Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38
After the quiet war preparations began.
Ian spent busier days than ever before.
After finishing his morning training, he selected those with traits from the newcomers of the Golden Goblin Merchant Guild and the slaves rescued from the slave trader caravans.
In the afternoon, he supervised the individual training of the new members.
In the evening, after receiving reports from the merchant guild and the Black Noble Troop, he revised the next plan and squeezed in more time for his personal training.
“Phew……”
Whenever he had a spare moment, he participated in the slave trader caravan raids with the Black Noble Troop, so his only break was when he was collapsed from mana exhaustion after squeezing out his mana to its limit.
“Is it two months now?”
Lying on the floor from mana exhaustion, he turned his head and looked at the trainees occupying one side of the training ground.
The newcomers, each having found a weapon that suited their hands, were tirelessly swinging various weapons.
The Black Noble Troop, having returned from their mission, would either train with the newcomers, finding them endearing, or teach them.
“I should probably start trying out other weapons soon too……”
Due to the influence of the traits [Dark Emperor ] and the Ghost King's martial arts, the dagger, which was advantageous for surprise attacks, suited his hands the best.
However, it was a weapon that did not go well with [Desire for Blood], which became more effective the more blood it saw, or [Struggle Desire of the Giant King ], which yielded greater effects the more one was immersed in battle.
It would be nice to know the axe techniques that Count Mogul used, but since the Moner family did not appear in the game, Count Mogul's secret art did not appear either.
“In the end, I have no choice but to meet one of the heroes.”
At his muttered words, Reina, who was passing by, approached and asked.
“A hero?”
“Yes.
Like a Sword Saint or a Spear God .
People who have reached the pinnacle with a single weapon.”
After tilting her head for a moment, she said.
“A Sword Saint?
You mean Duke Moner?”
In that instant, forgetting that he was out of mana, he snapped his head up and looked at Reina.
“What did you say?”
“Duke Moner was called the First Sword of the Reime Kingdom, the Sword Saint.”
“The Duke is a Sword Saint?”
That could not be.
The Sword Saint in the game was a fledgling who had just entered the Empire's academy.
Since ‘Lost Chronicle’ had persistently sprinkled information about the past here and there, if the Duke had been a great figure like a Sword Saint, it was impossible that he had not read any records about him.
Unless someone had intentionally erased the records.
‘Is this the second one after the demonic race……?’
The second difference between the Lost Chronicle in the game and this world was clear.
“By any chance, are there any records of my father's swordsmanship left?”
He asked Reina without much expectation.
Even if the Duke's secret art of swordsmanship was hidden somewhere in the family, there was no way she, who was just a mere maid, would know.
However, she, with a clear smile, possessed information he had not expected.
“Of course, wouldn't the knightly order at the front line know?
I heard that all the knights at the front line learned the same swordsmanship as the Duke.”
In that instant, his heart sank.
“The same swordsmanship?”
During the more than five years he had played the game, it was impossible that he had not tried to create a knightly order with the skills and abilities of a hero.
If he could create a hero, he would be able to win the war between humans and monsters.
The only fruit of all those efforts was the ‘Resistance Army’ secret art, including the ‘Resistance Army Mana Secret Art Verse’ that the Black Noble Troop had learned.
One that anyone could learn and anyone could achieve results with.
The reason why the ‘Resistance Army Mana Secret Art Verse’, which was inferior to the Ghost King's Ghost Absorption Method, was legendary was its versatility.
However, a hero's secret art was different.
Those without talent could not even learn it.
The only ones who could learn a hero's secret art were those with similar traits.
In other words, a secret art could not be transmitted unless the trait was shared.
The reason why the martial arts of this world were particularly exclusive and passed down through direct lineage was that the trait was a genetic quality that flowed through the blood.
“A knightly order with all members having similar traits……”
He turned his head and looked at the Black Noble Troop, who were engrossed in training.
A knightly order with all members having traits was the ideal force I had dreamed of first after possessing Ian.
A secret force created using the traits [The Capable Incompetent] and [Eye of the Gold Fiend].
If Reina's explanation was true, the Duke had not only surpassed the Black Noble Troop, who simply had outstanding traits, but had gathered only those with similar traits to create a knightly order.
‘There can't be that many people with similar traits…….’
In the end, it was clear that the Duke had the ability to transmit traits.
“I really need to go to the front line as soon as possible to meet the knightly order.”
“Yes, Young Master.
Ah!”
Reina, who was nodding and answering, continued as if she had just remembered.
“That rude Dark Elf came to see you, Young Lord, the other day.
What should I do?”
A Dark Elf whose name he had not even heard.
The fishing rod he had been waiting for for a long time shook violently.
* * *
Ian headed to the reception room with Reina.
“What will you do if they don't move as you wish?”
Reina, who was following Ian a step behind, asked cautiously.
“Then the time to go to the front line will be delayed.
I'll have to burn down the forest after smashing the three domains.”
If they followed the World Tree even after hearing the truth, the Dark Elves, like the Elves, would eventually stand on the opposite side of humans.
It was better to burn down every last seed than to have an enemy within.
“…Yes, Young Master.”
Even at Ian's words that he would kill all the Dark Elves in the western forest, Reina nodded without batting an eye.
“I should increase my training time from tomorrow.”
