part0019

After investigating the ‘disturbances’ in the Endless Forest, Blackie went back to the golden statue and eagerly awaited Lark’s return. True to his word, Lark returned exactly a week after he left the Endless Forest.

“God Evander! Welcome back!”

The Scylla’s eyes glimmered with excitement.

“We’ve prepared some refreshments for you,” the first head said proudly. “Flying all the way here from the town must have been tiring. Please, have some wine.”

Lark gazed at the stone table and chair sitting near the castle’s entrance. A bottle of wine and a wooden cup were placed on top of the table. Lark wondered where the Scylla got these things.

Using wind magic, the third head pulled back the chair, ushering Lark to sit on it.

“Where did you get this?” Lark asked as he sat on the chair and grabbed the bottle of wine. Dark red liquid sloshed inside.

The third head didn’t answer immediately. A hint of hesitation flashed on its face and it momentarily averted its gaze.

The seventh head merrily replied, “We got it from the elves! There’s an elven outpost not far from this place!”

Lark froze. He stared at the bottle of wine then at the Scylla. The seventh head was grinning mischievously, the third head held a look of resignation on its face, while the rest were proudly nodding their heads.

“Elven outpost?” said Lark. “There are elves living in this forest?”

“That’s right, God Evander,” the fifth head softly. “If you keep flying east from here, you’ll eventually arrive at an elven kingdom.”

The first head smirked. “They call it a kingdom, but it’s nothing more than a puny city.”

Lark’s intention in coming here was to hear the result of the Scylla’s investigation of the forest. But he did not expect to hear that an elven kingdom was located deep inside the Endless Forest. It easily explained the spirits wandering in this part of the forest. It also explained why the forest was eerily peaceful, as though all of the monsters here had been culled by some unknown creature.

Lark poured himself a cup of wine. “A kingdom of elves, huh? Tell me more of what you’ve found out.”

The Scylla started to recount excitedly everything that transpired during their investigation of the Endless Forest. How it initially abducted several sylphids to interrogate but ended up killing all of the elven scouts instead. How it tried investigating the elven kingdom, but the elves stationed in the western garrison started attacking the seven-headed monster without regard for their lives.

Lark’s expression slowly turned sour as he listened to the story. With the exception of the third head, everyone animatedly and proudly told him everything that they had done during the past several days, down to the finest details. And when Blackie came to the part wherein the elven kingdom sent out thousands of warriors and gigantic guardian golems to defend their kingdom against the Scylla, Lark finally sighed.

Although he wanted to reprimand the seven-headed creature in front of him, he couldn’t bring himself to do so, especially after hearing that his disciple, the Dragon Devourer, was the one who taught the Scylla to do things this way. Looking at things from a different perspective, he should probably be glad that the Scylla didn’t destroy the elven kingdom.

“So, after destroying the garrison, you went back to the elven outpost, ransacked everything you could, and came back to the castle,” Lark summarized.

“That’s correct, God Evander!” The first head repeatedly bobbed its head.

“We also got some items from the outpost! We thought that you might be interested in them.” said the sixth head. Using gravity magic, it took out several items from the castle’s tower and presented them before Lark—fabric, fruits, meat, and herbs.

Lark took the fabric and inspected it. It was soft like cotton and smoother than silk. Furthermore, it was surprisingly durable. It was almost as strong as leather. It was the type of item Big Mona would gawk over.

The fruit and meat were nothing special, but most of the herbs were rare. Lark was sure that he could further improve the middle-grade potions he’d been selling to Big Mona if he used these plants. Pinnacle-grade potions were still impossible to concoct due to the lack of ingredients, but high-grade potions should be feasible with the addition of these herbs.

“Good work gathering these,” said Lark.

It seemed that a lot of rare herbs grew in the deeper regions of the Endless Forest and the elves knew where to find them. Furthermore, Lark’s interest was piqued by the unknown fabric. Lark was certain that it would be possible to make strong yet comfortable armor using it.

The heads looked at each other. They seemed really happy after Lark complimented them for the items they’d gathered.

“G-God Evander!” The first head moved closer to Lark and looked at him with expectant eyes. “If you want, we can gather more of these things. Please give just give us the order!”

“That’s right! We’ll gather more of those if you want!” The sixth head looked toward the east, in the direction of the elven city.

Lark was dumbfounded. It seemed that he needed to set things straight here. Otherwise, he was worried about what this creature would do once he was no longer here.

“No. You’ve already killed enough elves this week. Are you seriously planning on attacking an entire kingdom just to obtain these… things?”

The Scylla looked at Lark as though asking ‘are we not allowed to do that?’.

Lark rubbed his forehead. “Look. I don’t like unnecessary killing. Humans, elves. This applies to both of them.”

