I'm Not an Earthworm, I'm an Earth Dragon

Myungho did not speak to me first unless there was something he absolutely needed to ask me along the way. I didn’t talk to him either unless I had something to say.

How could I speak casually after going through something like that? For now, I managed to pretend that nothing had happened, but that didn’t make what happened go away.

“…Um, Altera. About the books, should we buy a grammar book too? Now that we have the words…”

“O-oh. Yes. It would be good to buy a lot of everything in advance. M-maps… and such…”

I trailed off, conveying to him that we should buy a lot for now. He seemed to understand, and without asking me again, he silently grabbed the books and placed them on the counter.

“How pathetic. You chose to run away? Yes, yes. Like the excuses virgins always make, you might not want to be fooled by the tricks of the flesh and instinct. I understand.”

“…What are you suddenly talking about? Did something happen between Myungho and Altera while I was sleeping?”

“O-oh, no!? Nothing happened! Really!”

“No! Nothing happened!”

At Akash’s dissatisfied muttering, Yuna wondered what had happened, and Myungho and I, as if we were one body, simultaneously denied it at the same time.

Then, Yuna opened her eyes wide, blinked, and answered in a daze. She looked at us with suspicion, wondering if there was something, but even Akash shut up, so there was no way for her to know.

After telling Myungho, who was about to pay, that it was right for me to pay since these were things I would use, I took out 1 gold and was about to hand it to the store owner when Myungho tried to grab my hand, saying it was too much, but then awkwardly stopped.

“…Ah, I see. Then how much should I give…?”

I wondered if I could match it since I had far fewer silver or copper coins than gold coins… Myungho said that about 25 silver would be enough. Fortunately, I had that much.

The store owner looked at us with a pout, but as soon as he received the money, he smiled brightly and even waved goodbye. After awkwardly waving back, we walked again with Marie between Myungho and me.

“…So, we bought spices, books, equipment repairs, and potions, so let’s go to those elves now. Yuna, if you don’t want to, it’s okay to say so.”

“…No, it’s fine. It was a place I had to go to someday anyway. I’ll take care of my people…”

Yuna answered with a look that was either nervous or uncomfortable, saying it was fine. Was there something? But there was no way to know, so I just kept quiet.

It was a bit awkward to ask Myungho right now.

Perhaps because I was wearing clothes that didn’t even look like clothes, the gazes directed at me were not much different from when I was walking around naked. Rather, some people looked at me strangely as if they had seen a pervert they couldn’t even deal with.

Even if I had a desire to expose myself, I didn’t want to receive lustful or contemptuous gazes. Admiration. Envy, maybe, but not that.

Why did it take so long to get to the guild? If I had just broken through that damn tower and gone straight, I would have arrived long ago. Thinking that, I took a detour and arrived at the guild.

Why was I so aware of the gazes these days? Since when did I care? But it was still annoying to ignore. Even if I threatened them to stop, it would damage my reputation.

Sigh. It’s complicated. I ran my hand through my hair and greeted the receptionist.

“Hero! And the star of the giant beast hunt, Altera! I heard about your heroic deeds! Did you come to receive the reward you couldn’t get yesterday?”

“Yes. We’re also here to negotiate the reward… and to ask if we can accompany them to the forest they will return to.”

“To the forest… Well, you’re the hero’s party, so it should be fine! Yes. They’ve been waiting since yesterday. Please come this way.”

The receptionist told us to follow, opened the door of the reception desk, and went into the door inside. Yuna went in resolutely, Myungho and I awkwardly, and Akash went in with a crooked posture, and there was a smell of grass.

There were no plants in the room, yet the elves, who sat silently as if we were in a forest, all stood up at once and greeted us simultaneously when they saw us.

“Greetings, half-dragon of Goldsmet. We have heard much about you from the Consensus. And the information sent by numerous terminals in their last moments. In the past, there were some harsh exchanges of power, but now let us cast aside the grudges of the past and have a peaceful conversation.”

I froze, not knowing what to say to the elf who spoke a storm without even blinking an eye, and Myungho informed the elf that I didn’t know the language.

“…I don’t know what happened, but she doesn’t know the language we use. So if there is anything you want to convey, please tell me.”

