I walked along the path made out of the trees.

The hatchling clung to my back, unwilling to fall.

It was even cute how she crouched down to avoid touching anything like tree branches or grass.

To think that the confident Hatchling was terrified.

“Are you here?”

After walking like that for about 10 minutes, a few elves were waiting for me, having noticed that I was coming.

Thinking of their reaction at first, they were smiling so softly that it wouldn’t be strange even if they were other people.

I went into the village, leaving behind them who welcomed me and asked if there was any difficulty on the way.

The elves who showed hostility to strangers as if they were going to kill them.

He didn’t react much when he saw me.

Rather, they greeted me with a smile, and some elves gave me fruits saying that I was welcome.

-Humans, those humans have long ears!

Hatchling came up to me and talked to me as if he had been frightened.

I even looked back at them alternately, as if the appearance of the elves with long, pointy ears was strange.

-Those humans are better off… No, in my eyes, my human is cooler!

I think I heard some strange words, but I tried to ignore them and moved on to the back of the village.

“You came early today.”

There was an elder.

As he was sowing seeds on the ground, he looked back at me as he brushed off the dirt on his hands.

It would be simple if he used the spirit’s power, but he had a face that he really liked working with sweat.

He reached out to me a hand that was still dusty.

I stared down at the hand.

His hands, mingled with sweat and dirt, turned into mud.

“Yes. The work is over quickly.”

But he didn’t care and held his hand.

I could feel the wet, damp mud.

But it didn’t feel too bad.

It’s muddy, but I have to say it’s muddy in a pleasant way.

Anyway, I took his hand and shook it, and the elder looked at me and smiled.

“Are you going to see your mother today?”

“Yes. There’s still a lot left to do. It has to be finished quickly.”

“You don’t have to be in such a hurry.”

He let go of his hand and put his hands behind his back.

The image of him straightening his back while saying “Eegoo” was that of a grandfather in the neighborhood.

However, his appearance was far from his grandfather’s.

When I first saw him, the wrinkles were all over.

But what about now?

‘It feels like I’ve become younger as the world tree has been restored.’

All the many wrinkles disappeared and the beautiful appearance that was hidden between the wrinkles was revealed.

It’s not true now, but surprisingly many elves have blonde hair.

The hair, which does not match the forest at all, seems to suit it because it seems to see the sunlight in a way.

“Not in a hurry. They told me to go back in a hurry.”

“That is a good word. That’s right. The more you do something in haste, the more complicated things get.”

He said he thought well and patted me on the shoulder.

As if he had washed his hands with the power of the spirit, his hands covering my shoulders were free of dirt.

“Then I will go in.”

“Yes, take good care of your mother.”

I nodded and passed him.

Somehow I knew that I was afraid to move, and Roxy jumped from the tree and caught up with me.

You don’t have to follow him, but she Hansako offers to guide you.

Since she wasn’t the one who would listen to me, I gave up trying to convince her and walked down the street.

“How long will you be there this time?”

“It will be the same as yesterday.”

“Aren’t you tired? You came without a day off.”

“it’s okay.”

A meaningless conversation ensued.

She kept asking questions about what she was so curious about.

If you listen carefully, it was a question that didn’t mean much.

It was a question I had asked many times before, like a question I was asking to the opposite sex I liked.

‘I’d say the elves are crazy.’

The elves I knew wouldn’t do that unless they were insane.

Just simple curiosity.

I thought that much.

As I turned my attention away from her and headed towards the World Tree, a strange sensation enveloped me.

Sarak, Sarak-

On the way to the world tree, the leaves of the tree kept touching my cheek.

Something was strange.

It can’t be said that I went to the World Tree a lot during the week, but I was able to understand the atmosphere to some extent.

And in all that time, it had never been like this.

It wasn’t that there were no elves by my side, there were elves with me who were still talking to me.

The forest is an elf’s friend, and does not want to disturb the elf in the slightest.

So most of the time I got out of the way completely, so nothing bothered me, but now the leaves keep coming down and covering my eyes.

‘Wait a minute, Roxy is gone.’

As I was removing the leaves that were sticking to my face, I suddenly realized that Roxy, who was coming with me, was gone.

I was worried that even the hatchlings might have fallen off with me.

-eww… Human, this feels strange.

There was no need to worry about that.

Hatchling was so steady that he clung to me like a leech and wouldn’t fall off.

I thought it was a bit heavy for some reason, but the hatchling was hanging on my shoulder with both feet on it.

“This… It’s a bit harsh.”

If you take off a leaf, it sticks, and if you take it off again, it sticks.

But the feeling was like a blind person who has lost his sight and is groping for a face to recognize a person.

It was quite unpleasant.

