Chapter 125
“Akion, you’re back? You returned earlier than I thought. Nothing happened during patrol?”
“Nothing happened… no, that’s not right. Sothing did happen. I brought unexpected guests.”
“Guests?”
When we entered the communal living area, a dwarf approached us.
“Guests ca here? Is that even possible?”
“Did you not hear? A white-haired human appeared in this area a few hours ago.”
“A white-haired human? I didn’t hear about that. Wait—hold on. If it’s a white-haired human… then could it be… the one Sakiel spoke of in the prophecy……”
“That’s right. It’s exactly what you’re thinking. Now then, Gideon.”
“Yes?”
“Step forward.”
When I stepped out from behind Akion, the dwarf’s eyes widened dramatically.
No—he wasn’t the only one.
As soon as I appeared, every other race nearby turned their eyes toward .
“A human? A white-haired human?”
“That human… could he be his…….”
“Is the ti Sakiel foretold finally approaching?”
With all kinds of reactions, the races began to gather around .
And it wasn’t only the ones nearby.
After so ti passed, it felt as though every race living in this large settlent—this communal living zone—was gathering toward .
Feeling overwheld by the countless gazes, Akion spoke up at just the right mont.
“I understand how everyone feels. But do not overwhelm him too much. Make sure he can stay comfortably.”
“Hey, Akion. Aren’t we going to hold a welcoming party?”
“A welcoming party… you say?”
“Yes, a welcoming party. Back then, whenever that friend returned, we always threw a grand welcoming party. This situation is quite similar, so wouldn’t it be fine to hold one again after a long ti?”
“A welcoming party……”
Akion hesitated for a mont, then looked toward .
“Gideon, are you hungry?”
“I haven’t had lunch yet.”
“Then we shall prepare a al for you. Now, everyone, listen!”
Akion raised his voice toward the crowd of races that had gathered.
“Our leader and our only friend—his bloodline has reached our land after many long years. This is certainly a matter worth celebrating, so welco him—Gideon Kyrgram—as we used to long ago. Varon, I leave the arrangents to you.”
“If it’s making a festive atmosphere, I’m the expert. Leave it to . But Akion, where are you going?”
“I’ll go fetch Sakiel. He’s the one who would have wanted to et Gideon the most.”
“Well, true. He’s the one who made the prophecy in the first place.”
Varon smirked and nodded.
But in that smile… I felt like there were several anings layered within it.
“You know where Sakiel is, right?”
“He’s in the elves’ area—your forest. The exact location… probably inside that tree.”
“You know well. Ever since the invasion back then, that guy hasn’t stepped outside the tree at all.”
“I hope he cos out today, at least.”
After saying that, Akion started running toward the west side of the Protected Zone.
Varon stared at the centaur for a mont, then grinned and soared high into the air.
“Alright, everyone, get ready! It’s been ages since we had a welcoming party! It’s a festival! A festival! Let’s get excited! Ah, but make sure Gideon is comfortable. He just arrived, so don’t scare him! Sa goes for the other human next to him!”
At the sa ti, on the west side of the Protected Zone.
That place was a lush forest filled with trees far larger than those found anywhere else.
The elves and fairies had built their hos atop those massive trees.
And within the largest tree of this area—no.
Within the largest tree in the entire Protected Zone for Other Races.
A tree the other races called the World Tree.
Inside it, one elf lay down.
“…Has he finally arrived?”
The elf muttered with his eyes closed.
This was the first ti he had spoken in a very long ti.
No—this was the first ti he had moved his muscles in centuries.
“So the ti to take revenge has finally co.”
Sakiel, the leader of the elves.
The one who hadn’t moved even an inch for hundreds of years slowly raised his body.
He loosened his stiffened muscles and brushed off the dust that had accumulated on his body.
“Akion is coming to get … and everyone is preparing a welcoming party after so long.”
It was a dark interior where not even a single ray of light entered.
Normally nothing would have been visible, but Sakiel’s eyes were special.
He could see far into the distance… and vaguely into the future as well.
His eyes were the eyes of a prophet.
“Hmm? Ah… my body’s completely stiff. Well, it’s been hundreds of years.”
Sakiel looked at his body, which had withered down to skin and bone and hardened like stone, and let out a faint laugh.
