Chapter 583

Raon raised his head with a smile.

The world tree was scattering the pure energy of nature while waving its branches as if it were greeting him.

‘Thank you for remembering.’

Raon was certain of it the moment he saw his ancestor’s memory. Since the world tree was a mystical creature, it must’ve remembered how his ancestor had saved its life.

The world tree seemed to be a bit confused at first because it didn’t react right away. Still, it remembered as soon as the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s energy broke through the exterior and entered the interior, showing its delight and gratitude through a huge flow of mana.

The tremendous wave of emotions spreading from the world tree even pulled his heartstrings.

“H-how is this happening…?”

The head elder’s chin trembled, his face pale.

“Im-impossible!”

“How could it react like that towards a human…?”

“I’ve never seen the world tree so lively before…”

“A-am I dreaming right now?”

The elders and the other elves were also shocked by the unexpected situation and simply stood there, blinking.

“Wow, how did you do this?”

Rimmer was also surprised. He swallowed nervously while looking at the world tree’s branches waving at them.

“I told you! That human is the spirit king’s contractor!”

Erian raised his hands, saying that he believed in him all along. He was even crazier than Rimmer.

“Raon Zieghart.”

Sterin stepped up next to Raon and spoke with a voice that was one pitch higher than usual.

“What did you do?”

“What?”

“The others shouldn’t have noticed, but the world tree is thanking you right now.”

He looked up to the world tree, his eyes trembling so hard that they looked like they were spasming.

“Why is the world tree thanking you even though it has never seen you before?”

Sterin’s gaze came back down. He narrowed his eyes, showing that he couldn’t understand the situation.

“I’ve been thinking it was strange ever since you confidently suggested the bet. Have you met the world tree before?”

“No, this is my first encounter with it.”

Raon shook his head while touching the world tree’s exterior.

“Then how…?”

“The world tree is expressing its gratitude towards Zieghart’s swordsman, not towards me.”

“…Zieghart’s swordsman?”

“Yes. This is a record I read from a book of martial arts in Zieghart…”

Raon told everyone about his ancestor’s memory while claiming that he’d read it from a book.

“I-I can’t believe it!”

The head elder shook his head, shouting that it was a lie.

“The world tree was revived thanks to the devotion of the elves, not by a human…”

“You’ll understand when you see this.”

Raon stroked the part where his ancestor had filled the holes, his hand blazing with the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s heat.

Even though it was on fire, the world tree radiated an even more intense sense of joy through its mana. The nostalgic and sweet fragrance of mana brought a smile to Raon’s face.

“Aah…”

“I can feel it too. The world tree is shouting in gratitude right now…”

“W-was it really Zieghart who helped it?”

The elves were feeling the world tree’s intense emotions, their lips trembling.

“Hah…”

Sterin gasped and clutched his forehead.

“I see, that’s what happened…”

“What?”

“I’ve been thinking that someone else had helped back then because there were too many strange things in the records, and this answers my question.”

He walked up to Raon and held his hands tightly. His sincerity seeped into the hands along with his warmth.

“Your ancestor was the one who saved the world tree.”

Sterin nodded, saying that he could finally understand the entire situation.

Raon curled his lips into a smile while watching the head elder and the elders tremble in frustration.

‘It worked.’

If he’d told them the story right off the bat, he would’ve been called insane and driven out.

However, the head elder had prepared the scene, and the world tree showed an intense reaction. As a result, none of the elves could suspect him anymore.

‘I can fully extort them now.’

Even with the bet, he wouldn’t be able to get everything he wanted from the head elder since he was in Seipia, but he could expect more rewards than promised because of the story of his ancestor.

‘And he’s not going to stop calling me the spirit king’s contractor anymore.’

Raon looked at Erian with a smile. He returned it with an even deeper smile while giving him a thumbs up.

“There was a good reason why you became the spirit king’s contractor! The world is a fair place, after all!”

