◈ Episode 251. If You Need a Friendship

Hidden Piece.

Rumors have been flying ever since Arcana was a game. Even when it wasn’t clear if it existed, some people chose the Explorer class for the sole purpose of finding the Hidden Piece.

The reason is simple.

Hidden Pieces.

It sounds like a great reward, right?

But after Cataclysm.

After the AAU shared information about the Arcana with players.

Hidden Piece became a running joke.

-What’s the point of looking for a reward that hasn’t even been implemented yet?

-It wasn’t meant to be found in the first place.

-I’m not even going to bother looking for it.

Before the Cataclysm.

Hidden Pieces were not content that would appear at that time.

In other words, it was unimplemented content to be used later.

So AAU had no idea if it would be rewarded or even exist.

‘No wonder.’

Go through a lot of trouble ahead of other players…….

No, I was the one who skipped the intermediate process and had a significant experience.

Even for me, this was the first time I discovered Hidden Piece.

[Hidden Piece, Ice Dragon’s Snow Mountain]

[Hidden Piece, Dragon Shrine]

In fact, the names behind them are pretty obvious.

Hidden Piece, in a word, is worth the name.

First of all, the entry difficulty is unimaginable, right?

Just look at the Ice Dragon’s Snow Mountain.

That’s because you have to meet the Ice Dragon, Frostnax in a dimensional rift. Well, the Dragon Shrine is even worse. You can’t even access it unless you’re a dragon.

‘I hate to admit it, but…….’

…… I’m a Dark Dragon, so I’m an exception.

Anyway, Hidden Piece is a big place. But a garden in the Yusra Kingdom that grew medicinal herbs at best was labeled Hidden Peace……!

There was only one possibility to think of.

I was gone for 15 days.

Something must have happened to the garden.

Elsidor.

Triggering the Hierarchy of Blessings.

“!”

I can tell by the look on Elsidor’s face as he takes a step back.

I can tell that you’ve got something on your mind.

I wanted to grab Elsidor and ask him a question.

After all, there’s a hierarchy.

He wouldn’t be able to hide anything from me, even if he wanted to.

But who is Grandfell?

A person with excessively noble pride.

Due to unforeseen circumstances.

Who hasn’t been to the flower garden in 15 days.

A troublesome personality who thinks he’s a weight to be borne.

‘There is no way we can interrogate Elsidor.’

Well, I can only judge with my own eyes.

First of all, it was an elixir that Elsidor was hiding behind.

But, wait a minute…….

What’s wrong with the way it looks?

The petals were overly wide and flowing.

And, most importantly, a large fruit.

I said blandly.

“Is it because the harvest season has passed?”

It really was something I said without any meaning.

“Huh…….”

I hear Elsidor gasp.

What an overreaction.

Someone would think I was treating him like a real slave.

It’s my fault for missing the harvest, after all, I didn’t look for the flower garden.

There is no way in the world Grandfell could blame someone else.

You have nothing to worry about.

I wanted to say something generous, but I couldn’t.

“You’ve grown rather anomaly.”

It is.

Because the fruit I saw in front of me was truly ‘anomaly’.

So much so that I couldn’t recognize it.

The Demon King’s Spoils, the [Desire of Pure Knowledge.]

Thanks to its effects, I have information on every plant and mineral in Arcana. But even within that knowledge, there was no information about this fruit.

What that means is simple.

That fruit is not only ‘anomaly’ in appearance.

It’s literally “anomaly”.

That’s what I think……?

It is understandable that the elixir garden received the grandiose title “hidden piece.” If this is the garden where Anomaly grew up, it probably deserves to be called a hidden piece.

‘So the question is.’

How.

The question is, did the garden grow anomaly fruit?

I examined the fruit and turned to Elsidor.

“Has anyone else visited the garden besides you?”

“……No.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am sure. I have not been away for a moment.”

A fair question, but was it even a question?

Elsidor has a temper.

