How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 68

Living as the Third Son of a Failed Novel – Chapter 68

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Though the Elven Guards weren’t from the generation that fought in the ancient Race Wars, they were educated enough to know about Druids.

Yet, the Elven Guards stepped back. Even the Scarred Elf, who hadn’t hidden his hostility, froze in place.

It was strange. Shouldn’t they be more hostile when facing an enemy of their race?

‘They’re reacting as if they’ve seen a ghost.’

Their faces are pale, like they’ve seen something they shouldn’t have…

‘Are they seeing illusions?’

Rahenna’s last words echoed. ‘What do I look like to you?’ Was it just for self-aggrandizement?

“H-Hellhound!”

“A demon, a demon!”

Demon.

At the elves’ terrified words, I turned to look at Rahenna.

Nothing had changed. Rahenna still looked like a wolf with a glossy, rich mane.

But would the elves see her the same way?

“It’s an illusion! Don’t be fooled!”

However, the Scarred Elf quickly regained his senses and shouted to reorganize the ranks.

At that, Rahenna raised her head and snorted.

“You have a good eye.”

Simultaneously, Rahenna kicked off the ground and leaped towards the Scarred Elf.

The massive body moved like a gentle breeze, lightly dodging the arrows and leaping high, using the trees as stepping stones.

Thump!

Rahenna landed among the elves whose ranks had been disrupted, raising her head high and roaring.

Khaooo!

The elves, overwhelmed by the force, stepped back with horrified faces. They had long lost their will to fight. Even the Scarred Elf was barely holding onto his sword.

With the Elven Guards defenseless, Rahenna began to move leisurely.

‘She really is a strong old woman.’

Ramming, biting, and striking.

The Elven Guards were being subdued one by one so smoothly.

It didn’t seem like it would take long. They were already half disarmed due to the spell.

Watching from afar, Ruth suddenly started finding tough roots around and trimming them with a dagger.

“What are you doing?”

“Isn’t there any rope?”

“Ah, to tie them up?”

“There’s nothing else to do. You’re doing everything yourself.”

Indeed, as Ruth said, Rahenna was single-handedly crushing the Elven Guards.

Fleta, who was watching with her mouth wide open, spoke in a bewildered voice.

“…It’s truly a series of surprises.”

“That’s right.”

“I wonder, do shamans in the distant East all use magic to that extent?”

“Well, Rahenna might be a special case. If everyone was at that level, they would have conquered the world long ago.”

“I suppose so.”

As they chatted and waited for Rahenna to finish, thump… thump… thump….

The ground began to shake from the other side of the forest.

Ruth’s hand, which was trimming the roots, stopped. Fleta, who had been staring at Rahenna, flinched.

“……”

“What is this?”

Everyone’s face was filled with questions.

I was just as bewildered.

‘This feels like a scene from a dinosaur movie.’

The water pooled in the hollows trembled with each thump.

The vibration, which was barely perceptible at first, soon became regular and then countless.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

And with the earth-shaking sound, the faces of the Elven Guards, who had been helplessly suffering, lit up.

“He has come! Fall back!”

He?

Who are they talking about? But there was no time to think deeply. I quickly moved to gather the group and maintain a safe distance.

‘What is it?’

I looked towards the source of the vibration.

I couldn’t see anything. But I could feel it. Something was heading this way.

“Rahenna.”

At my call, she also sensed something unusual and stepped back to my side.

“He’s finally arrived.”

“Arrived? Who is it?”

“The current owner of this Great Forest.”

The current owner of the Great Forest.

It was clear who she was referring to.

“The Elder?”

“Yes.”

Rahenna growled softly. Her attitude was filled with fierce animosity.

After a short wait,

Crack, crack-

Small, still-growing trees snapped helplessly, and as it revealed itself, Fleta closed her small mouth and gasped.

“…Good heavens.”

It was an Ent army.

Giant tree spirits, so tall that you had to crane your neck to see their entire bodies, were looking down on us from high above.

“……”

I guarantee, compared to what we’re seeing now, the Ents that Mirang summoned before were like toothpicks.

True mountain giants.

The majesty of them walking towards us was more overwhelming than anything I had ever seen.

“Druids and elves… did our ancestors fight against such beings in the Race Wars…?”

Fleta, having seen the giants after Rahenna’s display of power, had a half-dazed face.

“…Should we make torches? I think we need to set fire to them to stand a chance.”

I shook my head at Ruth’s self-deprecating words.

“With that much power, they can probably make it rain.”

“I wonder what kind of battles they fought in the Race Wars hundreds of years ago.”

You’ll witness it soon enough.

I barely swallowed the words that rose to my throat and looked at Rahenna. She had already returned to her human form and was casually taking out a pipe and putting it in her mouth.

“What are you planning to do?”

“I’ll open a dialogue.”

“Dialogue?”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I wanted to have a conversation over fragrant tea, not in front of such massive giants.”

“You’re making unfunny jokes.”

“……”

“Or would you rather just go back?”

The gazes of Rahenna, Fleta, Ruth, and Ilia were on me.

“Well, what else can we do but die?”

As I said with a light sigh, Rahenna let out a faint smile.

Kuuung…….

Eventually, the tree giants, like living fortresses, lined up, and a figure, tiny compared to the giants, walked out between them.

It was an elven woman in simple but elegant attire. In addition, she had unique eyes, completely white without pupils. Sensing the energy around her, she lightly waved her hand.

