Chapter 183 - Breaking Point

The place the high elf elder took Ferda and Erica was beneath the World Tree, to a prison with bars woven from roots.

In the closed-off world of the elves, even prisoners were rare, so in practice, the space held no one but them.

"What do you intend to do with us?"

Erica asked the elder.

"What do you think? That human has finally caused the very incident we feared."

The elder jerked his chin at Ferda.

Now that he had found fault with them, the way he gleefully dropped formalities was unpleasant.

"If you imprison us before even determining the truth, doesn't that mean you want a fight?"

"The Great Chieftain is in critical condition, Tower Master. You know as well as I do that we cannot simply stand by."

"..."

High elves were like the nobility of all elves, and the Great Chieftain was like their emperor.

That emperor had fallen into critical condition without anyone even knowing why.

That was why Erica and Ferda had quietly followed them.

"Until the Great Chieftain awakens, wait here quietly."

The high elf elder turned just like that and went outside.

There were no special measures.

Though two mages had been imprisoned, and one of them was a powerful figure from the expedition that had saved the continent, they had not been separately restrained.

It was not out of noble courtesy, but because there was no need.

If they released mana and tried to draw a magic circle, every bit of that mana would be sucked away somewhere.

The roots that formed this prison absorbed it like nutrients.

Erica gripped the bars with her hands.

If she followed her heart, she wanted to smash these bars and leave, but that would only bring losses.

"Haa..."

Erica sighed.

Then she glanced toward Ferda.

Ferda sat still without saying a word.

"Haa..."

"..."

"Haaaa!!!"

"... You're being loud."

"Haa? Does this look like a time to not be loud? In this situation?"

Erica crossed her arms and glared at Ferda.

"Now tell me. What happened with the Great Chieftain?"

"..."

Erica's brow narrowed.

"Regent. I don't know what happened, but the Great Chieftain of the high elves is dying after being with you. If I'm going to defend you, I need to know what happened. Do you understand?"

Ferda wondered how he should answer.

For now, he answered in a way that would give away as little information as possible.

"The Great Chieftain was interested in my mana, so he investigated that mana."

"Your mana?"

"Yes."

"If it was because of your mana, Regent..."

Erica suddenly realized something.

Her face flushed bright red, and she asked cautiously.

"Did you perhaps take that old man right to the brink of dying in bed...?"

"... That is not what happened."

She thinks exactly like a girl in puberty.

As if she knew herself that it had been too far-fetched, she changed the subject.

"It is true that there was something different about your mana, Regent Ferda."

"You let out an unseemly scream."

"Yes,itfeltabitunexpectedsoIwassurprisedandtherewasabsolutelynootherintentbehindit. This conversation has gone somewhere strange. Shall we focus?"

She rattled on, then caused a commotion all by herself.

"Regent Ferda's mana is strange, but... there is no way that old man would have been helplessly beaten... and if it shook the World Tree, then there is a high chance he did it of his own will..."

Erica was right.

Ferda recalled the Great Chieftain's eyes.

He had looked at Ferda with a face overwhelmed by fear.

'How on earth... he said.'

What had the elder seen to say those words?

No, in truth, Ferda could guess what he had seen that made him say it.

His own figure, filled with rage and hatred.

Ferda simply did not want to think he had seen that version of himself.

'Did I do something unnecessary?'

The Great Chieftain had brought it on himself, but Ferda had created the opening.

Impatience always made humans act by inertia.

And since that inertia had ultimately produced this result, it was Ferda's fault.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"Will you answer me now? I mean exactly what you did?"

Erica demanded an answer with a fierce glare.

"How much do you know about the Demon King, Tower Master?"

"A question in response to a question? I don't like that very much."

"It is related."

Though she protested with a displeased look, she still answered.

"I don't know. Only that he suddenly appeared, that he became a descendant of Godwin, and that he was the first to begin trying to rule the world in the form of Demons..."

"I see."

"If we become able to enter the far east, then we might be able to begin a proper investigation from there. So what does that have to do with this?"

Since she had answered him sincerely, he could answer her.

"I cannot answer regarding this matter."

"... Are you joking?"

"That is better for both of us."

Erica glared at Ferda as if she disliked his answer.

Her spite-filled eyes stared at Ferda, then she puffed out her cheeks with all her might.

"Ah, seriously...! You're really bringing out my temper!"

"..."

