Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 48

48. With Silence (4)

Rustle, rustle.

Aeil trudged through the thickly piled snow.

Snow was falling heavily from the cloudy sky, and his breath escaped in white puffs.

White trees, entirely covered in snow, formed a dense forest with unfading leaves.

It was a beautiful sight, rare to see in reality.

After hunting for a long time in the bleak Ingol Forest, dark and teeming with monsters, coming to a place like this felt like a balm to his heart.

“It was sunny just a moment ago, but suddenly it’s a snowfield… I knew it, but it’s still amazing.”

Aeil muttered, seemingly intrigued, as he briefly admired the surrounding scenery.

As he said, Aeil had clearly been passing through a lush green forest, where there was no sign of snow.

Originally, the climate around here wasn’t one where snow would fall in the first place.

However, as the map indicated, when Aeil approached the entrance of the white forest, a sight unfolded before him that defied reality.

On one side was a dense green forest, and on the other, a forest covered in snow.

It was an extremely strange boundary line that made one doubt whether it was an optical illusion, even when seeing it with their own eyes.

Even in Warlord, it wasn’t a natural occurrence.

Such rapid climate change within the same region was extremely rare even in Warlord, and the creation of this environment was related to the elves who had settled in the forest.

Originally an ordinary forest, this place was where the high elves, who lived beyond the northern snowfields where extreme cold lurked, outside the central region of the continent, came down and established their base. One of their legendary leaders used powerful magic to ensure it always snowed within the forest’s domain.

Of course, that was in the distant past and only relevant as background lore, but as those who made such impressive feats possible, the elves of the white forest were quite strong in the actual game.

The ordinary patrols guarding the forest were over level 160, and battles in their territory, the forest, were even more notorious, so most users didn’t dare to set foot there.

‘I don’t know why those elves need help from a human like me, though.’

There were no monsters inside the white forest, and even if there were troublesome ones, there was no need to ask for help from players who were only around the recommended level of 25.

Aeil’s first thought was that it wasn’t just because of internal problems.

However, the elves of the white forest, who had very closed personalities, didn’t try to get involved with the outside world unless something big happened, so he couldn’t simply be sure that it was related to external affairs.

With only the information Aeil had, this was all he could guess, and it was not easy to predict until he heard the story directly from the person involved.

Phew!

At that moment, an arrow flying from somewhere whizzed past him with the sound of the wind.

Feeling a familiar sting, Aeil brought his hand to his cheek, but fortunately, this time, blood didn’t flow.

However, as if this wasn’t the end, the sound of a bowstring being drawn was heard blatantly, and Aeil turned his gaze in that direction.

An elf aiming a bow from the branch of a large snow-covered tree.

Because of his pale, bloodless white skin and the white attire, he wouldn’t have been easily noticed if he hadn’t revealed his presence first.

Since this was the first time Aeil had seen a different race directly in Warlord, he tried to examine his appearance in detail out of curiosity, but he couldn’t see properly because of the hood that covered everything below his face.

‘Judging by the attire, he’s a member of the white forest patrol.’

The first one he encountered after stepping into this place was, as he expected, a sentinel belonging to the forest’s patrol guarding the border.

Aeil, showing that he had no intention of fighting by raising both hands, spoke to him, but the elf, still keeping his mouth shut, simply pointed in one direction and nodded.

The tightly drawn bowstring was loosened, and the elf turned his back and moved nimbly into the forest.

Only then did Aeil realize that it was an instruction to follow, and he hurriedly began to chase after him.

* * *

Following the guide, Aeil headed deeper and arrived at an open space where piles of stones were stacked.

The presence of the elf who had been leading the way disappeared in an instant once again, and unlike his initial expectations, he couldn’t see the elves’ village directly.

‘I guess they can’t show the inside of the village to a stranger from the outside.’

At first glance, this place, which seemed to have nothing but piles of stones, was actually a ruined site that had been destroyed by external invasions in the past, and it was also a warning that they had not yet let their guard down on him.

Looking around, Aeil shifted his gaze back to the man standing in front of him.

‘To think I’d see such a big shot so soon.’

Alrund, the patrol captain of the white forest.

A high elf clad in white armor and a cloak, he was a ranker-level named NPC [Non-Player Character] who was over level 200.

Among the NPCs who received level scaling, he was one of the strongest in the top ranks.

Of course, Aeil knew his face and name well.

One would usually think of a delicate pretty boy when it comes to male elves, but Alrund had very distinct features.

It felt very strange to actually see him in front of him, but he didn’t forget to be careful not to be seen as having an impolite gaze.

He was not on friendly terms with them yet, and it wouldn’t be strange if his head flew off at any time.

‘Alrund after Severa… At this rate, I’m going to meet all the named NPCs on the Esmair side.’

Aeil, who had just reached level 20, felt like he was constantly getting involved with strong people he couldn’t handle.

