Ratatoskr

And he was the embodiment of trials that had settled in Alfheim.

“I just want to protect you all.”

Ratatoskr said.

He could have done it all along, but simply chose not to.

He didn’t want to talk to people. He hated them too much. He had witnessed their ugliness.

“Rosaria is dead.”

“I know.”

The <Wind’s Tomb> was Ratatoskr’s mechanism to protect the elves from external invasion.

The three spiritual beasts born under his control fought each other in hatred.

As a result, it became a natural fortress protecting Alfheim.

They were unaware that even their own existence had been orchestrated like this.

“But you’re wise, so you must know. That things are going astray.”

“Just because I know, does that mean I shouldn’t do it? I don’t see why I should kill my emotions to protect them.”

Ratatoskr was a spiritual beast that had protected Alfheim for ages.

He didn’t make the three trials his forces or Alfheim’s military, but disguised them as a third power to deceive enemies.

If the empire heard that elves had such power, they would try to conquer Alfheim. But if there were monsters attacking elves without reason or logic, they would leave it alone.

If they were thought to be Alfheim’s forces, the empire might try to break their power, but if not, there was nothing to gain.

So he remained a monster deceiving even his allies rather than being an ally.

He was wise enough to clearly understand the empire’s tendencies.

While pretending to be a disaster blocking the path between elves and humans, he still created a connection between them.

That was precisely the <Corpse Devourer> Hraesvelgr.

“Hraesvelgr has been attacking people for about 10 years now.”

“Yes, they’re all fools. Would killing such creatures really change the world that much?”

“Isn’t this just letting out your anger?”

“Letting out my anger? Yes! It’s anger!”

But that’s now in the past.

10 years ago. Nina wasn’t the only one heading toward the Malachite Kingdom to save Rosaria.

Originally, Ratatoskr was the one who could control the <Wind’s Tomb> and who also possessed the means to save Rosaria.

But there was a delay.

It was because of an attack from people who discovered Nina was an elf.

Slave hunters. There was no problem defeating those who dared target Nina, but…

“Those stupid fools made me late! Because of that stupid fool, Rosaria eventually died!”

They were held up by slave hunters. Meanwhile, Titan took Rosaria and left the kingdom.

Since they had missed their scheduled arrival time, Craig was also late in noticing the unusual situation in the kingdom, and like a snowball effect, Rosaria died. All because of stupid, foolish people.

“I know. Do you think I don’t? I know this is just anger and that Rosaria wouldn’t want me doing this. But so what? Whether I act this way or not, the dead Rosaria won’t come back. So I’ll just do what I want to do.”

Ratatoskr had already lost.

He had nothing more to lose. When he arrived at the Malachite Kingdom following Nina that day, he spent everything before Rosaria’s cold corpse.

He would protect the elves.

He would ensure that the same thing never happened again.

For that, he could kill dozens, hundreds of humans.

He could block elves trying to venture outside countless times.

“Nina, you’re the same. That’s why you’ve kept me alive all this time. You’re just getting in my way.”

Ratatoskr’s power was absurd, but he himself was weak.

He was merely an ordinary archer firing a mighty cannon, not a mighty cannon himself.

Nina could have killed Ratatoskr at any time but didn’t.

“…Yes, I understand you. I understand your pain.”

Because she knew his pain.

That’s why she didn’t stop Ratatoskr. He already had a history of gnawing at the World Tree’s root.

At that time, he was just an ignorant spiritual beast, but now he knows everything.

He now knows the meaning of his actions. And that it’s unforgivable.

After gaining wisdom, he stopped gnawing at the World Tree’s root, but since losing his family 10 years ago, he had tried to covet it several times.

Because he hated people. Because he hated the world that took what was precious from him.

He wanted revenge on them.

Nina must have understood those feelings. Though she wouldn’t actively encourage it, she must have sympathized with his wounded heart.

That’s why she couldn’t stop Ratatoskr. She couldn’t do it.

So what she planned was a way to exclude Ratatoskr’s mighty weapon.

But Ratatoskr’s resistance was fierce. Even now, he’s making his broken puppets exercise his power.

“But Rata.”

Nina had no right to punish Ratatoskr. Because she couldn’t bring herself to punish someone who shared the same wounds, even if she couldn’t embrace him.

Because it was too painful. She cherished those who shared her pain.

She thought there should be at least one person who could understand Ratatoskr’s heart.

But now Nina has forgiven Titan. She has forgiven humanity.

Because she had just witnessed him becoming a better person despite his wounds.

She had seen the noble sight of someone wanting to move forward despite being wounded.

