Chapter 78: The Elves’ Common Sense Of Persistence (3)

“Yes, yes. Are you talking about the time when Miss Eve was the queen?”

“……?”

Eve, as if frozen by having her lead stolen, stiffened up completely.

Oh right. This was supposed to be a secret for now, wasn’t it?

Well, it’s not like it’s a top-secret that no one should know, but it does feel like it’s high-level information that only certain people are aware of.

I haven’t set an exact number of years, so I’m not sure, but there is a setting that quite some time has passed since Eve retired, even by elf standards.

Wasn’t there a joke in the Labyrinth about how Lemon and Apple said a king who couldn’t make money was unnecessary, and that the Elven Forest has been a republic for 400 years since then?

So, it seems about right to say that it’s been just over 400 years since Eve gave up her queenship.

By human standards, it’s a long enough time for a kingdom to fall, but by elf standards, it’s just a generation or two ago.

Pieces of memories fit together perfectly as I organize the information in my mind. Eve straightens her disheveled posture caused by her confusion.

She straightens her back, lifts her head, and neatly places her hands in front of her stomach.

Not only has her posture changed, the aura and atmosphere emanating from Eve feel completely different.

Indeed. Is this what it feels like to be born a queen, not merely made one?

Even I, who had not fully visualized a clear image, find the character I sketched out standing before me in such perfect form.

What an exhilarating moment this is.

Without realizing, my lips curl into a smile. Eve, receiving that smile, gazes back intently with her sparkling green eyes.

The Eye of Truth.

The legacy of the World Tree delving into, excavating, and drawing out everything from my deepest core, leaving nothing behind.

A sense of unease and helplessness as if someone is intruding into a domain that no one else can trespass…or perhaps a sense of awe.

Now, with the little bit of miracle from the Age of God’s left, Eve spoke, revealing it generously.

“Since when have you known?”

I should have dealt with this sooner (X)

Even as an elf, I didn’t want to be caught being four digits old (O)

Giggling at the cute intentions, I too stood up from my seat.

Then, slowly, I headed towards Eve. With each step, tiny sprouts blossomed at my toes.

This was the last display made by squeezing out all the remaining divine power left… It turned out looking more impressive than I thought.

Arriving in front of Eve. I stopped just short of touching her queen-sized chest, casually clasped my hands behind my back, and looked up at her.

“Would you believe me if I said ‘from the beginning’?”

“……”

The difference in dignity perceived from Eve’s eyes intensifies the pressure.

Not a fragment of power barely salvaged from the distorted space and time of the Labyrinth, but a true miracle of a god that remains intact on the earth.

When I briefly encountered it before, it was chilling to the spine for a moment…but now, it’s not to that extent.

How should I put it? Perhaps that it feels a bit more familiar.

Maybe it’s because I’ve become stronger in the meantime, or maybe it’s the power of the Goddess of Love transmitted through the fully upgraded statue, or…maybe it’s the attraction between those who harbor the same divine power.

Well. Anyway, to Eve’s eyes, it must seem like I am speaking the truth.

Eve and her past are a scenario I devised, so it’s only natural that I have known everything from the moment we first met…no, even before that.

“…It’s the truth. How on earth do you know? There are no perfect secrets in the world, and my past is no exception…but it’s not something just anyone would know. Above all, I heard you, Sir Jonah, come from the streets, like Lemon and Apple?”

Is this an agent sent by some organization? (X)

Ah! It must be fate! (O)

Even now, the millennia-old virgin’s moves are consistently the same.

Anyway, when asked such a question, I should show something reasonably convincing.

The Ash Tree Crown I acquired this time might lack persuasiveness. Then, it seems there’s only one thing left.

I didn’t expect to show this to Eve first.

I reached into the subspace of the bracelet.

Uung-

With a strange resonance, ripples spread through the air. I inserted my hand up to my wrist and then withdrew it.

The softunresistingwarmministatueoftheGoddessofLove.

Whoosh-!

Just by taking it out, the space dominated by Eve transforms in an instant.

The divine power of the Goddess of Love, pushing through and expelling the power of the World Tree.

Indeed, the entity that was emitting a soft divine power like a mood lamp reacted violently upon encountering the power of another god.

As if it was throwing a tantrum because it didn’t want me to be taken away.

…No, right? Surely she’s not really sending more power to the relic for that reason, is it?

I tried to hide the cold sweat trickling inside me and smiled calmly.

“Perhaps it’s because I’m the type who is loved by someone quite high up. It’s not a revelation…but I just come to know various things.”