Of course, it could be said that it didn’t matter much since he didn’t meet them in a hostile relationship, but even if they were the ones giving the request first, there was always a possibility that the relationship could go wrong depending on the direction the quest flowed, so danger was always lurking.

However, if he didn’t have any problems with them, it could be seen as much better than the normal case.

Unlike ordinary online games that just give quests and repeat the same lines, there were often cases in Warlord where connections with NPCs were very important because there were no particular restrictions on their actions.

It wasn’t the time to talk about connections in the current situation where his head could fall off at any moment, though.

“I heard they were sending someone else, are you the proxy?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Aeil was hearing the words ‘sending someone else’ or ‘proxy’ for the first time, but he answered with a sense of what was going on.

He could roughly guess the situation with just Alrund’s short words.

‘Someone must have passed the quest on halfway through.’

Before the item ‘Feather of Flight’ fell into Beken’s hands, it was clear that another user had passed on the quest he had been doing to him in the form of item proof.

The transfer or sale of quests was not uncommon in Warlord.

In Warlord, where the value of non-repeatable quests themselves was high, there were often cases of stealing other people’s quests to get the rewards.

In Beken’s case, he probably received the transfer from another user by paying a high price, or it was a quest he obtained by using the guild’s connections.

And Aeil took it as it was and swallowed it whole, so he might be lying on the floor right now with a stomachache.

Aeil smiled inwardly as he imagined that scene.

Meanwhile, Alrund, who had been carefully examining the human who had come to see him, blinked his blue eyes and opened his mouth.

“Didn’t you hear anything in advance?”

“…Things happened.”

Since Aeil had stolen the quest that had been transferred once again, there was no way he could have heard anything from the original owner he didn’t even know.

Fortunately, however, Alrund didn’t seem to care much and began to explain.

“It’s a simple matter, so it doesn’t matter. The transport goods that were scheduled to arrive from the Forest of Spirits were attacked and all disappeared. According to the words of those who were subdued and returned, the attacker was only one human. It’s an item that has no value to humans, but the fact that they attacked and stole the transport goods must be to interfere with us for some purpose.”

“There’s no way you could have had your goods stolen by just one person, and if it’s the Forest of Spirits… the Rotum tribe must have been in charge of the transport.”

The Rotum tribe was a small dwarf tribe living inside the ‘Forest of Spirits’ just mentioned.

“The Rotum tribe are good neighbors, but… they’re incompetent when it comes to combat.”

“So, you’re asking me to take on the role of escorting the transport convoy?”

Aeil, who had roughly guessed, asked, and Alrund nodded.

“I told them in advance that escort personnel would be going, so you can hear the details when you go to the Forest of Spirits. I’m asking for your help.”

“Why don’t you protect them directly and entrust the request to the same human?”

“Because humans don’t welcome elves, just as elves don’t welcome humans. If we move directly, there will be problems with the treaty we have with the kingdom.”

Aeil nodded in agreement.

Elves didn’t like going outside their territory, the forest, in the first place, but humans didn’t hesitate to show their displeasure at their visits either.

The opposite was also true, but the number of humans killed by the hands of elves was countless, so it was only natural in a way.

In addition, the powerful high elves of the white forest were even more wary, and the royal family of Askalon had proposed an agreement first and made a treaty.

‘The explanation is kind for picky elves.’

It seemed like he had heard everything he needed to hear about the request from Alrund, and Aeil gladly accepted the request.

He didn’t bother asking or mentioning the reward.

The rewards for the first quest received from elves anywhere were mostly the same.

Not money or items, but their favor.

It was a possible reward because it was a quest against elves who were so hostile to humans and had an extremely difficult level of establishing a relationship for the first time.

What is meant by ‘favor’ here often meant giving permission to visit, if not stay, in their territory, which was a fairly useful reward, contrary to what it sounded absurd at first.

There were many items and trade goods that could only be obtained from the elves’ villages, and there were often rare materials in the forest that were really hard to obtain.

It was possible because most users couldn’t come in, and in the same context, there were many quests with good rewards or high levels that were not immediately exhausted and remained.

‘If you get close to the elves, their quest rewards are known to be generous. I heard it’s good to have a relationship with at least one elf village if possible, but I never thought I’d get a chance like this. I’m lucky.’

In particular, this white forest was an important passage connecting the Esmair and Solsticed areas in this vicinity.

On both sides, rugged mountains with high-level monsters were lined up for a long time, so it was not easy.

As a result, users, especially merchants, who traveled between the two regions around this area often tried to gain the trust of the elves in order to secure the shortest route, but they often failed.

On the other hand, Aeil was able to seize an opportunity he hadn’t even thought of thanks to Beken suddenly picking a fight with him.

He was really a tree that gave without holding back [a Korean idiom meaning someone who is very generous].

‘If I meet him again later, I should let him go comfortably without burning him at least once.’