NOVEL WEB Chapter 20: Village Of Elves (3)
“Even when I looked around, I couldn’t see any houses, you know?”
“…That’s strange. I heard it was on the outskirts of the village.”
The young man and the short man were a pair, assigned to a sector and were looking around the area.
But strangely, among the reported areas where there were houses, there were only young men and women or elderly people, no children.
It didn’t seem like there were any sons, and everyone shook their heads when asked.
Since they had no right to forcibly enter someone’s house for investigation, they had no choice but to conclude their investigation and return.
It was still the first day of the search.
If they took their time and investigated slowly, they would surely find what they were looking for.
Plus, the reward for this request was very generous.
They didn’t know why, but it must have been an important job.
The young man lay down next to the man.
“If we’ve looked this much and haven’t found it, it must have already left the village. Let’s stop looking and rest for today, shall we?”
It was a reasonable suggestion.
The man also thought about resting, so he looked at the young man and chuckled.
“Why did you decide to become an informant when you’re so lazy?”
“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”
“It’s funny. A lazy guy like you doing such a troublesome job.”
At his words, the young man thought for a moment, then smiled back.
“So what? It’s troublesome to look for another job.”
“Hahaha. I shiver at the thought of you doing business.”
The two of them joked and laughed together.
However, they didn’t know.
Among the houses thatwere reported, there was a house with the person they were looking for.
As they stepped inside, the rich scent of wood wafted through the air.
The smell of old books tickled their noses.
“Sit here.”
“Thank you.”
Pia greeted the elder who offered her a seat, then gestured for Ray to sit next to her.
Upon sitting down, the elder spoke.
“So, if you’ve chosen him as a candidate for your helper, he must meet all the requirements, right?”
“Yes. He was strong enough to protect himself, and he had never lied to me. He hadn’t done any suspicious actions either…”
She remembered something while speaking, but shook her head to dismiss the thought.
“Suspicious actions…”
But she couldn’t continue her words because of the characteristic of elves that prevented them from lying.
Scenes like exploding mana and running, or letting out strange laughter while running through the forest came to mind.
The elder narrowed his eyes at that sight.
“Does that mean he did suspicious actions? Or he didn’t?”
“…He did. But there were no harmful intentions. No bad intentions either.”
“……”
The elder was silent for a moment, then eventually nodded.
“Alright. If you insist, I will believe you.”
“Thank you.”
Pia bowed her head in gratitude.
Ray, who was listening to their conversation, was dumbfounded.
He had no intention of becoming a helper.
He hadn’t even thought of that in the first place.
If asked why he came to the elf village, he would answer without hesitation, “Because I had nothing else to do.”
He went out for a walk to momentarily forget about the problems related to the kingdom and to get some fresh air, and coming to this village was just an extension of that walk.
He was dumbfounded when they started dancing after playing the drum and the janggu among themselves.
“I didn’t say I would be an accomplice.”
“There are many benefits to becoming an accomplice. First of all, you can freely come and visit our village, and you will be acknowledged as our friend.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
To Pia, what she said sounded like, “Your walk is going to be a bit longer.”
She brightened up thinking Ray nodded in agreement.
“You’re strange but kind because you’re nice.”
“…”
As always, being called strange was unpleasant.
Ray glanced at Pia and began to ponder.
“It’s either the kingdom or the elves…”
Neither option was particularly appealing.
Regardless, it wasn’t the life he desired.
As he was engrossed in thoughts about his future, the elder tentatively initiated a conversation.
“Pia, I summoned you here today because there’s something I need to disclose. Will you keep it confidential from the other elves?”
“Yes?”
Pia pondered for a moment before nodding.
“I promise.”
Upon hearing Pia’s response, the elder also nodded and then turned his gaze to Ray.
“I can’t withhold this information from you, the guardian. It’s about the child of a human. Would you mind stepping out for a while?”
Ray reluctantly exited at the elder’s request.
He didn’t forget to mutter complaints as he departed.
“They invite me in, then ask me to leave. I can’t comprehend it.”
Eventually, Ray stretched and surveyed his surroundings after being expelled.
The village was well-constructed.
The roads appeared chaotic yet organic, and there was a quaint charm to it.
And the houses. Neither large nor small, they huddled together to form a village.
But above all, the house at the very center of their village was conspicuous.
Who resided in that lofty house to command such respect?
He perched on a railing, taking in the view, when he heard a rather loud voice from inside the house.
