Reclaim the Elves’ Sacred Land (1)
Beyond the mountains lies the World Tree. It is the Elves’ greatest treasure, and the homeland of the Elven people living in Arland.
Long ago, that place was the nation known as the Sacred Tree Kingdom, a country whose land was almost entirely forest. But when the Avalon Kingdom fell, and along with the spread of Human Supremacy, it too perished.
The reason was only one—the World Tree.
As lumber, its wood was the finest material for staves; its roots and leaves too were peerless alchemy ingredients. Truly, it was not an exaggeration to say this one-of-a-kind tree could generate limitless wealth.
The racial wars that destroyed the Avalon Kingdom and the Nocturne Kingdom.
Then the continental devastation caused by the Demon King’s resurrection and the ensuing Human–Demon War.
And throughout it all, the Elves only stood by as observers, claiming it had nothing to do with them.
The Humans succeeded in destroying the demon nation and the countries that supported it, but the price was heavy. Worse, though they succeeded in erasing the Avalon Kingdom and the Nocturne Kingdom, they gained almost nothing. The Avalonian citizens had already fled to the untamed northern lands, and most of the demons had vanished. What remained was only empty land, and nations exhausted from their mortal battle with the Demon King.
Thus they set their next targets: the Beast Garden, the sole beastkin nation led by the nine-tailed fox—and the Sacred Tree Kingdom.
The Beast Garden was technically a country, but the beastkin then lacked unity, making organized resistance impossible. It was destroyed, and most beastkin were taken as slaves.
But though the Sacred Tree Kingdom fell, the Elves never yielded to the Humans.
When they foresaw their destruction, the Sacred Tree Kingdom split into two groups: those who fled north for the sake of racial survival, and those who chose to risk their lives to defend the sacred land—the resting place of the Spirit King.
The war was fierce. In the forest, even beastkin could not match Elves. The trees the Elves tended resisted burning, fire tactics were unusable, and the World Tree itself could not be set aflame. The Humans suffered heavy losses.
But between Humans and Elves lay an overwhelming difference in numbers. Humans multiplied rapidly, while Elves reproduced slowly. The lines were gradually pushed back, and finally, the Elves resorted to a forbidden spell.
They sacrificed the lives of 2,000 surviving Elves to cast a spell that turned the forest into a labyrinth. As long as the spell persisted, no one could reach the capital. It was an immensely powerful illusion.
Thus the Humans succeeded in destroying the Elven nation, but gained nothing they sought.
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“The World Tree doesn’t belong to the Empire, does it? I’ll make sure to return it to its rightful owner.”
The clone grinned. Just imagining the Empire’s panic when they realized the World Tree had been stolen made her snort with excitement.
Currently, one of Arland Kingdom’s Five Dukes was of Sacred Tree Kingdom’s royal line. In other words, the rightful owner was Arland.
The clone left half their numbers and the golems behind at the factory and mines, and entered the forest with Alicia, Takuto, Mai, Kazuhito, Cuute, and Helios.
---
“Hey, everyone—why are you walking backward?”
The moment they stepped into the forest, everyone except the clone spun around and started walking as if nothing was wrong.
Startled by the clone’s words, they all stopped in their tracks.
“I was sure I was walking straight… Was I turning back?”
Alicia hadn’t noticed she was returning to the path they had come from. The others too looked confused.
“This is a stronger spell than I thought. Helios?”
“Aye!”
Helios reverted from his human form to dragon form and took the clone onto his back, flying upward.
But even the sky was under the spell’s influence. Whenever Helios tried to approach the World Tree, he unconsciously turned back without realizing it.
Helios, one of the Ancient Dragons. Though a pathetic weakling slug of a dragon, he still possessed the magic resistance befitting an elder dragon. Yet even he was deceived without the slightest sense of wrongness.
“Useless.”
“Guh, nngh… I hate illusions… They bring back memories…”
Helios recalled being bullied by other dragons since childhood—blasted with breaths while napping, prey stolen during hunts, carefully built nests destroyed overnight. Illusions too had plagued him mercilessly.
(Uuugh… just remembering makes me curse those bastards.)
Most of the dragons that bullied him had already died—cut down after provoking humans, or otherwise. Only the reclusive Helios and a few others had survived long enough to become elder dragons.
Helios comforted himself by saying that meant he was wise.
Incidentally, dragons that obey humans were considered disgraces. If his surviving old acquaintances found him now, it would certainly be a spectacle—dragons fleeing in tears at the sight.
“Anyway, thanks to the illusion, you guys can’t reach the center.”
“But Alice, you’re fine?”
Takuto asked, and the clone nodded calmly.
“Illusions like this don’t work on me. They target living beings. Probably won’t work on guinea pi… fairies either. They’re half spirit, after all. Elven magic never harms spirits.”
