Chapter 355: An Easy Elf, An Easy Elena (2)
‘Isn’t this too comfortable?’
It was going perfectly as planned, but it all felt so comfortable that I felt guilty.
Looking outward, I could see the guild members and elves still struggling. They were in trouble due to the sudden appearance of a monster.
‘This is tricky.’
This was definitely tricky.
As Kim Hyunsung had, most of the main monsters in the Twisted Pond were demons. Even so, they were low-level demons that couldn’t be compared with Belial, but this dungeon was not of a rare or common-grade.
It was definitely a dungeon that had received a legendary-grade, so it was only correct to think that a demon or monster of at least legendary-grade would appear.
It didn’t make sense to compare with a mythic-grade creature in the first place.
If it was the mythic-grade that I had seen so far, it was at least three or four levels higher than a legendary-grade. In that sense, my semi-mythic-grade class, the Alchemist of Light, also had endless ways to use it, but the problem was that I couldn’t research because I was only in bed recently.
It might take a while, but perhaps I should create a potion that would hit the system’s walls.
‘It’s just a wish, but…’
My body was definitely comfortable, so my thoughts had begun to leak to one side.
The expedition members who were wordlessly fighting wouldn’t even afford to do that.
This was because the demons’ faces from at least heroic-grade or higher, and those who were fighting them looked quite serious.
There was anxiety on Park Deokgu and Yoo Ahyoung’s faces, not to mention the facial expressions of Jung Hayan or others. Of course, trying to break through the difficult dungeon with the elves as quickly as possible made them look like that.
‘It seems that they’re not at ease anymore…’
Of course, the cause lay solely with me.
Even so, since Light Kiyoung, was suffering, they were under pressure to complete the attack quickly.
I was worried about what to do if an accident were to take place, but I had begun to feel relieved when I saw Kim Hyunsung – no, Kim Hyuna – effortlessly splitting the head of one of the demons.
About three hours since I started my comfortable journey in the rickshaw, Kim Hyunah was still smooth sailing.
As she continued to glance at me, Elena, who was in the same space as I was, slowly opened her mouth.
“You don’t have to worry, Honorary Cardinal. Nothing bad will happen.”
‘It’s not because of that, but…’
There was nothing bad about thinking that way.
“I would like to help them in any way… I am not comfortable lying here alone.”
“No. As I said before, you should avoid going outside as much as possible. This Twisted Pond and the polluted magical power emitted by the demons are adversely affecting your soul. Moving rashly now will only make things worse. Blue is strong. The same goes for our Eberian Elune Knights. Nothing bad will happen.”
“I am not doing this because I don’t trust them…”
“You have to trust them. I’m sure your colleagues totally understand you.”
‘Of course, they do.’
“They will be able to reach the end of the dungeon without any problems. Please think of yourself first rather than the people outside. That way, your colleagues will also be able to fight relieved.”
“Yes. I should think so.”
Naturally, I maintained a sorrowful expression. I could see Elena looking at me worriedly.
[Disposition: Curious Defensor]
Her disposition was a Curious Defensor.
[Checking the unique characteristic of Elena Eberia]
[Emerald Delusional Flower]
Her characteristic was Emerald Delusional Flower.
It made sense if I were to think of her background.
She was an elf who had been stuck only in the Kingdom of Eberia, and seeing that she was basically interested in humans and other countries, her characteristic must have stemmed from this.
If one asked me if I didn’t like it, I would answer that I liked it. The disposition and the characteristic were fine.
I liked the fact that she was curious, and that it went well with the unique characteristic. Most of all, it was best that she was like a dreamy girl who didn’t know the reality.
It meant that this was better than dealing with people who were worn out from the world.
‘It means I have to do something with her…’
First, the most important task was completed. The narrow space was uncomfortable, but it was a great achievement to be alone with her.
We were even magically blocked from the outside, so this was pretty good timing to have a conversation.
Of course, the problem of her instinctive rejection of me remained, but as our relationship progressed or her way of thinking changed, it would eventually be easier for her to accept me.
‘It’s a problem that I don’t know which direction to shake.’
First of all, there was no disagreement that I needed to get closer to her in the current situation. We had to talk as much as possible.
I needed to know more about her, and figure out what kind of life she had been through. The first step required to connect was to understand each other.
As I nodded and opened my mouth, an answer came immediately.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“I’m fine.”
“But…”
“No, Honorary Cardinal. No matter how polluted your soul is, it doesn’t feel dirty. In my eyes, I can see more of the nobility in it.”
‘Right. Thank you for saying that.’
