Extras are too strong 495
Lorodish guided the group to a building right next to the golden tree.
This building was also similar in size and shape to the houses in the village.
The ceiling was open, but the sky was not visible, because the branches of the golden tree were growing right above.
The sunlight reflecting off the golden leaves poured in, making it feel brighter than when I was outside.
There was no feeling of living inside at all. There was only a table that looked like it had been cut from the middle of a large tree about 4 meters in diameter, and several chairs that also looked like they had been cut from the middle of a tree were placed around it.
“It’s a building used as a conference room. You can’t see inside from the outside, and no sound leaks out.”
A powerful spell was cast over the entire building.
As the group sat down on their chairs, Lorodishé spoke into the air.
Then, a starlight elf woman came in from outside and placed teacups in front of the group.
‘Elfs have a tea culture too.’
Mord took a sip of the tea and it had a sweet aroma.
It was a rich and sweet tea aroma that I had never tasted before in the tea culture of this world. It reminded me of the scented tea I had drunk on Earth.
When Mord looked at his colleagues, they all seemed pleased.
Indeed, since this world has a lower level of civilization than Earth, sweetness is rare. This kind of sweet scent was bound to have a good response.
Lorodish opened his mouth.
“First of all, thank you for coming such a long way. And thank you for saving our compatriots and bringing them back.”
“It’s late, but I should also express my gratitude.”
“hmm?”
Lorodishe looked puzzled at Mord’s words.
“Thank you for helping us back then. Thanks to you, we were all able to survive.”
When the Three Gods of the North, Eneka, tested the party, the secret intervention of Lorodish and Belsair proved to be of great help.
If it weren’t for the intervention of the two elves, several of the party might have died.
In addition, the Forest of the Stolen is in an alliance with the Silver Blood. Without the help of the Silver Blood, it would be difficult to operate the organization while receiving the necessary supplies from human society.
Given these circumstances, Lorodish and Belsair took a huge risk in helping the group.
“I thank you too. Thanks to you, my life was saved.”
Keel thanked him politely.
In particular, Keel was greatly indebted to Lorodish and Belsair.
Because I was able to counterattack with the power of the mythical spirits they lent me, and I was able to overcome the crisis where I almost died from the spirit transformation rampage.
“Oh, you’re the spirit sorcerer who went berserk back then?”
“yes.”
“…How did you recover?”
Lorodish opened her eyes wide. If you didn’t know her true identity, her face looked cute, like that of a curious girl.
Sedeia said.
“I restored it.”
“Ah, over there… … .”
“My name is Sedeia. Thank you for your help back then.”
“Can I call you Miss Sedeia?”
“yes.”
“You can call me Lorodische too.”
“Yes, Mr. Lorodish.”
“Why are you wearing a mask?”
“To avoid unnecessary confusion. But I guess it’s not necessary to write it here.”
Sede took off her mask, revealing her bare face.
“… … .”
Lorodiche was momentarily dumbfounded.
Although I have lived for nearly a thousand years, this was the first time I had the experience of losing my soul upon seeing someone’s face.
“… That, that makes sense.”
She was so embarrassed that she even stammered.
I never imagined that I would be overwhelmed by the beauty of a being that was not an elf, but a human, or to be precise, a human female.
Sedea laughed playfully.
“Shall I write it again?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, but I would appreciate it if you could do that. It’s not good for the old man’s heart.”
Lorodish was not only dazzled by the beauty, but his face was also flushed.
Sedea put her mask back on without showing any sign of displeasure.
The other party members all looked at Lorodiche with a strange feeling.
She looks like a young girl, but she speaks and gestures like an old person, so it’s hard to adapt.
However, Sedea did not feel that awkward. In mythology, it was very common for beings whose appearance and age did not match.
“Wow, who would I almost fall in love with at this age… It’s a girl… … .”
Lorodishé covered her flushed cheeks and shook her head violently.
He looked really cute, but the content of his muttering was unusual.
“Hey… Miss Sede, you’re not human, are you?”
“yes.”
“Are you perhaps a member of the spirit clan?”
