Chapter 94
World Tree
Flight
Translator : PolterGlast
Bright red eyes were
glaring at me.
"Eh," I
gasped.
When I woke up, I was
lying on a large leaf. Literally, a huge leaf. It was green, bursting with
freshness and elasticity, and fluffy. "Lo, Lotus, Lotus!" It seemed
we had both lost consciousness, and above our heads, Ichi and the others were
busily sprinkling water on us and patting us.
I couldn't afford to
scream "Higyaa!" at the fact that Lotus's hand was still firmly
gripping my stomach, just as it had when we moved. This wasn't the time to be
embarrassed either. I wriggled my body and, with Ichi and the others, we all
worked together to smack Lotus's face repeatedly. The deep frown between his
eyebrows, even when he was sleeping, deepened further.
"That
hurts."
"Good morning!!"
He slowly sat up,
looked around, and pondered. He felt like he had had a strange dream.
"I feel kind of
out of it. Did I have a dream or something?"
"You too,
Lotus?"
It felt like it had
some meaning, like something I had been concerned about before, but if Lotus
said so too, maybe it was just my imagination after all. Ichi and the others
puffed out their chests (or what looked like chests), proudly saying, "We
were awake the whole time!" Good job, good job.
Since I only had two
arms to pat their three heads, I did it at lightning speed, and then,
"That's pretty big," I nodded at Lotus's words, and then looked up at
the sky. We were on an unbelievably large leaf. It was big enough that even
with both Lotus and me on it, there was still plenty of room, and because the
leaf was so large, the branches attached to it were long and thick. The trunk
must be unimaginably huge.
The World Tree in the
middle of the Magic Tower was probably just one of its "roots."
"It's like Jack
and the Beanstalk..."
"Hmm?"
I ended up remembering
a fairy tale that didn't exist in this world. A huge, enormous tree, its
location unknown, pierced through the thick clouds and reached into the distant
sky. We had to climb this. And we had to cut off its branches. The breath I had
intended to just exhale came out like a sigh. My feelings were clearly showing.
"Oops," I immediately closed my mouth.
"That's right,
the bracelet!"
When I checked, it was
still properly on my right hand. "Good," I sighed in relief, and then
rummaged through my bag. Since it was meant for Ichi and the others to fit in,
I gripped the paper that had come out from the bottom of the slightly larger
bag. When I opened it, the geography of this country was clearly drawn. No,
since we probably weren't in Soleil anymore, calling it "this
country" might be strange.
Since we weren't
standing on the ground, my footing felt unsteady, but the leaf was incredibly
firmly attached to the branch and didn't even budge when Lotus and I walked on
it. I spread out the map. The land that Kuuga had told us to drop was marked
with a red circle.
"...Maybe it's
because I'm wearing the bracelet, but I kind of... have a feeling... which
branches I should cut."
"It's strange,
isn't it?"
"Yeah..."
We had somehow cleared
the first hurdle. If I hadn't known, we would have been completely stuck, so in
a way, it could be said that it was one of the conditions.
"And then, this
height..."
The branches we had to
cut were still far, far away. I looked up, and just as I was about to fall
backward, Lotus and Ichi and the others supported me. "What are you
doing?" "I felt... faint..." Ki wo mite, ki ga tookunatta1
(Watching the tree, I felt faint.) I couldn't even laugh at my bad joke.
1It uses
wordplay to create an illogical and exaggerated scenario. It relies on the
listener's initial understanding of "ki" as "tree" being
subverted by its later use meaning "spirit/mind."
"How are we
supposed to get there...!"
I certainly had the
wall-climbing skill, but there was a limit to it. At that point, Lotus looked
at me, crossed his arms, and tilted his head. What was with that pose? I
involuntarily furrowed my brow. "Well, normally..." Normally, what?
"Wouldn't it be
fine if we just flew?"
