This Kind of Hero Chapter 49

Tree of Life

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A despaired Xu Jun replied in a trembling voice, “Ellie. . . I don’t think this is very appropriate. . . .”

He turned back to look at his bed covers. Fucking hell, anyone would be able to tell what sort of embarrassing thing had happened on this bed!

Miss, if you need to tell me something, can’t you wait until the morning!

From the other side of the door, Queen Ellie’s shaky voice carried a hint of panic, “Xu Jun, it’s really important.”

She seemed on the verge of tears, “Please, Xu Jun, open the door. . . .”

Xu Jun hesitated. Ellie’s tone had left him conflicted. When this young lady had asked Xu Jun to help her blend into human society, and subsequently failed, she had still been quite lively even as she was being captured and brought back. Even now, Xu Jun still remembered how Ellie had wildly swung her fists and kicked her legs as she cussed at him, “Wait! Xu Jun, we can do it!”

Furthermore, because she was moving around so much, she had fallen head first from the tree spirit’s canopy.

. . . What an energetic person she was.

What kind of calamity had befallen for someone like her to be this scared.

Had this been under normal circumstances, he would have immediately opened the door and started to baby Ellie, but today…this timing was terrible!

Xu Jun gritted his teeth. “This is all the fault of that. . . Demon King who appeared in my dream.”

That bastard! If it wasn’t for him! Then things. . . things wouldn’t have ended up like this!

As for what “this” meant, Xu Jun did not have the face to try and remember. Fuck, it’s depressing how a straight man like him had encountered this sort of situation.

Demon King Rozenke. . . stayed silent for a while. Once more, he admitted that this Brave was very capable at raising his ire, but now was not the time for such things. “Go open the door, Xu Jun.”

The Demon King was keen and had discovered that besides the young Elven queen, there was also a strand of familiar, dark energy. Intuitively, he believed that the situation had something to do with him, or was at least something he could benefit from.

If this Elven queen had discovered the Tree of Life was contaminated and was here to talk about with Xu Jun. . . .

However, the likelihood was almost nil. No matter how welcoming the Holy Light Elves were to Xu Jun, he was still an outsider. Furthermore, he didn’t even worship the holy light, so how could the Elves let him near their Tree of Life?

However, it could be that these Elves had no other option. . . .

Thus, he opened up his spiritual connection to the Ice Lord, “Don’t make a move tonight, the situation may have changed.”

Ice Lord Weize. . . he was willing to bear the burden of his position and offered no complaints. He simply turned his attention back to figuring out the relationship between His Majesty the Demon King and the Brave.

The Ice Lord, although adept at soul magic, could not understand the hearts’ of people. Sitting in the canopy of a tree spirit, he suddenly missed the Abyss Lord, who claimed he was able to see through a person’s heart in a glance.

Xu Jun was reluctant, but he also knew that Ellie would not look for him at this hour if it wasn’t for something important. After all, the Holy Light Elves loved the light and disliked acting in the dark. “Alright. . . ,” he groaned towards ‘Prince Ryan,’ “I’ll do as you say. . . .”

He opened the door. The wooden door creaked, a sound that was especially piercing on this quiet night. Xu Jun regretted it as soon as he opened the door: what if he accidentally woke up Daeniste?! Although the pure and adorable queen of the Elves might not know what he had just done, Daeniste, who was also a young male like him, would definitely be able to find out!

Don’t even mention how those worshippers of the Bright God are supposedly abstinent and holy–they’re just putting up a farce for others! Those shameless fellows are actually the filthiest out of anyone!

Luckily, there was no movement from the room next door.

All he could see was Queen Ellie, wearing a white dress, her wet hair sticking to her face, eyes glistening and vulnerable. Seeing Xu Jun open the door, she practically fell into his arms without a second thought.

She choked out, “Xu Jun. . . what am I supposed to do . . . !”

The Elven maiden’s body was cold, yet her tears were scorching hot. She couldn’t stop trembling as she suppressed her voice, “Too frightening. . . Xu Jun. . . I’m going to die. . . .”

Xu Jun stiffened, afraid to move. Tentatively, he backed up, but Ellie hugged onto him even tighter. It was midnight and the moon’s crystalline light illuminated the room. From the woods came the occasional, melodious chirp of insects. The mood was romantic, a perfect setting for deepening relationships.

Although he claimed to be a friend to all women. . . this was the first time in Xu Jun’s life that he had ever been held so tightly by a member of the opposite sex. He was about to suffocate.

Demon King Rozenke: “. . . .”

What are you supposed to do?! Aren’t you the Elven queen, where is your restraint?! Are the Holy Light Elves of this generation all like this?! Xu Jun, why aren’t you pushing her away?!

Thus, His Majesty the Demon King, who was technically still a single dog, suddenly felt the anger of being made to wear a green hat¹ because of his partner’s infidelity.

All Xu Jun felt was a mysterious and inexplicable, complicated emotion rising from his heart–this feeling clearly didn’t stem from himself, but rather from the other tenant in his heart: Prince Ryan.

If it had been any other day, he would have immediately asked Prince Ryan what was wrong, but right now he didn’t have time to deal with him. All he could do was take Ellie into his room and lock the door.

Then he began gently patting this girl who was crying nonstop, “Don’t cry, don’t cry. What happened?”

Rozenke was livid. If he could turn back time, he would have never let Xu Jun open the door!

No, no. If he had a physical form right now, he could prevent this sort of thing from happening.

Since that was the case, should he just throw this princess out after he obtained a body? Or should he just vaporize her?