"Why is everyone doing this only to me lately!? I'm the master of the Blue Eye Magic Tower! A child favored by Lady Iorga!! Why do I have to suffer this humiliation!!"

"..."

"Damn it! I seriously want to cry!"

"Please do not cry."

"Why? Because it'll become annoying?"

"Yes."

Ferda covered his ears.

At that gesture, Erica glowered at him.

"Oh, is that so!? Then I'm going to pour out all my grievances right here!"

"..."

"I'm seriously going to sob my eyes out! I'll let the tears and snot run everywhere!"

"P-Please don't do that..."

While she was squawking, someone cut into their conversation.

When they turned their heads, someone was standing beyond the wooden bars.

It was Rize.

Erica's reason, which had been about to let go, barely returned to its place.

"Are you all right?"

"... Does this look all right to you?"

Erica replied curtly with an awkward expression, and Rize lowered her head.

"I'm sorry. Since it seems my father was attacked, and Mr. Ferda, who was with him, was the prime suspect, it could not be helped."

"Forget that. Tell us the situation. So what's the atmosphere like over there right now?"

"First of all... since the Great Chieftain is in critical condition, everyone is extremely worried."

"They must be furious with Regent Ferda."

Erica put emphasis on the word Ferda as she spoke.

Rize quietly nodded.

"However, fortunately, the Great Chieftain briefly regained consciousness."

"Then the misunderstanding must have been cleared up."

Erica thought everything was over.

But Rize shook her head.

"No. Father did not inform them of his condition, and instead left a message with me."

"What message?"

Rize's eyes were not ordinary.

In a voice that could barely be heard, she said this.

"He ordered me to secretly take the two of you and get out."

Erica frowned upon hearing that.

"Wait a moment. Doesn't that mean we become fugitives?"

"It seems... that way."

"A descendant of Iorga fled from the elves. Do you intend to humiliate me even in that manner?"

Rize looked troubled as she tried to persuade her.

"Please. He earnestly requested that this matter be carried out in secret."

"I don't need that request, and I asked for the high elf journal to be brought here and translated. I can't leave without even obtaining that."

"Actually, the Great Chieftain said you would say that..."

Rize slightly opened the bag she was carrying.

Inside, it was packed full of bundles of paper, not even properly organized.

"He also left a message that I should give these to you when you leave the World Tree."

"That old man..."

Erica did not like how he was playing one step ahead of her.

"Is the content reliable?"

"I haven't read it, so I don't really know..."

"What if there is no content, and we have been tricked?"

Erica, in a thoroughly spiteful mood, was full of a desire not to move according to the Great Chieftain's wishes.

In the end, Ferda took Rize's side.

"The situation is not good enough for us to be choosy. How about we go?"

"Isn't all of this because of you?"

"Yes. That is correct. But this is a situation where we can obtain what we need and avoid a pointless clash, is it not?"

Ferda believed the Great Chieftain would not say such a thing for no reason.

Erica, who had her arms crossed, bit her lip hard, then mussed up her hair.

"Gaaaah! Fine! If we can find out everything we need anyway! I'll trust him!"

"Th-Thank you! I will open the door."

Rize inserted a wooden key and opened the prison door.

Only after the door opened did a question occur to him.

Just in case, Ferda asked her.

"By the way, Scribe Rize, are you not a high elf?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Then is this entire situation not being relayed to everyone?"

High elves were a race that shared their minds.

The one who had imprisoned them here was the high elf elder, so even if Rize secretly let them out like this now, it meant they had already been discovered.

"I am a high elf, yes, but..."

She scratched her cheek as she answered.

"I have a constitution that prevents me from linking minds like the others."

The inside of the World Tree had a form similar to a Magic Tower.

To begin with, Magic Towers had been made in imitation of the World Tree, so it could only be that way.

The World Tree was the most ideal form in terms of efficiency and convenience for all magic.

Highly compressed mana became white light and served as a light source, and green moss and vines grown by that light had settled across the walls.

Tree trunks became stairs and ground, creating spaces inside where one could step.

They carefully climbed those stairs.

The waterfall flowing down from the head of the World Tree was not fierce, but strangely quiet.

"It is quiet."

Ferda deliberately said.

"It certainly is."

Erica also deliberately answered.

"That is because people normally do not enter this inner area."

Rize said it as if there was nothing to worry about.

Ferda and Erica exchanged looks.

No matter how they thought about it, that assurance was suspicious.

