Chapter 260: Elven Heroic Epics (1/2)

“……”

“You’ve got an interestin’ expression on your face, Boss.”

“Yeah, I know. Well, it’s not like I didn’t expect this anyway.”

Many of the local concoctions Nect-kun brought tasted like medicine. But some of them were kinda close, but still fell short. It felt like they were just a step away from that elusive sweet spot. But they still couldn’t reach the standard of real high-quality soft drinks that I was familiar with. If I had to give an analogy, it was like someone who only managed to slightly pry open a door, and beyond the said door was true greatness.

“It looks like they didn’t manage to satisfy you.”

“Uh, no, that’s not it. It’s not like that at all. I was just overwhelmed by reality for a moment. But these feel like they’d be really good with some tweaking. I did manage to get a connection with a major beverage manufacturer here, so would you like me to introduce these to them?”

“Fumu…… Let’s see. Let me consult with the recipe owners first.”

“That would be for the best.”

I’ll just give Nect the contact details of the product development chief of the beverage manufacturer we visited a few days back. In the meantime, I’ll have Mei contact him in advance. After all, he’d probably get the shock of his life if he was suddenly called by the son of the Minfa clan’s leader.

“So this is the seed of the Sacred Tree……”

“It really does shine. Is it due to magical resonance?”

“Amazing. I’ve only ever seen it in picture books when I was a child.”

Tinia and her two female attendants – Miza and Mam if I remember correctly – were excitedly fussing over the special-grade cursed item, which was now placed on top of something resembling a katana rack. As for the item itself, it was now blinking at a regular rate, as if feeling quite comfy. For some reason, I felt like it would be displaying a sloppy expression right now if the damn thing had a face, which was kinda annoying me.

“Even so, to think you would be able to stumble upon the seed of the world tree…… No, it was the seed of the Sacred Tree itself that found its way to you instead. How amazing.”

“Yeah, about that… People of this planet regard it as a supreme honor, but for me, it’s just an annoying hassle you know?”

“A hassle, is it? For people living on this planet, there could be no greater honor though.”

Nect displayed a bitter smile.

“No, I get that, okay? Even I would get fired up if I picked up some legendary weapon like the Holy Sword Excalibur or Magic Sword Gram. Heck, I’d probably geek out. But what am I supposed to feel when the one I managed to get my hands on was this mysterious object instead? I’d even gotten stuck here as a result.”

When I turned my eyes toward the seed of the Sacred Tree resting comfortably on its pedestal, it flashed in protest.

“In the first place, I have absolutely no idea about what sort of thing this actually is. I’m not familiar with elven folklore, so even if you tell me this is actually really incredible, it just doesn’t register y’know.”

“Ah, I understand. If that’s the case, then you’d better have Tinia tell you all about it.”

“Tinia?”

“Tinia’s really familiar with ancient legends and the like. Women of the Grado clan also play the role of storytellers and shrine maidens serving the Sacred Tree after all.”

“Hou?”

When I turned toward Tinia who was still inspecting the Sacred Tree’s seed, she noticed my gaze and our eyes met.

“If you’re fine with me, then shall I tell you the stories about it?”

“Please.”

When I agreed, Tinia nodded and started narrating. It was a story about the ages-old battle between elves and monsters.

The story happened a long, long time ago, in a time predating the empire’s discovery of Theta. That meant it happened several hundred years in the past. Anyway, before the advent of the imperial forces, there was another intelligent race living on Theta aside from the elves. It was a group of creatures collectively known as monsters, which consisted of several different races that had a penchant for violence.

There were lots of attempts to try and communicate with them, but they all failed. The elves and monsters fought fiercely, like destined adversaries. The battles raged on for countless years. The one which had supported the elves all throughout this bitter struggle was the Sacred Tree. The leaves and flowers of the tree served to heal the wounds suffered by the elves, and they had also learned to use magic from it, which they employed to great effect against the monsters. Magic also served a great role in their daily lives. The Sacred Tree was an invaluable existence for the elves.

As expected, the monsters regarded it as their hated enemy as well. Some cunning monsters managed to sneak past the elves several times and proceeded to damage, pollute, and burn down the Sacred Tree in every incursion. Of course, something like that would have led to the elves losing a large part of their strength as a race, and the demons would take advantage of that to finally exterminate them.