〈 Same time, different place (4) 〉
Harley, who created a warm atmosphere with a sincere and kind smile and a gentle pat, nodded happily.
‘As expected, it’s a good thing you came. Anyway, this nobleman also behaves quite well.’
It was no coincidence that he came here now.
Even though Harley traveled around the southern part of the country, where there was little contact with the outside world, his eyes and ears were already spread all over the continent.
Of course, I was also checking the mercenary guild’s situation periodically.
‘It just so happens that the southern part of the country has also been sorted out to some extent.’
Thanks to this, Harley was able to schedule his visit in a timely manner, and naturally the guild was able to avoid the storm that would have caused great confusion in many ways.
What is this if not a win-win!
‘It’s good for both sides. cancer.’
Not only did they avoid an unfortunate incident that would have resulted in destruction and bloodshed, but they also saved themselves from unnecessary hassle.
It was the completion of a happy ending that seemed like a painting.
‘Of course, you may need to keep checking in the future as they may try to do something behind your back.’
It is best to prevent anything in advance rather than trying to deal with it after it happens.
It would be a good idea to use this opportunity to impress upon them a clear advantage.
“Pahahahaha—! After all, on a day like this, you have to eat meat! I’ll shoot today, so let’s all go eat together! “Where is the best meat restaurant here?”
In response, Harley exclaimed coolly, like a manager proposing a company dinner for social gatherings.
Isn’t eating together the best way to strengthen human relationships?
“Hehehe.”
“Uhm, that’s…”
“I still have training today…”
“…I’m on a diet.”
But, as expected, the response to it was not very good.
Except for Patrick, the high-ranking members of the guild all secretly averted their gaze with an expression of burden.
Just like employees who want to leave work early.
Anyone could see that it was an expression of rejection, but Harley, who did not pay attention to what others thought, slowly crossed her arms and frowned.
“Huh? “Are you sure you don’t like meat?”
As if he was feeling uncomfortable, the muscles in his arms wriggled roughly as if they were a separate creature.
It’s like there’s no way someone like that exists in the world.
Even if it were, it was as if he couldn’t tolerate it.
“…Is that possible? I was thinking of a place in Dracal that had the best meat. “I just remembered a place with good quality and quantity, so I’ll guide you.”
“Hehehe, I also feel sorry for leaving out my subordinates. “You could just catch a few pigs and send them to them.”
“If you don’t like pork, you’re not a warrior. Eating well is also part of training…”
“Hohoho! “For a healthy diet, you need to eat meat occasionally.”
Thanks to the great performance of Harley, the mood maker, the surrounding air became cheerful again.
He nodded in satisfaction and then took the lead and confidently walked out of the guild building.
And immediately, the high-ranking members of the guild began to move aesthetically, watching among themselves, following Patrick, who was clinging to him and groveling all the time.
It may seem that the continent’s top powerhouses gave in so easily that they only met face to face, but there was a good reason why they had no choice but to react that way.
‘…First, bow down as much as possible. But there’s still a chance. The first mercenary king who reached the state of transcendence also died in the final fight against the immortal king. If the author does that too…’
‘This is wrong. Claven has already been completely eaten. Should I change routes?’
‘What the fuck is that? Are you human? Did you say Yongin? I feel like I’ve encountered some kind of very large monster!’
‘Tch, I came here for no reason. I should have just sent the kids downstairs. … But it’s to the point where they even made dragons extinct in addition to being such dragons. ‘What kind of monster is the Immortal King?’
Harley was so used to it that he wasn’t even conscious of it, but he had been steadily absorbing the madness that had spread in the world since he took the “Seed of Madness” from the revolutionary.
It is the essence of unholy power that rose from the abyss, like the “Heart of the Immortal”, the source of the Immortal King Hans.
No matter how much insanity was lower than death, it was still a power that living things could not handle carelessly.
It was not unusual for strong people with a developed sense of energy to overreact.
“friend! You say you can guide me to a good place? “Let’s take the lead!”