“But they attacked us first!” said the seventh head indignantly.

“That’s right! They shot us with their arrows!” added the sixth head.

The first head agreed with its brother’s statements. “And they dared snoop around this sacred ground!”

“He is saying that we could have subdued them instead, without killing them,” said the third head. “Isn’t that correct, God Evander?”

Lark was becoming fond of the third head. Without it, he would have probably disowned this seven-headed monster. Well, he knew that he probably wouldn’t go that far. Although this creature considered humans and elves as mere insects it could kill and trample on, it was still the pet of his beloved disciple. And Lark had never forgotten the fact that this seven-headed monster had spent almost its entire lifespan protecting his treasure in the dungeon. He would always be grateful to the Scylla, no matter what.

“That’s correct,” said Lark. “Unnecessary killings are forbidden. If it is possible to just subdue them, subdue them.”

The Scylla’s tail, that had been wagging in excitement before, stiffened and started drooping to the ground.

“And it’s understandable why the elves tried breaking through the illusion spell you’ve cast on this place. Think about it. Imagine: Your kind has been living in this forest for centuries when suddenly, an unknown creature appears at your kingdom’s border and makes it its home. Anyone would naturally want to try to investigate it.”

The Scylla listened attentively but its eyes were looking at the ground like a sinner.

“They attacked us first. They shot us with their arrows,” said Lark. “Of course, they would. You tried to abduct their contracted spirits, after all. For the elves, their contracted spirits are family. Imagine this—what would you do if someone forcefully took Kubarkava right before your very eyes?”

The Scylla’s heads looked at each other.

“That’s impossible, God Evander…” the first head said slowly. “The abductor would be killed before he could even touch the master.”

Lark smiled. It made sense. Even he couldn’t see that kid being abducted without putting up a fight. Lark realized that he should have given a more plausible scenario to the Scylla.

“Kubarkava was my strongest disciple,” mumbled Lark. He rephrased, “Then how about this. What if someone suddenly took Quervanu by force? Right in front of you?”

“The poison brat? We’d kill them immediately, of course!”

“How dare they harm the creator of our dungeon!”

“We’d tear them to shreds and burn their bodies into ashes!”

The heads started spouting threats one after another. As Lark had expected, it seemed that even after his death, Quervanu had not become as monstrous as Kubarkava. Based on the history books Lark had read before, it seemed that Kubarkava had become so strong that even the dragon race avoided him.

The Dragon Devourer.

It was truly unfortunate that he had lost his life immediately upon opening the rift.

Lark smiled. Like a father patiently explaining things to his son, he said, “See? You wouldn’t let something like that to happen to Qeurvanu, right? It’s the same for the elves. You said that they started it, but from their perspective, you’re a monster trying to kill their contracted spirits.”

“But we were really just going to interrogate those sylphids,” mumbled the fifth head, its eyes still staring at the ground.

Lark walked toward the fifth head and patted its snout. “I understand. But please try to restrain yourselves from now on. No unnecessary slaughter, understood?”

The eyes of the other heads shook with envy. They stared at the fifth head, who was now closing its eyes and softly mumbling, “Yes, God Evander.”

Lark looked up at the sky. If they left now, they could probably arrive before dusk.

As far as he knew, the elven race kept to themselves and hardly made contact with traders. They raised their own food and produced their own tools. With the exception of dwarves, their nation was probably the hardest for a merchant to conduct trades with.

But Lark held an item which the elves coveted. An item that would solve their nation’s most dire problem.

According to Blackie, the Kingdom of Elves was only as large as a human city. By estimate, their population hardly reached past the hundred thousand mark. It was apparent that even after more than a millennium had passed, the elves still couldn’t overcome their extremely low fertility rate. Their kingdom was slowly dying due to the declining population.

Under normal circumstances, the item would have been more than enough to convince the elves to trade with his territory. But after Blackie annihilated all of the elven scouts and destroyed a garrison, Lark doubted if negotiations would proceed smoothly.

They’re right next door. It’d be a shame if I couldn’t grab this opportunity to monopolize the trade with an entire country.

Although the chances that the elves would agree to his parley were slim, Lark decided to go along with it.

Lark went inside the castle, entered the golden statue, and took out a particular item.

After coming out of the castle, Lark said to the Scylla, “Blackie, want to visit the Kingdom of Elves with me?”

The seven-headed monster immediately unfolded its wings, creating gusts of wind.

“Of course! We would love to!”

Its enthusiastic voice reverberated through the forest. Lark chuckled and jumped onto its body. He’d learned before that it would strike pangs of jealousy if he sat on one of the heads.

“Then, to the elven kingdom,” said Lark.

The Scylla roared and flocks of birds flew out of the forest. It jumped into the sky, flapped its wings, and shot toward the east at a tremendous speed.