He’s been known for it since his first appearance.

Only now he’s been silenced by the hierarchy.

He despises humans and everything but himself.

I don’t expect him to ever be cured of his temper.

‘And there’s Elsidor, with his eyes glazed over.’

Who would dare stop by the garden?

Then again, there’s only one possibility.

Elsidor, as he said himself.

Because he never left the garden and tended to the herbs.

The elixir herb has grown [『Anomaly』].

Anomaly.

Two completely different concepts merged together.

In addition to the nature of the elixir.

Elsidor’s influence.

I don’t know what caused it to become anomaly.

One thing was certain.

First of all, looking at it doesn’t tell the whole story.

You have to taste it to know the effect…….

‘I guess I should try it.’

Of course, I don’t think I would go crazy and swallow the fruit in real life.

Even when taking an elixir that has known effects.

The recoil made me drop my teacup and faint……!

‘On the Arcana continent.’

Well, it might hurt.

There, if I die, I don’t die.

Anyway, well done, Elsidor.

Thanks to you, I don’t know what it is, but I got an unusual fruit.

I opened my mouth.

“Your pride has paid off.”

Pride comes to fruition, what a phrase…….

It’s hard to understand, even for me.

But somehow the meaning seems to work.

“I see. Haha…….”

Elsidor’s face suddenly brightened.

Suddenly, Elsidor was serious about growing herbs.

Maybe being a farmer was a good fit for an elf.

A moment of thought.

Alas, I had almost forgotten.

“Speaking of which, I had a question.

─Enter Sisley, the land of the elves. (Ongoing)

An exclusive class quest.

The World Tree and the Tree of Good and Evil.

And what happened between them and the demons.

Enter Sisley to pursue the clues…….

“!”

No, wait.

A moment, like an electric shock.

It tingled.

The Tree of Good and Evil.

The fruit in front of my eyes.

Sisley, home of the elves.

A elegant flower garden where the elf, Elsidor, resides.

A place where good and evil coexist.

Two completely different qualities, a anomaly fruit.

……Now that wasn’t a funny thing to have in common, was it?

*

The Golden Palace.

However, it is not a separate building where he resides.

At this moment, Elsidor felt an extreme sense of unease.

“What is it?

It was only natural.

-“Your pride has paid off.”

That’s what he heard at the end of the story.

I was relieved.

I didn’t expect to get my mother’s blessing back.

I didn’t expect to be rewarded for neglecting my flower garden.

But what a surprise.

“Follow me.”

Again.

Before he knew it, he was trotting along behind Hoyeol.

Elsidor reflected on his actions.

No matter how much he thought about it, he hadn’t done anything to displease…….

‘……What?’

Had he been caught?

Since he tried to uproot it?

If you look at it that way, there were plenty of places to be poked and prodded.

He even tried to cover the flowers and fruits with his body, but backed off when he heard a sound……. Therefore, Elsidor had no choice but to enter Hoyeol’s office with a grunt.

Thud─

‘Ugh.’

The moment the door closed.

A terrible memory flashed through his mind.

The time when the hierarchy prevented him from saying anything and he answered without question. Maybe it’s because of experience. Elsidor didn’t bother rolling his eyes.

‘There’s no point in rebelling.’

If I could have defied the hierarchy in the first place.

I wouldn’t be in this situation.

So I took the initiative to speak up.

“I’m going to answer what you ask.”

Then a calm answer came back.

“Then we’ll talk quickly.”

Elsidor bit his full lips.

‘Do I really have to tell you everything……!’

Hoyeol left the room.

Elsidor reviewed his mistakes.

As usual, it was his constant muttering to himself that was the most troubling.

-“Look. Isn’t the water I give you better?”

-“Haha, now I don’t know who owns the flower garden.”

-“This is elegance, a garden of elegance.”

……That’s it?

For a moment, Elsidor is in anguish.

Then Hoyeol spoke up.

It was an unexpected question.

“Elsidor.”

