I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

84. Alone and Lonely

Shion, confused, asked the girl.

“What are you? Weren’t you a sacrifice prepared by the stem elder?”

But she immediately came to her senses and put herself on alert.

Elves are born with eyes that can see things that other races cannot.

So Shion looked at her girl, and she was able to see that there was something unknown within her.

“It’s the right answer, but it’s wrong.”

“Are you saying it’s true or not?”

“This body is definitely the one that that boring earl gave me. But I, who am talking to you now, am different from that sacrifice.”

“What on earth is that…”

The girl said with a bright smile.

That smile was extremely creepy.

“I am the being you called God. “I don’t know what God is or why they call me that, but I’m pretty sure it’s me.”

I don’t know if it was because of the strange words that followed, or because I couldn’t figure out the girl’s identity.

But one thing is certain: the girl in front of you is not an ordinary human being.

That is something wearing a human mask.

“…It doesn’t matter what you are.”

Shion didn’t have a good feeling about having a conversation with that girl.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t save you now, and I have no obligation to save you. Because I have more important things to do than that.

In addition, there were still other elders left up there, including the stem elders.

I don’t know what happened up above or why the elder of the stem left such a comment, but that is the top priority right now.

Zion was in a hurry to go back upstairs.

Like before, if you make a hole in the ceiling and climb up, you will be able to get there quickly.

“You can do whatever you want. The choice is yours, and you bear the responsibility for it. But after seeing the old ogre’s efforts, I will tell you one thing.”

“I’m not in the mood to joke right now-“

“If you go up, you’ll die.”

When Shion looked back, her girl was right in front of her.

‘What is this… Wait, can’t that be?!’

In the process, Shion was naturally able to look into the girl’s eyes, and something other than the scenery of this place was reflected in them.

[Ah, hahahahaha! I was finally released!! I’m finally free!!]

A woman was laughing in ecstasy.

She was previously the elder of the branch she had saved.

Black shadows stretched out beneath her feet, and they were all devouring the shadows of other elders.

[Our poor stem elder… What should we do with this?]

And the branch elder was savoring the trunk elder who had suddenly become unable to move.

Lick the blood flowing from your mouth with your tongue.

There was a small wound on his chest, pierced by something that looked like a thin thorn, and it pierced right through his heart.

The blood that splattered on Zion’s face was probably his.

“Get away from me!”

“Oh my gosh, can you handle it gently? “This body is so fragile that if you make a mistake, it will pick you up and kill you.”

Seeing that terrible sight, Shion pushed the girl away.

I felt like I was going to lose my mind if I kept looking at that any longer.

“What happened? Explain quickly.”

“It’s difficult to ask me that… but if you ask me what you did, how should I answer?”

“I have never done anything like that.”

“That’s the devil you released, right?”

“…There’s no way a monster like that is an elder of the branch.”

That is by no means an elder of the branch.

Although the elder of the branch was coarse and vicious by nature, he was not such a cruel and terrible person.

She warmly welcomed her compatriots who were wandering around without a place to go, and although her words were harsh, her actual actions were warm.

Her efforts were not to deny her own actions.

Indeed, that was not the elder of the branch that Zion knew.

“But it doesn’t change the fact that that is the ear you released. “It’s all a result of your choices.”

“Shut your mouth!”

But Zion knew that that was reality.

“Quickly, tell me everything you know! What on earth happened?! “What on earth is that monster?”

Something is wrong.

There was something more she didn’t know.

It’s not just that the stem elder kidnapped and imprisoned the branch elder, but there’s more to the story behind it.

“Well, it’s not like you can solve the problem by questioning me like that, right?”

The girl responded slyly, picking her ears.

Shion gritted her teeth and grabbed the girl by the collar.

“…If you don’t tell me right away, I will take out what is inside this body and seal it deep underground.”

“Ugh, are we now turning it into a threat? “I don’t like that either…”

In the end, as if she had no choice, the girl sat down and leaned against the wall.

I didn’t like the relaxed girl’s behavior, but that didn’t mean there was anything I could do about it right away.

The elder of the branch… No, the monster wearing the mask of the elder of the branch instantly rendered the elder of the stem helpless.

It is clear that just a little while ago, he destroyed the magic of the other elders very easily.

“Okay, let me explain briefly. “That’s just plain old age.”

Funny enough, the girl ended her explanation with that.

It is just ordinary dementia.

“Are you kidding me?!”

Of course, Shion did not believe what the girl said.

Does it make sense that the reason the elder of the branch turned into such a monster was due to dementia?

