Chapter 199. I Will Wait for You (2)
The battle that had raged for four days finally came to an end. With the reinforcements from the south and Halo himself joining the fight, the fighting concluded almost too easily.
Halo had slain the king of the dark elves single-handedly. As the king was dependent on the Demon King of Sloth, now that his master had retreated, he no longer had the power to resist Halo.
Great quantities of blood had been spilled upon the land. Both the elves of Aileen and the invading dark elves had suffered heavy losses. The battlefield remained littered with corpses, bodies that had yet to be recovered.
"...Nothing remains," Baltho, the High Elder, murmured bitterly as he surveyed the desolate ruins.
Thanks to the reinforcements arriving in time, they'd won. But the damage Aileen had suffered was beyond repair.
Erekis' breath attack had reduced much of the city to rubble, and the once-proud walls that had defended them for so long were now broken, barely a section left standing intact.
Yet the worst damage of all was that dark mana had seeped deep into the roots, corrupting the forest at its very core.
"The forest... It's been tainted beyond saving," Baltho said grimly.
The elves could no longer live in the Eastern Great Forest. The Demon King of Sloth and the dark elves had turned it into something akin to a hellscape.
"I greet the High Elder," a voice unfamiliar to Baltho called out.
Baltho looked in the direction of the voice and saw the elf who had wielded the power of the Spirit King in the battle moments ago.
"My name is Orion Windkeeper," the elf introduced himself. "My humble self serves as a patrol captain of the Southern Great Forest."
"It is a pleasure to meet you," Baltho replied. "I am Baltho, the High Elder of the Eastern Great Forest."
"The regent has given an order," Orion continued. "We are to ensure the safe passage of the elves from the Eastern Great Forest to the south. We may have won the battle, but as you can see, the corruption here is severe."
"...I am aware," Baltho admitted.
"Shall we proceed with the evacuation?" Orion asked.
Baltho let out a weary sigh, his gaze sweeping over what was left of Aileen.
This city had been built through generations of effort, ever since they had been driven from the Southern Great Forest. They had struggled to survive here, poured everything they had into making it their home. And now, in an instant, all of that had been reduced to nothing.
Regret, sorrow, and countless emotions stormed within Baltho. But as the High Elder, his path was clear.
Before making his final decision, he turned to Orion and asked quietly, "Would the elves of the south truly welcome us?"
Old wounds ran deep. Just as the elves of the Eastern Great Forest didn't like those of the south, the sentiment had long been mutual. Baltho was filled with complicated worries, wondering if the elves of the Southern Great Forest would truly welcome them.
"...It won't be easy at first," Orion admitted, his voice firm. "There are still those who remember the past, even after all these generations. And to be honest... I, too, still find it difficult to trust you all."
"...I understand," Baltho murmured.
"But that is only a personal sentiment," Orion said, reaching out his hand with a faint, bittersweet smile. "Time will mend these wounds. Eventually, we will live as we once did together.
"We are all children of Mother, are we not? And I believe she would want us—the elves of the south—to embrace you once more."
Setting aside resentment, Orion took in the situation before him. In the end, they all shared the same roots.
"We have even reconciled with the nagas," Orion added. "If we could accept them, there is no reason we cannot welcome you as well."
"The nagas? Those fallen kin?" Baltho asked, his voice edged with disbelief.
"The reason our rescue fleet arrived so quickly was thanks to them," Orion explained. "They willingly opened the sea for us and lent their strength to hasten our ships. Without them... all we would have found here would have been the ruins of this city."
Orion's gaze drifted toward a human sitting in the distance, drinking liquor despite the bandages wrapped around him; a peculiar man, enjoying his drink even as his cousin scolded him.
Thinking back, everything had begun with that human.
"There is a human who hopes for our unity," Orion continued. "If we refuse to accept you... That human will surely be disappointed."
"...Caron Leston," Baltho said.
"He is a benefactor to the elves," Orion said. "To us, and to you. No—to all of us."
At that word, "us," Baltho silently studied Orion. The image of Caron on the battlefield resurfaced in his mind.
A man who had no reason to fight for the elves, yet bled for them without hesitation.
A man who had charged at the Bone Dragon alone when all others had fallen into despair.
Caron Leston was truly a man to be grateful for. If not for him, the elves of the Eastern Great Forest would have met a tragic end.
"I, too, do not wish to let down the hopes of our benefactor," Baltho said, reaching out to grasp Orion's extended hand.
