chapter 33
I drank and got up from Jain’s room.
At the shocking confession that suddenly burst out,
Flora lost her temper.
“Really? Really?”
So, with a shocked face, he grabbed Nael’s shoulder and shook it away. A commotion broke out, and all the surrounding elves in the bar gathered.
“Flora, uh, I’m dizzy, let me go.”
“I must be mistaken? Please tell me in detail, under what circumstances!”
“However…”
“hurry!”
At Flora’s request that was close to coercion, Nael stammered and began to talk about the day’s events.
“So, um, we were in the same bed…”
“Same bed?”
“Hand held, and…”
“hand?!”
“And, for some reason, the clothes I was wearing had been washed and folded, and he, Jain’s, was wearing a white shirt…”
“Boyfriend shirt?!”
Flora screamed in succession. It wasn’t just Flora. The elves who came to surround the two of them were all looking astonished. Flora said as she slammed her glass down.
“Then that bastard did that!”
Aren’t you crazy? Where is Ji’s temper? Flora was genuinely absurd. It was to the point that the murderous intent was boiling. But Nael stuttered.
“No, but I don’t know… Because I drank too much and it seems like I had overtime. I was just that drunk. My clothes got dirty because of overtime, so maybe I just changed my outerwear.”
Flora listened to Nael with a serious expression. So did everyone else. Nael continued to speak.
“Anyway, then I just got out of the room in a panic, and a few days later, I accidentally realized. Well, that, evidence of innocence was gone.”
“Oh My God…”
“But I don’t remember doing that kind of thing. That’s why I lost it while exercising, or was I attacked by a monster, or something like that, and I didn’t think much of it…”
Only then did Flora understand what Nael was afraid of. Because of that, it seems that he couldn’t deny it properly even that day.
“What if, then, such an accident happened?”
“What the hell! Go hold him by the collar and tell him to take responsibility! That bastard is responsible!”
“That’s right!”
“How dare you to our Nael!”
“You have to cut off that bastard’s penis!”
Flora’s remarks were followed by a shrill voice from behind. It was the angry voice of the residents of Elvenheim, who usually liked Nael like an idol. An old woman who loved Nael like a grandchild was taking off her glasses and blowing her nose. But Nael shut her lips and shook her head.
“But, anyway, even if I did… I was the one who drank until I got to that point. If I had been sober, I wouldn’t have done it. I might not remember. So, it’s my fault.”
Flora’s head was pounding.
“Do you like it that much?”
“Yeah, good friend.”
“Then why did you shoot the arrow?”
“arrow?”
“It’s said that when you get angry with a warrior, you shoot an arrow to stop them.”
“That’s right, Bong-pal is also a friend. If it’s a misunderstanding and you kill your friend, you’ll regret it a lot later.
“What are you going to do if you get hurt?”
“Because Jain is strong. There’s no way he’ll get hurt as bad as my arrow.”
Flora sighed and asked reproachfully.
“Then, you didn’t think you could be hated, did you?”
“hate?”
“He might think that you like warriors more.”
“Yeah? Did I make a mistake? Then, would you hate me?”
“Absolutely.”
“But, we’re all friends…”
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Nael lost her parents at a young age by elf standards, and since she has been living like a family with everyone in Elvenheim, she has never had romantic feelings. So, it seemed that he was revealing his immaturity in many ways.
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Nael wept as she grabbed the glass of wine with her two small hands. She was so cute that she forgot about Flora and smiled a little. I wanted to annoy you more.
“Well then, if the dragon and the red mage fell into the water, who would you save?”
“If you fall into the water? Ummm…”
After pondering for a moment, Nael came to a conclusion easily.
“Zin. Because I have a debt.”
“Then who are you going to save if me and the red mage fall into the water?”
“That too, Jain.”
“Wow, the time to think about it was shorter than before. You like that hero more than me, and you like that red mage more than that hero?”
“Yes?”
“Ah, I don’t have any friends other than Nael. If I fall into the water, I will struggle and die.”
“Oh, no. Well then, by saving Flora.”
Embarrassed, he grabbed Flora’s hand and said that, and Flora smiled happily.
“I’m joking. I’m a good swimmer, so I can just save him.”
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Nael held out his hand as if he was indifferent. Then he drank honey again and said.
