Chapter 136: Elven Village (1)

Kai wondered if he had just gotten ambushed in such a secluded part of the forest. And on top of that, he wasn’t even wearing his Tyrant of the Sea set, just his Cleric robes, so there was no way anyone could have known he was Unknown.

As Kai stood there with a bewildered expression, someone perched on a tree branch suddenly dropped to the ground.

"

Hehe

, I’ve been waiting for you, human who wields the power of the Blue Plague."

The man who spoke arrogantly had pitch-black skin and pointed ears.

An elf...? No, a dark elf!

They were recorded in the monster book, classified as monsters rather than demi-human NPCs.

The books in the library mentioned that dark elves are classified as monsters because they are violent and aggressive.

As Kai’s eyes widened, the man chuckled. "Oh, you’d better not think about moving. You’ve been poisoned with Saloneta’s poison, so the more you move, the faster it’ll spread..."

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“Holy Chains.”

With no other questions, Kai immediately bound the man in chains and slammed him to the ground.

It wasn’t until his head hit the ground that he let out a scream. “Th-this can’t be! I definitely coated the arrowhead with Saloneta’s poison!”

Ignoring his words, Kai asked, “Why did you suddenly attack me?”

“

Argh

, just kill me!”

Oh, so there is a reason.

Kai’s eyes shone with interest. Monsters usually had no reason to attack players. They just struck first when they saw them, but this dark elf was different. He had mentioned the Blue Plague right from the start.

Could it be that the dark elves are connected to the Church of Muldine?

If that were true, it was crucial to find out what he knew.

Kai tightened his grip on the Holy Chains, causing the chains to be tight and squeeze the man’s body.

“

Arghh

!”

“Did the Church of Muldine send you?”

“... Church of Muldine? What nonsense is that? I know nothing of such a thing,” the dark elf firmly denied it.

Interesting.

Kai pressed his foot down on the elf’s back, surveying the area.

Luckily, it seems pretty deserted around here.

After all, it was a dark and secluded spot deep in the forest!

Snap, snap!

Then, Kai snapped his fingers, summoning Blizzard and Mimic.

Seeing the summoned Blizzard and Skeleton Knight Mimic, the dark elf scoffed. “

Hah

, are you gonna torture me? I’m a proud scout of my tribe. I won’t break under mere human torture.”

This guy practically advertises that he’s hiding something with everything he says.

Kai shook his head, then looked down at the determined expression on the elf’s face and said, “Well, I’m not sure if this qualifies as torture. Guys, attack, but keep him alive.”

After commanding that, Kai sat down on a nearby tree stump and casually browsed the community window.

“

Kugh

,

argh

!”

The dark elf scout, over level 210, had incredible endurance. Even with Blizzard and Mimic attacking him with full force, he managed to last a full twenty minutes!

When Mimic tugged on Kai’s sleeve, he stood up from his seat.

“Are you done?”

Mimic nodded.

The dark elf’s face was swollen, but he looked up at Kai with a sly grin.

Heh, you didn’t ask me anything and resorted to violence, but... in the end, I didn’t spill the truth.

There was a certain pride that came from knowing things weren’t going as the opponent intended!

However, Kai simply stared down at the dark elf and placed a hand on his forehead.

“Sunlight’s Warmth.”

His holy power glowed for a moment and then sank into the dark elf’s body.

“Ah, thank goodness,” Kai smiled as he watched the elf’s wounds begin to heal.

I was worried he might take damage from my holy power if he was connected to the Church of Muldine... but it’s healing him just fine.

[You have healed the dark elf scout.]

[You have healed the dark elf scout.]

...

As his vitality quickly returned, the dark elf burst into laughter. “

Hahaha

! How pathetic.”

At the same time, his expression was as if he knew exactly what Kai was thinking!

“Did you think I’d be grateful to you for healing me? You’re sorely mistaken! No one feels grateful to someone who gives them a disease and then offers the cure.”

“Grateful? No, no, I wasn’t expecting that.” Kai waved his hand dismissively with a smirk and turned back to his seat without even looking back, saying, “Guys, what are you waiting for? Attack. Don’t forget to keep him alive.”

Then, the atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

The dark elf, with a look that seemed to ask if this was a bit much, urgently called out, “Human, human!”

But by then, Kai had already turned up the music and was leisurely browsing the community window!

As the dark elf’s lips quivered, Blizzard and Mimic slowly approached him.

***

“Ah, so that's what happened.”

“Y-yes.”

“Wouldn't it have been nice if you had just said so from the start?”

In front of Kai, who was sitting cross-legged on a tree stump, the dark elf with a face swollen like a snowball was kneeling.

That was the result after two hours of what could be considered torture, even if it wasn’t technically called that!

Even though he’s an NPC, it’s still painful to see a being’s spirit break.

But in the end, the result was favorable, as he managed to hear the full story!

Kai recalled the information he had gathered, and his expression turned serious.

Who would’ve thought the remnants of the Church of Muldine would try to make contact with the dark elves?

According to what the dark elf said, there were two elven villages in the Elven Forest. One was the typical Elven Village Kai had intended to visit, and the other was the village of the dark elves, like the one who was sitting in front of him, sniveling.

