Free Web NovelWas the conversation not what he had thought it was?
“Ah, you mean threatening them. Scaring them so they won’t chase you anymore? That’s a solid approach.” Ian nodded.
“It seems my pronunciation was unclear.” Genea blinked slowly. “I want to speak with them.”
“Hmm, I see... after we capture them, of course.”
“They won’t listen to me while I’m still free.”
That much was true.
To the elf rangers, Genea was the criminal responsible for the World Tree’s decline—and on top of that, a fugitive.
Still, dragging them here through dungeon traps hardly guaranteed they would listen to her.
Genea did not seem particularly skilled at explaining herself.
“Or maybe she’s just terrible at talking?”
Everything she had done since entering the dungeon supported that theory.
She had insisted the dungeon was dangerous and demanded its closure, only to voluntarily become a prisoner in return. Was that really a profitable exchange?
Even if the imprisonment had been her own choice...
“Wait. Is she actually good at this?”
The creatures in the dungeon had spared the one who warned them about an approaching “crisis.” More than that, she had even managed to secure benefits for herself in the process.
Ian found himself genuinely confused.
Still, he agreed with the idea of capturing the elf rangers. If Genea’s conversation with them succeeded, the elf village itself might be saved.
Which meant they could gain powerful allies.
Naturally, Ian had no intention of letting Genea leave. He fully intended to keep her at his side while saving the elf village along the way.
“That really is the ideal outcome.” Ian nodded to himself.
“You’re right. If they refuse to listen willingly, then we’ll simply have to make them listen.”
“As expected of Lord Ian. Your wisdom truly knows no limits.”
“You understand me well.” Ian grinned. “Good. Let’s prepare to capture those elf rangers.”
Genea’s loyalty seemed to rise by the second, and Ian couldn’t suppress the smile spreading across his face.
Unfortunately, to everyone else, that smile looked more like this:
“Ah! Lord Ian has fallen for her charms!”
To Sema, Genea was the intruder who had stormed into the dungeon, taken him hostage, and forced its closure.
She might have had her reasons, but was Lord Ian really the sort of person who would be swayed by a few sympathetic words?
He barely smiled at anyone to begin with, which made his unusual kindness toward this elf all the more alarming.
Sema tugged frantically at Keith’s cloak.
“Sir Keith! Sir Keith!”
“What is it?”
“Did you finally do something horrible enough to lose Lord Ian’s favor?! What could you possibly have done—with that face, no less?!”
“...What exactly are you talking about?”
“Lord Ian has been captivated by a new beauty!”
Just what had this knight been doing all this time that he couldn’t properly satisfy Lord Ian? Sema looked moments away from tears.
“......”
Keith paid little attention to Sema’s nonsense.
Though Sema enjoyed Ian’s favor, few people took his opinions seriously. It never took long to realize he lacked even basic common sense.
Still, Keith disliked seeing Ian smile at Genea.
It had taken him a very long time to earn that smile himself.
“What’s different about her?”
Was it because their first meeting had gone so poorly?
Had his open hatred toward the traitorous clan made Ian see him as a fool? It would make sense. Back then, he had even injured Ian’s delicate skin.
Ever since returning to the dungeon, Keith had been feeling something strange—something he couldn’t quite put into words.
During their long journey together, he had been the only one at Ian’s side.
Yet now Ian trusted countless subordinates, surrounded himself with them, issued orders to them, and was welcomed wherever he went.
At times, it almost felt as though Ian no longer needed him as much as before.
Of course, that couldn’t possibly be true.
After all, Keith’s abilities far surpassed everyone else’s.
Ian, who had been speaking quietly with Genea, finally lifted his gaze and beckoned him over.
His eyes were filled with trust.
“Keith. Your role is important.”
“Yes. Please give your orders.”
“You’ll block off their retreat from the rear.”
“I will obey whatever you command.”
As Keith approached, a faint smile surfaced on his lips.
Ian looked visibly exhausted, yet Keith himself felt none of the fatigue from the journey. He had enjoyed every moment of it. Being beside Ian had brought him peace. {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} His heart had remained full, and warmth had never once left his chest.
And now, once again, that warmth filled the emptiness inside him.
