IRE 37

chapter 37

Four days had passed since that incident.

I spent a full day walking along the Dragon’s Head Path to return to Chi Taen.

The Keris sisters I met there cried bitterly at the sight of our mother’s body, their grief almost shocking.

Ketrit, in particular, was unusually affected. Seeing them mourn seemed, if anything, even sadder than when Theia had died, which felt oddly uncomfortable.

In just a few short days, our mother’s presence had held immense significance for them.

Many asked about Irian’s whereabouts and what had happened to me, but I didn’t tell them about his betrayal. I only revealed that due to the Dark Elves’ trap, everyone except me had perished.

At that time, the elves of Chi Taen were an untrustworthy group to me, since I could not identify the betrayers among them.

I also had to consider how to deal with them later, but for now, the funeral was urgent, so I frantically searched for wandering spirits to prepare it.

I could have asked the Sentinels of Chi Taen for help, but as I mentioned, I distrusted all of them, unsure who might be a traitor.

In an elf’s funeral, spirits are essential—they ensure that those who have passed can peacefully return to nature.

Thus, I sought out spirits who disliked me.

Fortunately, the wandering spirits complied with my request that time. Rarely had I been so grateful to them.

Strictly speaking, the wandering spirits were barely spirits at all, but I was able to find those who maintained a proper spirit form and consciousness.

Following the proper forest rites, the spirits guided our mother’s body, returning her to nature. The sight was truly beautiful, yet unbearably hollow.

The funeral was attended only by me and the Keris sisters. The elves of Chi Taen expressed their willingness to honor our kin’s death, but I refused their participation.

I didn’t want potentially treacherous creatures attending my mother’s funeral.

In hindsight, I wondered if that had been the right choice. After all, it was my mother’s funeral—a woman who deserved a grand send-off, celebrated by many.

The meager scale of the ceremony left me with deep regret.

After the funeral, they asked about the spiritual energy emanating from me. Perhaps they sensed it from my race, as shown on the status window.

I didn’t want to answer, so I only thanked them for carrying out the funeral before parting ways.

Afterward, I briefly told the Keris sisters about Irian’s betrayal and urged them to keep it secret for the time being. I needed to uncover the Chi Taen traitors.

They were shocked by the information I revealed, and when I told them about the changes in my eyes and hair, they shed tears for Athir.

Time passed… and by today, the funeral was completely over, and I had regained some composure and mental clarity.

Though the emptiness of losing my mother and the fact I would never see Athir again lingered, I was able to start letting go of that feeling.

I was surprised to realize I could somewhat shake off the emptiness.

I was aware that my personality had changed. Even the Keris party struggled to deal with me, assuming it was a reaction to grief over my mother’s death. But even before Irian died, they had noted my change in demeanor.

I probably would have been hopelessly lost in despair had it been the old me.

At times, I wondered if I was broken, but I knew that wasn’t the case. I had fused with Athir, so the change in my personality reflected his influence.

It was not my emotions that had worn away or my personality that had become cold—it was the calmness and strong mental fortitude inherited from Athir.

Honestly, I still hadn’t fully adapted to my own personality change.

During my final conversation with Irian, my old self would have likely been swayed by his words and repeatedly twisted his neck in anger.

But I didn’t. I maintained composure throughout. Though I felt anger, I controlled my emotions with astonishing restraint.

“Useless thoughts.”

I cleared my mind of distractions and lay down on the bed.

We were still staying in the house provided by Chi Taen.

Honestly, thinking about who had arranged this house made me reluctant to stay, but I restrained myself, knowing dwelling on it was just immature emotional control.

“El.”

As I rested alone, Keris knocked softly and called my name.

I sat up and told her to come in. She entered cautiously.

“How are you feeling?”

I gave a faint smile and gently placed my hand on her head.

“I’m not broken enough for you to worry, so don’t.”

A kind girl.

I left my hand on her head for a while to signal that she needn’t worry.

Still, she lowered her head, her expression dark.

“…I understand if you don’t want to go with us.”

I blinked, surprised. Keris continued, lowering her head further.

“It’s because of us. Because of the reason you had to… say goodbye to your mother. If it weren’t for us, none of this would have happened… kyah!”

Not wanting to listen to her growing sadness, I grabbed her tail sharply.

As expected, she reacted strongly, her face flushing red, and I smiled faintly.

“If the person involved is okay, why worry so much?”

“D-Don’t…! You’re…!”

She held my hands, trying to get her tail back. I chuckled and let go. She clutched her tail, her face scarlet.

“Ugh… are you really okay?”

“I said I’m okay.”

Honestly, I wasn’t entirely okay. But it wasn’t their fault, so I feigned composure.

As I kept my eyes on her, I continued turning over in my mind the information Irian had barely given me at the end.

Irian.

The information he spat out after swearing in the name of a god to grant death in mercy.