“O World Tree…”

That a successor of the World Tree’s power could be an apostle of another god… I cannot accept it (X)

Does this mean the Great Plan of a Hundred Years is ruined…? (O)

…???

What are you talking about, Eevee…

What’s this ominous “Great Plan of a Hundred Years”? And you’re telling me that those few words contain such meaning?

They say even a broken clock is right twice a day… Could it be that the translator was indeed really broken and happened to be correct earlier by chance?

For a moment, she denied reality in her mind. Then, Eve closed her wide-open eyes and returned to her usual narrow-eyed look. The sense of oppression that could be felt unconsciously also faded away.

“Hoo… I understand now. The Goddess of Love must have had a plan too. Us elves cannot forget the World Tree, who is still in eternal slumber, and she has always bestowed unwavering love upon us.”

If it weren’t for the favor of the Goddess of Love…it would have been regrettable (X)

Even if it has been a thousand years since someone has received the power of the World Tree, being that it’s a human, it was worrisome…but if it’s a saint, everyone would accept it (O)

I’m not sure why, but since a while ago, Eve has been counting her chickens before they hatch. It’s funny to watch, but if I keep watching like this, I feel like something bad is really going to happen.

Having lived as a virgin for the last thousand years, she might have become a bit odd…but even considering that, Eve’s reaction is a bit too much.

Then, there are two possible explanations to consider.

Eve is a dangerous pervert who gets excited by little boys.

There is a meaning to the World Tree’s power that I am unaware of.

The first option can’t be right. It shouldn’t be. It isn’t, right…?

To dispel the slowly rising anxiousness, I posed the most crucial question.

“So? Could you continue what you were saying earlier? I mean, the significance of the World Tree’s power to the elves.”

“Oh dear. I was so surprised that my words slipped away. If we go back to the story right after the War of the Fallen Gods…”

The following words from Eve were as intriguing as they were pitiful.

The World Tree had died, but its traces remained intact on the first floor of the Labyrinth. And then, traces and fragments of power from other dead gods began to be discovered on the other floors.

The elves, still not over their loss, pondered there. What if someone who gained the power of the World Tree appeared?

And what if they, along with Eve, who was born with power, ruled the Elven Forest… the elf kingdom that had lost its god…?

For the elves of that time, who wanted to feel even a trace of the World Tree, it was a desperate earthly task.

Of course, no matter what they tried, they couldn’t summon the first floor’s Floor Guardian and the idea all but fizzled out.

“…Is that important now?”

Eve shook her head in resignation to my question.

“Though it’s still important, not all elves are as enthusiastic about it as they used to be. Except for me, that is.”

“Yes?”

“To rule the Elven Forest with me simply means to marry me and for us to become king and queen.”

“That makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“In other words, even though I am a woman, I must not carelessly mingle with other men.”

“Ah….”

In my setup, Eve is not the heroine. I thought she was, but for some reason, she turns evil and dies at the hands of the protagonist as a mid-boss.

Still, I decided to include that she was a virgin, because it seemed like it would be interesting….

I never expected such a backstory to attach itself to a setting chosen simply because it seemed like it would be fun.

With compassion, I patted her shoulder, and Eve, with her long ears blushing red to the tips, stuttered.

“Ye-yes, up to here it’s still okay. If the situation changes, we can just retract it. …However, back then, I was young and full of vigor.”

“What? You’re starting to make me feel a bit nervous.”

“You have a good intuition. It’s because at that time, I swore an oath to the World Tree in my name, saying I would not become deeply involved with a man who does not possess your divine power.”

“My goodness.”

The World Tree is dead, but its power and authority have not completely disappeared.

It was a rather impulsive oath, but nonetheless, Eve is a natural-born queen, directly brought into being by the fruit of the World Tree.

If she breaks the oath made in the name of a god, her own powers might very well turn against her.

And if one is born with a power as strong as Eve’s, just the surge of divine power can be life-threatening.

“To die or to live as a virgin forever. That was the fate given to me. The price of folly. I thought so…until you, Sir Jonah, turned the impossible into possible.”

Having said that, Eve stepped back half a step with a look full of sorrow.

“Sir Jonah. I cannot marry anyone but you. Perhaps I have been waiting for you all this time.”

“What? What do you mean…?”

“I should have taken more time to get to know each other and explain my situation properly, but…now that it has come to this, I will try to be a bit braver.”

Then she knelt down, took off one of the rings she was wearing on her fingers, and offered it with both hands.

“Will you marry me?”

Be my political sacrifice (X)

Come on, give it to me! (O)

I chewed over the dizzying content of the translator that only becomes clear at times like this, and then I grinned broadly.

“But I don’t want to.”