novelraw Chapter 137
Chapter 137
Chapter 137: Request
Robin and Sigbard had completely adapted to the cabin.
They went hunting and gathering with Brandok and chatted with Aelin, who occasionally came to visit.
There was not the slightest trace of resentment to be found in Aelin.
When he told her how vast the Empire was, her eyes shone as she listened intently.
Like a child hearing a fairy tale, her eyes were pure.
“Narvik. It’s above Valoria? The land humans occupy is enormous.”
“The land outside the Empire is still an uncharted area. No one knows what this world really looks like.”
Brandok quietly tore apart his bread, and Sigbard was too busy stuffing his mouth to speak.
Only Robin and Aelin continued the conversation.
“Is the Narvik Uncharted Area as grassy as this place?”
“Not exactly. It’s a plain, but it’s not as densely packed with trees as the Great Forest.”
“The Great Forest? The Great Forest isn’t that densely packed with trees.”
“Everywhere you look around here is thick with them.”
Aelin tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.
“This isn’t the Great Forest. It’s the forest surrounding it. The Great Forest lies deeper inside than this.”
Aelin glanced at Brandok.
Seeing no particular objection, she continued her explanation.
“Centered around the World Tree, ancient trees hundreds of years old grow scattered like a fortress. That is the Great Forest, and the city of the elves, Evendel.”
“…There’s a place like that in the middle of the Uncharted Area?”
“To humans, it’s an uncharted area. To our clan, it’s a homeland we’ve cultivated for thousands of years.”
It was the first time he had ever heard such a thing, and he wondered if it was true, but it wasn’t an impossible story.
According to Aelin’s explanation, Evendel was located deep within a place difficult for humans to find.
Even if someone managed to reach Evendel, they would not be able to enter.
“There is no fixed entrance.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The entrance to Evendel keeps changing. We follow the sound to find it, but other races probably can’t hear it.”
True to their long ears, elves possessed keen hearing.
He couldn’t easily believe that they could hear sounds humans couldn’t, but he let it be.
They were different species; even if she explained it, it didn’t truly resonate.
“Can’t you show us around?”
“You want to go?”
“Yes. Most humans would be curious like me. If they could see how elves live instead of just hearing about it, there would be many willing to pay to come.”
“Alright. Let’s go after we finish eating.”
‘Huh?’
She accepted so readily that Robin wondered if he had misheard.
He never expected her to agree so easily.
Weren’t they supposed to be wary of outsiders and closed off to them?
When he looked at Brandok, the latter smiled faintly.
“Let Aelin do as she wishes.”
“Uh… If someone has a companion when entering that place called Evendel, is it alright for outsiders to come and go?”
“If it is approved at a clan meeting, it is not impossible.”
“I only just mentioned it. There wouldn’t even have been time to hold a meeting.”
Aelin emptied her bowl in one gulp and set it down with a thud.
“Why? You don’t want to go with me?”
“That’s not it. Sigbard and I are grateful. But is it possible without approval?”
“It’s possible. I’m practically the princess of Evendel.”
Robin’s eyes widened into circles.
Sigbard, now intrigued, set down the pot and focused on Aelin’s words.
“It’s a bit different from the princess humans talk about. Ah, anyway. I can at least show you around, so get ready.”
With that, Aelin rose from her seat, gathered her things, and went outside.
‘Something feels off.’
“Brandok, can we carry weapons when entering Evendel?”
“It should be fine. Aelin will be your companion.”
“Then, Brandok, you should come too.”
“I will stay behind. Someone needs to guard the cabin.”
“We can leave it empty for a few days.”
“Even if I wanted to go, I cannot.”
Brandok’s expression was calm, as if he were stating something trivial.
“I am one who has been exiled. The moment I step into Evendel, arrows would fly.”
“Why? Did you do something wrong?”
“I have not yet committed a great wrong.”
“That means you might commit one soon?”
Sigbard struck at the core.
At the blunt probing, Brandok neither denied nor affirmed it.
“Evendel is vast. You will not be able to see it all in a single day.”
As he spoke, Brandok placed food into Robin and Sigbard’s backpacks.
He carefully explained what must be eaten in Evendel and which places should be visited.
At the same time, he slipped four pebbles from the table between his fingers and threw them against the wall.
Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak.