“Anyway, so, I was always drinking.”
Then he put down his drink and looked down at the table with a sad expression. The grain of the wood on the table was clearly visible.
“If it’s because of me, if it’s me… I have no hope of living.”
Drops of water dripped down on the oak table.
‘Don’t call my name, and don’t even say it’s a misunderstanding. It’s disgusting.’
After drinking and looking back at the incident, the last thing that comes to mind is these words. The words Zain had said and the expression on his face at that time kept coming to mind. It’s my fault, I made my dearest friend look like that. Just thinking about it made my heart ache so much that my tear ducts spontaneously opened and tears fell like beads.
Flora looked at him and sighed. It seemed that her only friend was trying love for the first time now. It was as if he was not aware of it.
Flora, worried, took something out of the pendant she was wearing all the time.
“Then take this.”
“yes?”
With beads of tears hanging from her long eyelashes, Nael sniffed and accepted the amulet. And I was surprised.
“Uh, this?”
Amulet of the rebirth world. It was an item given to the winner of the ceremonial rite of death. With this, I climbed the Ritterhorn, the sacred mountain of the elves, to the end, and when I reached the ancient temple at the top, I was able to meet the elves’ ancestor Fax. And the owner of the talisman of the Resurrection World was able to ask the ancestral Fax any one question and get an answer.
“Take this and ask your ancestor. What happened on the night that you subjugated the Almesia. Is it a virgin?”
Flora was sure. No matter how drunk he was, Nael was not the kind of person who would easily give up his fidelity and betray his promises. I thought there must be some misunderstanding. So this amulet was given away. Nael widened her eyes and hesitated.
“But, this is precious. Is it okay if you give me this?”
“At that time, it was because Nael gave me the bow. I was going to give it to you someday if not now.”
“thank you!”
“No words. I just returned it to the original owner.”
After receiving the talisman from Flora, Nael smiled broadly. It was a clear smile that seemed to purify the surrounding elves, who cursed Jain out of anger. After that, Nael began busily preparing to climb the Ritterhorn. The information that Nael was climbing the Ritterhorn spread quickly, and a lot of people packed things to tell them to be careful. The amount of material collected in that way was enormous. In no time, the bag swelled several times larger than Nael’s body.
“Then! I’ll go!”
With a mountain of bags on her back, Nael smiled brightly and greeted Flora and the people. And then he ran right away. To the rugged snowy mountain, the Ritterhorn.
*
Youngsan Ritterhorn.
The middle of the forbidden mountain, where only the elves were allowed to enter.
Two human men sat back to back in silence. They had their backs turned, but their gazes were on the same place. It was a crack, crevass, with its mouth wide open like a demon. That crevass just swallowed a dog sled loaded with supplies.
“Shall we smoke a cigarette?”
Both men were praised as the best climbers in the human world. Having conquered all the mountains allowed by humans, they finally challenged the elves’ spiritual mountains. It was because if he arrived at the ancient temple as a human, he would be able to acquire great wealth and fame.
But that crevasses have now devoured that dream with a dog sled. Half of the material evaporated. Now, the remaining supplies were not enough for the two of them to return to the summit.
Enough for the ‘two people’ to return.
“Smoking a little sparingly. This will be the last cigarette of your life.”
“Girl. That would be you.”
The two climbers were longtime rivals and friends. So I thought the same thing. If one person sacrifices, the other can return to normal. You can acquire the honor of being the conqueror of the Ritterhorn. That honor was not only that of the climber, but of mankind.
So the two were preparing for the final lot. The man who drew the black lot had promised to take a pack of cigarettes and disappear into that blizzard naked.
“Come on, we’re ready.”
A climber silently offered a swallow. The other climber slowly tried to pick the lot. The blistered hand was trembling.
That was the time. Something started to run, blurring the snow.
“yes?”
It was Nael. Hanging a bag the size of a house, clutching the talisman of the ghost life system, he was running towards him with fervent eyes. That it was an elf could only be known from the faint shadow of its body. The climbers looked disappointed.
“this.”
“I think we’re f*cked.”
These two climbers were obvious intruders. If an elf found out, the elf would shoot an arrow right away, and there was nothing to say. However, the green-haired elf who approached them behaved completely differently than expected.