***
It had been a while
since we had done this, so I had completely forgotten. It wasn't because I was
frustrated that my flying skill hadn't improved. It was just that when you
lived in the city for a long time, some things faded away... So, I was held in
Lotus's arms, and Ichi and the others snuck into our luggage, and we started
our nostalgic aerial flight.
We were going upward,
but the destination was still a tiny speck. If Lotus's flying skill wasn't so
high, I wondered what would have happened... Ichi and the others were talking.
"We can hear everything, you know..." With a mysterious
"Fo-fo-foo!", everyone retreated into the bag.
"But, at first, I
thought it was so lush and green,"
"Yeah..."
I understood what
Lotus meant. As we went higher, the World Tree was clearly withering. In some
parts, not just branches but even the bark of the trunk had peeled off in large
patches, making it hard to believe it was the same tree. This whole huge tree
probably represented all the countries. If Soleil was the first leaf that was
created, then the place we were aiming for was even higher.
One hour, two hours,
how long had it been? I didn't even know how long I had been unconscious. Since
we had even pierced through the clouds, my sense of time was vague. I was just
being held by Lotus, unable to do anything. Yet, my feelings were getting more
and more impatient.
(Kuuga said that
sending us was just in case...)
So, it wasn't
something we absolutely had to accomplish.
How much easier it
would be if I could think that way.
"Just because
we're here as a 'just in case' measure doesn't mean we don't have to accomplish
it! Otherwise, we won't be a safety net for anything!!!"
"Just calm down
for now."
Flailing around would
only make things less efficient, so only my breathing grew rough.
After a while, Lotus
muttered just one word, "Impossible." We had landed on a leaf that
was quite brown compared to the first one, and I looked at the wings that had
disappeared from Lotus's back. We were hurrying, but we didn't know what might
be ahead. Continuous flight consumed a certain amount of stamina, and even
though it was for a short time, we had been taking breaks.
"...Should we
take a break?"
"No. My skill
won't work. I can't go any further."
"............Huh.
Huh, huh!?"
"Maybe we've
exceeded the altitude I can fly at."
"Th-that... ah,
you're right, I can't use it either!"
Compared to Lotus, I
was pathetic, but I could use my flying skill to some extent. So, I tried it,
but only tiny wings, smaller than usual, appeared. Even when I flapped them,
they were less than a fan, less than a broken electric fan.
"Aah... ugh,
flying skill isn't really about moving your wings to fly, huh~..."
We were flying while
ignoring the laws of physics. It wouldn't be strange if the original skill had
a limit to the altitude we could reach. Of course, we couldn't see the ground,
and we had flown so high that I didn't even know how far up we had gone. I had
never come to such a height before, so I hadn't noticed.
"So, that
means..."
"Well,
yeah."
"I-I know,
right!!!?"
And so, while crying,
I grabbed the trunk and tried my best, "Ei, ei!" I never thought I
would end up risking my life doing rock climbing in a place like this. I turned
my wall-climbing skill on to the max, and of course, changed my title to Wild
Child. Not only was it a matter of life and death, but there was nothing that
could replace life itself.
"Ungh, guh,
gugigi gigi."
I climbed, and below
me, Lotus was there to deal with anything that happened. Ichi and the others
were already free, flying between the branches like they were hopping, checking
ahead as we progressed.
Looking down would
probably be the end. The end on a life scale. "I shouldn't have
come!!!!" "That's a little late to be saying that." "I'm
just saying the words beforehand so I don't regret it later!" "You
have a way with words."
And so, our climbing
speed gradually slowed down. I was glad Lotus was there. I was glad Ichi and
the others were there. I probably couldn't have done anything alone.
A little while ago, I
might have been frustrated at not being able to do anything alone, felt
resentful, and then acted recklessly. But it was different now. What I could do
might be very small, but I was sure it had some meaning. Just like all the
people I had met on my journey so far.
(I wonder if Socius is
alright...)
I suddenly thought.
He was older than me
and pretended to be a big brother, but he was actually more of a crybaby than
anyone else. He was easily hurt, yet he had a strong sense of justice, and with
our similar appearances, his clumsy side sometimes reminded me of myself.
