NOVEL WEB Chapter 386
After the Festival of White Flowers wrapped up, Quartz, now an honorary great warrior, joined the hero party.
Right at the last moment of the festival, I think I became a topic of conversation because I casually slipped in, but… well, does it really matter?
Anyway, the lizardmen city of Theocaly was done with its events, and the hero party prepared to set off on their journey once more.
With Quartz being blessed to be an honorary great warrior until death, she would surely be a great strength for the hero party.
“But… why did the Creator Dragon God suddenly bless you, Uncle?”
“I have no clue…”
It seemed Quartz and Fer were puzzled by the blessing bestowed upon me due to my whims.
“Maybe it’s just… a whim?”
Alice, who had a good grasp of my intent, whispered this, but.
“There’s no way the Creator Dragon God is that careless!”
“Hmm. They likely hold deep thoughts beyond our imagination. There must be some meaning behind this, too.”
Uh… well… there’s not really much to it. I just thought it would be nice to give Quartz a gift since she’s been an honorary great warrior for 16 years.
No need to spill that bit of info, right?
“Anyway, Uncle. Be careful on your trip. Honestly, the number of beings strong enough to harm you is very few, but just in case. You’d better come back safe after the journey.”
“After the journey?”
“You promised to do me a favor after your trip. You haven’t forgotten, right?”
“Well… I haven’t forgotten.”
“That’s great. I’ll handle everything while you’re away, so just be careful. I think there shouldn’t be any danger since you’ll be accompanied by the hero and the dragon priestess.”
With two people who had even defeated the Demon King alongside, and Quartz herself being quite strong, I figured there shouldn’t be much problem as long as the Demon King doesn’t resurrect.
“Don’t forget the ceremony to know where the God of the Wind resides!”
“Of course not.”
Fer confidently answered, backing up Finna’s words.
“I’m more worried you won’t be able to borrow the Branch of Harmony. It’s not impossible, but it’ll be really difficult, so… if possible, please bring back the Branch of Harmony!”
Well… I think Yggdrasil is kind and benevolent, so if I say I need it, they’ll likely lend it.
The issue is… those haughty elves. I’ll just have to hope Lily or the other kids can persuade them well.
And so, the hero party departed Theocaly, heading north.
The destination was the Great Forest where Yggdrasil was located…
No, rather, a place where elves and dwarfs had once competed, and now various races wrangled for dominance.
The arena city of Betelgeuse.
…Wait, didn’t we say we were going to meet Yggdrasil?! Why are we suddenly changing course to Betelgeuse?
I thought, possibly due to various circumstances, we couldn’t help but change our destination.
“They say entry to the Great Forest is forbidden…?”
“Yeah. Thanks to that, I can’t even get back home and I’m stuck here.”
The words of an elf we encountered while traveling north marked the beginning of this conversation.
“Why is that? There’s never been a restriction on entry to the Great Forest before, right?”
“Right? Apparently, something severe is going on…. I wonder if my family is safe?”
“What on earth happened?”
The middle-aged elf, appearing young, shook his head resignedly.
“They say there have been frequent elf disappearances within the Great Forest, which Yggdrasil protects. It’s truly perplexing what is happening….”
“Disappearance…? In the Great Forest?”
“Yes. The elf royal family suspects the actions of outsiders and has restricted entry while searching for the culprits… and as a result, I can’t get in either.”
“So even elves can’t enter?”
“It’s a complete restriction, except for those with permission from the elf royal family. Even the Demon King has disappeared, yet what on earth is happening in the Great Forest…”
The middle-aged elf clicked his tongue in irritation, and this conversation was soon shared with the hero party.
“So, the entry into the Great Forest is blocked. That’s very troublesome.”
Quartz spoke after deep contemplation. Oh, by the way, it became clear that Quartz was the oldest, so everyone started using casual speech with her.
After all, she’s over 150 years old as a lizardman. You could say she’s right on the brink of middle age for her kind.