“Uh! Why are you here?”
“I, that’s…”
A climber hesitated. Before answering, Nael clapped and said. Crevass had been found.
“Oh! You’re in distress! Right? So you were waiting for someone to help you?”
“That’s right. Eternal being…”
The climber raised his horse as high as possible. The atmosphere seemed to end like a prison sentence rather than a summary judgment if things went well. However, the elf in front of me once again broke my expectations. He smiled broadly, pulled something out of his bag the size of a house, and handed it to him.
“Get this!”
that was the stuff. Also, there were magic tools for climbing snowy mountains made by elves. The two climbers looked at it with bewildered expressions. Suddenly, there was more and better quality than the stuff Crevass ate.
“I, eternal being, why are you doing this…”
“Now that humans are our friends too! I don’t want my friends to die. It’s nice to meet you here!”
And he said, “Ahem,” and even stretched out his chest. That wide smile was so bright and beautiful that it was almost dazzling to look at. I didn’t even know it felt that way because I was trying to violate Yeongsan for a wrong purpose until recently.
“Then! Go back safely!”
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Nael, who handed the supplies, said zero again and carried the bag. It was only then that the two could properly look at Nael’s body. As I was navigating through the icy wall, my hands and arms were full of scratches. Nevertheless, only with the enthusiasm to climb the mountain, he was running like that bravely.
The climber, who was staring blankly at Nael’s back as he was moving away, said bluntly.
“I’m ashamed.”
“That’s right. I must repent. There’s a reason why this mountain is a mountain that only elves can climb.”
And the two burst into laughter. A climber holding a swallow walked in front of the crevasses.
“You must be thinking the same thing as me.”
“That’s right. When you were young, you and I just climbed mountains because we liked to climb them.”
The climber threw the swallow into the crevasses. The paper swallow fell down the hole in a slow dance, as if mourning a dog that had fallen on a crevasse. The climber turned around and said.
“Let’s go down together. Some mountains are more beautiful because they are virgins.”
“I agree. Rather than die for honor, let’s live together, even if it’s ugly.”
Soon the two climbers started going down the mountain, shoulder to shoulder. This was the subject of their conversation.
“An elf as beautiful as that goddess, for what purpose was the elf climbing this mountain?”
“That’s it, it’s very neat and pure, and it must be an important purpose in world history.”
*
Meanwhile, Nael was climbing the last ice wall towards the ancient temple.
Squeezing out his strength and moving his hand to the next boulder, Nael shouted loudly.
“Virgin!!!”
The word virgin echoed throughout the elves’ spiritual mountains. It seemed that he had to persevere to survive. Snowballs fell and hit Nael, but Nael screamed again.
“I must be a virgin!!!”
In order to drive out Jain’s words that kept popping up in his head, Nael kept pushing. Then I felt a surge of power. This was the only thought in Nael’s head. Thanks to that spirit, Nael was finally able to grab the last stone of the ice wall and climb on it.
“ah…”
Climbing up on the wide cliff, Nael felt her heart pound.
A pure white temple that stands majestic on the blue ice, boasting its formative beauty.
It was because the ancient temple was in front of their eyes.
The joy that I had succeeded in climbing the Ritterhorn filled my heart.
“uh?”
It was at the same time that the blue butterfly-shaped spirit flew to Nael.
I’ve heard of it. When you climb to the top of the Ritterhorn, the snow spirit that used to play there will dwell there.
“Do you want to be with me?”
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Nael asked, holding the spirit with both hands. The spirit flapped its wings. It seemed like a positive sign. If you were with this spirit, you would be able to breathe the energy of ice and snow into the arrow in the future. Nael smiled broadly and placed the spirit above her head.
Then, I walked into the ancient temple.
When I put the amulet of the ghost tree system down on the neat hexagonal altar, the divine tree placed behind the altar vibrated with aura.
Soon, the aura took the form of a beautiful elf.
It must have been a deity, an ancestral fax, made from the memories left by the elves on the World Tree.
“Little child, you’ve arrived here. So, what have you been curious about?”
Said the god of ancestors with a benevolent smile. Nael clutched the amulet of the ghost world, closed her eyes tightly, and shouted.
The question was set.
“Ancestor, please tell me if I am a virgin!”