It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 166

Chapter 166: The Tree Spirit Arliv (3)

The arliv colony in the video was on the move, attacking silvas.

To others, it was just a cacophony of unintelligible sounds.

But to Kyung-joon, it was different.

(He, Help! Someone-!)

(━Why are the tre-!)

(G-Gah…… Ma, -gic-…….)

Due to the nature of fairy language, where mana carries intent, it was impossible to fully decipher the meaning from sound alone.

However, the emotions were crystal clear.

The silvas in the video were struggling, begging for their lives.

━Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. We might enter their aggro range if we get any closer.

SurvivalKing stopped the camera from getting closer and retreated.

He continued his broadcast from a safe distance.

━See that? Those fairies being attacked are silvas. Silvas of the forest. Wild fairies, to be exact. There’s something we need to clarify here. While both fairies and silvas originate from the forest, they are very different creatures.

[Caption – SurvivalKing’s The World? The More You Know!]

▶The Difference Between Spirits and Fairies!

▶Spirits – Collective organisms that constantly share consciousness. While solitary spirits exist, most live in colonies in the wild. The whole is one, and one is the whole. Therefore, attacking one can aggro the entire group, so scouting a wide area is essential before hunting!

▶Fairies – Basically tiny humans with wings! They possess almost no physical strength but often have high agility. As creatures innately blessed with mana, they instinctively know various magic spells. Be prepared to counter them based on their attributes.

Information captions, one of the reasons people watch SurvivalKing’s YouTube channel, flashed by.

The video resumed.

━Arlivs are collective beings. So, if they’re determined to attack the silvas like this, it means the entire arliv colony has agreed to it.

━Arlivs and silvas share the same forest attribute and aren’t hostile towards each other. Moreover, most of the arlivs attacking the silva village seem normal, ruling out mutation as a cause. Why are the arlivs attacking the harmless silvas?

As he watched the video up to that point, a single phrase, like an echo from the arliv, flashed through his mind.

‘It has already begun, the taint upon the pure, forest’s mana…’

By the time Kyung-joon recalled those words, he was already logged into the game.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Kyung-joon had asked the arliv 『Could you hold on a little longer?』

And the arliv’s response was 『It has already begun… the taint upon the pure… forest’s mana…』

Combining these two with the current situation led to one conclusion.

“Mr. Ceram, the arlivs are attacking the silvas to slow down their own corruption.”

Kyung-joon told Ceram everything he saw in the video.

“That has nothing to do with me.”

Ceram’s reaction was cold.

“But aren’t they your kind? You called them your brethren before.”

“……Even if they are, I was abandoned at birth and have lived separately. The only thing we share is a language, if you must call it that. Therefore, they are no different from strangers.”

Unlike before, Ceram didn’t seem to consider the silvas as his brethren anymore.

It was understandable.

‘Well, he must feel incredibly betrayed.’

Although Kyung-joon couldn’t read Ceram’s mind, he could roughly guess his feelings.

Ceram, abandoned by his parents at birth and discriminated against for his dark skin.

Like any living being, he needed a place to belong, a place to return to, but Ceram had none.

He was a silva, but he couldn’t be with other silvas.

Other creatures weren’t even the same species, and most were enemies when encountered in the forest.

So, he had been wandering alone.

Barely making a living, establishing himself as a peddler.

Of course,

This could have been the end of his story.

But Kyung-joon had learned something.

━Silvas don’t use metal.

This was part of what Ceram had told him while teaching him the fairy language.

━They rarely use stone tools either. Instead, they use forest magic to build their villages deep in the forest, wearing clothes made of bark and leaves, living in harmony with the forest. That’s why there are no words in the silva language to distinguish between metal and stone in detail.

━What’s interesting is that the word ‘fool’ in the silva language originates from the word ‘stone’. Similarly, words like ‘weapon’, ‘tool’, ‘war’, and other words that evoke war all trace back to ‘stone’.

━I don’t know for sure, but I heard from my master that fairies used to have a very bad relationship with dwarves, even to the point of war. Dwarves, who are the epitome of the earth attribute, symbolized by stone and metal……

Contrary to his earlier statement about his brethren being strangers, Ceram was more knowledgeable than anyone else about the language and culture of the silvas.

Why did he study the culture and language of a completely unrelated stranger so deeply?

Just academic curiosity?

It was possible.

However,

Kyung-joon, who had listened to the explanation while looking into Ceram’s eyes back then, knew that wasn’t the only reason.

━Considering this, it’s only natural, culturally speaking, that I, a dwarf-like being, would be ostracized from the silva community. Haha.

The look in Ceram’s eyes when he said that.

It was the look of someone desperately longing for a place to belong.

“Ceram.”

Kyung-joon asked, looking at Ceram.

His eyes were filled with an unusual seriousness.

“Are you being serious when you say they’re strangers?”

“……. “

Ceram couldn’t meet Kyung-joon’s gaze and turned his head away.

And the words he finally managed to utter were,

“……Or perhaps, they are merely potential trading partners.”

An incredibly vague answer.

Kyung-joon didn’t say anything and simply nodded his head several times before changing the subject.

