Great Hero (2)
To keep the already dead World Tree alive, the elves and the Holy Nation tried all sorts of ans.
Basically, they mobilized the most cutting-edge magitech technologies, but it was all useless.
Even the recently so-called omnipotent magitech cannot revive dead life.
Magic was the sa.
Even if there is recovery magic, the only kind of resurrection magic is necromancy.
And that was, in fact, the magic most reviled in the Holy Nation.
In the end, deeming it impossible to revive the dead, the Holy Nation devised a solution.
They decided to simply preserve the corpse as it was.
Of course, there was so self-justification in that.
There's no way the World Tree, the symbol of life, could die so easily.
With the whole world proudly inford that the tree is immortal now, how much ridicule would ensue if it was discovered to be a corpse?
So, they only had to make sure that no one found out it was a corpse.
As long as it appeared to be alive, it was all good.
Of course, even that wasn't easy.
As expected of a legendary tree, even its corpse required massive energy to maintain.
Obtaining that required an enormous sum.
But since they could not forcibly extract that from the elf residents, they changed the target.
To those immigrating to the elf village.
And if new immigrants did not pay, they were subjected to harsh punishnt.
They would be used as slaves to create the driving force behind the World Tree.
[That's all the information I know.]
Having heard all the details, Louis and Silia gulped.
There was a reason the 50 gold "village developnt fund" existed, after all.
"So in the end, if you don't have money, you get taken away to the labor camp."
[Exactly. What gets produced from that labor is the sacred stone—an enchanted crystal. With energy far stronger than the average spirit stone, it can be used not only for magitech devices but even as a weapon.]
A powerful stone believed to contain the power of the gods. Even Silia had heard of the sacred stone.
"I learned about it back when I was studying magitech. The ultimate spirit stone, said to be made through divine power. Ordinary spirit stones can be extracted from monsters, but the sacred stone can only be created by human hands."
The common knowledge was that spirit stones ca from monsters, but the sacred stone shattered that idea.
It was the only spirit stone that could be created exclusively by humans, and with no trace of a monster's energy, it was said to be the world's purest energy crystal.
[That's right. There isn't even a hint of Demonic Energy in it—it's a pure stone. That's why, since it's the "most holy," people call it a sacred stone. Of course, unlike regular stones, making it is exceptionally difficult.]
"Well... because it can only be made through humans, after all."
For typical spirit stones, you just extract them from a monster's corpse.
But the sacred stone?
It can only be produced by wringing out the very soul and strength of a human.
So the nature of its main ingredient was obvious.
"In the end, it ans living people are the material."
"Right."
At Louis's words, Silia nodded.
"In fact, I've heard rumors so places constructed facilities to try to make sacred stones more easily. But the process is so brutal, I doubt it gets any easier."
That cruel process was deadly because it cost human lives.
Since victims died so frequently during the procedure, not just anyone could do it.
Thus, the secret of the sacred stone was tightly kept.
Only a handful of nobles involved in the process knew about it.
[You know more than I expected. I doubt even most magitech specialists are aware of the sacred stone.]
"My family once researched it."
[Your family?]
"The Weissman family. They fell after their corruption was uncovered, but I was raised there as an adopted daughter."
Weissman?
Mirianne thought for a mont, recalling the na from sowhere.
Then, as if rembering sothing, her eyes widened.
[Weissman... if I recall, that family once did a great service for the elves. During the demonkin war, I rember what happened well. If they collapsed, perhaps they're here now.]
"Is that so?"
[Have you not heard? The family head, Andrew Weissman. He earned the elves' gratitude by protecting them from swarming monsters. That would be more than enough to allow them to settle here.]
Even Silia, despite being part of the family, didn't know that.
It was likely she hadn't been told deliberately, as both Silia and her brother Sylvester were raised as adopted children in that family.
"If it's the Weissman family, isn't that the one elder sister destroyed as soon as she joined the special task force?"
"Yes. It was the first thing I investigated once I had the authority."
Back then, her brother had died due to group bullying in the academy, but it was the Weissman family's doing that started it all.
They had spread word that her brother was a wild child, and so the noble students bullied him.
Even after being raised by the Weissman family, both Silia and her brother were treated that way.
"Those people would certainly have lost their place to return to. The wild-child rumor was spread by the whole family, after all."
Other than the head, Andrew, everyone in the family had been Silia and her brother's enemies.
That's why, as soon as she joined the special task force, she took revenge.
Silia herself brought down the family that had raised her.
"But when they fell, they all just disappeared. I figured they just ran off sowhere, afraid of
catching them..."
"And what if that place was this elf village?"
"..."
Weissman had been involved in sacred stone production. So it was highly possible they were here or in the Holy Nation's capital.
"Do you know anything else about those guys?"
[Sorry, I don't rember anything recent. After the World Tree died, my mind's been foggy.]