She just quietly gripped the handle of the flail behind her back.
“Don't worry.
No matter how foolish they are, once they face the truth, they will have no choice but to ask the Moner family for help.”
When they arrived at the reception room, the Dark Elf who had been waiting in advance bowed her head deeply and greeted him.
“I greet the young lord of the great Moner family, who protects the Forest of Demonic Beasts.”
The same greeting as before.
A completely different atmosphere.
The voice that seemed to bewitch people was low and sunken, and the eyes that had shone as if to kill Ian, who had insulted the World Tree, were lifeless.
“I see a resident of the western forest.”
As Ian gave a short nod, the Dark Elf threw back the robe she had pulled over her head.
A beautiful appearance as if copied from the form of a god, pointed and long ears indicating that she was an elf, and an alluring dark brown skin.
The Dark Elf looked straight at Ian and opened her mouth.
“Last time, you said there was no need to know the name of a worthless opponent.”
I think that was what I said.
There was no one more difficult to talk to than an elf who was a fanatic of the World Tree.
If I remember correctly, the last time I saw her, I had slapped her cheeks until we could have a conversation.
“I am Akasha.
A Dark Elf.
A race abandoned by God and parents.”
Bowing her head once more, she spat out the words, syllable by syllable.
“Please save us.”
Desperation and anger were evident in her low-pitched voice.
“You must have asked the World Tree.”
“……”
I did not know exactly why the World Tree had abandoned the Dark Elves.
The only information that came out in the game was that the World Tree had never once cared for the Dark Elves.
“I have no obligation to save you.”
“But……!”
“Listen to me.
I said on the day we first met, let's make a deal.
I have no obligation to save you, but we can make a deal.”
Akasha, who had calmed down for a moment, nodded and opened her mouth.
“…You said you wanted a ranger unit.”
“Yes, a Dark Elf ranger.”
The mounted warriors of the grasslands, called the sharpest bows on the continent, the elves of the forest, were nothing compared to the Dark Elf rangers.
There were probably no other archers in the entire continent who could kill an opponent from a kilometer away with a wooden bow and mana, not a crossbow.
The ghosts of the front lines who had created a solid barrier even against the endlessly descending monsters.
For them, giving a part of the domain would not be a loss.
“……”
Akasha, who had been silent, slowly opened her mouth.
“In return, I want revenge.”
She met his eyes, which were flashing with anger.
“For a countless amount of time, my family, my friends, my comrades have died.
We did not lose hope even as we were chased to the ends of the earth, praying for peace and well-being to the World Tree every day.”
What did it feel like to be a creature abandoned by the god of one's race?
I could only guess at the pain, feeling the indelible resentment in her low, composed voice.
“It said that it was the will of the World Tree to spread malicious rumors about the Dark Elves on the continent, and to track down and hunt us who had been hiding for so long.”
The Dark Elves, who had hidden themselves from the world for a long time, now faced the truth, and they no longer tried to hide their beautiful brown skin, their existence.
“Please give me the opportunity to take revenge on the god who took my family, my friends, my comrades, and our hope.”
Hearing the Dark Elf's desperate plea, Ian smiled and replied.
* * *
“Ha, this is unconscionable.”
The basis of a deal was give and take.
You get what you give.
To take revenge on the World Tree, even all the elves on the continent would not be enough, but to ask for revenge with just one Dark Elf?
Elves were the problem.
They all lived in the forest, eating grass, so they probably did not know how harsh and desolate the wild world was.
“Ah, I-I'm sorry.”
As Akasha, flustered at having acted emotionally belatedly, bowed her head and apologized, Ian continued.
“I can't promise.
It's much more likely that you and I will die before that, and no one knows how the future will change.”
The young lady before him, with a flower garden in her head, probably did not know, but the World Tree and the Elves eventually stood on the opposite side of humans.
“Still, if we survive until the end.
I promise to give you a chance then.”
“If we survive… you say.”
If they survived, there would be a chance.
No, the chance would only be given to those who survived.
Clearing this world, Lost Chronicle, and the Dark Elves' revenge would be impossible if we did not survive.
“So try to survive well.”
Unfortunately, this was not a subject for a deal.
“Then let's continue the deal.
Didn't I say I'd give you a chance to take revenge on the hunters who hunted you last time?”
Ian raised one corner of his mouth and said.
“I know very well who did it.”
So I had to give them a proper reward.
* * *
Ian promised freedom in exchange for the ranger unit.
The freedom to no longer have to live in hiding, to be safe from the world.
He had decided to accept all the Dark Elves in the western forest as members of the Moner family.
“Will you really be alright?”
Accepting the cursed elves into the family was not an easy decision.
Just by accepting the Dark Elves, who were ostracized by the continent, the honor of the Moner family might fall to the ground.
“Don't worry.”
In a situation where rumors were already rampant that the Golden Goblin's hiring of the local beggars was for the young lord's human experiments, sacrifices for human offerings, or materials for black magic, it did not seem likely that the Dark Elves would affect their notoriety.
The Regent or the vassals might oppose it, but there was no need to worry about that either.
“It was the previous Duke who strictly accepted you.
I'm going to say that I am carrying on his will.”
‘To bring in high-quality troops for free, this much effort is nothing.’
Akasha stared at Ian, who was smiling crookedly with a strange expression, for a long time.