Chapter 73

73rd Episode

The Woodcutters at the Logging Site

The World Tree.

A tree worthy of being called the tree of the world, its branches spreading to the highest skies.

I, too, had heard the tales of the World Tree said to be in the elves’ homeland of Albrheim.

Its towering branches supposedly reached the heavens, and its deep roots extended to the underworld beneath the earth.

Even in ancient Korea, large and ancient trees in villages were often revered as sacred, known as “Dangsannamu,” symbolizing village guardians.

It’s understandable why people would want to worship a great tree.

Of course, in this boastful world where cats turn into lions, there’s bound to be some exaggeration.

However, since it’s called the World Tree and revered as such, it must indeed be an enormous and imposing tree. I’d love to see just how big it is.

But there’s also a superstition that plucking leaves or breaking branches from such a sacred tree will bring misfortune.

sh*t, burning the massive and sacred World Tree? Elpride was crazier than I thought.

“I’ve vaguely heard rumors of a white-haired elf seen in the city of Kolkata.”

I carefully minimized any connection between Elpride and myself, presenting the information as if it were just something I casually overheard.

This was because I wanted to avoid the hassle of this prickly elf taking an interest in me and asking endless questions.

“Kolkata. I’ve heard of the city. It’s the place where the first labyrinth of the Underworld was discovered. It’s famously known as the entrance to hell… It’s plausible she might be there.”

The bald elf Kalidur muttered to themselves like someone caught in the rain, then came to a conclusion.

I thought that would be the end of this awkward conversation, but Kalidur kept watching me finish tidying the dishes.

“What is it?”

“This is just out of personal curiosity. Would it be alright if I touched that necklace of yours?”

Every now and then, I could feel Kalidur’s piercing gaze, and it seemed he was interested in the pendant Pluto’s Eye I was wearing.

The spiky, medal-sized pendant was indeed the kind of accessory to draw people’s attention.

Adding this odd necklace to my already lean, pointy physique felt like a recipe for multiplied awkwardness.

Still, this was a fairly valuable relic that could fetch a hefty sum, so I wasn’t too keen on letting others touch it easily.

It was worth several gold coins, more than everything I owned combined. Perhaps even my life was worth less than this. What if someone made a run for it?

With suspicion evident in my eyes, that bald elf added a few more words.

“There’s no need to take it off. I’ll just place my hand on the pointed, star-like part. Not to boast, but I have a natural talent for sensing magic.”

If I don’t have to hand the whole necklace over, there’s not much to worry about.

Once I finished tidying the dishes, I stood up, straightened my back, and handed the necklace to Kalidur.

However, the moment Kalidur took it, he suddenly started shaking violently.

“Uuuaaah…”

Between the scruffy beard, a groan escaped as if he were electrified. A vibrating baldy?

“UURGH!”

He soon let out a scream and threw the necklace off his hand. It felt like my possession had been treated disrespectfully, which irritated me slightly.

“Sudden convulsions? Is there something wrong with it?”

“Ah, it seems the item itself is rejecting me. It might be best to consider it a personalized item made for someone specific.”

“Hmm…”

I’m not sure what he meant, but I guess it’s an item tied to me.

I had considered selling it for gold if I ever needed to, but if it’s bound to me, I wonder if anyone would even buy it. The price would likely drop.

“Though I’ve heard wilderness folk have strong willpower, this surpasses anything I imagined. Truly, you could be called a natural-born warrior.”

In any case, that was the end of my amusing conversation with this prickly monk. It’s late, we’re full, and it would be wise to get some sleep to preserve our strength.

However, the only tent we had was a small one.

“Boo! sh*t! I won!”

Luna, who won the rock-paper-scissors, got to sleep inside the tent.

The rest of us had to sleep outside, under a blanket near the bonfire. Luckily, it was warmer than expected in the logging area, so roughing it wasn’t too much of an issue.

—

The next morning.

I woke up because Luna’s pink hair lightly tickled my face. For a moment, I thought I had died and was seeing an angel.

“Morning, Hassan.”

“Ugh, it seems I closed and opened my eyes, and it’s already morning.”

I was tense the whole night, worried about wooden monsters attacking us, so my body was pretty heavy from lack of proper rest.

Glurp-glurp.

After splashing some water from my leather flask on my face, I woke up somewhat properly.

After carefully packing our camping gear into my bag and quickly having a meal of dried meat and small biscuits, Rene said,

“We’ll finish today and head back. From what Joseph said, the necromancer doesn’t seem to be above the Bronze Tier. We should be able to take care of this together.”