Hatchling didn’t like the feeling, so he spun around and dug into my arms.

He hugged the heavy hatchling tightly and walked forward, breaking through the obstacles blocking his vision.

‘There’s no way the elves would suddenly oppose us.’

Because this happened so soon after I was separated from Roxy, I realized once again how important the existence of elves was in a forest like this.

After walking like that, I was able to reach the entrance to the World Tree that I saw at first.

“What is this again… .”

Originally, the entrance to the World Tree was ordinary, but it looked like it was densely packed with gigantic trees.

It was simply that the trees were dense, but there were gaps, and as long as there were no plants or elves in the way, they could enter as much as they wanted.

But not now.

“Why is the wall here?”

Being a tree hasn’t changed.

However, the color of the trees was pure white, and they clung to other trees, not even a gap was visible.

Above it, white vines coiled around the tree, so it seemed impossible to break it unless you were really strong.

“Is this moving now?”

– Human, this is alive.

The hatchling growled at the wooden rampart.

Where Hatchling and my eyes were directed, I could see a white wooden castle wall that was still rising from the ground and expanding its territory.

It was a strange sight.

In a space where there is nothing, the ground cracks and a white tree grows.

The problem was that the entrance changed due to those trees, and I couldn’t tell where I was now.

I had to go to the World Tree, but I got lost and became a lost child.

In a way, I could see it as a miracle that I came this far.

“Am I ruined?”

I stared blankly at the wooden castle wall.

I couldn’t think of any way to get out of this situation.

No, if you really want to find it, there is, but if you use that method here, the peace you have made can become Amitabha Buddha again.

– A human being calls.

At that time, the hatchling, who had been trembling in my arms, suddenly poked out his head.

Then it slipped out of my arms and flapped its wings to rise into the sky.

“ruler… .”

He lowered his hand to grab the hatchling.

The hatchling flapped its wings vigorously, and the trees along the way moved away.

It was different from when the elves made a path to be considerate of their friends.

‘Are you scared?’

Even though they didn’t move like animals or humans, and even though there weren’t any monsters, I felt that the trees, or even the entire forest, were terrified.

paddle paddle.

Even though there was no wind, the leaves of the trees trembled.

The vines clung to the branches to keep the hatchlings out of the slightest, and even the grass on the ground parted to the side, exposing the soil.

how did this happen

Confused by the phenomenon, I followed it.

Then he suddenly remembered that hatchlings are dragons.

‘Plants don’t even have thoughts, and I think it’s ridiculous to recognize a dragon and run away.’

I shook my head.

Even if it was a forest of world trees, it was considered too advanced.

Rather than that, I think it would be more correct to think that the World Tree opens the way.

Since the world tree is said to support the world, it shouldn’t be difficult to figure out the identity of the dragon.

Moreover, it would be even more so if it was a world tree that had regained some of its strength thanks to my hard work.

-human. It’s here. calling me here

The hatchling stopped in one place and went inside.

While following the hatchling, I was taken aback by the sudden disappearance of the hatchling.

The place the hatchling entered was none other than a huge gray rock.

It is also a huge rock the size of a house.

No matter how much I thought about it, it was not worth going in, but Hatchling went in casually.

right, bad.

I tried to hit it with my hand, but the rock hit me.

Real, not fake made of fantasy.

Otherwise, there was no way I could feel such a vivid touch.

If so, how did you get in?

‘no way… .’

I put an aura in my eyes.

At some point, the sensation that had made me feel a strange sensation returned.

Lines of countless colors appeared, and I realized that the rock I was looking at was not a rock.

‘government ordinance… .’

According to basic common sense, humans cannot see spirits.

I also had to use an aura so I could see the spirits with lines.

Even that is seen as a line of mana.

With my own eyes, I realized that the rock in front of me was a spirit.

Brown mana was gathered.

What appeared to be just a rock had arms, legs, and eyes.

The spirit’s eyes were still looking down at me.

Only those allowed by the spirits can enter.

The reason the hatchling was able to enter was because it was a dragon.

Dragons are the masters of mana, and in terms of affinity, they can easily chew up elves.

And even if it wasn’t so, the spirits felt the power of mana better than anyone else, so they didn’t recognize the dragon and attack it.

“Are you testing me now?”

Unlike the way he easily got out of the way for Hatchling, I didn’t seem to have any intention of doing that at all.

It was motionless in place.

When I was thinking about what to do with this, I suddenly became dumbfounded as to why I had to worry about this.

“It is quite annoying. I’m here to help, but you treat the person who came to help this way?”

I let out a sigh of helplessness.

It was embarrassing that I hadn’t done anything wrong and had come to help and had to be treated like this.