ALL NOVEL Chapter 389
“Is this place livable?”
“Aah, thanks to your consideration, it’s nice to feel at home.”
Looking at the Bear Drummer’s expression as he answered my question, it seemed genuine. I shifted my gaze to the resting elite elves.
Most of them were the ones I fought with at the World Tree last time.
And there’s an Angry Wolf too.
“Bear Drummer, are you the commander?”
“Our commander is you.”
So, you’re handing over the command to me.
The Queen has good senses. If she hands over the command to these kids carelessly, it could cause confusion. If possible, I want to hold all the command so the fights go a bit smoother.
There’s a huge difference between being unified under a command system and having loosely linked forces. I spoke with satisfaction.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“I’d like to request additional goggles.”
“I’ll make them quickly and hand them over. Is there anything else?”
“I heard that a battlefield has already been decided for combat. Where is it?”
“It’s the Desert.”
Since I’ve made a forest in the desert, I was planning to seal off the outside with the World Tree’s barrier and then engage in the battle.
I wanted to impose some constraints on the battlefield if possible. There’s no guarantee that I’ll win on the game board I created, but the enemy will likely think they have the advantage no matter what I do.
As long as I don’t come up with some ridiculous excuse, they’ll likely accept my demands.
What they desire is ‘play,’ and to play, they need to maintain balance.
Playing a game entirely tilted to one side is meaningless, right?
…I’m not sure if it’s really possible, though.
“A desert…that’s a challenging battlefield.”
“Still, there’s no better place to fight. If possible, I plan to create a forest there.”
I must pour as much of the World Tree’s power as possible to shape the terrain in our favor. The desert isn’t a great field for us either, so there’s a necessity to make some adjustments.
As much as possible, it needs to be left favorable to us.
“A forest…then that’s a relief. I was wondering how well we could operate in the desert.”
“For now, just know that. I’ll inform you of the details once all the troops gather.”
“I’ll be waiting for that.”
Once our businesslike talk wrapped up, Karina, who had been quietly standing behind me, spoke up.
“Are these the people who came to help Johann?”
“Yeah.”
“…I’m a bit taken aback, as they are a bit different from what I imagined.”
…Well, to be fair, these folks are all muscle-bound.
They just have pretty faces, but their bodies are quite sturdy, looking similar to human knights.
No matter how much muscle they build, it seems that’s just how elves turn out…
“The muscles are incredible…”
“Do elves drink?”
“Johann, don’t you need something like a tent? It looks dangerous to sleep up in the trees…”
“It’s fine. Just let them rest here.”
Their kind doesn’t catch colds just from getting rained on, and if they needed something like that, they’d just call a spirit on their own. I told Elisa that she didn’t have to worry and went over to catch the lively Rue.
“Contractor! I didn’t do anything!”
“Simply approaching with that body is the problem. Have you forgotten what the owner of that body did?”
If a criminal who caused a major incident approaches, the elves would be bewildered. I sighed, holding Rue by the back of her neck.
“Don’t go near the elves.”
“That’s so unfair~”
I lightly ignored Rue’s protest and looked at the Bear Drummer. He was watching me with his arms crossed.
“We aren’t too concerned, so it’s fine.”
But it seems the subordinates are a bit worried. Is it just that Rue is recklessly charging in?
I set aside that ambiguous question and spoke to the Bear Drummer.
“I’ll come back in a few days, so if you have any requests, bring this and enter Kalon Academy.”
I handed him a token with my family’s crest on it. It’s a makeshift item, but since it was carved directly from the World Tree, it should firmly verify my identity. The Bear Drummer looked at the token with a slightly surprised expression and said to me.
“Carving a token with the World Tree, that’s something only you would come up with.”
Is that so?
“Then I’ll see you later.”
I returned to Yeomyeong-gwan with my companions.
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“Your Majesty! If we pull all the royal knight corps, the number of guards protecting you will be reduced!”
“I don’t care. Do it anyway.”
“Your Majesty!”
The royal knight captain, kneeling and shouting, looked at the Emperor with a bitter smile.
The captain’s words were quite reasonable, and under normal circumstances, even an emperor would not dismiss them. However, the situation was different this time.
“Listen here, Edward. Under ordinary circumstances, I would have heeded your words. But that’s only in ordinary times.”
If the world is collapsing, security doesn’t mean anything at all.
He knew that, and thus was considering sending part of his guard troops to the battlefield.
If they are going to lose anyway, they’ll all die, and if they survive, everyone will live.
“Your Majesty…”
“I know you’re doing your best to protect me. But…you know, this continent is facing an unprecedented crisis, and we must use every means to survive.”
“Your Majesty. But…isn’t it uncertain?”
The Emperor answered firmly to his words.
“For about a month now, a tremendous amount of disasters has swept across the continent. And Sir Quartz has never been wrong when he said ominous things.”
It’s strange when you think about it, but the Emperor accepted it as a good omen.
If you know about dangerous things in advance, you can prevent harm in advance. It’s much better than suffering without knowing anything.
“…That’s true.”
“He severed the head of the demon Harpas that invaded the West and the demon Agares that was plotting secretly in the palace. And he hunted down the awakened Dragon that had broken its seal.
So, since he directly mentioned a crisis greater than the Dragon, this current crisis is truly dangerous.”
“…He’s never been wrong. But…”
The captain couldn’t easily accept those words. He had devoted most of his life to protecting the Emperor, so he had never considered a life away from the Emperor’s side.
“I’m grateful that you’ve stayed by my side for several decades. But…sometimes you need to take bold actions to survive. So, you must also go to the battlefield.”
“…I will obey, Your Majesty!”
“If I go wrong, please take care of Killian.”
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“Hey, Eligos. You said you found something interesting?”
“Puru Puru. Just in time. Let’s have your subordinates.”
“To say that right after we meet after so long is quite disappointing.”
Puru Puru, with a face devoid of anything above his lips, chuckled and sat on a chair made of bones.
Eligos glared at him as if displeased and asked again.
“Are you thinking of giving me your subordinates?”
“With no compensation?”
His only bodily feature, his mouth, widened grotesquely, emitting a laugh as if scratching a chalkboard with his nails.
Eligos glanced at him, finding the sound grating, before returning to his book.
“You’ll get to see something very entertaining in return.”
“Tour…a tour…but I’ve already reserved my seat.”
Puru Puru grinned as he gazed at Eligos. Well, that’s how Eligos felt. Eligos set the book he was reading on the table, lifted his teacup, and casually spoke.
“Sorry, that was rude.”
“I can spare you a seat, so why don’t we watch together?”
“Tsk.”
‘…As expected, that’s how it turned out. I wondered why he showed up when he normally doesn’t show his face.’
If they’re a potential enemy, kill them.
If they’re a potential ally, use them.
That’s the way of demons.
Eligos got up from his seat and walked to the window where a black wilderness stretched out.
Gazing for a moment beyond the dark horizon, Eligos slowly drew forth his magic power and asked Puru Puru.
“Puru Puru. Have you greeted your pets?”
“Aah, they were very happy to hear about the new family!”
Eligos turned to look at Puru Puru. Puru Puru grinned, revealing his sharp teeth.
“When did you side with the Observer?”
“Who knows? I don’t.”
Puru Puru casually answered, extending his claws.
“…Right, that wasn’t very important anyway. Before I kill you, I must thank you. Thanks to you, my subordinates will increase.”
“That’s something I should say.”
A massive demon wing spread from Eligos’s back.
And then, Puru Puru’s body began to expand endlessly.