Translator: AkazaTL
Pr/Ed: Sol IX
***
Chapter 132 : World Tree Irminsul
‘Irminsul’.
The Guardian Tree that had taken root throughout the southeastern part of the continent and protected Veradora.
Those who did not know the true substance of the World Tree would pass through the center of Thebaia, the capital of Veradora, and guess the reality of Irminsul by looking at its giant trunk that rose as if to touch the sky.
However, the trunk stretching above the surface of the ground was rely the tip of the iceberg.
The true power of the World Tree lay in its roots, not the trunk.
Among the vast entire territory of Veradora, there was nowhere that the roots of Irminsul did not reach.
Irminsul shared the abundant life force it created throughout Veradora through its roots, making the land fertile.
It protected the residents by lowering the demonic energy of the monsters lurking in the darkness.
The residents of Veradora called the Guardian Tree that protected their ho the World Tree, and they used it to commorate the boundless grace and devotion of Irminsul.
***
Tap, tap.
Thirty minutes had passed since stepping onto the stairs descending underground, but the only thing still heard was the sound of regular footsteps.
The end of the stairs was nowhere in sight.
Hummmm-
However, it did not feel tedious for the two of us, I, Hein Reichart, and Sherazade, as we headed toward the central root of Irminsul.
The fine roots of the World Tree, dyed in reddish-brown, were winding around various parts of the stairs,
And the appearance of the luminescent moss emitting colorful lights between the tangled roots was a magnificent sight to behold in itself.
Tap, tap.
The one standing in the lead was Sion, followed by and Sherazade, and then the four Chief Priests in charge of the World Tree.
The group consisting of seven people descended the stairs in silence like that, and it was only after another thirty minutes had passed that we were able to arrive at the destination.
“Woooah!”
An exclamation eventually burst out from Sherazade’s mouth as she witnessed the majestic roots of Irminsul.
‘……I had heard about it through rumors, but this is truly no joke.’
I was equally surprised, though I did not let out a sound with my mouth.
The sight unfolding before our eyes was such that the expression of a palace where the king of trees resided would be more fitting than rely plant roots.
It was no exaggeration; each of the tangled roots truly had a thickness and diater that surpassed the royal palace of Zodiac.
There were as many as hundreds of these enormous roots.
On top of that, there was an imnse number of fine roots stretching out in all directions.
‘Before seeing it with my own eyes, I wondered if the title of World Tree might be an exaggeration. It is more than worthy of being called that.’
But the surprise did not end there.
“Shall we begin?”
“We understand, Your Majesty.”
The priests who received Sion’s command scattered in a certain direction and began to recite prayer verses.
Shshshsh-
As the prayer verses grew longer, a giant magic circle began to form toward the bottom where the largest root was located.
A design symbolizing the World Tree was situated at the center of the magic circle.
Just as the blurry emblem of the World Tree took on a clearer light.
Sion entered the center of the magic circle and recited an incantation while placing both hands on the floor.
Flash!
In an instant, a light whiter than her snow-white wings burst forth.
A mont later.
In the place where the light subsided, a green gem of enormous size in the shape of a tree had taken its place.
There was no separate explanation, but everyone in this place could tell that this green gem was an object in which the essence of the World Tree had been manifested.
“Miss Sherazade. Would you like to co over here and take a look?”
As promised in advance, Sherazade approached the gem while wearing the Spirit Soul Magic Armor around her neck and began to examine it carefully.
“……Is this that……”
“Yes. It is unusual even at a glance, is it not. It is evidence that the World Tree is diseased.”
The upper part of the gem was emitting a fresh green light, but the lower part was dyed in an ominous purple.
It was the result of the pollution solution that the bastards of the Esper Kingdom had sprayed all over the territory of Veradora, flowing in through the ground and contaminating the roots.
“If we had known from the beginning that it was the work of the Esper Kingdom, we would have taken action a bit sooner. But because those people moved so craftily, we only recently learned that they were suspicious.”
