Chapter 168
I grabbed the guy by the collar even harder.
The man in the white armor just stared at me. He had no expression, but his eyes were filled with murderous intent.
"If your status is so high, take responsibility for what you say. Are you saying this with your life on the line?"
He widened his eyes.
He'd never met someone like me in his life.
"You think just because the Elin warriors obey you, we will too? Did you expect humans, as inferior beings, to bow and scrape before someone like you?"
He clenched his teeth.
He was holding back his emotions.
He couldn't afford to fight us.
"Speak! When humans are insulted, we don't put up with it! If you can't take responsibility for your words, then apologize!"
His mouth finally opened.
—Respect my status.
"Did you respect us? Do you think someone who says things they can't even take back is worthy of respect?"
—Release my collar. The elders are watching.
I couldn't believe it.
"Yeah, I guess your prestige is more important than our feelings. Why don't you take a beating from me today?"
—Release this collar! Human!
Wham—
I smacked him right across the face.
He was knocked out in a single hit.
Wham, wham, wham, wham—
I struck his face several more times in a row. His teeth fell out, his nose collapsed, and the skin around his eyes split, spilling blood.
—Stop it!
—It's true the commander went too far! But violence is not permitted in this sacred castle! Stop at once!
The elderly Elin shouted.
But I had already crossed the river.
Wham, wham, wham—
I kept punching his downed face with both fists. He tried to defend himself with magic power, but it was useless.
There was no demon's essence in Aindel. Unlike our knights, they hadn't cultivated their magic power through hard training.
They relied only on their natural bodies and the help of elementals.
He couldn't come to his senses after just one punch and couldn't even block me.
A guy with such lousy magic power, prancing around as a commander, was utterly ridiculous.
Eventually, his subordinates surrounded us.
They looked ready to draw their swords at any moment.
Our group stood up as well.
"Go ahead, draw your swords. Let's see what happens."
The Elin warriors did not respond.
It seemed someone was coming from behind.
—Is something the matter?
I turned to see the queen.
There was obvious displeasure in her eyes.
Funny, considering how she smiled before.
"You don't look pleased."
—It's not enjoyable, no.
So this is Elin.
I didn't expect much, but I'm still disappointed.
"Tell me. Did all the nonsense this guy just said reflect your will? Is that really the case?"
—It is Osu's will.
"So Osu even takes responsibility for lies now."
A deep frown formed on the queen's brow.
She was furious, though restraining herself.
Then Eilin stepped forward.
"I want to leave now. I don't want to stay here any longer."
"We feel the same."
"I don't like it here either."
The members and Yuri felt the same.
They had endured only because of me.
"Let's pretend none of this happened."
I tossed the so-called commander aside.
Then looked up at the Osu tree.
Is this why we were invited here?
"Let's go."
Without a word of farewell, we left the banquet hall.
The Elin warriors slowly made way for us.
Staring at us as if to kill.
If they attack, that means they want war with us. Is that Osu's will? The queen just made a huge mistake toward us.
Even the queen was unpleasant just at my actions. Elin is neither enlightened nor sage. They simply consider their race refined and superior.
—Listen here, Roger.
I just left without responding.
She continued.
—I can order the elementals who accompanied you to leave. Do you really want that?
I looked back.
"Do you really think it'll happen just because you command it?"
The queen's brow deepened.
Elementals follow Osu. Not the queen.
Would Osu really accept that?
—You're not the person I was hoping for.
"You're no different. Don't think I don't see you using Osu's will for your own power. Do you really think Osu would like someone like you?"
—This is your final warning.
I looked back again.
"Do whatever you want."
I glared coldly at the queen.
If the elementals leave, I'll really kill her.
"Listen closely. Why do you think Osu supports us? Because we alone purify the darkness. Not a queen like you. And another thing—"
I looked toward the Elin elders.
"I promise you this. From now on, no matter what happens, we will never help the Elin. And you better not help us either. That's Osu's will, caused by your own queen."
