Novel Full Chapter 190 : Chapter 190
Chapter 190. This Place is a Mess Too (2)
Originally, the Elves were a race that lived in clans.
Although they were now gathered in the territory of Evergreen out of necessity, they were originally a race that lived quietly in small clans of no more than a hundred.
The lifestyle of the Elves began to change after their conflict with humans intensified.
Although there were a few exceptional individuals among humans, on average, they were not superior to the Elves.
But they were a race that displayed terrifying destructive power when they gathered in groups, utilizing their numerical superiority and individual specialities.
At this, the Elves realized that they could no longer be scattered.
They united their forces and created their home in the forest at the northern part of the continent, where the World Tree was located.
That was the present-day Evergreen.
After settling down like that.
The representatives of each clan gathered to form a leadership council to discuss the future of the Elven race, which was the Council of Elders.
However, this Council of Elders had one serious problem.
And that was….
“Humans cannot be trusted!”
“Didn’t Elione, an Elven Knight, vouch for his identity?”
“Even so, does it make sense to entrust the World Tree to a human?”
“But isn’t it a fact that he made a branch of the World Tree bloom?”
“It is better to trust that human than to just stand by and watch.”
“Is there another alternative?”
“Are you saying we should entrust our precious World Tree to a human just because there isn’t one? I would rather face destruction.”
“That is what doesn’t make sense.”
“Think of the pride of the Elven race!”
This was the Council of Elders, where the elders of the Elves gathered to discuss important matters of the clan.
And in this Council of Elders, a whopping 300 elders had gathered and were shouting at the top of their lungs.
Now, do you see what the problem is?
There are too many.
That is the problem.
Even the Tower of Truth had only seven leaders.
And even then, there were often disagreements and friction, but here there were a whopping 300.
It was a place where 300 elders, without any hierarchy, all had equal authority.
Could they possibly reach a consensus here?
With this many people, it would be difficult to even decide what to eat for lunch today.
This was the fatal weakness of the current Elven race.
The absence of decision-making power due to the dispersion of authority.
The result was this complete mess.
“Huu…. If only the World Tree hadn’t fallen asleep….”
One of the elders muttered with a sigh, as if his head ached.
What kind of Council of Elders was this?
It was just a chaotic mess.
Originally, the Council of Elders was not this disorganized.
When the Council of Elders could not make a decision, they sought guidance from the World Tree and led the clan accordingly.
In other words, above the Council of Elders, there was an absolute decision-maker, the World Tree.
To the Elves, the World Tree was a god.
Naturally, no Elf would have a different opinion on its answer, and as a result, the Council of Elders functioned smoothly.
But now it was different.
As the World Tree was gradually dying, communication with the Elves was also cut off.
As a result, the Council of Elders was now meaninglessly raising their voices and wasting time.
Into the chaotic Council of Elders….
“Elders. I have brought Patrick Schneider.”
The man of the hour, Patrick Schneider, appeared.
* * *
Patrick looked around.
Hearing the gazes pouring towards him and the murmuring, Patrick smiled faintly.
And he thought to himself.
‘Wow…. This place is a mess too.’
In fact, he had anticipated the general situation even before entering the Council of Elders.
He had heard them shouting and fighting long before he entered.
And having roughly anticipated the situation, when he entered….
‘Tsk tsk tsk, what a mess, what a mess.’
Even though Patrick, the very person they were looking for, had entered, they were just glancing at each other, hesitant about who should speak first.
All over 300 of the Elven elders.
There was no way a unified opinion could emerge in this situation.
It would just be an eternally spinning wheel of debate, consuming each other’s emotions.
In the end, Patrick decided to step forward first.
“I am Patrick Schneider of the Atronia Kingdom. I have come here at your invitation.”
It was a polite greeting, with a slight bow.
At Patrick’s greeting, not a single one of the elders answered, but instead, they showed various reactions.
“He’s younger than I thought.”
“They say he is not yet twenty.”
“He won Arcana, didn’t he?”
“I heard he is a 7-star Aura Master.”
“Don’t humans produce an outrageous monster once or twice every thousand years?”
“That may be true, but….”
Amidst the mixed reactions of goodwill and wariness, Patrick frowned.
‘This is a much bigger mess than I thought.’
The sight of them exchanging opinions as if they were appraising him, a guest they had invited, got on Patrick’s nerves.
But in that short time, Patrick was also appraising them.
An institution where hundreds of individuals gathered to decide the future of their clan.
