Chapter 36. The Expedition Nears Its End (1)
“How could something like that…….”
“Do you truly think that is what you should be saying right now?”
The Organization Member who had been dispatched under Gordon’s orders looked utterly flustered by Dominic’s response.
“Are you saying the Dark Elves truly attacked you?”
“They did. Dozens of times, at that. Do you have any idea how much damage we have suffered?”
“……I have no excuse to offer. It appears something has gone wrong on our side.”
“Do you think I am saying this because I failed to realize that? You would do well to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. My men’s patience is not limitless.”
It was no empty threat.
Even now, the Imperial Guard Knights were staring at the Organization Member with Killing Intent gleaming in their eyes.
‘Damn it…….’
He could not understand how things had reached this point.
Why had the Dark Elves escaped their control?
The Organization Member knew nothing about Alchemy, so his thoughts naturally turned toward Gordon.
‘That insane old bastard. He was so confident, and this is the kind of problem he causes?’
After cursing Gordon inwardly, the Organization Member spoke again.
“Was there anything unusual about the Dark Elves?”
“Nothing. They simply repeated hit-and-run attacks. Just as they did against the original expedition.”
“……For something like that, your losses appear rather severe.”
“Are you accusing us of something?”
“No.”
“Relay this properly to your superiors. Regardless of how this matter ends, you have lost a portion of the Imperial Family’s trust.”
“……Yes.”
Being treated this way by a mere dog of the Imperial Family infuriated him, but the Organization Member restrained himself once again.
The Organization’s connection to the Imperial Family was ultimately hundreds of thousands of times more important than his personal feelings.
“Then I will return immediately and make my report. Once again, I apologize.”
“Get out of my sight. If I have to look at your face any longer, I may draw my sword without thinking.”
“…….”
After the Organization Member departed, Dominic watched his retreating back with a murderous gaze.
‘This old man must look terribly easy to fool. No…… perhaps the prestige of our Imperial Family has simply fallen.’
Now that matters had reached this point, Dominic could no longer trust the Organization.
Who knew?
Perhaps they were deliberately weakening the Imperial forces in advance so they could monopolize the Dragon Heart.
No.
Dominic actually considered that possibility more likely.
After all, the Crown Prince he served thought in much the same way.
[If they show an opening, make certain that the Dragon Heart ends up in our hands.]
[There is nothing to worry about. If they leave an opening in a matter of such importance, we need only use it to gain the upper hand in our relationship with them.]
[Otherwise, we can simply use them as well.]
[Considering they have been tied down in the Mezaia Great Forest for nearly a dozen years, the possibility is more than sufficient.]
[Remember. The name of our Empire, which will bear responsibility for all humanity, is not something to be taken lightly.]
Dominic recalled the Crown Prince’s words.
He instinctively realized that the time had come to act upon them.
That was why he had not explained exactly how the Dark Elves had changed before attacking them.
If the changes in the Dark Elves truly had not been intentional, then the false information Dominic had given them would become a sharp blade turned against the Organization.
“In the end, the Imperial Family will be the victor.”
Meanwhile, as Dominic renewed his resolve, the Organization Member who had left looked more serious than ever.
‘Those bastards are planning something else.’
Dominic’s deliberate avoidance of explaining how the Dark Elves had changed gave the Organization Member that certainty.
He had survived this long within an Organization as vicious as theirs.
Naturally, he was perceptive and skilled at understanding the circumstances around him.
Otherwise, he would have ended up as one of Gordon’s Test Subjects long ago, just like his predecessors.
Recalling Dominic’s attitude, the Organization Member quickened his pace, deciding that he needed to report this to Gordon immediately.
Perhaps his urgency was precisely why—
He failed to notice the darkness rippling beneath his feet.
—
“Hmm…….”
Countless memories belonging to the Organization Member filled Shane’s mind.
Shane extracted only what he needed, organized them, and quietly filed them away without much emotion.
In truth, extracting another person’s memories like this was nowhere near as easy as it appeared.
A person’s memories defined their life.
One wrong step could result in being consumed by those memories, losing track of one’s own identity, and ultimately descending into madness.
