Arthur and Kailan kept running without stopping.
Because the moment they stayed in contact with the ground for even an instant, tentacle-like tree roots would snatch up their legs in the blink of an eye.
Bang─!
Kaboom─!
“Damn it, there are too many!”
“Haha! Now this is what makes it fun!”
Aside from the roots that stretched out simply to seize Arthur and Kailan,
the thick plant stalks that shot up unpredictably from beneath the ground were also a major nuisance.
Arthur avoided the attacks with his senses sharpened to the utmost.
Kailan, meanwhile, simply dodged the stalks lightly with a broad grin on his face.
‘No, how does he do that?’
Arthur’s admiration for Kailan’s almost divine movements lasted only a moment.
With attacks raining down without pause, there was no room to let his guard down.
“Give up... Give up Jinwoo!!”
“I told you! We’re Jinwoo’s companions!”
“You think I’m going to believe that?!”
Arthur shouted their innocence whenever he had the chance, but the female elf, whose eyes had already gone wild, did not listen at all.
‘Damn it, what proof do we have?’
Cutting down the tree roots lashing toward him, Arthur racked his brain.
He had no documents proving that Kang Jinwoo was the knight order’s honorary quartermaster, nor any receipts showing that they had often used his restaurant.
‘Ah, Iseria?’
If he brought up that elf’s name, wouldn’t there at least be some room for conversation?
“Iseria! The elf who traveled with Jinwoo—wasn’t her name Iseria?!”
“You even know Iseria. You did your research thoroughly.”
“No... ha.”
It was true that he hadn’t been able to present any convincing proof.
But right now, that female elf was only opening her ears to what she wanted to hear.
Judging by what she said, she seemed to know Jinwoo, so he had not wanted to use force.
But there was no helping it. They would have to subdue her.
Arthur’s gaze turned toward the female elf controlling the plants, and he adjusted his stance.
Kailan, who had refrained from taking the offensive in case Arthur could resolve things through dialogue, laughed.
“Right. Let’s just subdue her quickly and go!”
“Yes... that would be better.”
Their attitude was as though they could harm her whenever they wished if they so chose.
Pricked by that arrogance, the female elf shouted.
“Do I look like a joke to you? Our family may not specialize in combat, but the likes of you, right now...!”
“Ah, no wonder. That’s why parts of it felt so amateurish.”
“Youuu...!!”
Kaboom─!
Bang─!
Having fallen completely for Kailan’s provocation, the female elf began firing off even more mana.
In response, plant stalks erupted from beneath the ground faster and more powerfully than before.
Arthur and Kailan glanced at each other.
The female elf was positioned in the air, riding atop a tree that had shot up high, beyond reach with a single leap.
Even if they tried to climb up step by step using the surrounding terrain, countless tree roots would interfere with their ascent.
What they needed now was propulsion—propulsion powerful enough to launch them into the air in one burst.
And as it happened, the elf herself was providing that propulsion.
Arthur and Kailan focused on the vibrations transmitted through the ground beneath their feet.
Rrrrumble─...
The female elf’s plant attacks were not summons, but growth.
Using her mana as a medium, she rapidly grew the surrounding plants and attacked with them.
Therefore, the plants that served as the basis for her attacks had simply grown larger and faster.
Which meant,
if they timed it right, there was no danger in using them as footholds.
‘Now!’
The solid ground split open, and the moment a thick plant stalk shot up beneath their feet,
Arthur and Kailan put strength into their lower bodies and leaped.
Whoosh─!
A movement on an entirely different level, combining the physical capabilities of superhumans with the force of the plant stalk.
The female elf had never even imagined they would attack in such a way.
Her blue eyes filled with panic.
“W-wha?!”
“Now we’re finally seeing eye to eye.”
Arthur and Kailan landed with tremendous momentum on the tree the female elf had been riding.
Even for a skilled mage, once they ended up facing a knight at close range, their chances of victory approached zero.
