Chapter 259

Chapter 259

***

The girl riding the black horse with her silver hair fluttering looked like a symbol itself. Like the Goddess of Victory standing atop the ashes.

Rickart ran towards Hushike. As they got out of the forest the sunlight fell in earnest, and it felt like running towards the light. To seize the flag of victory.

Like bees drawn by pheromones, the elves followed Rickart falling *wareureu*. They were merely a part and components of the whole, but right now they seemed to run beyond the sunlight following the guide.

But soon, around the time they almost reached the Goddess of Victory the noise of the battlefield struck them hard.

Dying screams, manic laughter faithful to instincts, strange shrieks, sounds of something breaking, and burning sounds.

When Rickart and the elves reached her Hushike raised the light-emitting staff high into the air. Then a heavy sound that buried all the battlefield noise was heard.

*Kkwadudududududuk!*

It was a sound like hundreds, thousands of trees and vines twisting simultaneously, and in reality the forest was indeed twisting. The forest seemed to wave like a crashing tide, and also seemed like a giant bug wriggling.

Rickart grasped the essence of that chaotic and complicated-looking phenomenon in a single breath. Ah, Hushike was gathering the orcs into one place.

Indeed that thought was correct, soon the forest began to vomit out green monsters in gulps *ulkeok-ulkeok*. Several chunks of orcs clumped together in hundreds and thousands violently pushed each other as if trapped in a sack.

Getting pushed they trampled, got crushed, and got squashed by each other, and while doing so a large number died off.

"Oaaaaaak!"

The orcs tried to resist exploding their uniquely bursting muscles, but against the massive power of the forest it seemed merely as futile as a handful swarm of ants resisting a human.

Rather, the orcs' resistance merely amounted to blindly scratching and hitting their kin nearby.

"Over there! Let's go over there! Kill them all!"

Rickart shouted vigorously again. Then the elves shot all their few remaining arrows, and simultaneously as the arrows flew Rickart also ran forward. The elves holding swords also ran together falling *wareureu*.

Whether Hushike used massive magic or what couldn't be known, but anyway the form was the forest creating high and thick barrier walls tightening or pushing the orcs, and Rickart and the elves covering that lid.

The orcs tried to flee belatedly but the more they did so the more they only aggressively harmed their kin nearby. Because the trapped space was wide, but the entrance was narrow. They tore off flesh with the strength of their grip, or couldn't control their anger themselves and loudly bit the kin next to them.

Almost reaching that lid point, Rickart's flame sword danced as if drawing a constellation. Then without fail orcs got sawed off.

The elves rushed in fiercely, then moving smoothly like the wind blowing skillfully butchered the orcs. No matter how much the orcs flailed their arms the wind couldn't be grasped in one's hand.

Nevertheless there were orcs that dared a desperate escape to live, and as they had their desperate resolve they unfailingly ended up dying by Rickart's sword.

Corpses piled up. As dozens of giant-bulked orc corpses piled up, Rickart and the elves were blocked by the wall of corpses and couldn't did anything even if they wanted to fight.

But in the middle of the sack-shaped barrier created by the forest there was already a mountain made of corpses. Nevertheless Hushike's magic continuously tightened the orcs.

*Kkwadududududududuk!*

It was like a very large giant grasping the swarm of orcs in one hand. From a certain point instead of strange shrieks groaning sounds and moans were heard. And, before long it became quiet.

Truly what should I say, the silence was closer to something creepy rather than the heat of victory.

Understandably so because inside the barrier the forest created thousands of orc corpses were piled up. How should this tremendous sight be explained?

"Ricky!"

Hushike came running riding the horse trampling the ashes. Covered in blood all over his body Rickart looked back at her breathing somewhat roughly.

"Here, water."

Hushike took out water from the saddle and gave it to him. Rather than receiving and drinking the water Rickart just poured it on his head and face and rubbed blindly with one hand. Doing so he could wash off the orc blood even a little.

"What was it? Magic? Are you okay?"

Only after washing his head and face with water did Rickart ask Hushike successively.

"Ask one thing at a time."

"No I mean what was it."

"The forest was just whispering so I merely granted its wish."

"What did it whisper?"

"Saying if you just open the door a little bit, even a little bit I would fight too."

It sounded like nonsense, but in front of massive and bizarre evidence Rickart simply couldn't deny it.

"You really are a fairy right......"

"Not just any fairy can do it you know?"

Hushike put her hand on her waist and said as if showing off on the horse. Seemed she wanted praise, but he didn't really want to. Just.

"Thanks."

"You shouldn't thank me but the forest. The one who fought was the forest."

"You always pass the credit to something else."

"Because it's the truth."

At that time the elves who fought in the north approached this way. Because the orc corpses piled up like a spire of military merits were seen even from afar, they had a blank expression even while coming this way.

If the forest twisted it twisted, and if it moved on its own it stayed still in its moved state. It didn't return to its original state. Just, it seemed like it would take root like this and grow again taking the corpses as nourishment.

"Ricky."

Hushike called. However when Rickart looked back at her, Hushike wasn't looking towards Rickart but a distant place behind. There one orc remained standing still and was staring this way.

That orc was precisely the leader orc who made the orcs charge right before the battle. One might wonder how he survived even alone, but it was because the leader orc hadn't participated in the battle in the first place.

That was strange. Even when humans fight battles kings or nobles take the lead, but to think the leader of the reckless orcs didn't participate in the battle alone and remained in the rear.