“Do you know? I believe in the gods, and I grew up as a disciple of El Ldarel, but I’m not particularly devout.”

“W-What? But the oath… ugh!!”

“I’m a liar. A terrible liar.”

Irian, believing in the oath, despaired, and I savored that despair.

I deserved it.

Honestly, his information wasn’t particularly special, not much different from what I had already heard from my mother.

There was a traitor hidden among the Dark Elves in the forest.

Other elves didn’t know, and they concealed their identities meticulously, moving among us freely.

In Chi Taen, he and some subordinates had been colluding with the Dark Elves, corrupting the forest elves. These individuals had broken contracts with their spirits to evade detection.

I had never heard about elves breaking contracts with spirits, but it wasn’t particularly interesting.

After all, if they could hide from elves, they could also hide from spirits by breaking contracts.

‘Still, you can’t just accuse all spirit-less elves of being traitors. That’s why they could blend in so naturally.’

Elves form contracts with spirits before adulthood, but they don’t necessarily spend their entire lives with them.

Many elves lose their spirits—through battle, or by breaking the contract themselves due to incompatible empathy.

‘Elf division… I’ve never heard of that even in the game.’

I didn’t know if it was a fact I had overlooked or if all players had been tricked by them like I had.

Lost in thought, I snapped back to reality when I felt Keris’s worried gaze.

I decided to finally speak what I hadn’t said to her before.

“Honestly… it’s hard for me to be with you right now.”

“…I understand.”

Seeing her droop her head again, I waved my hand.

“It’s not that I dislike you… it’s just—”

I paused, then told her the information I had obtained from Irian.

Since she was one of the few I could trust, it was not a burden to share it.

After explaining everything, I added that I needed to handle the forest traitors, which meant I couldn’t travel with them for a while.

They needed to leave for the ancient temple quickly, but I had to remain in the forest. Sending them alone could lead to disaster.

I explained that I couldn’t let them go alone, so the situation was complicated.

After I finished, Keris said, nonchalantly:

“Then we’ll go with you.”

“…Is that okay?”

Her cool response left me momentarily speechless.

She explained:

“Yes. Of course, we want to go to the temple and regain our strength quickly, but we don’t want to inconvenience you. We have no strict time limit, and as you said, simply reaching the temple won’t solve everything. We’ll likely need your help, so it’s better to stay with you whenever possible.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“So… you’ll wait just to use me somehow?”

Keris blushed furiously. I smiled faintly at her embarrassment, enjoying the moment.

She grew redder, her anger rising, but I continued to tease her lightly.

“Really… are you sure? This could take a long time.”

I hadn’t figured out exactly how to identify the traitors yet. I had devised some methods, but they might not catch them.

Even if I went to the elders of Chi Taen and told them Irian was a traitor, and others remained in the forest, the unknown traitors could sense it and grow wary.

Plus, I had to consider the worst-case scenario where the elders themselves were traitors.

Keris tilted her head.

“Are the traitors… the same type as Irian?”

“Yes.”

“Then they wouldn’t be able to summon spirits. If we try to summon spirits, we could find them quickly, right?”

I shook my head. Not all elves spend their lives with spirits. Some even have poor relations with them.

Summoning spirits consumes spiritual energy. The strength of the connection between elf and spirit determines how easily they can be summoned.

Considering Athir was almost always summoned except when resting, the connection with our mother must have been immense. That’s likely why Athir accepted his own death calmly.

“But the real reason they don’t have spirits is different.”

Breaking a spirit contract hides their betrayal from spirits. No spirit would overlook such a betrayal.

“Still, if they don’t have spirits, at least it narrows the range, right?”

“It’s not that simple.”

Recontracting with a spirit is possible, but loss from death makes most elves hesitant to do so due to grief, emptiness, fear, and sorrow.

Telling them “no spirit, so maybe traitor” would hardly work. Few would admit guilt willingly.

The forest could be dangerous, but the traitors are careful, even faking stories to hide their lack of spirits.

“If I tried to investigate using their lack of spirits, they’d turn it against me.”

“Of course, it’s not useless. At least it narrows down the suspects.”

I could be certain that elves with spirits were not traitors. This made investigations easier if I revealed this selectively.

But elves are stubborn, so accepting this fact might be difficult.

At that moment, Esrin’s voice came from outside.

“El, an elf has come to see you.”

I was puzzled. No elf should be visiting me now.

“Alright. I’ll go.”

After exchanging a glance with Keris, I stood up.

Suddenly, she grabbed my hand.

“El, can I come with you?”

Her eyes were serious, without fear. She had likely adapted to the Chi Taen elves.

“Alright.”

When we stepped into the living room, the other sisters were not there.

Instead, at the entrance stood an elf man.

He noticed me and immediately asked:

“Are you Eldmir?”