"I have a question."

"Yes!"

"How did you get down here?"

Unable to shake her suspicion, Erica asked her.

"I came down as carefully as possible while reading the presences around me."

"You came down trusting your own instincts?"

"Yes! I may not look it, but I'm confident when it comes to hiding things!"

"..."

Suspicion turned into certainty.

Erica stopped bending her back in an unseemly way, looked up, and shouted.

"Stop hiding and come out!"

At her words, the interior that had been silent as death instantly filled with presences.

They were wood elves wearing elven-made armor.

Hundreds upon hundreds of wood elves surrounded them in an instant, eliminating every blind spot.

Rize could not hide her bewilderment.

"H-Huh...? How..."

"What do you mean, how, you fool?"

A familiar voice sounded.

The high elf elder appeared among the wood elves.

His eyes were heavy with disgust.

They were not eyes one could say were looking at his own kin.

"No matter how stealthily you move, did you think you could avoid the eyes of every elf who has lived their entire life for this World Tree?"

Secretly escaping was not a feasible story.

It was enough to make one sigh on its own.

"What is in that bag?"

When the elder asked, Rize reflexively hugged her bag.

Whatever was inside, it was undoubtedly something important.

"As an elder, I command you. Bring that item to me at once."

"Th-This is an item that must be delivered to Regent Ferda and Tower Master Erica. The Great Chieftain personally instructed me to do so."

"The Great Chieftain has fallen into a coma. We cannot hear him even through the minds we have linked, so how could you have heard that?"

"He told me directly."

"Do not say such absurd things!"

The high elf elder thundered.

"The reason we reign above the elves is that our minds become one! Do you think it makes sense that he would go to the trouble of speaking aloud to you, who cannot even link minds!?"

Rize trembled, perhaps frightened.

Even so, her mouth did not stop.

"As you said, I cannot link minds. But I am only stating the facts as they are, Elder."

"I do not believe you."

The elder pointed at Rize, then indicated the floor before himself.

"If you wish to prove your loyalty to me, bring that item here at once!"

"You keep overstepping your place, Elder."

The one who said that was not Ferda, but Erica.

"I have told you over and over that this is not your affair, and the scribe is acting according to the Great Chieftain's message. If you ignore the Great Chieftain's message, how is that any different from ignoring tradition and authority?"

"You say such easy things because you do not know us, Tower Master."

"... Easy?"

"Return to the prison even now! If you go back quietly even now, I will take it into consideration, head of Iorga."

CRACK!

The sound rang distinctly in Ferda's ears.

The sound of something hard and stubborn shattering horribly came from inside Erica's head.

Then highly compressed mana began to ripple around her.

"Hoo..."

What burst from her mouth was.

"Hohohoho...!!"

A laugh like she had lost her mind.

"Every last one of them... If you show them manners, they alwaaays take you for a pushover, don't they?"

Erica swept her hair back and looked up at the elder.

Her blue eyes, once like a clear river, had lost their light like the eyes of a rotten dead fish, and the corners of her mouth were unnaturally stabbing toward the sky.

She began muttering like Echidna.

"Yeah, screw reason. When bastards keep plucking your nose hairs and kicking you in the ass, you should just smash them to pieces..."

Erica brought her hand to her waist.

What she took out was a small water bottle.

"I've been waaay too nice until now, haven't I?"

She flung the water bottle she was holding into the waterfall of the World Tree.

PLOP.

A deep resonance sounded from within the pouring water.

At the same time, the sound of the quietly flowing water stopped.

It was astonishing.

The pouring water had stopped as if frozen in place.

For it not to flow according to the natural order meant it had been controlled.

At this very moment, Erica was controlling the water of the World Tree.

RUMBLE.

A vibration climbed up from the floor.

The quiet spring not only rippled but danced violently, and five streams of water surged toward the sky.

ROAR!

As though entangling with one another, they rose, gradually being carved into fixed forms.

The heads that faced the sky began to be carved into the shape of dragons, as if shedding their skins.

The five streams of water became five water dragons.

Erica stepped onto the head of a water dragon and stood upon it.

The water dragons carrying her rose gracefully into the air.

Unlike the graceful dragons, Erica's face was covered by a deep shadow.

Beneath that shadow was a murderous smile.

Erica lightly gestured with her hand and said this.

"Why don't you all drop dead?"

The streams of water let out ferocious roars and flew toward the elves.