I headed straight to the divine beasts.
The Elin tried to put us beneath them. Giving us gifts as a clever tactic.
It achieved nothing.
The queen can't go against the will of the god-tree Osu. She's angry, but she can't stop us.
Before I came to Aindel, I was curious about many things and had planned to stay longer.
But now, I'm utterly sick of this place. I'll shiver at even the name Aindel.
Now I can even understand why they abandoned half a million of their own people. They act all noble, but have neither freedom nor self-assertion for the lower class. How is that any different from slavery?
The divine beasts were waiting for us. The dark knights also stood before the divine beasts. Even just their 125 dark knights and bronze knights are more than the Elin can handle.
But they acted as if all this had nothing to do with them. Lights from the elementals flashed magnificently. Clearly, to the Osu tree, this whole event was trivial.
Because of that, the queen and Elin were flustered. Did they really believe the god-tree cared only about Elin? If they truly believed that, they're out of their minds.
"You're all ready to leave, right?"
"Of course!"
Just as we tried to climb onto the divine beast's backs,
A mass of elementals' light drifted down from above like a large eye and settled gently before us.
The elementals dispersed.
Where they disappeared, twelve seeds remained.
Then, other elementals gently presented us with three leaves and one twig. I hadn't been told what to do with them, but I somehow knew.
Osu was communicating its will to our own elementals. So I picked up the seeds and handed them out to the group. Allen didn't get one. He didn't have the primordial power.
"Swallow it."
"Just swallow it?"
"Yeah."
"Why don't I have one?"
"You don't need it."
"But why?"
Everyone swallowed the seeds without hesitation.
The instant I swallowed, I felt the seed disappear inside me.
It's not like it was going to actually sprout, right?
"Why don't I get one?"
"Ask the Osu tree."
I packed Osu's leaves and twig in my backpack. I couldn't put them in the magic bag.
The Elin might raid our storage in the magic bag.
Everyone mounted the divine beasts.
At that moment, one Elin came running toward us, but I didn't even turn around.
There would be no further interaction with the Elin.
"Let's go! Divine beasts!"
As soon as I spoke, the divine beasts began to dash.
Once again, the elementals created a bridge of light, and we raced right up it.
This time, the direction was different.
When we arrived, we had entered from the east, but now the bridge extended to the northeast.
Was that where the turtle divine beast was?
I glanced at Eilin by my side.
It was ridiculous that I had frowned while looking at such a beautiful person. I must have just hated the Elin, period.
"Um, I have something to say!"
"What is it?"
"That Elin man I saw, it wasn't what you think..."
"I know! I know it wasn't like that!"
"Hey, Roger! Were you jealous?"
"What, you punk?"
"Come on, you were jealous, right?"
"You only get jealous of guys better than you. Why would I be jealous of that half-wit?"
"He was more handsome than you."
"Says who!"
"Hahahaha!"
The members burst out laughing.
With Allen, I could never tell if he was serious or joking. Did he really not know why we were angry?
It was true that Eilin had come to fill the void in my heart. Seeing that pale-faced guy treat someone like Eilin as if she was a bug just made me even angrier.
Would Eilin ever care for some pretty-faced Elin? If I got jealous over a guy like that, what would that say about me? If it were a genuinely exceptional and noble person, then maybe.
The divine beasts ran with vigor.
I felt refreshed and liberated. No one who tries to rule over us will be left alone.
"The turtle is over there!"
A dark object appeared in the sea.
Was the turtle heading north?
The bridge gradually sloped down.
Soon we landed on the ground and kept running toward the shore. The sea was still a long way off.
I couldn't tell if we were in central Aindel or at its northern end. In any case, if we left north, then headed west, we'd cross the sea to our new territory.
If we went straight north, we'd reach the northern continent said to be shrouded in darkness. That's likely where Gadisil lived. East from there would be 'ice' Gadisil.
Honestly, it didn't matter where we went.