“So, are you getting a sense of how to purify the black magic stones?”

This was the main issue at hand.

While the arlivs were barely holding on against the corruption, Kyung-joon had to find a way to purify them.

That’s why he had deliberately put the quest on hold, asking the arlivs to endure until he had a plan.

Whether the arlivs attacked the silvas to slow down their own corruption or not, if Ceram didn’t care, neither did Kyung-joon.

It was a bit unfortunate to leave the silvas to their fate without bringing them to his side.

‘Well, the arlivs seem stronger than the silvas anyway.’

That was all he felt: a tinge of regret.

“I think I have a general idea.”

“Oh! Really?”

“Yes. I’ve been studying the attribute research you’ve compiled, Kyung-joon-nim. I used my stone magic to try and remove what I believe to be the mana code of the black mana while preserving the structure of the stone.”

Ceram showed Kyung-joon a black magic stone.

But it was no longer black.

[Ashen Magic Stone: 3rd Tier]

▶A black magic stone obtained from a mutated monster, but with its dark mana partially purified. Traces of artificial processing remain.

▶Item Grade: Rare

“Wow. Nice. Nice. At this rate, we can solve this without any problems, right?”

The research was progressing faster than expected.

But that was a mistake.

“Hmm…… But I think it’s going to be quite difficult.”

“What? Why?”

“The arlivs are a collective spirit connected by a network, aren’t they? So even if we purify one with this, it’ll be pointless if two more get corrupted elsewhere.”

Ceram pointed out a crucial detail.

“Ah, right. For the purification to work properly, the purification rate has to be much faster than the infection rate…… Is the speed still too slow?”

“Yes, unfortunately. It took me almost half a day just to turn this gray.”

“Ah…… That’s really slow.”

If it took Ceram half a day, even if Kyung-joon did it himself, it would take at least several hours.

The arliv colony numbered in the hundreds, close to a thousand. Purifying them one by one was an impossible task.

“Is the purification process that difficult? We could teach it to all the residents and start a mass purification project.”

“You know that strange resident who only sings all day?”

“Ah, you mean Muse.”

“Yes, I thought the same thing, so I tried teaching her, but it’ll probably take at least a few weeks. It’s actually quite impressive that she can do it at all……”

“Right. That’s way too late. It won’t work. Hmm……”

Kyung-joon rested his chin on his hand and pondered for a moment.

He kept hitting walls of reality.

It was common in research, so he was used to it, but the time limit was the problem.

Even if the arlivs bought them some time, a few weeks was probably pushing it.

‘Arlivs…… spirits of trees…… purification…… Hmm…… Wait, trees?’

Suddenly, an idea struck him!

Kyung-joon grinned and asked Ceram.

“Mr. Ceram, do you know how to make fertilizer?”

“Fertilizer……?

“Yes. I heard it’s closely related to earth magic.”

“Hmm… I’ve never made it before, but if it’s earth magic, I’m sure I can……”

“Great!”

Clap!

“Eek?!”

Ceram flinched as Kyung-joon suddenly clapped his hands.

Kyung-joon continued without a care.

“You have that purification magic, right?”

Purifying thousands of arlivs one by one was impossible.

However,

“Let’s turn it into fertilizer.”

Spreading it as fertilizer was a piece of cake.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

<Minister of Agriculture and Forestry>

▼Fezun (NPC)

<Minister of Environment>

▼Crescens (NPC)

“Alright, Fezun, Crescens. I’m counting on you.”

“Leave it to us! I’ll turn Mr. Ceram into a fertilizer master comparable to myself within a day!”

“I, Crescens, will also devote myself to this task.”

Kyung-joon was greatly satisfied with their confident attitudes.

“Let’s go, Ceram! Time is of the essence!”

“W, Wait a minute…… You’re being awfully casual, pulling me like this……”

“No time for dilly-dallying! We’re on the clock!”

“Hehehe, you’re in for the most intense tutoring session of your life.”

“Nooo!”

Ceram was dragged away by Fezun and Crescens and shoved into a secluded room in some building.

Fezun and Crescens were to be Ceram’s tutors, cramming his brain with all sorts of knowledge about fertilizer.

As the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and the Minister of Environment, they had accumulated a wealth of agricultural and chemical knowledge, so they were undoubtedly the right men for the job.

<^오^>

<It was a brilliant move to appoint ministers.>

“Indeed. Now I can focus on my own tasks.”

Kyung-joon’s tasks were twofold:

Studying and managing his territory.

The two were closely intertwined.

“Well, the midterms are over.”

For now, Kyung-joon intended to focus on managing his territory.

As a lord.

And as Ceram’s employer.

Just as Crescens had said, he would devote himself to this task.

Scroll.

Kyung-joon scrolled through the log in his status window.

He hadn’t noticed it earlier because he was busy, but a bunch of notifications had popped up while he was talking to Ceram.

And at the very top, it read:

[You have acquired the third piece of the quest 『Ceram, the Black-Skinned Silva』.]

[You have collected all the quest pieces.]

[The epic quest 『Ceram, the Black-Skinned Silva』 has been activated.]

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