I was overwhelmed by
everything and still terribly scared. That's why I didn't want to leave any
anxieties behind. Seirou, the traveling merchant I had first met in Soleil, had
said he would help if anything happened. I didn't know if "anything"
could be considered "now," but I decided to just jump in headfirst
rather than hesitate about what to do.
(The city will surely
be alright...!)
So I moved forward.
"Ugh, ugh, uguuuu!!!" "Hey, don't push yourself. I'll carry
you." "...If it gets really bad, I'll... ask you!" Of course, I
wasn't overestimating my own abilities, so I would ask for help without
hesitation if things got dangerous. But for now, all I could say was that I was
incredibly grateful for my wall-climbing skill. There was a time when I tried
to climb the Magic Tower too.
--El, there's a
monster, be carefulll...!!
I heard Nii's scream.
He was usually calm, but that meant he was the most observant and quick-witted.
Of course, Lotus heard it too. Just as I put my foot on a certain branch, Lotus
grabbed the scruff of my neck. Then he slung me onto his back and jumped onto a
leaf. "Kisyaaaaaaaaaa!!!!" Its jet-black mouth was crustacean-like,
and large pincers were opening towards us.
"That's one huge
ant."
Lotus, still carrying
me, swung the sword he had drawn from his waist in one swift motion. The ant,
cut in half, flew to the left and right in opposite directions and disappeared.
New ants fell from above. Without hesitation, Lotus cut them down. "Lotus,
I'm fine, so—" I had barely finished speaking when I was thrown straight
up. No way.
"Hihhoooooooo"
Vertical movement in a
situation where I had absolutely no idea how many meters high we were was
definitely making the sound of my lifespan shortening. I curled up with my
fists clenched, falling like a beckoning cat, and Ichi and San caught me. I
thought at that moment that the words "I thought I was going to die"
were probably meant to be used right now.
--El, do you want to
wash your face?
"N-no, I'm not
crying!"
Maybe some snot had
come out though.
Meanwhile, the battle
between Lotus and the ants continued. They were numerous, after all. Even if he
defeated them, more would come—or so I thought, but it seemed there was an end
after all, and before I knew it, there was only one ant rolling around. It
flipped over, flailing its limbs, and gradually its movements stopped.
"...I-it's
over...?"
There was no reply
from Lotus. He just looked up above us. Following Lotus's sharp gaze, the first
thing I heard was the sound of hands clapping quietly, clap, clap. Next, I saw
long legs. A man was sitting on a branch, looking down at us.
"Well done."
I recognized this
voice, strangely low despite the red hair and youthful face. Marc, the
silver-haired demon had called him so.
The young man who had
been with Vejasha—the silver-haired demon. He was undoubtedly a demon too. Even
now, he was looking down at us with bright red eyes, the same color as his
hair. He had a quiver on his back. Marc quietly stood up and landed on the same
leaf as us. His movements as light as if he had no weight.
Meeting demons other
than ourselves made me terribly nervous for some reason.
"N-nice to...
meet you...?"
I had unintentionally
used a greeting that was definitely wrong. Recently, Lotus had been making
fewer retorts to me. I didn't know if he was adapting or giving up, but I
wanted him to say something like, "No, that's wrong!" Ichi and the
others had also gathered around me before I knew it, looking at Marc with a
tense atmosphere.
No one corrected me. A
heavy silence hung in the air. It was a very unpleasant atmosphere. "No,
it's not nice to meet you," Marc unexpectedly retorted. I hadn't expected
it to come from him.
"We've met
before. So in this case, instead of 'nice to meet you,' shouldn't it be 'long
time no see' or 'hello'? Ee should get that straight, don't you think?"
And then he rattled
off.
He wasn't wearing
glasses, but it was the kind of line that would suit a glasses push.
This guy is probably a
pain.
Without saying a word,
the thoughts of me, Ichi and the others, and Lotus all overlapped at that
moment.
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