78 – World Tree-9

A noble from birth, a champion of the World Tree, and one born to be the strongest among elves.

It was a very familiar phrase. Nerwen had lived with the horse and felt proud of it.

It was more than the pride that an aristocrat from a prestigious family would feel about their lineage.

Unlike other races, they are not born in the belly of an ordinary person, but in the arms of a giant and warm world tree.

She was not born without a plan or purpose, but out of a clear need, the demand that the World Tree want her.

There was no way it wouldn’t be honorable. I couldn’t help but be proud.

However, if the purpose is different from what she knew. Will she still be proud of it?

“What kind of nonsense is that? I don’t think there is an elf stronger than Nerwen. There’s no reason to spend the best power on something like that…”

“It doesn’t mean that she has to die to give birth, right? A human’s lifespan is finite. Even if you live as someone’s companion for the rest of your life, ‘human life’, there’s a lot of time left.”

Elves have a different concept of time than humans. Enerel didn’t understand that yet. Even though I understood it in my head, I couldn’t accept it in my heart.

“Is it okay to waste the strongest warrior like that? No matter how long it is, there is a gap in the power…”

“Of course, it’s not that we’ve invested a little in her. But do elves really need force?”

“…yes?”

“If everything is resolved by fighting, there’s no need to make another elf. We’re allied with humans, and we won’t be caught on the phone for a while. There’s no need to go out and find anything…”

Nerwen stood blankly and began to reflect on his worth.

Power is important. However, it is not absolute. You don’t have to make the best fighters just for that.

“And, she’s not the strongest warrior among the living elves.”

“Did Nerwen lie?”

“No. She probably didn’t know either.”

Others didn’t know it, but she could feel it.

The huge and overbearing feeling felt here wasn’t just because they were inside the World Tree.

“There is no limit to the lifespan of an elf. As the lifespan increases, the resources consumed increase endlessly, so not everyone can enjoy the benefits.”

“…is it.”

Enerel nodded calmly.

“The elves outside don’t even know that a place like this exists. But the elves who are qualified to become elders, in some cases, can live forever.”

Among the elves slowly surrounding her, Nerwen could see the person in her memory.

Among the elves, there were heroes left in the legend. Repel a horde of orcs, slaughter countless slave hunters, or reclaim your rightful throne with an imperial prince.

Such heroes disappeared at some point. There were rumors and legends that they were alive, but there was no proof. It was a false rumor.

However, in front of Nerwen’s eyes were the heroes who had protected this forest even before she was born.

The guardian spirits of the living elves, who must have become stronger and more sophisticated over the years.

“Nerwen is important, but not ‘the strongest of elves’. At least not within the World Tree.”

Slowly, she was able to accept the truth.

“Nerwen was created for that from the beginning. To enter the hero’s party, gain favor with the hero, and become his companion to obtain information.”

Nerwen hated elves who did not obey.

The purpose given from birth, whatever it is, is noble. There is no superiority or inferiority to those who follow the will of the World Tree.

Some selfish elves scoffed at the role of others, but not Nerwen.

Nerwen prided himself on being the noblest and strongest warrior, but he did not despise farmers or landscapers.

However, it was not easy to accept her sudden change of identity.

Even harder to accept was that Nerwen had failed. She couldn’t fulfill her given role.

Slowly, that fact gnawed at Nerwen’s heart.

But more than that, a deeper, more visceral sense made her aware of her failure.

/////

It was hard to admit.

Maybe it’s because my patience is running low. It might be that I was intoxicated by a power that was not so strong, that I couldn’t even call it my own.

But I didn’t like the physiology or behavior of these elves.

Still, there were things I didn’t understand yet.

“If that’s true, why did Nerwen hate me?”

“It was an error.”

“…error?”

“Nerwen was made to love warriors. However, it was not known whether the summoned hero would be male or female. We couldn’t prepare male and female warriors separately for that.”

No one knows who the summoned hero will be. They did not deviate from the human category, and although there were many young men, it was not absolute.

According to the records, there were times when gray-haired mercenaries were summoned, and there were also times when a very young child was summoned. There were many times when women were summoned.

Very occasionally, there were times when a knight or a prince from this world was chosen as a hero.

“So we chose the most obvious countermeasure. Let that emotion manifest itself in a man with the power of a hero.”

“Then shouldn’t there be nothing?”

“Since that setup, we’ve been able to find problems with Enerel’s pre-birth screening process.”

Eirin’s warm and cozy face and body felt awkward and abnormal.

If all elves were created through this process, it would be understandable that their faces were similar. It is only natural that every one of them has a beautiful face.

Although the strength and weakness of the born elf might consume energy, it would not be necessary to modify the face that was already created.

If a beautiful face can be created without any risk or resource consumption, it is of course efficient to do so.

“What if there was a hero or another woman he liked? Human men are usually honest about their s*xual desires, but what if they are devoted to their lovers?”

Nerwen’s ‘story behind the production’ she is unraveling is too detailed and brutal.

“There are limits since we cannot intervene with the hero, but it was greedy to expect a relationship to be created simply with the feeling of love. We decided to add s*xual desire. A sensation that elves are not accustomed to.”

For humans, s*xual desire lies between pleasure and the sublime.

A person who expresses s*xual desire indiscreetly is considered a vulgar person, but in the end, human beings cannot give birth to a new life without the process.

However, if you are an elf born from the fruit, there is no need to have such a desire. Come to think of it, all the elves I’ve encountered so far have been female.

Even if you feel love, you may not be able to connect it to s*xual desire.

“It wasn’t efficient to put the hero’s essence, the fact that he was chosen by the goddess, as a condition to activate it. But we didn’t have the time, and we thought there wouldn’t be a big problem.”

He wouldn’t have thought that the person who handles the hero’s power would not be a hero.

I asked the holy sword several times, but even in the long history of the hero, there weren’t many people like me.

“If she had worked as intended, she would have naturally accepted that desire because of her feelings of admiration for you.”

Even when Nerwen was overcome with lust, she was clearly hostile to me. But at some point, she showed an excessively friendly attitude toward me.

I was so excited at the time that I couldn’t afford to think. However, Nerwen’s behavior was obviously strange.

Standing proudly next to me against the soldiers and knights of the imperial palace. Even while shooting arrows at the emperor.

The room was dark, but it wasn’t Nerwen who couldn’t distinguish the opponent to that extent. She shot an arrow with a clear determination to kill.

Beyond being obsessed with me, he tried to join me. In the meantime, there was only one thing that happened.

That I regained my strength from Eleanor again.

“Nerwen is…”

“I’m sorry. I can use this failure as a lesson to create a more perfect elf next time… but it won’t mean anything to you right now.”

Erin was right. The normal Nerwen was the present Nerwen who was in love with me.

It’s just that I can’t accept it as normal. She’s just taking it as odd.

“So, I guess I have to ask you a small favor. Before I give you information about the remains of the phoenix, please promise to hold Nerwen.”

It was not an unreasonable request. If I was leaving this world anyway, I wouldn’t have to care what they did.

Objectively, Nerwen was a beautiful beauty. It was an offer that the elves would provide information on their own, as long as they could overcome their disgust and embrace her. There was no reason to refuse.

“No… I don’t think so.”

Still, I couldn’t agree with the thoughts and judgments contained in the proposal.

I shook my head.