Chapter 260

Literature (3)

Recently, the Gallery had been in an uproar over the "Guardian" unveiled by the Elf Queen.

The Guardian she revealed to the public was a type of golem.

More specifically, it was a Guardian that could be remotely controlled and even piloted. The easiest way to imagine it was as a powered suit from some movie.

I had no idea how they had built it, but apparently it had been a secret project under development for quite some time.

That alone was enough to shock the entire world, but one particular detail had sparked controversy.

Title: That Thing Is Supposed to Be Just for Planting Trees?

(Video of an artificial Guardian moving dynamically)

That thing’s obviously a weapon of war. How the hell is it a Guardian exclusively designed to plant trees? They can even mass-produce it! Are they joking?

└ Ahem. It is a Guardian of Nature.

└ Well, it certainly is a Guardian, lmaooo.

└ I’ll acknowledge it if they genuinely use that thing only to plant trees;;

└ They’ll plant them in other countries, dumbass.

Title: One Simple Fact

(A picture of a horse)

This bastard was originally domesticated to make transportation easier too.

└ When you use it on yourself, it’s for domestic purposes. When you use it on someone else, it becomes a weapon of war. Lmao.

└ The Elf Queen is telling a lie that literally nobody will believe, lmaooo.

└ I seriously question her mental state.

Title: Something I Don’t Understand

Was there really any reason to unveil it on such a large scale right now?

If they genuinely intended to wage war, they could’ve revealed it immediately after the war began.

Its performance looks far too impressive for it to be nothing more than a showpiece. More importantly, the key question is whether they can distribute them to ordinary soldiers.

If it’s ridiculously expensive and cumbersome, why build it instead of simply training more knights?

I genuinely think it’s meant for domestic use. They probably aren’t planning to plant trees in other countries and will focus exclusively on unexplored regions.

└ Elf spy detected.

└ Do you have any evidence?

└ Say, "Eliya is a bitch."

└ Eliya is a bitch.

└ As if there’s anything you can’t say on the Gallery. Lmaooo.

└ What kind of stupid-ass question is that? Lmaooo.

According to the official explanation, those controllable Guardians would be used solely to plant trees.

Alvenheim had no intention of threatening other countries and planned to begin by surveying unexplored regions.

However, considering all the atrocities the elves had committed until now, their claim wasn’t particularly trustworthy.

’When you think about it, haven’t they basically unveiled a tank?’

Tanks were originally weapons of war developed by modifying tractor engines.

In a sense, they had invented the tank before the tractor.

I didn’t know how effective it would be, but the other countries couldn’t afford to sit idly by.

The nations bordering Alvenheim would be particularly anxious.

’And there’s more than one of them.’

The two countries bordering Alvenheim were Eldorado and Mountain.

Eldorado was currently unstable because it was establishing a new government after expelling its criminals, while Alvenheim had never gotten along with Mountain in the first place.

’Before the Elf Queen’s coronation, their relationship was fairly ordinary, wasn’t it?’

Ordinarily, the relationship between this world’s elves and dwarves was like that of cows and chickens—they lived alongside one another but rarely interacted.

Although their countries shared a border, they paid almost no attention to each other.

Considering that neighboring countries were usually either rivals or enemies, that was highly unusual.

Both elves and dwarves were supposedly fairly docile as long as no one interfered with their respective territories.

Dwarves had few ambitions beyond pursuing their crafts, while elves tended to remain content with the status quo rather than pursue development.

’The problem is that the elves have become ambitious about progress.’

Now that the Elf Queen had united her people and given them a clear direction, the elves had begun to stir.

In terms of their fundamental combat abilities, elves were considered equal to demons.

Humans had hunted them as slaves solely because of their lack of organization, but that weakness had now been resolved.

Demons were also frequently defeated by humans because of their poor organization.

This was an issue that required close attention.

’Could the core I gave her before have caused this?’

It wasn’t just any creation. It was an artificial Guardian.

I couldn’t help being suspicious.

Moreover, Let’s Grow Trees was an elf of such high status that she could obtain and give away a World Tree sapling.

Even if she wasn’t the queen, she must wield considerable political influence.

’But are Guardian cores really that difficult to obtain?’

A question suddenly occurred to me.

Had the Guardian core I traded to her played a decisive role?

Guardians must exist outside the Forest of Four Seasons as well, so it should be possible to obtain their cores elsewhere.

Title: Are Guardian Cores Difficult to Obtain?

Wild Grylls

Something about the Gallery’s current hot topic made me curious. Are Guardian cores difficult to obtain?

Didn’t SwordMaster say she had defeated a Guardian before?

