Chapter 62

Chapter 62

As the sun sank low in the evening sky.

Sari and Osun waited in the kingdom’s central plaza.

Beside them lay baskets woven from tree branches, and at a glance, they were filled to the brim with piles of clothes.

“Dojae! Why are you so late! We’ve been waiting forever!”

Sari waved her hand in greeting upon spotting Dojae.

Osun, both hands already full of baskets, bowed his head in greeting instead.

“What did you buy so much of?”

“Clothes, shoes, bags, food, and all sorts of things! I had to leave the village in such a hurry that I couldn’t pack properly.”

Sari proudly showed Dojae the clothes she bought in the kingdom.

Osun’s deeply furrowed expression made it clear he’d been through quite a lot.

“The kingdom really is the kingdom. It’s worlds apart from the plain clothes back in the village! But what about the leaves? Did you find them?”

“Not yet.”

“Not yet? That’s vague. Does that mean you haven’t found it, or you found it but couldn’t get it?”

“I found them, but I haven’t gotten them yet.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I plan to retrieve them during tomorrow’s finals. If the matchup works out.”

“The finals… the finals? You mean the finals of the tournament?”

Kakdak-.

When Dojae nodded, Sari was startled.

Osun, who had been pouting beside them, also showed interest.

“One of the Grey Elves who entered the tournament had a leaf. So I plan to beat that guy and get the leaf back. And I’m not exactly opposed to winning the whole thing either.”

“Whoa! No kidding! I heard the prize money for winning the tournament is huge!”

“If I do win, I’ll give it all to you guys. I don’t really need it myself.”

“Waaah! Dojae, you have to keep that promise!”

“M-Master!”

Sari and Osun clasped hands and danced gleefully.

Then Sari stopped abruptly.

“Dojae, but how strong are you? Are you strong enough to win easily?”

Osun also looked at Dojae curiously, as if wondering about Sari’s question.

“Well, I don’t know. I haven’t seen the other participants’ skills properly. I watched briefly from afar, but there were some seriously skilled folks too.”

“Oh, well, that’s that. But we’ll cheer you on hard anyway!”

“Master, I’m always on your side! Khehe!”

After living together for a few days, Dojae felt a strange lump in his throat thanks to Sari and Osonddo cheering him on.

“Right. Was there also a gray elf who looked like this?”

Sari seemed to remember something and started drawing on the floor.

The drawing wasn’t exactly masterful, but it captured the features well enough that he recognized who it was immediately.

“Hmm, I think I saw one. They barely made it through the second preliminary round.”

“Barely… Still, it’s a relief. Tubartan made it to the finals too!”

“Who is it? Is he from your village?”

“Yeah! He’s a friend I used to play with when we were kids. I really hope he doesn’t face Dojae until the very end. That way, we can both cheer for both of them! And this!”

Sari pulled a ring out of her pocket.

It was a ring so large it could fit comfortably on her thumb.

“This one’s for Dojae!”

Sari slipped the ring onto Dojae’s index finger.

The ring glowed, shrinking on its own until it fit perfectly, as if custom-made.

“What kind of ring is this?”

“Hmm… Why don’t you just take a look? Go to the fountain and take off your robe. Come on, come on!”

Dojae was curious about the nature of this ring, which kept slowly absorbing mana, but he decided to follow Sari’s instructions for now.

Slowly approaching the fountain, he shed his robe and brought his face close to the water reflecting the sunset.

“Ah…”

Dojae marveled at his reflection in the water.

Though his original form remained faintly visible, there stood a beautiful young man with porcelain skin and striking features.

The peculiar feature was his ears, which stood up sharply.

In other words, he was the form of a High Elf.

“How about this? This way, I’ll draw less attention, right? Of course, being a high elf, I’ll still get noticed.”

“It’s still the same thing, but… yeah, a high elf is less strange than a human.”

“Hehehe… It’s my way of thanking you for joining me on this journey!”

“Thanks, I’ll put it to good use.”

After the brief gift exchange, they headed to the inn Sari had reserved in advance.

Of course, all the luggage was in Osun’s hands.

***

The next day.

As dawn broke, the kingdom’s atmosphere grew even more heated than the day before.

This was because the main event of the festival, the tournament finals, was about to begin.

Since ordinary Grey Elves could also watch the finals, everyone was bustling about from dawn.

Those preparing food, those sorting flowers, various Grey Elves each welcomed the finals in their own way.

Crunch-.

Crunch.

Dojae also came outside and stretched in the backyard, preparing for the finals.

He tried donning the full golem armor and manipulated the golem’s nerves to lift a boulder.

‘It’s not perfectly controlled yet.’

Truthfully, Dojae was slightly nervous.

Without the golem’s eyes, he had to rely solely on experience and instinct to face his opponent. Using skills also demanded concentration, leaving only his sword and body as things he could truly trust.

Dojae drew the black-scaled blade from its sheath and began swinging it.

“Ouch! Aaargh!”

“Oh dear, be careful. Come here.”

Had he been swinging for about 30 minutes?

A cry came from beyond the backyard fence.

A gray elf child had fallen and scraped its knee. A woman who appeared to be its mother rushed over, picked it up, and carried it away.

