Became the Emperor in the Hero Game

31 – 30.

“Nice to meet you, world bestow.”

I didn’t feel the same sense of intimidation as when I first saw the Archduke, but I felt a higher rank than that.

It looked like an insignificant tree from the outside, but I had an intuition that no sword would dare to cut its branches, and no flame would be able to burn its leaves.

At my greeting, a leaf from the World Tree fell and soon changed into the shape of a woman.

“Please forgive me for not being able to welcome you in person, Emperor.”

I said after a small nod.

“You look like an elf. No, do elves resemble you?”

“Yes.”

It was Arbo who received those words.

“In terms of the first generation, that is to say, high elves by elf standards, all of them are Regina’s own children. So, of course, her descendants, the elves, must also resemble her.”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“Is that so? Certainly, it’s been a long time since I stopped interacting with humans.”

Listening to Arbo saying that there was a lot of interaction in the past, and that now there are halves of humans and elves in key positions among elves, the World Tree, who seemed lost in reminiscence, looked at me and said.

“I came to get the elixir.”

“Yes.”

“Then I must meet Seren.”

Seren, contemporary. No, maybe she’s an invitational queen of elves.

I remember facing each other several times when forming an anti-demon lord alliance.

There was nothing that could be called a major conflict, but there were several conflicts of opinion, and it wasn’t a friendly relationship, so it was inevitable to be nervous.

If Shien regarded killing the demon king as a debt, the negotiations might be easier, but it bothered me that her daughter was also on the journey.

“Where is she?”

At my words, the World Tree pointed to a very fancy palace nearby.

The palace, with trees of all colors intertwined to form pillars and decorated with jewel-like leaves, was so splendid that it did not fit in with this forest.

“… What a palace Excluding my imperial castle, it seems more splendid than any other building in mankind.”

“That’s Seria’s taste. Originally, it was just a modest mansion, but after the birth of the child, I put a lot of effort into her.”

Although Arboi spoke very proudly, he thought that if he had built a palace of that caliber, it would certainly be worth it.

As with Artemia’s palace, do all the dragons have a great sense of aesthetics?

I thought it was a plausible hypothesis because there was a rumor that Hwangseong also had a taste for the guardian dragon.

As I was about to step into the palace, a voice I hadn’t heard in quite a while rang in my ears.

“There is no need to come.”

Then, Selene, the Queen of the Elves, slowly walked out of the palace and revealed herself.

“It’s been a while, Emperor of the Empire.

“… Long time no see, Queen of the Elves.”

The Elf Queen.

The daughter of the world tree, the king of all elves.

The last time I saw her, that is to say, the feeling was completely different from the last time I saw her as a mage.

It is highly unlikely that the elf has changed in that short amount of time, so she must be able to see what she couldn’t see then.

She wasn’t the transcendental person Arbo said. To be precise, she didn’t have to become an Transcendentalist.

Since the world’s rules are already on her side, why bother trying to break away from them?

It was not difficult to predict that she would have been able to do things since she was born that I could only do after reaching her enlightenment after reaching the Transcendental Being.

At least in this forest, her words will take precedence over my yellow words.

Well, in the first place, as an elemental mage, I ascended to her transcendence, so even if there was a battle between her and her here, I wouldn’t be pushed back, but as long as the dragon and the world tree are staring at me, a demonstration of force is impossible.

Then, what can I offer her?

“Let me be direct. Jim needs an elixir.”

“It’s an elixir… “

At my words, the Elf Queen put on a troubled expression.

From the expression I had seen numerous times during the anti-demon king alliance meeting, I could tell that she was not really in trouble.

It’s just her way of negotiating in her own way.

“I will pay the price. Jim’s Vigo is not lacking compared to the dragon’s, so you can have whatever you want.”

“I am an elf living in the Great Forest. They do not value worldly things.”

Funny sounds.

From the bracelets she wears to her necklaces and rings.

Each one is an artifact of the final level.

I can’t feel the energy of the world tree, so it must be something from the continent.

“Then what about the others besides you? Not all elves are greedy.”

For example, your four daughters who are insolent.

It was me who swallowed the gossip, but it seemed that the intention was fully conveyed.

She has heard reports of her taking jewels from all the nobles whenever she visits the islands or the capitals of other kingdoms.

“Hmm… That’s right. I don’t know if there is anything that matches the value of the elixir.”

In the past, the Elf Queen added that there were many people willing to go to war with other factions to obtain the elixir.

“Well, I can erase a kingdom or two if you want.”

“I will decline that. Because it doesn’t do us any good.”

After that, several meaningless search battles came and went.

If you don’t intend to give it away at all, even this conversation won’t continue, but in the midst of frustration because you don’t know what you want, the Elf Queen asked a question.

“By the way, who is the emperor trying to get the elixir for?”

“I don’t know if you remember, but for the sake of the Duke of Pale.”

“It’s Duke Pale, of course I remember it. He was so strong that it was hard to believe that he had not trained for such a long time, so it remains in my memory, but it is surprising that he was seriously injured.”