“Ah—yes. “Please come this way.”
To put it simply, it meant that, as befitting those who had survived for a long time in the harsh world of mercenaries and reached the top, their survival instinct was stronger than their desire to win or their pride.
“Oh! Come to think of it, I forgot I was bringing money! How do I do this?…”
“…I will treat you today. “It is a great honor to meet Harley, the hero who represents mercenaries.”
“Oh oh! This guy has a great attitude! Let’s stay close in the future! Hahaha!”
“Ha ha ha ha….”
So much so that he couldn’t protest and only let out an awkward laugh to the person he had dismissed as a barbarian just a moment ago.
On that day, Dracal’s meat restaurant ‘Ogre’s Table’ had its highest sales ever and all meat was sold out.
Claiven, who dreamed of becoming a mercenary king, quietly closed his eyes while holding a voucher for an amount that should not have been for one meal.
Still, I tried to rationalize that this was a cheap deal.
***
A space filled with clean air.
The refreshing energy that filled the surroundings swirled wildly.
Whiooooo—
But as if he were the eye of a storm, the person at the center didn’t move at all, just focused on something with his eyes half-open.
Unlike the wildly turbulent outside, long blond eyelashes fluttering gently in the breeze, emerald irises slightly covered, golden pupils, and skin as smooth and shiny as white jade.
These various elements, combined with harmonious facial features that seem to have been created step by step by a craftsman, further highlighted the mystery of its existence.
Then at some point.
As the storm swirling around him stopped, his long ears twitched several times.
Eventually, the eyelids slowly opened wide, and the star-shaped pupil that had been hidden behind them was clearly revealed.
“…done.”
With a languid voice that was like a whisper, the corner of his mouth was slightly raised by Harris Granwood, the high elf of the Elven Kingdom.
While quietly looking up at the being floating in the space in front of me.
Churrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr formation –
Whenever the blue-light amorphous being twisted its body, the clear sound of water flowed out.
Harris admired it for a moment and then slowly extended a hand toward it.
And after continued contact and interaction….
“…from today, you are ‘Liter.’”
He smiled softly as he watched the water flow down his arm and snake around his body.
This was my seventh additional contract, including the third and existing spirits, since I visited the Ganghwan Realm, so I couldn’t help but be satisfied.
‘As expected, the effect is certain.’
The harvests that he happened to get, “Muyu Bagua Bigong (改)” and “Natural Responsibility,” greatly expanded his affinity with nature.
No matter how high an elf one is, each individual has different attributes that are suitable for them, but Muyu Bagua Bikong, who pursues harmony in all things, helped them overcome even such limitations.
‘The extreme tendencies that were a side effect of Kang Hwan-gye completely disappeared when I returned to Outerica. … Instead, it seems like it’s become more bothersome than before.’
That was a problem that had to be accepted since the level of assimilation with nature had increased.
Anyway, thanks to that, he was followed by Watt, the lightning spirit, the fire spirit, Kali, the wind spirit, Pascal, the sound spirit, and Decibel—.
He was able to be reborn as an all-weather spiritist who can handle the earth spirit, hectare, the light spirit, lumen, and the water spirit, liter.
‘The growth of new spirits is also fast. Not only did it evolve to a lower level upon signing the contract, but the hectare that signed the contract first is already on the verge of reaching a higher level.’
Originally, it was common sense that spirits and spirit masters would grow together, but that common sense did not apply in a situation like now, which is full of exceptions.
To begin with, his very existence was an irregularity, so it may be surprising.
“…You really succeeded this time too. Where on earth and what did you do to make that possible?”
While Harris was immersed in strange emotions, an admiring woman’s voice was heard from behind him.
There, Shapiron, an elf girl with blue eyes and blue hair, was squatting on the floor, holding a basket of snacks woven from tree trunks in her arms.
“Well, I guess I should say I gained some enlightenment… I don’t know how to explain it. “I also happened to be able to do it.”