At that, something shot out of Takuto’s pocket—Rien.
“Hey, you almost called Rien a guinea pig just now! Rien is a proud fairy with spirit blood, not some rat!”
“Did you know? ‘Guinea pig’ is also slang for test subjects. Just let me take a little tissue sample. Just a tiny bit.”
“Stay away!”
Rien scrambled to dive back into Takuto’s pocket like fleeing from a mad scientist, but Takuto grabbed her.
“Wait. Illusions don’t work on you?”
“Nngh? Not this one. Elves have the same spirit blood as Rien. Unlike humans, we can’t kill our own kin.”
That’s how spirits are. Spirits don’t fight each other. If they hurt each other by accident, they laugh it off as an impossible mishap. So, Elves and fairies use spirit-derived magic. It never harms or deceives each other.
“Rien’s mana is the same as a spirit’s, and Elves too have a bit of it. Illusions don’t affect us. Or rather, we don’t even think of deceiving kin.”
“All the more reason I should dissect you. I want to study your magic composition.”
“It’s Rien’s naptime!”
“Ow!”
Rien bit Takuto’s finger, used the moment of surprise to slip free, and hid in his pocket.
The clone pouted. She couldn’t understand what about her request was so disliked. It wasn’t like she’d take much—nothing compared to the forced knowledge-installation she once inflicted on Kazuhito. For reference, that method could easily be adapted into perfect brainwashing.
“Calling her a guinea pig is going too far, don’t you think?”
“Fairies are even more reclusive than I am. I want samples. I already have dwarf, and half elf-half beastkin samples.”
“Wait! That’s from me and Lord Grantz, isn’t it!? When did you do that!?”
“Eh, Master just gave me a little blood when I asked. And Alicia, you get nosebleeds in the bath all the time.”
Getting blood samples from a perverted maid who bled from staring at little girls was no trouble at all. Incidentally, just watching was enough to satisfy her. She would never actually lay hands on anyone—Alicia lacked the guts.
“This maid is… seriously dangerous, isn’t she…”
Kazuhito gave her a pained look.
“It was just the heat making my nose bleed.”
Alicia replied smoothly, unwilling to admit the truth. Saying so could mean losing her job… or her noble status… or her literal head.
Still, Alicia was a loyal woman, satisfied just to gaze. She would gladly risk her life for Alicetia. In fact, she was currently thinking of ways to assassinate Takuto—but it was impossible. Even asleep, Takuto gripped his blade at her approach. Alicia specialized in concealment, not combat.
But compared to Alicetia’s wake-up rampages, Takuto was tame. The girl could launch terrifying physical attacks on waking, impossible to block even for Draconia. Yet once fully awake, her strength was strangely below average. Truly a case of morning brute strength.
“Anyway, what do we do with Takuto and the others?”
“Don’t leave us behind. I want to see the World Tree up close too.”
“Sightseeing’s important, yeah.”
The clone agreed. Not just sightseeing—leaving her unsupervised was too dangerous. She always did outrageous things.
“Then let’s just cancel the spell.”
She declared casually, stunning the others.
The spell cloaking this forest was a forbidden technique cast with Elves’ own lives. And she said she would simply cancel it.
“C-can you even do that!?”
Alicia asked, and the clone nodded smugly.
“I’m good at lifting hidden magic. Cracking is fun. In my past life, I used to hack into government servers all the time, plant backdoors, and play around.”
That’s illegal.
At her feet, a magic circle appeared, expanding until it covered the entire forest.
“It’s fine now. Rest. I’ll take care of things.”
Her gentle voice carried. The forest only rustled with the wind.
“You don’t need to be bound anymore. I’ll send you back to your families. You don’t have to keep screaming. Rest now.”
Soft green light radiated from the circle, bathing the forest in peace.
Then the circle vanished, and the place was just an ordinary forest again.
—Thank you—
Voices of gratitude echoed.
The spell had consumed the sacrificed souls to maintain itself. They had been trapped since the ritual was cast. Now freed, they ascended to the heavens. The clone wished them peaceful next lives.
“Done.”
“What was that just now…”
None of the others knew the secret of the spell’s price, and the clone had no intention of telling them.
But as they started toward the World Tree—suddenly, vines shot out, aiming to impale the clone.
“Out of my way.”
Takuto stepped forward, cutting them to pieces with ease.
“Who’s there!?”
Everyone tensed, forming a defensive ring around Alicetia.
“Leave this place, humans.”
“This is Elven land.”
“Go, or we’ll drive you out by force.”
“And that monster there—it isn’t alive. Target it first!”
From the undergrowth, about twenty fairies leapt forth.
Their hostility was clear.
Most of it was directed at the clone—at her they bore killing intent above all.
“Unreasonable.”
The clone muttered in displeasure.
What do you think about this chapter?