Erian seemed to still believe that he was the spirit king’s contractor. It was just hopeless at this point how single-minded he was.

“No one is going to suspect you after seeing how happy the world tree is.”

Sterin looked up at the world tree for a while and calmly nodded. He leaned forward, putting his hands together in front of his chest.

“Seipia's protector greets the descendant of our benefactor.”

“Greetings to the descendant of our benefactor.”

Not just Sterin, but even the elves who were surrounding the world tree were bowing at him in unison with the exact same posture.

“Please don’t do this.”

Raon shook his hand. He immediately pulled Sterin to make him stand back up, as he hadn’t brought up the story about the ancestor to get thanked by them.

“It was our ancestor’s doing, not mine.”

“But that ancestor isn’t alive anymore. You have to accept our gratitude instead.”

Sterin shook his head, saying that elves could also feel gratitude.

“It’s really fine. It’s not the gratitude I want…”

Raon locked his lips and looked at the head elder, who was the only person who didn’t lower his head.

“I just want him to apologize.”

“Kuh!”

The head elder trembled violently, to the point where his shoulders looked like they were about to tear apart.

“Not only did you look down on the descendant of our benefactor, but even tried to drive him away…”

Rimmer shook his head while looking at the head elder.

“You should’ve held back a little.”

He clicked his tongue, saying that he was humiliating the entire elven tribe.

Raon walked up to the head elder and tilted his chin.

“Are you deaf or something? I told you to kneel. Why are you still standing?”

“I-I can’t believe it!”

The head elder shook his head while biting his lip.

“I can’t believe that a human saved the world tr—”

“It’s fine. Don’t believe it.”

Raon cut the head elder off and calmly nodded.

“Huh…?”

The head elder widened his eyes, surprised by how easily Raon accepted it.

“I’m telling you to kneel. It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not.”

Raon curled his lips into a smile while pointing his finger at the ground.

“Because you have to kneel regardless of if I’m the descendant of your benefactor or not. Don’t tell me the head elder of the great elven tribe wants to break his promise now?”

“B-by the way, why are you being so rude now?”

“Because you were rude to me first.”

It was laughable that he cared about courtesy now, but Raon politely answered his question.

He has a thing for rudeness!

Wrath shook his head, saying that he had seen it happen enough times before.

“Ugh…”

The head elder looked around with a red face, looking like he was about to suffocate.

However, the other elders and the elves weren’t standing behind him anymore.

“Where is the man who said that he would grant any of my wishes?” Raon asked and laughed at him.

“I’ll do it. I’m doing it!”

The head elder murmured that elves didn’t lie, unlike humans, and went on his trembling knees.

“Are you satisfied now…?”

“No.”

Raon shook his head and called Sterin and Siyan next to him.

“My condition was that you kneel and apologize to the three of us. You should sincerely beg for forgiveness from each of us.”

Raon looked down on the head elder with his arms crossed.

“Kuh…”

The head elder stayed with his head lowered for a long time, and then he finally turned towards Sterin, who was standing on the right side.

“Pr-protector. I apologize for my rudeness.”

He lowered his head with his voice trembling intensely.

“You need to control your temper a bit.”

“Yes…”

“I accept the apology.”

Sterin frowned, but still accepted the head elder’s apology. It was a reaction befitting his noble personality.

“Haa…”

The head elder sighed deeply and looked at Siyan, who was standing on the left side.

“La-lady Siyan. I’m sorry I called you unsightly.”

He lowered his head at Siyan as well and asked for forgiveness.

“I-it’s fine.”

Siyan nodded, still covered in the blanket. Raon had thought that she would feel uncomfortable because of her personality, but her voice felt strangely lively.

“It’s my turn now.”

Raon pointed at him with his chin, telling him to go for it.

“Guh…”

The head elder let out a suffocating groan and looked up to Raon, who was standing at the center.

“I-I was rude to you. I’m sorry.”