The journey itself might be over, but the bond between him and Ian would never change.
Ian might not feel as strongly as Keith did, but Keith knew he held a special place in Ian’s heart.
He was the most trusted among Ian’s followers.
Moiken, leader of the elf rangers and bearer of the title “First Archer,” pursued the fugitive Genea deep into the southern Dark Forest.
Ordinarily, forests belonged to the elves. Nature itself stood on their side.
But this forest was different.
A woodland corrupted by demonic energy.
A jungle crawling with mamool.
The dense canopy swallowed the sunlight whole, while rotten roots drank greedily from the land’s foul corruption.
Places like this occasionally appeared in the world—lands where corruption had sunk too deep to cleanse. freewebnovel.cσ๓
And for elves, beings deeply attuned to nature, demonic energy was especially unbearable.
The moment they entered the Dark Forest, the rangers’ expressions twisted in disgust. Some immediately began vomiting.
“Captain... what should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do?” Moiken spat onto the ground. “Are you saying we should let a fugitive escape?”
“No, but... I still can’t believe Genea betrayed our people. Letting the World Tree wither away and abandoning the village? There has to be some misunderstanding.” The deputy spoke carefully.
“And besides... wasn’t she your—”
“Watch your tongue.”
Moiken’s voice turned ice-cold.
“When she accepted the sacred duty entrusted to our people, I was proud of her. But she failed in that duty. And instead of accepting punishment, she fled.”
His expression twisted bitterly.
“The fact that someone like that is my sister... is a disgrace.”
“If we capture her, what happens then?” the deputy asked with a sigh.
“We’ll throw her into the deepest prison pit, somewhere escape is impossible. Then we’ll hear her explanation slowly. Piece by piece.”
Moiken practically spat the words out.
“Why did she betray us...?”
The deputy pressed a hand against his chest in frustration.
“I’m telling you, she would never deliberately neglect the World Tree!”
“Incompetence is still a crime!” Moiken roared. “A crime! Do you know why our newly born kin are now being exposed to horrifying demonic energy? Because of her!”
He stomped down furiously.
At times like this, nobody dared argue with him.
Unlike his calm and gentle sister, Moiken was infamous for his explosive temper.
“Stop vomiting and get up, you pathetic fools! You can’t even keep up with a prisoner who’s been locked away for days?”
“S-Sorry, Captain!”
The rangers who had been bent over retching forced themselves upright, clutching nearby trees for support.
They chewed detoxifying herbs that burst with bitter juice inside their mouths, forcing the demonic energy out of their bodies. Tears streamed from their eyes as they pressed deeper into the forest.
Then they saw it.
A familiar head of hair.
“There!”
“It’s Genea!”
“Stop right there!”
Genea glanced back at them once before immediately breaking into a sprint.
Wind spirits gathered around her, propelling her forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
But she was not the only spirit user present.
The earth spirit contracted to Moiken swapped the ground beneath him with a distant patch of earth, hurling him forward in an instant.
Another ranger borrowed the strength of a tree spirit, launching skyward atop a sudden eruption of leaves and branches.
Meanwhile, a water spirit user transformed the earth beneath Genea’s feet into a sucking mire.
“Ugh...!”
Genea faltered.
Moiken seized the opportunity without hesitation.
He drew his bow and released an arrow.
Fwip—!
And in the next instant, Genea vanished straight into the ground.
“......?!”
“What the—?!”
Moiken did not pause to think.
He immediately dove into the hole Genea had disappeared through.
The other elves had no choice but to follow him one after another into the underground tunnel.
Ahead of them echoed the sound of retreating footsteps.
Elven ears, sharp enough to catch even the faintest noise, could hear it clearly.
“Stop right there!”
Moiken charged ahead.
The narrow tunnel eventually opened into a far deeper cavern.
The darkness thickened.
The ground beneath their feet grew treacherous and slick, so slippery that even elves struggled to keep their footing.
Then—
Without warning, a herd of sheep came charging at them.
Baaa!
Their wool looked soft, but their bodies were as hard as steel.
“Ugh?!”
One slammed directly into Moiken’s solar plexus.
The impact folded him in half before sending him crashing to the ground.
