Volume 4: The End of the World Chapter 5: Reasons for Peace
"To sum up, you should now understand why I say that no race is more peace-loving than the forest elves, right?"
"No, you've made me even more confused... If, as you said, the forest elves even take eating the flesh and blood of their own kind as a matter of course, then how can such a barbaric and uncivilized race be a peaceful race?"
On the way to the Holy Tree City, after listening to William's account of the origin of the forest elves' "cannibalism" custom, Nazemar asked even more puzzled.
No matter what, "cannibalism" is a more evil and blasphemous act than "killing". No matter what the reason, a race that can make such evil a custom should have nothing to do with peace.
However, the presiding judge suddenly laughed out loud and immediately waved and said:
"Don't mind me, I just thought of a joke."
"joke?"
Nezemar asked curiously.
"Ah... You must have never heard this joke. I need to think about how to adapt it in a way that you can understand..."
The presiding judge pondered for a moment, then tapped his forehead with his index finger and said:
"Oh, right, that's it... During the Holy Religious War at the end of the Golden Age, a religious scholar from the Kos Empire came to Ravenwood. He talked to a local forest druid about the war that was going on on the continent. When the druid heard that tens of thousands of people died in the Boiling Plains in just two months, he was surprised and asked, "Can you eat all the corpses left behind?" The imperial scholar sneered and replied, "We are civilized people and do not eat humans." The druid was even more surprised after hearing this - if you don't want to eat humans, why kill so many people? You are really barbaric."
After saying this, the judge laughed to himself, and Nezemal was not sure whether he should laugh with him.
When William's laughter stopped, Nazemare said carefully:
"I think I understand a little bit. Your Excellency the Judge, you mean that this custom of the forest elves makes them less interested in war..."
"That's right. As long as there is a war, there will inevitably be corpses. No matter if those corpses are from the enemy or their own, the forest elves must deal with them after the war. Therefore, as long as the war breaks out in Ravenwood, the forest elves must face the dilemma of having too many corpses and not being able to eat them all before they are completely rotten. Unless it is absolutely necessary, the forest elves will never let themselves be involved in a large-scale war. Therefore, in history, forest elves rarely go to war."
Is it possible to not want war to happen just because we can't eat all the corpses?
Nezemar couldn't describe the shock his worldview felt when he heard this logic.
…………
Time goes back to the present, and at this moment, Nezemar is frowning and looking at the center of the Treetop Temple, where the "Holy Communion Ceremony" is being held.
According to the Chief Judge, because of this extreme funeral culture, forest elves have greater respect for life and a deeper understanding of death than humans or other races.
Although it sounded reasonable, as a person living in a "civilized world", she still found it difficult to accept such a bloody and cruel scene for physiological reasons.
Of course, as the former church relic recycler and the current designated messenger of the Holy Spirit Cain, Nezemal, who has long been accustomed to all kinds of killings, would not behave inappropriately because of this.
It’s hard to say about the other people around.
"What are they eating... Ugh..."
The noise behind him made Nezemar turn his head.
The accompanying girl was now kneeling on the ground, vomiting stomach fluids continuously. The headscarf that had been wrapped around her head was untied and thrown aside.
Seeing this, the forest elf with a wolf head tattoo on his face immediately knelt on one knee beside the girl. Nezemal noticed that the other party was intentionally or unintentionally blocking the view of the clergy in the temple.
The forest elf man patted the girl's back and said to her in a voice almost whispering:
"Yin Lisi, put on your headscarf after you vomit. You're too conspicuous..."
The sound was quiet, but Nezemar heard it.
The interior of the temple was originally very quiet except for the prayers of the priests and the sounds of eating during the "holy communion ceremony". However, the girl's speech broke the solemnity of the quiet, and many people turned their eyes to them.
"Don't vomit, close your eyes quickly so they don't see it..."
Nezemal, who was standing by, heard the forest elf's faint whisper again.
The girl gritted her teeth and nodded, then took out a handkerchief to wipe the dirt from the corners of her mouth, then closed her eyes, picked up the headscarf beside her, and wrapped it around her head again.
Nezemar noticed that although the other party's hands were shaking, her movements were smooth, as if closing her eyes did not affect her vision at all.
“Why would they eat it directly…”
After standing up, the girl asked in a trembling voice.
"Don't talk yet..."