That said, lizardmen keep extending their lifespan indefinitely as long as they molt properly, so there’s technically no age limit. I heard the current oldest one is around 1200 years.
It might sound like they’re extending their lives without any trouble, but surprisingly, molting can be a strenuous task. Those who are ill or injured might fail to molt and face dire consequences from various causes.
Thus, the average lifespan is generally considered to be around 300 years.
Oh, and as for Fer, he’s about 60.
“So… what do we do? If we can’t enter the Great Forest…”
Finna glanced around, keeping an eye on her surroundings. If we couldn’t meet Yggdrasil, our options would be severely limited.
We could either somehow get into Yggdrasil or delay visiting and head straight for Sagarmatha instead.
Well, it seemed the worst-case scenario was looming for Finna.
“Hmmm… elf disappearances… Something unusual must be going on…”
“Could it be the remnants of the Demon King are causing trouble?”
When Yurica quietly mentioned this, Lily responded with a worried tone.
We’ve already experienced the remnants of the Demon King making their way up to North Romania several times, so it wasn’t unlikely.
Ordinary adventurers or knight squads could have been wiped out by those foes… we fought against the undead army led by the self-proclaimed ruler of death, a lich, as well as occasional monsters led by Beelzebub.
But we easily repelled them.
Even though the hero and the dragon priestess weren’t in perfect form, our companions were strong enough.
Ah, speaking of which, the Golden Goblin hasn’t shown up at all. Worrying about Quartz, who severed its arm, it’s probably fearing her.
It might be a pity for Quartz, but the Golden Goblin probably won’t appear so easily.
“If it’s the remnants of the Demon King… could this be the work of the Shadow Sage?”
“He’s good at crafting devious schemes.”
The hero and the dragon priestess, who’d had some rough experiences being toyed around by his underhanded tactics, lightly shook their heads.
Even if the Demon King has disappeared, those remnants are temporarily restrained; they’re starting to stir again. It’s a headache.
“So… should we try to forcefully penetrate using the authority of the hero and the dragon priestess? I’m not keen on it, though…”
“No. I’ve got a better idea.”
Yurica, who had been quietly listening to Hero Eric’s words, spoke in a small voice.
“Yurica? What good idea do you have?”
“They said those with permission from the elf royal family can enter, right?”
“That’s true. But how do we get permission from the elf royal family? They’re deep inside the Great Forest, so we can’t reach them!”
Metaphorically, it was like locking the key inside a room and leaving it under lock.
To open the locked door of the room, we needed a key, but the key was in the locked room, making it impossible to take.
In such a situation… we could either call a locksmith to pick the lock or open it with a spare key…
“The elf royal family…!”
Lily exclaimed as if she had realized something, causing Finna next to her to jump in surprise and get annoyed.
“Geez! You startled me!”
“That’s it! Some members of the elf royal family must be outside the Great Forest! If we connect through them, we can enter!”
“Members of the elf royal family outside the Great Forest?”
Eric and Alice only tilted their heads in confusion.
“Quick on the uptake. Yeah. They must be in Betelgeuse.”
“The arena city of Betelgeuse! For sure! The last race war ended with the victory of the elves! They must have sent a member of the royal family there for oversight! They’ve done so in the past and will continue to do so!”
Betelgeuse, a city where the elves and dwarfs competed for pride. Since the previous race war ended in favor of the elves, they must still be under their control.
If we go there, we would find a member of the elf royal family, and if we received their help, we could enter the Great Forest.
“Indeed… that sounds like a good plan. It’s far better than trying to force our way in using the titles of the hero and dragon priestess.”
“Alice… was that really something you disliked?”
“Yeah. I hate pushing through using our titles. And I also don’t want it known that we’re traveling together.”
In response to Alice’s words, Eric simply nodded slightly without saying any more. He shared her sentiments.
Thus, the hero party’s destination was decided to be Betelgeuse.