How to Survive as a Princess in a Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 219

“With humans?”

It seemed Killis was quite surprised too. Seeing him speak up after staying quiet all this time.

—Yes. After visiting the human world, he said that.

“But don’t you rather antagonize humans?”

—Usually, yes. But it seems his heart changed. The Guardian regretted this greatly. He said he shouldn’t have sent Brother Pinus outside the village.

That’s understandable…….

If he was promising enough to be considered the next Guardian, he must have possessed outstanding capabilities.

If such a person abandoned his own kind and left to live among humans, it would naturally be unwelcome.

“So did you give permission?”

—At first he opposed it, but eventually gave permission. It was thanks to Arbor raising a new high elf to fill Brother Pinus’s absence.

“A new high elf?”

—Yes. Since the birth was imminent, he asked Pinus to remain until then. But the new high elf was never born.

“Did it die……?”

—It returned directly to Arbor’s embrace. Such things are rare, so everyone couldn’t understand it. And around that time, the mutant Nex appeared. It’s speculation, but probably the mutant Nex was the cause.

“…….”

—Brother Pinus went with other warriors to stop the Nex in order to protect the village. What happened after that is as you know—this mess. The new high elf hasn’t appeared either.

“Um, by any chance, what do high elves mean to you all? I can tell they’re important beings. But I’d like to know in detail.”

—High elves are avatars of Arbor itself. They commune with Arbor and help raise the affection of new elves so they can contract with spirits.

“I thought all elves had high affection.”

—No. While there are a few who are born with affection, they’re a minority. I too was able to contract with a spirit thanks to the Guardian’s help. But if a Guardian to succeed the current one doesn’t appear…….

“The number of elves who can contract with spirits would drastically decrease.”

—That’s right.

Vita affirmed Killis’s murmur. She couldn’t erase her lonely smile.

—It’s fortunate that we have the Guardian, but if a high elf to succeed the Guardian isn’t born like this, we’ll gradually lose our strength. We enjoy many things thanks to Arbor and the spirits.

“…….”

—So you could say you are our hope.

Vita said while gazing at me with eyes that were a deeper and clearer blue-green than her hair.

—Until now we’ve tried every method we could, but we couldn’t eliminate the Nex. If even you can’t accomplish it, Arbor will rapidly decline.

“Every method means……?”

—Starting from direct extermination, we tried coating arrows with poison, asked spirits to set fires, but nothing worked. They kept appearing.

“I see. Thank you for telling me.”

—Don’t mention it.

Vita’s long ears twitched. Soon her gaze turned beyond my shoulder.

—And it seems your companions have arrived.

My companions would mean…….

I turned around following the direction Vita was looking and saw the face I’d been waiting for.

“Reno!”

Even though we’d only been apart for about half a day, it was good to see him again. Reno also smiled brightly upon seeing me.

“As expected, Your Highness called for me. I didn’t expect to see you again so quickly.”

“It’s thanks to Your Highness’s efforts.”

“It seemed like that. Thank you, Your Highness.”

I gave an awkward smile. While I had tried hard to persuade the Guardian, it was more like he gave permission due to the special circumstances rather than being convinced by my words.

“But I couldn’t use any of what Duke Yelpen provided. I was going to bring them, but the elf guiding me was rushing me…….”

“It’s fine. We can restock food supplies, and we can make do with other items as needed.”

Killis replied calmly. I nodded as well. Since we’d be staying in the Elven Village for a while anyway, that part wouldn’t matter much.

“But this might just be my imagination…….”

Reno looked at me and Vita and asked.

“Earlier, it looked like Your Highness was conversing with an elf—did I see that correctly?”

“That’s right. We sprinkled the essence of the World Tree before entering the temple. Since then, communication has become easy.”

“The essence of the World Tree?”

“Yes. Vita, would it be okay to sprinkle the essence on Reno too?”

—It should be fine. Since the Guardian permitted his visit. It would be more convenient for me than relaying through spirits.

Hearing Vita’s words reminded me. Earlier, Reno had tried to communicate with the elves through spirits but failed.

‘They deliberately didn’t respond.’

I could roughly guess the reason for that too. They probably thought we were intruders appearing suddenly. Moreover, Reno was obviously a half-blood, so they wouldn’t have been welcoming.

Since it was no longer an important issue, we brought Reno to the front of the temple. And just as we had sprinkled the World Tree’s essence, we had Reno sprinkle the essence as well.

Afterward, just as Meliana had done, we decided to go to where the Nex were located with Vita’s guidance. While we had heard various explanations about the Nex, we still needed to see them directly to establish a clear plan.

Unlike when we entered the village using the mysterious path, the place where the Nex were said to be was surprisingly ordinary. We walked straight along the tree trunk paths that formed the village’s main axis.

The altitude gradually decreased. Still, it was only slightly lower than the village—not enough to call it underground. It was while walking on the tree trunk paths.

‘The color seems a bit different.’

While the tree trunk color we’d walked on so far had been the normal tree trunk color between brown and dark copper, the tree trunk extending ahead had a deep scarlet tinge with reddish energy.

‘And the path feels strangely rougher too…….’

As if noticing my doubt, Vita spoke to us.

—It’s due to the Nex’s influence. The trunk bark is peeling and the interior is deteriorating like this. The range is expanding with each passing year.

“With each passing year?”

—That’s right. Originally you had to go further for it to be like this. It’s probably proof that Brother Pinus’s strength is gradually weakening.

Vita quietly warned us.

—The path ahead will become more treacherous, so be careful.

And she was right. The path that followed only became more treacherous, never better.

—That’s where the Nex are located……. What?

Vita raised her hand to point somewhere, then stopped mid-gesture. Naturally, our gazes also turned in the direction she was pointing.

In front of a translucent green barrier, familiar figures were visible. Meliana and her guardians, and Natura.

Natura was shouting what sounded like screams at Meliana. We couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but it was clear enough that he was angry and crying out in anguish.

—Natura!

Then Vita quickly ran toward them.

“Huh? Vita!”

Vita instantly distanced herself from us and reached the place with the barrier. Thanks to that, we who were left behind were bewildered.

“Why is she……”

“It seems there’s a problem.”

“As Isaac said. The conversation we’re hearing doesn’t sound good.”

“A problem? What kind of problem?”

“It seems the Second Princess did something wrong. The spirits are also reacting unstably.”

“Is it okay to approach that area?”

To Killis’s question, Reno nodded his head.

“Yes. It should still be fine for now.”

“Then let’s go. We need to take a look.”

We immediately followed the path Vita had taken, chasing after her. Then we who reached where Meliana’s group was located were shocked.

“What on earth is this…….”

We couldn’t tell well from a distance, but looking closely, beyond the translucent green barrier was filled with pitch-black smoke.

Moreover, though it was hard to see clearly due to the smoke, something was swarming densely. Each time something pounded from inside, vibrations echoed as well.

—I knew we shouldn’t have trusted humans!

—Natura, calm down.

—How can I calm down? We don’t know when that will come pouring out!

Natura screamed something close to a cry of anguish.

—If that comes pouring out, we’re finished! It’s the end!