They could find out nothing more about Weissman.
In the end, the elves and the Holy Nation were sacrificing sothing to keep the World Tree going, for the sake of producing sacred stones.
[And there's an ideal material for making sacred stones. That would be the Sain—]
"Guh!"
Suddenly, Silia groaned and collapsed.
[What's wrong all of a sudden?]
"Ugh!"
As Frederick voiced his concern, Louis collapsed as well.
"Looks like... we've been had."
[No way!]
The mont those words dropped, the black space around them began to lt away.
They returned to reality, surrounded by a crowd of elves.
Louis and Silia both had arrows lodged in them, tipped with poison.
[Damn! We talked for too long!]
In that black ntal plane, they'd failed to sense anyone approaching.
So they hadn't noticed the elf patrol.
"Two rats snuck in at once. Security really is lax, isn't it?"
A smug elf spoke among the guards, who were ard with bows and spears.
"You're the head of security, aren't you?"
"Yes, Captain Rondalph."
The elf called Rondalph suddenly grabbed the security captain's head and smashed it into the ground.
"How are you handling security!?"
With a thud, blood spurted from the security captain's head.
Lifting his head again, Rondalph snarled threateningly.
"Tell
what day it is."
"August... third... sir..."
"That's right, August 3rd. And it's only 26 days till the Saint and Hero visit. That ans security needs your utmost attention... so why did you let rats slip in!?"
"I'm sor— Guh!"
Rondalph dropped and stomped the elf, beating him till he passed out. Just then, he turned to the two infiltrators.
"Still, it's strange. There were a lot of guards. How did you get past them?"
No matter how lazy the guards were, such a one-sided break-in shouldn't have been possible.
After all, no one could use magic power here.
"Well, it doesn't matter."
Except for certain special elves, that is.
"I am Rondalph, one of the elf elders. I'm going to interrogate you two. Don't die before I'm done."
A chill magic swirled around his hand.
While no one else could wield magic here, Rondalph used magic as if it were nothing.
"The arrows you took are laced with paralysis poison. So it's best if you don't try to run."
With an unpleasant smile, he reached for them with his magic.
"When did it start?"
"Huh?"
"When did you start doing this to newcors like us? Was it after the World Tree died?"
"..."
Rondalph's face froze at Silia's words.
"This is botherso..."
He clenched his cold, frosty fist, killing intent radiating.
"You know a lot, don't you? I was going to keep you alive as my lover, but..."
He had fallen for Silia at first sight, but now his mind had changed.
"Die."
Rondalph reached out for her—
"Then we're allowed to kill you too, right?"
Just then, Louis's kick crashed into Rondalph's face, sending him flying into a wall.
The elves stared in shock.
Not only was his monstrous physical ability impressive, but how could he move at all after being hit by poison-tipped arrows?
And Louis wasn't the only one moving.
"Get up, bastard."
Silia got up, perfectly fine, and walked over to the fallen Rondalph.
"You—how are you moving!?"
"Compared to the poison in monsters from the demon realm, this is nothing."
"Demon realm?"
The land of certain death, where none ever returned alive.
Hearing Silia coolly ntion the demon realm gave Rondalph an awful sense of discord.
"Oh! Elder Sister, you're moving just fine too? Feels like just yesterday poison nearly finished you off four years ago."
"When did that ever happen?"
"Don't you rember our first trip outside?"
"..."
Silia recalled the humiliating mory.
Their first outing, at the inn, eating poisoned food—if not for Louis, she might have died back then.
"You really think I'm the sa as four years ago?"
Compared to back then, Silia's body had changed.
Paralysis poison alone couldn't restrain her, not even without magic power.
"I don't know who you are, but it's all useless. No one can use magic power here!"
Getting up, Rondalph conjured a magic array in both hands, rging them to create a huge iceberg in midair.
"... Except an elder like !"
Without magic and aura, everyone else was just an ordinary person.
Silia should have been the sa, so what he said wasn't wrong. But...
"Sorry, but that won't work."
From the mont the poisoned arrows struck, Silia's body had changed slightly.
"I'm not alone..."
[...not at all.]
Suddenly, Silia's voice shifted.
It wasn't Frederick's voice this ti, but another woman's.
The one they'd spoken to in the black realm—the Great Mage who had rged with the World Tree to protect the continent over countless years.
"Huh?"
As Silia drew her sword, the iceberg Rondalph had created was sliced in half.
No ordinary human could have unleashed such a cut, and Rondalph was horrified.
"You... who the hell are you!?"
At his shocked question, Silia smiled.
"Did you know?"
This ti, it was Silia's original voice.
"Do you know who created your elder council system?"
The Great Mage who created the very system had now possessed Silia, just like Frederick.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Damn, Silia is just collecting previous heroes in her body...
【????????(??????)】
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