#82
Elven Kingdom (2)
“The situation has been relayed to each race on the Enamel Continent, including the Dwarves of Titania.”
“I think the reaction has been lukewarm because there was no direct connection until now, but this time it is really not normal, so we need to be more vigilant.”
“The fact that you can freely move through space means that we need to be prepared for when the Immortal King appears on the Enamel Continent.”
This was the Elven Kingdom’s royal conference room, the only structure directly connected to the World Tree.
Of course, the faces of those who participated in this meeting, which was not open to just anyone, were all equally splendid.
The high elves, including the queen, as well as the central figures who oversee each field and lead the country were all gathered together.
“We have already requested information from the religious order. We know absolutely nothing about the Immortal King of this generation other than the information that Lord Lapori has provided.”
They were in the process of preparing countermeasures for the situation that occurred this time.
Since all of the previous Immortal Kings were active on the Continent of Ion, the other races, including the elves, suffered no particular damage other than the loss of the reinforcements they had sent.
In both cases, they fell before they could cross the sea, leaving little impact on the Enamel Continent mainland.
But this time, the Immortal King showed an extraordinary appearance from the beginning, making them nervous.
Being able to invade the Great Temple of the Holy Land without regard to spatial constraints meant that one could jump over the seas between continents at any time.
Since Lapori had already sent information about him to the Elven Kingdom before he moved to the Enamel Continent, they were able to quickly begin preparing.
We have sent warnings to neighboring countries, raised our alert level by several levels, and dispatched regular patrols to each region to detect dark magic.
“Huh… I don’t know what’s going on in this situation where we should be celebrating the birth of a new high elf.”
As the important discussions were over and time was given to catch one’s breath, the meeting attendees began to voice their complaints one by one.
Of course, there were several days of celebration planned in the capital after Cecily’s awakening, but in preparation for the Immortal King, their duration and scale had to be significantly reduced.
Originally, it was planned to be held as a grand national event, so the gap is quite large.
“Still, it is very fortunate that Lady Cecily has appeared at this time. Isn’t it time for me and the Queen to retire?”
“Yes. I was already worried, but this relieved one of my worries.”
The elf queen sitting on the high throne nodded at Lafori’s soft words.
The term of office for the throne, which was chosen through consultation among the high elves, was until retirement, so she also remained in that position for quite a long time.
“Come to think of it, Lord Lapory, didn’t you bring another person with the right aptitude from the Continent of Ion? It’s already been rumored that you received a branch from the World Tree during the opening ceremony.”
“Haha, from the very first time we met, I could sense that the World Tree was interested in something unusual. It seems my eyes were not wrong.”
When the Queen brought up Harris, Laforie smiled and smiled happily.
“His talent is outstanding and his growth is so fast that it’s hard to believe. I think he has a very high chance of becoming qualified.”
Harris, another promising prospect who came to find Cecily on his own feet right after saving her.
Laforie brought him to the Elven Kingdom and enrolled him in the ‘Drasha Academy’, the best educational facility in the kingdom.
In the hope that he would receive the best education and become worthy of being a high elf.
‘I think I’ll have a good relationship with Shapiron. Our situations are similar.’
Originally, high elves were not genetically inherited, but she was born with the same aptitude as herself.
It was truly a blessed birth.
‘If the two of you become close, you can help each other.’
That’s why she deliberately arranged for Harris to be educated with her.
He had no doubt that the good boy would take good care of Harris.
A soft smile appeared on Laforie’s face as he thought of his beloved only daughter, whom he had acquired late in life.
***
Lunchtime at Drasha Academy.
It was nice and breezy, and I was leaning against a large tree, chewing on a sandwich, watching the elves’ street performance.
“Hey, how about you learn some manners? How long are you going to act like a shallow mercenary?”
Shapiron suddenly approached him and started a fight. Without even listening to his answer, he quickly turned around and walked away.
‘···Did you come all the way here just to say that?’
Harris leaned against the tree leisurely, watching her back as he munched on his sandwich.
‘By the way, that woman is that man’s daughter…’
Laforie had sky-blue hair and dark blue irises, so there was definitely something similar to her.
‘I heard that when you become a High Elf, you will use the surname ‘Granwood’. Also, since Elves are a matriarchal society, ‘Sylvesti’ must be your mother’s surname.’
Suddenly, I remembered the gentle expression on his face when I last saw him, smiling happily as he thought of his family.
And then, the image of a cranky young lady looking at him with a slightly frowning face was gradually superimposed on top of that image.
‘Hmm… I don’t really associate him with that nice-natured old man.’
Although she had not been here long, she could tell that everyone was uncomfortable with her because of her arrogant, haughty, and noble-looking nature.
Of course, there were those who followed her, but no matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem like they were equal friends.
‘It’s like that in all places where people live. I guess it’s no different for elves. But they’re especially sensitive to me.’
From what I’ve seen over the past few days, she just looks down on everyone with a wall around her, and doesn’t seem to be the first to start a fight with anyone.
Except Harris himself.
‘Even so, it’s just a childish tic-tac-toe. Let’s just ignore it, because it’ll just get annoying if we get entangled in it. That old man is also my sponsor right now.’
In addition, I had asked Lapory to process the branch of the World Tree I had received as a gift, so it was not good to have conflicts with that girl for no reason.
“Ah··· The weather is nice···.”
Sunny weather, cool shade from trees, and a refreshing breeze.
Harris closed his eyes and sat there, feeling drowsy, listening to the elves’ singing from afar.