It was a strange thing. Not just a strange thing, but a very strange thing. That the rest of the orcs were annihilated but only one leader survived.

Rickart looked at the leader orc who lost everything. However, for some reason it felt like he hadn't lost anything at all.

That orc also looked at Rickart and Hushike who were amidst the numerous swarm of elves. Was it hostility? No, it's something else.

Rickart's sharp senses chased clues that could explain all this heterogeneousness, but couldn't figure it out in the end.

The orc merely stared at Hushike and Rickart for a long time, then turned its body and disappeared into the forest on the opposite side.

"Anyway what do we do now?"

Edex said.

"What do you mean what do we do?"

"We crossed the boundary."

"Is that that important?"

"Yes."

"Since I said I would take responsibility I will take responsibility. Guide me to the kingdom for now."

"Got it."

Answering like that, Edex mounted the horse with a natural action. Sitting behind Hushike he tried to ride the horse.

The other elves merely stared blankly only at Rickart. To them neither the joy of victory nor the anxiety of crossing the boundary seemed to exist.

They just stared blankly only at Rickart. Like slightly broken somewhere. Elline also merely blinked his eyes *kkeumbeok-kkeumbeok*.

Since hundreds of handsome and pretty elves were all only staring at Rickart, Rickart wondered inwardly why these guys were acting like this, but anyway he followed Hushike and Edex who were moving on horseback.

Since he was hired as a champion and defeated the orcs now it was the high elves' turn to keep the promise. Namely letting him meet Caldebert.

"But shouldn't we be guarding this?"

A certain elf asked as if to grab Rickart's foot heading to the kingdom. Rickart stopped his steps for a moment and looked back at him.

"This."

One elf standing blankly pointed to the side. It was the mountain made of orc corpses, or the military merit spire.

But because something oddly strange was that the trees and vine stalks practically no different from barrier walls that had trapped and strangled the orcs seemed to be somewhat slowly taking root and settling down.

Rickart tilted his head crookedly and looked up at the military merit spire that wasn't a military merit spire. An aggregate of trees and vines seemed to be slowly, very slowly wrapping around that military merit spire.

"......"

Rickart tried to ask Hushike but she had already gone far away over there. So looking back at that elf he said again.

"I don't really know. Just, if it's worth guarding it must be worth guarding. Isn't it worth commemorating in its own way?"

"I suppose it would be so."

"It is so. I shall get going."

Although he didn't know why he asked such a thing, Rickart finally moved his steps. Then dozens of warrior class elves who followed Rickart from the beginning including Elline followed along together.

The inside of the forest had those large trees blindly bent and interwoven with each other, so wondering where they had to pass through but when Hushike reached there they quietly *seureureu* created a space. Then it connected straight forward like a dark tunnel.

Rickart headed into that tunnel for now. The tunnel leading to the kingdom that was. And, finally it was also a long tunnel to go meet Caldebert.

The elves' kingdom had a slightly different concept from a human kingdom. Rather than dominating a vast territory and keeping vassals, a single city was referred to as a kingdom.

The elves call it Elohim, and it's said to originate from the name of the elf who planted the sapling of the World Tree. For reference Elline's name was a commonly used name as a transformed form of it.

Anyway it took a longer time than expected to reach Elohim. So Rickart also washed his body and did laundry in the valley stream in the middle.

When resting at night with a fire lit with Hushike, except for Elline and Edex everyone looked fascinatingly. Because nothing else the sight of lighting a fire and warming oneself looked very strange. Starting from trivial things they were unfamiliar with each other. Why light a fire?

"Is it to yearn for the day?"

A certain elf asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Lighting a fire I mean."

"......It's not that, it's partly to get warmth, and because we can see things illuminated by the firelight. And, because it becomes a small yet big comfort. Burning up the darkness that is."

"Do you need a fire to get warmth? Is there something you cannot see at night?"

Rickart quietly thought 'what was he talking about' then answered. When staying together with Elline and Edex for a few days, that's when he first learned that elves could accurately see their surroundings even in the pitch-black night.

And maintaining body temperature wasn't particularly necessary either. Eating too comparing to humans was at most one meal a day, and sometimes they didn't even eat anything all day.

"......Humans definitely need it."

When Rickart answered, the elves stayed still, then lit a fire following Rickart. And then said.

"Could we also obtain something called comfort?"

"What comfort do you mean?"

"A sad dream because it cannot come true, in elf language it's called Elsalam. The comfort for that dream I mean."

Edex answered instead and explained.

"What dream are you talking about?"

"In our case a dream that we do not want to fight anymore. Those with other professions also go through Elsalam."

Elline whose side profile was impressive with his exceptionally straight nose bridge said. It was hard for Rickart to immediately understand what that meant. However, he also felt like he knew. A dream of not wanting to fight anymore.

However actually though he wished for that, his steps were exactly the opposite. Didn't he deliberately bring death around. So thinking quietly, Rickart said as if telling himself, or telling the elves.

"Warm yourselves by the fire. If it gives even a little comfort. That alone is sufficient reason to light a fire."

According to those words the elves warmed themselves by the fire as if mimicking humans. Hushike dozed off *kkuebeok-kkuebeok* whether she was sleepy then leaned her head on Rickart's embrace.

The night deepened. Rickart looked back chewing over his past days one by one. Then, he reached the thought that 'after I meet Caldebert I should die'.

That was the current Rickart's Elsalam.