“Rosaria loved those children. Craig and Titan too. Because she loved them, she was willing to throw away her life.”

“……”

“So won’t you forgive them? Won’t you stop now? I don’t want to see you, who has sacrificed so much for Alfheim for so long, suffer anymore.”

Ratatoskr’s beginning was benevolent.

But the last 10 years had been just revenge.

He didn’t just scare away humans trying to enter Alfheim at will; he killed them to stop them.

Nina knew this but couldn’t bring herself to stop Ratatoskr.

Because she understood his heart.

She had no right to say such things.

“Rata.”

But Nina believed.

Ratatoskr had lived countless years to protect Alfheim.

And for just a few decades, he met a companion who understood him and lived happily.

She knew he had been lonely.

She knew that Rosaria had become a light for him.

That’s why the loss was so great.

“I believe in you.”

Nina dispelled the barrier.

The root of the World Tree that Ratatoskr had so coveted became visible.

If he gnawed on it and grew his power, he could become even stronger.

He could punish foolish humans and comfort Rosaria’s soul.

But despite having his long-desired goal before him, Ratatoskr couldn’t bring himself to step forward.

“You were lonely, weren’t you? The world without Rosaria was painful, wasn’t it?”

No matter how many elves tried to comfort him, it was useless.

Even among so many, he was still lonely.

Ratatoskr was lonely.

Because to him, not many roses, but just one was most precious.

“Then couldn’t you forgive those whom she loved?”

“…I.”

Ratatoskr moved.

No, he tried to move.

After much deliberation, he finally chose revenge.

But stars reflected in his eyes.

He caught sight of a meteor falling from the sky.

He had never found the stars in the night sky beautiful before, but that meteor…

“Rosaria…”

It was so beautiful.

Finally, stars flowed from Ratatoskr’s eyes.

Ratatoskr

It was a single strike.

Falling from the sky like a meteor, Titan crushed Hraesvelgr’s body with a blow that seemed to combine his massive strength, aura, and spirit magic.

Titan is an orc with a larger build than a human. But the monster he’s facing is even bigger.

An ant and an elephant.

Despite such a difference, Titan blew away 1/3 of Hraesvelgr’s body with a single blow.

“Ha…!”

Past scenery overlaps.

It reminds me of the king who could shatter mountains and overturn the earth with a single blow.

A figure who once became a new hope with overwhelming force but was also called a new trial for humanity due to illness from old age, the <One Who Shakes the Earth>.

Craig Khan.

The current Titan seemed not much inferior compared to him.

“Kid, why aren’t you quick to come back?”

“Looking at your conditions, it seems I had to. Without me, everything’s a mess.”

“Acting all high and mighty.”

“Can’t help it if I’m actually great.”

Titan looked more at peace.

It seems he’s sorted out his emotional baggage as requested.

As a result, he can now use not only spirit magic but also aura.

Actually, the aura is thanks to the elixir I left for Titan, but still.

Considering the loss from consuming the same elixir repeatedly, I’d say I made a big investment in him.

“More importantly, don’t let your guard down. That bastard was still moving even after I blew its head off.”

“I know, I could see it from a distance.”

Titan was grinding Hraesvelgr’s writhing body into the ground.

Yes, when it comes to a hunter’s mindset, he’s definitely ahead of me.

Wait, come to think of it, that’s annoying.

I specialize in fighting people while that guy specializes in hunting, so why do I have to create plans from A to Z?

“But it’s not moving now.”

“What?”

Come to think of it, the biting wind that was tormenting us has disappeared.

What the… did it just die now?

*     *      *

Ratatoskr was born as a spiritual beast of wind. Near the World Tree, the corpses of spirits. They piled up and took shape to be reborn.

“Squeak…”

That’s how Ratatoskr was thrown into the world, knowing nothing.

With a small body, a frail form.

With barely the ability to create wind.

Ratatoskr couldn’t blend in with other spiritual beasts.

His power was too meager, and his body too wretched.

Other spiritual beasts each had enough majesty to be considered local deities of a village or group, but Ratatoskr had none of that.

And Ratatoskr couldn’t blend in with normal animals either.

He discovered squirrels that looked just like him and tried to live with them, but the animals sensed danger from Ratatoskr.

No matter how weak, he was still a spiritual beast.

Such a spiritual beast couldn’t possibly blend in with a group of ordinary rodents.

So Ratatoskr was alone.

He was an anomaly that couldn’t blend in anywhere. No one taught him anything or spoke to him.

“Squeak! Squeak.”