–Ah, if he had to, he could just have Weize erase Xu Jun’s memories and have him just forget about this Elven princess.

Even as Rozenke’s malice was about to tear apart the sky, Xu Jun was also close to tears. “Ryan, say, why is Ellie crying so much? I’ve been comforting her for so long already. . . is my child comforting posture wrong? QAQ”

Ellie was the Holy Light Elves’ queen! The same Holy Light Elves who appeared elegant and solemn, but were actually really strong and competitive!

Yours Truly’s waist is about to go numb from this hug QAQ!

Meanwhile, after hearing Xu Jun say that he was “comforting a child,” Rozenke suddenly calmed.

Comforting a child. . . huh.

He began to pity this Elven queen.

Even if he was His Majesty the Demon King, he could tell that Queen Ellie had romantic feelings for Xu Jun.

Xu Jun. . . it wasn’t for no reason that he was single until now, with only some girl from White River Town falling for him.

Rozenke, believing that he saw through the truth of the matter (. . .), had his burning anger quenched.

With great effort, Ellie finally stopped crying, and her grip relaxed. Xu Jun felt a slight pain from his ribs. Damn girl, how strong are you. . . . He then heard her stutter, “Xu Jun, you don’t know, but our Tree of Life. . . has been corrupted by the dark element. I just went down to take a look, and half of it has already been covered. The trunk itself has begun to split–us Holy Light Elves are doomed. . . .”

After she had talked with Knight Commander Jesse in the afternoon, the concerned Ellie had gone to check on the situation by herself. While there, she discovered that the already dense dark element had bared its fangs and unsheathed its claws; it had wrapped itself around most of the Tree of Life.

What did the Tree of Life mean to Holy Light Elves?

Reproduction, purification of water and soil, and elemental circulation: the Tree of Life was the Sacred Highland’s nucleus.

Without it, the Holy Light Elves would hit a dead end.

They might even go extinct.

“Then-then-then I am the ruler of a dying country. . . .” Who knows what kind of wild imaginations were running through her mind, but Ellie began to cry even harder.

Xu Jun smiled bitterly, “Even if you tell me this, I can’t do anything. I’d need to take a look for myself.”

He spoke casually, but His Majesty the Demon King furrowed his brows: too hasty. As an outsider, taking the initiative to request access to another race’s forbidden area was taboo.

Especially when it came to the Holy Light Elves, an arrogant race that rejected foreigners.

However! At this moment, Xu Jun’s high popularity revealed itself once more! The young queen of the Holy Light Elves agreed without a second thought, “Are you willing?!”

However, she suddenly realized, even if Xu Jun was willing to help, what was the point? The Tree of Life’s corruption had already gone past the point of no return. No one could save it now.

“Alright, alright, let’s go see this. . . pitiful Tree of Life.”

As soon as he mentioned the words ‘pitiful,’ Ellie whimpered, “Perhaps this is the last time we’ll be able to visit it.”

–Wait, miss, does the Tree of Life know you’re cursing it like this?!

Xu Jun’s mouth twitched. However, after giving in to complete despair, Ellie felt at peace, and was able to better observe her surroundings. “Xu Jun, isn’t there a weird smell in your room?”

“. . . No, there’s nothing. You probably smelled wrong.” Xu Jun expressionlessly moved to block the view of his bed.

Ellie let out a sigh. “Oh, it must be the dark element’s scent then. Even this place has been tainted. . . .”

While the upper echelon of the Holy Light Elves were worrying about their Tree of Life, the Tree of Life of another Elven race–the Moonlight Elves–was also going through a matter of life and death.

They had encountered a similar problem as the Holy Light Elves had: the dark element had contaminated their Tree of Life. Their wisest elder had studied the problem for a long time and had come to a conclusion: because the dark elements were naturally attracted to life, as life was their greatest source of nutrition, they had come to their Tree of Life, which, being the core of Elven life and reproduction, possessed the greatest vitality.

They had an explanation and evidence, but it was of no use.

The Moonlight Elf King asked when their Tree of Life would get better, but the head elder simply shook his head erratically, “The start and end of all life is predetermined, each must abide by their own laws. . . .” These words were spoken as if the Tree of Life’s time had come and that there was no way for it to recover.

As the Moonlight King listened, he felt increasingly unlucky. They still had no plan, and even the head elder, the wisest of the Elves, could not think of a solution. Others would be at an even greater loss.

They had even caught and sacrificed a small Demon, all to no avail.

In the end, the head elder had told their Elven king that the only element in the world which could counter the dark element was the holy light element. They had no other choice but to plead the Holy Light Elves for assistance.

The Moonlight Elf King recalled the terrible relation between their two races and his heart broke.

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The author has something to say:

Demon King Zeze: There is a scummy man, who just the other second (in a dream) was engaging with me in life’s greatest harmony²(not really), and the next second went to go hug some lass.

Brave Xu Jun: F*ck, that scummy?! Beat them to death, beat them to death!

To further explain things, Xu Jun’s feelings for Ellie are like that of a brother to a sister, since when he first saw Ellie, Ellie was a flat chested girl (. . . ), and from then on, he had always seen Ellie as a little girl.

However, Ellie had grown up a lot during these two years, it’s just that her first impression was too deep and is now too difficult to change_(:зゝ∠)_

Translator’s Niche:

[1] Green hats are typically associated with men whose wives/significant others are cheating on them.⏎

[2]Life’s greatest harmony, the intermixing of two, in other words, performing the sex. ⏎

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