└ SwordMaster: I don’t know about defeating the Guardian itself, but obtaining its core is difficult. To defeat a Guardian, you generally have to damage its core. Naturally, that makes intact cores difficult to acquire.

└ Wild Grylls: Oh, I see. But the one I fought collapsed as soon as I pierced it with my sword.

└ SwordMaster: Your method of defeating it was unusual, Mr. Grylls. Normally, people cut off its legs first and then dismantle it piece by piece. They don’t recklessly target only the core.

└ Wild Grylls: Anyway, you’re saying cores aren’t easy to obtain, right?

└ Yeah. Obtaining an undamaged core is practically as difficult as plucking a star from the sky.

└ Even if you obtain one, it’s usually so badly damaged that conducting research on it is difficult.

The Gallery helped me understand the various reasons.

First of all, obtaining an intact core was difficult in itself.

Furthermore, since it had belonged to an orichalcum Guardian, it must have been exceptionally sensitive to mana.

There was definitely something special about it.

[Let’s Grow Trees: Here’s the World Tree sapling! Please take good care of it!]

[Wild Grylls: Thank you. May I ask you something?]

[Let’s Grow Trees: Of course! What are you curious about?]

[Wild Grylls: You used the core I gave you to invent that artificial Guardian, didn’t you?]

So I asked her directly what role my core had played.

Now that the artificial Guardian had already been unveiled, it would be difficult for her to play dumb and claim it wasn’t hers.

[Let’s Grow Trees: You catch on quickly! Yes, that’s right!]

[Wild Grylls: How did you use it? The damage might have been minimal, but it still couldn’t have been easy.]

[Let’s Grow Trees: It reacted strongly to mana despite the damage. That made its structure easy to analyze, so we imitated it. I think it was because it came from the Forest of Four Seasons—and belonged to an orichalcum Guardian at that!]

I had suspected it, but I hadn’t expected it to be true.

I let out a hollow laugh.

Without realizing it, I had contributed both directly and indirectly to the development of artificial Guardians.

It certainly hadn’t been intentional.

[Wild Grylls: You aren’t planning to use those things for war, are you?]

[Let’s Grow Trees: Absolutely not! We invented them solely to make planting trees and farming easier!]

[Wild Grylls: Farming aside, where are you planning to plant those trees? You aren’t thinking of planting them in other countries, are you?]

[Let’s Grow Trees: Yes!]

Oh, God.

What had I done?

Her answer was so unabashed and utterly innocent that it made my head spin.

Using those "weapons" to plant trees in other countries?

That would be practically indistinguishable from waging war without a formal declaration.

I seriously questioned this woman’s mental state.

[Wild Grylls: Why exactly are you trying to plant trees? In other countries, no less::]

[Let’s Grow Trees: Wouldn’t it be nice if they became prettier?]

[Wild Grylls: I think I said something similar before, but would it be fine if I gave you two black eyes and said you looked better because your eyes had gotten bigger?]

[Let’s Grow Trees: Come on. That would be violence.]

[Wild Grylls: That’s exactly what you’re planning to do, so be careful. Otherwise, I’ll distribute materials to the other countries.]

[Let’s Grow Trees: Huh...?]

For once, Let’s Grow Trees responded with surprise.

My statement must have shocked her that much.

There was one thing I could do if Alvenheim invaded another country.

I could recklessly distribute Mithricon to the nation being invaded.

If Eldorado was invaded, I would give it to the Head Administrator. If Mountain was invaded, I would give it to Passing Dwarf.

That was the only way I could help clean up the mess.

It was the best option available to me.

[Let’s Grow Trees: If you put it that way, I suppose there’s no helping it! Then we’ll begin by testing whether they’re useful for farming!]

[Wild Grylls: Please do. I sincerely hope you make the wise decision.]

[Let’s Grow Trees: I love peace!]

Did she truly love peace?

I seriously questioned her mental state.

They said there was nothing more frightening than the actions of a lunatic, and Let’s Grow Trees perfectly embodied that saying.

Still, my threat seemed to have worked to some extent, so I felt relieved.

Title: I Think I Had Something to Do with Those Artificial Guardians

Wild Grylls

If they use those things to pull any pointless stunts, I’ll distribute Mithricon throughout the world.

└ Heavenly Demon: Is Mithricon not the material used to forge the sword you gave this lady?

└ SwordMaster: Just hearing that threat is terrifying. Tremble, tremble.

└ He’s seriously planning to destroy the world economy single-handedly, lmaooo.

└ The scary part is that Grylls could actually do it. Tremble, tremble.

└ Wouldn’t distributing just a little mithril be enough? Lmaoooo.

Just in case, I even posted about it on the Gallery.

It was the best I could do.

