People who don’t know each other (2)
Absilon.
An imperial word meaning tea of the elves.
However, it has been a long time since the word now refers to the imperial car rather than the car of the elves.
“The number of suicides among children of young nobles has begun to increase significantly.”
The scent that spreads is refreshing enough to remind you of a forest, and the taste in your mouth is spicy enough to brighten your eyes.
Absilon, which was not just a fad but also had great practical utility, spread by word of mouth among young nobles.
“But by the time we found out this was the cause, it was already too late.”
The gray hooded man looked down at the pocket in his hand and smiled empty-handed.
“Speaking of suicide, does the Absilon car seem to be hallucinating or something?”
“no.”
The man with the gray hood looked at Vlad and shook his head.
“If there had been such serious side effects from the beginning, we would have noticed it a long time ago.”
Any drug called a drug is bound to cause serious side effects.
Drugs are the ones that cause not only mental confusion but also various negative physical effects, making normal activities in society impossible.
“Then what are the side effects of Absilon?”
If there are no serious side effects, there is no big problem, right?
The man with the gray hood sighed at Vlad’s obvious question.
“High dependency, excessively high arousal effect, and depression.”
“Why did you barely have that?”
Vlad stopped laughing when he heard about the side effects of Absilon.
Did you really mean to talk so seriously about this level of side effects?
However, unlike Vlad’s indifferent reaction, the man in the gray hood was only serious.
“It’s the kind of depression that makes you want to jump out the window in front of your mother.”
“······hmm.”
Vlad, who didn’t think it was a big deal, stopped and closed his mouth with a suffocating breath.
The weight of the answer I heard was so heavy that I felt sorry for daring to laugh at it.
“Young people these days are always depressed. “That’s what the times were like.”
Possibility is a beautiful thing, and young people who can express it into their own world are precious.
Therefore, you must protect that moment.
“That’s why you didn’t notice.”
The first founding king, Fraussen.
He was a person who cared and loved children and the potential of young people.
However, contrary to the will of the first king, the current empire was no longer able to present a future to young people.
The weakening situation of the empire continued to push future comrades into dangerous battlefields, and those who had already taken their positions no longer left glorious positions for young people.
These were depressing times for everyone.
“Then shouldn’t it be banned by law?”
I didn’t know much about the law, but if it’s such a dangerous product, it would be right to ban it anyway.
However, the man with the gray hood just smiled like a sigh at Vlad’s innocent question.
Look, here is an innocent young man.
A child who does not know the dark spider web that stretches deep into this world.
“······Someone’s misfortune is someone else’s happiness.”
The man with the gray hood opened the opening of his pocket and began pouring out the elf tea leaves.
Tea leaves fluttering in the wind.
The elves’ tea leaves, fluttering like ash, were slowly flowing through the dirty mud in the back alley.
“Absilon’s interests are already deeply rooted deep within the empire. “It’s so bad that it can’t be stopped just by the deaths of a few people.”
Absilon makes money.
And money becomes power.
The powerful people of this era were people who did not care at all about buying the shining gold from the deaths of young people.
“I want to stop it.”
An unknown looter.
A retiree wearing a shabby hood.
However, he was a person who saved someone’s life as much as the weight of the tea leaves he plundered.
The sword of the man he encountered that day on the stone bridge was so shiny that Vlad could not dare to take it.
※※※※
dark night.
Vlad was quietly climbing the hill at the entrance to the city alone.
Although it was not very high, it was a place overlooking the cityscape.
From there, looking down on the city of Tanovo, Vlad could see that what the man in the gray hood had said was correct.
“······That’s right.”
In any city, there were bound to be places where light did not reach.
The existence of slums was a phenomenon that occurred naturally regardless of the ability of the ruler.
“It was built not long ago.”
However, the sight Vlad saw now looked a little different.
A line-like boundary between the center and the outskirts of a slum.
Vlad’s eyes were drawn to the slums on the outskirts that suddenly changed color instead of slowly accumulating and dyeing the same color.
“······.”
There must be a reason for the sudden increase in the size of the slums.
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When people are pushed out of the ground they stand on, there are bound to be stories.
Vlad, who knew this, turned his head and looked at the large building near the slums.
A four-story building whose lights are not turned off even though it is a dark night.
Depressing smoke was flowing from the chimney above the building.
“It’s the same everywhere.”
The city of Tanovo is becoming wealthier over time, and the Vitskaya family is establishing itself as a new powerhouse in the central region.
However, the residents who should have enjoyed the benefits were gradually being pushed out to the outskirts of the city and were only used to make drugs.
Everywhere, the powerless were crushed by the huge world and were struggling.
