This girl, who has long blonde hair and is wearing a white dress with a white cloak, is the same high elf we met before.
The other high elves are dressed like her, but only one is wearing luxurious ornaments, so that beauty draws my attention.
“Elga, and father. It has been a while.”
She says plainly, with an emotionless expression.
Is she calling me father because I’m the father of a great spirit?
“Hey Brynhildr. What’s that?”
“…”
The high elf named Brynhildr falls silent like she’s thinking.
She then holds up her hand lightly, and the other high elves disappear into the forest, in the direction of Yggdrasil.
“Ahh…”
Her expression breaks once she’s alone, and she sighs with a sorrowful expression.
“It is as you can see.”
“No no no, that’s…”
“I am not strong enough. At this rate, Yggdrasil might go berserk.”
I don’t know what’s going on, so I don’t know what she’s talking about.
Elga tilts his head, but he knows this is serious, so he doesn’t say anything and just listens.
Brynhildr looks up at Yddgrasil, that looks like it could collapse at any moment.
I can’t see very well at the top because of the light, but the light mist isn’t as thick at the bottom, so I can see the roots are rotting, and it seems to be spreading pretty high up.
“Yggdrasil has lost its magic energy, and it is consuming living beings around it indiscriminately to stave off its starvation.”
“Eh…”
I’m speechless. Snow is alone right now. Even a great spirit like her could be in danger.
“Hum…! Snow… The great spirit that was with me disappeared. Do you know anything about it!?”
“Yggrasil is looking for an immense amount of magic energy. Miss Miriel and others are providing it to hold it back, so there is no immediate danger.”
That makes me feel a little relieved, but at the same time, it confirms to me that it will be dangerous.
“If Miss Snow has disappeared, she must be supplying magic energy to Yggdrasil along with the other great spirits.”
“…”
“Yggdrasil and the great spirits are one and the same. In a way, Yggrasil is their main body. She must have moved unconsciously after sensing danger approaching.”
“…So where is Snow?”
“I believe she has assimilated with Yggdrasil. It will be difficult to find her unless this situation is resolved.”
I get what she means, but the fact that Brynhildr isn’t giving me a straightforward, or direct explanation is making me anxious.
And that in turn is making me irritated.
Don’t mince words with cryptic phrases! Tell me how to find Snow already!
I feel like yelling that, but I hold it back.
“Calm down, Arata.”
“Elga… But!”
Elga grabs my shoulders when I take a step forward.
“I think I get what’s going on, so leave it to me.”
Elga is from this island, so he gets it, or rather, it makes sense to him.
But at the same time, his expression is kind of stiff, telling me this is really bad.
“Hey, Brynhildr, Yggdrasil should be getting magic energy from the island. What happened?”
Asks Elga, and Brynhildr faces down a little.
“The barrier surrounding the island has been shaken a lot lately, breaking their seal.”
“Who’s they?”
“The Nidhogg snake that gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil. The four stags who eat young sprouts, Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór. And…”
Brynhildr looks up again at the top of Yggdrasil.
“The light that robs magic energy and illuminates the world, the rooster Víðópnir.”
◇ ◇ ◇
Apparently the high elves’ village is like the others, in that no other races live there.
Instead, they live with nature, and sleep on trees and grass.
“I live here now.”
Brynhildr takes us to a place with a grassy field full of blue flowers, and a big tree.
There’s nothing blocking the way to Yggdrasil, and we could get there quickly if something happened.
She goes into the forest.
It’s actually really hard to tell what she’s thinking.
I don’t know if it’s typical of the high elves to have a different tempo, if it’s just hard for me to read her expression, or if she’s doing it on purpose, but it’s hard to communicate with her.
Katima was like that at first too, so it might just be a matter of getting used to it…
“Do you understand what’s going on, Arata?”
“…Not really.”
“Yeah, Brynhildr, or I guess, the high elves in general, are bad at explaining things. Lemme tell you.”
He says while sitting on a big flower.
It’s flexible, and soft like a sofa. I’ve never seen something like it on this island.
“First, let’s sum up the situation. Do you get that Yggdrasil is withering?”
“Yes, and it needs a lot of magic energy to feed itself.”
“Yep. But that’s not the real problem.”
Elga explains everything carefully. Apparently Yggdrasil withering is a natural phenomenon that happens every thousand years.
Come to think of it, Brynhildr called it a natural phenomenon when we first met too.
Normal trees wither every winter, and bloom again when spring comes.
A thousand years is a really big scale, but it’s something I’m familiar with.
“Yggdrasil normally takes in magic energy from the island to grow new branches and leaves. And new buds grow to become the new Yggdrasil… But there’s a problem this time.”
“The magic beasts that were unsealed, right? Nidhogg and the others?”
I don’t remember the rest, but I remember this name from games I used to play.
I’m picturing a dragon, but she said it was a snake.
“I honestly can’t imagine people of this island being threatened by a snake.”
“You’re wrong big time then. Snakes have long since been monsters that can bring down gods, so they threaten even us divine beast people.”
“I-I see…”
I’m assuming they’re not like the snakes I know.
I guess snakes are typically seen as symbols of depravity or infinity in myths.
“This Nidhogg is an enemy that eats Yggdrasil. No matter how much magic energy it absorbs, it will still run out as long as it’s eating it.”
“Like a bucket with a hole?”
I ask, and Elga nods.
“The problem with this Nidhogg is that it’s not gettin’ away from Yggdrasil as long as it’s alive.”
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They shouldve just let arata hulk out and smash
Thanks for the treat.