Should I call it truly cunning? The Esper bastards did not start causing trouble imdiately after spraying the pollutant.
They only moved after confirming that the World Tree was sufficiently contaminated and that Veradora had no capacity to pay attention to border issues because of it.
“In the end, by the ti we realized the situation was serious and noticed that Esper’s circumstances were suspicious, we had already been pushed to a point where we could no longer do anything.”
Sion, who finished speaking, bit her lip while making an expression unlike her usual self.
Sherazade closed her eyes and placed her hand on the surface of the gem, beginning to diagnose the state of the World Tree.
Hummmm-
At the sa ti, the magic armor hanging around her neck began to emit light.
‘Can you do it?’
I, who had been silently watching Sherazade’s appearance for a mont, sent a telepathy through the Geas contract.
‘Wait a second…… Greenie and Yellowie are saying sothing right now! Yeah, Yellowie is very angry right now. They say humans are too much. They say that this tree has bestowed so many things for humans all this ti, but wicked humans did bad things and made this kind tree sick.’
Among the spirits, the one leading the healing process of the World Tree seed to be Yellowie, who was closely related to trees—that is, the Earth Spirit.
‘So, does it seem like healing is possible?’
‘Yup, Yellowie says so. It almost beca a big problem if it had been even a little bit later.’
Hearing those words, I let out a sigh of relief.
Because the fact that it ‘almost’ beca a big problem if it were later ant that a big problem had not occurred yet.
And although I did not know yet, the state of the World Tree was actually much worse than in my past life.
While the pollution solution used in the past life was made by Suleiman, the pollution solution in this life was manufactured by Zephyros.
Zephyros was much more fatally dangerous than Suleiman.
If it were not for Sherazade, who could fully draw out the power of the spirits, treating the World Tree in this life would have been an impossible task.
“Whew.”
Sherazade took a breath and then concentrated her mind.
Then, a yellow light dwelled in her hand, and that yellow light soon began to softly seep into the green gem.
Zzzzz-
The yellow light that seeped into the gem gathered together as soon as it reached the contaminated spot, and then changed its form into a round bead and began to swim through the contaminated area with graceful movents.
Vrrrrr-
Then, a reaction imdiately began to occur from the roots of the World Tree.
The roots that had been drooping as if dead began to move, however weakly, and started to emit life force.
“Your Majesty! The World Tree, the World Tree is-!”
“Oh my goodness, thank you so much!”
Seeing this, the priests began to rejoice with even tears in their eyes.
The World Tree, which had not pulsated at all for the past few months, had begun to stretch its limbs.
Bzzt-
A mont later, their surprise grew even greater.
As the roots began to move, the luminescent moss that had been clinging to the surface of the roots began to activate, and that light soon brightly lit up the entire underground cavity.
“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness……”
Fragnts of light pouring down like a flood and the life force pulsating between them.
Witnessing the exquisite scenery that she thought she might never be able to see again, Sion eventually ended up showing tears.
“Haa, haa. With this, all the work I can do is finished.”
Around that ti, Sherazade opened her closed eyes.
Her whole body was drenched in sweat, but her expression looked more refreshed than anyone else’s.
“Miss Sherazade! Thank you so, so much. I do not know how to repay this grace……”
Sherazade, who showed a smile to Sion, who could not continue her words as she was soaked in excessive emotion, began the explanation of the future progress.
“The treatnt has only just begun; Irminsul has not regained all of its power yet. Your Majesty, can you see this yellow energy?”
The yellow bead was rotating at a slightly faster speed while playing in the purple contaminated area, and every ti it rotated once, a yellow wave spread in all directions.
Every ti that wave passed by, the vivid purple light that had been dominating the lower part of the World Tree was becoming just a little bit, a tiny bit paler.
“The World Tree needs more ti to recover its complete state. From here on, there is no choice but to rely on the World Tree’s inherent recovery power. However, it does not seem like there will be any big problems, so if you wait, there will likely be improvent.”
