Chapter 542: Sharo and the Spriggan Alex (1/2)
Not many people knew the true relationship between Elf King Sharo and the Weeping Willow. However, there were many stories about the elven king and the spriggan in charge of the Weeping Willow. Some said that Spriggan Alex raised Elf King Sharo because of his father's negligence. Elf King Charo was notorious for obsessing only on improving himself. He didn't spend a lot of time with his only son but he made sure to give Sharo the strictest education in order to groom him into the 'perfect' king.
It was common knowledge that there was a treasure inside of the Great Forest of Altear. The Weeping Willow was a World Tree that offered those who worshipped it the power to see into the future. Many people used to visit it to ask for little things. Of course, the price for clairvoyance wasn't something everyone could afford. The Weeping Willow would often make demands for the strangest things. It could range from someone's eyes to their lifespan in exchange for the information. Nobody could predict what kind of price it would demand and only the desperate souls will seek its advice.
After King Charo's falling out with the other elves, the high elves turned away any visors and became hostile. Nobody was allowed to enter Altear and the Weeping Willow became something exclusive only to the high elves of Altear. Not many people minded because the World Tree often asked for prices nobody could afford. However, nobody expected the high elves to become greedy and use the tree's abilities for itself. They didn't know how these elves were paying the exorbitant rates but it was confirmed that the high elves were exploiting the World Tree's abilities somehow.
Charo waged war against many other countries to expand its influence. Some of the weaker countries gave up and surrendered against Charo's might. However, not everyone was a pushover like humans and were beasts. The dwarves put up a bloody struggle and both sides suffered heavy losses until Dwarven Hero Dorgon created the Droys.
”The last person to visit the Weeping Willow was some lich from U.N.U but nobody knows for sure what it looks like or where it is located. The stories say that the Weeping Willow is constantly crying. She cries a lot because she was forced to continuously look at the future and there were too many wars, too many deaths, too many sad and horrific things in the future that she couldn't prevent. The salty water droplets that fell from her leaves created a small pond surrounding her like a moat somewhere in Altear. As for the rest, nobody really knows. Some say that the spriggan guarding her is a handsome young man and others claim that he was just a dirty old man. The only thing that remained constant in stories was his love for beautiful young women.”
Zero had to sigh at that last bit of information. The Tree of the Future really wasn't joking about her spriggan's womanising tendencies. He knew that he had to meet this troublesome spriggan and resolve their domestic conflict before he could obtain the third key to Whiskeria's portal but this sounded a lot harder to deal with than negotiating for a non-aggression pact with the elven king.
Seeing Zero's troubled expression, King Brice asked if there was anything Smargdas could do to help make his negotiations easier.
The doctor thought it over a little. There wasn't much a country like this could do. However, he knew that if he wanted to get the womanising spriggan's attention, he needed something better than whatever beauties Altear had to offer.
”Not at the moment,” Zero said then he paused. ”Actually, do you think the women in Smargdas are beautiful enough to seduce the spriggan into talking?”
King Brice raised a brow. ”How can humans compare to elven beauty? Have you seen pure-blooded high elves? They can charm anyone with just a look.”
Shoulders drooping, Zero sulked. He should have known that it wouldn't be this easy. Instead, he asked for something even more ridiculous that King Brice wondered if the doctor suffered from some form of brain damage.