“…As expected, the world is unfair…”
She pouted her lips at that ambiguous answer and expressed her dissatisfaction in a small voice.
When Harris first came to the Elven Kingdom, he was only an entry-level elementalist who could handle one of the lowest-level lightning spirits.
At that time, she was already an honor student who could handle up to intermediate level spirits.
‘I used to…’
His spirits continued to evolve as if they had eaten something good, and Harris himself succeeded in forming relationships with the spirits of fire, wind, and sound.
Even her father, Lafori, could only handle three types of spirits like ordinary high elves!
‘But now there are seven.’
I heard that the current queen who handles five attributes is quite unusual, but seven can be considered completely unheard of.
And from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop here!
‘I’m still a high-level spirit…’
In fact, just being a high-level spiritist at her age was already enough to be called a genius.
Because the forest guards in the play were the highest level, just above.
Of course, her weakness is that she only has one attribute that she can handle, but she has the ability to be treated as an elite even if she graduates right away.
‘…Then what do you do?’
But that wasn’t enough for her.
The object of comparison, which had now become a standard, was so overwhelming that even that felt inadequate.
Especially since I once thought of him as a rival.
‘Could I really become a high elf?’
A sigh escapes me without my knowledge.
When Shapiron was curled up alone, trembling in despair…
Suddenly,
someone else’s hand gently landed on the top of her head.
She raised her head in surprise and blinked several times when she saw Harris secretly looking away.
I certainly didn’t expect him, who spends most of his time lethargic and not approaching others first, to show such behavior.
However, what makes the current situation more difficult is Harris, the person in question.
‘…What should I say in times like this?’
I came forward with a light heart because I felt sorry for being depressed by comparing myself to myself, who was a non-standard case, but I had no idea what to do next, as I had lived a life that was far from comforting others.
No matter how much you think about it, wouldn’t it be just a deception for him to offer encouragement in this situation?
‘I heard that women don’t like it when their hair is touched.’
Let’s just stay silent for a while like that.
After recalling the knowledge he had picked up somewhere else, he realized his mistake and hastily removed his hand from her head.
Hands raised awkwardly, eyes wandering around with nowhere to go, and even an awkward smile on the lips as if trying to avoid the situation.
It was not the image of an absolute being that could not be approached no matter where and how one looked, but was simply a young man himself who was awkward in interpersonal relationships.
“Foot!”
Shapiron, who was squatting down and quietly looking up at his clumsy appearance, burst into laughter without realizing it.
‘…Something felt stupid.’
Somehow, I felt like it was useless to keep wandering around like this.
This didn’t solve my concerns, but it also made me feel lighter somehow.
She wriggled and put down the basket she was holding in her arms and looked at Harris again.
“…I brought some snacks. Would you like some?”
“…Good.”
In fact, she was also poor at interpersonal relationships.
***
A mountainous area with no people around.
Crispy—
an alien noise came from somewhere there.
The origin was a thin crack that appeared in empty space.
It expanded its area little by little with a small plosive sound and then—.
Absolutely!
Soon, part of it broke off, creating a small hole in the air.
And from there, the crack began to rapidly grow in size.
Suddenly,
the crack that had been expanding for a while stopped for a moment and then stopped moving completely.
Ugh—
soon, the area gradually decreased again due to some kind of external force.
The space began to be restored in an instant, as if bugs were being fixed in real time.
The thin lines that spread like incontinence disappeared, and the thick lines that had become blurred soon also disappeared.
Now all that’s left is a coin-sized hole in the center.
Even that was slowly shrinking in size as it was being filled in from all directions.
In that situation—.
“…It’s a pity. Maybe it wasn’t enough.”
Someone’s voice came from beyond that space.
A man’s voice that seems blurry yet clear and strong yet weak at the same time.
“But…”
It finally came from beyond the hole, which had shrunk to the size of a needle’s eye.
“This is the last time.”
With only one word left, the crack completely disappeared, immersed in silence.
The mountain became quiet as if nothing had happened from the beginning.
—The calm before the storm was coming to an end.