“Yes.”
“So you are the being that Naphric’s milestone spoke of… … .”
Sedea tilted her head at Lorodish’s muttering.
“Naprik’s milestone?”
“Ah, this is the treasure that the hero Naphrik gave us, who united the elves against the Golden Elves. When we stand at a crossroads of fate, it provides us with a clue to take the right path. It has only happened three times, and the last time was with Miss Sedeah.”
“Before you ask what that means… I have one question.”
“What is it?”
“Mr. Lorodische, I heard that you have been alive since before the end of mythology.”
“Yeah. About a thousand years old.”
For a moment, everyone held their breath.
‘A thousand years old?’
‘Even if elves are long-lived, can they live for a thousand years?’
Because the thousand years that Lorodish had casually mentioned felt absurdly long.
Sedea asked.
“Was it possible that in the time you lived, the spirit clan had already disappeared?”
“As far as I know, that’s it. The spirit clan was only known through literature and legends.”
“I see. It was cut off earlier than I thought.”
Sedeia sighed after her curiosity was satisfied.
Lorodiche said.
“The Naphrik signpost said that our fate was at a major crossroads, and that the key to taking the right path lay in receiving help from the spirit clan that had appeared in the present world.”
“… So that’s why?”
Mord, who had been listening quietly, intervened.
“Hmm? What?”
“We rescued the elves from the Golden Elves and sent them to you through Eresban. We thought that we could establish friendly relations through that.”
However, it was incomprehensible that the elders of the Forest Alliance, especially the most powerful ones, Lorodish and Belsair, came to visit the group.
Didn’t he not just come looking for her, but even risk rubbing up against her blood and offering to help her?
“I was wondering why… Now it makes sense.”
“That’s right. That’s why Belsair and I went to meet you in person.”
Lorodish admitted it coolly.
“I never imagined that the blood of Eun-ui would be fighting against you.”
Perhaps, even up until that timing, it was guided by Naphrik’s milestones.
It was a story that was possible only three times, if it was a mythical treasure that guided the contractor in the right direction at a crossroads of fate.
Sedea asked.
“Why do you need my help?”
“Oh, can we talk about that when Belsair comes?”
“Okay, then.”
“Could you tell me the story of the fight against the Golden Bough? Judging from the fact that we rescued over 200 slave soldiers, it must have been quite a large-scale battle… … .”
“Let me explain.”
Parwell came forward and described in detail the fight between the Golden Bough search party and the pursuers.
He gave a moderate explanation of the party’s abilities, and explained the Golden Bough’s strength in great detail.
Lorodiche wanted to hear this story not because he wanted to hear a tale of bravery, but to get information about the Golden Bough.
Since it was a fairly recent event, it could be used as important reference material to see how Golden Bough organized and operated the expedition team.
As they were talking like that, a tall elf woman named Belsaer came in, her lower face covered by a black mask.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Belsair apologized to the group and took his empty seat.
“All 208 of them were combatants. There were more than a few skilled people who I would want to deploy to our side in combat right away… … .”
“really?”
“Yes. Among those who were said to be part of the exploration team, there were some who followed us around for odd jobs, and they also had the ability to be combatants. And those who were said to be part of the pursuit team were all elite.”
“I guess I’ll have to suffer under the scrutiny of the unit commanders for a while.”
“It’s a happy worry.”
The Stolen Forest Alliance was an organization suffering from a chronic manpower shortage.
For these people, a well-trained combat force of more than 200 men was like rain in a drought.
The commanders will be fighting to bring at least one more person to their units.
Mord asked.
“What happens to them? Are they all deployed as combatants?”
“No. I’ll let you choose after you’ve been trained for a while.”
“education?”
“Education to live as elves, not slaves. They only know life as slaves, so they must learn what they need to know to live as one of us.”
“indeed.”
Mord was amazed. It was surprising that in this day and age, they had thought about such a problem and prepared a solution.
“How long is the training period?”
“One year.”
“… … .”
“why?”
“No, that’s great.”