Well, it wasn’t exactly loud, but Ray, whose hearing had been enhanced by mana, was able to detect it.
He was extremely curious about what was happening but felt it was inappropriate to eavesdrop.
They must have sent him outside to prevent him from overhearing.
Nevertheless, the voices persisted.
“Lady Ai-ra is now reverting to mana!”
“…Her breathing has stabilized. The individual who was exhaling violet breaths is now exhaling clear ones. That can only signify she has either recuperated from her ailment or is on the brink of death. If she had recovered, she would have awakened by now, so it must be the latter…”
Ray decided that if he ever constructed a house, he would certainly incorporate soundproofing.
Ordinary people wouldn’t have been able to hear such sounds, but there might have been someone like him who could eavesdrop.
‘Who was dying? What was this violet breath?’
Many questions arose, but he had no one to ask.
The voices gradually quieted down as if the excitement had subsided.
Eventually, Ray stopped listening as the voices became too quiet to hear.
Yet, his thoughts persisted.
He started to speculate about the ‘violet breath,’ something unfamiliar to him.
“Could it be poison? What was this violet breath?”
He had only overheard the conversation and didn’t know exactly what it was, so he couldn’t determine if it was something violet on their noses when they exhaled or if the breath itself was violet.
In the first place, what was ‘violet breath’?
He, who took great pride in his medical knowledge, was considerably shaken.
What if the person named Airara, whom he had just heard about, had been his patient?
His face paled at the thought.
He couldn’t conduct a treatment with unknown medical knowledge.
If the disease was severe enough to easily kill a person, the patient would die unless he had information about it and knew how to treat it.
Ray realized that he had been too complacent about his medical knowledge.
He had put effort into learning magic, but when it came to medicine, the only thing he had tried to do was to restore his hand’s senses.
Ray clenched his fist, resolving to devote more effort to medicine from then on.
“How is the search for the saint progressing?”
Her voice was quite cold.
Two priests who were bowing before her were sweating profusely.
“We apologize, we haven’t found them yet.”
“We have no updates to report.”
Iriel smiled slightly at their words.
“Searching for the saint is His will. Given that you haven’t even obtained the slightest information about the saint, can I assume that you’ve been neglecting your duties?”
“No!”
“We are doing our utmost!”
The priests spoke desperately to the girl, who appeared to be about seventeen years old.
Despite her tender age, the current saint was not to be taken lightly.
Her impeccable work and immense divine power had earned her a significant number of followers, and her eloquence enabled her to stand her ground even when engaging with powerful political figures.
If they upset her, their predicament would indeed be severe.
Why she was so fixated on locating the saint was unclear, but it was frightening to observe.
She insisted on regular updates and even ventured out to search for the saint herself.
Her fixation with the saint was extreme, whether it stemmed from a divine revelation or mere curiosity about the individual known as the ‘saint.’
Iriel flashed her uniquely radiant smile at the priests who couldn’t even raise their heads.
“But you’ve made no progress, have you? If you’ve given your all and still haven’t achieved any results, does that imply you’re incompetent, priests?”
In her strikingly beautiful smile, they perceived death.
The authority of the saint, who could direct the heretic inquisitors as she pleased, sometimes exceeded even that of the pope’s.
And this was one of those instances.
They understood that speaking thoughtlessly could actually result in their demise.
Dismissing a priest or two was trivial to the saint.
“Please grant us a bit more time. We will strive to find them as swiftly as possible!”
One of the priests said while shaking, and she gave a slight nod.
“Since you’ve made that promise, I’ll wait. But bear in mind, my patience is not infinite, particularly when it concerns His revelation. Ensure you uphold your word…”
The saint stated as she rose to her feet.
As she departed, the priests also quickly stood and bowed their heads.
While rising, they stole a glance at her face and caught a glimpse of the saint’s expression.
Although she was smiling beautifully, her inner self seemed to be different.
A hint of madness was visible in the corners of her eyes, which curved like crescents when she smiled. No one would have considered her a saint if they had seen that.
They kept their heads bowed until the saint was entirely out of sight. Then, they simultaneously lifted their heads without any prior agreement.
“…Did you see that?”
“Her eyes were flickering with madness.”
“Why did He choose such a person to be the saint…”
“…It’s His will. Everything is according to His will… Sigh.”
Feeling a sense of doubt about their faith, the priests sighed.