And yet the female elf was not even accustomed to combat; she was merely the owner of a brewery.
Against two warriors who had survived all manner of trials and battlefields, she was far too weak.
Slaaaash─!
Slice─!
In her urgency, she sent tree roots lashing out wildly,
but Arthur’s sword strikes, without a single hair’s breadth of error, eliminated every possibility.
“Cool your head for a while.”
“Gehk.”
Thwack─!
While the female elf’s attention was focused on Arthur,
Kailan approached from behind and struck the nape of her neck with the shaft of his spear.
No more, no less—just enough to knock her unconscious.
Thud─...
The female elf limply lost consciousness.
From atop the towering tree, Arthur and Kailan looked down at the village that, until a moment ago, had been neat and tidy.
Judging by its geographical location and size, it seemed to be an outer village, yet its roads had been as well maintained as those in the city center.
The houses had been quaint and built in harmony with nature.
It had been a fantastical scene straight out of a fairy tale, but now... it had become a ruin terraformed by some plant-type magical beast.
“Is this because of us?”
“Hmm... We were just trying to talk.”
They did not know which elves had kidnapped Kang Jinwoo, but at least it had not been the elf they had just faced.
The traces of mana they had found at Kang Jinwoo’s house were quite different from this female elf’s mana wavelength.
So they had simply intended to ask for information and move on...
“Somehow, this seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Not that I thought it would be simple.”
“No, if you had tried talking first in the first place...”
“Arthur. There is no negotiating with criminals. Was it not the elves who kidnapped Jinwoo first?”
“That’s true, but...”
Whatever the case, the water had already been spilled.
Arthur and Kailan descended from the tree and once again headed toward the center of Nuardel.
***
The servants of the Sildiel estate had been busy since early morning.
The reason was none other than a certain person who had come to the reception room for honored guests.
“Lady Trea. I should have been the one to visit you, yet I apologize for troubling you to come here.”
“Not at all, Elioren. I had also just awakened from a long sleep, so I wanted to move around a bit.”
The elves were a race that lived long lives and maintained their youth for a very long time.
Yet even among such elves, the face of the elf called the Great Elder was clearly marked with wrinkles.
Her blond hair, which must once have shone brilliantly, had now faded enough only to remind one of its past glory.
Even in human elders, who lived at most a hundred years, one could sometimes sense wisdom. How much more so, then, an aged elf?
Trea, the elven Great Elder with her faded blond hair neatly braided, took a sip of fragrant herbal tea.
The dignity ingrained in her every movement, and the profoundness of knowledge accumulated over long years.
Trea was the exemplar of all elves, and the only high elf who could communicate with the World Tree.
With such a living legend visiting so suddenly, even Elioren could not hide his surprise.
“Haha... Has the World Tree said anything in particular?”
“Mm. As it happens, I came today because of that matter.”
“Pardon?”
“Not long ago, it seems you allowed a human to enter. Did something happen? There was no special report, so I let it pass, but it has been weighing on my mind.”
He had assumed, of course, that they would be discovered, since the human had passed through the World Tree’s barrier.
However, bringing in humans was merely rare; it was not against the rules.
Only, the process had been somewhat... less than honorable.
While Elioren searched for words in his mind, Trea continued speaking.
“I am not trying to interrogate you. It is pure curiosity. From what I felt when he passed through the veil, he was not even a human with powerful mana.”
“He is a chef whom my daughter Iseria met after escaping Nuardel. He has first-rate skills and can prepare elven cuisine with ease. Iseria was taken with his ability, so she ‘invited’ him for a while. Haha.”
“Invited, you say? I see. If the opportunity arises, I would like to try his food as well.”
“I will receive you with the utmost sincerity. He is currently staying at our estate, so I will arrange a seat for you.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
Trea answered with a benevolent smile.
Thinking he had managed to get through it well enough, Elioren felt relieved and lifted his herbal tea.
Just as he was about to take a sip, Trea’s mouth opened again.
