Game of the World Tree

“Should I address you all as esteemed members of the Divine Clan… or perhaps as elves?”

Hearing the man’s seemingly friendly but subtly meaningful words, the players glanced at each other, exchanging looks of surprise.

Ever since they discovered that the local inhabitants of this demi-realm worship elves as Divine Beings, they’d been trying to subtly ask Lilia and the others if they’d ever heard of the term “Elves.”

Alas, Lilia and her companions had never encountered nor even heard of the word.

Yet here was this male NPC, casually revealing their true identity.

Could it be that… he knows something?

For a moment, the five players’ eyes lit up.

A key NPC!

This man had to be the crucial NPC for their hidden quest!

He placed his right hand over his chest, bowing slightly before speaking in a weak voice:

“Cough…Please allow me to introduce myself…”

“I am Roergue, the Seventeenth Elder of the Divine Grace Clan.”

After introducing himself, he turned to Lilia with a gentle smile and said,

“Lilia, go attend to your tasks. I have some things I need to discuss with our esteemed guests.”

“But… Elder Roergue, the Mandragora Flower has just arrived, and you haven’t taken your medicine yet. Shouldn’t you first…?”

Lilia said worriedly.

“Don’t worry. this little illness of mine is nothing with our esteemed guests here, and the magical flower you brought back.”

Elder Roergue offered a comforting smile.

After casting a hesitant glance at the players and then at her elder, Lilia finally nodded, giving a respectful bow before leaving the room.

As she left, she couldn’t help but turn back, saying,

“Please, Elder Roergue, remember to take your medicine first!”

“Rest assured.”

Roergue waved her off, watching as she finally reluctantly departed.

Only when Lilia had fully disappeared from sight did the elder’s gentle smile fade, and he sighed softly, saying,

“Lilia is a good child…everyone in this little town is.”

There was a hint of sorrow and regret in his tone.

After a brief silence, Roergue looked at the players again, his expression changing into a more serious look.

Once more, he bowed respectfully to them, tracing a roughly-shaped tree symbol across his chest, and solemnly said,

“I, Roergue, greet you, Honorable Divine Envoys.”

“Honorable Envoys, I have awaited your arrival for a long, long time… all of us forsaken ones have awaited for so very long…”

That…tree symbol?

Divine envoys?

The forsaken ones?

The five players were stunned.

⤷ This man actually knows the goddess’s symbol! Guys, do you think… they’re also believers of the goddess?

⤷ I don’t know. But if they really are believers of the goddess, then wouldn’t she already know about them? I mean, why would she need us to go to this place to find the last fragment when she could have just sent these people an oracle to do it instead?

⤷ Well he did call themselves as ‘forsaken ones’ … so maybe the Goddess had abandoned them?

⤷ I have no idea about that…

The players typed their thoughts into their chatroom, clearly puzzled over these new revelations.

However, just before they could ask any further questions, the elder suddenly began coughing violently. A faint, unhealthy flush appeared upon his face as his breathing visibly weakened further.

Noticing his rapidly deteriorating condition, the tank, Optimist, frowned and said, “Mr. Roergue, Miss Lilia was right. You really should take your medicine first, now that you’ve got the Mandrake Flower.”

Yet, Roergue shook his head in response.

“Honorable Envoys, I know my body well. I don’t have much time left.”

Optimist hesitated, at a loss for words.

Just then, Chopin, the druid who had been silent until now, raised his head and said, “He’s right.”

“This isn’t a regular illness but rather, his life force is almost depleted. I’m afraid the Mandrake Flower will be of no use to him even if he consumed it.”

Upon reaching Silver-rank, Chopin became a full-fledged Archdruid and even picked healing as his specialization. Thus, as soon as he saw the ailing elder, he immediately used his Archdruid ability, [Eye of Clarity], to discern the man’s true illness.

Roergue glanced at Chopin in surprise before nodding gently.

“As expected of a divine envoy. You are indeed correct—this isn’t an illness but rather the result of long-term usage of Nature Magic, which has overly depleted my own vitality…”

He gave a faint, bitter smile.

“In actuality, the Mandragora Flower won’t help me at all. In fact, I’m not even sure if it truly exists in this world. I only told Lilia and the others that it could potentially ‘cure’ me to give those children some semblance of hope.”

“However, never have I expected that Lilia would actually venture forth into the forbidden land of Elven Forest to find it… much less succeed.”

“But when she told me about her encounter with you honorable guest, I began to understand what was really going on.”

Roergue looked at the players, sighing.

“I suppose… that Mandragora flower that those children got was bestowed by you and originated from that mystical land known as the ‘Divine Realm.’”

“After all, the amount of mana in our world is far too low. There’s no way such a mythical item could exist here and only in the Divine Realm, which is rich in mana, could something like this flower be produced.”

A mythical item…

The players exchanged glances, recalling the Mandrake Flowers that, while not exactly common per se, could still be found readily enough in certain parts of the elven forest.

Each of them shook their heads ruefully.

This demi-realm truly was mana-deficient.

Elder Roergue didn’t notice their expressions and continued with a sigh.

“Speaking of which, I had already lost all hope for our world. But I never thought I’d live to see the arrival of you, the divine envoys at the very end of my life. It seems… the prophecy is indeed true.”

Hearing this, the players were surprised.

Although what this Elder said was slightly different from the actual situation, it was still pretty close to the truth.

They looked at each other, and finally, Calabash stepped forward, asking in a serious tone:

“Mr. Roergue, what is it that you wish to tell us? And… you also said you’ve been waiting for us for a very long time. What does that mean? And what prophecy are you speaking of?”

Roergue’s expression turned solemn in response to Calabash’s questions.

With a deep sigh, he said:

“This is a secret of our ancestors, one that pertains to the hidden truths of this demi-realm… and even the current state of the Creator himself…”

“Honorable Envoys, the Creator of this world… has fallen.”

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【 HIDDENTRUTHS OF THIS DEMI-REALM 】

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