“Calm down, Aiden. Checking Linia’s condition comes first.”
Chesa grabbed Aiden, who was about to head straight to the family head’s mansion.
“………”
Under the influence of the trait, Aiden’s mind rapidly stabilized. Soon, he laid Linia’s body on the bed.
Clara, her expression unusually hardened, approached.
<Dragon Visor>
Whirr—
A halo of light enveloped Linia’s body. The healing magic, incomparable to that of an ordinary priest, quickly mended the torn flesh and bones.
“Seeing how easily it’s healing, fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any brain damage. But without me, a large scar would definitely have remained on Linia’s face. To do this to a lady… That guy from earlier is really despicable.”
Aiden glared at the late-arriving security officers.
“Let’s continue where we left off. Guide me to Family Head Barahal Lakel Arieldee.”
“But the family head’s schedule is still….”
“Can’t you understand? If this request isn’t granted, I’ll formally express regret to the Great Forest side as the second son of the Stroke Principality and sub-master of Blispiel.”
“…!”
“We came here formally invited to the Great Forest. While staying as guests of the family, we were openly attacked by fairies from another family. This greatly concerns your family’s prestige as well.”
The fairy security officer’s expression hardened.
He realized this was no ordinary matter.
Just a few hours later, we met with Barahal a day ahead of schedule.
<Barahal Lakel Arieldee>
[Level: 42/51]
[HP: 07] [STR: 07] [AGI: 11]
[MP: 23] [Mental: 08] [Sense: 16]
[Divinity: 04]
[Traits: Shaman (S+), Magic Prodigy (B), and 4 others]
[Skills: Top-Class Spirit Arts (S), Fairy Tree Magic · Extreme (A), Arieldee Archery (B), Arieldee Heart Method (B), and 5 others]
[Description: Age 123, high fairy of the Arieldee family and current head. One of the Great Forest’s Fifteen Divine Guards.]
Pure fairies had lifespans about 50% longer than humans. However, the old man before me appeared in his early eighties even by human standards.
“I hear you’ve experienced an unfortunate incident, great-grandson.”
“Thanks to someone’s lax security.”
What came out of my mouth was clearly sarcasm, but the cunning family head’s eyebrow didn’t twitch.
“Let me hear the reason for your visit to Illinoer.”
“Let’s put that aside for now. I’d like to hear why you permitted my visit, great-grandfather.”
“Ahem….”
One of the fairy elders cleared his throat.
Clearly intending to point out my rude speech.
But Barahal himself showed no sign of caring.
“Aiden Stroke, you too were born from the roots of the Arieldee family. You’ve inherited the blood of one of the high fairies.”
I nodded.
As a quarter, the external features had all vanished, but the fairies’ unique traits still lay dormant within my body.
“You, a high fairy of the Arieldee family, have something you must do for us. If you accept this, I’ll permit you to receive the ‘Blessing of the Great Tree.’”
“You speak as if you’re doing me a favor, but that proposal is probably for me to participate in the ‘Thornwood Duel’ against the Kirianejial family, right?”
“…!”
For the first time, Barahal’s expression, which had been the epitome of calm since the meeting began, flickered. The elders behind him also seemed to stir.
I had a hunch, and their reactions confirmed it.
[MacGuffin No.658 / 『Fairy Duel』 has been collected.]
[Achievement Points +250]
As the mainstream in Illinoer, the Arieldee family currently monopolized interactions with external forces from the Great Forest.
But I found it odd because, at the original story’s timeline, the vast majority of fairies who had left the Great Forest were inexplicably from the Kirianejial family.
In short, around this time, there must have been a shift in the power structure within the Great Forest for some reason.
The cause seemed to be the ‘Thornwood Duel,’ mentioned only in a corner of the setting book. It was such a minor detail that I only recalled it after being attacked by the Kirianejial family side.
“……The Thornwood Duel is a half-forgotten custom. How does someone raised outside know about the duel?”