“…”
“It’s true, Honorary Cardinal. As I said before, I have watched the Honorary Cardinal and the Heroes of Light through the Goddess’ Mirror. It was a great sight. Yes. It is vivid enough to make me receive goosebumps whenever I see it. It will be unforgettable even after a few hundred years that the four heroes faced the great demon without a single step back.”
“It’s not a big deal, Elena. Everyone else would have done the same.”
“No. I actually thought of myself there, but even if I think about it hundreds of times… I couldn’t do anything other than sit down. The Heroes of Light had given me courage.”
“Courage?”
“Yes.”
“It hasn’t been that long, but I had lived in the Kingdom of Eberia for 200 years. Like all elves. Ludwig and my brother, Elios, said that outside the kingdom was always dangerous, and in fact, I had grown up hearing stories about other humans. I’ve been told that it’s a scary and dangerous place outside.”
“So you’ve only stayed in the kingdom.”
“Yes. For me, the outside of the kingdom was just a scary and terrifying place.”
“You didn’t look like that, but…”
“Didn’t I say this before? It was the Heroes of Light who had given me courage. Perhaps, if I had not seen the Goddess’ Mirror, I wouldn’t have left the kingdom of Eberia. And I probably wouldn’t know what my mission was. Have you ever heard of High Elves?”
“Yes, I have. The story of not being born for a very long time, and the fact that Elena is a high elf.”
“In fact, being a high elf doesn’t mean anything special. There is nothing different from others other than receiving the blessing of the World Tree and the blessing of Elune. Of course, historically…”
“Yes?”
“Historically, the ancestral guardians have always played a huge role. Long ago, from the time when the human kingdom was not divided, from the days when humans and these races had been fighting as one, the ancestral guardians appeared in the world and faced direct danger. You can think of all the elven companions in fairy tales or history books as the guardians of our ancestors.”
“I see.”
“I don’t know if this is because of it, but I thought that I would have a role given to me. And Lee Kiyoung directly found the reason for me.”
“The mission you talked about last time…”
“Yes. I have received a revelation. I mean the Elune’s revelation to heal Lee Kiyoung’s contaminated soul and join the Heroes of Light.”
I didn’t know what she was talking about right now, but this spelled good news for me. This meant that it was true from the start that she was feeling favorable towards me.
‘It’s better if she misunderstands like that.’
If she really thought that she had received a revelation, perhaps I could make use of that.
‘Yes. I absolutely can.’
There was no reason not to use this since she was making up the story for me herself.
I thought about this for a moment, but it was in no time to make a decision. There was no reason to take any more time than this.
As I frowned, I saw her approaching in a hurry to check my condition. She looked harried. At this point, I could feel the divine power being sent to me in a hurry, but of course, it didn’t work. This time around, it seemed that a little different treatment would be needed.
I instantly stopped breathing as much as possible and had begun shedding tears. To Lee Kiyoung, having 26 years of acting, shedding crocodile tears was a piece of cake.
“Are you okay? Honorary Cardinal, are you okay?”
“Cough…”
“Honorary Cardinal!”
I didn’t forget to shake my arms. No, actually, this was the most important task.
This was because she had to properly recognize that the time had passed when she could treat me with divine power.
She kept pouring out her divine power to me, but I had to make her realize that it was not working anymore. As I shook my whole body as if I went crazy, Elena immediately became flustered.
“N-No.”
As I rolled my eyeballs and looked at her, I caught her looking at the window inside the narrow kiln as if she was thinking about asking for help from outside.
However, everyone was busy helping out in the fight – no one would help her now.
In the meantime, the event I prepared was soon reaching the peak.
My entire body staggering, I reached my arms out into the air. I showed sad eyes whilst making grabby motions, almost as if asking for salvation.
“Oh, Elune. Elune… please… ”
“Cou… gh… sigh…”
“Oh, Elune.”
Elena had begun to cry. I felt her tightly holding my arm, all while reaching out into the air.
That was when my condition stabilized.
“Huh?”
Sighs and doubts of relief lay on her face filled with tears.
She had experienced a miracle of sudden stabilization of my body, which seemed to die just before, so it would not be unreasonable to make that face.
“Ah…”
‘Right…’
“No way…”
‘That ‘no way’ is true.’
Soul erosion had broken into stage 2.
It was no longer a divine power that was needed. Only Elune could rescue Light Kiyoung from the crisis of death.
[Heroic-grade forced quest is activated.]
[Stop! You damned demon! (0/1)]
[For unknown reasons, the forced quest of the heroic-grade was canceled.]