It was not merely a matter of taking the memories one needed.
It meant making the entirety of another person’s life one’s own.
Whether they had been abandoned by their parents, suffered some horrific accident, or lived for revenge—
Every person carried a story.
Those stories accumulated one upon another and pressed down upon whoever stole the memories.
But such pressure had no effect whatsoever on Shane.
After all, no one had been forced to observe their own Inner World more closely than he had.
How long had he remained imprisoned within himself in his previous life, suppressed beneath the consciousness of his Corrupted self?
Compared with that experience, something like this was almost laughably easy.
Easy enough that he could perform an even more important task while simultaneously sorting through the memories.
[So you are saying you cannot trust me?]
[To put it plainly, yes. That is correct.]
The fact that Shane could do something like this even while standing before the Queen of the Elves proved that he was already far removed from anything resembling ordinary.
[To be honest, I am surprised. Only a few hundred years have passed, yet humans have developed this far. Yes. It truly is remarkable.]
The Elf Queen raised her head.
An ordinary person would probably have frozen the moment they saw her beauty.
She wore a gentle smile as though she had received nature’s love and blessings in their entirety, and her appearance was too beautiful to adequately describe in words.
Her white-gold hair and pure-white skin resembled a mountain blanketed in midwinter snow.
An emerald lake seemed to sleep within her eyes, while her firmly closed lips were the deep crimson of an apple ripened after a long wait.
To Shane, however, she was merely someone whose cooperation he needed.
Nothing more and nothing less.
Too much of Shane’s humanity had already been worn away for beauty alone to captivate him.
[But that aside, I cannot say how much help greedy humans will truly be to us.]
[Humans…….]
In truth, she was not entirely wrong.
Humans were practically the embodiment of Greed.
That did not necessarily make Greed a negative thing.
Humanity possessed the desire to become stronger.
That was precisely why they had advanced this far in a period shorter than even an Elf’s lifespan.
Greed became the foundation of progress.
And progress led to the growth of a race.
But at times, humans were also beings who allowed themselves to be consumed by that Greed.
[Then should I assume you have no need for our assistance?]
[Hmm. I wonder. What should I do? I admit I am still conflicted.]
The Elf Queen, Priscilla, drank water with leaves floating upon its surface as she regarded Shane with lake-like eyes.
[You do not appear nearly as relaxed as you look.]
[Please understand. This is simply how we Elves are. Unlike humans, we live for such a long time, do we not?]
[A long lifespan does not necessarily make everyone as leisurely as Elves. And not every Elf is like that either.]
[My. Being contradicted so directly does leave me with little to say. Hmm…… In truth, yes, we are in a difficult position. My children have entered their Dormancy Period, which means they cannot even properly resist our enemies. How in the world were those people able to break through the World Tree Seal?]
Shane gave her a simple explanation.
[You know the true nature of the World Tree. It is because the enemy is an existence of the same kind.]
[Ah…… So that is why my children had no choice but to become those ‘Dark Elves.’]
There had been several reasons why the Elves were absorbed so helplessly by the Organization in Shane’s previous life.
But the greatest reason had been their Dormancy Period.
Once every several thousand years, the Elves entered a Dormancy Period.
The reason was similar to what was currently happening within the Mezaia Great Forest.
Once every several thousand years, the Mezaia Great Forest underwent a period of Mana Instability like this.
Whenever that happened, the Elves placed themselves into dormancy and waited within the World Tree Seal for the unstable period to pass.
The problem was that the Great Forest, which should have entered a Stable Period again within five to ten years, had remained unstable for hundreds of years because of Akasha’s Great Seal.
The Organization had broken through the World Tree Seal and carried out experiments on the Elves, who could not awaken from dormancy without the World Tree itself.
Throughout that time, Priscilla, the Elf Queen who did not enter the Dormancy Period, had been fighting the Organization alone.
Of course, the Organization was not foolish enough to confront Priscilla, Queen of this forest, directly.
Instead, they concealed their existence thoroughly, abducted sleeping Elves, and had Gordon transform them into Dark Elves.
