Chapter 111

Chapter 111

“I’m sorry. I failed the mission.”

Borin knelt on one knee and bowed her head.

Before her sat an elven woman in a large wooden chair.

The elven woman’s name was Cerian Oliana.

She was a rare pure-blooded elf.

Her skin was as white as snow, and even her hair and eyebrows were platinum blond, so from a distance she looked like a white fairy.

At a glance, she seemed to be only in her late thirties or early forties, but in truth, she was over three hundred years old.

When her homeland, Kurayan, fell, she had crossed over to Earth.

She had crossed over to Earth dreaming of a new paradise, but the reality that greeted her was far too cruel.

Earth, desertified by the failure of Terraforming, was the worst possible environment for living beings.

Many of her kin could not endure the harsh environment and died.

Those who survived gathered in groups and moved somewhere, creating a city of their own.

That place was Elharun.

Cerian could have entered Elharun too. But she did not.

It was because of those who had been left behind.

To protect them, Cerian willingly remained in the human world and became the ruler of the northern district.

The large wooden chair she sat on had been made from a fragment of the World Tree brought from Kurayan.

This wooden chair elevated her stature and gave her the dignity of a ruler.

That was one of the reasons she had become the Queen of the different races who remained in Neo Seoul.

Cerian opened her mouth.

“Did he clearly say Elharun?”

“That is correct.”

“He was certainly human, and yet he said that?”

“That is correct.”

“How could a human know Elharun......?”

“Could you tell me what El......harun is as well?”

“That is......”

At Borin’s cautious question, Cerian hesitated for a moment.

Even in the northern district, only two people knew of Elharun’s existence.

One was Cerian herself, and the other was Eli, the second-in-command of the northern district.

Even the two of them kept Elharun’s existence absolutely secret.

They were different races stranded in Neo Seoul, the world of humans.

Elharun, the city of the different races who had crossed over from Kurayan, might have become a light of hope for the different races of Neo Seoul. But if its location were accidentally exposed even to humans, it could become dangerous, so they had kept it thoroughly secret.

Cerian and Eli waited for Elharun to contact them someday after it had grown large enough. But no matter how long they waited, Elharun never made contact, and exhausted by waiting, she let go of the thread of hope.

Decades had passed that way, and yet, beyond all expectation, she had heard the name Elharun from a human mouth.

“I’m sorry. I can’t tell you yet.”

“I see......”

“But if the time comes when I can tell you, I promise I’ll tell you first, Borin.”

“Understood.”

Borin answered while forcibly hiding her disappointment.

Cerian saw through Borin’s feelings, but pretended not to notice.

“Ah! What did you say that man’s name was?”

“Zeon.”

“Zeon of the slums. His minimum estimated grade is Grade B, correct?”

“That is correct.”

“And there is an elf who appears to be pure-blooded by his side?”

“Yes!”

“Do you happen to know that elf’s name?”

“That is......”

Borin stammered.

“You are both elves, and yet you don’t know her name?”

“For some reason, she refused to reveal her name to me.”

“Is that so?”

A deep furrow formed between Cerian’s brows.

Elves were beings who communicated.

No matter how bitter the enemy, they did not hesitate to reveal their names.

If the other party was an elf, that was.

There were almost no cases where a pure-blooded elf refused to reveal her true name.

That was because a name was the surest identity that proved their roots.

Refusing to reveal her name was the same as saying she refused to communicate with other elves.

“A pure elf refusing to communicate?”

Cerian’s common sense could not understand it.

‘Unless she isn’t a pure elf? But in that case, there’s no way Borin wouldn’t have recognized it. Could it be?’

At that moment, a thought flashed through Cerian’s mind.

Seeing the change in her expression, Borin asked carefully,

“What is it? Is something strange?”

“No. Borin! You’ve worked hard, so go in and rest.”

“Yes? Ah, understood.”

Borin bowed her head and withdrew.

Left alone, Cerian murmured,

“If she is a High...... Elf?”

---

CRUMBLE!

The wall blocking the two apartments collapsed like a sand castle.

“Yap!”

When Briel spread both hands wide, a strong wind rose and blew the remnants of the wall, now turned to sand, out the window.

“That’s amazing.”

“Well, this much is a piece of cake for me.”

At Levin’s praise, Briel wiped her nose with a finger and laughed.

The moment Zeon said he should expand the apartment, Levin had stormed into the unit next door and negotiated.

Fortunately, Zeon had quite a lot of money, and the owner had been thinking of moving anyway, so the negotiation was settled in an instant.

The owner moved into a new place that very evening, and Briel knocked down the wall of the empty apartment.

Just like that, Zeon’s apartment became twice as large in an instant.

At that moment, the Mana Stone generator made a humming sound.

The Watching Eye, the black jewel that served as the core of the Mana Stone generator, had detected the expansion of its territory.

Red lines extended from the Watching Eye like a net.

The red lines covered the entire expanded area, then vanished without a trace.

Seeing that, Levin blinked in surprise.

“What is that?”

