I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

19 – 19. The Most Pure Place

After a while, Arcel and Alfred headed back to the place where the spring of Hylas was located.

“Can you really let that dark elf go?”

Walking through the forest, Arcel questioned Alfred’s release of the dark elf he had captured.

She had already figured out the number and location of the elves staying here, but just releasing them without taking any action felt like a risk, albeit a little bit, to Arcel.

Because she would definitely retaliate if the Dark Elves she saw were spared and let go.

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“Anyway, from the beginning, I was going to scare you a little, and besides, the monsters I have are cuter than I thought.”

“Was it cute? They…”

“At least it doesn’t have multiple eyeballs or grow tentacles in its mouth. That’s about as cute as puppies and kittens in Devil’s Forest.”

But Alfred didn’t seem to have any intention of doing more damage to the Dark Elves in the first place.

“At first, I thought they were after you, but they weren’t, so there’s no reason to deal with it. It was just a small misunderstanding.”

The biggest reason for that is that the Dark Elves didn’t come looking for Arcel.

Certainly, the Dark Elves were chasing a human and searching the forest, but when they saw Arcel, they sincerely apologized for not being the human they were chasing.

“I thought you hated elves…”

“You hate it? Those arrogant and cunning bastards honestly deserve to be annihilated, and that thought hasn’t changed even now.”

Alfred said as if he were very nervous about being an elf.

“Then why are you helping to save Stella?”

“That’s what you asked for, and just because I don’t like it, why don’t you deal with them yourself.”

But just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean you’re against it.

“Thoughts are free, right? Whether I didn’t like it or not, it was my own freedom. But simply saying you don’t like me and wanting to get rid of them from the world is pure nonsense. Is not it?”

There, he rather speaks as if he is unfair.

“And I never directly dealt with elves with my intentions. All of them were annoying orders from the demon king, or they usually attacked me first when they saw me.”

As an example, I mentioned Stella’s work earlier.

Even then, Alfred tried to suppress Stella’s attacks at first, but after being attacked.

If Alfred really tried to kill Stella, he would have been done by the time he grabbed his wrist.

“If it were you, I blew my head off, would you leave it alone?”

“…I never thought about it. Normally, if your head is blown off, you die, but if you are attacked, you will have to respond.”

Arsel slows down after hearing Alfred’s words.

It is because there are many thoughts in my head.

“Come to think of it, you haven’t looked very good since a while ago. Did something happen?”

“After hearing the story of the Dark Elves, I felt a bit skeptical. Even back then, when the war between you demon lords and humans was going on for a long time, humans were busy taking care of each other’s interests instead of cooperating like the elves.”

That was also due to a difference of opinion between just one or two people.

They had a dispute to save each other’s property even a little bit in a war where human honor was at stake, and in the end, the damage caused by this was on a scale that could never be ignored.

“Even the Dark Elves, whom humans swear by as dirty predators, cooperate like that as their race is in crisis. Even if it’s the elves who were like enemies…”

“I see, so what you mean is that even arrogant elves do that, why can’t humans unite?”

That was correct.

Arsel nodded silently.

“It can’t be helped, there are so many humans compared to the dwarves that it can’t be compared. Especially since the dwarves are a race that still maintains a tribal society.”

Alfred leaned against a rock to take a break.

Arsel also sat next to him.

“From your point of view, 500 years ago is a long time ago, but to the dwarves, it is only about half a lifetime. Perhaps those who lead the dwarfs now were children back then. It is a generation that does not clearly understand why and what it means to fight.”

“Certainly considering their lifespan, that would be the case.”

Arsel didn’t think of it, but the dispute between the elves a few years ago had already been resolved to some degree.

The advance of the demon king’s army was enough to make the elves and dark elves feel threatened, and as a result, with the demon king’s subjugation as an opportunity, there was an agreement to join hands while burying past grudges.

Since we can’t fight forever, we respect and cooperate for each other, although grudges big and small remain.

That was what the elves were looking for.

“…Of course, it doesn’t seem that the dwarfs did too well. The reason they think it’s not an illness but a rebellion must be because there’s a good reason for that.”

“Are you saying that Stella’s illness isn’t the only cause?”

“Yes, otherwise there is no reason to mistake the demons for a rebellion. Because among the dwarves, there are individuals as smart as my grandmother.”

Although unfortunately, it is said that the elves’ hometown has turned into hell due to the agreement.

“What you are worrying about is an unavoidable problem, especially since humans have the strongest feelings of jealousy and greed among any race I have ever seen. Monsters can solve most of their problems just by filling their stomachs, but humans don’t?”

“…”

Conflicts have arisen for very trivial reasons.

Arsel saw that losing a card game led to a fistfight that eventually led to a gang fight.

However, since the people who had fought in that gang fight were the sons of famous nobles, Arsel managed to mediate when a war between humans was about to break out.

Even at that time, countless soldiers lost their lives on the battlefield, but Arcel had no choice but to go back to the rear to intercede, biting his lip.

How much damage he had while he was empty for a while.

However, if not only demons but also humans were to go to war internally, then there was really no hope and there was no choice.

“But because of those things, by my standards, humans have made the most progress than other races.

“?”

Arsel’s expression grew darker for no reason, but Alfred’s expression changed from dark to doubt.

“If any one race could one day bring peace to the world, it would be humans.”

Alfred looked at Arcel and said.