“Oh. You are the hero of Collucia. My apologies. I was recalling memories from another terminal. If you have no memory of me, then the sister on that side is a disconnected one, not one connected like us. Oh, how pitiful…”

“Don’t pity me. I don’t need your pity. Above all, you have never answered my questions.”

“My apologies. But have you ever asked us… the Consensus? Oh, were you the one who kept asking to find someone by letter?”

While the conversation between the elves and the party continued, I looked at the other elves who stood still without any movement.

They looked like… corpses. They were alive, but there was no vitality. It was as if they were just moving bodies without any will or consciousness.

As I was captivated by such ominous and eerie things, the conversation between the party members seemed to have ended, and Myungho told me what the elf had tried to say to me earlier.

“…Consensus? Grudges of the past? Terminals? What are you talking about? I’ve never seen that person before…”

“Ah, that’s… um. Right…? I don’t know either… Akash. Do you know?”

“Of course, I know. Elves usually inherit a parasitic plant from their parents right after they are born. Then they connect to what they call the Consensus. In other words, their minds are connected to the World Tree. They are also connected to others infected by the World Tree.”

“Parasitic? A plant? Wait a minute. But Yuna isn’t connected to the World Tree. Those guys said Yuna was a disconnected one. What is that…?”

“Either the parents refused to connect for some unknown reason, or the parents were not connected in the first place. The children of those who left the group because they didn’t like the World Tree, something like that. Don’t be too scared of the word parasite. You’ll be safe as long as you don’t willingly swallow the parasitic seedlings.”

“…From the way you call us infected, you must be Akash.”

“So what? You things with roots in your brains. Do you dare to touch me? How much have I done for you? Do you have any conscience? Oh, you wouldn’t. Because you’re plants.”

Myungho looked at the elves in shock, then looked at me, saying he didn’t know either, and explained to me as best he could after making sure in advance.

“So, most elves have their minds connected to each other, so these guys who inherited the memories of the elves who came to catch me are acting like they know me because they’ve met me before…?”

“That’s about right. Although there are exceptions like Yuna…”

Hearing that, those things looked even more eerie. They must have in their heads how I slaughtered those who sent the memories.

And they still offer their hand?

“That was a long chat. Now, shall we talk about the reward?”

– – – –

Despite the shocking truth, the elves offered us a more generous reward than expected.

When I asked why they were giving us so much, they said that if the turtle had gone on, it would have eaten their forest, and they would have had to sacrifice numerous terminals just to chase it away, but we prevented that, so they had to pay us accordingly.

“Even though we can remain in the form of information in the Consensus after death, we are still afraid of dying. Also, the Consensus dislikes such deaths as being too worthless.”

“I see. Anyway, it was a satisfactory deal. Oh, and can we ride in your carriage? We need to stop by a place in the elven forest.”

“Of course. We can do that much for our benefactors.”

The elves readily agreed. The elf who seemed to be the leader asked me if there was anything else I needed to do, but I answered that there was nothing since I had already finished everything.

Then, without delay, the leader elf handed the documents to the elf who had been standing still behind him and immediately went outside.

It looked like he was treating the other elf like a subordinate, but maybe that elf was moving the other elf as if he were handling his own hands or feet.

…Or was that leader elf also a hand or foot of the World Tree? I was still confused.

The ecology of the elves was that much more difficult and shocking to me. Being subordinate to something huge, but being able to communicate instantly with other subordinates, felt more like a hive mind than a living creature.

Yuna looked displeased, dissatisfied. Something seemed to be bothering her.

“Is something bothering you, Yuna?”

“Yes. They look at me like I have some kind of disability. I think that’s creepy.”

“Me too.”

“Of course it’s creepy. They gave up themselves and sold their souls to the World Tree.”

Altera didn’t look so comfortable either, as if she had felt something too. I wanted to hear Altera’s thoughts, but I still couldn’t ask because the awkwardness hadn’t been resolved yet.

“Oh, and don’t accept any food they give you. Don’t eat anything that looks like grass. Heat up any food they give you. They mix seedlings into the food.”

…Did I do the right thing?

In fear, I got into the elves’ carriage.