[That is why this situation has been so frustrating. I believed there was no being capable of escaping my notice within this forest, but that belief has been shattered.]
Shane nodded.
It could not be helped.
The Organization was one of the few forces capable of resisting the Mana of the World Tree that protected the Mezaia Great Forest.
[And then you appeared, someone capable of manipulating my people even more precisely than they can. How could I possibly trust you without hesitation?]
One only had to look at the Dark Elves waiting outside to see that Priscilla’s concerns were more than justified.
She was a queen responsible for thousands of Elves currently trapped in dormancy.
[Indeed. A transaction requires enough trust for both sides to rely upon one another.]
[Yes. Exactly.]
[If necessary, I will swear an Oath of the Source.]
[My, truly?]
A faint trace of surprise crossed Priscilla’s expression.
Shane had already sworn an Oath of the Source merely to enter this place, the Cradle of the Elves.
But an oath that required nothing more than harboring no hostility was relatively light.
[You do understand that it is not all-powerful, do you not? You will need to explain both the terms and the process of the agreement to me.]
[That will not be difficult.]
In truth, an Oath of the Source was not something one should make as casually as Shane currently did.
To stake one’s own Source meant that breaking the oath could cause one’s very existence to disappear.
Even in ancient times, it had not been a commonly used method of conducting transactions.
After all, one was effectively placing oneself on the table as collateral.
If possible, Shane would have preferred not to resort to it.
But as a human, there was no more effective way for him to earn their trust.
After all, the one who had sealed the ancient races inside dungeons had been Akasha—
A human.
[If you are willing to go that far, then I believe I can trust you. Very well. Shall we begin our discussion?]
The Elves were worth taking that risk for.
Considering the infamy the Elves had earned in the original history after ultimately failing to escape the Organization’s grasp, this degree of danger was worth accepting.
Moreover, Shane could not obtain the Dragon Heart within the Mezaia Great Forest without Priscilla’s cooperation.
[Ah, before I forget. I would appreciate it if you brought the person responsible for turning my brothers and sisters into those things before me. I would very much like to tear that person apart with my own hands.]
Despite Priscilla’s radiant smile, her words were murderous.
Shane merely nodded in silence.
—
A full week had passed since the Organization’s scheme caused the expedition to become scattered.
Yet the divided expedition groups managed to reunite far more easily than expected.
The reason was simple.
“The Dark Elves are not appearing anymore.”
At Klein’s words, the others nodded and finished their meal with somewhat more relaxed expressions.
“Ugh. I’m still just as exhausted, though.”
Just as Delilah said, everyone looked worn out.
More than two months had already passed since the expedition began.
The accumulated fatigue was no longer something that could disappear simply by resting.
“Still, it’s a relief. Shane is all right.”
“Yeah…… It is.”
Klein responded to Delilah with a smile far more stable than the one he had worn several days earlier.
A few days ago, Raviata had informed him that the Life-Tracking Magic she had placed on Shane as a precaution had finally registered his presence.
Until then, the Mana Instability of the Mezaia Great Forest had prevented her from properly detecting it.
But when she said that Shane’s Mana had been sensed somewhere not too far away, Klein had finally been able to breathe a sigh of relief.
That did not mean he could completely relax.
Partly because Shane still had not rejoined them—
But also because of Raviata’s final warning.
“Do not tell the others.”
Those few words carried many possible implications.
And Klein was not so naive that he failed to understand them.
‘There is a traitor within the expedition.’
Klein had never imagined that someone within the same expedition could be a traitor.
Because of that, he could not completely lower his guard.
More importantly, the last time Klein had seen Shane, his brother had been together with the Imperial Knight Order.
Several surviving Imperial Knights were present even now.
Klein firmly closed his mouth and looked toward Aneis.
Aneis was also connected to the Imperial Family through the Judgment Knight Order.
‘……Maybe I’m being too sensitive.’
Still, there was no harm in being cautious.
Had Shane not been involved, Klein probably would not have reacted this strongly.
Then, the following evening—
Beneath a vast cavern formed from enormous tree roots, the expedition groups that had been separated finally managed to reunite.
