NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17
Forest Kingdom Yggdrasil and the Sacred Great Tree 2
One of the Four Great Clans, Yggdrasil
Where is its headquarters? The answer was quite astonishing.
“No way… This great tree is the headquarters of the Four Great Clans?”
To Haise’s surprise, there was a large gate at the base of the tree, and beyond it was a town.
Actually, it wasn’t exactly a town, but rather a residential area for adventurer teams belonging to the Yggdrasil Clan. They had carved out the inside of the tree, creating a town-like space.
The elderly man guiding Haise spoke.
“This is the area where F to D-rank adventurer teams live. The higher you go, the higher-ranked teams reside.”
“Incredible… By the way, how many teams are there in Yggdrasil?”
“About seven hundred, roughly.”
“Whoa… seven hundred?”
Haise was amazed.
Apparently, this clan could handle 80% of the requests brought into the vast Forest Kingdom of Yggdra. This included not only direct requests but also high-difficulty ones that the Adventurer Guild couldn’t manage.
“Now, this way.”
“…What’s this? It’s kind of cramped.”
“This is an elevator.”
“…???”
Elevator?
Haise repeated the word.
The room he was led to was rather small. As soon as he entered, the door closed… and, to his surprise, the room began moving upwards.
Before he could even process it, they quickly reached the top floor.
To his shock, the top floor was actually outside the tree, on a thick branch.
Several houses looked like bird nests built on the branches.
“That’s the base of an A-rank adventurer team.”
“Huh… such an amazing location.”
“And over there is the shrine of the Clan Master of Yggdrasil, Ibis-sama.”
The elderly man pointed to the largest building at the end of the branch.
Haise and the guide immediately headed there.
As they approached, several adventurers from the A-rank team came out and stared at Haise.
“Douglas, who’s that?”
“He’s a guest of Ibis-sama, an S-rank adventurer.”
“S-rank? He’s human.”
The adventurers were all from an all-female elf team.
All of them were beautiful, but their gazes toward Haise were filled with disdain and mockery.
Haise didn’t feel comfortable.
“Let’s just go already. I want to get to the Sacred Mountain Gagazia quickly.”
“Hah?! A human like you is going to the Sacred Mountain Gagazia?!”
Haise ignored them.
He urged the elderly man to hurry, but one of the female elves grabbed Haise’s shoulder.
“Wait a minute, what do you mean? Even we can’t get permission to enter the Sacred Mountain Gagazia, and a human like you is going?”
“It’s none of your business. Let’s go.”
“Yeah, yeah, hold on, Roshe. We’re in a hurry. I’ll listen to the details later.”
The elf woman named Roshe let go of Haise’s shoulder.
They then proceeded toward the shrine at the far end. As they arrived, the large doors opened on their own.
Inside was a spacious, empty room.
However, in the center of the room, a sixteen-year-old girl was lying on a cushion with a pipe in her mouth, smoking.
“Ah, you’ve arrived, Geist’s apprentice.”
“…Uh, you are… Ibis-sama, the S-rank adventurer?”
“Yep.”
The girl sat up.
She had long, straight white hair and beautiful emerald green eyes. She wore a cloth wrapped around her chest and a thin outfit, which was so thin that everything beneath it could be seen.
She wore accessories made of grass and stones, looking like an elf you could find anywhere.
Ibis, the Infinite Ancient Tree,
The most noble elf in this world, and one of the oldest elves.
“Is Geist doing well?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Ho ho ho, I read your letter. You said it was a greeting to me and that you were asking for help… and that you might not need assistance, but you’re showing the letter anyway.”
“……….”
“Ha ha ha, hit the mark, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, well… I just wanted to let you know that I’m Geist’s apprentice and that I’m entering the Sacred Mountain Gagazia. That’s all.”
“Ho ho, what a cheeky little brat you are.”
Ibis laughed and flicked the ash from her pipe into an ashtray.
“Heh, this brings back memories… the smell of gunpowder.”