“Sometimes pranks happen in real life. “Maybe it’s right to see it as a joke.”

“Even if it were truly senile, it wouldn’t make sense for it to turn into such a monster!”

“But it makes sense now, right?”

“This is the end…! Above all, things like senility only happen to humans! “We elves have a lifespan so long that it can’t even be compared to humans!”

Senility is a disease that only happens to humans.

Elves have a very long lifespan, as Zion said, and the highest elders alone have lived for thousands of years.

Besides, I have never heard of such a disease occurring among elves.

“But none of you devils died after reaching the end of their natural lifespan, right?”

“…!”

“Think about it carefully, most of you devils end their lives by suicide. “Like your grandfather.”

“What are you saying… That my grandfather committed suicide?”

“Yes, his heart stopped and he died.”

But I’ve only ever heard of it.

“That can’t be possible…”

Shion suddenly began to feel headaches and dizziness, as if she had been hit hard on the head.

“Didn’t you also say that old ogre above? “Did you always think you were murdered by someone?”

As the girl said, elves often end their lives by suicide.

The physical life itself may be able to live for thousands of years, but the mental lifespan is a different story.

Most elves die before they reach the age of 1,000, and it is not uncommon for elves with soft hearts to die before they even survive 200 years.

“Then you don’t know why your grandfather committed suicide?”

“Why on earth-“

I saw such cases often while working as an elder.

This is all because of the inability to withstand the mental fatigue accumulated over time.

I was vaguely aware that living for such a long time would be painful, so I just paid tribute and did not think about taking any other action.

What should we do in the first place to resolve their mental fatigue?

“Your grandfather had a very strong ego among the ears, and thanks to that, he was able to live for a long time. So, would you say that he also immediately recognized the abnormality that was occurring in his mind?”

The girl speaks without any malice.

“Originally, your grandfather was going to turn into the devil up there too. It would have been fun if he had done that… Unfortunately, he died before it could really begin.”

I shook my head as if I was disappointed.

“At first, I thought they were going to deal with the dangerous guy first when they called that old ogre, but then they barely managed to come to their senses and left a will.”

At that moment, a word passed through Sion’s mind.

-I am asking you to take care of the pitiful elves and my poor granddaughter.-

This is what the elder of the stem said before dropping him here.

The truth was this.

The chief elder noticed that something was going wrong with his mind that night, so he called his most trusted disciple.

What are you doing so late at night, Master?

There is not much time, I have to leave soon.

What do you mean by that all of a sudden?

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An unexpected problem has arisen. The same fate that my ancestors experienced has come to me. It’s probably something that will come to other elves as well.

The disciple understood the meaning of the Supreme Elder’s words.

The lifespan of an elf’s body and spirit are different.

It varies from person to person, but in the end, it is something more terrible than death that comes to all elves.

And the elder of the branch… The same thing will soon happen to that child as me. Not only that child, but also the other children at the roots and branches…

The highest elder took a deep breath and spoke the name of a high elf who had shown some signs.

Still, there were tens of thousands of elves, and the highest elder memorized the names of every elf without exception.

I understand. I will tell them the situation directly.

If that’s the case then it’s done. I will leave now.

Master, is there anything else you would like to leave?

The disciple’s voice was as grave as before, but there were water droplets on his chin.

He was a student who was good at hiding his personal feelings, but it seems he couldn’t hide everything during the breakup.

I have already lived for a long time. Life isn’t that precious.

But this is the last time. At the very least, I hope you can leave something to say to Zion.

The disciple vaguely realized that this conversation would be his last conversation with his teacher.

The stem elder bowed his head and asked.

Then the Supreme Elder spoke the end with his last breath.

I see… Then, please take care of the pitiful elves and my poor granddaughter.

That was the last time.

It is said that the highest elder died worrying about his granddaughter, who would be left alone with the other elves until the end.

The elder of the stem understood the words of the supreme elder and began to study this issue from that day.

An unidentified disease that comes to elves.

A disease more terrible than death that makes you not yourself and erodes your mind, making you lose your mind.

I searched non-stop for a day to find a solution to this disease that took the lives of not only my great ancestors but also the highest elders.

These are the words left by the Supreme Elder. I have no choice but to act on His words. In some cases, I will even use force to arrest you.

Then, the highest elder explained the situation to the elders and high elves of the branch he had mentioned, and hoped that they would blame him.

I can’t help it. If the Supreme Elder said so, then it must be so. Then grab it quickly. Before I stopped being myself.

