Chapter 65 …
“Kyaaah!”
Who would fall for such a ridiculous act? Yet, the kind senior members of Centa genuinely played along. Perhaps because they were well-raised, their reactions were intense.
“A bandit!”
No. A knight.
“G… Gohaengja-nim…!”
The people of Centa looked at me in a panic. They seemed to believe I could handle whatever was happening—but in fact, I was the one orchestrating this whole kidnapping scenario.
Yelena, Kalebrin, Kardil, and Erendor, who were aware of the plan in advance, leisurely waved through the smoke screen with their hands.
“Cough, cough… ugh, my bronchi.”
It was natural that Erendor knew about this plan. How else could Austin Gerard, who neither had elf blood nor had even seen an elf, have entered the Elven Forest?
Before we arrived, Erendor had met with Austin Gerard and guided him into the forest.
Incidentally, he had also handed over the smoke bombs and other explosives. Erendor wasn’t the type to win a battle with trivial gadgets, but he had a strong interest in weaponry and could obtain them.
“Gohaengja-nim! Evacuate!”
“Where is the saint?!”
Bang!
“Waaah!”
When another smoke bomb was thrown into the cluster of Centa members, chaos erupted like ants fleeing a mound.
Austin Gerard, whose eyes met mine, trembled with his green eyes before squeezing them shut. A large man wearing a hood and robe stepped forward decisively.
He grabbed me by the waist with his arm and tucked me to his side.
“I’m kidnapping the saint!”
Clang.
Not quite a princess carry… I felt like a sack of rice being lifted. I was even taller than Austin Gerard, so my toes barely touched the ground.
Ugh. I subtly pulled my legs together to avoid dragging them on the ground.
As Austin Gerard moved, my head leaned forward, letting my white hair spill. Panicking that it might drag on the ground, I hurriedly gathered it.
“Oh dear~ I’m about to be kidnapped!”
She giggled and raised her halberd.
Yelena, don’t laugh. Don’t enjoy this.
Kalebrin alternated his gaze between the chaotic Centa members and me being carried. He seemed to be contemplating when to follow.
Yelena and Kardil had decided to stay behind to guide the Centa members, leisurely striking at Austin Gerard or tossing magical spheres.
Of course, they didn’t hit anything, only scattering the ground and trees. Even Yelena’s playful strike, thrown with a mischievous grin, sliced an ancient tree that must have been hundreds of years old in a single blow.
‘If that had hit me, I’d be Ser/Nuan already. Thank goodness Yelena is kind.’
I was grateful she chose dialogue despite such power. I thought this while being awkwardly carried by Austin Gerard.
“Uh…! Th-the saint! Is being kidnapped!”
A bespectacled Centa member picked up his glasses from the ground and pointed at me.
I lifted my head at just the right moment and shouted:
“Brother Erendor! Please save me!”
Erendor chuckled as he drew his sword.
“Of course I will save you!”
Wait… drawing a sword wasn’t part of our prior plan.
I instantly remembered the first time I met him, when he had incinerated someone with that sword.
The ominously burning red letters were terrifying.
As Erendor leapt toward us, Ifrit floated beside him in the air, seemingly understanding that this was just a ‘joke’.
Meanwhile, the Centa members who clumsily followed without understanding the situation were in trouble.
“Wait! Without you, we—”
“So, you’d just watch an important saint from another country get kidnapped?”
“If Erendor isn’t here, we’ll be a meal for the animals in this forest!”
Yelena intervened.
“We’ll stay here~! So don’t worry. Since Erendor knows the forest well, it’s better for him to go rescue the kidnapped saint.”
Kardil nodded as well.
“We may not be particularly reliable, but please understand that we also came from another country to protect the saint as guards.”
“Th-then….”
Too long. Too long.
Austin Gerard, carrying me at his side, seemed to be thinking, “When should we depart?” as he stood a short distance from them.
It was about time to go. I raised a hand to my mouth and called out:
“Sister Kalebrin! Help me!”
“Uh, um… I-I’ll go too…!”
Kalebrin ran as fast as she could.
Thud!
“Ah.”
She tripped over a tree root while running—classic clumsy mage dealer.
Erendor, who was casually running toward us, shooting fiery sword waves everywhere, noticed her fall.
He paused, slightly dumbfounded, stepped back, tucked her under his arm, and continued toward us casually.
“I’ll take the saint!”
Austin Gerard, now a five-minute-experienced kidnapper, delivered his line flawlessly.
“This terrible kidnapper of the world… heheh, see? I’ll teach you a lesson and return the saint!”
“Erendor~ Please make sure to bring the saint back~!”
Yelena’s distant voice was perfect. Kalebrin’s lips twitched with amusement.
Luckily, my hair hid my expression. Austin Gerard threw another smoke bomb, and as Erendor slashed through the smoke, the flames blazed.
“Ugh.”
Austin Gerard timed a leap, nearly pulling my stomach upward, making me almost throw up.
I was carried for roughly a minute. After creating some distance, Austin Gerard set me down on the ground.
The sensation of solid ground under my feet was so welcome. Roller coasters would feel less jarring.
