Chapter 72 - Core (2)

You often came across interesting things while browsing the forum. Everything from utterly pointless shitposts to posts with surprising depth.

What I mean is, sometimes you could easily find the information you wanted, and other times something bizarre would pop up instead. Besides, there was only one forum, with no separate sections for different topics, so the sheer volume of posts was overwhelming.

'All these words with multiple meanings make it a pain, too.'

I was searching for information about cores. Just to be safe, I searched for “guardian core,” but nothing helpful came up. The only remotely useful information was that cores were extremely rare materials with immense magical value. In particular, the posts explained that a core was a massive lump of mana in itself, making it useful in all sorts of ways.

'Do I have to give this to Allfather or Starlight Lady, too?'

Either way, it was a headache for me to deal with. It was huge, too. Most guardian cores were supposedly about the size of a fist, but the one I'd killed had a core nearly as big as a basketball. Apparently, the bigger the core, the stronger the guardian. I'd gotten lucky.

'Would I have died if it had been some other kind of guardian instead of orichalcum?'

Orichalcum guardians were sensitive to mana. That was both a strength and a weakness, and it had barely allowed me to scrape out a victory. I stared at the now-dark core and scratched my head.

'I'll ask first.'

One thing was certain: I had almost no use for it. It wasn't as though I could absorb it like a spiritual elixir or carry it around like a crystal orb. I couldn't even play ball with the thing. It was so hard I felt like kicking it would break my foot. At least it was round enough for Roundfur to roll around, but I might as well buy a soccer ball for that.

Looking to get rid of a core.

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the core with a puncture mark in its center)

Don't think I'll have much use for this. Anyone need it?

└Heavenly Demon What can you do with it?

└Wild Grylls I'm not really sure either. The dwarf said it was something like fuel?

└Heavenly Demon I doubt I have any need for it.

└Wild Grylls Okay.

└Sword Masta It's easiest to think of a core as a top-of-the-line battery.

└Wild Grylls What use would it be to me?

└Sword Masta Pretty junk?

└Wild Grylls ;;;

└Allfather I don't believe I need it either. I've already mastered research into cores, so it would serve no purpose.

└Wild Grylls Would it be useful to me at all?

└Allfather Not particularly. You have no machinery, nor can you use magic, so it's essentially a white elephant.

└Wild Grylls What about carrying it around to absorb mana when I'm running low? That doesn't sound too bad.

└Allfather If it were small, perhaps, but its sheer size would make that difficult. Still, it isn't a bad option. You would have to repair it first, though.

└Wild Grylls If it needs repairs, I'd rather just give it away.

└Starlight Lady I recently replaced my laboratory's energy source, so I don't think I need it either. If I'd known, I would have waited a few days. What a shame.

└Wild Grylls That's a shame. I guess cores are more useful than I thought?

└Starlight Lady They're portable masses of mana. Considering how much mana appliances like refrigerators consume, they're quite good.

That was the general verdict. It was a good item, but its applications were limited. Better not to buy it at all than pay for it just to use it as a battery, and so on. Useful enough to be hard to throw away, but not useful enough to keep. That only made it harder to get rid of.

'Maybe listing it on the auction house is my best bet...'

That was when a comment came in.

└Let's Grow Trees Excuse me! If you don't need that core, would you be willing to trade it to me?

└Why are you here?

└They pop up sometimes.

└What bullshit are you going to spout this time...?

Let's Grow Trees made the offer in a cheerful yet polite tone. But why, all of a sudden? Honestly, an offer from Let's Grow Trees was the last thing I'd expected.

'They do leave comments now and then.'

Let's Grow Trees was a fairly famous registered user. Not in a good way. Going by the information circulating on the forum, they were an elf steeped in imperialist thinking. An elf who justified invading other people's territory, though I couldn't tell whether they were serious or joking.

'Kind of the polar opposite of the admin?'

Both were lively, but their popularity, their way of thinking—everything else was the complete opposite. Maybe that was why I found myself about to approach them with prejudice, but I firmly pushed that aside. Whatever else they might be, this was a registered user who wanted to trade for a core that was little more than a nuisance to me.

└Wild Grylls I'm open to trading, but what can you offer? If it's trees or seeds, I'll have to decline.

└Let's Grow Trees How about a sapling from Alvenheim?

└Wild Grylls I'm literally surrounded by trees;;

└God, I want to punch them right in the gut lol

└Forget a broken conscience. They never had one.

└Average elf lol

Surely they weren't serious. Please let it be an act. The forum was full of people playing characters. If this wasn't an act, that was a serious problem in its own right.

