“Let’s go. Since our destination is to the west, please lead the way.”
I ended the tiring word skirmish with Corporal Trian in that one sentence. He likely had a mountain of things he wanted to say, but I didn’t bother to engage with him.
He also seemed to realize that I wasn’t an easy opponent as he stuck out his tongue and sighed.
…I didn’t understand why this kid thought I was weird, but continuing to bicker and drag things out wouldn’t lead to anything good.
Without a word, I moved into the forest. After I started walking, Corporal Trian began leading ahead without saying anything.
At the very least, it seemed he wasn’t the sort of person with a terrible character who’d prioritize his pride over the mission given to him.
That’s a relief.
“Stop, there’s a trap ahead. Lir, can you dismantle it?”
“Um… Yes! I can simply twist the circuit here….”
“Wait, there are trees ahead with deadly leaves. Be careful not to brush against them, and if you’re injured, let me know right away. I have an antidote.”
“Though you’re a wizard and all, isn’t this tiring too quickly? Rest for a moment. I’ll find a place for you to sit.”
The elf, who had set aside his pride and focused on the task at hand, was far more capable than I had anticipated.
The various forms of knowledge and insight he had accumulated over a millennium were truly astonishing.
With the sharp eyes of an elf, he warned us well in advance about dangerous traps, trees, and terrain, and he even helped us find a safe stump to rest on so that I, who was exhausted from the long journey, could take a break.
Thanks to his skilled guidance and remarkable insight, we managed to breakthrough the rugged forest terrain much more quickly than expected.
…So what if he doesn’t have any manners? He’s this competent.
I began to understand why so many commanders forced troublesome elves into the archer corps despite their disruptions to military discipline.
“Sitting directly on the ground in a forest like this can risk getting pricked by toxic branches or leaves. Try to avoid lying directly on the ground.”
“…Are you being kind? Or just rude?”
“I’m simply doing my duty. And I’m not being rude since I, who have lived over twelve hundred years, treating brats like you with respect is normal.”
Is there really no concept among elves that one should use polite speech with those they meet for the first time, regardless of age? And why has the idea of respecting one’s superiors in the military disappeared?
“Still, does your method of describing the destination only involve compass directions? If you could sense the mysterious magical energy and pinpoint its exact location, we could design a much smoother route.”
Corporal Trian had been moving forward for about five kilometers from the dwarven outpost under construction based solely on my statement: “Heading west initially will do.”
It seemed he didn’t quite like the idea of cutting through untouched forest areas filled with cliffs and poisonous grass just by following the simple directive “Head west.”
“The range is getting closer, and I can feel it more clearly now. The largest tree… I’m sensing that the oldest and largest tree in this forest should be at the western edge…”
I closed my eyes and placed my hand on my temple, frowning, to give the impression that I felt something.
…Though it felt pathetic to be faking the kind of display one would expect from the weak, what could I do?
“Surprisingly, I’ve received a much clearer direction. Are you sensing anything?”
“No, I’m still inexperienced… To be honest, I can’t sense anything.”
Lir bowed her head shyly, replying to Corporal Trian’s question with embarrassment.
It felt somewhat uncomfortable being like a charlatan selling dubious goods to a kindly elder and an innocent child.
“Then, we’ll wait here briefly. I’ll climb to a high point and confirm the location of the largest tree at the western edge.”
With that, Corporal Trian left us sitting by the stump, disappeared into the foliage for a few minutes, and quickly returned.
“Did you check already?”
“No, there are landmines nearby. Lir, come with me. It seems I’ll need your help to check.”
It seemed the route to the higher ground was also filled with landmines here and there. Since disabling magical landmines required special tools or a wizard, I nodded to Lir.
Lir’s face showed a touch of disappointment, but she quickly stood up and followed Corporal Trian without a word.
Is he being unreasonable by showing such an obvious sign of disapproval despite clearly not liking being with someone he barely knows?
“Come back quickly.”
“Yes…”
In response to my encouraging words, Lir’s weak voice came back, and Corporal Trian didn’t even acknowledge my farewell. They disappeared into the shrubs and trees, leaving me with rare silence for once.
“That human seems to be quite close to you.”
“Yes… Well, he did save my life…”
While using lightning to damage the circuit of the magic landmine hidden behind the leaves, Lir responded softly to Corporal Trian’s conversation.
When Bin was around, at least her voice was audible, but now, as she was alone with someone she barely knew, her voice became as faint as wind whistling through a mouse hole.
“Could you speak a little louder?”
“Sorryyyyy…”
Such a situation of being left alone with someone she didn’t know well was quite uncomfortable for her.
“Well, as long as you do your job, that’s fine.”
Corporal Trian spoke gently, unlike when he was dealing with Bin. For him, since Lir was an elf like himself, she could be someone he would see for the next 500 or even 1000 years.
“I’m done…”
Lir pointed at the burnt, blackened fragments that remained after the circuit was completely ruined.
“Let’s move. There’s a suitable cliff ahead. Once we get there, we can roughly confirm the surrounding terrain.”