“I… I’ll set you down now…”
“Thank you, Sir Gerard…”
I shivered as I finally stood on the ground. Kalebrin was in a similar state, her staff-wielding arm trembling. I quietly approached and channeled the holy artifact’s power to heal the scrapes and dirt from her knees.
The physically strong Austin Gerard didn’t sweat at all while carrying me, Ser Nuan Lumiere, who was nearing 190 cm. The same went for Erendor carrying one person.
‘These brute-force types…’
I roughly swept my tangled hair up with one hand. Erendor sheathed his sword on his back.
“Shall we head to the World Tree now? If we hurry, we can reach it before sunset. After dark, evil things come out.”
Hmm, I wanted to move quickly.
“How about carrying me like before? If we each take one person, we could reach it in 30 minutes.”
“Uh… if we walk…?”
“Two hours, maybe three?”
Since Kalebrin was prone to falling, it would likely take longer than three hours.
Three hours vs. thirty minutes… Considering the sore sides and near vomiting, the latter seemed better.
“Carrying seems fine. What do you think, Gohaengja-nim?”
I was about to suggest walking for three hours when Austin Gerard asked. Being carried at my side was out of the question, and being carried in a princess carry would ruin my dignity.
Looking over, Kalebrin was already in Erendor’s arms. She handled the princess carry skillfully, and Erendor was gentlemanly, holding her securely.
Ah, please.
I tried to maintain the image of Gohaengja Ser Nuan Lumiere while responding:
“Yes, that seems fine.”
Not fine at all.
“But carrying you like before would drag your legs. Shall we carry you like this instead?”
Erendor, holding Kalebrin in a princess carry, looked at me as if to ask what I thought.
“Shall we go quickly?”
“Then I’ll carry you!”
I was hoisted up. Yes, someone who could cut mountains with a sword struggling to lift one person was odd… and a princess carry would be more efficient.
“Are you comfortable?”
I suppressed my urge to cover my face.
This… was inevitable. To survive, one must suppress shame. Compared to what I’ve done before, this was nothing.
“Yes… I’m fine.”
“Shall we go~?”
I pretended to fix my hair in front of my face. Finally, my long hair proved useful. I would never cut it…
“We’ve arrived.”
Erendor gently set Kalebrin down, who seemed to have dozed off during the ride. She was utterly relaxed.
I had been trembling, worried Austin Gerard would crash us somewhere with his reckless driving.
I wanted to stretch my stiff back, but saints don’t do that. I endured it with extraordinary mental strength.
The entrance to the World Tree… was overwhelmingly vast. I had expected only rotten trees, but it was thriving.
The trees were enormous, requiring roughly 500 people to encircle one. Naturally, they were tall and dense.
The thick shadows made it chill. Perhaps because the sun was setting, it felt colder. Master Kalebrin, being an ultimate utility mage, might cast warming magic if it got colder.
A quick survey showed nothing particularly noteworthy around the World Tree.
“Let’s enter.”
Erendor pointed at roots exposed above ground, resembling caves.
‘A defensive artifact. I’d only heard from NPCs that it existed here… never saw it myself.’
Surely it existed. Worries like this were natural before a major undertaking.
Inside the cave, it was pitch dark. When Kalebrin waved her staff twice, small ghostly flames appeared around us.
Ifrit curiously poked at the fireballs.
We entered the [World Tree: Recommended Lv ???] field.
‘It’s not that remarkable.’
The ground was damp, with small roots and signs of animal habitation. In the skeletal remains, insects crawled.
It was pure nature, but further ahead, clearly manmade underground stairs appeared, flanked by two gravestones.
The inscriptions were hard to translate. Kalebrin and Austin Gerard struggled, while I gave up early. Only Erendor read them aloud.
“Looks like only Erendor and I can go in here.”
“Why?”
“First, there are limits on number and eligibility. We can pass… but the two of you won’t get through.”
Left alone with Erendor in a place with no one else… he wouldn’t kill me, right? This would be the right moment to bring up the topic of the magic sword.
“See, I can pass. But you…”
Erendor explained kindly. His hand passed through the gap between the gravestones, while Austin Gerard’s was blocked as if hitting a transparent glass wall.
Kalebrin tried too, but same result.
‘What’s the requirement?’
Erendor knew he met it, so he acted confidently.
The only thing Erendor and I shared was the ability to see spirits. But that alone wouldn’t let us pass a barrier. If it did, elves who had contracted with spirits would freely come and go in the World Tree.
“Then it’s just the two of us. Watch the gate well, okay?”
Erendor stepped onto the underground stairs. I followed. Unlike Kalebrin, I passed through the barrier easily.
Now, moving through the darkness, Ifrit lit up the ghostly flames.
Kalebrin seemed uneasy that only the two of us were heading into unknown territory.
“I’ll be careful.”
“Uh, okay…”
“Hurry!”
Erendor urged, and I hurried down the stairs. Lower and lower.
“Now, let’s have some fun conversation.”
“Shall we? Um… we were talking about the magic sword last time.”
“Yes. As compensation for this silly prank, I promised to tell you about it.”
When Erendor had shared part of the plan in advance, he let me glimpse fragments of the magic sword, making me extremely curious.
I couldn’t afford to be killed and have him escape…
I walked down the stairs, replying casually:
“That magic sword… I actually have it.”
Erendor, walking ahead, paused briefly.
