Chapter 106 – Chapter 106 ― Contact (3)
Episode 106 ― Contact (3)
“Iris.”
It was a very small voice that could be mistaken for wind noise.
The voice of a colleague calling by name.
The gray-haired forest fairy raised her head.
“Look at this.”
Iris was called by a middle-aged forest fairy.
Having wandered the forest for more than 300 years, he is a member of the same guard as Iris, and is also her companion.
“… ?!”
Iris’s face turned bright red as she followed the male forest elf with a serious expression on the cave floor.
“What, these guys are here… , That, did that… ?”
A faint smile came across the cool face of her male forest sprite as she saw her, which in an instant turned the tips of her ears red.
“Cute. Iris. Hmm. They seem to have been breeding.”
“… It’s noisy, Kouran.”
Iris grumbled.
“Isn’t it crazy? Why did you come all the way here and do something like this?”
“Maybe I needed something different.”
Normally, Iris would accept her words without losing to him with a smirk, but this place was also visited by her demons not too long ago.
She couldn’t be careless.
“There are traces of cave worms…”
“It was originally a black bear den.”
“Did the cave worm eat the black bear and fight the demons inside? I can see the signs of a fight. Kouran.”
“The cave doesn’t collapse that much.”
“Hmm…”
At Kouran’s words, Iris frowned at her but could only nod her head.
The stone in this cave is hard.
No matter how explosive
Unless you are determined and determined to blow up this place, the cave will not collapse.
Moreover, if it was a collapse that would cause vibrations that could be felt in the village, it would not be easy to cause it.
Kouran, who was examining the traces of magic power left in the cave, reported.
“The traces of magical power are similar to ours.”
But Iris said coldly.
“There are no lesser forest fairies who use magic around here. Even being locked up like this… Especially those who do things.”
“I can’t be sure just by looking at the traces. It’s difficult to track magic here. It seems clear that the transfer of magical energy came from this collapse, but I don’t know if it was intentional or not.”
At Kouran’s guess, Iris thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“You don’t have to find out. If our report is accurate, it’s up to the elders to judge.”
“Hmm. All right. Captain.”
“… Kouran.”
Pretending to be saluting like a human, Kouran withdrew her laugh and shut her mouth as Iris’ eyes became menacing.
Iris couldn’t quite figure out what had happened.
Black bear tracks.
Traces of cave worms.
Someone there uh… Traces of a hot night are from about the same period.
The combination alone is already confusing.
Besides, the demons came to this deep place.
They seemed to be looking for something, even looking pretty desperate.
If you think about it now, it might have been a situation where you were trying to save someone trapped in a cave due to a collapse.
‘But demons don’t care that much about other people’s lives.’
Unlike humans, forest fairies have enough time to deeply learn the lifestyles of other races.
The demons did not spare the foolish fellow countrymen trapped in the cave like that — to the extent that they had to open the collapsed cave with equipment after risking our surprise attack and reorganizing the soldiers again.
Besides, surprisingly
There was a soldier with a shield in their group!
Arranged obviously for our arrow attacks.
Originally, they were the ones who used the weak as meat shields. That’s why forest fairies despise demons.
The sight of demons searching the forest while holding shields to protect other soldiers made all the forest fairies perplexed.
‘It could be that he was a high-ranking person.’
Some time ago, demons imitated other races to establish a country and began to serve the strong as nobles.
I thought it was funny, but for demons and humans, over 100 years is enough time to change the system.
If you’re a human, you can speculate that you moved to save someone with high power, but…
Iris suddenly laughed.
Because she remembered her cute little brother.
If she were her, she might have let that thought out of her mouth. Because she was an angelic but erratic child.
But Iris shook her head.
‘I just need to report accurately.’
Her own role is to relay to her elders what she sees as it is.
If action on the field is necessary, she will judge for herself, but it is unnecessary to think further than that.
Her continued thoughts were interrupted by the voices of other guards.
“Iris. Something strange here.”
“Hmm.”
Kouran’s and Iris’s eyes met.
Kouran noticed the paper pressed under the stone and looked around closely.
Confirming that there were no traps or other magic devices, Kouran took out the paper and handed it to Iris.
Iris’ eyes widened.
It was a letter.
“… ?”
Seeing the rare change in her expression from her usual coldness, her crew and Kouran paid attention to her, questioning her.
Iris read a historical note, perhaps for the first time in hundreds of years, from her demon to the forest sprite.
— You say your first greeting with a simple note.
I am the representative of the demon tribe. If you’re reading this, you’re probably trying to figure out what happened.
‘The representative of the demons… ?’
Iris’ face frowned, but Kouran and the other crew waited for her to finish reading her note.
Few forest nymphs can express their feelings through their faces as much as she does. It’s probably family history.
She was so cute that she chose Kouran as her companion, but it wasn’t once or twice that she was worried that she would be looked down upon by other forest fairies.
Of course, all my people who showed off like that were mercilessly trampled by Iris. Whether it’s swordsmanship, archery, or magic.
And Iris opened her mouth with an absurd face.
Kouran’s wandering thoughts were soon to be neatly forgotten. Because her words were shocking.
When you hear something as shocking as this,
Even a forest fairy has no choice but to show its astonishment.
“They say you’re the representative of the demons?”
“… What?”
“Are you the representative of the demons? Are you referring to the centaur, the lord of Zeno’s castle?”