“The Watching Eye? I never thought I’d see this in real life.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ve only heard about it from adults, so I’m not completely sure since this is my first time seeing it, but it’s a barrier that was used in royal treasuries or vaults. They say it ignores most physical and magical attacks. To think something like this was hidden inside a magic power generator. Where on earth did Zeon get this?”

“You mean it’s that precious?”

“At least among the elves I know, no one has something like this.”

“So it’s incredibly precious.”

“Yes!”

Briel glared at the magic power generator.

To be exact, she was glaring at the Watching Eye installed inside it.

Her heart was filled with the desire to study the Watching Eye.

Seeing that, Levin shook his head.

Even without checking with his eyes, it was obvious that Briel would be obsessed with the Watching Eye for a while.

“Anyway, I welcome the fact that the apartment got this big.”

With this, Zeon’s apartment had doubled in size.

Briel had reinforced the collapsed walls and pillars with magic, so there was no danger of it falling down.

Briel immediately packed her things and moved into the space that had been the unit next door. Then she claimed the largest room.

“This is my laboratory. Don’t come in.”

“Do as you like. I’m satisfied with one small room.”

Levin chuckled.

At that moment, Zeon came out wearing his robe.

“Where are you going?”

“The butcher shop. You come too.”

“Me too?”

“Yes!”

“Got it.”

Levin followed Zeon without complaint.

“Levin!”

“Where have you been? We haven’t seen you at all.”

The moment they came out onto the street, children his age who recognized Levin called out to him.

Levin greeted them by bumping fists.

“Have you been well?”

“Something came up, so I’ll be staying at an older hyung’s place from now on.”

Zeon smiled faintly as he watched Levin.

‘He’s popular.’

There were people who drew others’ eyes and became leaders wherever they went.

Levin seemed to be that type too.

A short while later, the two arrived at the street with the butcher shops.

There were quite a lot of people on the street.

It had always done well, but lately it had become even more active.

That meant there were many more customers, and many more goods being sold.

“Shop owners like that must be raking in money with a rake.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Yes!”

Levin answered without the slightest hesitation.

No one who lived in the slums could avoid poverty.

The slums were a place where people had to live while always clutching their starving bellies.

A hell without dreams or hope.

To Levin, the slums were that kind of place.

The only thing that had kept him going was his family, but he had lost them all to the murderer.

If they had lived inside Neo Seoul instead of the slums, perhaps such a thing would never have happened.

“Once I finish my revenge, I’m going to make a lot of money. Then I’ll live inside Neo Seoul.”

“That isn’t a bad idea either.”

“What about you, hyung?”

“What about me?”

“You could live inside Neo Seoul too if you wanted to. So why are you in the slums?”

“Because I feel much more comfortable in the slums than in Neo Seoul.”

“You do?”

“Everyone has different points where they feel comfortable, so you can just follow wherever your heart pulls you.”

“Yes!”

While they talked about this and that, they arrived at their destination, the butcher shop.

Inside the butcher shop, a large man was trimming a huge piece of meat from some unknown creature.

It was Will, the owner of the butcher shop.

When Will saw Zeon, he bowed his head in greeting.

“Welcome.”

“Where is Clexi?”

“He went to the Goblin Market because he had business there.”

“No wonder I didn’t see him.”

“Do you need anything?”

“I need a vehicle.”

“The only thing I can get right away is a small buggy.”

“That’s enough.”

“I’ll prepare it immediately.”

Will did not even ask why he needed a vehicle and said he would prepare it.

Instead, Levin asked why.

“Why do you need a car?”

“I’m going out into the desert.”

“Why the desert?”

“There’s something I need to find.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll find out soon enough without asking so many questions.”

“What?”

As Levin tilted his head, Zeon gave him a meaningful smile.

At that, Levin felt a strange chill.

A short while later, the buggy was ready.

It had no armor and only a frame, making it look like a skeleton.

At least it had a roof to block the sunlight, which was a relief.

Zeon sat in the driver’s seat and said to Levin,

“Let’s go!”

“Yes!”

The buggy carrying the two of them left the slums and emerged into the desert.

“Wow!”

Levin let out an exclamation.

He had seen the desert often from the slums, but this was his first time coming out into it directly.

Levin felt excitement and fear at the same time.

At the same time, he wondered where Zeon was taking him.

Zeon drove the car to a place several dozen kilometers away from Neo Seoul.

Once Neo Seoul was no longer visible, he closed his eyes and raised his senses.

His senses rode the sand and stretched endlessly outward.

A short while later, he opened his eyes and said,

“Found it.”

“What did you find?”

Instead of answering, Zeon drove on.

After driving for a long while, they arrived at a small sandstone region formed from hardened sand.

In the sandstone region, there was a crevice just large enough for one person to enter.

Zeon said to Levin,

“Go in.”

“Huh?”

The moment Levin widened his eyes at the unexpected words, Zeon kicked him.

THUD!

“Ghk!”

With a scream, Levin tumbled down into the sandstone crevice.

Watching Levin vanish into the darkness in an instant, Zeon murmured,

“If you don’t want to die, you’ll have to do your best.”