As if they were no ordinary stones, the pebbles bounced off the walls in all directions without stopping.
The sound seemed both regular and irregular at once, strangely irritating to the ears.
Before they could even marvel at the unheard-of trick, Brandok opened his mouth.
“Please grant me one request.”
“What is it?”
Brandok opened a shabby wooden box from beneath the bed and held out something wrapped tightly in cloth.
It was large and heavy enough to require both hands.
“Deliver this to the place I mentioned.”
When Robin unwrapped the cloth, it was simply a large stone.
It emitted a bluish hue overall, and when he brought his hand close, it felt cool.
Refreshing, perhaps.
Just looking at the stone cleared his mind.
‘It feels familiar… What is it?’
“Robin, what do you think of me?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“I see Robin as a warm-hearted human. The most trustworthy human as well. Just as I trust Robin, I hope Robin will trust me too.”
Unsure how to respond, Robin awkwardly nodded.
“I hope that just this once, you will grant my request without asking anything.”
It had already seemed suspicious, and now that he said it so plainly, there was nothing to say.
“For reference, only you two must know. It is a secret even from Aelin.”
Only then did Robin realize why Brandok had thrown the pebbles.
He didn’t know the exact principle, but it was to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on this side.
‘What should I do.’
Should he grant Brandok’s request or not?
His deliberation did not last long.
Robin wrapped the stone back in cloth and placed it into his backpack.
“Thank you.”
“Make something delicious for us when we return.”
“Of course.”
As soon as Robin finished preparing to leave, the pebbles that had been bouncing against the wall stopped as if by magic.
“Aelin is waiting. I wish you a pleasant journey.”
Brandok did not come far to see them off.
He watched the excitedly chattering Aelin from the cabin.
“Everything will be fine.”
Only after the three figures disappeared beyond the bushes did Brandok close the cabin door.
He was not entering the house but facing outward, his expression hardening as if he had made some sort of resolve.
“So this is Evendel.”
Sigbard looked down at the lake and dipped his foot into it.
The splashing sound and the chill stimulated his senses.
The place Aelin had led them to was a small lake.
She began stretching her arms and legs.
“As if. Evendel isn’t underwater.”
“We must cross this lake.”
“That’s right. You all know how to swim, don’t you?”
Aelin asked as if it were obvious, and the two answered confidently.
“I can’t.”
“I cannot.”
Aelin stopped stretching and turned to look at them.
Two adventurers who were young, yet looked seasoned as if they had experienced all the hardships of life.
Unconsciously, she had assumed the two of them would know how to swim.
“It can’t be helped. We’ll have to go back.”
Since she knew the Great Forest like the back of her hand, she immediately thought of another route.
She had said she would give them a tour; she couldn’t let them drown.
“Aelin, teach us.”
“Huh? Teach you what?”
“How to swim. I was planning to learn someday anyway, so this works out well.”
Seeing Robin speak so calmly made her let out a hollow laugh.
“You think it’ll work just because I teach you for a few minutes?”
“I’m fairly confident when it comes to using my body.”
Even Sigbard set down his luggage and prepared to enter the water.
It was hard to imagine that massive body floating.
“Teach us how to float first.”
‘Right. If it doesn’t work after trying, we can just go back then.’
With a mindset of nothing to lose, she taught them only the basics.
Robin entrusted his body to the lake just as Aelin instructed, and soon he swam naturally.
Sigbard, on the other hand, was different from Robin.
Splash! Splash!
He managed to poke his face above the surface, but his arms never stopped moving.
Instead of maintaining a relaxed posture like Robin, he stayed upright vertically and thrashed about.
The speed at which he kicked the water and rose was faster than the speed at which he sank.
His highly developed muscles rivaled buoyancy itself.
“Swimming is nothing special.”
“Sigbard, don’t relax too much. We don’t know how far we’ll have to go.”
“You’re right.”
Watching Sigbard float purely through brute strength, Aelin burst into laughter.
She had never seen anyone swim like that before.
Seeing him, Robin laughed too, and Sigbard joined in with chuckles.
After coming out of the lake and laughing heartily, silence fell.
The sudden stillness that arrived after lively chatter.
Aelin perked up her ears and caught the path.
“We’re lucky. An entrance formed closer than before.”
“Let’s go now.”