“Hmm... Then are the humans who crossed the veil earlier acquaintances of that chef?”
“Pardon? What do you mean...”
No sooner had Trea’s incomprehensible words ended than an urgent sound came from outside the reception room.
Knock, knock, knock─!
‘Lord Elioren! I have an urgent report!!’
The fact that they were doing this despite knowing that Great Elder Trea was visiting meant the report was urgent enough that not a moment could be delayed.
Elioren glanced at Trea.
Nod.
Trea, smiling leisurely, permitted the report.
“Enter.”
“Forgive my rudeness! It is an urgent matter... Around daybreak today, two unidentified humans crossed the veil.”
“What? And?”
“And... after subduing the sentries on guard, they apparently released one of them. By now, they should have reached the outer district.”
Humans intruding into Nuardel was possible, even if the chances were low, so that much could be accepted.
But to recklessly subdue elven sentries and deliberately release one of them?
It could only be seen as an infiltration with some clear purpose.
Elioren asked,
“Where is the elven soldier they released?”
“We brought him here.”
“Hieek... L-Lord Elioren!”
Perhaps because he had fallen while fleeing in haste, a disheveled elven soldier stepped forward.
“What happened? What did they say?”
“They said they came to get Lord Kang Jinwoo back... and told us to bring out a higher-ranking elf...”
“Haa...”
He had hoped, if possible, that this would not happen.
It seemed that Kang Jinwoo’s outstanding ability had shone even in the Empire.
Otherwise, there was no way a mere two humans would have stormed into Nuardel.
To begin with, the method of bringing Kang Jinwoo here had been gravely wrong. If they had discovered those traces and followed them here...
‘Damn it, this has become troublesome...’
He did not know why they had ignored formal procedures and launched a surprise incursion, but the cause lay with the elves.
If this incident grew any larger and turned into a matter of compensation between nations...
Not only he himself, but even the continued existence of this family would become uncertain.
Now that it had come to this, the best course was for him to personally settle the matter before it grew any bigger.
“A higher-ranking elf, is it... I will go. Have Seiran and Beilla prepare.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Creeeak─...
After delivering the report that had overturned the calm of the reception room, the soldiers withdrew.
And Elioren once again sat facing Trea.
Shiver─
Trea’s narrowed eyes, which had always gazed upon the elves with affection.
Those thin eyelids had opened slightly.
“Kang Jinwoo... That seems to refer to the chef. And ‘get him back’? The nuance makes it sound as though he was forcibly taken...”
“Ah, that is. Lady Trea...”
Tak─
Trea set the herbal tea she had been sipping down on the table.
The dry, hard sound of impact rang out, cutting off Elioren’s excuse.
At that moment, both of Trea’s eyes flashed open.
“Elioren. Did you deceive me?”
“Huurgh! N-no! I was going to tell you...”
“Enough. If there is something you concealed, I will hear it after everything is over.”
“Understood...”
As if she did not wish to hear any excuses, Trea pressed him to resolve the matter.
Unable to reply further, Elioren hurriedly rose to head toward the outer district.
As Elioren left the reception room, Trea spoke one final time.
“The fact that they made it as far as the outer district is also my responsibility for having judged the situation too lightly, so I will not question it. However, as for the matter of bringing in that chef named Kang Jinwoo and the humans who have now intruded—the issues entangled with them must be handled properly, without any discourtesy. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I will make certain of it.”
Having been thoroughly chewed out, Elioren gathered his equipment and went out through the main gate.
There, Seiran and Beilla were waiting.
“Lord Elioren. What is going on?”
“I will explain the details as we go. For now, let us move.”
“Understood!”
Whoooosh─!
Wind spirit arts pushed their mana-enhanced bodies forward, producing a galloping speed like that of horses.
Around the time Kang Jinwoo, possessed by Gordon Ramsay, was berating Elpina over her onion knife work,
Elioren, Seiran, and Beilla set off running toward the outer district.