The road ahead wouldn't be easy. They had lived apart for far too long, and their reunion would be riddled with conflicts and discord.
"Caron once told me that siblings fight," Orion said with a chuckle. "We have simply been fighting for a very, very long time. But we can resolve things, one step at a time. Don't you agree?"
There was sincerity in Orion's voice, a warmth that resonated deep within Baltho.
Unbidden, tears welled in Baltho's eyes as he nodded. He murmured, "...Thank you. Truly... thank you."
"The beastfolk have volunteered to oversee the rescue of the elves remaining in the western regions of the forest," Orion continued. "Please provide us with information regarding Aileen and the surrounding villages. Our primary objective is to ensure the safe evacuation of every elf in the east. Ah, and some of our patrol units will remain behind to search for any stragglers."
"Most of our people have already taken refuge in Aileen," Baltho replied. "But it would be best to confirm once more."
Orion smiled and nodded, then said, "We'll save the formal greeting for when we reach the Southern Great Forest, dear brother."
With that, Orion turned and strode away to lead the rescue fleets.
Baltho remained standing, watching Orion's retreating figure. The word "brother" lingered in his ears.
Baltho had thought this war had taken everything from him, but now, he realized that wasn't entirely true.
A new era had simply begun. The elves of the Eastern Great Forest would now return home. It was frightening and uncertain, but... Mother would surely embrace her children as she always had.
Slowly, Baltho nodded and turned his gaze toward Caron once more. He thought, ...Thank you so much, Caron Leston.
That young human had brought hope to a place that had known only despair.
Baltho had no idea how he would ever repay this debt, so he vowed, silently and firmly, If ever you need my life, it is yours to take.
He would spend his lifetime repaying what he owed.
And so, Baltho smiled at Caron.
***
When Caron woke up, he sat with his arms crossed, staring intently at something.
Cleaning up a battlefield was a job in itself. Especially the corpse of Erekis that had been split in half by Halo.
"Ha... Dragon bones. It would be such a waste to leave them here," Caron said.
Tainted by dark mana or not, it was still dragon bone—one of the rarest and most valuable materials imaginable. Even if one wanted to obtain it, there was no way to do so easily.
"How are we supposed to process this?" Leo asked.
"There has to be a way," Caron replied.
"Forget it. Messing with something like this is a surefire way to get possessed by a demon," Leo muttered.
He wasn't wrong. The remains radiated an unmistakable trace of dark mana.
Still, Caron couldn't help but feel reluctant to leave it behind.
"Maybe I should've brought the Saintess," he mused. "I have a feeling she'd know what to do. Besides, Grandfather already wiped out whatever lingering will was inside this thing."
Although it still carried traces of dark mana, it was still just an empty shell. Since the remnant thoughts that were embedded in Erekis had vanished, Caron wondered if it would be usable as long as it was purified properly.
And if they left the Bone Dragon's corpse here, no one knew what kind of trouble it could cause. Some fool of a dark mage could come along and try to resurrect it.
"Caron," Leo called out.
"What?" Caron responded.
"Wipe your drool first," Leo said.
"Wait, was I drooling?"Caron asked.
Leo sighed and replied, "Human blacksmiths can't even handle dragon bone."
"Yes, I know that," Caron said.
Dragon bone had exceptional mana conductivity, hardness, and durability. It was an unparalleled material for crafting weapons—if one could process it.
Without something like the Eternal Flame, said to be in the dwarven city, even melting it was impossible.
"Do you know any dwarves?" Leo asked.
Caron scoffed and answered, "Leo, we racked up quite a debt with the dwarves on our way here. Did you think we were going to trade candy for the debt instead?"
"Oh!" Leo's face lit up.
"What do you mean, 'Oh'? You're too young to be forgetting things already. Tsk tsk. You should really watch out for early-onset dementia," Caron said.
"Where did dementia even come from all of a sudden..." Leo grumbled, brushing off Caron's comment as he stroked his chin.
Getting help from the dwarves wouldn't be an issue. Dwarves were a race of master crafters. If they knew they had a chance to work with dragon bones, they'd practically foam at the mouth in excitement.
The real problem is purification, Caron thought.
Purging the dark mana from the bones was the first and most important step. Without purification, forging them into weapons or armor would be impossible. And if they did, they'd end up creating cursed swords or demonic armor instead.
"Hmm." Caron gave a decisive nod after a moment of thought. "Let's take it with us and make the Saintess do the work."
