Book 4: Chapter 44
Book 4: Chapter 44
After that, Asha and I had a discussion with the chieftain and Knock-san.
They will obey Asha. Apparently, this is a decision that has been passed down from generation to generation. The perishing of the elven race was such a grave event for them.
The dark elves numbered 215, which was far less than that of dragonewts and underground humans.
Their fertility is probably low. On the contrary, they have a very long lifespan. The chieftain was 760 years old, though he only looked 40 years old.
「What’s wrong, Reiji-san?」
「Ah, no…」
I unintentionally peered at Asha. She was 14 years old, the same age as me. But I thought that might just be referring to her “appearance age”.
Even in this world, it is taboo to ask women about their age.
「By the way, do you know anything about the “Covenant”?」I asked the chieftain.
「Of course. I’ll tell you if you want to know.」
The Covenant passed down to the Dark Elf race goes like this:
『Pledgee’s Covenant』
-Those who bind the Covenant are those who stand at the top of the race.
-The pledgee preserves the Covenant.
-The revocation of the Covenant is made by declaring it to the mediator.
「I see……」
This article is related to the pledgee and the revocation, huh.
If memory serves right, the Dragonewt’s Covenant was about the structure of the Covenant. Even with【World Ruler】, my memory was getting hazy. It must be a power related to the Covenant, or perhaps limitations of it.
The Covenant consists of “skill orb”, “pledgee”, and “mediator.”
If the Dark elf’s article is the “Pledgee’s Covenant”, does that mean that there is also a “Skill Orb’s Covenant” and a “Mediator’s Covenant”?
No, I already know the “Skill Orb’s Covenant”. It was transmitted to the High Elves.
「Asha. The Covenant passed down to the High Elf royal family was the “Skill Orb’s Covenant”, right?」
「Yes.」
Asha recited from memory:
『Skill Orb’s Covenant』
-Do not take too many skill orbs.
-Skill orbs make up the world.
If so, there should be a “Mediator’s Covenant” somewhere.
That would be four articles. There are 8 articles in all, so it’s only half.
Wasn’t there mention of the revocation of the Covenant in the Kruvan Holy Kingdom when I fought the mediator?
The high priest, El-san said:
–Eh, if the Covenant that connects this world to the Back World is revoked, many dark ones will invade this world.
The “dark ones”… Was he referring to the monsters in the Back World?
In other words… Will the two worlds be connected?
「What are you thinking, Reiji-san?」
「I was thinking even if we take the Dark Elves to the Front World, it would be better not to connect this world with that world…」
The monsters in the “Back World” are much more powerful than the “Front World”. If the two worlds become connected, the races in the “Front World” may face the same fate as the races in the “Back World”.
「Of course, we will follow you! Right, Knock?」
「Yes! We will follow you to the ends of the world!」
Stop saying stuff like that each and every time… And now, they started doing push ups.
「Speaking of the Covenant…」
The chief stopped in the middle of his push-ups, and looked up at me.
「Hey, Knock. What was that skill orb that Punta found?」
「Ah, right. That skill orb was… umm…」
Similarly, Knock-san tried to recollect his memories in the middle of his push-ups.
「I think it was a skill orb with a name similar to a Covenant…」
A skill orb with the name similar to a Covenant?
Skill Orb names should be related to its enhancement and skill…
My mind was blown away by Knock-san’s following words.
「–At any rate, it was a 12-star skill orb. It wasn’t usable, so Punta didn’t bring it back home.」
**
The dark elf named Punta was an outlier individual in this race.
He had a huge belly like a water balloon. It bounced whenever he moved.
His cheeks were almost sagging, and seemed reflective as if they were painted with honey.
Under his swollen eyelids, his timid, narrow eyes were terribly frightened when Knock-san appeared before him
「Punta. I have something to talk about.」
「Eek!!! P-Please let me go. It’s impossible. I can’t do push-ups 5,000 times and sit-ups 10,000 times!」
He flew to the back of his narrow hut, and crouched in a corner while grabbing his short natural perm hair in both hands.
「It’s not impossible. You either do the training or you don’t. When you give up, your muscles will break down. As long as you’re training them, your muscles–」
「Umm, Knock-san…」
If left alone, the muscle discussions will continue endlessly, so I stopped him at the earliest possible stage.
「Oh, right. Punta, our guest has something to ask you about.」
「Me?」
「Didn’t I tell you I came here to talk at the start?」
It would be troublesome if Punta starts prostrating when he sees Asha, so I came here alone.
Punta turned his round, cherubic face to me.
「I heard that you found a 12-star skill orb.」I said.
「Ah… about that. I am rarely taken to the hunting ground, but I happened to be taken on that day.」
The hunting ground is said to be the place where the dark elves discover skill orbs.
It would be around the area of the Holy City in the “Front World”.
It seems that 10 to 20 skill orbs are found together in one spot. And it is their job to find those and bring them back home. In addition, hunting monsters and procuring meat is considered the side objective while making a run to the hunting grounds.
It seems to be “unknown” why 10 to 20 skill orbs are found placed in one spot. Moreover, such occurrences were only found in the last few decades.
As a result, it seems that the underground people also found these skill orbs, and the dark elves often come into contact and fight with them–but that is besides the point.
「One of the skill orbs was on the ground away from the rest. But it was a 12-star skill orb, so I thought nobody would “want” it since it’s unusable.」
「Want, huh…」
「There was a lot of prey on that day. And I was allured by the meat. So I decided to bring back meat instead–but I was curious about the skill orb and hid it away.」
「Does that mean the skill orb is still there?」
「No, it isn’t.」
「Huh?」
「I moved it to another place…」
I saw Punta-san fidgeting with his hands and worriedly glancing at Knock-san.
「…Knock-san, Punta-san seems to want to say something, but he seems worried because of you.」
「Worried? Why?」
「Well, uh… maybe you’ll get angry?」
「I won’t know if I’ll get angry or not until I hear it!!」
「Eek!」
Once again, Punta-san trembled while holding his head, so I gestured to Knock-san to “go out” with my hand.
Although Knock-san had a grumpy face, he seemed to understand we would make no progress this way and stepped out.
(I wonder if Knock-san doesn’t understand that not everyone is fond of extreme physical training and not everyone has an athletic temperament.)
I recalled Kimidori Gorn-san from Dragonewt City.
Kimidori Gorn-san could not become accustomed to the unspoken rule that a dragonewt must live for the benefit of the society and the city. That is why he refused to hunt, and escaped to conduct research in the holiday house.
(But still, Kimidori Gorn-san worked hard to find something he is good at for everyone’s benefit.)
Kimidori Gorn-san displayed his special strength with the prototype he built before we left Dragonewt City.
I’m sure Punta-san can also find something he is good at.
「Punta-san, it’s okay. Knock-san went out.」
「R-Really…?」
He looked up at me, still trembling.
「Where did you move the skill orb to? And can you tell me the exact name of the skill orb?」
「Y-Yes…」
Punta-san looked out of the hut, saw Knock-san doing jumping squats on a distant branch, and grimaced.
「…That skill orb was shining in various colors such as red and green.」
Various colors…. It’s a type I’ve never seen before. There is no doubt it is a unique-characteristic skill orb.
「The name is…【World Alliance ★★★★★★★★★★★★】.」