Now Reader, my dear Reader, Redgar, only found the axe by chance. A simple stroke of luck, or maybe a curse? Whatever the situation may be, Redgar found the axe on his travels. For, as a merchant without a store of his own, he often travelled to sell his goods and acquire new stock. The majority of his travels took him to the merchant's capital of Rutherut or the great city of Crustervia, but he also travelled to smaller towns and cities. 

As such, some of his less lucrative but still personally viable business required him to go through the Emerald Forest. He took no pleasure in passing through the towering trees. Plus may of the trails, carved out by mother nature's all-consuming destructive force had started to be healed by her loving touch. Leading to narrow winding trails that Redgar didn't like. In short, he felt suffocated by it. "It" being the forest. Unfortunately for Redgar, it was necessary to check-in at least once a year. 

At least that is what Redgar told people. In reality, he may have gone once every two or three years. Which, my friend, is why Redger didn't find Gerim's remains or the axe, until nearly three years after Gerim's death. By then, Gerim's flesh had rotted, vining vegetation had grown over the bones, tieing them to the earth, and yet the axe was still as polished as the day the blacksmith crafted it.