We could confirm the mutated Gadisil's identity and then land straight into the Empire's western region. We could go straight to our new territory too.
But there were Elin waiting for us ahead.
They were waving as if afraid we'd just bolt over. They were female Elin.
—Please stop for a moment!
Elin women in white stood atop the coastal cliff. If they jumped down, they'd land straight onto the turtle's back. I decided to see what they wanted.
"Divine beasts! Halt over there!"
The divine beasts gradually slowed.
And then stopped before the Elin women.
They were all beautiful.
"What's your business?"
—The queen sent us.
"For what reason?"
—She said to give you this.
She handed me a pouch.
"What is this?"
—A gift the queen promised you.
"I'm not accepting it."
—Please, you must accept it!
The women fell to their knees.
As if to block us with their bodies.
"The guardian elemental will be with one of our own, and we have a magic warehouse. We have plenty of ships, too, so we don't need gifts like this. Tell the queen I have no intention of following her wishes."
—The queen said to deliver the gift without condition. Please, just accept it.
It seemed Osu had communicated something to them.
Something that could undermine the queen's authority. Or maybe someone had raised an objection.
For now, I took the leather pouch.
But had no intention of following the queen's wishes.
"There's no apology?"
—We apologize on her behalf.
The Elin bowed their heads.
"What's the relationship between her and that man?"
—He is the queen's son.
"I see."
If you can't separate personal and official matters, you're no better than the rest.
Maybe I unfairly looked up to Elin. If those steeped in power behave like this, what's the difference?
And yet the queen still won't apologize. She was just trying to win us over with gifts now that her authority was shaken. It won't be easy.
"Tell the queen this: I'll accept the gift as a gesture of apology, but I will do nothing for the Elin. Not until the queen herself sincerely apologizes to us."
The Elin women fell silent.
She would never apologize.
"I take this gift as an apology, and that's all. As I said, I will not help you, nor shall we ever meet again. Let's go!"
I soared right over the Elin, flying down the cliff to land lightly on the turtle's back. Once everyone boarded the divine beasts, the turtle started moving.
Racial power means nothing before the divine. All Osu cares about is that this world doesn't succumb to the darkness. That means we're more important than a hundred kings.
Maybe Elin has political struggles or clan rivalries. So going against Osu's will is as good as putting your throne at risk. It couldn't be more obvious.
"So, where to next?"
We had set off, but—
Would the turtle really go where we wanted?
"Any suggestions?"
Donnie answered.
"We could go straight to the new territory! But wouldn't it be better to head for the Empire's west? There are wolves in the east, but if these divine beasts are in the west, that would be better!"
"Yeah. Let's head for the Empire's west."
If the ice Gadisil marches, these divine beasts can stop them.
Then it's better to be in the western mountains.
"The turtle seems to be heading northeast, though?"
"Is it taking us somewhere else again?"
"Who knows. The Empire's west is that way, anyway."
Was there something in the northeast too?
There was probably a reason.
That's when everyone got off the divine beasts.
Everybody stared out at the sea.
Allen sidled up to me.
"You. Listen."
"What now?"
Allen shot me a sly look.
"You started that fight on purpose, didn't you? Just to get out of doing the favor the queen asked."
"What are you talking about?"
"Come on. You wanted the gift, but didn't want to bother purifying the northern continent's darkness, so you started a fight instead, right?"
The others looked at me.
Some snickered.
"Nope."
"Of course you did. You figured, thanks to Osu or whatever that god-tree is, the queen would have to give us gifts anyway. So you staged that fight, didn't you?"
"What do you take me for? Things just turned out that way. I was going to leave without accepting the gift!"
Allen snickered.
"Honestly, Roger, you have a nasty streak. Hahahaha!"
"What are you talking about?"
Allen isn't just 'different'—he's weird. It's not a matter of race; he's just a strange guy. Does he seriously not get why we were angry? How could he not?
Anyway, we're headed home now.
I really miss a home-cooked meal.