Chapter 221 – The World Tree’s Seed (2)
One for the witch.
One for the party.
One for Lily.
And one more for the witch.
The key to the lunchbox party I planned was distribution.
As the stack of 200 lunchboxes piled up in an instant, Lily gazed up at the towering stack with sparkling eyes, as if looking at the highest lunchbox set in the world.
The sheer grandeur of 200 stacked lunchboxes was enough to make her choose them over the food I personally prepared.
“With this, our secret shall be...!”
“Eternal!”
Judging by her reaction, she was very pleased.
I had essentially blocked the witches’ gold with the witches’ lunchboxes. If that wasn’t true creative economics, I didn’t know what was.
“Let the party begin!”
“Waaah!”
The witches sat closely together around the large campfire, chatting as they enjoyed their lunchboxes.
It was a scene reminiscent of students having their lunch break.
Though nothing extraordinary was prepared, the witches relished the rare warmth of the mont, having a genuinely enjoyable ti.
“…I can’t eat anymore.”
Lily, who had monopolized the towering stack of lunchboxes, eventually collapsed.
She lay sprawled on the ground, her waistband loosened, surrounded by empty lunchboxes. She was breathing so heavily that she couldn’t even think about moving.
Keros, who had been watching for an opportunity, stealthily began snatching up the remaining lunchboxes.
Seeing this, Karl’s eyes glead as he joined in.
“You little…?”
“Woof??”
The two glared at each other, their competitive spirits igniting as they increased their food intake.
An assassin and a dog, locked in a bizarre battle of pride.
“Ku-Kugh! I… can't… anymore…”
A short while later, Karl let out a pained cry before slumping over.
Keros, swaying unsteadily, stepped forward and triumphantly placed a paw on Karl’s head with a proud "Woof!"
It was a victory ceremony.
From behind, Keros now looked less like a sleek Shiba Inu and more like a chubby Welsh Corgi.
Although the gluttons had fallen, the towering lunchbox stack had barely shrunk.
“If anyone’s still hungry, co and take more!”
I had anticipated this outco from the start, so the grand lunchbox party continued through the night.
While the witch, the assassin, and the dog lay sprawled out, gasping for breath, movent stirred in the background.
As Elder deia and Natasha arrived, the witches montarily ceased their chatter and stood to greet them.
“You’ve arrived?”
“The eting took longer than expected.”
“The fire is still strong, and there’s plenty of food. Please, have a seat.”
“Ugh, I was starving to death.”
Natasha grabbed an armful of lunchboxes from the towering stack.
On her way back, she paused upon seeing the three defeated gluttons and then looked at .
“This is the fate of greed.”
After briefly observing the trio, she put down so of the lunchboxes and shared the rest with the Elder.
Once the two settled by the campfire, the witches’ chatter resud.
“You didn’t bring a lunchbox?”
“I’m an Dortas.”
“Dortas are witches too, aren’t they?”
“Here.”
With her mouth full, she extended her fist toward .
A rice ball.
I had a feeling that if I made a fuss about it, I’d get punched hard, so I wisely took a step back.
Even the Elder, who had arrived empty-handed, seed to be silently supporting Natasha this ti.
Between the crackling of the firewood, a quiet al ensued.
A short while later, the Elder placed his empty lunchbox aside and surveyed the surroundings.
It seed he liked the cozy atmosphere.
“We should’ve just held the eting here. It would have been much more relaxed.”
“Was the atmosphere bad?”
The Elder stared at for a mont before clicking his tongue.
“The Great Council, which is rarely convened even once in ten years, has now been held twice since your arrival. I can’t tell if you’re a blessing or a disaster.”
“It must be a blessing.”
“You’re quite shaless.”
“As long as I benefit the forest, I haven’t caused any harm. If anything, I’ve only suffered.”
“You have a point.”
“So, what was the outco of the eting?”
“It went as you suggested.”
Hearing the Elder’s response, I let out a sigh of relief and nodded.
This Great Council had two major agenda items.
One was the discussion regarding the World Tree’s Seed, the divine spirit of the Millennium Tree.
The other was the defense of Ordor Forest.
The part I had proposed was the defense of the forest.
I couldn’t provide much advice on the World Tree’s Seed since even I wasn’t entirely sure about it. However, I did know exactly how Ordor Forest had fallen.
Through Samuel’s delivery request, I had discovered that there was a secret deal between Kal Blazer and Demtor.
That ant it was crucial to prepare for Demtor’s invasion in advance.
The witches still didn’t fully grasp the danger posed by that elixir.
“I have a question about Blood Nature.”
As expected, the Elder imdiately brought up that topic.
It was a natural progression.
“How can you be so certain that the elixir poses a threat to the forest?”
“Well….”
Blood Nature.
A potion developed by Gram, the Star of Demtor, it was currently being hailed as the Dew of the Gods and had garnered fervent support from wizards.
Blood Nature stimulated a wizard’s mana perception, allowing them to accumulate mana within their bodies far more efficiently.
This ant that even within the Ghostly Forest, wizards could maintain a certain level of magic.
In other words, they could fight within the witches’ forest, even if only for a short ti. If combined with a surprise attack, the damage to the forest would be catastrophic.
After all, it wasn’t the cursed dolls that burned the Millennium Tree—it was the wizards’ magic.
This was information that only Gram, the potion’s creator, would currently be aware of.
Even the other Stars of Demtor were likely unaware of it.
Given that I had sohow leaked this knowledge to the Dortass, it was only natural that they would be suspicious.
The problem was, I had no way to convincingly explain my certainty.
