen leaves here?”
Confusion rose within Rene.
According to the records of those who had visited the Great Forest throughout history, it was always a land of lush green vegetation and abundant life.
It was not a place where fallen leaves should be scattered everywhere.
“Yes. As far as I can see, the ground is entirely covered in fallen leaves.”
Vera began, then described the scene before them with a grave expression.
“The dark colors are more prominent than the green. The trees are certainly dense, but most of them are bare, as though they are enduring the depths of winter.”
Vera had reached the same thought as Rene.
Something was wrong. It was far too desolate to be the Great Forest.
In other words...
“Every plant in sight is withering.”
It was a dead land, a scene one would only see in the Cradle of the Dead at the eastern edge of the continent.
Naturally, a question formed in Vera's mind.
No one knew it had become this desolate?
Memories of his previous life had surfaced.
Until his death in that life, there had never once been rumors that the Great Forest was drying up.
Even after the elves led by Freide had left the Great Forest to join the campaign against the Demon King, he had never heard such a thing.
Something was wrong.
If the land had dried out so visibly, anyone passing near the Great Forest should have noticed the change...
“There is no need to be so alarmed. It is still all right for now.”
Freide's beautiful, resonant voice.
Freide had been listening as Vera and Rene spoke. While leading the way, they turned only their head back to look at them and continued.
“The barrier remains intact. The trees are withering because Mother has absorbed their life to conserve what remains of her own.”
It was an answer delivered with a faint smile.
Freide's attitude was utterly relaxed. Having said that, they turned forward again and continued.
“Now, we have arrived.”
The group looked confused at those words.
They had been seeing the same scenery the entire time. Where exactly had they arrived?
As they looked at Freide with that thought in mind...
Whoosh!
The surrounding landscape twisted in an instant.
Norn and Hella drew their swords. Vera raised his divine power and pulled Rene into his arms. Caught suddenly in Vera's embrace, Rene let out a Hic!
It felt as though the entire world had warped.
As the atmosphere grew tense...
“Do not be alarmed.”
With those words, a gigantic tree appeared beyond the suddenly changed landscape, so enormous that even if they craned their heads upward, they could not see its end.
“That is...”
The words came from Norn.
It was not only Norn. Hella and Vera as well. Shock appeared on the faces of everyone except Rene, who could not see before her.
A tree formed from dozens of enormous trunks climbing over one another and soaring into the sky.
Its immense crown was covered in leaves thick with red. Before such a tree, they could feel nothing but astonishment.
Freide looked at their expressions and gave a pleased laugh before speaking.
“Welcome to Mother's land.”
Aidrin, the Deepest Root.
The tree that had seized the group's attention was precisely that being.
* * *
“Mari.”
At Freide's words, Vera looked in the direction Freide was facing.
Far away, he saw a figure with her back turned to them, stroking Aidrin.
The figure lifted her head at Freide's voice, then looked at Freide and the group behind them with a bright expression.
“Oh my! My little ones are here!”
Mari, the Apostle of Abundance, stood as she spoke energetically.
Norn and Hella lowered their heads at the sight of her.
Vera gave a small bow in greeting, then described Mari's appearance to the bewildered Rene.
“She has the bearing of a sturdy countrywoman. Her short brown hair is neatly tied up, her wrinkles are even, and she has a bright, lively air about her. Her priest's robes are stained in several places, but they do not seem freshly soiled. They seem more like marks left by time. I believe she is quite frugal.”
He had focused on sensory details as much as possible so Rene could picture her easily.
Rene imagined Mari's face at Vera's explanation, nodded, and bowed in greeting.
“Hello.”
“Oh my, you must have had such a hard time getting all the way here!”
Her attitude was so friendly that it was hard to believe they had just met. Rene smiled, thinking Mari was a very warm person.
“No, the others had a harder time than I did.”
“Oh my goodness! What a kind heart you have!”
Mari laughed cheerfully and patted Rene on the shoulder before turning to greet Vera.
“Oh, you must be Vera? You're such a fine-looking lad too!”
“...You flatter me.”
Vera felt awkwardness welling up inside him.
It was because of her personality. He had heard countless accounts of what she had done during the war against the Demon King in his previous life, but he had never known what kind of person she was. Now, as Mari laughed and repeatedly thumped his shoulder hard enough to make a Pat! Pat! sound, he lowered his head, unsure what to do.
