East Road Quest

Chapter 94: Echo Flower

The Elforest was divided into seven distinct regions, and this place was one of them, known as the Black Oak Forest region.

The boundary of the forest wasn’t marked by any visible line, so Jade had unwittingly crossed from the Dark Forest into the Black Oak Forest region without realizing it. She had only noticed a slight change in the types of trees.

The black oaks here were smaller than the great oaks surrounding Taimon, but their leaves and bark shone like metal, giving them a more majestic appearance.

It was precisely at this boundary that the earth elves, known as the Buren, appeared. They had considered Jade and her companions as intruders.

Fortunately, the misunderstanding was cleared without incident. Of course, Jade knew that in this case, it was fortunate for the Buren.

‘Ruby is calmer than I thought. Almost worryingly so.’

Merrald had said that the distance from the border to the Swamp Ruins was roughly a day’s journey, which matched Ruby’s estimation. However, Jade doubted whether the two had gauged the time correctly.

The problem with measuring distance in days was the difference in walking speed. What Merrald could cover leisurely in a day might take Jade three.

Thus, a day’s journey in this case meant ‘the distance Jade could cover in a day, guided by Merrald along the safest and fastest path through the forest.’

Merrald led gently, never giving the impression of a forced march. Yet, traversing the forest was a journey arduous in itself, and sleeping in the forest was a rest that consumed much energy.

Upon reaching the swamp, the surrounding trees vanished, revealing an open expanse.

Jade had hoped that leaving the forest would mean an easier path. However, she soon realized that the forest trail had been the most comfortable part of their journey thus far.

The swamp sucked at their feet with every step, and as their pants soaked up water, they became as heavy as if weights were tied to their legs. Jade wondered if Merrald was intentionally leading them through such a challenging path.

In this place, only Jade grew weary, muddied and drenched in sweat alone.

Merrald moved through the swamp with the same ease as on the forest trail, and Saph remained clean above the knees.

Ruby, needless to say, was unaffected.

“Isn’t this part of the Black Oak Forest region? Shouldn’t there be only forest and trees, why is there a swamp here?”

When they found solid ground to rest upon, Jade asked as if it were Merrald’s fault.

Merrald replied indifferently.

“It feels like you’re asking why there are rivers, cliffs, and clouds in the sky. Other than saying that this used to be a lake that turned into a swamp, what other explanation could there be? ‘Why’ is not the right question.”

Yet, Merrald shared an interesting tale.

“There’s a legend among the earth elves here. In ancient times, this place was inhabited by both elves and dragons and was the most beautiful part of Elforest. The elves wanted this forest as their own sanctuary and asked the dragons to leave. Angered, the dragons turned the area into a swamp as they departed.”

Ruby, who had been listening from a distance, burst into laughter.

Jade wondered what was so funny about the story, but Merrald continued, and she missed the timing to ask.

“The name ‘ancient’ was given for that reason. Also, in the center of the swamp, remnants of old buildings lie scattered about. Before it became ruins, the city was named Torogar. Strictly speaking, this place should be called the Torogar Ruins, but once a name sticks, it tends to solidify, even if its original meaning changes.”

Merrald pointed in one direction.

“A day’s journey from here, there’s a city about the size of Taimon, named Torosimo. It’s likely few of the Torosimo elves know their city’s name is derived from Torogar.”

The deeper they ventured into the swamp, the more desolate it became.

The swamp’s entrance, which had troubled Jade, seemed like a beautifully blended space of shrubs and trees compared to this.

The only movement was the color-drained reeds swaying slowly in the flowing water.

Straying even slightly from the spots Merrald deemed safe to step on often resulted in a fall into the swamp. Each time, Ruby would help her out, and each time, Ruby would make a remark.

“Are you doing this on purpose?”

When Jade fell into the swamp for the third time and couldn’t move, she didn’t even try to get out but simply gestured to Merrald, who was ahead, to come over.

Merrald approached silently and offered his hand.

Jade didn’t take his hand but said,

“Slow down the pace.”

Merrald, without retracting his hand, looked steadily at Jade’s face. It was hard to guess his age by his orcish features, but Jade felt he was quite old.

“Am I going too fast?”

Merrald asked in his blunt voice.

“I may sound selfish, and I apologize in advance, but I can’t put it any other way. This journey revolves around me. What’s the point of hurrying if I’m too exhausted to play any role when it truly matters?”

“You heard the conversation with the Buren yesterday, right? The damage is growing.”

“I know. The longer we take, the more Elforest suffers. But without me, there would have been no way to fight Komora in the first place. Don’t wear me out.”

Merrald glanced back at Saph and Ruby, who had stopped about twenty paces ahead.

“There are cultural and linguistic differences between us that we may never fully understand. So, ignoring those differences, speak your mind. Right now, your words sound like nothing but selfishness born of fatigue.”