Then it would be very difficult to reach a consensus.
However….
‘Still, it’s unlikely that hundreds of them are all divided.’
Whether human or Elf, politics is not something one can do alone.
If there are those with whom one disagrees, there are also those with whom one agrees.
When such people gather, pool their voices, and join forces, factions are inevitably formed.
Over time, it could become like the Nine Sects One Gang and the Five Great Clans, who, despite being of the same orthodox faction, are subtly in opposition to each other.
So Patrick observed the Elves who were busily chattering about him.
After carefully observing who said what, who sided with whom, and even how they were seated….
‘Roughly divided into three?’
It wasn’t perfect, but he thought he could grasp the general power structure.
First, the faction that was wary of and hostile to Patrick.
They were shouting that Patrick should not be allowed to approach the World Tree at all.
And the faction that wanted to trust Patrick for once.
If things continued as they were, the World Tree would die anyway.
In that case, shouldn’t they try what they could before then? That was their side.
The former were those who valued the principles and pride of the Elven race, while the latter were those who wanted to do everything possible to overcome the realistic situation.
And the neutral faction, which was neither here nor there, was going back and forth between them, taking on a gray color.
Among these, the largest faction was….
‘The faction hostile to me is the largest. Haa…. Really, nothing ever goes easily, does it?’
Patrick let out a sigh.
“Patrick Schneider. I wish to ask you something.”
At that moment, one of the elders finally spoke to Patrick.
It seemed that since they couldn’t find an answer by arguing among themselves, they wanted to involve Patrick.
“Please speak.”
When Patrick answered readily, he asked bluntly.
“Can you truly revive the World Tree?”
The noisy elders fell silent at this moment.
Wasn’t this the most important point of contention?
Can Patrick save the dying World Tree, or can he not?
In the end, this was the most important thing.
And to this direct question, Patrick said….
“How should I know?”
Patrick answered very bluntly.
And receiving the gazes of all the Elves, he continued.
“I’ve never even seen this thing called a World Tree, so how would I know? I’ll have to try to find out.”
“Uuuuum….”
The elder who had asked the question swallowed a groan.
The answer he had expected was probably not this.
And as if on cue, an elder sitting on the opposite side stood up and said.
“You see. That man says he cannot do it.”
“Do not twist his words carelessly. How does ‘I don’t know’ become ‘I cannot do it’?”
“It’s the same thing.”
“How is that the same thing!”
“Who do you think you’re talking to informally!”
“You’re doing it too!”
It became a chaotic mess again.
Patrick shook his head at the sight and said.
“Excuse me.”
Patrick raised his hand and continued.
“May I say one important thing too?”
At that, one of the elders said.
“Ahem, if you have something you wish to say, go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
Among the Elves who were shouting according to the principle that the loudest one wins, as if in a marketplace, Patrick had managed to get the right to speak.
And he said to the elders.
“You all intend to entrust the treatment of the World Tree to me, correct? That’s why you called me, right?”
“That is so.”
“Yes. I understand. But you see.”
Patrick looked at the Elves with an indifferent expression and continued.
“Why should I do that?”
“…Huh?”
“No, I mean….”
At Patrick’s words, the elders who had been arguing to entrust the treatment to Patrick fell into a momentary panic.
Those words sounded as if he had no intention of treating it.
“What do you mean by that?”
One of the elders shot up and shouted in an angry voice.
He expressed his undisguised hostility towards Patrick and said.
“Are you saying you will not treat the World Tree?”
He was genuinely enraged.
And he, along with the other elders around him, trembled and glared at Patrick as if they wanted to tear him to shreds.
‘Weren’t these the people who were arguing to entrust the treatment of the World Tree to me?’
In other words, they were the faction that was cooperative with Patrick.
And now, at this moment, they were showing the strongest hostility towards Patrick.
At that sight, Patrick let out a smirk.
‘Looks like there are some influential gentlemen here. This is quite thrilling.’
Even while receiving their killing intent on his skin, Patrick was not shaken at all.
Rather, with a bored expression, he let out a long yawn and said.
“No, isn’t it strange? I understand that you called me to treat the World Tree… but when did I say I would do it?”
“No, that is….”
“You just told me to come, so I came, right? But why are you all talking as if it’s a given that I will treat the World Tree?”
At that, the elders began to stir.
Of course, Patrick had never said he would treat the World Tree.
He had just shown the possibility of treating it, and Elione, who had seen it, had invited him here.