Ratatoskr didn’t know language.

Because there was no one who could talk to him. Other spiritual beasts just looked at the unimpressive Ratatoskr with contempt.

He was born in the form of a squirrel. And only acted like one.

He didn’t know any other way. He just acted almost instinctively.

But Ratatoskr didn’t know.

That ordinary squirrels can’t find, let alone gnaw on, the root of the World Tree.

Ratatoskr, who could detect the direction of the wind, could discover the anomaly blocking the center faster than anyone.

Through coincidence and time, he was the first to discover the root of the World Tree that had protruded outside.

It was a marvelous thing. A sublime thing. Something that elves or spiritual beasts should bow down to and bless for its sanctity.

But Ratatoskr doesn’t know.

Unlike ordinary animals, Ratatoskr has the power to wound it.

Unlike other spiritual beasts, Ratatoskr cannot recognize its sanctity.

That’s why he gnawed on it.

He wanted to resolve that strange phenomenon blocking the flow of wind.

But even Ratatoskr could tell that the root was special.

He realized it when he carelessly swallowed what he had gnawed off with his teeth.

His power had grown to be similar to that of other spiritual beasts.

There were things even the ignorant Ratatoskr could understand.

Too strong to blend with animals but too weak to blend with spiritual beasts. A being caught in the middle. That’s why Ratatoskr couldn’t belong anywhere.

And before him was a way to fill that gap.

He doesn’t know sanctity. He doesn’t know greatness. He only knows power.

That’s the most primal common sense of animals living in nature: survival of the fittest.

Ratatoskr began to covet that root simply to gain power.

When a day passed.

Ratatoskr realized his power had become similar to that of other spiritual beasts.

When two days passed.

Ratatoskr realized his power had surpassed theirs.

Now it’s enough. Now no one can ignore Ratatoskr.

He, too, could blend in with the group. Thinking so, Ratatoskr stopped eating the tree.

And once again, he went looking for the spiritual beasts who had ignored him.

“Are you trying to take revenge on me!”

“Don’t step in at will. If you move, I’ll attack immediately!”

But Ratatoskr was rejected again. It was a phenomenon that occurred because he had become stronger than the other spiritual beasts.

He was rejected for being too weak, and then rejected for becoming too strong.

But the ignorant and wounded creature didn’t know this.

Ah! Perhaps my power is still insufficient! This much isn’t enough!

With such thoughts, Ratatoskr gnawed on the tree again.

Another day passed.

Two days passed. Three, four, time flowed endlessly.

By the time the individual known as Ratatoskr had far surpassed even the realm of spiritual beasts.

“F-found it!”

“It’s the root of the sacred tree!”

“My goodness…! Did that spiritual beast dare to covet the root of the sacred tree!”

Elves appeared.

Finally, they too discovered that the World Tree’s root had protruded.

They threatened Ratatoskr, pointing spears and arrows at him.

“Squeak, squeak…”

Having amassed great power but not knowing how to use it, Ratatoskr just cowered in fear.

It was incomprehensible. It just made tears flow. Because no one would accept him.

That fact saddened Ratatoskr.

Despite being an ignorant creature who didn’t know what sadness was, he recognized it.

Ah, this is loneliness.

Ah, this is sadness.

Ratatoskr learned about emotions he couldn’t express in words.

“Stop it! You’re scaring him!”

But among them, there was someone who cared for Ratatoskr.

A girl with beautiful red hair, like a rose.

One who taught the world to the ignorant spiritual beast and showered him with love.

Ratatoskr was embraced in warmth for the first time in his life.

He felt that a place for him to stay, his world, was finally unfolding.

For the first time, he could be free from loneliness. And it was then that he first recognized his own loneliness.

That’s how Ratatoskr and Rosaria met.

“Tha-thank, thank you!”

“Wow! Rata! Did you just speak? You learn so quickly!”

Ratatoskr learned to speak. He cultivated wisdom. He felt gratitude.

Other elves too forgave Ratatoskr’s ignorance and accepted him as one of their own.

Happy times passed.

Ratatoskr gradually experienced a wider world and realized that one pretty elf he used to see was no longer visible one day.

“I’m sorry.”

“……”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect her.”

And he could also see that elf returning as a cold corpse.

Elves live long.

That’s why death was unfamiliar.

“I don’t quite understand.”

At that time, Ratatoskr still couldn’t comprehend the concept of hunting people and making them slaves.

But he knew one thing.

Elves are threatened by humans.

No, they are threatened by things from outside the forest. They must be protected.