“───!!”
“You’re from another world… aren’t you? Hmm.”
“Uh, you know about gunpowder… do you know about guns?”
“Of course. I once fought alongside him.”
“!!”
Haise was shocked.
Without thinking, he pulled out the old manuscript and showed it to Ibis.
“Then… do you know about this?”
“…Well, well.”
Ibis’s eyes widened—her face briefly twisted, looking as though she might cry.
Haise wasn’t sure, but it seemed like it might not have been a mistake.
“It’s still here…”
“…You know about it?”
“Yeah. It’s Nobunaga’s diary and records.”
“Nobunaga?”
“Yeah. Kamishiro Leonhart Nobunaga… a ‘Japanese’ person who was transferred to this world.”
“Kamishiro Leonhart Nobunaga…”
“Heh, it’s a hard name to say, huh?”
Ibis smiled nostalgically and asked Haise.
“Let me see it for a bit.”
She took the book and began turning the pages.
“You’re Haise, right? Can you read these characters?”
“Yeah, just a little…”
Haise explained how he had come to possess the book.
Then, Haise pulled out his Desert Eagle and showed it to Ibis.
“That’s a gun… I see. You’ve awakened the same ability as Nobunaga. And with that, you can now read this ‘English’, right?”
“Probably. Um… about that book of Nobunaga’s…”
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“This book is written in characters only Nobunaga can understand. I don’t know the contents, just that such a book exists. As for the ability… I couldn’t understand that either.”
“I… I see…”
Haise had hoped to understand something, but it seemed like it was in vain.
He took the book back and absentmindedly flipped through the pages.
“…Huh?”
“Hm, what’s wrong?”
“Well, there’s a page I can read.”
“Really? That’s interesting. Could you share it?”
“Uh…”
“What’s the matter? I’ll pay whatever price you ask.”
Ibis snapped her fingers, and the guide Douglas appeared, holding a large bag of gold coins.
Haise hesitated for a moment, but seeing Ibis’s sparkling eyes, he nervously began to read.
“Uh… please don’t get mad.”
“Hmm? Just hurry up and tell me.”
“Okay, here goes.”
◇◇◇◇◇
〇月〇日。
Today, Ibis keeps playfully clinging to my arm.
So cute. My chest feels all warm and fuzzy. I’ll spoil her plenty tonight.
A fiery, strong-willed elf girl who uses grandpa-style speech—what other wife could be better? None. My Ibis is the cutest in the world!!
When I’m cleaning and maintaining my gun, she always comes over and snuggles up like a cat. Maybe if I gave her cat ears and a tail as a present, she’d like it?
If I got her naked and put on cat ears and a tail, and rolled her onto the bed… Ah, just thinking about it makes me…
Alright, I’ve decided. I’ll go hunt a cat monster outside and make cat ears and a tail.
Heh, I’m really fired up now.
◇◇◇◇◇
“…That’s it.”
“W-W-W-What?!”
It was an awful entry.
Haise regretted reading it aloud and felt like burning the book.
Ibis turned bright red.
“Uh, were you… lovers with this Nobunaga?”
“Aaaahhhhhhh…!! T-T-Today’s over!! If you need my help, call me!! Yes, that’s it!! Goodbye!!!”
Ibis, now completely flushed, kicked Haise out, and he left the shrine.
◇◇◇◇◇
“You’re late.”
“…A lot happened.”
When Haise exited the great tree, Presea was waiting.
She tilted her head, seeing Haise looking somewhat worn out.
But now, they could finally move on.
“Let’s go. Our goal is the summit of the Sacred Mountain Gagazia.”
“Yeah.”
They moved past the East Gate and could finally head toward the Sacred Mountain Gagazia.
Haise looked up at the great tree one last time.
“…People have history, huh?”
“Oh? You’re using that phrase?”
“Well… it just felt right.”
Considering how the pages he could read increased at the most unbelievable timing, Haise couldn’t shake the feeling that the old book had its own will.