“……I’m listening.”

“How have you been in Sisley?”

……Sisley?

I never imagined it.

I didn’t expect him to ask me about my past.

Hoyeol wasn’t trying to question me.

This was the moment when Elsidor’s suspicions were confirmed.

A benevolent invitation followed.

“Perhaps we should sit down and talk.”

“……!”

“Maybe we could have a long talk.”

Really.

Wondering how I’ve been.

Are you curious?

“…….”

A question I’ve never heard before.

And it wasn’t a question I cared about.

Elsidor was able to answer without much thought.

A day in the life of Sisley was really nothing out of the ordinary.

“I and my kind spent eternity in Sisley, communing with nature. If I had to compare it to……. It was a similar life to now. Of course, at Sisley, it grew on its own without any effort. There was no need for such troublesome trouble as now.”

“Does that include the World Tree?”

“Of course.”

Beyond obvious.

Protecting the World Tree was their mission.

And of course, that included her mother.

“Can I drink ……?”

“Of course.”

“……Thank you.”

Elsidor took the teacup Hoyeol offered and sipped.

‘Green water?’

It didn’t matter if it tasted bitter.

The warmth was enough to tell the story of the past.

There was nothing Elsidor could have wished for.

As he continued to talk about his life in Sisley.

The question came again.

“Then the World Tree would have been able to bear fruit.”

“I suppose so.”

“If only they had taken care of it.”

Truly, a man of inhuman aesthetics.

He recognizes our greatness at once.

Elsidore’s nose flared with pride.

“It is the lizards’ job to spread the seeds. If we don’t take care of our mother, she can’t even bear the fruit of her seeds. So the lizards, not us, are to blame for the current situation.”

The lizards, the dragons, were the first ones to disrupt the planting.

Therefore, he and his kind did not fulfill their responsibilities.

Their mother died without ever bearing fruit.

The dragons sowed the seeds without realizing it.

It was not our fault.

I was just trying to think.

Dalcak─

I heard the sound of a teacup being set down.

“I see.”

The voice was as confident as ever.

Just like before.

Another unexpected comment followed.

“It was all due to a lack of brotherly pride.”

.

.

.

Well, one thing is certain.

Grandfell, you are addicted to green tea.

It’s the caffeine in the green tea.

‘I feel like my brain is spinning.’

Maybe that’s why.

The moment I heard Elsidor’s words, the tangled thread unraveled.

I realized where the misunderstanding began.

‘Dragons and Elves had their own missions.’

Dragons had a mission to spread seeds.

The Elves had a mission to bring forth the fruit that held the seed.

But Elsidor spoke clearly.

that he and his people had not fulfilled their duty.

The fruit of the World Tree, then.

The tree of good and evil was never meant to grow in the first place.

The same goes for dragons.

A dragon’s duty is to sow the seed.

They didn’t give their lives to make the seed sprout.

It’s a sign that they’ve been played by “someone” from the start.

“It was all due to a lack of brotherly pride.”

Brotherly pride.

To paraphrase Grandfell, it’s about friendship.

If they weren’t lacking in the literal sense of the word.

If we talked to each other.

If we cleared up the misunderstanding.

If we had found the cause of the incident.

We wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in now.

‘This is why families should be harmonious.’

Even if I regret it, I can’t help it.

There is no word for regret in the Grandfell dictionary.

You just move on in the time of regret.

“But that also needs to be corrected.”

“……?”

In that sense.

I have one more thing to do in Sisley.

In addition to fulfilling class quests.

“Through tutoring.”

“?!”

Dragons and elves.

Restoring brotherly love.

What the hell happened to this family…….

that the youngest one gets to do all the drumming and harping!

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Tap, tap, tap.

Dancing fingers on the keyboard.

The community is updated with new posts.

[Title : Something about a Dark Dragon, or something]

[Author : ㅇㅇ]

[Contents : That somehow doesn’t look like sir Hoyeol……?]