Chapter 177 – Surviving in the Forest

Finally, we arrived at the entrance of the forest where the tree spirit king lives. At the entrance of the hiking trail, I smelled a strong smell that seemed to be the condensation of that strange wood smell. We went inside with a little bit of fear, and the moment we stepped on a hard tree root, Ares’ warning came to mind.

[The spirit king of trees is strong, but he hates intruders extremely, so when a group of intruders come in, he seems to tear the group apart by force. After tearing the horde apart, they deal with intruders by responding by destroying them individually. So, if you don’t stay alert, you could be killed by the spirit king of the tree before you even meet the black round table.]

Ah… When I remembered that fact and tried to warn everyone, everyone was nowhere to be seen.It was after the spirit king of the tree tore us apart in advance. I even wondered if I had to save this kid.

In my head, I questioned Armadura, the spirit king who made a contract with me.

[Are you acquainted with the tree spirit king?]

[…Are you talking about that idiot?]

[Are you that unpopular?]

[Well, there are many words to call that child. A drunkard when called by me, an idiot with no answers when called by the mother of the beginning, a fool when called by Ballena, a fucking dwarf when called by the fire spirit king, a friend who may be kind even though he has a bad habit when called by the light spirit king, the spirit king of darkness When called by the idiot, when called by the Ice Spirit King, trash that wants to die, and when called by the Lightning Spirit King, look for an opportunity and get a stomach ache…]

Hmm, your evaluation is less than Damian’s. But you’re a dwarf…?

[Are you a ghost? Aren’t all spirit kings in the form of animals?]

[Well, most of them go around in animal form. But there are also guys who go around in human form out of boredom. Like the Spirit King of Light or the Spirit King of Darkness. They also take the form of animals when it’s important… I can’t understand the thoughts of the tree. Maybe because he was an idiot, he turned himself into an elf.]

In the original work, he sent his subordinate squirrel to finish the contract, so he couldn’t even see it. Anyway, you were an asshole. Yes, if you were a goblin, you could explain at once why you were doing such shit.

Traditionally, I think that puppies are like cats. Even if you wonder why your pet broke the bottle, just as the question will be answered at once if you say it is a cat, the question will be solved if you say that the reason for any doggie is a demon. Besides, if the appearance was ugly, wouldn’t it be the same that it would have been extinct right away. Later, when the time comes, I thought I would like to submit a thesis that cats and elves have the same ancestors.

[Still, I’m sure of my skills. It’s a guy who grinds out quite a few human armies… but he’s also a guy who doesn’t like the fight itself… That’s why he locks himself in this forest and fights intruders by scattering them.]

[That’s why you’re a dwarf, cowardly, fond of alcohol, unruly, reckless, reclusive, loner, and doing what you want… doesn’t that mean you have all the worst conditions a creature can have?]

[That’s what I mean. Honestly, I wonder if I should help him.]

[Well, in case you don’t know, anyway, it’s fatal to scatter with everyone…]

After a while, I heard people moaning. I immediately ran to see who was attacked. And what I saw…

“Uwueek…”

It was my future daughter, Rachel, who was vomiting with the henchmen of the Black Round Tables lying on the ground with stab wounds.

“Are you okay?”

I wondered if he had been poisoned, but there were no wounds on his body, and judging from his appearance, he did not appear to have been poisoned.

“It’s okay. It’s just that I’m a little nauseous…”

But the odd thing is that the janitors who got hit by Rachel couldn’t move, but all of them were only injured enough not to die right away.

“Why didn’t you kill them all? Even if you don’t have to kill them as brutally as your brother did… It’s true that they should be killed.”

“that’s…”

Judging from Rachel’s reaction and bewildered eyes, I was able to roughly infer the situation.

“hahahaha… Rachel, you’ve never killed a person, have you?”

“That’s…that’s…”

I inspected the wounds of the Black Round Table guy who was quietly groaning. It was also as expected.