“I want to kill the demons more than anyone else, perhaps even more seriously than you think.”

As Jade uttered those words, she remembered the conversation she had with Ruby the night before.

‘I misspoke about the madness within me. Perhaps, like Ruby in battle, I too find pleasure in such things.’
Jade’s expression was rigid, perhaps due to his naturally stern face, which made it impossible to find even a hint of friendliness. Nevertheless, Jade spoke his mind resolutely.

“Just getting there will exhaust me to the point of collapse. What then? Consider my stamina. Rushing is not always the best approach.”

“I must have miscalculated,” murmured Merald, and Jade thought he detected a hint of disappointment.

“I’ve inadvertently rushed you because of Saph. After all, you’re injured…”

Merald gestured towards Jade’s arm as he continued, “You’re new to Elforest. Naturally, we shouldn’t hasten.”

“And?”

“I matched our pace to Saph, not you. At first glance, Saph seemed the weakest, especially after the Buffalord injury. I believed if we kept to her pace, you would naturally follow. I apologize for that.”

Jade had become quite familiar with the Elvish language, but Merald still spoke with the slow, precise enunciation of someone teaching a beginner. This was immensely helpful to Jade.

“Saph is sturdier than she appears,” Jade muttered, looking ahead at Saph.

Her youthful face and delicate figure seemed as if a single day outside would leave her exhausted to the point of fainting.

It wasn’t wrong for Merald to match the stride of such a young girl.

Merald extended his hand again, and this time, Jade reached out as well.

“Let’s depart.”

With a firm grip, Merald pulled Jade out of the mud as if uprooting a weed from a field.

As they were about to resume walking, suddenly, the sound of a child’s laughter echoed from somewhere. Jade quickly looked around.

Merald walked on, his expression unchanged.

“Do you hear that sound, or is it just me?” Jade asked.

“No, I hear it too.”

“A ghost?”

Merald waved his hand broadly.

“I can’t explain every place we pass by, but this is known as the Whispering Marsh, one of the ancient swamp ruins.”

As they walked, the child’s laughter turned into an old man’s cough. Whispering sounds followed, but the words were indistinct and hard to understand.

“Could it be something geographical?” Jade inquired.

“You jump from ghosts to rational questions. Isn’t it your job to speak of divine providence first?” Merald asked, amused.

“Father Daniel, who taught me, claimed that all natural phenomena could be explained within the bounds of our reason.”

Jade caught up with the two they had been waiting for, and the four naturally walked together.

Jade continued, “For example, sailors speak of a flame that appears at the tip of a ship’s mast during voyages, a flame that neither burns hot nor consumes. They say it’s a response to prayers. But Father Daniel suggested it might be some unknown substance causing the phenomenon, not necessarily a divine response.”

“Are you referring to the spirit’s light? Such occurrences are common in the northern forests as well.”

“The spirit’s light… What a beautiful term,” Saph remarked in awe.

“Father Daniel speculated that the same substance that causes lightning and thunder in the sky might, for some reason, descend to the earth.”

“A substance that causes lightning? I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Merald scoffed.

“Father Daniel didn’t claim to know everything. That’s why he often argued with the Alchemists’ Guild and theologians about why rain and snow occur, why the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and why seawater is salty.”

Saph agreed, “Father Daniel was indeed curious about everything in the world.”

Merald couldn’t agree with Daniel’s questions.

“Rain and snow are just water evaporating from the earth and falling back down. The sun rises in the east because it’s meant to, and it sets in the west because that’s the only place it can go. And why is seawater salty? Because it contains salt!”

“It’s strange to question such things. Sometimes, interpreting everything we can’t explain as the will of God or the work of demons is what truly profanes His name. Father Daniel’s stance almost led to his excommunication.”

Every time Jade mentioned his name, his heart felt pricked by needles.

“So if these sounds aren’t made by ghosts, what are they?”

Jade returned to his original question.

“It’s their doing,” Merald said, pointing to a waterlogged area filled with submerged plants as they walked.

A clump of large, trumpet-shaped flowers bloomed there. The petals and stems were earth-colored, perhaps due to growing in the swamp.

As the petals quivered, an old man’s coughing sound emerged.

“They’re called Echo Flowers. They mimic human voices. And when these flowers spread their seeds, the offspring remarkably remember the same sounds. Sometimes, you can even hear them speak in ancient tongues.”

“How ancient are we talking?”

Jade asked in surprise, “Well, about a thousand years? No one really knows. The voice we just heard might have been the cough of an ancient High Elf who once lived here, or it could have been the cough of a passing Earth Elf from a few days ago.”

From somewhere, the sound of a woman’s voice singing a lullaby drifted over, then abruptly stopped without context. It was both marvelous and eerie.

The four of them walked silently through the marshland, filled with the echoing song of the Echoflower, imitating the voice of an elf.