Corporal Trian extended his hand toward Lir, who had been squatting while disabling the mana mine.
After staying crouched for a long time, Lir stared at Trian’s hand, pondered for a while, and then stood up on her own without grabbing it.
She wasn’t quite sure why she had refused to take Trian’s hand.
Trian closed his mouth after seeing Lir’s action and looked at her with worried eyes.
“…It’s better not to attach too much emotion to non-elves. We live for thousands of years while they don’t even live for a hundred years before dying.”
“What?”
“It’s healthiest for elves to only interact with other elves. Other races leave us too quickly, you see.”
“…What’s this all about?”
Lir looked at him with her big eyes, genuinely confused about what he was talking about.
Could it be that refusing his hand had offended him?
His dirt-streaked hand wasn’t actually dirty, and she hadn’t rejected it for mood-related reasons. But now, deep in thought, Lir was unsure how to resolve this misunderstanding as she stared at Trian’s back, who had already started walking ahead.
“…You’ll understand when you experience it eventually. I didn’t listen to my father when he said the same thing, so…”
Trian muttered, his gaze firmly fixed ahead. Accustomed to having quiet conversations, Lir caught his small murmur and committed it to memory.
…However, she still couldn’t quite grasp why he was saying all of this.
How could a 21-year-old elf comprehend the inner thoughts of an elf who had lived over 1200 years?
After that, they walked toward the cliff in silence. Along the way, Lir wanted to apologize for not taking his hand earlier and attempted to initiate a conversation but lacked the courage.
“Wait here.”
Before Lir could utter another word, they had arrived at the base of a cliff that had been vertically cut. Corporal Trian glanced around the cliff with familiarity, swiftly identifying footholds and handholds to create a climbing route. Then, without hesitation, he began ascending.
Even though it was territory he hadn’t traversed before, he climbed the cliff with the skill of someone who practiced it daily, reaching the top in less than ten minutes.
“Hmm…”
Upon reaching the top of the cliff, his gaze caught a peculiarly enormous tree among the many others, distinctly larger in girth and size.
Since its position was close to the western edge of the forest, this was undoubtedly the tree where the genius mage had perceived the peculiar magical energies.
“Let’s go back. I’ve roughly confirmed the path.”
Corporal Trian then demonstrated an impeccable sense of direction, skillfully navigating the dense forest without getting lost, retracing the same route they had come on.
“Uh… Erm…”
During this tense 40-minute return journey, Lir ultimately failed to voice her apology.
Corporal Trian, after returning from the cliff, was nothing short of a living navigation device.
I couldn’t fathom how he memorized the entire topography of this expansive forest, but he deftly circumvented perilous terrains like steep cliffs or areas riddled with toxic vegetation, safely guiding us to the western edge of the forest.
The forest was eerie in its sheer tranquility.
Typically in a woodland area, sounds of creatures or monsters would be audible, but the marauders had used most of the local wildlife as ingredients for mutations. Consequently, there wasn’t even an ant left alive in this place.
Against the backdrop of my labored breathing, we pressed on until just before sunset when we finally reached the forest’s western edge.
“Huff… Huff…”
I rested against a tree, trying to catch my breath.
Lir, accustomed to such episodes, silently took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat trickling down my forehead. However, Corporal Trian glanced at me with disdain, sprawled on the forest floor from mere kilometers of trekking.
“Is this the correct tree?”
He placed a hand on the tree I leaned against, questioning.
“Huff… What? Ah, yes. That’s right.”
I pointed to the tree’s roots with a shaky hand.
“Under this, there should be a Runic stone.”
“…A Runic stone?”
“Ah, well… The magical sensation here is distinctly Runic…”
Ah, I had only mentioned feeling mysterious magical energies but hadn’t specifically mentioned a Runic stone, right?
From the intense fatigue, my mind had gone completely blank, leading to such a slip of tongue.
“…Impressive. Even here, I can’t sense anything, yet you can distinguish objects based on magic alone.”
Fortunately, thanks to Ri’s unwitting assist, I managed to get away with it, despite being unintentional.
In truth, I couldn’t feel anything either, but now isn’t the time to dwell on that.
What’s important right now is that there’s a Runic stone beneath this tree, and it has the function to communicate with the Lightning Elemental Spirit.
Why or how I came to know this fact isn’t particularly significant, is it?
“Dig it out.”
Once I had caught my breath somewhat, I requested that of Corporal Trian.
“…Hmm.”
Corporal Trian stared at me with an elf’s characteristic haughty expression, eyes sharp and filled with disdain. It reminded me of how an Elven Queen would gaze upon sinners.
But so what if he’s offended?
Judging from my prior experiences, this elf wouldn’t neglect his duties or defy a superior based solely on personal preferences.
He’s too honorable to act that way. Probably too bound by his sense of duty and centuries of discipline.
It’s merely his pride in his own people and years of experience that have made him so high and mighty.
“…What a disappointment, these younger ones.”
As expected, Corporal Trian muttered quietly but without defiance. Likely, it was because I had established my authority early on, maintaining a certain hierarchy.