…I’m sorry.

hahahaha, the world is going crazy. The elder from that branch even apologized to me.

However, the elders of the branch and other high elves understood what he said and did not offer any resistance.

The elder of the branch smiled and comforted him.

Even though in reality it is the same as trying to kill someone.

So the stem elder bound the branch elder and locked him underground.

At first, he was a fine branch elder, but as time went by, he started saying strange things and eventually reached the point where he was harming himself.

It was the same for other high elves.

He started going crazy, showing destructive behavior.

If the magic had not been sealed, this land of elves might have already become ruins.

In the end, the high elves committed suicide and continued research while forcing the elder of the branch to live in order to cure the disease.

But there was no hope at all.

It is said that even the ancestors of the great elves committed suicide due to this disease.

There was no way we could find such a disease no matter how much we researched treatment methods.

At first, the highest elder thought it was a disease that only affected his ancestors, but the fact that he is suffering from this means that there is a danger to all other elves as well.

However, most of the elves so far, except for the highest elders, have committed suicide before symptoms appear.

And the terrible thing was that as generations passed, the onset of diseases became increasingly earlier.

At this point, there was no future for the elves.

Either they would be slowly weeded out and disappear from the world forever, or the elves with strong powers like the elders would go crazy and perish.

The elder of the stem looked at records from even further back than the time of his ancestors, feeling like he was grasping at straws.

Then, by chance, I found a book about a god who watched everything, and I thought that if I asked that god, I might be able to find a way to solve this disease.

Of course, the process was not easy.

It was a series of repeated failures for decades.

If we seek help from other elves, we may be able to make progress, but the stem elder was worried about whether other elves would be able to realize this truth and remain sane.

In fact, a high elf laughed like crazy after hearing the story and then committed suicide right in front of his eyes.

There was no way he wouldn’t do this, even if he was an elder.

I had no choice but to continue researching on my own.

In this process, he succeeded in possessing the god in the body of a girl, but the god said that he could not answer his question in this unstable state.

Probably because there were not enough offerings.

According to the book, it was originally written that the souls of hundreds of thousands of humans or tens of thousands of elves were needed.

It is natural that it was brought up in a forcibly reduced form.

In the end, more offerings were needed.

In order to completely summon the gods and get the answers to the questions you want, at least twice as many sacrifices are needed.

In particular, the elder of Gaji had to hurry up as his condition was getting worse.

For now, it was restrained by the roots of the world tree, but it was urgent because it was not only a mental problem, but also an ominous energy.

We don’t know how long detention will be possible.

If it becomes dangerous, you will have to deal with it with your own hands.

I no longer wanted to let my precious person go away right before my eyes.

However, because the elder of the stem was also aged, it was difficult for him to get the offering on time, so he tried to ask the elders for the offering, even though he might be misunderstood.

If this illness could be cured by embracing one’s own disgrace, it was well worth it.

“…But, did I ruin it?”

Zion asked the girl after hearing her story.

“That’s right, with your own hands, you have completely ruined all the efforts that the old ogre has been making for over 100 years.”

The girl smiled brightly and answered Zion’s question.

“hahahaha, what is that… In the end, I only got in the way. I couldn’t help the person who was trying to save us all alone. “I ruined everything.”

Shion laughed as if she was dumbfounded and took out her sword from her arms.

She was so resentful of herself.

I didn’t want to live anymore.

I felt so embarrassed that I had lived alone as a root elder, the future of the elves, etc.

Someone like me should never have been born.

That would have actually helped the elves’ future.

“…As expected, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t save anything.”

I held the knife backwards with trembling hands.

If you slit your throat like this, even an elf will have no choice but to die.

I ruined everything and couldn’t live any longer.

So wouldn’t dying here be at least an atonement?

Shion smiled bitterly, wishing for the only atonement she could.

Phew!

“?”

“…Don’t do that.”

The girl in front of me blocked that.

The blade, which must have pierced her neck, pierced the girl’s hand.

If I saw his reaction a little while ago, I would have encouraged him to die right away, but it was really strange that he suddenly did this.

“If you give up, elves will really end.”

The mood of the voice changed.

The image of God who enjoyed the pain of others a little while ago was gone, and now there was just a girl.

With those words, the girl hugged her Shion without saying a word.

“What are you saying I can do?”

She has already ruined everything, so what can she do?

Zion ended up shedding tears.

I no longer have the honor of being seen by the elders or even other elves, so why should I be alive like this?

Nevertheless, the girl just quietly patted her Zion.

We shouldn’t stop here yet.