Chapter 239
Pinus, isn’t that the high elf who maintained the barrier until the very end?
“Is this person him? The human he wanted to live with?”
—It must be. He used to show off that portrait all the time.
Vita held out her hand to me.
—Will you give it to me? It’s a memento, if anything.
“Here.”
It was when I was about to hand the pendant to Vita. Reno grabbed my arm. It wasn’t a strong grip, but it was so sudden that I was a little startled.
“Reno?”
“Ah.”
At my call, he flinched, then quickly let go of my arm and apologized.
“I’m sorry. It was a mistake.”
What was that? He’s been really strange since earlier.
However, Reno didn’t seem to intend to reveal what was on his mind. He pursed his lips and stepped back a few paces from me.
After handing the necklace to Vita, I approached Reno and asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“Yes?”
“Are you not feeling well? Or is something wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong. Please don’t worry about it.”
Reno gave a faint smile. It was a face so different from his usual smiling face.
Others might not know, but I couldn’t help but recognize it. That he was forcing a smile.
‘I’ll have to ask him again when we get back to the village.’
After that, the elves continued to move busily. As I watched them, Natura called out to us.
—Hey, human! We’re going to go deeper inside. Do you want to come?
“Inside?”
—You could say it’s their kingdom.
Natura said, tapping a charred Nex.
—Well? Are you coming?
“Yes. I’ll go.”
I quickly answered and joined Natura and the other group of elves. I told Reno he didn’t have to follow, but he shook his head and said.
“How can I not go when Your Highness is going?”
He said it like that, and now I wonder if I should have said I’d go.
But I was curious about the Nex kingdom. I might regret it as a bad curiosity after seeing it, but for now, I was curious.
—This seems to be the entrance.
Natura pointed to a deep, wide dug-out tunnel. Or rather, it was dug within a tree trunk, so I wasn’t sure if “tunnel” was the right word.
—Everyone, put this over your shoulder.
What Natura offered was a vine with lumps of bright jade-green glowing moss embedded intermittently.
“This is the same one from the village, right?”
—That’s right. We call it spirit grass. With this, you can see everything even in dark places.
As I slung the vine over my shoulder, the surroundings definitely brightened. It didn’t feel like it was obstructing my vision, though.
Just as I was about to follow Natura into the tunnel,
“Be careful.”
Isaac said, stepping ahead of me.
“There might be surviving individuals.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. They’re all dead.”
“Do you have a reason to be so sure?”
“My intuition?”
There was no reply. I, too, smiled awkwardly, knowing how ridiculous my answer was.
*‘But I can’t say the system told me.’*
In my defense, it was the best answer I could give…
The Nex’s home was quite organized. The tunnels were divided into several branches, and I could guess the purpose of each.
—This must have been where they raised newly hatched eggs. There were bigger eggs earlier, it seems.
Although everything was burned, the shapes remained, making it easy to identify.
‘They look like ants, so their habits must be similar too.’
To designate specific uses for each tunnel and live like that…….
The slope wasn’t too steep, so it was easy to walk. We seemed to have gone quite deep, but the entire inside was burned.
—That damn human must be good at magic, at least.
“Indeed.”
I also nodded. To burn so deeply.
Meliana’s magic skill was truly astonishing once again.
As I walked in admiration, Isaac suddenly blocked me with his arm.
“Lord……? What’s wrong?”
“There’s something, ahead.”
“Something?”
That can’t be.
The system said all the Nex were dead? Could there be something else besides Nex?
“I’ll go check. Reno, you stay here and protect Your Highness.”
“Alright.”
Isaac drew his sword and moved forward. The elves who understood his words also drew their weapons and advanced.
In an instant, Isaac and the elves disappeared. After anxiously waiting, Natura poked his head around the corner and shouted.
—Human! You can come now!
As expected, there was nothing significant.
Relieved, I followed them to where they had gone. But the moment I rounded the corner, I involuntarily gasped in horror.
“Gasp.”
Wh-what is that?
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