For centuries he had remained here, motionless, like a corpse.
“A guy like
deserves to stay trapped here forever… but right now, I have to move. For my friend’s sake… I have to.”
A past event.
Because of that event, Sakiel had drowned in deep regret, guilt, and self-loathing.
Thus, he had sealed himself inside this tree.
But now he felt it was ti to leave.
“I must have my revenge… and I must et his descendant. I won’t be able to tell him about the past, but… I still have to et him.”
Sakiel slowly headed toward the outside of the tree.
Bright sunlight poured in.
It was the first sunlight he had faced in hundreds of years.
As he walked slowly, he once again looked far ahead.
Toward the communal living area—toward a white-haired human visible even from here.
“…His hair color is exactly the sa as that guy’s. And his face… he resembles her a lot. Yes, she… she also…… went through so much. Giving birth to a son all alone.”
Muttering to himself, Sakiel stepped out of the World Tree.
He looked around at the outside world he had not seen in ages and waited for Akion to arrive.
“Move the food to the center of the village once it’s ready! Oh—are we short on tables? Then… hey, Harpy noonas! Don’t prepare any bugs! Humans don’t like eating those!”
Under Varon’s direction, the welcoming party for
was being set up quickly.
“Everyone… seems happy.”
So many races.
All of them were harmonizing together regardless of race.
“Gideon? What are you looking at like that?”
“Ah, it’s just… everyone gets along so well. Even though they’re all different races, they blend together like this……”
“Strange, isn’t it? It should be strange. Honestly, I also found this sight truly strange.”
Varon nodded as he looked at the other races.
His expression looked as though he was recalling the past.
“Things weren’t always like this. About 500 years ago… this kind of scene was unimaginable.”
“If it was 500 years ago… the war between humans and the other races……”
“That’s right. In that war, every race lost and was forced into this cramped land together. The chaos back then was indescribable.”
As if rembering that ti, Varon shuddered like he was sick of it.
“There were races who held old grudges and hated each other, but since they were all locked into the sa land… they fought like they wanted to kill each other whenever they t. Even though it was the humans who trapped us here, back then we were too busy fighting among ourselves. Honestly, I thought we were going to self-destruct here. We almost did. But then… he appeared.”
Varon faintly smiled as though picturing soone indescribable.
“‘He’… is he the person I’m thinking of?”
“Yes. A human with strikingly beautiful white hair, just like you.”
Varon sat on top of my head, playing lightly with my white hair as he continued.
“One day, he suddenly appeared here. I an literally suddenly, out of nowhere. And he beca friends with everyone who could communicate. Those who only understood force, he subdued with force.”
“Right, right. And the legends about him are still passed down to this day.”
Another voice suddenly ca from beside .
When I turned my head—no.
When I lifted my head—there was a giant who was at least twice my height.
“Laboc! When did you get here? You weren’t around earlier, right?”
“I just arrived. I ran here as soon as I heard his descendant had returned. More importantly……”
The giant looked down at .
His eyes looked as though he was lost in old mories.
“You resemble him. That white hair is exactly the sa. Looks like you inherited his blood properly.”
“Yes, everyone keeps telling
that.”
“Hahaha! Everyone thinks the sa! Oh, right. My na is Laboc. And you?”
“I’m Gideon Kyrgram.”
“Haha! Nice to et you, Gideon! Seeing you reminds
of the first ti I t that guy. I was the first one who charged at him.”
Laboc said it casually, but his words made
tilt my head.
“You t him personally, then… could it be your age……”
“Oh, my age? Hmm… my age is… sorry, I don’t know. I stopped counting at so point and forgot. I think I’ve lived roughly 600 years?”
“I did hear that many races have long lifespans, but seeing it myself is surprising.”
“Hey, don’t be shocked by . Our giant race actually has one of the shorter lifespans among the long-living races. Just look at —I look old, right? Those elves over there consider 600 years to be just the beginning of their youth.”
Just like Laboc said, his body showed clear signs of aging.
The wrinkles, the long beard—he stood out among the many youthful-looking races.
“Our lifespan is sowhere between 600 and 700 years… so I’ll be going soon.”
“But you’re not planning on going yet, right? You at least need to see Sakiel’s prophecy co true.”
“You’re right. I need to see my friend’s wish fulfilled before I die.”
