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Chapter 81

"Wow, can we see it too?"

"It's a holy site."

Zelmir lowered his eyebrows regretfully.

"Even elves can only touch Loel's sacred tree once a year, by decree."

"Ah, I remember hearing that before."

Elija recalled the explanation about the token during the meeting and looked down at the small ornament in his palm.

'So this is far more incredible than I thought?'

If people knew the sacred tree was here, the impact would be enormous—how had this fact remained hidden……. Elija was lost in thought. And Zelmir, as if reading his mind, lifted the corners of his mouth.

"Since the sacred tree first took root, the elders have layered barriers around it, so we don't worry much about outsiders."

"……Are the barriers alone sufficient?"

"Hmm, outsiders who know the sacred tree's location and manage to reach it……."

Have never left alive.

At his gentle tone, Delro and Leon shuddered brrr.

"What, did the elves take care of them?"

"Haha, no. Due to the ancient barrier using the sacred tree's power, the moment unpermitted souls set foot here, they are consumed by sacred flames."

"Eek."

Leon's face turned pale.

"Th-then it's definitely better not to visit."

"Indeed. Hehe."

That's why the elders open the barrier once a year, Zelmir added.

"Do elves get caught in the barrier too?"

"If someone enters the barrier, the elders know immediately. Elves aren't consumed by the sacred flames, but if unpermitted, they lose their way forever."

Leon's light green eyes squinted into a sad expression.

"What if someone accidentally wanders in and gets lost forever?"

"Young elves lose their way once every few hundred years or so. When that happens, the elders go and retrieve them. They get a very stern scolding."

Zelmir chuckled, bending over.

"The last elves to lose their way were Sonia and Glonia. Sonia, determined to find a hole in the sacred tree's barrier, took a stick and dragged Glonia along."

The image of the two young blonde siblings wandering aimlessly came to mind.

Haha, it was really cute when the elders came to get them and they burst into tears, Zelmir laughed.

"Such things aren't common. All elves know the sacred tree's location and that they can never enter."

"Keu-hat, if we went in, we wouldn't even find our bones."

"You'd probably turn to ash?"

At Delro's joke, Zelmir fired back with a joke twice as sharp.

"So if you ever reach a place in the northern forest where white flowers bloom in clusters, be careful—you might become a pile of ash?"

It sounded like a joke, but it was surely the truth. Elija's lips twitched at the thought. Ahaha……. Everyone gave awkward laughs.

"Now, come up slowly."

Finally outside the lake. The bright sunlight bathed them. Walking up from the dark water below felt like a dream. Elija squinted and looked up at the sky.

'Sky-blue…….'

Just as Elija was stepping out of the lake stairs, he stopped, struck by a sudden thought.

'Which direction did Echo go, saying she'd pick fruit?'

The accident-prone slime was not by his side.

She probably didn't know the forest's geography well yet. Elija felt a sudden chill down his spine.

"North."

"Pardon? Elija-nim, what did you say?"

Melden looked at him, puzzled, as he stood frozen.

"I think she ran off north."

Elija's face turned white as a sheet.

Hadn't he just said the sacred tree was in the north?

No, surely not.

He forced a smile, lifting one corner of his mouth. But his body couldn't lie—goosebumps ran down his spine.

"……Ah, the slime? Haha, surely not."

Melden understood instantly and waved his hand. But soon, a quiet silence fell between them. Leon's bewildered eyes slowly grew wide. Melden, who had been laughing and waving his hands, gradually lost his smile in the continuing silence.

"Haha…… surely. Surely not."

Whee-ing-

A gentle breeze brushed past them. At the same time, the image of a slime reduced to ash flashed through everyone's minds.

Gulp.

'No, right?'

In an instant, gripped by an unprecedented fear, Elija grabbed Zelmir's arm. Normally, he'd never dream of such rudeness, but his reason was already numb.

"Echo! Can you find where Echo is!"

At Elija's cry, the entire mercenary group stirred.

"Wh-what if Echo really burned up!"

Waaah, Leon burst into tears.

"No, what are you saying, all of a sudden! It might not be! There's no way something that stupid and absurd would happen!"

Delro flared up. Melden took off his glasses, which gleamed white in the sunlight, and slowly wiped them.

"……If it's that slime, it wouldn't be impossible."

Melden, putting his glasses back on, lowered his head. Elija, his face now almost pale blue, tugged at Zelmir. Zelmir shook under Elija's grip.

"Please find Echo! It's urgent!"

"Ahaha, I'll release some sylphs. Don't worry too much……."

"Huaaaang, Echo!"

---

"Muang."

Where am I?

I stood stupidly, raising my head and looking around.

"It's all trees, I can't tell which is which."

I'd come to the northern boundary where Aria worked, but she was nowhere to be seen.

I'd bounced around asking passing elves about Aria's whereabouts…….

The problem was my gluttony.

I mean, I saw a red berry that looked just like Angttu!

I was getting hungry from wandering around, and my eyes just went wild. Seeing a bush laden with bright red berries, I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

……And so, like Hansel and Gretel, I picked and ate berries one by one until I ended up here.

"Heung."

Well, if I walk around and find my way back, I'm bound to run into an elf eventually, right? They do patrols every day. I shrugged and decided to take it easy.

More than that, I'd made a bigger discovery.

Before my grinning eyes, a cluster of white flowers filled the view.

"A secret garden!"

A neat and beautiful space that anyone would admire.

I got here by wandering, but it turned out to be a good choice.

This pretty place, dotted with white flowers, was completely different from the dense forest paths I'd passed through. Full of light green leaves—it was like a fairy tale. It felt like I'd stepped into another world.

"Hmm."

Seeing all those white flowers, it's definitely a secret garden that Zelmir, who's also white and pale, has hidden away. In the human world, this would be a tourist attraction swarming with people.

As expected, the elves' forest is different.

"The elf village is so pretty, right?"

I ran over to the tree in the center of the garden, which looked the prettiest, and plopped down. It was just the right size and had the most leaves—perfect for resting after getting lost.

"Puuu."

Feels good.

A gentle breeze brushed past my head. Hehe, of course, my squishy slime head doesn't flutter like real hair, but being able to feel this even in my little girl form is something else.

I lay back and rolled around, enjoying the soft grass. My closed eyes curved with satisfaction.

In that moment of leisure.

Thwack.

"Aack!"

A sharp pain made my black eyes snap open. My forehead stung.

"Wh-what!"

Eyes wide, I looked around for what had hit me. Soon, I caught sight of the culprit that had fallen after hitting me.

This is…….

"A snack."

It's a berry. Craning my neck, I looked up. There were berries here too?

After a moment of confusion, I picked up the berry.

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