└Let's Grow Trees Well, that can't be helped. How about a bow, then?

└Wild Grylls I have a crossbow. I don't think I really need one.

└Let's Grow Trees Didn't you say before that your people were good archers?

└Wild Grylls Not every elf is good with a bow, right?

└Let's Grow Trees Oh. That makes it perfectly clear. Understood! Then how about tobacco made from World Tree leaves?

└Wild Grylls Tobacco? You mean for smoking?

└Let's Grow Trees Yes!

I was dumbfounded by the sheer confidence with which they proposed trading tobacco for a core. The smell didn't bother me. I was already smoking meat, so a little tobacco smoke was hardly an issue. But they were so brazen about the offer that my disbelief gave way to curiosity.

└Wild Grylls Seeing how confidently you're offering it, I assume it's good?

└It is. One of Alvenheim's signature specialties.

└Would you believe me if I said it's good for you? Better than most medicinal herbs.

└Wild Grylls Since when is any tobacco good for you?

└Let's Grow Trees This one is!

I couldn't quite buy that. This world's civilization wasn't as advanced as Earth's. A few fields occasionally rivaled or even surpassed Earth, but there were plenty of shortcomings. And hadn't it taken a long time even on Earth to discover how harmful tobacco was? World Tree leaves or not, I wasn't convinced.

'Sounds like it's just treated as luxury tobacco.'

A forum search showed that people did treat it more like luxury tobacco. There were occasional claims about it helping with mana training methods or internal energy cultivation methods, or being usable as incense. The posts were full of completely unsubstantiated claims, so I ignored them all.

In any case, survival came first for me, and a recreational indulgence like tobacco would just be another burden. More importantly, if I were a smoker, I would have bought some from the auction house myself.

└Wild Grylls I'd prefer something that will help me survive.

└Let's Grow Trees How about gloves, then?

└Wild Grylls What kind of gloves?

└Let's Grow Trees World Tree gloves! They're made with silk spun by silkworms raised on World Tree leaves.

└Wild Grylls Are they good?

└Of course they're good;; Didn't you hear “World Tree”???

└This guy's stuck in a forest. He doesn't know shit about the outside world lmao

└Plus the place he's in is actually better lmao

Apparently, these gloves weren't merely good; they were rare. I listened to an explanation of their properties. Lighter than any other gloves, so comfortable you couldn't tell you were wearing them, durable and hard to tear, and so on. The most amazing feature was their ability to regenerate. Feed them mana, and they would repair a certain amount of damage on their own.

'Sounds good.'

They sounded perfect for someone who used his hands as much as I did. I hadn't mentioned it before, but my hands were pretty battered. Cutting trees, starting campfires, cleaning fish, sorting charcoal, practicing swordsmanship... With all those chores, my hands never got a break.

I did have the gloves the dwarf had given me, but they were closer to standard-issue gear. Besides, they were meant for rough work like combat and construction, making them awkward to wear for tasks that required precision.

'In some ways, hands are even more important than feet.'

That sounded like a decent deal, so I accepted Let's Grow Trees' offer. The core was practically a burden anyway. All I wanted was to get rid of it quickly.

Let's Grow Trees has registered an item for trade.

Let's Grow Trees

Thank you for the wonderful trade!

Is there anything else you need?

Nothing in particular right now.

These really are good, right?

Let's Grow Trees

I guarantee it on my pride and honor as an elf!

Thank you.

By the way, what are you planning to do with the core?

Let's Grow Trees

I can't go into detail, but it will let me plant trees more efficiently!

An imperialist mindset combined with an environmental activist. What a bizarre combination. Dog-meat tanghulu would be less weird. Still, they'd been a big help to me, so I decided to humor them.

Do you like planting trees?

Let's Grow Trees

Yes. Planting Alvenheim's beautiful trees all over the world!

That's my goal!

From what I've heard, there's a lot of opposition... Are you sure that's okay?

Let's Grow Trees

There's no need to worry!

That just made me worry more. What the hell was wrong with the elves in this world? Elves were usually symbols of nobility, but this one was nothing but a nuisance. Of course, all my information came from the forum, so I shouldn't jump to conclusions. Still, when the first elf I'd traded with was like this, I couldn't help having doubts.

Let's Grow Trees

Thank you so much for agreeing to trade!

May the World Tree's blessing be upon you!]

Thank you.

They seemed nice enough, though, so I'd let it go. I ended the trade with Let's Grow Trees and checked the items.

“Huh?”

They'd sent some strange extras. And not just one or two.