“That’s not important right now. Who has the Kirianejial family publicly announced as their participant in the duel?”
“…Erendrel Paru Kirianejial. The member of the Fifteen Divine Guards who attacked you.”
“I see. So you planned to use me as a sacrificial lamb.”
The room fell silent.
The Thornwood Duel.
This tradition, originating from a duel Tiamia Lapiru Arieldee fought long ago, was the final resolution when conflicts between Illinoer’s three families showed no path to compromise.
The rules were simple.
Fight until one side was incapacitated or dead, and follow the opinion of the victorious family.
The key point was that the participants eligible for the duel were limited to high fairies from each family.
And currently, among the Arieldee family’s high fairies, there was no one who could match him equally.
High fairies contributed to the Great Forest’s administration and daily life through their dominion over plants. Thus, the number of high fairies each family possessed symbolized their influence in the Great Forest, and for Barahal, the death of a blood relative was an outcome to avoid at all costs.
“So, you intended to throw in me, an outsider who barely qualifies as a participant, to at least avoid sacrificing your precious family. Publicly announcing that I, greedy for the Blessing of the Great Tree, recklessly entered the duel and died.”
“………”
“I’m curious about the repercussions if I left the forest right now and announced this, great-grandfather.”
A blessing in disguise.
The Kirianejial family side had likely attacked the quarters to provoke another high fairy to step forward. But thanks to that, I gained a crucial hint and seized the initiative in this negotiation.
Even so, this was completely unexpected.
Aiden Stroke was a character who had already died in the original history, so this was entirely a result of the butterfly effect.
“………”
The Arieldee family fairies fell silent.
Having shaken them enough, it was time to offer the carrot.
I spoke while looking at them.
“Well, whatever. I’ll overlook all that and participate in the Thornwood Duel.”
“…Are you serious?”
“My attendant, who’s like family, was humiliated. It’s an opportunity to legitimately beat the culprit—I can’t pass it up. Of course, not for free; there are a few conditions. If acceptable, I’d like to formalize them in a magic contract.”
Barahal furrowed his brow, puzzled by my intent. But it was too sweet a proposal to reject out of suspicion.
Shortly after.
- Lend Aiden Stroke the family head’s pass while he stays within the Great Forest.
- Additionally, the Arieldee family will not interfere with or attach monitors to the four from the Blispiel Clan during the pass lending period.
- Aiden Stroke will maintain secrecy regarding the Arieldee family’s embarrassments.
- Once after the contract, at a time Aiden Stroke desires, the Arieldee family will dispatch elites from the Branch Knight Order to support the Blispiel Clan.
*The duration the knight order stays is up to 1 year.
*Board and lodging fully provided by Blispiel side.
- Transfer partial authority over the Blessing of the Great Tree held by the Arieldee family to Aiden Stroke.
※However, items 2/3/4 are valid only if Aiden Stroke wins the Thornwood Duel.
===
Barahal and I signed the contract with mana-infused ink and stamped it with our blood-smeared fingerprints.
With this, we were bound to strictly adhere to the contract’s contents.
“The duel is in two weeks.”
“Shorter than expected. What were you planning if I hadn’t arrived on time?”
“Your arrival was earlier than expected, so the schedule tightened. We needed to push to the duel before issues arose regarding a quarter’s participation rights.”
I nodded and rose from my seat.
After Aiden left.
Barahal met privately with Fina Lu Arieldee, the fairy envoy who had visited the Stroke Principality in the past.
“This isn’t what we discussed.”
“…I apologize. But during the principality visit, Aiden’s level was clearly around the bottom of elite knights—he seemed unable to withstand even my first strike.”
That was why Fina had been puzzled upon hearing Aiden survived Erendrel’s attack. After seeing his tremendous growth over two years in person, that puzzlement turned to astonishment.
“…To grow to a level rivaling the Fifteen Divine Guards in just two years and a few months since picking up the sword? Indeed, in talent alone, he might surpass Erendrel.”
