Eat The World Tree

Chapter 284: Eden (3)

“So, what’s the deal? Why’d you drag in the crazy guy who crashed into a tree?”

If she knew even this much, then my life might as well be an entertaining movie.

One ugly event, no different from the start of my journey.

The sage merely raised the corner of her lips faintly, showing no particular reaction.

“Huh?”

Whether she knew or not, it’s unclear.

Judging by how she casually accepted the incident of having sex with a tree, it seemed like she knew everything about me, but it was hard to say for sure.

In this world, fucking trees was considered a normal sexual desire.

Just as I was lost in thought, reading the sage’s expression,

“Tree King!”

She grabbed the hem of my pants with both hands and tugged hard.

“Lee… Si… Eon!”

Watching her struggle for a while, I turned to the sage with my eyes, asking what I should do with her.

“Why don’t you give her a hug?”

“Hmm, should I?”

As I lowered my hands, Sephirot eagerly jumped into my arms.

Sephirot sat on my arms, gripping my collar to keep from falling backward.

The child’s eyes once again gazed deeply into mine.

“Shall we sit down for now? It’s awkward talking while standing.”

Fortunately, there were enough chairs and desks, so I sat down on a nearby chair with Sephirot in my arms.

The sage brought over a cup of coffee and some snacks.

I accepted them and placed them on the desk.

“What do you want to talk about?”

-Crunch!

Just as I asked, I heard the sound of something being crunched from within my embrace.

-Crunch.

Looking at Sephirot, I saw that she had grabbed a chocolate chip cookie as big as her face from a nearby plate and was munching away happily.

Despite her tiny teeth, she was chewing it down well.

The sage looked at Sephirot with fond eyes before slowly beginning to speak.

“Participant Lee Shiheon.”

“Just call me whatever’s comfortable. You’re a mentor, and you’re older too.”

“Shall I?”

“Yes, please. But I still don’t know much about this world. What’s your name, by the way?”

“There’s no need for you to know that.”

“…Okay.”

“But I can tell you about the Sage. Given who you’re dealing with, I can’t offer anything less.”

About the Sage, huh.

It seemed like now was the only time I’d get to hear about it, so I nodded.

“The guardian of the World Tree of Knowledge. That’s all I know. I never imagined the World Tree would be like this, though.”

I wasn’t particularly interested in the world of hunters.

I was always too busy, so unless my work was involved, I usually didn’t investigate anything on my own.

However, recently I realized I needed to step further into the world.

I had been looking into various hunters’ books and records lately.

For example, Champi Tree and Eleta.

I also looked into Jeonghomun, who was once treated as an S-class in the past, but now they were missing during a dungeon raid.

It was quite surprising.

But that was not what was important right now.

In my own investigations, most records about the Sage had been erased.

“Guardian, yes, that’s right. Once you know that, you pretty much know everything.”

“Everything?”

“Well, let’s see. Sephirot?”

Upon the Sage’s words, Sephirot swallowed the chocolate chip cookie.

“Mm.”

The World Tree of Knowledge.

Outwardly, she looks no different from a child.

But her golden, glowing eyes held a strange aura, as if they could peer into everything about me.

“Sage. My contractor. Ma-mang!”

Mama?

“The World Tree of Knowledge does not interfere with the world at all, except to fulfill the purpose of knowledge accumulation!”

Chirp, chirp. Sephirot shouted.

“Because of that, Mama cannot interfere directly!”

“Did you understand?”

Sephirot suddenly burst out, saying everything all at once. After finishing, she stuffed another chocolate chip into her mouth. Judging by her pronunciation, she is indeed the World Tree. ꞦÂɴŎBЕＳ

“What do you mean by ‘does not interfere with the world at all?’”

In response to my question, Sephirot answered like a little chick.

“Ob-server of Know-ledge!”

What was that supposed to mean?

“That was the nickname given to Sephirot 1,000 years ago. We only record history and knowledge, and besides the power to protect it, we have nothing else.”

“…”

1,000 years.

Faced with the sudden vastness of time, I immediately fell silent.

That meant it could be even older than the Five Great World Trees.

Naturally, the power to protect such knowledge over that long period must be beyond imagination.

But still, wasn’t Sephirot a little too young for that?

Sensing my thoughts, the sage smiled again and began to explain.

“The World Tree of Knowledge is a being with boundless curiosity. Its body changes accordingly.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Maybe someday, if necessary, it might change again, but according to records, it hasn’t changed once in the past 3,000 years.”

“Three thousand…”

I looked down at Sephirot.

“You’re pretty awesome, huh?”

“I’m awesome!”

Sephirot raised both arms high and shouted,

“Sephirot is super strong!”

I patted her head, and Sephirot laughed.

She was really no different from a kid.

Did living so long make your mental age regress? Maybe that was too rude a thought.

“Sephirot likes those who can satisfy her curiosity.”

“Tree King!”

Ah, so that was why she liked me?

She must have been curious about the name and power of the Tree Spirit King.

That would explain why the sage dragged me here to meet her.

It seemed she was completely subservient to the World Tree of Knowledge, and with her powers, she could probably do anything.

“Did you bring me here just to meet Sephirot?”

“Huh? No, not at all.”

The sage waved her hand, taking a sip of coffee.

I was thirsty too, so I sipped my coffee.

The flavor and aroma were far better than I expected.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Lee Shiheon, you are a person caught in the middle of turbulence. The World Tree of Knowledge only moves to fulfill its curiosity. The only concern is how to satisfy more of that curiosity.”