‘One day, they might suddenly vanish from this world…’

The inhabitants of this world, after appearing from Earth due to dimensional interference, are treated as monsters.

Intelligent beings become monsters driven solely by hatred toward humans.

Even that little child, and the mother comforting him—they all become beings destined to be hunted down by humans.

‘What a pitiful world…’

But I can’t just feel sorry for them.

Humans also suffer severe damage, with millions losing their lives to monsters every year.

Ultimately, they inflict unwanted harm upon each other.

All because of one traitor.

“Haaam. What are you doing, Dojae?”

Sari came out to the backyard, yawning with half-closed eyes.

She smiled brightly and said to Dojae.

“Dojae, I’m hungry. Let’s go eat!”

Seeing Sari rubbing her stomach, Dojae felt the worries he’d been carrying just moments ago suddenly seem pointless.

“Sure, let’s go eat. Wake up Osun.”

“Wow! What should we eat, Dojae? Since it’s the main event today, how about some hearty cup noodles?”

Dojae nodded with a gentle smile and entered the inn with Sari.

‘Alright, for now, let’s focus on finding the leaves of Actria. And just think about killing Rishun and rescuing Youngjin. We can worry about what comes after later.’

***

“His Majesty the King will now deliver his congratulatory address!”

The tedious speech of the King of Tubalyn began.

Dojae sat in the waiting room, wrapped in his robe, waiting quietly.

Unlike Dojae, most of the Grey Elves had gone to the viewing gallery to listen to the King’s speech, but there were also Grey Elves who remained in the waiting room like him.

Namely, Salta, Catania, and an elderly gray elf who appeared quite advanced in years.

Thus, the four of them, including Dojae, waited for the main event in their own ways.

Then, one of them broke the silence.

“Khlhkh, I’ve heard plenty about you. Your eyes are full of venom.”

The elderly gray elf addressed Salta with eyes that were impossible to tell if they were open or closed.

“If I could kill with just my gaze, I’d have died a hundred times over by now!”

“Shut up, old man.”

“Oh dear, aren’t you being a bit too sensitive over a single remark?”

“If you’re looking for a fight, you picked the wrong opponent. Get lost.”

Salta threatened him with a voice dripping with menace.

Yet the elderly Grey Elf showed no fear whatsoever.

“Heh heh, anger makes for a splendid motivator. What do you plan to do with the championship prize money?”

“I told you to shut up.”

“Perhaps you plan to rebuild a village…”

Thud.

Crack-.

Salta leaped up and slammed his fist into the wall.

It didn’t seem like he’d hit it with all his strength, yet the wall caved in, leaving a deep dent from Salta’s fist.

“One more word out of your mouth, old man, and I might just kill you right here.”

“Scary! Got it, got it. You just go ahead and fume all you want by yourself. I’ll be having fun with that lovely lady over there. Heh heh heh.”

The elderly Grey Elf, contrary to his words, showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he chuckled and headed toward Catania.

“Young lady, how about we step outside for a cup of tea and have a chat?”

“I don’t have anything to say to Grandpa either.”

The elderly gray elf shot Catania a glare as he spoke, and Catania abruptly stood up and left.

“Ugh, tsk tsk. Youngsters these days have no respect, no respect.”

The elderly gray elf, seemingly deflated, returned to his seat and soon began nodding off.

Catania, having risen from her seat, approached the pottery in the corner.

“That old pervert. Did you rest well yesterday?”

“So-so. Didn’t really do anything yesterday.”

When Catania spoke to him, Dojae tore his gaze away from Salta.

The leaf right in front of him flickered, but he still had time to find the other two leaves. Plus, there was a tempting prize, so he was saving it for the main event.

“Well, I never expected you to be a summoner who handles Stone Golems. So there was a reason for that overflowing confidence despite your small frame?”

“Average height.”

“Huh? Ah, I didn’t mean to be rude, but for a guy, you’re kinda short…”

“Anyway, got something to say?”

“Ah, be careful.”

Katania said cautiously.

Dojae nodded and replied.

“Don’t worry, I can tell that guy’s strong too.”

“No, I’m not talking about Salta.”

“Then who else is there?”

“The participant from Black Lake Village. He’s coming over now.”

The gray elves entered the waiting room after the king’s speech ended.

Among them was a gray elf who concealed his identity in a different way than Dojae.

He wore a skull mask with long horns protruding from both sides, and the aura emanating from him was no less formidable than Salta’s.

“Those from Black Lake Village are a bit special. Unlike us Grey Elves or other elves, they use Sith magic. And that’s not the only thing that makes them unique. It’s a village with complicated circumstances.”

“What kind of complicated circumstances?”

“It’s a long story. Just know he’s a dangerous guy.”

“Now you’ve got me curious.”

“Sorry. The first match is about to start, so I gotta go watch. You’ll figure it out naturally once you see that guy’s battle.”

“Yeah. I guess that’s fine.”

Having finished the conversation, Catania returned to his seat.

Soon after, the referee entered the waiting room and immediately began the draw for the matchups.

The bracket was completed by placing papers with the names of the 16 participants into a transparent jar, mixing them, and then drawing them one by one in order.

“We’ll now proceed directly to the first round of the tournament. The first match is between Tarutan and Hauka.”