“Well, there was a reason for that.”

Actually, that surprises me too.

How strong was that god of Lordaeron that made the Duke of Pale look like that?

Of course, being weak is strange for a great mage who has lived for 300 years, but I never thought he would push the Duke of Pale to that extent.

Unlike masters who have a certain fighting power anywhere, even considering that he is a great mage whose fighting power rises dramatically in an advantageous space, I would never have thought he would show that much power in the kingdom of Daman, not the old site of Edelwein.

“You seem to be facing a rather strong enemy.”

Tsk.

“It’s not tidy for the Queen to worry about, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Is that so? For me, it is because I am worried about a comrade who once fought over the same enemy.”

“If you really care, I would appreciate it if you could give me an elixir.”

“Because it is a position where you cannot give away the treasure of the clan based on your personal feelings. Unfortunately, that seems difficult.”

“I guess so.”

My tone naturally became brusque as we continued the meaningless conversation.

As expected, I don’t like elves.

Forcing my inner feelings down, I spoke again.

“Queen. Please don’t tell me that you can’t give me the elixir because you’ve negotiated with me. Jim is not used to negotiations like this, so please tell me exactly what you want.”

“What if I replied that I couldn’t give you the elixir, and that I came here just to be polite to the emperor who came to visit me?”

“Then it is a war.”

At her reply, the Elf Queen widened her eyes as if surprised, and Arbo pointed her finger at her, saying, “Look at him.”

“… Even the emperor knows that the odds of winning are low, right?”

“That’s not important. I will bring all of my magic corps and turn the Great Forest into a sea of fire. I don’t know if it’s the center, but I can burn the outer rim enough. With everything that can be burned burned, outside the borders of the remaining forest, I will continue to fire magic bombardments without rest, with the Archduke as my escort.”

I talked about the method of fighting the elves that I remembered while walking all the way here.

Of course, that is the number of the lesser evil.

I don’t know what will happen if the empire is left empty for a long time, accompanied by the Magic Corps and the Imperial Knights to deal with the elves who will run out of the forest.

Remaining nobles may revolt, kingdoms may rise.

Since there is no heir to take care of the empire on my behalf, there will be chaos.

I have confirmed that Arbo can interfere with my spatial magic, so it is impossible to move them with large-scale spatial magic.

After transferring to a place far away from the Great Forest, we will have to march for some time, so that alone will take quite a bit of time.

Also, doing so doesn’t guarantee victory.

If the remnants of Edelwein are after you, it could be really dangerous, and there is a possibility that the World Tree and Arbo will show unexpected skills even outside the forest.

But, all of that.

It is better than going back without any results even though I personally came all the way here to negotiate.

In order to maintain the hegemony of the empire, the emperor must not fail, you could add reasons like that, but to be honest, my damn pride won’t allow me to roll my tail like this.

“… Well, it was a joke.”

Realizing that I meant no joke, the Elf Queen straightened her posture and opened her mouth.

“First of all, we need some commitments. First, those who took the elixir and their descendants must not be hostile to us elves in the future. Because we can’t recover our future enemy.”

“… This is an unexpected condition.”

Are the elves holding the Empire in check as well as I’m holding them in check?

My expression clearly showed my question, so the elven queen gave me an answer.

“The reason I was able to survive from the distant past to the present is because I knew how to grasp the subject. If I had looked at the world through the eyes of my parents, I would have lost my life during the Great War.”

The World Tree and Green Dragon are indeed strong and great, but the Elves, including herself, are not that orderly, said the Elf Queen.

Well, starting with Kiriya, I kept meeting gods and dragons, so my sense of reality was a little blurred, but the empire and humans were by no means weak forces.

If it’s the head of a species, it’s only natural to keep it in check.

It’s not such a good story, but the corners of my mouth went up slightly at the fact that even the elves didn’t disrespect the empire like those transcendents.

I tried to control my expression and added a clue.

“Does that condition apply even if the Elves attack first?”

“Our first priority for the empire is… “

There won’t be any, the queen was speechless.

It must have reminded you of a kingdom whose name you don’t remember, which disappeared at the hands of elves not too long ago.

“… If that happens, how about leaving the judgment to a third party? If our attack is deemed reasonable, the Duke of Pale and his descendants will not participate in the war, otherwise they will participate.”

“When you say third party, who do you mean?”

In order to become a third party under such conditions, it must have the power to exercise coercive force against the party that broke the contract.

Is there anyone who can do that?

“My mother has a long relationship with Kiriya, so if she asks Kiriya, she won’t refuse.”

My mother’s friend is the main god of the continent.

The more she thought about it, the more she readily agreed, feeling that the elf in front of her was also an enormous golden spoon.

“According to old records, Kiriya has many names, and one of them is said to be the Executor of Justice. Then you can trust it.”

After that, I had several discussions with the Elf Queen.

The right of way for elves within the Empire.

The treasures of the old elves that were sleeping in Vigo.

And…

“So, do you want me to send you a hero?”

Is this elf senile?