Laboc looked at
again.
It was a face that seed full of things he wanted to say.
But just like Varon, he seed unable to speak them.
“Wow, giant race? A real giant?”
While we were talking, Kara approached us.
“The giant race… wow. They really are different. How is this body so huge……”
“Oh? Another human? What’s your na?”
“I’m Kara Barha. Um, giant sir, may I…….”
“Call
Laboc.”
“Ah, then Laboc-nim. If it’s not rude… may I ask you a few things about the giant race?”
“Oh ho, a human interested in us? It’s been a long ti since I t one like you.”
“W-wah?”
Laboc lifted Kara up and placed her on his shoulder.
“Alright, Kara. What do you want to know about the giant race?”
“F-First, about the ecological traits of the giant race……”
Kara was startled at first, but soon her eyes sparkled as she excitedly asked Laboc question after question.
I chuckled lightly and stepped aside.
After that, without anything special happening, I wandered around the communal living area.
‘It’s really peaceful… everyone looks happy… and on the surface, nothing seems strange.’
Elves, dwarves, fairies, centaurs, beastkin…
All of them were peacefully preparing my welcoming party.
They treated
warmly, greeting
happily whenever I approached.
But no matter how much I thought about it, sothing felt wrong.
‘I can’t find any clues about the past. I understand that they can’t speak directly about it, but for there to not be even a single trace left behind… what is this…….’
I walked around the massive communal area from one end to the other.
But I didn’t find a single useful clue.
‘I guess I won’t find anything here. Looks like I need to look sowhere else… but where…….’
The welcoming party was far from ready.
So I thought about checking the nearby areas in the anti—when suddenly…
‘Hm? Is that… a lake?’
I was standing at the northern edge of the communal area when I looked further north and saw a lake far in the distance.
‘Oh right. There was a huge lake at the center of this Protected Zone.’
A lake…
There wasn’t any particular reason, but I sohow felt I needed to go there.
So I headed straight for it.
“Huh? Gideon? Where are you going…….”
“I want to take a look at that lake.”
“T-the lake? W-wait! You can’t go… well, it’s not that you can’t go but… uh… I-I can’t let you go alone… wait! Hold on! I’m coming with you!”
Ignoring Varon, I started walking, and the king of the fairies reluctantly followed.
After walking through the forest for about fifteen minutes, the massive lake revealed itself before .
“This lake is huge. And it looks incredibly deep.”
“Huge, right? Humans don’t know this, but this lake is one of the biggest in the entire Empire.”
“I see. But……”
I narrowed my eyes, staring closely at the lake.
As I said, the lake was extrely large and seed very deep.
Especially the exact center—it was so deep that I couldn’t see inside properly.
But in that extrely deep center… I faintly saw sothing.
It was too deep to see clearly but……
“Varon. I think there’s so kind of building inside that lake. What’s that?”
“Ah… uh…… that’s… well… can I even say this? If I say it, I feel like I’ll get cursed again, and if I get cursed again today I’ll seriously die… Sorry, Gideon. I want to tell you, but right now it’s a bit…….”
“It’s a manor. A manor once owned by a human who stayed here long ago.”
A completely new voice spoke from behind us.
When I turned around, Akion was standing there—and getting off his back was an elf.
“Sakiel! You finally ca out of that tree! But how did you know we were here……”
“Varon, did you forget? These eyes can see everything. I saw you and Gideon move, so I asked Akion to bring
here.”
The elf called Sakiel replied with a smile as he walked toward .
I quickly examined him.
Pointed ears—the most distinct trait of elves. Eyes that shone with intelligence.
And… a thin, starving-looking body, like he hadn’t eaten for ages.
He was literally skin and bone.
His long, ssy hair and beard looked untouched for centuries.
Unlike the healthy elves in the communal area, Sakiel looked nothing close to healthy.
‘But I can feel a mysterious aura from him. Much stronger than the other elves.’
Filled with curiosity, I continued observing Sakiel.
But he simply approached beside
and pointed toward the lake’s center.
“That manor belonged to the white-haired man who looked just like you. After he was acknowledged as our leader, we built him a massive mansion at the center of the lake. But after that incident… it sank. That bastard sank it.”
Oh?
It finally felt like I was getting a real clue.
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