I couldn’t just say, “I read it in a novel.”
So, I presented a substitute source.
“This information ca from Reto.”
“Reto….”
The Immortal Heart, Retonicalus was a mysterious figure to the Dortass.
His re existence was enough to make them accept things they couldn’t understand.
“I trust in Reto’s existence, but that alone won’t be enough to convince the Dortas who oppose this matter.”
“There were Dortas who objected?”
“The decision was made by majority vote. Natasha, Cordy, and I supported your proposal. The remaining two opposed it.”
My proposal was to retreat from the Ghostly Forest, which ford the defensive periter against Demtor, and establish a new defensive line at the heart of the forest.
If we remained at the periter, we risked being ambushed by mages under the influence of Blood Nature.
“They didn’t attend the party.”
“That’s why we can enjoy the party in peace. They left to guard the periter. It’s the duty they’ve upheld for decades.”
The ones who opposed my proposal were witches who had spent years monitoring Demtor and defending the Ghostly Forest.
They had the strongest faith in its defensive capabilities, so it was only natural that they couldn’t abandon it just because of my warning.
“Now that the proposal has passed by majority vote, our defensive efforts will be centered around the Witches’ Garden, rather than the Ghostly Forest. The Dortas who opposed it have been granted autonomy. We can’t afford to neglect surveillance of the forest, after all.”
“I understand.”
Changing the forest’s long-standing defensive structure with a single proposal was already a remarkable achievent.
This was only possible because I had revealed the divine spirit of the Millennium Tree and had been recognized as an ally of the witches.
After all, I had gained the trust of three out of the five Dortass.
“Did you learn anything about the divine spirit of the Millennium Tree?”
The World Tree’s Seed was a miracle created through Wish, the witches’ grand ritual.
I had expected that those involved in its creation might know sothing, but Elder deia furrowed his brows and shook his head.
“All we have are hypotheses.”
“May I hear them?”
Wish—the grand sacrificial ritual completed at the cost of four Dortass and thirty-six witches, all to survive the Witch Massacre.
Its core principles were twofold:
A land devoid of mana.
A sanctuary to grant rest to those who had shed blood.
“You’re saying that sanctuary is the World Tree?”
“It wouldn’t be a sanctuary limited to witches alone. If that were the case, the Sacred Tree would have revealed its divine spirit to us by now.”
“Then those who bled alongside the witches… Are you referring to non-human races?”
“That’s correct. The Millennium Tree is offering coexistence. Do you know the divine spirit of Fenry Chaser, who recently awakened as a vessel of the divine spirit?”
I recalled the title of Fenry Chaser, the leader of Black Rose.
[Fenry Chaser – Shadow of the World Tree]
“So, this is where it all connects.”
Originally, he was supposed to receive a different divine spirit, but because of my influence, his fate had changed.
At first, I thought his divine spirit was aningless, but now, with the World Tree coming into the picture, I felt increasingly convinced.
Everything was changing because of .
Just like Fenry, the fate of the Millennium Tree had likely been altered because of my interference.
If the Millennium Tree, having accumulated power for centuries through Wish, was now awakening into the World Tree...
Then the only condition left was simple: Demtor must not be allowed to burn it.
It felt as if fate itself was holding up signposts, guiding my path.
I had a strong feeling that the Millennium Tree would beco the centerpiece of the battles to co.
And if I brought Fenry to the tree, perhaps sothing would change.
Elder deia seed to have a similar thought.
“Bring Fenry Chaser here.”
“Is this a request?”
“It’s a favor.”
“That sounds like you want to do it for free.”
“Isn’t your spiritual arts enough? Your greed is excessive.”
“If you knew what kind of person Fenry is, you wouldn’t say that.”
That damn money-obsessed cat.
She was so obsessed with wealth that people joked about calling her Donry, not Fenry.
I could only imagine how many rchants she had swindled in her pursuit of mine shares.
She was probably sprawled on a bed of gold coins right now, grinning as she counted her money.
“When do you plan to leave the forest?”
Judging by the way Elder deia was assigning tasks outside, he must have sensed my intentions.
He knew I was getting ready to leave.
As I scratched my chin, lost in thought, Karl—who had been groaning on the ground—suddenly raised his head and focused on sothing.
Rustle—
Leaves shifted and brushed against each other, creating a faint noise.
From within the rustling leaves, a figure slowly erged.
Karl, sensing sothing familiar, was sure of it and his face lit up with recognition.
A presence responding to Resonance.
“Lochter!”
He was in a disheveled state, as if he hadn’t washed for a long ti.
But the two swords strapped to his waist stood out even more.
One was short and broad, while the other was long and sharp.
The smooth, crimson blades glead under the flickering firelight.
When Lochter spotted , he approached.
I smirked and glanced at deia.
“Looks like I’m ready to leave.”
“…So, those twin swords are the Reyna and Belin that the lord of Beneta boasted about?”
“Aren’t they beautiful?”
“They seem to favor their wielder.”
The fact that Lochter had erged ant that he had completed his bond with the swords crafted in the forge.
I got up, dusted myself off, and asked him,
“How do you feel?”
Lochter slowly scanned his surroundings before locking eyes with .
“I’m hungry.”
Then, he smiled.
It was the smile of soone who had gotten exactly what they wanted.
“Everyone, gather up!”
At my call, those who had been lounging around slowly approached.
Lily, Keros, Karl, and Lochter.
One by one, they all took their places around the campfire.
That night, we had a quiet, intimate gathering.
Before leaving Ordor Forest, we shared one last warm and peaceful night together.
User Comments
0 comments from readers