At that moment, one of the elders who had been arguing against it said.
“Excellent. If you are not confident in treating the World Tree, then you can just leave as you are.”
He was an elder from the side that believed Patrick should not be allowed to treat the World Tree.
To him, Patrick smirked and said.
“Well, it’s not that I’m not confident….”
“Are you saying you are?”
“I can’t guarantee it. In any case, I have to see its condition to know, don’t I? Isn’t that right?”
“……”
“How can I know without even looking?”
Logically, there were no flaws in Patrick’s words.
However….
“The World Tree is more sacred and precious to us than anything else. We cannot show it to a human for no reason.”
Right.
That was the core argument of the opposition.
They had a strong aversion to the act of entrusting the World Tree to a human itself.
To that, Patrick said….
“Well, if that’s the case, then I can’t help it.”
“You can’t help it?”
“That’s right, isn’t it? You are the ones who are in a bind, not me. Is there any reason why I must treat the World Tree?”
“……”
There wasn’t.
There couldn’t be such a thing.
Looking at the silent elders, Patrick bowed politely, just as he had when he first greeted them, and said.
“I will rest quietly for a few days and then leave. Then, farewell….”
Patrick left those words to the elders and then walked out of the meeting hall.
And as Patrick left….
“What will you do? Will you really let him go like this?”
“Didn’t he himself say he wasn’t confident?”
“Still, we should at least try.”
“Does it make sense to expose the World Tree to a human?”
“Because of such old-fashioned principles….”
Hearing the noisy voices behind him, Patrick smirked.
‘Right. Go ahead and fight all you want.’
There was no way an answer would come out of that chaotic mess anyway.
Now that he had thrown the bait, all he could do was wait for them to bite.
* * *
Patrick stayed with his companions in the lodging prepared by the Elves.
Originally, the Elves were a reclusive race, so they had no facilities to accommodate outsiders.
Elione had told Patrick to stay at her house, but….
[You cannot, sister!]
Her brother, Kirioth, had been horrified and opposed it.
And he had said he would personally vacate his own house to provide it for the guests.
In other words, the house where Patrick and his group were now staying was originally Kirioth’s house.
There, Patrick was….
“Phew…. This really hits the spot.”
“I’m glad you like it, Sir Patrick.”
“Yeah. To be honest, this was what I was looking forward to the most when coming to Evergreen.”
“Have some more here.”
The precious Elven wine, which in the human world, only royalty or high-ranking nobles would drink on special occasions.
Empty bottles of that Elven wine were rolling around at Patrick’s feet.
And beside him, Elione was personally pouring Elven wine into Patrick’s cup.
A beautiful Elven beauty pouring an excellent vintage.
This was a luxury that even the emperor of the Holy Theocracy would find difficult to enjoy.
Patrick’s companions, seeing this scene, could only sigh.
“Why? Why does it always turn out like this?”
“Logically, this is infuriating. Are Double Dragons popular with women?”
“Uuuuum. Looking at the results…. Yes. Very.”
“It is illogical.”
“I agree.”
Matthew and Riman were envious of Patrick.
Why was it that wherever he went, only that bastard received special treatment and had beautiful women flocking to him?
A princess, April, and now this Elf.
Why?
Why on earth?
To that personality-flawed incarnation of evil, why?
The world was greatly mistaken.
And a little more pissed off than these two were….
“Hey? Could you move away a bit?”
“Serving the young master is my role.”
Isabella and April.
The two of them greatly disliked Elione, who was blatantly coming on to Patrick.
But Elione did not back down an inch.
She wiped away the warm smile she had been giving Patrick and, with a cold expression, looked at the two of them and said.
“This is the territory of our Elven race, and this gentleman is an honored guest of our clan.”
“So?”
“As an Elven Knight, it is my duty to treat our honored guest with the utmost care.”
“Since when did the duty of an Elven Knight change to pouring alcohol?”
“Starting today.”
“Get away!”
“I don’t want to.”
“Princess. Shall I cut this woman?”
The women bickered and clashed sharply.
In the midst of it, Patrick was trying hard to ignore it as if it had nothing to do with him, just sipping his alcohol.
Still, up to this point, it was fine.
It was relatively peaceful.
At least compared to this person.
“My sister…. My sister…. Ugh… uuuuughk….”
A man who was showing his undisguised killing intent towards Patrick and expressing his desire to tear him to shreds.
It was Kirioth.