“… I don’t know.”
Shaking her head at Kouran’s question, Iris said something she couldn’t believe even after reading it, and she frowned again.
“… He said he wanted to talk directly.”
“… To?”
Roan might have enjoyed the forest fairies’ reactions now.
Because the forest fairies were repeating the reactions of the demons when she first came to this world.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to take a look at it.
Kouran frowned, revealing the first wrinkles on her ever-gentle face.
“… Were the little guys playing around too much?”
“… Mmm.”
Iris finally ran her finger across her forehead and rubbed it.
Instead of Zeno’s demon suddenly saying, ‘I don’t want to fight, let’s talk’, a young fellow tribesman pretends to be a demon while giggling while playing sexual pranks on a passenger machine in this area…
If you believe in either, the latter is more likely.
At a very young age, there were several of them in each generation, like her younger brother who fled to this place because it was forbidden and was imprisoned and passed out.
Anyway, Iris knew that if this note belonged to a real demon, she had already crossed the line she could handle.
Her voice grew cold.
“Stop her search. She goes back Let’s report to the elder as soon as possible. That way we can respond.”
“I get it. Iris.”
“Okay.”
Forest fairies are relatively equal, excluding the relationship between the priests, parents, and elders.
In their society, the only people to use honorifics are those who pass on something to themselves.
That’s why Kouran and the other members didn’t use honorifics to Iris, the captain of the guard.
“The outside crew is also summoned. Let’s go back.”
“Hmm.”
As she strode out of her cave, what came to Iris’ mind was that she had already seen her brother for over 150 years.
‘How rare.’
Why can’t I forget it in my head today?
She, of course, although she is such a lovely child.
Did you hear the news recently that you were roaming near a human village?
Weirdly crooked and rebellious, but actually tender…
She is a child who longs for love.
If she sensed her sister’s presence in the mischievous traces she found in the cave, even Kouran would laugh.
So Iris hid her thoughts.
Her own job is to go back and report.
That’s it.
“It’s a strange demon.”
With those words, Iris hurried her steps toward her village, capturing her thoughts.
**
That time.
“Everybody got together. Your majesty.”
I couldn’t see her, but Aranya’s voice came through the magic orb.
This is a small conference room in Zeno Castle.
In terms of soundproofing and safety, it is as guaranteed as the small conference room in Basel.
‘I’m used to the size of this room for now.’
A period of over 7 months after becoming the Demon King.
The place where Roan talked and spent the most time with his ministers was none other than the small meeting room in the imperial castle.
All the officials who had been busy installing equipment until now were away.
What was left in Jeno’s small meeting room
With Roan, who called the meeting
Seohyeolryeongju, who attends the meeting together,
And only his secretary to organize the contents of the meeting and advise the great lord.
“Then tell me, Your Majesty.”
Aranya’s calm voice was heard, and the two high lords and the chancellor waited for Roan’s words.
Over the course of several months, in front of several high-ranking nobles whom Roan thought he could trust,
Roan made a bombshell declaration.
“Grow forests and crops.”
Silence.
It was a rather long silence.
I haven’t even started properly yet, but is this a reaction? Wasn’t the chancellor and the great lords guessing to some extent?
Rather, Roan was perplexed and looked at the West Blood Lord next to him.
The high lord, whose eyes met, said stutteringly to Roan, not knowing what to do.
“Like this… Suddenly.”
“Hmm?”
And the high lord whispered.
“… Are you okay? You can already announce it like this.”
His concerns were sincere.
“… Ah.”
For the first time, Roan knew what their silence meant.
They may believe in Roan,
We couldn’t trust each other.
What the West Blood Lord is worried about is the situation in which Roan is attacked and ridiculed by other nobles after announcing cultivation, just like the past emperors.
The Grand Duke meant that he could not yet trust the Eastern Emperor or the Prime Minister as much as the emperor.
Even if Dong Huang Ling-zhu is a close drinking friend, it is one thing for her to confide in her past and for the current emperor to be ridiculed.
And this thought is probably the same for the chancellor and the great lord of the East Hwang.
That’s why you can’t say a word and just look at the reaction of others.
In a fierce fight, and on the other hand, the loyalty that worries Roan.
A smile appeared on Roan’s face.
“You who hear me here and now are the ones I trust the most. I hope you can express your thoughts openly.”
It was Aranya who threw the question as soon as the words ran out.
“Your majesty. Did you finally find a way?”
It was a question without even a hint of doubt that the emperor would do so.
The grand duke and duke, who had never had a meeting with the emperor, were taken aback by the chancellor’s aggressive question, but the emperor and chancellor, who had already had hundreds of meetings together, were used to each other’s questions and answers.
“Hmm.”
The chancellor waited for an explanation. The Grand Duke blinked and looked at Roan.
“The reason I came to Zeno was not only to find an agreement, but also to find an ore for restoring intellect that is thought to be around here.”
“Intellect… You mean recovery?”
“Okay. I have heard that our land cannot contain intellect.”
After being silent for a moment, the Eastern Hwangryeongju spoke the first words he had heard.
“Probably because of the fallen land.”
Everyone shut up.
Hearing the word for the first time in his life, Roan was also taken aback.
“… What is it?”
It was an honest question from Roan.
The Grand Duke, who was sitting across from Roan, involuntarily opened his eyes wide and looked at the emperor, then realized the rudeness and quietly averted his gaze.