“Norn! Hella! Oh my, when did little Hella grow up so much? Come here, let me give you a hug!”
“...It has been a while.”
Perhaps used to Mari's behavior, Hella embraced her with her usual blank expression.
Mari was, quite literally, a whirlwind of a person.
A hearty woman who swept up the group and shook them out of the tension they had felt just moments ago at the sight of the withering trees and Aidrin.
As the greetings and chatter went on for some time and discomfort appeared on the group's faces, Freide, who had stepped back to watch, spoke.
“Mari, may I speak now? It seems these friends still do not know Mother's condition.”
“Hm? Did the old man not tell you anything?”
“Ah, no...”
Rene nodded faintly. Her expression was blank, as though the constant stream of chatter had utterly overwhelmed her.
However, perhaps Mari did not notice. She made a great fuss again and launched into more chatter.
“Goodness! The old man must be getting senile again! I knew it! I keep telling him to eat properly and keep his meals balanced, but he never listens!”
Words poured out like a storm.
Rene looked troubled.
* * *
Mari's chatter finally ended some time later.
It would be accurate to say Freide's repeated interventions had played a large part in it.
Freide responded gently to Mari's words, then carefully prodded her whenever the conversation looked ready to wander elsewhere, keeping it from straying any further.
One of Aidrin's roots protruded from the ground at a height suitable for someone to sit on.
Sitting atop it, Rene listened as Freide, finally able to speak, began.
“Hmm, yes. I had told you that Mother was dying, had I not?”
“Yes. You said you would explain the details here.”
“Then, to add to that explanation, Mother's death does not mean complete extinction.”
Rene tilted her head at Freide's words.
She was confused that they had changed what they said.
Freide smiled faintly at Rene's face, which was full of questions, and added,
“It is something like an event that occurs once every thousand years. Mother is preparing for her next life.”
“Her next life?”
“That is right. How does the root the Saintess is sitting upon feel?”
At Freide's words, Rene ran her hand over the root.
“Um... It's hard, and a little dry...”
The outer bark was so dry it crumbled with the slightest brush. That was not all. The inside she could feel beneath it lacked moisture and felt somewhat rough.
Freide watched Rene as she continued stroking the root, then nodded and continued.
“It is because the body that makes up Mother has reached the end of its lifespan. Mother's existence is eternal, but the trees that form her body are not. Thus, every thousand years, when the trees that make up her body reach the end of their lives, Mother forms a new body and is reborn.”
Surprise appeared on Rene's face as she listened.
It was something she had never heard before.
“Then when Aidrin... is reborn, will the Great Forest come back to life?”
“Usually, it does.”
Usually.
There was a condition attached to those words.
“Usually?”
“Yes, usually. This time, the situation is a little different. That is why there is a problem.”
Freide moved beside Rene, stroked the tree root, and continued.
“The thousand years have not yet passed. Mother's body has only lived for nine hundred years.”
It was strange to hear such a span of time treated as though it were insignificant.
“The seed that will form Mother's new body cannot be obtained until at least nine hundred and eighty years have passed. We are still eighty years short... Yet this body's lifespan has already ended. That has made things rather complicated.”
From Freide's words, Rene understood what they meant.
Tension naturally entered her voice.
“...Does that mean she cannot be reborn?”
If Aidrin died without producing a seed, she could not move on to her next life. That must have been what Freide meant.
Freide smiled faintly at Rene's words and answered.
“That is right. If Mother dries up like this, it is the end of everything. The Great Forest, and us elves as well.”
“The elves too?”
“Yes. We elves are a race that lives by receiving a share of Mother's life. That is why we can live for periods of a thousand years. So if Mother disappears, would we not all die when we can no longer receive life from her?”
“Then...”
“Elves will disappear from the history of the continent. That is why Mari is here. She is forcibly sustaining Mother's life with the Authority of Abundance. Hmm, it is a very dire situation.”
Stop.
Rene went still.
Her head turned toward Freide's voice.
A question had arisen as they spoke.
Because Rene was blind and could not take in expressions or other visual information, there was something she was more sensitive to.
It was discerning a person's true feelings through the rise and fall of their voice.
Rene sensed something strange in Freide's voice.
Why...
When what they were saying was so grave.
Even as Freide spoke of Aidrin's death and their own, there was no emotion in their voice at all.
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