“It’s strangely shallow, and you cut it while avoiding vital points like the liver. Cutting the liver makes the skin yellow. Seeing the wounds, there was some hesitation. It’s not like you’ve never killed someone… It’s the first time you’ve stabbed a real person, right?”

“That…”

“Well, that’s not a bad thing.”

I fixed my eyes on the fallen black round table guys again. From the looks of those worms, Rachel must have been caught off guard when she was alone.

However, since there were only fourteen or five of these guys, it seemed that these guys were scattered the moment they entered the forest. You assholes, did you promise to meet later on the Sabaody Islands?

Anyway, since we were also scattered, we couldn’t be optimistic. I hope that young children and other women do not meet the high-ranking officials of the Black Round Table…

Whatever the case, we must first stop these guys from breathing. Even if you leave it as it is, you will only suffer and die anyway.

“Arrows of lightning, let them fall.”

As it were, arrows of lightning pierced their bodies, and cut off their breath. Judging from the shed blood, it seemed that quite a while had passed since this wound was inflicted, but none of them had been able to finish it.

“They say that guys who don’t care about murder are abnormal… That’s why you’re an aristocratic lady who’s learned a little bit about swordsmanship. Her skills aren’t bad… but she freaks out when she sees blood, and she’s never even cut a person… no future. I heard you had a lot of work at Esau?”

As Damian explained, the future is Apocalypse itself, but it was a little strange that the precious history of being the daughter of Glaceon and me had never cut a person.

“That’s right, my siblings and I have never been out of the capital because of my older brother…”

Raatchel’s hands were still shaking, as if he still couldn’t believe that he had stabbed and cut people. Well, most people react like that the first time you stab them.

“If I and everyone else were dead, there would have been assassins coming…?”

“I’ve never seen one… I’ve heard of oppa sometimes locking up captured guys underground and torturing them…”

Apparently, my torture skills were passed on to my son.

“By the way, who did you learn that swordsmanship from? At first glance, the swordsmanship is the same as the swordsman Glaceon uses.”

“I learned from my older brother… He said he knew the form of swordsmanship my mother used…”

“Haa… Damn it.”

Some, but not all, outlines of the future could be seen. I could understand some of the meaning of what he had said so far. I’ll meet him and feed him Tekken honey chestnuts on the top of his head and teach him how to speak properly.

If I understood it right, this bastard had no talent for communication.

“Anyway, I’m worried about other people, so let’s look for them first. I’m especially worried about your younger siblings, who seem to be sleeping anywhere and have no fighting power at all.”

“Yes, Violet, that child has learned basic self-defense skills, but like me, she has little experience in combat and has narcolepsy… Besides, Isla doesn’t know how to fight at all.”

“You know quite a bit about your younger siblings.”

“Because while my older brother was gone, I was left with taking care of my younger siblings.”

I stroked Rachel’s hair. He must have had a hard time in his own way.

“You worked hard.”

“…not a bad feeling.”

“so?”

“… can you do more?”

There was nothing difficult.

—–

The spirit king of the trees was watching what was happening in the forest through the dew on the leaves.

The tree spirit king, who took the form of a young elf, mocked the intruders as if they were having fun.

“These guests are splendid. An old friend who abandoned the qualifications of a spirit king and fell, my mother’s son in the beginning, girls from another timeline, a wizard who made a contract with my friend, an ancient witch, a fallen saint… no, pretending to be a saint. Following the foreign substances that curse my fate, and the worms that curse my fate… there is even a foolish Sura who threw away everything in the end,”

The spirit king of the tree clapped his hands, and a clear and beautiful sound resounded.

“Then, we have to let them meet until they die fighting each other. Fighting is honestly annoying.”

Then, as the structure of the forest changed, the forest path also changed.

After finishing the work, the spirit king of the tree drank the wine from the bag, yawned profusely, and took a peaceful nap.