Ackster realized who he was talking to and what Willow wanted his help for. It also made sense she had mentioned his talent when she told him why she wanted his help rather than his current capabilities or something she had seen him do. He was a little curious about what talent she had seen in the short period they had been in each other’s vicinity.

Well, he didn’t know Willow’s exact identity, but he knew her status, at least part of it, and where she came from.

“Still not interested. Look for someone else.”

But he wasn’t going to reveal what he knew since that information, especially the fact that her skill Friends of the Forest was an elf-exclusive skill, wasn’t something he should know. It wasn’t just a matter of not being suspicious. He just stood nothing to gain by revealing what he knew. Though, he could confirm that her words were true.

If he helped her and she won the succession battle, getting a small kingdom of his own wasn’t out of reach. So, there might be something to gain. Someone with that kind of influence could definitely be of help in his preparation for stopping the end of the world and The Hero who would cause it.

But there were several problems with going through with the decision to help Willow.

The entire elven succession battle was a complete mess for multiple reasons, such as all the elves below a certain age being allowed to participate and the fact that, unlike humans, elves were relatively united. They had different tribes and countries, but they were all under one ruling force, the Forest of Eternity.

And this succession battle would select the next spokesperson for the Forest of Eternity. The power and influence such a person held over the elves was basically enough for them to do whatever they wanted on Arboria, the elven continent. Some elves were power-hungry and greedy, others wanted to make change, and several just wanted the position to make sure no one else became the spokesperson.

Regardless of the reason, a lot of elves wanted to try and become the spokesperson of the Forest of Eternity. And many of them were willing to do whatever it took.

The chances of Willow ending up the winner were as close to zero as something could get. And that wasn’t everything either.

With how influential the elves with their united leadership were, a lot of the other peoples and countries in the world also got involved. Of course, the elders of the Forest of Infinity ensured that there would be nothing too extreme, like a country using all the S-classes at their disposal to put an elf of their choosing on the spot.

But there was a tacit agreement, however, that whoever the elves recruited on their own was allowed to participate in the battle.

And that was where Ackster’s primary concern came in.

One of The Hero’s companions was an elf. Naturally, he and his other companions helped their comrade. The Hero and his comrades put an end to the succession battle two years before the final fight with The Calamity, which left them with enough time to make the most out of their elven companion’s position before the final world-saving and world-ending battle.

Ackster had no interest in getting mixed up in that when it was bound to drain his time and efforts like nothing else, especially when their success was far from guaranteed. In fact, trying to help Willow would bring him closer to a bad end rather than help him stop the end of the world.

The only exception would be if he could speedrun the succession battle and help Willow ascend to the spokesperson position before The Hero even got involved. He had seven years before The Hero did it in the original story and maybe five or six before he met his elven companion, so it wasn’t entirely impossible if he really racked his brains and pulled out all the stops.

If he revealed what he knew of the world and the future from having read the original story, and Willow had even the slightest modicum of influence, even without being the spokesperson, they could probably achieve greatness.

But it was a huge gamble that would put him and the world at risk, even if it succeeded, since it meant detracting a lot from his personal growth and the development of a team that could fight against The Hero and his companions.

Ackster considered it briefly while staring down Willow, who refused to budge.

He was pretty sure that as long as The Hero didn’t get involved, he could get pretty far in getting Willow the position as spokesperson of the Forest of Eternity. But, while there was no telling what kind of ripples his actions would have on the original story and what would happen in the future, it would hardly be worth it for him.

And while The Hero losing allies and strength was technically good since it meant it would be easier to defeat him, it also meant The Hero would have a harder time defeating The Calamity. And if The Hero failed his mission, Ackster would be powerless to stop The Calamity on his own.

“Alright, fine.”

Ackster gave up. He didn’t have time to wait for an elf’s patience to run out.

“You’ll help me?”

“If I get the opportunity to, I’ll lend you my aid sometime in the future. As long as the circumstances don’t cause me any trouble or anything.”

“Yes! Thank you! I won’t let you go back on your word.”

Willow showed intense emotion for the first time since their meeting. But Ackster couldn’t be bothered with her anymore. There were still people lurking around and waiting for Ackster to leave with the heavenly treasure.

“You can tell if I’m lying or not, right? If there’s nothing else, why don’t you get going? Oh, and take that guy with you. I’m sure he would be happy to help.”

“Yeah. If nothing else, his spirit is admirable.”

Willow turned around under Ackster’s watch and walked over to Tenrick. She knelt down and placed her hand above his chest.

Ackster raised an eyebrow when that hand started emitting a soft green glow.

Willow looked back at him, and he was pretty sure he could hear a wink as she spoke.

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“A little teaser of what you’re missing out on.”

‘A healer would have been nice. Still not worth it, though.’

Ackster shrugged, unimpressed.

“Man, most people throw themselves at me after fighting out that I’m a healer that can also fight.”

“I’m not most people.”

“You don’t say. Well, since that didn’t work. How about this?”

Willow pointed her other hand in a direction of the forest, and as her hand lit up with another bout of soft green light, the trees moved, grew, and transformed to create an arched pathway.

“That will take you out of the grove without worrying about any ambushes.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

Since Willow had opened up a path for him so he wouldn’t have to deal with anyone lying in wait to ambush him until after he left the grove, Ackster was about to fetch Karandiel before leaving. But there was one thing he couldn’t let go.

Friends of the Forest was an innate skill practically all elves had. As far as he knew, it was what made them the natural experts at nature magic and forest-based combat that they were. It also helped elves determine other people’s general compatibility with nature, how friendly they were to the forests. Ackster didn’t know the details, but he was pretty sure the skill couldn’t tell elves about the talents of those around them.

“Willow, wait a minute,”

Willow turned around, Tenrick on her back, and looked at Ackster.