Unlike when he was asking for forgiveness from Sterin and Siyan, he only nodded his head slightly instead of lowering it, and his mumbled voice was difficult to understand.

“Haa…”

“Why are you standing up now when you didn’t even apologize properly?”

The head elder tried to stand up while letting out a sigh, but Raon pressed upon his shoulder.

“What are you talking about?! I apologized properly just now!”

He unleashed his fiery pressure and argued that it wasn’t the case.

“Unlike when you apologized to the protector, you didn’t even lower your head and your voice was too quiet.”

“Th-that’s…”

“I told you to sincerely beg for forgiveness, didn’t I? I didn’t feel any sincerity there.”

Raon bobbed his finger while easily brushing off the head elder’s fiery wave of energy.

“You can’t even apologize properly when you said you would do anything I wanted.”

“Raon is right about this.”

Sterin nodded while looking at the head elder.

“You did clearly mention that you’d do anything he wanted. It’s a pledge that you never should’ve made, but you have to keep it now.”

He raised his hand and pointed at the elves watching the scene. He was asking him to keep his dignity in front of his family.

“Haa…”

The head elder saw how they were looking at him with serious eyes and fell on his knee again.

“I-I’m sorry. I was rude to you.”

He lowered his head seriously and didn’t mumble either, just like when he’d apologized to Sterin.

“Hmm…”

“That’s pretty good.”

Sterin and Rimmer peacefully nodded their chins and acknowledged his apology.

“Then…”

Just as the head elder was about to stand back up, Raon held his shoulder again.

“I don’t like it. Do it again.”

Raon pointed at him with his chin, saying that it wasn’t enough.

“Argh! I didn’t lower my voice and properly lowered my head just like you requested!”

“You didn’t tell me what kind of rudeness you committed. Have you ever written a formal apology?”

He’d only mentioned that he was rude, without saying what he’d done exactly.

There was no reason to accept it since the most important part was missing.

“Formal apology…”

The head elder’s hand trembled as he knelt again.

“I-I looked down on you just because you are a human and treated you like a sinner. I apologize for my rudeness.”

He had to apologize three whole times.

“This is enough, right?”

“Your angle wasn’t right when you lowered your head.”

Raon shook his hand, telling him that he still had a long way to go.

“Aah…”

“Whoa…”

“He’s insane.”

Despair filled the head elder’s eyes, and the other elves turned pale. Everyone had realized that he was dealing with an insane human.

Raon made the head elder apologize six times total before he helped him to stand.

“I-is it okay now?”

The head elder panted with a face that looked at least 100 years older than before.

“You didn’t give me the Sylvan Stream berry yet.”

Raon shook his head and extended his hand.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll send it to your lodgings.”

The head elder shook his head, saying that he wouldn’t deceive him with that.

“Then give me a hundred of them. Thanks.”

Raon causally nodded.

“H-hundred?! What are you even saying now?!”

The head elder was turning around but suddenly shouted when he heard it.

“What’s the issue?”

“Why is it a hundred berries now?!”

“It’s always been a hundred in my mind.”

“You didn’t say that part. It’s too late to…”

“I just didn’t say it because you told me you’d grant any of my requests.”

Raon shrugged his shoulders, pointing at the head elder with his finger.

“Guh…”

The head elder chewed his lip, unable to refute what he said. What he’d said was returning to bite him.

“Send me a hundred of them. Don’t even miss a single one.”

Raon cheerfully waved his hand at the head elder, whose face was completely red. He didn’t think he’d be able to get a hundred of them, but he was determined to get at least two for each member of the Light Wind division.

“I told you that you were going to learn how a real punk behaves, didn’t I?”

Rimmer came forward and pointed at Raon.

“He’s the real punk. The biggest punk in the human realm!”

He giggled, telling the elves to behave themselves.

It’s not just the human realm. He’s the biggest punk of all dimensions.

Wrath ground his teeth violently while watching the scene.

A punk like that doesn’t even exist in Devildom!