Vlad began to come down the hill, spitting out the bitter energy rising from within him onto the ground.
“I guess I should do this.”
I owe my life on the stone bridge.
He also has a clue about the voice.
And Count Vitskaya also has a personal debt to repay.
There would be no reason to worry about the proposal made by the man in the gray hood.
‘Slay the dragon, use the imperial sword, and make friends with spirits here and there.’
However, there was something else that disturbed Vlad’s mind.
‘What on earth are you doing?’
A person related to spirits, likely to have slain a dragon, and above all, a person who uses the imperial sword.
The more Vlad learned about the clues about the voice, the more confused he felt.
How did a person who was obviously so great come to me like a black lightning bolt?
Vlad was now more curious about why he was like this than about the identity of the voice.
※※※※
Even though it was winter, the forest was lush and green.
No matter how much I raised my head, there were houses packed so tightly together that it was difficult to see them under the trees.
No, there were trees that looked like houses.
Forest of elves. Ausrina.
There was a man busy in the place overlooking the World Tree.
“Baradis! The priestess…”
“······I know.”
He was trying to maintain his usual cool-headed expression, but even now his dark blue eyes were constantly shaking.
“Open the door.”
“yes.”
Varadis, escorted by his subordinates, entered the largest tree under the World Tree.
In a huge tree that would have been 10 stories tall if it were a human building, there was a tree that naturally took the shape of a house even though no one had touched it.
“Are you here? “Baradis.”
“······Forgive me for being late.”
“No.”
The closest place to the World Tree.
Varadis, who ran to the highest point of the tree, lowered his head as he looked at the elders who were already waiting for him.
“Is it a revelation?”
“I guess so.”
The oldest among the elders.
The old elf, as cracked as an old tree, nodded quietly, holding his cane.
However, even though his face was hardened by age, there was a look of anticipation that could not be hidden.
“······This is truly the first revelation I have received in a long time.”
A history of hardships and trials.
It may have been a time full of glory for humans, but it was a time of shame for the elves, who were increasingly pushed to the outskirts of the continent.
Even during that time, only a handful of revelations from the World Tree came down, so the elves must have felt as if they were wading through a dark, vast sea without a single light in sight.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
However, unlike the elders who were looking forward to it, Varadis had a look of worry on his face and walked inside, breaking through the wall of elders.
Fragrances rising from everywhere.
Numerous candles burning among the incense.
The girl lying in the middle was still in pain, her whole body shaking.
“This is the first revelation from the World Tree I received after being appointed as a priestess. “There is bound to be a burden.”
Varadis heard the words coming from behind and carefully stroked the girl’s sweaty white-blonde hair.
Even now, my hands and feet are constantly shaking. And even the two white eyes without pupils.
“······.”
Varadis held both hands tightly for his sister, who was shaking as if she had epilepsy and was struggling with the energy of the World Tree.
The hand of the girl I was holding was so cold.
“come.”
The girl began to open her mouth little by little, as if she had finally felt the warmth of Varadis.
As she spoke, the candles and incense around her began to shake dizzyingly.
“Everyone be quiet.”
As the oldest elder said, the elders even breathe carefully.
While everyone was holding their breath, the candles placed here and there began to burn brightly as if they were going to explode.
It was a revelation.
“The dragon… is coming.”
Varadis felt the girl’s hands tighten.
The girl’s frowning expression, as if she was having a nightmare, was pitiful.
“But I saw a dragon. oh my god.”
A voice that changes every time you spit it out.
As the world tree’s revelation and the girl’s voice alternated, the words coming out of my mouth gradually began to take shape.
“······Show me.”
The girl’s breathing began to become increasingly difficult as she was panting.
“Grand Elder.”
Varadis urgently turned around to see the girl whose complexion was becoming increasingly pale.
“······What do you mean?”
The elder nodded as he looked at him, closed his eyes quietly, and grabbed the staff he was holding.
This new girl is still young and inexperienced, so she should be spared.
Here, the oldest was willing to open his world and share revelations with the youngest girl.
“what. “What can I show you?”
An elder who brings out the revelation of the World Tree through questions.
Drops of sweat were slowly falling on the hands that were brought together as if in prayer.
“Sword!”
The revelations that had not yet been conveyed through the girl’s mouth began to flow into the oldest elder’s mind.
“Ugh!”
A clear place began to appear in the Grand Elder’s mind.
Under the tree roots.
Damp caves, stalactites, rocks in the deepest part of there.
A sword stuck on the rock.
“······this.”
A sword that has not lost its shine even over the years.
The elder’s eyes widened as he recognized the sword.
