Chapter 48

Level Up Heretic Judge – Episode 48 (48/227)

Episode 4: Silence and Snow (4)

Rustle rustle.

Ail trudged through the softly snow-covered fields, breaking through the drifts.

The cloudy sky was dumping snowflakes left and right, while puffs of breath kept escaping from his mouth.

All around, white trees covered in snow stood tall with their undying leaves, forming an incredibly dense forest.

It was a breathtaking sight you wouldn’t see often in reality.

After spending hours hunting in the dark and monster-infested Ingol Forest, stepping into this place felt like a healing balm for the soul.

“Wasn’t it sunny just a moment ago? And now suddenly a snowy field… still weird even though I knew it could happen.”

Ail muttered to himself as he briefly took in the surrounding scenery.

As he said, he was indeed walking through an impossibly green forest that showed no signs of snowfall whatsoever.

This area wasn’t supposed to have a climate suitable for snow at all.

But when Ail entered near the entrance of the White Forest as indicated on his map, an impossible scene unfolded before him.

On one side was a lush green forest, while the other was completely covered in snow.

Even with his own eyes, it was hard not to suspect this was some kind of optical illusion. Such an unnatural boundary line was truly bizarre.

Even in Warode, this kind of drastic climate change within the same region was extremely rare. This phenomenon was related to the elves residing in the forest.

Originally an ordinary forest, it became home to high elves who migrated from the northern snowy plains beyond the central continent. Their legendary leader used powerful magic to make it snow perpetually within the forest’s borders.

Though this happened long ago and only served as background lore now, these were the ones capable of such incredible feats. In-game, the White Forest elves were known to be quite strong.

Regular forest patrols alone were over level 160, and their reputation for battles within their territory was notorious. It was a place most players wouldn’t dare set foot in.

‘Why would such elves need help from someone like me?’

There were no monsters inside the White Forest, and even if there were problems, they wouldn’t need assistance from a lowly level 25 player.

Ail’s first thought was that it probably wasn’t just some internal issue. But given how secluded the White Forest elves were, unless something major happened, they usually avoided getting involved with the outside world. He couldn’t assume it was definitely related to external matters based solely on the limited information he had.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past him with the wind.

For some reason, it felt similar to before. Ail touched his cheek but thankfully, no blood came out this time.

However, the unmistakable sound of a bowstring being drawn reached his ears. Turning in that direction…

High up on a snow-covered tree branch stood an elf, aiming her bow at him.

With ghostly pale skin and an all-white outfit, she’d have been nearly invisible if she hadn’t moved.

Since this was Ail’s first time seeing another race in Warode, he tried to examine her appearance closely out of curiosity. Unfortunately, the hood covering her face prevented him from seeing much.

‘This must be one of the White Forest patrol guards.’

Just as expected, the first person he encountered after entering turned out to be one of the sentries guarding the forest’s border.

To signal he had no intention to fight, Ail raised both hands and tried speaking to her. However, the elf remained silent, simply nodding her head toward a certain direction.

The taut bowstring relaxed, and without another word, the elf turned her back and nimbly disappeared deeper into the forest.

Realizing he was being asked to follow, Ail quickly started chasing after her.

* * *

Following the guide, Ail arrived at an open space filled with piles of rocks.

The elf who led him here vanished instantly, and contrary to his expectations, he didn’t get to see the elven village directly.

‘So they don’t show outsiders their village, huh?’

At first glance, this place seemed empty except for the rock piles. In reality, it was a broken ruin from past invasions and also served as a warning that they still regarded him with suspicion.

Looking around, Ail’s gaze returned to the man standing before him.

‘Wow, meeting someone this big already?’

Alunde, Captain of the White Forest Patrol.

A high elf wearing white armor and cloak, surpassing level 200 and ranked among the top-tier named NPCs who receive level scaling.

Of course, Ail recognized his face and name well.

While male elves are generally thought of as delicate pretty boys, Alunde had striking features that were far from that stereotype.

Seeing him up close was quite the experience, but Ail made sure not to stare rudely since any wrong move could cost him his head.

‘After Sebera, now Alunde… At this rate, I might meet all the Esmaier named NPCs.’

Though he had just reached level 20, Ail felt like he kept getting involved with people way out of his league.