Then, the pale energy from her hand went towards the elves who were rolling on the ground.

“I never thought I’d see this spell in the Great Forest again.”

It was a sharp voice.

At the same time, the Elven Guards, who had been groaning and suffering on the ground, opened their eyes wide.

“It’s undone.”

From Rahenna’s nonchalant words, I could tell that the spell had been broken.

As if to prove it, the Scarred Elf, who had jumped up, quickly knelt before the white-eyed elf and bowed his head.

“In the name of Glorian!”

The Scarred Elf’s face flushed red at the words of the elven elder called Glorian.

But he didn’t dare to argue, and soon silently began to take care of the exhausted subordinate Elven Guards.

Having settled the situation, Glorian looked at us, or rather, at Rahenna.

“I wondered why there was such a foul stench in the Great Forest.”

“Perhaps it’s because you haven’t washed.”

“It was the stench of a beast.”

It was a sneer implying a Druid, but Rahenna leisurely puffed on her pipe.

“Don’t provoke me, elf with the name of Glorian.”

“……”

At Rahenna’s low warning, the elven elder called Glorian shone her white eyes.

“That’s what I should be saying. To join hands with humans, have you lost your pride?”

“I agree in part. To even consider being with humans. It’s a bit ridiculous even to me.”

“I don’t know what your intention is in coming to the Great Forest, but leave quietly. This is the last bit of mercy I’m showing you, who was once the race’s greatest rival. There will be no second chances.”

Guooo…….

The tree giants, the natural fortress, let out a low but resonant cry. It seemed to indirectly express Glorian’s anger.

“G-Glorian’s name! Are you saying we should just let them go….”

The answer came from an unexpected place.

The Scarred Elf, who was busy taking care of his subordinates, cried out as if lamenting how he could just let the humans go.

At that, Glorian looked at the Scarred Elf with her pure white eyes, as if he were pathetic.

“I’ll overlook your ignorance since you spoke without knowing who that person is. So shut your mouth and do your job.”

The Scarred Elf wore a tearful expression at the hardcore threat.

“What is it about that cunning magician that….”

“He’s not a magician.”

Glorian, who let out a low sigh, opened her mouth as if chewing.

“Long ago, even before you were born, that man was called the elves’ nightmare.”

“……”

“In the battlefields where he joined, we had to fight not in the embrace of nature, but in a seething hell.”

“Hell, you say….”

“Didn’t you see and feel it just now?”

At Glorian’s words, the Scarred Elf trembled. It must have been because he remembered Rahenna’s illusion he had experienced earlier.

“We can win. But I don’t know if that victory is worth trading for the lives of the children and the Ents here.”

Glorian, who paused for a moment, looked at Rahenna.

“Isn’t that right, Illusionist Rahenna Grantree?”

“To dig up someone else’s past so carelessly. You have no manners.”

“Countless names of Glorian have disappeared because of you. So you should turn around when I’m offering mercy.”

“……”

Rahenna silently puffed on her pipe at Glorian’s quiet threat.

I quietly approached her and called her.

“You were a more amazing person than I thought.”

“It’s just a phantom of the past. Look at that young elf talking back so bluntly. Isn’t that proof that my prime is over? I’ve gotten too old.”

Rahenna, who had the youngest and most beautiful appearance, was lamenting that she was old, which felt incongruous.

Rahenna, who had been grumbling, tilted her head and looked at the elven elder.

“Glorian.”

“Do you have anything else to say?”

Rahenna wore a faint smile.

“I’ll step back. But before that, I’d like to tell you the reason we came.”

“There’s no reason to listen, nor is there a need.”

“Still, I can’t help it. This is something I can’t control with my will.”

“Isn’t your will the Druid’s will? Saying you can’t help it is a clumsy excuse.”

“There was a request from someone who isn’t a Druid, so that’s the problem. And I’m in a position where I have to follow it.”

“What being under the sky would….”

Suddenly, surprise filled Glorian’s eyes as she continued to speak.

“Could it be, is it something related to that human?”

“Yes.”

“……He’s a figure of the past.”

“No. He still belongs to this era.”

“Don’t lie.”

“I swear before nature.”

At Rahenna’s oath, Glorian closed her mouth tightly.

Even though Druids and elves were at odds with each other, they had the commonality of being the same race of nature.

That Rahenna swore before nature would be a fairly reliable story.

As expected, Glorian tried to say something several times but ended up letting out a hollow laugh.

“Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

Silence containing the meaning of permission followed.

At that, Rahenna put her pipe in her mouth and looked at me. It was as if she was saying it was my turn now, so I took a light breath.

“Please make some room.”

“Why?”

When I glanced at Fleta and the others, she nodded.

“You’re a guy with a lot of secrets.”

Rahenna lightly raised her hand, and the guards and patrolmen made wary gestures.

But when Glorian raised her hand to stop them, they stepped back for now.

That’s how Rahenna’s illusion unfolded once again.

“…Good heavens.”

Before we knew it, Rahenna, Glorian, and I were standing inside a cozy log cabin, facing each other across a table.

No one was visible except the three of us. When I groaned softly at that, Rahenna pointed to the table and smiled faintly.

“Didn’t you want to talk over fragrant tea, not with tree giants?”

With that, the cigarette smoke from her small mouth began to fill the log cabin.