* * *

The head elder collapsed with a face as pale as a corpse and had to be supported by the other elves to leave.

Raon licked his lips while watching the head elder getting further away.

‘What shall I use the last request for?’

You already pulled off his skin and separated the flesh from his bows, yet you still want to boil his bones.

Wrath shook his head, saying that it was such a cruel treatment.

‘That’s the best way to eat a fish.’

Raon tapped on Wrath with his forearm, saying that he should already be aware.

By the way, how did you learn that your ancestor saved the world tree?

‘I told you already, I saw my ancestor.’

Huh…?

Wrath blinked and shoved his face onto him.

W-were you serious about it?

‘Maybe…’

Raon shrugged his shoulders and examined the world tree.

‘It’s here.’

There was a mark of the ancestor’s sword, right above the plugged hole.

‘He was using sword manipulation.’

His sword manipulation was different from both the Holy Sword Alliance master and Sterin’s techniques. Raon couldn’t explain it, but there seemed to be some special power behind it.

‘If it’s the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s sword technique, I should be able to use it one day.’

Raon placed his hand on the plugged hole while thinking about the future.

Whir!

The world tree resounded like a sword, expressing its joy.

“Ooh!”

“The world tree is happy whenever that human touches it!”

“He must really be a descendant of our benefactor.”

“A human that makes the world tree respond. This will make a huge fuss.”

Most of the elves around him were now treating him as a benefactor. Raon felt slightly embarrassed because he wasn’t trying to cause that reaction.

‘I was just trying to crush the head elder and make them stop calling me the spirit king’s contractor, but I only added more strange rumors to the mix. But I’m glad I can touch the world tree now without any issues.’

No one was stopping him from touching the world tree as much as he wanted anymore because he was the descendant of the benefactor.

Raon used that opportunity to shove the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s energy into the world tree.

‘It must be in here.’

The ancestor must’ve inserted the beads around that part. He believed he could find them if he searched properly.

However, he couldn’t find any special energy inside the world tree even after he searched for a long time with the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s heat and Glacier’s coldness.

He could sense a small remnant of fire and water, but the huge energy he’d seen in the memory was completely gone.

Raon furrowed his brow and looked up at the world tree.

‘Did they become the world tree’s nutrients entirely?’

Since hundreds of years—or even a thousand—might have passed since then, it wouldn’t be strange if the energy of the beads were completely absorbed.

‘It’s a bit disappointing.’

Raon briefly clicked his tongue and took his hand off the world tree.

“Hmm?”

When he turned around, he noticed that Siyan was looking at the world tree’s trunk.

“This place…”

One of her pupils was half-revealed, as she pointed at the world tree’s bark where Raon’s hand had been placed until a moment ago.

“Ah, should I move away?”

“That’s not it. This place…”

Raon was about to withdraw, but Siyan shook her head.

“I’ve been here often with my mom.”

Her voice sounded lonely.

‘Mom…’

Rimmer had never gone to meet family members other than Sterin and Siyan. Raon hadn’t asked about it because he had a bad feeling about it, and the other family members—including their parents—must’ve parted from the world already.

“I heard that when my mom became pregnant with me, she came here often to enjoy the world tree’s wind.”

Siyan leaned her back against the plugged hole, still covered in the blanket.

“I feel at ease whenever I’m here.”

She murmured that she couldn’t go there too often because of the other people’s gazes.

“I see.”

Raon started to nod but stopped.

‘Wait a moment…’

The conversation made him remember something.

‘Wrath.’

What do you want?

Wrath was yawning and ascended while wriggling upon hearing the call.

‘You said before that Lady Siyan has been blocked by something thick and dense ever since her birth, right?’

Indeed.

He furrowed his brow, displeased by how he was making him repeat himself.

‘Then it’s possible.’

Raon walked up to Siyan and extended his hand.

“I’m sorry, but would you allow me to examine you, Lady Siyan?”

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Kyangi]

[Proofreader – Harley]