In fact, the biggest reason was that everything had become a bother recently.
After coming under the influence of the World Tree and gaining “Natural Affinity,” and continuing to practice it, Harris’s body became increasingly comfortable.
‘You can force your body to move at any time, but I think it’s more beneficial to increase affinity if you just leave it like this. It also seems to help with mental and physical stability.’
Is this what it feels like to become one with nature?
Harris expressed his oneness with water with his whole body and did not move from that spot until the lunch break was over.
“···I feel healed.”
The thought of Shapiron Silvesti had long since disappeared.
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There’s no reason for us to get involved anyway, and if we just keep our distance like we are now, there won’t be any problems.
***
‘I thought so.’
Harris stared blankly at Shapiron standing before him.
She too was glaring at him with a slight frown.
The reason they came to face each other like this was because of the spirit magic training at Drasha Academy.
The moment they said ‘Uh huh’, the professor seemed determined to group them together.
“Okay, everyone’s ready. Now, since there are transfer students, let’s review and go over it again. I think everyone already knows this, but communicating with spirits is extremely important. And as we move into the advanced course….”
Communing with the spirits of nature was an essential element for a spirit master.
And the elves had a very effective secret recipe passed down to them…
That was the dance and the song.
‘Somehow, since coming to Elven Kingdom, I’ve been seeing a lot of people performing on the streets.’
The elves, whose very existence is loved by nature, were able to harmonize with the spirits with just their every gesture and the sound of their voices.
The same goes for the sounds of the instruments they play themselves.
This was truly a privilege and secret that only elves had, something that spirits of other races could not even dream of.
“This method also has the effect of preventing you from becoming lazy by being too immersed in nature. Well, usually, even if you immerse yourself, you will become a little lazy, but isn’t it better to be sincere?”
As the professor’s lecture continued, Harris could quickly see that this was not someone else’s business.
Isn’t it just your own story, without having to think deeply about it?
‘But I don’t think I’ve just become a little lazy.’
Even now, I’m still forcing myself to move my body by exerting my mind, but if I let my mind wander for even a moment, I’ll immediately collapse on the spot.
When I do that, I enter a state of extreme tranquility and find peace in my mind, which helps me relieve stress quite a bit…
‘It was definitely a bit annoying. I guess that was a side effect of excessive immersion.’
It is located next to the World Tree, which can be said to be the source of natural power, and Harris’s “Child of the World Tree,” “Spiritualism,” and “Nature Affinity” skills are all related to affinity.
There was also a high elf bracelet that I received from Lafori.
Thanks to this, the lightning spirit ‘Watt’ recently became a lower-grade, and the fire spirit ‘Kali’ and wind spirit ‘Pascal’ that I contracted a few days ago were also on the verge of evolving.
Considering the time I spent learning spirit magic, it was an absurd growth rate.
“There will be a festival for the new High Elf, Cecily, in a few days. There will be stages set up all over the capital on that day…”
The professor looked around at the students listening to him, trailing off and smiling mischievously.
“We have prepared a stage just for you all at Drasha Academy. It is located in the center, so perhaps Lady Cecily will be able to see it for herself.”
Suddenly, the surroundings became noisy with the voices of students chattering.
“Okay, then let’s put our best efforts together and create our own stage. We will evaluate how well you can communicate with the spirits by watching the stage that day.”
After the lecture ended, a time was set aside for group members to share their opinions.
Harris’ group included two other elves, aside from Shapiron.
“Wow! I’m so lucky to be working with celebrities like Ms. Shapiron and Mr. Harris! I’m Timer Coffin. Please take care of me!”
“······.”
They were a lively man who looked somehow oblivious, and a timid woman who cautiously nodded her head while just observing others.
“Please take care of me. I’m really flustered because I suddenly had to do group activities. I’ll work hard so as not to be a burden.”
Harris greeted them as gently as he could.
I had heard a lot about the notoriety of group projects, but now that I was the one who was going to be the one to do it…
With less than a week left until the actual stage, it was quite a daunting situation for him, a transfer student who had not prepared at all.
But what was disturbing was that Shapiron, who was in the same group as him, also seemed to be no pushover.
“Why… why are you pairing me up with this mercenary with no background… why? why?”
She frowned and kept muttering, then closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath.
“Whew… I guess it can’t be helped since it’s come to this. So, is there anything you can dance or sing? Anything is fine.”
It’s a polite way of asking since it’s obvious there won’t be any.
There was no expectation in those arrogant, look-down eyes.
It was a natural reaction, considering that he had only recently learned the art of spiritism and had been working as a mercenary.
At her words, the other crew members’ gazes also turned this way.
They may not say it out loud, but they must have been worried inside.
“Is there anything you need? We can take care of the rest.”
‘···I feel resentful when you openly criticize me like this.’
Of course, since they had not learned their dance and song, it was impossible to do them right away.
I’ve seen them on the street a few times, but they’re not all the same.
‘But is it really necessary to have the elves’ traditional song and dance?’
In the first place, this was not a set ritual, but a response utilizing racial characteristics.
So, if you can just achieve harmony with the spirits, then the genre doesn’t really matter?
“Hmm… There is a song that I used to like to sing in my hometown….”
He cleared his throat slightly and opened his mouth carefully.
During his school days, he played the guitar a bit and was known to be good at singing.
‘What if the voice of Harris, the elf, is added to it?’
Above all, he had never scored below 80 on a karaoke machine.