However, matters in the world rarely unfolded according to my wishes.

Even though Let’s Grow Trees had given me her word, I couldn’t relax.

’Even if she holds a high position, it won’t matter if the Elf Queen forces the plan through.’

It seemed unlikely that someone this insane was the Elf Queen.

Eliya, the Elf Queen I had seen in the Gallery videos, seemed more like a "strong leader."

If they truly were the same person...then Alvenheim had my deepest sympathies.

’Let’s just build the smithy.’

I closed the Gallery and began constructing the smithy.

Passing Dwarf had given me plans for a furnace yesterday.

First, I needed to choose a site.

And to clear the site, logging was essential.

"Here, Kkobong. Take this axe."

"..."

"Mr. Ludwig, stop pretending you don’t hear me and start chopping."

Whether they were animals or disabled made no difference.

They were all excellent sources of labor.

Still, I found myself wishing for more workers.

If I intended to hone my blacksmithing skills, I would soon find myself short on time.

’I also need to start making charcoal. There’s so much to do.’

I was beginning to worry that I might never get another chance to explore.

But taking in Eldorado’s exiled criminals or the remnants of the Blood Cult?

That would be difficult.

It would be like leaving fish in the care of a cat.

I had only rescued Ludwig because of his character.

’And the Blood Cult is supposedly a band of murderers.’

The world would be better off if those bastards dropped dead somewhere.

It would be a serious headache if they were fortunate enough to make it this far.

"This should be enough, right?"

"It looks neat."

I surveyed the smithy we had completed together.

We had built it according to Passing Dwarf’s plans and surrounded it with brick walls in preparation for rain.

’This place is starting to feel like a village.’

There were the houses where Kkobong and Largo lived, as well as the vegetable garden and now the smithy.

As our territory gradually expanded, it was beginning to resemble a small village.

At this rate, I might eventually accept Starlight Princess’s help and construct a dedicated alchemy workshop too.

’Well, I can think about that later.’

First, I needed to test the smithy.

Before that, however, I should plant the World Tree sapling.

Tomorrow, I would have to visit the squirrels’ territory and gather the workers.

"Papa Raccoon, have you been doing well?"

"Keeeng!"

"I’m asking because we may have guests tomorrow. They’re squirrels and marmots."

"That is good."

While I was at it, I informed the raccoon family.

Recently, the raccoons had been living peacefully.

Apparently, there was plenty of food in the surrounding area.

As a result, we traded less frequently, but they still occasionally brought me useful medicinal herbs.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Now that I had a smithy, I started by forging the hammer I intended to give Passing Dwarf.

Between the proper furnace and my Mithricon hammer, the process was far easier than it had been yesterday.

Even so, I still needed Ludwig’s help.

This was precisely why labor was so important.

’Come to think of it, I also need to mine more orichalcum and mithril.’

I seriously wished some additional workers would simply fall into my lap.

With that thought in mind, I finished forging a fairly decent hammer.

[Wild Grylls: Here. I’m sending you the hammer. Use it well.]

[Passing Dwarf: Pant, pant...!]

[Wild Grylls: Now I don’t want to give it to you.]

[Passing Dwarf: Fck u.]

Now that I had repaid the dwarf, only one thing remained.

Thwack!

"Gah!"

"All right. Again."

It was time to spar with Ludwig.

***

Meanwhile, Gu Chil had spent quite some time suffering from his fever.

Fortunately, the fever disappeared after only a day, but he couldn’t stop himself from feeling miserable.

His shattered limbs already made movement difficult, and then he had fallen ill on top of that.

Worse still, the gorillas had shown him absolutely no compassion.

They had simply left him alone.

But the most painful thing of all was—

Grrrrrrowl—

Hunger.

The gorillas didn’t even provide him with proper meals.

It might have been understandable if they had at least given him their scraps, but this was far too heartless.

"Eat some insects. They taste decent."

Gu Chil wanted to escape this place as quickly as possible.

’But even the Blood Demon only escaped by ascending to immortality. There’s no way I can do that.’

He was beginning to genuinely regret joining the Blood Cult.

However, did Gu Chil realize that he was still one of the fortunate ones?

He had no idea where the other remnants of the Blood Cult had landed or what had happened to them.

"B-B-Brrrr...!"

One of the remnants had fallen onto a snowy mountain and frozen from head to toe.

"W-Water..."

Another had landed in the middle of a barren desert and died from dehydration.

As for the final survivor—

"Graaaaaah!"

"Aaaaaagh! Aaaaaagh!"

He had encountered a monster in a volcanic region and been devoured.

Gu Chil was, in fact, extraordinarily lucky.

’I want to go home.’

Gu Chil wanted to cry.