“Thank you. I can wait as long as it takes. Miss Sherazade, Grand Duke. You two are truly the great benefactors of this country. I do not know how to repay this grace……”
Sion and the priests seed curious about the true identity of the ability that healed the World Tree, but thinking it was not polite to pry into a benefactor, they rely expressed their gratitude.
“I am satisfied enough as long as Your Majesty keeps the promise you made with the Grand Duke.”
“Of course the promise must be kept. On the day Esper pays the price for its sins, the promised reward will undoubtedly be given to Zodiac and the Grand Duke.”
Sion, who was sharing joy while holding Sherazade’s hand, soon moved in front of .
“Grand Duke, if necessary, I can leave the contents promised verbally in a docunt as soon as I return to the palace.”
“It is a promise made personally by the Mother of the Forest herself, not anyone else. How could I doubt its truth? It is enough for you to say it like this.”
“But, you have co a long way; will this really be alright?”
“Of course. To , the words given by Your Majesty and Your Majesty’s honor contained within them are more precious than a docunt.”
I did not demand a docunt from Sion.
She had already shown an appearance of guarding the side until the point where the destruction of Maganus was imminent in my past life.
I felt that demanding evidence from such a Sion would rely be an act of inviting unnecessary hassle.
‘What I need to obtain from Sion right now is not a single piece of docunt, but trust. It would be troubleso if Sion rembers Zodiac as an entity that can be concluded with just a few pieces of docunts.’
For this reason, I decided to make another request to Sion instead of a docunt regarding the spoils.
“Your Majesty, if it is alright, could you hide the fact that the World Tree has recovered its health for the ti being?”
“Pardon?”
Sion, who wore an expression of not knowing the reason for a very brief mont, soon wore a smile.
“Seeing the Grand Duke speak like this, it seems you have sothing in mind again?”
“That is correct. Please forgive for being unable to tell you the detailed plan as the situation is not certain yet. However……”
Clues related to the state of affairs of the Esper Kingdom passed through my mind.
A foolish king.
A sinister Duke who hid his ambition.
And Kunde, who instigated him by the Duke’s side.
“If things proceed as I have thought, the task of Your Majesty conquering Esper will beco much easier.”
“Very well. Let us do so. I shall have the people stay near the capital for the ti being, and I will also maintain the state of ergency issued to the military. Then Esper will not easily notice that our situation has improved. And this is not sothing the Grand Duke should express gratitude for. If the task of punishing Esper can beco easier, that would rather be sothing I should ask for.”
Since she usually showed only a gentle appearance, it was not obvious, but in fact, the ‘Bird-kin’ were a demi-human race famous for having the temperant of brave warriors.
Sion spoke with a gaze as sharp as the talons of a bird of prey, in which the temperant of the Bird-kin was clearly revealed.
“I am looking forward to that day of punishnt when Esper pays the price for its sins.”
***
That night.
Sherazade and I went to bed at an early hour in order to return to Zodiac early in the morning.
Hummmm-
However, in the bedroom that should have been filled only with the breathing of two people, a dazzling light began to leak out.
The source of the light was the Spirit Soul Magic Armor hanging around Sherazade’s neck.
The magic armor trembled secretly for a mont.
“Hup!”
And a mont later.
A yellow little kid wearing a yellow hat pressed down revealed its appearance from outside the magic armor.
The four elental spirits had manifested before, but this was the first ti one had revealed its appearance on its own without a call from or Sherazade.
“……!”
The Earth Spirit, who looked around for a mont, discovered asleep on the sofa across from the bed where Sherazade was lying,
And began to run while its eyes twinkled.
“Hup hup!”
The Earth Spirit climbed onto my body after getting down from the bed while busily moving its cute limbs.
And finally, when it arrived at its destination, my chest,
It began to jump up and down on that spot.
The spirit shouted without resting while hopping on my chest.
“Master! Wake up, Master! I have sothing to give to my Master!”
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