There were plenty of favors he still needed to get from Saintess Seria. If he asked her to purify the bones, she wouldn't be able to refuse. She had even gained a new pair of wings back in the Pajar Sultanate. With her powerful divine energy, she should be more than capable of handling the task.
"...That sounds way too blasphemous," Leo muttered.
"Leo, whether it's a god or a human, everyone has to earn their keep. That's my philosophy," Caron said with a smirk.
"What a heartless bastard. But hey, how the hell are we supposed to move this massive thing? No ship can carry something this size," Leo said.
He clicked his tongue as he surveyed Erekis' enormous corpse. There wasn't a single ship in existence that could transport something this large.
"What are you talking about? We'll just cut it up and carry it," Caron said.
"Who's going to cut that thing? You can't even do it yourself," Leo replied.
Even in death, a Bone Dragon was still a Bone Dragon. Its bones had a natural resistance to aura, making them just as difficult to cut as when it was alive.
But Caron simply grinned and shook his head, then said, "We have Grandfather, don't we?"
"...You're seriously thinking of dragging Grandfather into this mess?" Leo asked.
"This is for the future of the Ducal Family of Leston! Imagine if we outfitted the Oceanwolf Knight Order with weapons and armor made from dragon bone. Our house's future would be brighter than ever!" Caron explained.
"You just want to stash some for yourself—" Leo began, but couldn't continue his sentence.
"Grandfatherrr!" Ignoring Leo's remark, Caron called out to Halo.
Halo, who had been speaking with Baltho, turned toward him and approached at a leisurely pace. He asked, "What is it?"
"Well, I did get your help, but I still fought hard in this battle. If I were to explain just how much effort I put in for the honor of the Ducal Family of Leston—" Caron began.
"Skip to the point," Halo interrupted.
Caron straightened his posture and declared confidently, "I want a reward."
"A reward, is it? I suppose I should at least hear what you want," Halo replied.
It was a positive response.
Grinning, Caron pointed a finger at Erekis' corpse and said, "Please cut that up for me!"
"...Cut it up?" Halo asked.
"Yes! We have to take the dragon bones with us," Caron answered.
"This dragon bone isn't usable in its current state. It's been severely tainted," Halo explained.
"We can still bring it along, can't we? We can have Saintess Seria purify it, or worst case, we could just... kidnap a few priests from the Holy Kingdom," Caron added.
"...What exactly do you think the Ducal Family of Leston is, kidnapping priests?" Halo asked.
"Come on, it's just a figure of speech. Officially, we'd be 'inviting' them. I do have some standards, you know," Caron explained.
Halo exhaled softly, glancing at Erekis' corpse.
Caron had a point. Dragon bone was dragon bone, after all. If they could purify it, it would be an immense asset to the Ducal Family of Leston.
"I asked Orion earlier, and he said there's plenty of extra space. So if we cut it up properly, we should be able to bring it back," Caron continued.
If there was one thing Caron excelled at, it was greed. Perhaps he had inherited that trait from his father, Fayle.
Halo stroked his chin in thought before giving a slow nod, and said, "You're right. Dragon bone is an extremely rare material."
"We also saved the dwarves trapped in Noa. We can just ask them to process it for us," Caron said.
"Very well. We'll bring the dragon bone back and figure out the rest later," Halo replied.
With that, he drew Gram from its sheath. But then, he noticed something odd about his grandson's expression. It didn't seem as if Caron was finished yet.
"...What else is there?" Halo asked.
Caron's face lit up as if he had been waiting for this moment. "Hehe. You haven't properly discussed profit distribution yet."
"Profit distribution? I was the one who cut down Erekis' remnant will. If we're talking about contributions, then naturally—" Halo began to talk, but was interrupted.
"Ah, come on, Grandfather! I bought you time, didn't I? If not for me, Erekis would've just fired its breath and escaped," Caron said.
His tongue had begun to dance again.
"Well, since you played a big role, I'll be generous and go fifty-fifty with you. I'm a dutiful grandson, after all," he continued.
"...Fifty-fifty?" Halo asked.
"Hm, is that a bit too much? Fine, I'll make it forty-sixty. I'm giving you sixty because you're my grandfather. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't even get a scrap," Caron answered.
"...Caron," Halo called out.
"I risked my life standing my ground... and yet, if you won't even give me this much... Ha... I knew it. I was right that you don't love me..." Caron suddenly shifted to an emotional plea.
Halo sighed as he watched his grandson. He thought, Still as crazy as ever.
There was a saying that one was bound to change their thoughts and personality after facing death, but his grandson hadn't changed one bit.