Chapter 23: Health

At that moment, all the elders in the Elf Forest gathered together and began an emergency meeting. A secret room on top of a branch of the World Tree.

The elders gathered in the conference room within the barrier that ordinary elves could not even dare enter were all showing their anxiety.

The elders of all the forests on the continent gathered at the World Tree.

The elders responded to the call with worries and concerns, as this was the first time in nearly 300 years that a full gathering had taken place.

When everyone was gathered and there was only one seat left,

“I apologize for keeping you waiting.”

The oldest elder, a silver-haired elf who had returned alive from the Demon King Belphegor, Leluna, came in and sat at the head of the table.

“It seems everyone is here. Then I will speak right away, but I will check one thing you know about history before I go in.”

Perhaps because he was now over 700 years old, the other elders felt somewhat uncomfortable with the old elder’s words.

Even though I am not particularly interested in history, the reason I am telling you this is not because I want to talk about boring history.

“The history I am going to tell you about is from 500 years ago, the darkest time for the elves.”

“!!”

The elven elders were astonished.

“That, that…isn’t it a dark history?”

“Yes. A forgotten history.

Even those who survived the tragedy at that time had to bury the memories of that terrible horror in their hearts and return to the earth.

It was such a terrible history. That was… the terrible incident where some of the elves were ruled by the Great Demon King Belphegor.”

Great Demon King Belphegor. The atmosphere suddenly became gloomy as soon as the name of the one who should not be mentioned was mentioned. Although the Great Demon King’s name was mentioned so obviously, Leluna’s voice was trembling slightly as she spoke.

“I will ask you all. How was the Great Demon King defeated?”

“…From what we have learned, he suddenly disappeared after the great battle on the plains.”

“Did the Great Demon King grow tired of war, or did a hero of the holy sword we don’t know defeat the Great Demon King…”

“That’s right. The hero of the holy sword defeated the Great Demon King. I… was in the Demon King’s castle at the time, so I saw it with my own eyes.”

“!!” Everyone was shocked.

“S-Surely the Elder is really the ‘real warrior’ party…?”

“I will keep quiet about that.” If Leluna’s words were true, she was a living witness to how the Great Demon King was defeated.

“T-then what about that ‘legendary warrior’…?!”

“I don’t know who the legendary warrior is. I can’t tell you the details of the situation at the time. All I know is… the commotion that happened in Virgo Kingdom this time.”

As Leluna snapped her fingers, the spirits behind her danced and created mirrors, spreading their magical power.

“The ‘Holy Sword Village’ was attacked by Death Knights.

According to the reports from the scouts dispatched to the surrounding village, the spirits avoided this village a few days before the Death Knights attacked.”

“Huh?”

“Why did the spirits…?”

“They sensed an omen, or they felt some kind of great fear of death. The spirits rarely leave their places. Unless a dragon appears, unless an absolutely terrifying being appears, the spirits do not leave their spot.

“All the spirits saw was the battle between the Death Knight and the Blue Moon Goddess Church, but this is the judgment they made after seeing their conversation and traces of the battle within the village. They will kill the humans, take their souls, and interrogate what happened within the village.”

“Then…”

“We must investigate what happened while the spirits were away. Namely… this holy sword.” Leluna took out an old piece of paper. “It is a travelogue of the human world left behind by someone who has now returned to nature 200 years ago. Among them, there was a story about the Holy Sword Village, and a drawing of the Holy Sword.”

“…Is this the Holy Sword?”

“Anyone can see that it’s an old and rusty sword…”

“Highest Elder. I know this. Isn’t it the ugly business tactic of humans who used evil magic to prevent swords from being pulled out of the ground?”

“…”

Leluna covered her face with her hand for a moment. Perhaps if she said it, things would escalate, but she had no choice but to say it given the situation.

“…It’s a real holy sword.”

“Huh?”

“It’s the ‘Holy Sword of Wind’ that killed the Great Demon King, Belphegor.”

“!!” The elders suddenly stood up from their seats.

“The Holy Sword of Wind?!!!” Their eyes were filled with shock and fear, and then slowly joy and excitement began to boil over.

“The Holy Sword of the Forgotten Hero?!”

“The holy sword that was said to be the most friendly with elves among the other holy swords…!”

“No way, could that legend be true…!!”

“The strongest holy sword that hasn’t had a master for a thousand years… has it awakened again?!”

“…..Enough.” Leluna raised her hand to calm the elders. “…Calm down.” The elders were all young men, not even 500 years old, and they began to show a strong interest in the holy sword that was said to have killed the Great Demon King.

“If we only had the Holy Sword of Wind, we elves too…!”

“I’m not here to gain power. It is not for the purpose of starting a war.”

“Elder…?”

“…The reappearance of the Holy Sword of the Wind means that the opposite can also be considered.” Kung. “The Holy Sword has awakened again. In the past 500 years, during every crisis on the continent, the other six Holy Swords each found their masters, but the Holy Sword that had been silently sleeping has awakened. What does this mean?”