It was surprising that a single combatant would spend so much time in such a pitiful organization, in a world that was so barbaric compared to modern Earth.
But Lorodish misunderstood Mord’s reaction.
“I know. It’s too short, isn’t it?”
“hmm?”
“I think it’s something to be criticized. Honestly, I think they should be educated for 10 years… I guess we don’t have the luxury.”
“… … .”
Mord and his group all looked at her in bewilderment as she blushed.
‘The concept of time is completely different?’
From a human perspective, investing a year in their resocialization education is a very long time. It is an incredible thing by the standards of this world and this era.
But from an elf’s perspective, a year is not a long time at all.
If you think about it, humans in most places have a coming of age ceremony at age 15, but elves… … .
‘The golden elf’s standard age of adulthood was 60.’
The concept of time had to be different.
Lorodiche said.
“Let’s talk about this later… Let’s start by telling you why we invited you.”
“There is a being who desperately needs your… or rather, the spirit clan’s help. Would you be able to meet them?”
Sedeia did not answer right away, but looked at Mord.
When Mord nodded, she nodded back.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Oh, by the way… Spirit Clan, can you tell me your name?”
“My name is Sedea.”
“Sedea, would it be rude to ask why you are wearing a mask?”
“I asked.”
Lorodiche said, pulling at the hem of Belsire’s clothes.
“hmm?”
“I saw your bare face and asked you to put the mask back on, so I’m wearing it now. It’s not good for your heart.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“No, really. That’s a face that’s not good for your heart… … .”
Belsair looked completely incomprehensible, but instead of explaining, Lorodish changed the subject.
“Do any of you have trouble going underground?”
“does not exist.”
“That’s fortunate. There’s someone I need to meet underground.”
Most elves dislike enclosed environments much more than humans.
When you enter a dark underground space, you experience even more intense stress. The stress is incomparable to what humans experience in the same environment.
Because of this, the elves were cautious about suggesting to others that they go to the underground space.
Parwell asked after hearing this explanation from Mord.
“Are all elves like that?”
“No, that’s not true. The stone elves are fine.”
“What about you two?”
“We don’t like it, but that’s okay.”
Lorodish took his party to a secret passage between the roots of the golden tree.
The passage is completely unremarkable from the outside. When Lorodishé utters the ciphered spell, some of the golden tree’s roots move as if alive, revealing a passageway that runs diagonally underground.
Lorodish summoned a spirit of light to illuminate the surroundings and walked ahead.
But the distance we walked was only about a few dozen meters.
“You have to fall down here.”
“hmm?”
“I’ll open a path down here with the spirit of the earth. Should I cast a spell, or do you want to go your own way?”
“Do as you wish.”
“Okay. Then I’ll count to three and then do it.”
Soon, as she summoned the earth elemental, a hole appeared in the previously sound floor as if it was collapsing.
Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet felt empty, but none of the group panicked because they had been warned in advance. Everyone checked the falling speed of Lorodish and Belsair and adjusted their own falling speed accordingly.
‘That’s stylish.’
Mord noticed how Belsair slowed down his descent in such a situation.
She is a spirit sorcerer who deals with mythical spirits. However, in this situation, instead of using spirits, she uses magic to reduce her falling speed.
The way it was done was quite admirable.
He wrapped his entire body in aura, and slowly fell down by adjusting the friction between the aura and the air to the desired level, with almost no wasted magic power.
‘I’ll have to practice later.’
Mord’s eyes lit up with interest.
Beside him, Darcy was also looking at Belsair with the same gaze.
“It’s really deep.”
As they reached the bottom, Parwell looked up and muttered.
It was over 100 meters from top to bottom.
It was surprising that there was such a deep underground space in a village of elves who absolutely hated the underground.
Lorodiche said.
“The being we are about to meet is uncomfortable on the surface. It likes the underground, where there is no sunlight. It is the complete opposite of us.”
“Are you a dwarf?”
“uh?”
Lorodish’s eyes widened at Mord’s question.
“…How do you know that?”
Belsair’s voice trembled from behind the black mask.