“Yeah? You change your mind?”

“No.”

Ackster held back a sigh.

“You mentioned you wanted my help because you saw my talent, right? Two things. Does that mean you don’t want my immediate help? And how did you see my talent?”

Ackster used a reasonable question that would also help hide what he knew about Willow’s intentions to cover what he really wanted to know. Willow had a trick to see through lies. But he hoped it wouldn’t see through something that wasn’t a lie. It was just a question he already knew the answer to that he used as a misdirection.

“Huhu. I’ll answer if you decide to accompany me.”

By now, Ackster was confident Willow was smiling as she said that.

“No thanks. Never mind then, I guess.”

Ackster turned back to the pit and started walking toward it.

‘Oop. I can’t forget this.’

Before jumping down, Ackster picked up the bag he had dropped when he first approached the golden dome of solid light. By grabbing everyone’s attention with his slight altercation with Hansel and the Crimson Edge, no one had noticed the bag. And, more importantly, no one had noticed its contents moving.

So, when the dome fell, Ackster wasn’t first on the scene.

It had been a precaution in case someone else got first or something happened to him, and Ackster was happy it hadn’t been necessary since he didn’t want to lose either Mio or Karandiel.

He stopped at the edge of the meter-deep pit and looked at Willow, who walked away with Tenrick on her back. She walked a little too slowly for Ackster’s liking, but maybe she just wasn’t that strong, even if she was more skilled than she had let on.

In any case, Ackster waited until he could confirm she wasn’t nearby anymore, at least not close enough to hear or see what he was doing. Though, since she was an elf, depending on her connection with nature and the surrounding plants, she might already know what was within the pit, or she could find out later when Ackster had left.

“All good, Mio?”

But Ackster didn’t have time to worry about that. He would have to be satisfied with the fact that Willow didn’t seem very malicious by nature. And while it looked like she strongly wanted Ackster’s help, it didn’t look like she would coerce him or force his company.

Fortunately, it also didn’t seem like she would go around telling people about him.

Rumors would undoubtedly spread about the heavenly treasure and the adventurer that had managed to get his hands on it. But Willow should be the only one that knew a little more about him, that his identity was fake, and what the heavenly treasure might be.

So, with Mio’s help, Ackster felt confident none of the surfacing rumors would pinpoint him as the adventurer, Hugo, who claimed the heavenly treasure, hot out of the divine realm, for himself.

Mio crawled out from behind and beneath Karandiel’s neck. He gave a slanted thumbs-up.

“We should get out of here then.”

Mio crawled up Ackster’s arm as he bent down and into the bag on his bag with soft wiggling motions. Ackster continued and carefully put his arms under Karandiel, the silky smooth tunic brushing against his fingers and easily revealing how soft Karandiel’s skin was.

Ackster kept his face and mind in check as he put one arm under her knees and the other around her back and carried her like a princess out of the pit. He would have liked another subtler method of transporting the fallen angel, but this would have to do.

Ackster made sure he had a steady grip on Karandiel. Then, he leaped out of the tiny pit and straight into the archway Willow had made. Although he hadn’t sensed anyone close enough to the crash site that could see Karandiel, he couldn’t guarantee anything, and there was no harm in minimizing the odds of a person being the heavenly treasure. So, he made quick work of the distance between the pit and the arched passageway of trees.

His feet kept moving as soon as he landed, and he ran through the tunnel of curved tree trunks. There was just enough light seeping through the trunks to maintain a level of visibility necessary for travel. Not that Ackster needed it since he already had good enough night vision to rely on only the light coming from the entrance and the exit.

While running, he wondered if no one would notice this tunnel from outside and realize it had something to do with the one carrying the heavenly treasure. But since he was inside it, he couldn’t see what it looked like from the other side. He could only rely on and hope that Willow was thoughtful enough to think about that as well and not just Ackster’s wish to remain unseen.

But he wasn’t one to rely on hopes, so he still prepared for an ambush at the wooden tunnel’s exit.

He was tired. The fight with Hansel had taken a lot, even after he discarded the weighted training equipment since he had pushed Limit Breaker far enough to make sure he didn’t have to worry about anyone else. His brain had also been working pretty hard, keeping track of every adventurer and figuring out what to say and what to do to keep everyone away from Karandiel.

Verbal persuasion, he had realized, wasn’t one of his strong suits, at least if it wasn’t backed by violence.

However, as he took another couple of steps, Ackster realized that the tunnel split up into several paths. Well, that’s what it would look like from the outside. He only had one path available to him since the others were blocked by trees.

‘She was holding back so far.’

Ackster realized that if Willow wanted, she could have taken Karandiel for herself. If she was powerful enough to arrange a maze-like structure of the grove’s trees, she was more than likely strong enough to defeat Crimson Edge on her own and take the heavenly treasure that fell from the skies.

Ackster wondered what she had even been doing there in the first place. Since she had wanted to recruit him for the elven inheritance battle, maybe she had been looking for promising recruits. Or maybe just passing through.

In any case, Willow probably knew that the supposed heavenly treasure wasn’t a treasure in the traditional sense but a fallen angel. Or, at the very least, a person from the divine realm.

But why hadn’t she wanted to try and get help from a person of the divine realm? Had she forfeited seizing Karandiel for herself in favor of Ackster? Or was Willow simply not interested in what Karandiel could offer?

Maybe she didn’t want to display what she was capable of by engaging in a brawl and revealing her existence and possibly identity as an elf. Maybe she wanted to keep a low profile.

Granted, transforming the grove wasn’t a low-profile move. But no one could track it back to her, so her identity as Willow, the wandering knight, was safe.

Acskter had no idea and no way of figuring out the truth. So, he set his mind to rest and focused on the angel in his arms.