I could overlook the bow made from luxurious materials. I could even overlook the tobacco, though I had no idea why they'd included it. But it was harder to overlook the sapling with its gleaming green leaves. A sapling in a flowerpot.

'Seriously.'

Had they sent this for me to plant? I could practically feel their determination to get a tree planted no matter what. The bow and tobacco were probably bribes for that. Still, they'd sent the promised gloves, so I had no complaints.

'Fine. I'll plant it, and nature can handle growing it.'

I inspected the gloves Let's Grow Trees had given me. Their overall appearance was...

'... Aren't these just cotton work gloves?'

They looked like cotton work gloves without the red rubber coating. The only difference was that they were a little whiter and looked softer. I stared at the oddly familiar gloves, then silently put them on.

'Not bad.'

They felt great. They were breathable enough that I could feel even the faintest breeze. It looked like I wouldn't have to deal with sweaty hands anymore. I wanted to test their other features too, but decided to leave that for later.

'They gave me three gloves.'

I'd heard these were incredibly rare and expensive. How generous.

Next up was the tobacco supposedly made from World Tree leaves. It looked more like cigars than ordinary cigarettes.

'They gave me a lot.'

There were five in total, stored in a small wooden box. The box could be opened and closed repeatedly, and even had a compartment that looked like an ashtray.

The last thing I examined was the bow, beautifully colored and exuding an air of nobility. I pulled on the string to test its draw weight.

It stopped dead.

“Huh?”

The draw weight must have been higher than I'd expected, because it wouldn't budge. It reminded me of when I'd first received the dwarf's crossbow.

“Graaagh!”

Only after letting out a full-throated grunt did I barely manage to draw it all the way. I was definitely stronger than when I'd first gotten the crossbow, yet it was still this hard. What sort of people were the elves who used this thing—Let's Grow Trees in particular?

'Weren't archers supposed to be agility builds?'

Or was whoever used this bow simply a monster? I was confused. It looked like it would take a very long time to master this bow. How thoroughly would I have adapted to this place by the time I could wield it? Hoping that day would never come, I turned my head. There sat the sapling, nestled safely in its flowerpot.

“...”

Fine. What the hell, I'd plant it. Posting proof was easy enough.

* * *

Got another pet.

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a surprisingly cute sapling)

Let's Grow Trees has gifted me an adorable sapling. Thank you.

└Heavenly Demon What plant is that?

└Wild Grylls No idea. I just took what they gave me.

└Heavenly Demon I find it unsettling, but it certainly is pretty.

└Wild Grylls It'll probably take forever to grow.

└Sword Masta An elf gave it to you, so it probably isn't anything strange.

└Wild Grylls There are strange plants, too?

└Sword Masta Of course. There are even man-eating plants.

└Wild Grylls Scary...

└Passing Dwarf This guy got something weird from a pointy-ear lmao

└Wild Grylls What's weird about a sapling? They helped me out. This is the least I can do.

└Passing Dwarf True. The Forest of Four Seasons is neutral territory nobody can touch anyway, so it shouldn't matter.

└That knife-ear sure is persistent lmao. Got it planted in the end.

└Do you call that determination or sheer spite?;;

└Those knife-ears are stubborn bastards lol

└And someone actually broke those knife-ear elders' iron stubbornness?

└When you put it like that, the elf queen really is a crazy bitch lmao

“Heh. How nice.”

Golden hair that shone as though woven from threads of gold. The beauty and pointed ears that were hallmarks of an elf. Green eyes that seemed to embody the verdure of a forest. And, finally, curves that not even her elegant dress could conceal.

“Now Alvenheim's trees have taken root in the Forest of Four Seasons, too.”

An elf was openly expressing her satisfaction. The girlish freshness that accompanied her mature beauty gave her a dizzying allure.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

[“Your Majesty. I have answered your summons.”]

Someone knocked and called to her. The elven woman closed the forum window and replied softly.

“Come in.”

Her voice was gentle and perfectly clear. With her permission, the door slowly opened to reveal another elf.

“You're here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. May I ask what this is about...?”

“The time has come to lay the foundation for our great cause... shall we say?”

“Pardon?”

The elf's eyes widened at the queen's cryptic words. The queen then looked down at the round orb on her lap. It was the core she'd just obtained by trading with Grylls, still bearing the mark of a sword thrust through its center. Her smile deepened as she gazed at it, and she spoke again.

“Prepare the experiment immediately. We have our energy source.”

“B-but the elders...”

“...”

“N-never mind! I'll see to it at once!”

The elf swallowed any further objections and hurried out, all but fleeing. The elf queen smiled in satisfaction and proclaimed in a low voice:

“Make Alvenheim great again!”