novelGreat Ancient Mage, Destroy (2)
| ← Ch.431 | Ch.433 → |
"I won't interfere with you establishing your own kingdom."
"Is that true...Sir?"
George rejoiced at what Evan said as he was panting while following the Silk Line's royal family training method taught by Evan (although he taught the original version of it, even Evan couldn't be certain of how it would be passed down to the next generations).
"Are you perhaps trying to become the king..."
"Me? No way. I'm not a citizen of this place, and I don't intend to do something that's a hassle."
"Zero is already the king of the Forest. Unlike a petty individual who can't even manage the humans, he is the one who will break the chains of this world through uniting all races."
Mirole added her statements, although she could have just stayed silent. George looked rather confused. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice how Mirole regarded him as a petty individual. Or maybe he couldn't afford to notice such details.
"King of the Forest? Uniting all races? What on earth..."
"You won't be going into the forest, so they aren't important for you to bother."
Evan didn't want to explain his role in the Forest, so he skipped Mirole's words and spoke.
"Hmm!?"
George made a peculiar voice. To describe his eyes that were filled with emotions, it would be puzzlement.
"Aren't we going...to the Forest?"
"As expected, you had that in your mind. Was that the reason you obediently accepted my offer to become my follower? You thought of an opportunity to make an arrangement with them if you ever see me getting along well with the elves. You know, acquiring some food in the Forest with their help."
"Argh."
George behaved somewhat like a king in the latter part of the Yo-Ma Great War Zero, but right now, he was just a lad whose intentions were read easily by Evan. Maybe he couldn't maintain his poker face due to Evan's tremendous power.
"Unfortunately, that's not possible. You guys can't enter the Forest. One of the reasons why I've asked you guys to follow me is to prevent you from entering the Forest."
"Krgh."
Most of the areas outside the boundary of the World Tree were comprised of barren lands where food was scarce. There was a reason behind why the surviving humans tried to enter the Forest despite having their guards against the elves. Of course, the trees and the Forest plants followed what the spirits said, so they wouldn't provide any food to the humans, but the humans weren't aware of such a thing.
The conflict between the human force gathered by George and the elves was treated as one of the major problems in Yo-Ma Great War Zero. The situation was already difficult with demons, dragons, and the existence of other worlds. This put the Great Ancient Mage and Mirole in an even more difficult position.
'Recalling it pisses me off. It's this simple, yet that bastard made it so difficult...!'
That's right. Players of the Yo-Ma Great War Zero cursed George for he was appointed as the group leader due to his awkwardly superb ability. He went against the Great Ancient Mage, which delayed the formation of allied forces among different races.
'He is that much of a problem, yet he needs to be saved even if he goes against me!'
Players who ignored whatever might come to the Silk Line and killed George saw the bad ending. They created a lot of posts on the discussion board, demanding for a Yo-Ma Great War series that didn't have the Silk Line in it.
"To me, those living in the Forest are more important than you guys. You are an army with a somewhat organized system, so I can't leave you guys among the Forest people. You guys need to act independently."
"If then, you won't have to command us..."
"I need to. I can stop your foolish decisions and reckless actions and then guide you to the right path for the ultimate result...yeah, including the establishment of the kingdom which you spoke of."
George looked stupefied. But still, he was doing the posture of Evan's training in the midst of it. It looked funny when everyone was doing the same movements.
"In other words, aren't you helping us out?"
"You still don't know. Whether you call it to help or not, it doesn't really matter much to me. What's important is that with you following my command, this world will be led to the right path. I won't interfere if you bring in some extra income during the course."
Evan planned to complete this world by raising George's group like a simulation game. And the same applied to the allied force in the Forest of the World Tree. Only their area of activity and methods were different. The more pawns he could use, the better. If the pawn could make independent decisions and take appropriate actions to the situation, it would be the best.
"Have the world go to the right path? What are you...?"
The scale of Evan's words was rather big. The future of the world was uncertain. If Evan didn't lead the scenario to its right path as the protagonist of Yo-Ma Great War Zero...it was impossible to make George understand such a sense of crisis. However, Evan had a solution to this problem.
"I believe that is the will of the Great Mother Earth. Her disciple is accompanying me."
"Great Mother Earth..."
George stood still and mumbled. As expected, the existence of the gods surely does come in handy. Evan thought of such a disrespectful thing with a light smile. George was charmed by his conniving smile and ended up nodding along.
"Understood. I have no other options but to follow you, and if I can achieve my goal in the end...I will do whatever you expect from me."
"Good. I will make sure you won't die of hunger, at least."
He was creating vast amounts of food in the Necklace world through the blessings of the Great Mother Earth and his alchemy, along with the power of the soil within that place. Evan could feed the group led by George regardless of their numbers.
"Is it true!? Then we won't need to go to the Forest."
"Yeah, but you guys will be busy from now on, so be ready for it. You will sacrifice yourself more if you want to establish a country in your name."
"I'm already prepared for it."
"Good, then I'll guide you through what you need to do for the moment."
"Do I need to maintain this posture?"
"Nope."
George wanted to escape from the painful training before starting the conversation, so he stood up while smiling brightly at Evan's reply.