“We’ll have to dive, so take a deep breath.”
Practice and reality were different.
Swimming while carrying heavy luggage was impossible from the start.
Robin held his breath and sank beneath the lake, following Aelin.
Swimming like a fish in water, Aelin checked to see if the two were following well as she searched for the entrance.
She tore open a gap in a slanted wall just wide enough for a child to crawl through.
Up close, it looked like a tree root.
Though tough as if it had grown out from a massive tree, Aelin spread it apart without difficulty.
Pointing inside, Aelin entered first.
‘It’s getting wider.’
The passage, so narrow that he couldn’t even straighten his back, gradually widened as they went further.
As if telling them to endure just a little longer, Aelin pointed upward.
As they rose in search of oxygen, the light above the water grew clearer.
“Puhah! We can breathe now.”
Aelin gathered the strands of hair clinging to her face and wrung them out like laundry.
Robin and Sigbard surfaced one after the other and looked around.
The first thing they saw was a massive tree.
Its size was so overwhelming that it was clearly visible even from afar.
“Wow…….”
“That’s the World Tree. The mother of the elves.”
“It’s the largest tree in the world.”
How could a tree possibly be that large?
He had heard about it from Brandok, but seeing it in person, it radiated majesty.
It was no exaggeration to say it could cover an entire village with ease.
‘So this is Evendel.’
Had a meteor fallen here long ago?
In a basin hollowed out like a volcanic crater, thick trees had grown.
Even the trunk they had just emerged from was not small, yet compared to the others, it looked like a toy.
Zzzzzk.
When he turned around, the passage they had just come through closed up.
‘So that’s what she meant by there being no fixed entrance.’
Robin stood at the highest edge.
Thanks to that, he could take in the full view of Evendel at a glance.
Buildings shaped after various plants, unlike human architecture.
Roads radiating outward from the World Tree.
The elves walking along those roads were all beautiful.
A city where one could see at a glance the emphasis on harmony with nature.
Aelin placed her hands on her hips and slightly lifted her chin.
“Well? It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s truly fantastic.”
“You should consider it an honor. There aren’t many who’ve visited Evendel without being elves.”
It was then.
An arrow that had sliced through the air embedded itself at Robin’s feet.
Thunk!
Sigbard was no exception.
A group approached the three of them.
They were elves armed with bows.
“Aelin, what is the meaning of this?”
A woman with lighter green hair than Aelin frowned.
“Looks like you’ve been appointed as a Guardian. It’s been a while, Kasia.”
“Don’t change the subject. What are those humans?”
Sigbard was about to say something, but Robin stopped him.
Aelin raised her hand to restrain them.
“They’re my guests.”
“I wasn’t informed that outsiders would be visiting today.”
“Yeah, because I didn’t say anything. There’s no need to tell those old geezers about every little thing, right?”
Kasia glared at Aelin for a moment.
Cold air seemed to flow from her frowning face.
“You cannot bring outsiders without the Elders’ decision. You of all people should know that.”
“That’s true, but just this once.”
Kasia shook her head.
“I must file a report, so follow me. You humans as well.”
“No, there’s no need to report it. The rumor will spread after they walk around for a bit anyway, so why bother?”
“This is not a request, Aelin.”
When Kasia gave instructions to her subordinates, Aelin crossed her arms.
“If I say no, what are you going to do about it?”
At those words, Kasia’s group hesitated.
Aelin slowly walked up and stopped in front of Kasia, then slightly looked down at her.
Among elves, Aelin was considered tall.
“A mere Guardian and me. Whose side do you think those old geezers will take?”
“…….”
“Let’s not waste our energy. Got it?”
After staring for a few seconds, Kasia turned away without a reply.
The taut tension loosened in an instant.
Aelin returned to Robin and curled one corner of her lips upward.
“That’s how capable I am. Cool, right?”
“Uh, yes… But I didn’t expect it to be like this. Should we just go back?”
“It’s fine. I have my own plans.”
Considering that an elf who seemed like a guard had retreated without resistance, it wasn’t a lie that Aelin held a high position.
‘She drove them away rather roughly, but if she says it’s fine…….’
Perhaps she was simply excited to boast about her hometown.
With light steps, Aelin guided Robin and Sigbard.
Though she appeared no different than usual, the tour began with a certain discomfort lingering in the air.