After pondering, Barahal suddenly asked Fina.
“Do you see a chance of victory in the duel?”
“It’s not impossible to win, but nine out of ten, he’ll lose. Based on testimonies from those who observed the duel two years ago, Aiden seems to possess power that shatters the opponent’s ‘energy armor.’ He’s probably relying entirely on that technique.”
In short, the likelihood of him being killed by Erendrel in the duel was very high.
Of course, even if it went that way, preventing a blood relative’s sacrifice was the goal, so for the Arieldee family, it was a gain.
“If he wins, all the better.”
The old man chuckled softly while looking at the contract copy.
Suddenly, I turned toward the mansion where the Arieldee family’s high fairies resided.
The root cause of Linia’s current hospitalization was Erendrel, but the Arieldee family’s negligence in inviting us was significant too.
I had no intention of letting this slide vaguely.
After the duel, I planned to make all the Arieldee high fairies bow their heads before Linia.
That old man Barahal was probably gleeful right now, unaware he’d fallen into a trap.
“Aiden. So, can you win against that jerk Erendrel? He looked insanely strong.”
“Probably about a 20% win rate if we fought now.”
Clara jumped in shock at my words.
“What? So out of 10 fights, you’d win 2?! Is that assuming you’re not wearing any relics?”
“Yeah. The Thornwood Plaza where the duel happens has a yang magic called <Elf Row> cast on it. By the space’s rules, magic equipment besides weapons is filtered out and unusable, and armor is limited to leather at best.”
In other words, reliable gear like the Fortune Wheel Amulet (S) had to be removed entirely for the duel.
Among my possessions, the items I could take into the duel arena were the Cohen-forged Attribute Sword · Thunder “Ure” (S-) and the Burn Sword (A) obtained from the Snowflower Swamp, plus strong wire at most.
It was truly a stage to determine superiority with pure abilities alone.
Of course, even without item bonuses, I, having ridden an extremely optimized tree this time, was nearly a level cheater.
Assuming no particular compatibility issues, I could bridge a 5-level gap.
The reason I rated the win rate at 20% wasn’t just that, but because there was a wall between Level 39 and 40.
Namely, the presence or absence of a title trait.
Readers even gave characters Level 40 and above a nickname ‘near-Heroes’ not mentioned in the story, just because of title traits.
But this time, I had learned three more B-grade swordsmanships besides Dearside Variant Swordsmanship (A) from Blake.
Thus, to evolve Swordsmanship Genius (A) into Sword Demon (S+), I just needed to raise my level by 1 more.
Sucking down a few A-grade elixirs, training intensely for two weeks—I should be able to raise it by about 1.
“But that doesn’t guarantee 100% victory, so that’s why I came here.”
I stopped and looked around.
Using the family head’s pass from the contract, we had entered the center of the Great Forest—the place called the fairies’ sanctuary.
Thanks to clause 1, which I attached under the pretext of wanting to prepare for the duel calmly in a desired location.
“Originally, I planned to just remove the blessing this time and leave the forest appropriately… but since things turned out this way, I might as well extract the full value.”
“Yeah. The elixir sleeping here is called Thousand Water Root (S), right?”
I nodded at Chesa’s question.
The third S-grade elixir I considered ingesting, the Thousand Water Root was an item solidified from the energies slowly collected over 400 years from the fairies who received the ‘Blessing of the Great Tree.’
The most core arrangement Tiamia had prepared for 400 years later.
In other words, in the original history, it was the elixir she had gulped down upon awakening from her 400-year slumber.
By tracing the sanctuary with the mana detection ability of the grimoire Nano Eater, I could pinpoint its location. Tiamia had placed powerful barriers to prevent any of her descendants from approaching the elixir, but they were all useless before <Void>.
[Thousand Water Root (S) Ingestion / Absorption Rate 81%]
[Absorption rate correction due to the shared holder Chesa Utland’s Extreme Mana Circulation Body (S) trait! 81% → 92%]
Absorption begins.