It felt rather rushed, but that’s how things are usually handled in this world.

Still, it’s quite commendable that someone is stepping up as a leader and guiding people this way.

“Did Hassan sleep well?”

Yawning widely, Luna stretched her small mouth. Perhaps because she hadn’t washed her hair, her pink hair stuck out in all directions.

“No, I didn’t.”

“I slept well! I was in the tent.”

“Yeah, so you did.”

Who are you mocking? But there seemed to be no malice or mischief in Luna’s actions; she was probably just sharing that she had a good sleep.

“Then, let’s go. We’re almost there.”

Following Rene’s orders, the party members marched on again.

Each of us wielded the specially-made woodcutters’ axes given to us by Joseph. After a little rest, we felt significantly better than the day before, so there was nothing stopping us!

Crack… crack…

“d*mn you, pups! You dared to m*l*st yesterday’s day, did you!”

Approaching the hideaway where the necromancer was supposed to be, tree monsters, the Stomps, began to intermittently appear.

Without discussing some plan or strategy, Rene charged at the creatures the moment she saw them. A tank that attacks immediately upon seeing enemies might not be the best tank, after all.

Whoosh, CRACK!

But unlike the struggles of yesterday, Rene efficiently chopped down the Stomps with her iron axe today.

“Even if it’s a bit heavy… this axe is usable.”

Indeed, it seemed like the axe was enchanted. It looks like it costs 20 silver each.

“Look, Hassan! I’m cutting down the Stomps!”

Luna too was using the axe in her hand to cut down the wooden monsters.

She couldn’t cleanly slice them in half, but by repeating the motions of proper axe handling, she easily managed to knock one down.

“I guess I’m really strong now! My voodoo skills have improved!”

I really didn’t get how there was a relation between axe skills and voodoo mastery, but Luna’s concept of voodoo was quite broad and inclusive.

Not bound by typical concepts—truly, the magnitude of the daughter of God was impressive.

Mmm…

“Shut up!”

Luna finished off the Stomp lying on the ground, not forgetting to collect its sap with an empty leather flask.

“Are you collecting their sap in that? Are you supposed to drink it?”

“You can’t eat it. But it solidifies and can be used as glue. Now, I can remake my faceguard!”

At the mention of the faceguard, I remembered the massive wooden mask Luna had worn when we first met—she’d completely destroyed it during a scuffle with some hooligans.

I’d forgotten about it until now because it hadn’t been mentioned, but Luna had clearly been thinking about it.

“Hey! d*mn it! Stop messing around and hurry up to k*ll the Stomps! Are you here for fun?”

At Rene’s furious yell, I too pulled out the combat axe strapped to my back.

A specially-borrowed iron axe from Joseph, it was unenchanted—just a heavy, sturdy axe.

The weighted end was especially substantial, and the grip required a firm hold due to the different center of gravity compared to a sword.

KWAGH, CRUNCH.

At that moment, a Stomp moved its rigid body and lunged at Luna, who didn’t seem to have enough time to react.

Gripping the axe with all my might, I swung it with full force, embedding it in the tree’s trunk.

A full-swung horizontal strike, using all my might.

CRACK!

The Stomp’s wooden body shattered like a thin board, fragments flying everywhere.

“f*ck, I’m so strong right now!”

Thanks to Luna’s bonus points, my current strength stat had hit 5, meaning I had the strength of two average humans.

With such extraordinary strength combined with my skill and experience in axe handling, it was no surprise the Stomps’ bodies couldn’t withstand this.

“You tree bastards, you’re done for!”

Feeling the momentum, I swung the massive axe from left to right, from right to left, continuously. Each time it shattered the Stomps with a satisfying KWAGH, KWAGH, bringing clarity to my mind.

“Huff…”

After felling about ten monsters, the aftershock of wielding the heavy weapon caught up with me. My stamina was depleted, and my mind was spinning.

Still, I had dealt with the trees approaching us enough to take a breath.

“Indeed, a reckless but effective axe handling. Though your technique is aggressive, it pairs well with heavy iron. Perhaps it’s time you tried handling bludgeoning weapons rather than swords?”

The bald elf Kalidur approached me, congratulating me as he had watched me mercilessly defeating the Stomps. Though his praise might have been a superficial compliment, it made me inexplicably proud.

Was there really another weapon more suitable for me than a sword?