He started manually digging into the ground. Feeling a bit sorry for the sight of the 1200-year-old elf down there trying to dig, Lir offered her small assistance, though given her lack of physical labor expertise, her help was more trouble than anything.
“Stop, it’s getting in the way. Just step back.”
Unlike how he might have snapped at me, he gently told Lir to move aside.
“Couldn’t we have brought a shovel? It would have been better to prepare beforehand! That’s why I tell you kids…”
He openly criticized me but I maintained my stance, unbothered.
It’d be absurd for a general to manually dig the ground while the corporal stands back, wouldn’t it?
…Though, seeing a twelve hundred-year-old elf digging while a twenty-year-old just sits and rests does seem odd.
But what could be done? My body is at its absolute limit now.
Every muscle screamed in protest, and even if someone held a knife to my neck demanding me to move, I wouldn’t be able to stir a single step.
As long as my body doesn’t move, whether I die or flee will never come to fruition.
“Hey, sir…!”
Till the moon reached its zenith, Trian kept digging.
Moonlight filtered through the leafy canopies, but not enough to illuminate properly. I lit the lantern he had brought to shine a light on their work.
“Ah…”
It seemed Trian had caught hold of something after digging down for quite some time.
Lir stared wide-eyed at Trian’s pit, and I eagerly leaned over, finally believing we had found the Runic stone.
“…Is this it?”
“You’ve done a good job. We’ll make sure to give you some reward when we get back.”
“Alright, but could you explain what this is to be used for?”
Even an elf who had lived 1200 years knew little about the Runic stone that could establish communication with elementals.
Unlike regular Artifacts sprinkled across the world, each magical attribute had only one Runic stone capable of elemental communication, and there were fewer than five worldwide.
“What’s…this?”
Even Lir, who had diligently studied magic, reacted similarly to Corporal Trian.
Trian cleared more dirt around the Runic stone and finally brought it fully above ground. The massive stone, large enough for two or three people to lie on, was inscribed with ancient language whose meanings were obscure by today’s standards.
“…”
Lir gazed at the Runic stone as though smitten, quite a natural reaction for someone born with the aptitude for magic.
The essence of lightning magic that had eluded her until now, the understanding of mana, and the heart of this magical power that she had glimpsed — the prospect of uncovering the mysteries of magic filled her heart and mine with excitement.
The feeling of reaching out and uncovering the truths of the world seemed so close and tangible.
We just stood, staring at the dirt-filled stone, dumbfounded.
Swallowing nervously, Lir showed she instinctively felt something extraordinary would happen if someone like her, a storm mage, touched the stone.
“Alright, you go first.”
She instinctively reached out but quickly handed the initiative to me.
“I didn’t perceive the immense power emitted by this stone either… even our teacher mentioned nothing special about peculiar magical energies. So it seems, the stone specifically called out to you, Mr. Bin.”
“Hm?”
What’s she saying?
“So, whatever kind of elemental contact this stone facilitates, it’s clear that it called you specifically, Mr. Bin. Attempting interaction before the rightful owner might lead to serious consequences…”
“Hmph… She makes sense.”
Corporal Trian, who had just washed the dirt off his hands, agreed with Lir’s concern.
All my fabricated nonsense about mana’s aura would become amusingly clear once they realize it.
“…Alright.”
I approached the Runic stone, solemn and serious, though I felt awkward knowing I was putting on an act for showbiz reasons, but what could be done now?
The next moment, a bluish-white bolt of lightning shot out between the stone and me, traveling up the tree roots and radiating outward in all directions.
Oddly enough, despite the intense spreading of lightning, there was no fire on the tree. The surrounding trees held the lightning as if they were conductors, lighting up the forest with electric pulses that coalesced above the massive tree right before us.
It was nothing like the spectacle I’d seen from afar. The overwhelming force was palpable, the air around us heating up, yet no thunderstorm formed.
A crackling sound of electric arcs reverberated through the leaves overhead.
The spark slowly transformed into a pure white claw, a majestic body, and finally, a pair of impressive antlers, taking the form of a beautiful deer.
“…”
The Lightning Elemental manifested.
Without conscious control, I felt an irresistible urge to bow. Lir, also a lightning mage, looked similarly awestruck. Even the 1200-year-old Corporal Trian let out a quiet gasp at the sight of magic he’d never witnessed before.
What should I say? What kind of greeting is appropriate? In games, what kind of dialogue occurred…?
“YOU IDIOTTTTT!”
Suddenly, the deer-shaped Lightning Elemental opened its eyes wide and let out a scolding curse.
…?
“…Huh? What? Uh… Huh?”
My mouth spewed nonsensical reflexes.
I’d met this Lightning Elemental innumerable times from afar in gameplay, but never with such an emotional response.
“ARGGGHHH!”
Unlike me, who possess the “Calm” trait, Lir became overwhelmed with fear, bowing to the ground.
“Ugh, I’m so frustrated, you insignificant brats! I should roast and kill all of you! What is this?”
Hmm…
What the hell’s gotten into you?