Sure, they weren’t hostile toward him currently, but there was always the possibility things could turn sour depending on how the quest progressed, even if they were the ones who gave him the mission.

Still, compared to normal circumstances, having connections with them was definitely better.

Unlike regular online games where NPCs just repeat the same lines and give quests, in Warode, NPCs acted freely, making their relationships crucial in many situations.

Not the best timing to think about networking when your neck could be on the line at any moment, though.

“Wasn’t expecting you, I thought someone else was coming as a proxy.”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

Though hearing about a proxy for the first time, Ail answered instinctively.

From Alunde’s brief words, he could roughly piece together what was going on.

‘Someone must have transferred the quest midway.’

Before the “Emergency Feather” item ended up in Beken’s hands, another player must have progressed the quest to a certain point and transferred it to him through item certification.

Quest transfers and sales weren’t uncommon in Warode.

Given the game’s nature where unique quests held great value, incidents of stealing others’ quests for rewards happened occasionally.

In Beken’s case, he probably acquired it by paying a hefty sum to another player or obtained it through guild connections.

And now Ail had taken it away from him outright. Thinking about Beken’s probable reaction, Ail couldn’t help but smirk inwardly.

Meanwhile, Alunde, who had been observing the human who approached him carefully, finally spoke.

“Didn’t you hear anything beforehand?”

“Things came up, you know.”

Since Ail had stolen the quest from someone he didn’t even know, there was no way he could have received prior information.

Fortunately, Alunde didn’t seem too concerned and began explaining.

“It’s nothing complicated. The transport goods scheduled to arrive from the Spirit Forest were attacked and disappeared entirely. According to the survivors, the attacker was just one human. Since those items have no value to humans, it’s likely they stole them to interfere with us for some purpose.”

“You guys didn’t lose to just one person, and with Spirit Forest mentioned… Must’ve been the Rotums handling the transport.”

“The Rotums are good neighbors… but unfortunately terrible in combat.”

“So you’re asking me to guard the transport convoy?”

Having guessed roughly, Ail asked, and Alunde nodded.

“I’ve already informed them that reinforcements will come. You’ll get more details once you reach the Spirit Forest. Please take care of it.”

“Why not protect it yourselves instead of giving the job to another human?”

“Because elves dislike humans, and humans dislike elves equally. If we moved ourselves, it would cause issues with our treaty with the kingdom.”

Ail understood and nodded.

Elves originally didn’t like leaving their forest territories, but humans also openly showed discomfort when visited by them.

It was mutual, but considering how countless humans had fallen to elven hands, it was somewhat understandable.

Especially against the powerful White Forest high elves, humans had no choice but to be cautious. That’s why the Ascalon royal family proactively proposed an agreement and established a treaty.

‘These picky elves are surprisingly considerate in their explanations.’

Seemed like he had learned everything necessary from Alunde regarding the request, so Ail gladly accepted the mission.

He didn’t bother asking about rewards.

The first quest reward from elves was almost always the same anywhere.

Not money or items, but their goodwill.

It was the possible reward for a quest involving the notoriously xenophobic elves, whose initial relationship-building difficulty was close to extreme.

This “goodwill” specifically often meant granting permission to visit their territory, if not full residency rights, which sounded absurd at first but turned out to be quite useful.

Many valuable items and trade goods could only be obtained from elven villages, and rare materials hard to acquire elsewhere often existed within the forests.

Most players couldn’t enter, which is why such opportunities existed, and similarly, there were plenty of good or high-level quests remaining unsolved.

‘Especially with elves, once you get along with them, their quest rewards are rumored to be generous. Heard it’s worth establishing relations with at least one elven village if possible. Lucky break today.’

Particularly here at the White Forest, it played an important role as a passage connecting Esmaier and Solstice regions nearby.

Both sides were lined with treacherous mountain ranges filled with high-level monsters, making travel difficult.

That’s why most users, especially merchants traveling between these two areas, went crazy trying to earn the elves’ trust for the shortest route, yet mostly failed.

Thanks to Beken picking a fight unnecessarily, Ail had unexpectedly gained this rare opportunity.

What a generous tree indeed.

‘Might as well let him off easy next time we meet.’