In any case, the number of Stomps we had cut down was around twenty. The Stomps that were advancing on us began retreating in little steps back somewhere.

“Let’s chase them!”

Rene increased her pace and ran after them. Following her, our party members sprinted ahead.

We soon discovered that the Stomps disappeared into a cave at the base of a rocky cliff. It was quite suspicious.

It was like someone was advertising that it was the lair of an ominous creature.

“Let’s go inside.”

Party leader Rene boldly stepped ahead as if she had no fear. It seemed that, having chopped down trees with enchanted axes, her confidence had soared.

However, having faced necromancers alongside Hippolyte before, I was somewhat tense.

“It’s incredibly dark. The atmosphere is eerie, like walking through Niflheim. Let’s finish quickly and leave.”

While walking through the rather large cave, Kalidur muttered a few words. It was true; as we moved further from the entrance, it became darker and darker.

“Should we light a torch?”

Rene reached for the torch tied to her back, but Luna immediately protested.

“No, don’t. There’s hardened sap sprayed all over. If you light it, the entire thing will burst into flames, suffocating us.”

Indeed, upon looking around, there were plenty of hardened resins scattered here and there. In the dark, lighting a torch wasn’t an option. There was only one thing to do.

I clenched my hand that wasn’t holding the axe and activated the blessing. Sure enough, my palm began to emit an eerie glow, bright like a lantern.

“What the? What did you do?”

At the rapid brightening of our surroundings, Rene marveled, her tongue practically rolling out.

I was equally amazed. I still haven’t properly adjusted to the sight of my glowing hand.

SWOOSH.

Suddenly, the bald elf grabbed my hand, startling me to the point of letting out a real scream.

“Name: Kalidur Lv. ??

Status: Decline in Libido] Root Rot] Protein Deficiency] Mark of the World Tree] Ruthless”

Shrieking, I shook off his hand.

“What the hell, why the sudden grab!?”

Is he gay? Homosexuality is quite mainstream in this world, so one must be vigilant. And to suddenly come out like this—sh*t, baldy.

“Don’t touch people without permission!”

“Ah, sorry. I wanted to check if it emitted heat. They say some hermits in Albrheim can emit qi from their fists, and I thought this might be similar, but it seems a bit different.”

Was it really necessary to touch it? The elves truly lacked empathy. Their way of thinking is different from ours, making it difficult to adjust.

Though I was quite irritated, thanks to my glowing palm, we were able to continue our journey through the dark cave.

“Hassan, look over there. There’s a trail.”

“Yeah, that way seems right.”

We spotted broken branches and leaves scattered here and there, and soon we were greeted by the mummified carcasses of animals and humans that had dried up completely.

As we ventured deeper inside, a massive cavern or what could be called a square soon appeared.

With a lofty ceiling and walls that were surprisingly wide, it gave the chest a bit of breathing space. At the same time, the thought that this spot resembled the final act of a stage heightened the tension.

“Be careful. We don’t know what might come out.”

The party members gripped their weapons tightly at Rene’s words. Not long after that, an eerie voice resonated through the wide cave.

“Who was it that dared prune my precious trees? Oh, lackeys of Mars.”

Then, with a swoop, a woman dressed in black robes revealed herself to us.

The robes were made of thin fabric, much like what a dancer might wear, strikingly resembling Luna’s outfit.

However, instead of an erotic feel like Luna’s attire, there was an overwhelming sense of whether this was really appropriate.

The reason: despite wearing a revealing outfit, the physical age of this being was incredibly young.

The crimson-tinged short hair and sharply protruding ears hinted at the reason.

A nymph. Having met Eko, the wife of the tavern owner, and gaining a certain knowledge about this race called nymphs, I understood.

“I am Paranoi, priestess of Pluto. I shall —”

Right when the nymph necromancer was about to say something,

THWACK!

Something swiftly passed by me and mercilessly chopped down her small neck with the edge of a hand.

“AAARGH!”

Paranoi, the nymph necromancer, let out a final, agonizing scream as she fell to the ground.

sh*t, what just happened?

All we party members could do was stare at Kalidur, the bald elf casually wiping his hand, blinking in astonishment.

“Does this count as completing the mission?”

[Author’s Note]

Siel! Kadeom! Moon’s Colorful Star! Great Clan Leader! Thank you so much for the first-day coupon on June 1st!! Truly thankful to those who sent the manuscript fee coupons! Thank you!!

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