Since dark elves are considered monsters... it wouldn’t be surprising if they allied with the Church of Muldine.

The Church of Muldine had certainly learned from their defeat in the last war. The lesson was not to underestimate the demi-humans.

This is the second time now.

The first was with the merfolk. The Church of Muldine had allied with the naga tribe to try to destroy the merfolk kingdom.

They understood better than anyone how terrifying a force could be when demi-humans and humans joined together! However, that attempt failed by Kai’s invincible combo of immortality and the magic conch shell.

“

Hm

.”

It seemed wise to report this critical information to Tardal.

As Kai slowly began to stand up, a sharp whistling sound sliced through the air near his ear.

An arrow?!

Kai’s reaction was swift, but by the time he noticed the sound, the arrow had already pierced a heart.

“

K-kugh

...”

Not his heart, but the dark elf's.

“Hey, no!”

Kai hurriedly attempted to use a healing spell, but it was useless against someone who had already turned into polygons.

“

Krooo

!”

At the same time, Blizzard and Mimic, who had been quiet, suddenly began crying loudly.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

Kai tried to calm them down, but they couldn’t be soothed.

Blizzard’s reaction... It's similar to when it first saw Aosa.

Of course, back then, Blizzard had been frozen in fear, whereas now it seemed to feel eager to win in the upcoming battle.

If they’re reacting this way... there’s definitely someone nearby.

Kai closed his eyes and focused all his senses on his hearing. Among the countless sounds entering his ears, he gradually filtered out the unnecessary ones like the sound of the wind rustling the branches, the chirping of birds, and then, he heard the sound of the wind suddenly changing direction as it collided with something!

Got you!

Kai’s eyes abruptly opened as he quickly turned and unleashed Holy Chains without hesitation.

“

Aaaaah

!”

Thud!

Rushing over, Kai saw what had fallen on the ground.

“

Ughh...

”

Two pointed ears slightly quivered, possibly from pain, and large, teary eyes blinked up at him. Their nose, which was so perfect that it needed no cosmetic enhancement, had turned red, perhaps from anger.

Then, Kai looked down and noticed the elf woman’s skin color.

... White.

That meant she was a regular elf, not a dark elf, just like the one he had been searching for!

With an embarrassed expression, Kai extended his right hand. “

Uh

, sorry about that. I thought you were an enemy...”

Then, another arrow suddenly flew toward them. It grazed Kai's earlobe and embedded itself in the ground.

Is this a warning not to move?

Kai drew his weapon, calming Mimic and Blizzard who were howling, and slowly lifted his head.

The dense forest was thick with trees, and on the branches that extended from those trees stood dozens of elves, their bows drawn.

When did they get here?

They were truly worthy of being called the guardians of the forest!

Even Mimic, with its Unique-grade Crisis Detection skill, had only sensed the female elf right in front of him and hadn’t noticed the others at all.

I could deal with the arrows if I used Ethereal Body, but...

Kai hesitated for a moment and then shook his head.

I didn’t come here to fight them, anyway.

As he raised both hands to show he had no intention of fighting, the elf who had been lying at his feet suddenly tackled him to the ground. It was a flawless double-leg takedown, so clean that a professional jiu-jitsu fighter would have given it a thumbs-up!

She growled in a low voice, “You’d better be prepared, you ally of that dark-skinned bastard.”

“

Um

, suddenly making such racially charged comments is a bit...”

“Quiet! Tell those things to drop their weapons now!”

What a loud voice she has.

Kai snapped his fingers and unsummoned his pets.

“Better now?”

“So, you’re a summoner,

huh

? Keep your mouth shut.”

She slammed Kai’s head into the ground and tied his hands behind his back. After binding his wrists tightly with something, she finally grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him to a sitting position.

“Well done.”

The elves, who had been standing on the branches, came down to the ground and surrounded Kai. During this process, they made absolutely no noise!

Forced to kneel like a criminal, Kai looked around at the elves encircling him and couldn't help but let out admiration.

Wow...

It was hard to believe a race could have such a high ratio of handsome men and beautiful women! Each one of them boasted a face and physique that could rival actors and models.

Then, an elf who had three yellow stripes painted across his cheek, approached Kai and said, “Human, we saw you conversing with the dark elf tribe. What did you discuss?”

Kai wondered why he would ask such a thing when they had supposedly witnessed it themselves! Anyone could see it was a scene between a torturer and the tortured!

Kai let out a soft sigh and said, “I’ve heard that elves can distinguish whether someone is telling the truth or not.”

“That’s correct.”

“Then you should be able to determine if what I’m saying is true. First of all, I am not an ally of the dark elves,” Kai said with confidence, his gaze unwavering.

The elves, who had been staring into his eyes for a moment, looked at each other, taken aback.

“W-what is this?”

“This human... his truth level is high!”

“When someone has such a high truth level, it almost always means they’re telling the truth...”

“Then did we make a mistake?”

“But that human used the power of

the

Blue Plague.”

“And then he purified the land afterward.”

“That’s why we came to confirm his identity.”

The elves couldn’t hide their confusion, and even the elf questioning Kai had his eyes filled with uncertainty.

After a moment of silence, the elf slowly asked, “Then... what are you?”

Kai then smiled and confidently replied, “Solaric Cleric, an apostle.”