As long as the powerful nation called the Eden Empire stands, elves cannot strongly confront humans.

Ratatoskr decided to use the power he had gained from gnawing on the World Tree for the first time. But there was a problem.

As long as the empire exists as a powerful nation, elves cannot strongly respond to humans. And the same applies to him. If he, who belongs to the elven group, oppresses humans, the empire will send troops to punish him.

So Ratatoskr created monsters to act in his stead.

He disguised them as a third force unrelated to either elves or humans.

Two giant birds and one dragon.

He intended to have them protect this narrow fence.

Helping him was Nina, the Saintess of Earth, Rosaria’s elder sister, who was the reason the empire couldn’t directly invade Alfheim.

Fortunately, the plan was successful.

The monsters created by Ratatoskr dealt with slave hunters sneaking in from outside and stopped the empire’s ominous movements.

If those three monsters were considered elven power, they would put in full effort to destroy them, but if not, it would be a waste of strength.

Relying on the empire’s arrogance and vileness, elves could protect their country.

Threaten everyone with two monsters and allow only a small number of people to move with one monster.

He thought such a play would continue.

“Rata! I want to see the world! Not just the forest, but the sea, volcanoes, deserts! Can’t I go and see those things?”

“The world?”

The journey of Rosaria, the girl who took in and raised Ratatoskr.

Looking at her eyes that sparkled like stars, Ratatoskr moved Hraesvelgr to help her travel outside.

He shouldn’t have.

If he had known it would be the last time, he wouldn’t have let her go.

Ratatoskr remembered Rosaria as strong and wise, so he thought she could overcome any threat, which was the problem.

“Ah…”

As time passed, Rosaria fell in love, started a family, and met her end.

When he heard that Rosaria was dying because she couldn’t adapt to Malachite’s environment and went to save her!

“Why…”

He saw her death.

Elves are a long-lived race.

Rosaria could have lived hundreds more years.

The cause of death was spirit imbalance.

Rosaria’s spirit magic, which was biased toward earth and dryness among the four elements, went berserk when it met the Malachite environment.

Yes, if she had just not used spirit magic.

If she had just not forcibly moved her body with its unbalanced state.

Rosaria wouldn’t have died.

If Ratatoskr had breathed in a part of Hraesvelgr’s cold power, that alone would have been enough.

“But why isn’t Rosaria moving? Why is she dying?”

Rosaria was a wise elf.

She was also a stronger elf than others.

That’s why it was incomprehensible.

It was something Ratatoskr couldn’t understand with the knowledge and humanity he had learned.

Actually, it was only natural.

After all, Ratatoskr was a spiritual beast born from the corpses of spirits.

He didn’t even know that parents could die for their children.

Despite learning so much, he didn’t know the most important thing.

“What should I live for now then…?”

Meaning was lost. All that remained was hatred for the empty shell.

The only tree named Rosaria that had taken root in Ratatoskr’s world had withered away.

Left in a world already desolate, he couldn’t love the world.

Ratatoskr desired isolation.

He hoped the same thing would never happen again. Being different always provides an excuse for others to inflict pain.

That’s how it was for him and Rosaria.

They were killed because they were different.

So he came to desire a perfect elven world without anyone’s interference.

That’s why his stance changed.

Hraesvelgr no longer guided people but deceived and killed them.

From that day on, the trial <Wind’s Tomb> became a trial in the true sense.

*     *      *

“Ah…”

Ratatoskr rejected everything. He was about to declare a separation from the world.

People are foolish and cannot tolerate differences.

Then wouldn’t it be good if only the same race lived together?

You who deny what’s different.

You who don’t understand each other.

Doesn’t that ignorance kill each other?

Doesn’t that greed harm the world?

If so, there’s no meaning in this world.

Different things should never have been entangled from the beginning.

Rosaria, who protected and raised Ratatoskr, was already gone.

That’s what he thought.

“You were still here…”

Rosaria had disappeared from this world. She left nothing behind.

But that meteor falling from the sky, the figure of a strong warrior wrapped in golden light.

“You left something behind.”

It reminded him of her traces.

Ratatoskr had no intention of stopping. He wanted the world to be disconnected.

He wanted to reject everything from outside coming into Alfheim.

After all, things from outside would only hurt him.

Because there was no meaning.

Yes, that’s what he thought.

“There was… still something left.”

He had no intention of stopping, but he stopped anyway.

His anger made him act out even knowing it was just venting, but.

His memory stopped his rampage despite still remembering the sadness.

That memory was a raindrop of ‘reminiscence’ wetting the ground of ‘loneliness.’