CH 256.1

Translator: “Hakou”                             Editor: “Weasalopes”

The royal capital under the starry sky.

On the northern outskirts of downtown, there is a three-story stone building. On the roof of the second floor, a turtle was swimming in the garden pond.

The turtle had just returned from a talk with all of its families after receiving spiritual treatment from its master.

(That was an amazing magic)

What he remembered was the cure status abnormality and cure disease magic. Even Zaratan who have lived long enough have rarely seen magic that glows green or blue.

Considering the lifespan of a person, it must be a legendary or mythical class magic.

(It was a good thing)

The turtle squints his eyes.

The Lord who received him had unimaginable power. It was something that made him very proud and happy as his familiars.

A humanoid creature that lives in the forest. There are no longer calls from the elf and his head is quiet.

(With this, I can sleep peacefully)

As he exhaled in relief, he noticed a faint green light glowing on the water surface.

(Hm?)

Looking upward for the cause, he saw the translucent leaves of the world tree emitting light. It was reflecting on the water surface.

By the way, his Lord calls the world tree 『medicinal tree』 for some reason.

『It’s grown thicker!』

When he reached the area between the world tree and the garden pond, he sent a big wave towards them.

The amount of magic power that had been drawn in from deep underground had suddenly increased. In the words of General Dangoro, a senior member of the familiars, it seems that the earth’s veins have become thicker.

『Suppress it! Quickly!』

The dung beetle looks up and said to the caterpillar. And the caterpillar was desperately tapping its warty foot on the branch.

Probably as a result of his effort, but eventually the world tree stopped emitting light and returned to its normal state.

『That surprised me』

『Me too』

The caterpillar says from the top of the branch, and the dung beetle replies from below.

『What happened?』

『I don’t know』

As he watched the two animals, Zaratan spread his own senses in the surroundings using magic and investigated.

(Did the Magi Karta get loose?)

The Magi Karta is a magical web that was cast to cover the world long ago. It is a grand magic that operates autonomously, powered by the magic power of the world tree.

He doesn’t know why, but the Magi Karta, which has been unshakable until now, is beginning to loosen. At least that’s what Zaratan felt.

(….I think that’s good too)

The Lord and human friend, who once he let live on his back. He helped the elves to maintain the Magi Karta.

But that was what his friend decided on his own. He had nothing to do with it, nor was he asked to maintain the Magi Carta in the future.

(There are so many changes, it’s interesting)

He hasn’t felt any boredom since he got his current master.

The turtle nodded with satisfaction. When he turned his gaze back to the two senior members of the familiars, they were enthusiastically talking to each other from the branch and the ground.

『There’s a lot of magic power!』

『What should we plant?』

The caterpillar who is a forest sage, and the dung beetle, the soil cultivator, seem to be more interested in the result than the cause.

Looking forward to what would happen in the future, the long-lived Great Spirit Beast started swimming again.

***

The following is one of the studies done by the High Elves.

The magic power circulating on a global scale. It is said that it is radiated to the surface world through the world tree.

The radiated magical power diffuses into the sky and eventually descends to the entire surface of the earth. While absorbing various attributes from the ground and the surface of the water, the magic piled up slowly sinks into the depths of the earth.

Then, after a long number of years, it is said to be radiated from the world tree again as pure magical power.

『Limit the number of world trees that can exist in the world to one』

It is the most important of the several roles of the Magi Karta. As a result, the flow of magical power from the depths of the earth was limited to a single line leading to the Spirit Forest.

However, on this day, a great change came to the earth’s veins.

『The birth of a new magic power supply line』

The flow of magic suddenly branched out, and several of them reached the surface of the earth.

No one knows why. The only thing that is certain is that the amount of magic power reaching downstream was reduced because it branched off upstream.

Fortunately, the Spirit Forest was equipped with the power to store magic power. Thanks to this, the effect was slow and mild.

***

The stage moves from the royal capital to the northern city of the empire. The time has advanced to the afternoon of the next day.

Outside the city walls surrounding the northern city, many tents were set up, surrounded by Knights sitting on one knee.

The reason why there were so many people camped out in the tents was because the elven Knights had burned down part of the city.

「I came with a report sir」

A tent with roses painted on a black background. In the middle of it, a short but thick-bodied pilot saluted.

A large man in his prime with short white hair nodded hawkishly and urged him to continue.

「The interrogation of the elf pilot is over. But there is no new information」

The two elf pilots they had captured in the previous night battle. Both were men, so they had been subjected to a wickedness to the defeated in the name of interrogation by the Rose Knights.

Count Rosehip nodded quietly, though he slightly frowned. As was the case in Landbarn, it seems that elves are subjected to magical measures to prevent them from divulging any confidential information.

Unfortunately, it can’t be removed by the magic of the human race.

「You may do whatever you like with them. But don’t break them, because there might be a prisoner exchange」

The Rose Knights’ pilot clicks his heels and replies sharply. However, he does not leave the tent, but remains in his posture and asks a question.

「Commander, are you sure you don’t want to try them out?」

The man with short white hair shook his head while stroking his beard.

「I don’t really like those thin and slender guys. And I don’t want to do it with guys who doesn’t have much experience either」

In spite of his appearance, Count Rosehip prefers to have fun with people rather than make them submit to him.

The only reason he let the elves penetrate him in Landbarn was because he was curious. If it wasn’t for that reason, he wouldn’t have even bothered with a skinny, hairless elf.

The pilot dared to ask the question knowing his boss’ range while smirking.

「But, boss, the guy who burned down the city has a lot of experience」

As a result of doing it with him, he discovered that he was also a lover of roses. This form of love, which is purer because it does not involve reproduction, seems to exist even among the elves.

The pilot continued to speak to his boss, who looked up at him with interest.

「After he was able to overcome our attacks with a leeway, he said, 『Don’t you think you can make me talk with poor thing’s of the human race!』. Can’t you please do something about it?」

The boss who listened to him reacted exactly as the pilot expected. He inhaled deeply, puffed out his chest, and rasped his neck, shoulders, and fingers.

「He got some nerve, challenging the Rose Knights. Let’s give him a lesson」

With an expression full of spirit, he ordered the pilot to lead the way. His subordinate was the first to leave the tent, even though he was the one who was looking forward to it.