"Let's move on to the next posture. This training requires moving the body according to an adequate time interval."
"..."
* * *
Evan gave instruction to George and his group, which was gentler than the movements which his group had shown in the game and the fastest way to strengthen themselves. He let them go after giving them a transmitter to get in contact with him. The best instruction available to Evan in Yo-Ma Great War Zero as 'If I'm the George L. Silk Line' series was the most notorious one after Yo-Ma Great War 3: 'If I'm the Marquis of Sherden'.
Compared to the hardships George experienced in the history of this world, he should bow down to Evan in great gratitude.
"I was expecting us to act together for the meantime."
"It's meaningless."
"Even so."
Then, Maybell blinked her eyes and seemed surprised as Evan sent away George and his people. Of course, she understood that, unlike others who were saved by Evan, George and his people didn't seem to trust Evan unconditionally, so she felt a bit uncomfortable. Even worse, some among them gave a vicious look to Maybell, who stuck close to Evan. George had something in him that allowed his people to partly ignore Evan's charisma and possess vile thoughts about his woman.
"But you can control them if you want."
That's right. Evan's charm was ridiculously high to the point that such a level didn't exist in Human Realm, Demon Realm, and even in the Divine Realm. It wasn't impossible for Evan to take complete control over George and his people if he put in a little bit of effort. But Evan read her mind and replied as he sneered.
"We are an unparalleled force. It's no good for us to move with the weak ones who just picked up their pace."
"You've invested a considerable amount of time to those in the Forest. I believe you are caring for them."
A nice comment. Evan stroked her cheek.
"In fact, it's better to have me be by their side and train them even if it is for a short period. Teaching them how to handle weapons and training them systematically like what I've done for those in the Forest."
"Yes, I thought so, too."
"Yup, I don't want to do that. I don't like them."
"I see."
How much did George's group trouble Evan in the game! So, they couldn't have an easy life with Evan providing them with everything!
"And...if they are stronger than the needed level, I'm afraid of the impact to the future."
Actually, teaching them the Silk Line training method at this point was already a risky decision. Moreover, he even gave them instruction on their future, so their survivability and growth level would be incomparable to what they were in the game. This world was full of unpredictable factors, so Evan could simply ignore his actions while covering them up with an excuse to make them safer, but if Evan provided them with items and training manuals, it was a matter of question whether only a single country named Silk Line Empire would be established in the future.
"If then, they will be greedy over the regions that are outside the boundary of humans. That won't do good to the elves. So, allowing those who have leadership, like George, to gain strength must be prevented."
"It wasn't simply an emotional dispute."
Evan felt a prick at his conscience as he saw Maybell admire him, so he decided to tell her a bit about his intention.
"Actually, my personal emotions made the most impact. I can't be with those who give you vicious looks."
"Oh my, Master. No matter who looks at me, I'm all yours."
Maybell felt satisfied with Evan's possessiveness, so she instinctively acted cute towards him. At the moment where Maybell tried to start up her romantic fire, Mirole interfered.
"Thank you...for considering our Forest when handling the humans, Zero."
Although her intention was impure, her words were sincere. Evan understood it and replied while smiling bitterly.
"Ah, yeah. It's that those guys aren't people who can be trusted completely. I can't have them into the Forest."
"Actually, if you wanted, I would have respected your decision. Did you forget? Mother has already recognized you as the king of the Forest. You have all the right to make that call."
The World Tree really acknowledged him as the King of the Forest for some reason. Maybe. Perhaps.
"But you've just proven yourself to be worthy through your earlier decision. I'm really happy about it."
"Yeah."
"Yes. I thought it was cool."
Mirole sneakily came close to Evan as she spoke. The 700-year-old elf had become rather daring ever since she left the Forest. In the game, she barely managed to appeal to herself by brewing Elven Tea for the Great Ancient Mage in the middle to late part of the game!
"Give me a moment. There are some topics I'd like to discuss with him as queen of the Forest."
"Uh, umm...okay. Alright. I'll do that."
Evan answered, but he slightly avoided Mirole. He understood her intention well, and he intentionally made her feel that way to some point, but Evan wasn't ready yet to rush things with her. He felt hurt in his conscience since he remembered her image back in Sherden whenever he saw her. This wouldn't stay the same forever, but it was too much to ask for as of the moment.
"You look cute trying hard. Hehe."
"Krggggh...!"
Maybell laughed at Mirole, who failed to break down the decisive wall with Evan, unlike herself. Mirole stared at Maybell ferociously for a short while, then she looked at Evan while sneering.
"Zero, anyways. do you intend to rest here for today?"
The day was coming to an end. He wanted to have the force in the Forest complete the dungeons nearby the warp gate tomorrow, so there was no need to move further. He nodded.
"Yup. I'm done cleaning up the perimeter, so let's rest inside the Necklace world."
"Good, I'll brew you more tea today when we get there! The Elven Tea!"
"Ye-yeah."
Was Mirole trying to force Evan into becoming her family member by offering him the Elven Tea, which only family drinks? Evan took the girls into the Necklace world along with his foolish thoughts.
It was no surprise the little witches who waited for him inside the world started clinging on him, which made him more fatigued.
| ← Ch. 431 | Ch. 433 → |