Chapter 97

Dagdak.

Dagdak.

Our party, which had departed from the Dwarven Village, had been smoothly heading toward our destination, the Village of the World Tree, for several days now.

Our journey, which had begun in spring, had now entered early summer.

The carriage carrying us had left the dwarven territory and continued moving along the southern border of the Great Forest. At some point, we began to notice that the nature of the forest was changing.

While the forest where the dwarves resided had trees of uniform height densely packed together, the forest we had now entered was filled with towering trees, each seemingly over 20 meters tall.

If the Great Forest was wild, teeming with fierce wild animals and monsters, this side felt more serene and mysterious, with its large trees and tranquil atmosphere.

Especially the way sunlight filtered through the leaves of the trees, which you had to crane your neck to see the tops of, gave the impression of sunlight breaking through clouds after a rain, adding to the mystical feeling.

Even for Karina, a seasoned adventurer with considerable experience, this sight was quite fascinating.

Looking around at the large trees, she let out an impressed exclamation.

“The dwarven territory was definitely a forest, but… this place has a completely different atmosphere.”

“Ahem! Well, this is the territory of the elves, after all.”

“It feels different from the dwarven forest. The trees are all so big and sturdy.”

“It’s because of the influence of the World Tree. The World Tree maximizes the growth of the surrounding trees.”

“…I had heard about it, but seeing these massive trees in person is truly overwhelming.”

“Eh, it’s nothing. The World Tree is much bigger than this.”

“These trees are already enormous, but to think there’s an even bigger one… Truly, it lives up to its name as the World Tree.”

“Talking like this makes me feel like we’ve become fairies.”

The two of them shared their impressions with Mari, who puffed out her chest proudly, as if she had been personally praised.

Meanwhile, I stayed out of their conversation, treating it as background music while I worked on tasks in the carriage’s storage compartment.

*Swish swish*

“Hey~. Mr. Kurt, don’t you want to come out and take a look?”

Mari, perhaps feeling sorry for me being cooped up in the storage compartment and not joining the conversation, invited me to enjoy the scenery, but I quietly declined her offer.

“Shh.”

“Is it really that enjoyable?”

“I wasn’t even this happy when I first bought my Battle Axe.”

“It’s been days already…”

“Quiet. You’re disturbing my equipment maintenance.”

However, I simply raised my index finger to my lips and continued maintaining my cooking tools.

After all, when maintaining cooking tools, one must focus and maintain a solemn mindset.

To disturb my blissful maintenance session…

What is this? Is it Mara (the Buddhist demon that disturbs meditation)?

The box the dwarves had gifted me contained exactly the cooking tools I had requested.

From kitchen knives and pots that I already owned to innovative items like a pseudo-electric griddle powered by magic stones.

Numerous tools were neatly packed inside the box.

Of course, there were no artifacts with impossible functions like refrigerators, but considering that all these items were dwarven-made, each one was undoubtedly valuable and precious.

Thanks to that, I spent each day of our carriage journey meticulously maintaining these items one by one.

Ah, dwarven craftsmanship is truly splendid.

Now that I’ve finished maintaining the Chinese chef’s knife, I’ll start the third rotation of maintenance from the beginning this afternoon.

*Hehehe…*

The other three shook their heads as they watched me smile happily while maintaining my cooking tools.

As I continued my maintenance, I suddenly sensed something unusual.

This presence…

It doesn’t feel like a wild animal or a monster.

Thinking that, I stopped maintaining the Chinese chef’s knife and stepped out of the storage compartment.

“Ah! Mr. Kurt! Did you finally decide to come out and take a look?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then why?”

“It seems we have a guest.”

As I said that, a snorting sound came from deep within the forest.

The sound was peculiar—it felt as if it was coming from right beside us, even though it was clearly far away, and it was impossible to tell exactly where it was coming from.

Of course, despite the sound meant to deceive our senses, I had already sensed the presence while inside the carriage and knew where it was coming from.

As I looked toward one of the massive trees where the presence was felt, a cold voice reached my ears.

“Guest? You should be more precise. You’re the guests here, aren’t you?”

As the voice spoke, an elf woman with hair the color of freshly fried potatoes revealed herself from the middle of the ancient tree.

“Hmph. I asked the wind spirits to hide my voice, but you pinpointed my location immediately. You must be quite skilled.”

Could this elf be…?

Seeing her, Mari’s eyes widened, and she shouted.

“Mom!”

…

…

…

Mari’s mother.

Introducing herself as Aisia, she invited us, who had come to the Village of the World Tree with Mari, to her home.

Despite returning to her home after a long time, Mari didn’t seem at ease. To an outsider, it might have looked like she was visiting a stranger’s house for the first time, given how tense she appeared.

“Ahem…! Miss Marisia, your mother doesn’t seem to be in a good mood. Is it because we arrived too late?”

“But it couldn’t be helped. We got delayed because of that vampire incident in the dwarven village.”

“I don’t think that’s the reason…”

As Karina and Serena said, we had ended up arriving at the Village of the World Tree much later than planned.

Originally, passing through the dwarven village was supposed to shorten our journey significantly.

However, getting involved with the vampire incident unexpectedly prolonged our stay in the dwarven village, causing us to lose a lot of time.

It must have been frustrating for her, having called back her runaway daughter, only for her to arrive late.

“Hmm. I see. You arrived earlier than I expected. Feeling guilty, are you?”

“E-earlier…?”

“Yes. I thought you’d arrive around winter. But coming early doesn’t change my mind.”

Ah.

So this is the elven sense of time.

Despite having a conversation with her daughter after months, she quickly ended it and turned her gaze toward us.

There was no warmth in her eyes as she looked at us.

Instead, only a cold chill could be felt.

It was as if she was looking at friends who had lured her daughter into trouble.

Honestly, considering the sequence of events, Mari had run away to become an adventurer before meeting us, so her judgment was a bit reversed. But to a mother angry at her runaway daughter, that didn’t seem to matter.

“…So you’re saying you’re Mari’s adventurer companions now?”

“Y-yes, that’s correct.”

Karina responded to Aisia’s words nervously and as politely as possible.

But Aisia didn’t seem pleased with that answer.

She glared at Karina and began to berate her.

“I can’t believe it! How could you drag a young elf, not even a hundred years old, into such a dangerous life as adventuring!?”

“A hundred years old…!”

“Mom! I’m twenty-four now! I can decide my own future!”

“Twenty-four is still too young! It’s only been twenty years since I read you bedtime stories! And when did I ever say you couldn’t be an adventurer? I said you could become one at fifty, but you couldn’t even wait thirty years and ran away!?”

Aisia sharply scolded Mari.

“I can’t believe it! I trusted you when you said you were staying at a friend’s house for a month or two… But it was all a lie! If the spirits hadn’t told me, I would have been fooled for months!”

“But…! You wouldn’t have allowed it otherwise!”

“You’re not even remorseful! Now that you’re back in the village, don’t even think about leaving until you’re fifty!”

“Mom! Fifty is too late! By then, my companions will be grandparents!”

The argument between Aisia and Mari grew increasingly heated.

We, caught between the intensity of their argument and the dizzying elven sense of time, could only watch quietly, not daring to intervene.

But no matter how much they argued, this emotional clash wouldn’t solve anything.

“Just ten years ago, you used to follow me around, calling me ‘Mom, Mom’… How did you grow up like this…?”

I cautiously stepped between the two, trying to mediate.