“Can I take that to mean that the World Tree is interested in learning about me?”

The sage shook her head.

“You are simply here to undergo the third trial. To gain better skills and sharper eyes. Eden and I are here solely for that purpose.”

I rested my chin on my hand as I continued patting Sephirot’s head.

It seemed likely that the World Tree of Knowledge summoned me, knowing about me.

And her interest in me aligned somewhat with my expectations.

‘Am I simply here to undergo the third trial?’

The sage’s words made me reconsider.

Sephirot, whom the sage loyally served.

If her actions had a reason, it must be related to Sephirot too.

She said she’d teach me how the world worked.

Also, magic, and to sharpen my power and vision.

I held my breath for a moment.

“Is that the will of the World Tree?”

The flow of the air stopped, then resumed.

“Hoohoo.”

The sage responded with a laugh instead of words.

‘Following the will of the World Tree… could it be that even she doesn’t know the reason?’

Sephirot wanted to help me.

The sage, known for her wisdom, likely had some ideas, but perhaps she didn’t think it necessary to explain everything to me.

I smirked bitterly.

‘This guy and that guy… I can’t figure any of them out.’

It was only satisfying when you scrutinized things obsessively.

After all, the other person is someone worth it.

Isn’t this all structured too much in my favor?

If you think like that, then something’s definitely off.

In this case, it was either that I was endlessly foolish compared to the other person, or the other person was crafty.

“They said there’s no hostility.”

The other person was one of the sharpest minds among 7 billion people.

Even if I tried to bluff by saying I learned a bit of political scheming under a South Korean congressman, I’d only end up being used.

Although the sage wasn’t as old as Sephirot, she had lived long enough to be experienced in such mind games.

In this situation, the only thing I could do was…

-Heh.

It was familiar.

Just like with Lee Seyeong, like with Cheondo, and like when I met Cheonma in Dowon.

I needed to put aside all pride and learn by getting thoroughly beaten.

The people I’d be dealing with from now on were no ordinary foes.

At the very least, while they were not my enemies, I needed to seize the opportunity to tap into the sage’s knowledge whenever they showed even a little favor toward me.

That was the only way I coil;d rise to the top.

“Oh~ Got it!”

Clap! I clapped my hands.

When I smiled broadly, the sage’s eyes widened.

Maybe she didn’t expect such an attitude, as she reached out while still holding Sephirot.

“But please tell me your name eventually. I look forward to facing the trials with you, Sage.”

“Oh, yes. Kuhuhu. But I don’t have a name.”

“What do you mean, you don’t have a name?”

“Sage. That title is enough.”

I glanced at Sephirot.

It seemed that was the truth.

“Still, it’s a bit odd not having a name. Aren’t there lots of good names out there?”

“Are you going to give me one?”

Oh, I got plenty.

I was pretty good at naming things.

Didn’t I give that famous World Tree of Time its name?

With the same bright, cheery expression you’d see in a shonen manga protagonist, I jokingly said:

“How about Wiki? You know, since you’re the World Tree of Knowledge…”

Laughter immediately erupted from below.

“Pfft!”

Sephirot sprayed a bit of spit as she covered her mouth. She was barely able to hold back her laughter.

“Wiki! Wiki!”

Sephirot began repeating the name enthusiastically, clearly liking it.

I smiled as I looked ahead.

“…”

The sage, now stone-faced, was staring intently at me.

“Ah, do you not like the name? Haha.”

“…Mr. Shiheon.”

Her tone, addressing me as “Mr.” now instead of casually, had dropped significantly, sending a chill down my spine.

“That name doesn’t seem quite right.”

“…I’m sorry.”

I decided not to overstep.

“So, how did it go?”

“With what?”

“You met with the Sage one-on-one.”

Evening.

It was hard to explain what we talked about during the meeting.

I mentioned a name, which didn’t sit well with her, and that pretty much killed the conversation.

Although the sage did apologize afterward for reacting too seriously, the mood was already too chilly to recover.

The conversation had died.

Had Sephirot not kept speaking to both of us from my arms, the awkward atmosphere might have suffocated me.

“Nothing much happened.”

“The Sage didn’t look too pleased.”

What was wrong with “Wiki”…?

I was just joking, but now I felt depressed.

Marronie, who had changed into the pajamas prepared in the changing room, stared at me for a long time before gasping.

“The Sage, known for being so kind, why… Did you do something weird?”

Weird?

I was seriously offended.

I unfastened my tie and slung it over the side table. The time was now 8 p.m.

If I wanted, I could head to the study to research or study, or I could just have dinner.

Sansuyu was still absorbed in her swordsmanship books and hadn’t returned yet.

“…”

Marronie kept staring at me like I was some sort of insect.

Judging by her reaction, she seemed to think I had groped the Sage or something.

I did know how to behave. Why would I make a move on the Sage?

“I wouldn’t do anything like that to anyone but you.”

Lee Seyeong didn’t count, since that was consensual.

Sighing, I rummaged through the closet for clothes.

A white t-shirt and shorts should be fine.

The room was warm enough that dressing lightly seemed like a good idea.

“You haven’t done that with anyone… but me?”

Her gaze burned into my back again.

What was she misunderstanding now?

When I turned to look, her face was flushed bright red.

“Why are you acting like that again?”

Could it be the subjugation spell? Did I say something that triggered a reaction?

Marronie glared at me before abruptly lowering her head.

“…I don’t know. Pervert.”

This was driving me crazy.