The atmosphere instantly became quiet.

The elders gulped, glancing at each other.

“…Are you saying that the reason the holy sword was awakened is not because someone became its master, but because a situation arose where it had no choice but to become its master?”

“In my opinion… I will not beat around the bush.” Leluna continued with a stern face. “I think that the Great Demon King Belphegor has been resurrected.”

“That is why we must quickly find the hero who uses the holy sword of wind. We must protect the hero. Otherwise…” Leluna glanced at the elven elders. “Perhaps, others who notice the resurrection of the holy sword may find the hero first and corrupt or persuade him. So I ask all the forests. We…” Leluna stood up and slammed the table with both hands. “We must find the master of the wind. Tell all the elves in the world. If the master of such a holy sword appears…” Leluna continued with a fire in her eyes. “We must make them side with the elves, no matter what the means.”

“Give me the sword!”

“I-I’ll give it to you! You don’t need money, right?!”

“That’s not it, sir.”

After buying the sword from Fergus, I returned to the inn and suggested to Lucius some physical training, as I had told him before.

“Haa, haa, haa.” Lucius collapsed on the floor. Sweat was pouring down his body.

“Is this hard?”

“…A little, because it’s my first time doing physical training.”

“Well, it is hard.”

Dark Health-Squat. It’s a technique that trains the muscles of the entire body by repeating the action of sitting down and standing up. Although this body doesn’t know how to do squats, I know exactly how to do it.

“Follow me. This is a physical training method that only three people in the entire world know.”

“Three, three people…?”

“Yes. Why would I tell anyone else about this precious thing?” Only three people in the Deep Dark Council, the deep and dark council, know this. Belphegor of Sloth. Satan of Wrath. Lucifer of Arrogance. This is the ultimate physical training method that only the ‘Three Demon Kings’, who are known even in the Middle-Earth, have mastered. It is an exercise method developed by Satan, the chairman, and I paid him a very expensive information fee and directly learned the posture of the exercise method.

“This is worth the price of one holy sword.” I sold the holy sword. To be exact, I sold the method of attacking one of the holy swords, its weaknesses, and the know-how of how I attacked the holy sword. Who would sell the technique of attacking a holy sword with just one squat? The ‘dark health’ developed by Satan has that much value and emotion!

“Don’t go around telling people about it carelessly. Okay?”

“You tell me.”

“I’m telling you because you are…”

Lucius looked at me with an impressed face. That’s only natural.

“Let’s start simple, and then gradually increase the number of repetitions. Okay?”

“I understand. But, Master.” Lucius looked at me with a complicated face. “D-Does the posture have to be like this?”

“Why? Why this perfect posture?”

“T-That…” Lucius lowered his head with a blush. “…It’s chafing.”

“What? Chafing? Where…. Puhahaha!!” Seriously, he burst out laughing. “There’s a limit to how much blood rushes! Ahahaha!!”

“Master…” Lucius covered his face and below with his hands. It seemed like his thighs would chafe in the place he couldn’t speak in the normal squat position.

I’ll have to tell Satan later. How would Satan answer? If your physical condition is that the thing between your legs is too big and it rubs your flesh every time you move it up and down.

“Ah.” There is a way. “Want to try this?” I spread my legs wide.

“Wide squats.”

“T-Teacher!!”

“What? Why? Oh, me.” I lifted my skirt.

“You’re wearing underwear, you punk.”

“T-But still…!”

“Then you can just take off your skirt.”

Since I was wearing underwear under my underwear anyway, it wasn’t embarrassing.

“Now, follow along. If you still feel like this is bothering you, I’ll teach you something else then.”

“…..”

Lucius followed my posture silently.

“No, that’s not it? Watch me closely from behind.”

It seemed like it would take quite a while to train Lucius’ entire body.

***

The next day, I decided to really train Lucius’s stamina at night.

“…I didn’t expect this.”

Who would have thought that even undeads have muscle pain?

I barely managed to pull my legs, which weren’t moving properly, while leaning on my cane.

“Ugh…This is all your fault.”

“Is it my fault?”

“It’s because you tormented me all night that this happened.”

Because I couldn’t even keep my posture right, I had to do wide squats in front of Lucius several times.

Naturally, my body was covered in bruises.

Unlike Lucius’s body that was usually trained, this body was just a weak and uselessly large-breasted undead.

“Ugh, next time, really, don’t leave me alone. I’ll stay still, so you handle it on your own. Got it?”

“…Excuse me, Mage? Can you choose one for me?”

“Oh, Miss Morzen. I’m sorry.”

The Adventurer’s Guild receptionist, Hora Morzen, bit her lower lip and pointed to the request form in front of me.

“Let’s see… Oh, this will be good.”

I took the two requests on the list that seemed like the easiest ones to raise my adventurer rank, and they were also incredibly simple.

“Search for the missing elf. Subjugate the orc. How about that?”

My intuition was telling me. Killing two birds with one stone.

“Just by looking at them, doesn’t it look like the arc kidnapped the elf?”