Book 4: Chapter 12

The existence of the “Forest Eater” has long been passed down the Dragonewt city. The dragonewts have been attacked and driven out from their homes on countless occasions, it seems.

「It’s freaking huge! The first time I saw it, I had nightmares, nuro.」

「And the goat’s eyes are freaking creepy too.」

「Indeed!」

The elders said those things in a cheerful tone for some reason. And I, who was terrified of the goat, was dumbfounded at the situation.

「Still… we might be able to salvage something, so I would like to go see the airship. There might even be survivors.」I said.

「All right.」

「Reiji-san. I want to go too, but… I would probably just get in the way.」

「I think it’s better if you stay here, Asha. It will be easier to escape if I’m alone.」

Although I said that jokingly, Asha looked a little sad. She’s probably still hung up on yesterday’s incident during the expedition.

(Please don’t make that face… There are things people can and cannot do, after all.)

I turned to the elders again.

「And I also wish to ask, are you familiar with the word “Covenant”? It’s sort of like a promise that connects the two worlds.」

The elders exchanged glances with each other.

「Hmm. Actually, there is a “Covenant” that was passed down the Elder Society… but we don’t exactly know what it means.」

「You don’t know?」

「It wasn’t passed down the Elder Society since the beginning, it started two generations before or so. Either way, it wasn’t too long ago, nuro. I think it was… the dwarven race?」

「Yes. Dwarf, nuro.」

「When the dwarven race was wiped out by a monster attack, the seven members of the Elder Society at the time had the same dream.」

…Dream?

「A black humanoid summoned the elders to the same dream and said, “The covenant will now be conveyed to you. Let your successors inherit it for as long as your race continues. You must absolutely not forget this. Because the Covenant is the proof of your existence.”…」

A black humanoid… I am familiar with it.

——『Darkness, Open the Gate. Light, Pave the Way.』

The mediator who appeared in front of the “First Altar” in the Kruvan Holy Kingdom.

That guy appeared in the dream of the Dragonewt’s ancestors?

「If you don’t mind my asking, can you please tell me the Covenant that was passed down?」

「We don’t mind. What our ancestors heard was the “Covenant Structure”, nuro. 」

「”Covenant Structure”?」

——The Covenant consists of eight types, including this.

——The elements that make up the Covenant are the “Skill Orb”, the “Pledgers”, and the “Mediator”.

There are 8 types of Covenant, huh.

The Covenant that has been passed down to the High Elf royal family was about not taking too many skill orbs.

Does that mean that each race has a different type of Covenant?

「At the Elder Society, if there is a vacancy due to death or some other reason, we will add a new person and continue management with seven people. At that time, strangely, even the new elder also gets this pattern.」

Yellow Elder showed me the back of his hand. A pattern emerged there.

「Does everyone have this?」I asked.

「Yes. It appears in various places… but purple is most miserable, nuro. Because it emerged on his ass! Wahaha!」

「Moron! You promised not to say it, nuro!」The purple elder got angry.

(In other words, does that mean the seven elders are the “Pledgers” of the Dragonewt tribe? So the Holy King is the “Pledger” in the Kruvan Holy Kingdom? Perhaps the Holy King’s “Covenant” is to offer a “pure person” with Holy Blue…or something along those lines? But the Holy King didn’t seem to be well-versed in it.)

The “Covenant Structure” of the dragonewt tribe is just simple information.

The High Elf royal family’s Covenant on the “Skill Orb” is not enforceable either. Though, I did hear that elves don’t export skill orbs from the “Third Forest”.

(Deriving from the flow of the story, it means that the Covenant that was passed down the dwarven race was transferred to the dragonewt race at the same time as the former’s downfall.)

As usual, the contents of the Covenant that I heard were already becoming vague. I thought of writing it down, but I couldn’t even form the words in my mind.

(Is the Covenant something that can only be passed down to various races… But if there are eight types of Covenant, and there are only dragonewts, underground humans, and dark elves, what about the remaining five?)

I had more questions than answers at the end of the day.

**

It was decided that we would accompany the reconnaissance unit to the airship tomorrow, and we left the Elder Society building.

…The time is about 3pm, huh. We spent quite some time there.

Asha was looking gloomy. She must still think of herself as a “burden”.

…I guess it is about time I talk about that.

「Asha, do you remember what I said yesterday?」

「Hm?」

「I said there was something suitable for you to do.」

「Oh, right. But is there really something I can do?」

「There is. I think everyone will be very pleased. Especially if the Dragonewt City has collapsed many times…」I said, wryly smiling at Asha’s low self-confidence.

「?」

Asha tilted her head as if she increasingly didn’t understand what I said.

「I’ll go meet the elders again for a short while. We have to get permission to do it.」

「I-I will go too! You’re going to give me some work, right!?」

「Work, huh… yes, you can call it that. Let’s go together then.」

The 7 elders were surprised when we returned to the building. But when they heard my suggestion, they seemed to think it was interesting and were enthusiastic.

The permission was given without a hitch.

I will be going out tomorrow morning, so I have to complete the preparations by the end of today.

「Which means, we have to try it out first above all else, nuro!」

More than being enthusiastic, the elders couldn’t even wait.

「I’ll start tomorrow morning, so please be there then.」I said with a bitter smile.

Now, it’s the start of the “large communal bath plan” made by making full use of “magic”.