The forest elf with a wolf head tattoo on his face whispered, then he raised his head and looked at Nezemar who was looking at them with a concerned expression, and said with a wry smile:
"My friend came to Ravenwood for the first time and was not very familiar with the funeral customs here... It was inevitable that he could not accept it. To be honest, as a forest elf, I could not accept it either. I even signed the referendum proposed by the reformists to abolish the 'holy communion ceremony'."
Nezemar nodded but said nothing.
She kept silent because she didn't know how to answer. Apart from the information about the local Sealed Temple in Emerald Province, her understanding of the forest elves today was not even as good as that of the Chief Judge from a thousand years ago.
As for nodding, it was because she felt that what the forest elf said made sense - this funeral custom should indeed be abolished.
Seeing that Nezemar did not respond, the forest elf named Quel Wolfspeak continued:
"Is this really your first time in Holy Tree City? Few humans can remain so calm after seeing the 'holy communion ceremony' for the first time."
Nezemar did not answer his question, but directly asked the question that concerned him:
"Do you know why those tree spirit clones asked us to come to this temple just now?"
Previously, the Chief Judge ordered Nezemar to wait for his return here safely, and safety meant not causing unnecessary trouble and disrupting the Chief Judge's exquisite and far-reaching layout.
But right now, Nazemar seemed to smell some trouble.
“Maybe they want to deport the illegal immigrants.”
The forest elf named Quill answered.
Then, he stared straight into Nezemar's eyes and continued:
"Since your guide is not with you, they might think you are a stowaway."
Quill said, watching the changes in the expression on the woman's face.
But unfortunately, there was no change in the other person's expression.
It was as if the other party had no idea what "stowaway" and "guide" were.
Originally, Quill intended to cause panic in the other party, and then take the opportunity to ask him to pretend to be the guide of the other party, and then let the "Wild Hunt" mistakenly believe that the woman in front of them was the wanted "Hemer" inheritor Yin Lisi. In this way, the big noise would divert the attention of the "Wild Hunt", allowing the real Yin Lisi to escape the encirclement by himself, and let other people in the organization come to meet him.
As a result, the plan that Quill had spent half a minute to come up with was stuck at the first step.
"Stowaways will be marked with the Mark of the Burner. Unless a magic caster of the level of the great sage Yeats or the hero Cain can remove the curse, they will never be able to enter Ravenwood Forest for the rest of their lives because of the curse."
Seeing this, Quill once again reminded everyone of the seriousness of the matter.
"What did you say?"
"You understand what I mean?"
Seeing that the other party's expression finally showed a trace of hesitation, Quill planned to strike while the iron was hot and continue to guide him. However, the other party interrupted first and said:
"You are discussing people like Yeats in the same breath as Lord Kane?"
The other party's tone suddenly turned serious, which made Quill a little confused.
Is this the only thing she cares about?
Just when Quill was a little dazed, the prayers chanted by the priests in the temple came to an abrupt end.
With a rustling sound, as if something was passing by, the vines at the other end of the temple automatically opened up, forming the shape of a door.
An old man wearing a robe woven of animal skins and feathers, his skin having turned into tree bark , and his hair covered with branches and leaves, walked over tremblingly.
They were the Forest Druids, the oldest class of priests in Ravenwood.
Several "Wild Hunts" followed behind him.
Nezemar's gaze was also drawn to the side.
She didn't know the specific names of those forest elves covered in tattoos, but based on the popularization of forest elf culture by the judge, she could guess that those people must be the warriors in charge of "killing" among the forest elves.
Their bone weapons and protective gear, as well as the bloody smell emanating from their bodies, were only part of the reason. More importantly, they were morbidly thin—only by maintaining a subtle degree of hunger at all times could they immediately dispose of the bodies they left behind according to custom after killing.
Seeing those people coming over, Nazemar glanced at the two people behind him without leaving a trace.
I came here with the Chief Judge , and there is no channel through which information could be leaked, and so far, they haven't done anything big.
Therefore, this matter was definitely not directed at me.
However, the two people who were commissioned to lead the way were extremely suspicious.
But she didn't intend to meddle in other people's business. After all, the presiding judge's order was there, so she just waited for him to come back quietly.
So Nezemar moved a little to the side.
It was also at this time that the man who was performing the "Holy Communion Ceremony" in the middle of the temple, after seeing the Forest Druid coming in, immediately put down his wife's flesh and blood in his hands, and crawled to the front of the Druid.
"My lord, my lord...my wife was killed by the imperial ambassador. Please seek justice for her!"