“No, on second thought, I have no choice but to do so. You humans are foolish, so even though you knew it was an endless journey, you humans were the only ones who kept running ignorantly to the end.”

It was an eye full of regret, but at the same time it was a gaze that included pride.

“I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

“Neither do I. I am very excited to hear that the hero exists for peace. It would be more realistic for the demon king to buy cakes for the orphanage children.”

“I’m so sorry, because I was a more unrealistic warrior than the devil buying cakes for the orphanage children. More than that, why is it a cake with the orphanage children?”

Arcel turned her head slightly sadly.

It seems that it is because of the analogy with the devil.

“Well, do you humans always eat cake on your birthday?”

“…I think it is necessary to teach you the basics of human culture. Cake is the food of the nobility, and commoners starve because they don’t even have hard wheat bread.”

“I see, in my eyes, whether nobles or commoners, they all seem to be the same human beings in the end, so it’s amazing.”

Of course, Alfred didn’t care about that at all.

In response to this natural reaction, Arcel even looked back again to see if she had made a mistake.

Still, the strangest thing was, of course, Alfred.

†††

“The time has come for the spring of Hylas to come out…”

“It seems to be over there.”

I continued to walk through the forest and finally reached my destination.

A spring that slowly reveals itself through the trees.

However, it was so huge that it was impossible to think of it as a spring, so it wouldn’t be strange if it was misunderstood as a lake.

Arcel was silent for a moment, admiring the scenery in his field of view.

A place where everything starts along streams of water big and small, a place where a nymph named Hylas in the past dedicated her all to achieve a pure encounter.

It contains a fairy’s wish, and the place that shares the life of this forest is the spring of Hylas.

As you said, the spring of Hylas was very clean.

The leaves floating on the water seemed to be floating in the sky.

‘It seems different from when I came before, but wasn’t the water clear as it is now because of the heavy rain back then?’

Arsel approached Sam to take a closer look.

At first glance, it seems that if he stretched out his hand, he would touch the bottom of the fountain.

“I like quitting.”

But when Arcel tried to reach out to Sam, Alfred grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him.

“…Huh?!”

No matter how much I stretch out my hand, I can’t reach the bottom of this well.

I think I can reach you, but I can’t.

In the end, he tries to reach the floor even if he throws his body, but in the end, he will run out of breath and come up without being able to reach it.

Arsel was stunned that he almost had to go through what the victims of the Fountain of Hylas went through.

If Alfred hadn’t caught him, he probably wouldn’t have noticed that he was wrong.

“Ha, I almost threw myself into the spring without realizing it.”

Arcel involuntarily backed away from the chill that seemed to cover his whole body.

As expected, it is like the spring of Hylas, where dozens of victims are killed every year.

If you lose your mind even a little bit, you will be possessed without even realizing it.

“This is not the spring of Hylas, it only has properties most similar to those of the spring of Hylas.”

“Isn’t this the spring of Hylas?”

Even so, Alfred said that this wasn’t the spring of Hylas yet.

Hagiya said that the spring of Hylas seduces people by reflecting the beautiful image of the opposite s*x.

I was just mesmerized by the mystique of the spring itself.

There was a slight difference from the tradition handed down as an old story.

“Yes, the spring of Hylas is hidden in the forest. This was created by the nymphs just for show.”

In other words, the true spring of Hylas is said to be incomparable to this.

This was simply a place where the water that flowed from the spring of Hylas stagnated.

The Fountain of Hylas has not yet appeared.

“People without talent cannot reach the spring of Hylas. You seem to have been there once before.”

“Is that so… Certainly this is different from the place where I lost the holy sword. It’s similar, but the most important holy sword isn’t here.”

“So? Can you feel the Holy Sword nearby? Anyway, Sam is all connected, so if the holy sword is somewhere, you can feel its location.”

It is possible to check immediately, but safety is the priority.

“Can you hold me for a minute?”

It is prepared so that if you fall into the water, you can immediately pull it up.

Alfred readily held Arcel’s hand.

Afterwards, carefully dip the other hand in the fountain.

Then I closed my eyes and concentrated quietly.

“…It’s weak, but I can feel the energy of the holy sword just a little bit. It is certain that the holy sword is still in the spring of Hylas.”

“That’s good, can you tell me the location or direction?”

“That’s a little more focused- huh?!”

At that time, in an instant, Arcel’s body was dragged downward.

It was so sudden that Arcel fell into the water.

It’s as if someone pulled Arcel by hand.

‘What the hell is this…?’

Arsel held his breath and cautiously opened his eyes.

The water was so clear and transparent that the view was clear.

However, when he fell into the water, his whole body seemed to lose his strength, so it seemed difficult to swim up at all.

‘Alfred will still hold onto me…’

I don’t know what happened, but I was suddenly dragged away, so Alfred was sure to drag me.

‘?’

But if you think about it, Alfred should have been holding him, so why did he fall into the water like this?

Then, Arcel was able to confirm that Alfred had appeared in front of him before he knew it.

He must have come to rescue himself from drowning.

Although we couldn’t talk because we were underwater, Alfred smiled and communicated through sign language.

That’s how Alfred delivered a message.

[Sorry, I missed it too.]

I don’t think I’m in a situation where I can get out of the water right now.

Arsel decided to leave his body to Sam while stopping his thoughts beyond this.

This is because the distance from the surface of the water is getting farther and farther away even at this moment.