Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint - Chapter 578



577 – Plants Are Quite Useful

In this continent, there were two World Trees.

No, there were.

In the southeastern jungles of the continent exists a blessed ginkgo tree. Standing alone, it drinks from the river’s flow and gnaws at the earth as it grows; this colossal World Tree has gazed over the world with dignity for tens of thousands of years.

Though the jungle knows no seasons, the seasons are merely the whims of the World Tree. If the World Tree wishes to adorn itself today in a yellow patchwork robe, then that day is autumn. Countless ginkgo leaves cover the world, heralding the arrival of autumn, creating a bridge of leaves over the serpent river that splits the jungle. It is then that the beasts dwelling on land prepare to move.

In the days when all nations flourished, the World Tree was the symbol of that splendid civilization. The beautiful and blessed ginkgo tree.

It collapsed, consumed by ugly jealousy.

And at that extreme, only the silent metasequoia, which sustained civilization in the northwest forest of the continent, remained the sole World Tree.

“World Tree? Why the innocent tree?”

[The tree is not at fault. However, I am curious about the despair it will feel when it falls.]

“The druids of the great forest? Why do they care? They worship the same World Tree anyway.”

[Perhaps it wasn’t the same World Tree for them.]

The parrot muttered vacantly, as if it held some story. It seemed like I needed to read its thoughts. No, considering its loose tongue, should I coax it into talking?

[…Uh. Walpurgis. Why? What? Did I say something I shouldn’t have? Huh? Did I talk too much?]

Oh dear. The great witch may not know, but it seems the witches under her are a bit clever. The great witch, regaining her composure, spoke again with an arrogant demeanor.

[Knowledge is more precious than gold. If you want to hear more, you’ll have to pay a price.]

“What do you need? Should I explain about Tyr’s goddess?”

[Oh, uh, hmm! That might just barely be acceptable!]

“It can’t just be barely acceptable. Let’s pretend this conversation never happened.”

[Uh, uh? Why?]

“Honestly, I’m not that curious about your motives. What does it matter if the World Tree on the other side of the continent falls? Whether it succeeds or fails is uncertain, and I have nothing to contribute.”

[Huh? Would you like to contribute?]

“I haven’t even heard the story yet, so what could I add?”

Later, I’ll just read your thoughts and get the gist. As I waved my hand to shoo the parrot away, it flapped its wings and clung to my body.

[No way. If you’ve decided to board this ship, you have to consume everything! The king of humans. Let’s make a deal! You must be curious about why the World Tree burned, right?]

“No, I’m not interested. Did I beat around the bush too much? It’s none of my business.”

[But, but! The Metasequoia is the World Tree of civilization! The Great Forest folks have no qualms about cutting down the tree they worship to fatten their empire! They’ve become the dogs of the empire while being druids!]

“A person can become a dog too. I sometimes do when I drink.”

[Hey!]

It’s annoying. I’ve said I’m not interested several times.

‘…Wait. I might be a bit interested in the matter of the Great Witch.’

The reincarnator, who had been quietly listening until now, silently showed interest. Even while the parrot was ruffling its feathers, it seemed to be listening gloomily. I shouldn’t have expected anything from the Great Witch.

‘The Great Witch spreads the harbinger of plague across the world, and at the same time… she is the one who devastated the Great Forest with the Green Death. It would be nice if we could stop at least one of those.’

Harbinger of plague? Green Death? Another strangely intriguing keyword has appeared.

If it’s that important, shouldn’t you be the one to know first and tell me? Why are you trying to find out now?

Well, if the reincarnator had been an enemy of Nebida and the Great Witch until now, they wouldn’t have heard the circumstances. They must have been too busy fighting.

This is troublesome. If I’m the only one who knows the truth, I can just read thoughts and keep my mouth shut. But if I’m going to share the Great Witch’s circumstances with the reincarnator and extract information, I need to go through a ‘proper’ procedure to get that information. That way, they won’t doubt the source.

“Then, could you arrange a meeting? Since we’re in the same boat, whether we like it or not, let’s hold a交流会.”

[Yeah! Sounds good!]

“Please prepare the place. I’ll come find you.”

[You must come! Absolutely!]

The parrot, repeating itself, flapped energetically and flew out the open window. The Great Witch, despite her long life, is surprisingly cheerful. All the elderly I’ve seen until now have been either emotionless or stiff. Is it because she lives with animals?

However, she’s not a good visitor. The parrot has left, but the Great Witch’s familiars are still lurking around my room, watching me closely. As I closed the door and, on a whim, shut the window as well, the reincarnator groaned.

“…Hughes. When you go, take me with you.”

“Given your condition, do you really think that’s possible? If you run lightly, your arm might fall off.”

“Still, I need to hear it. About the Great Witch. Because the Great Witch is….”

“Whoa, hold on. Choose your words carefully, Ms. Shay. This is your enemy’s territory.”

Most of your information comes from your regressions, right? At this point, it’s the future. If you start spouting off information from the future, it’ll raise the Great Witch’s suspicions. If Nebida is a dull yet sturdy and powerful plant, the Great Witch is a sensitive and cautious beast. If you show any weakness, there’s no turning back.

“Hmm. But this is also an opportunity. Perhaps the Great Witch is behind the plague….”

“Ugh! Pay attention!”

Do you really not get it when I warn you subtly? I quickly covered the mouth of the regressor and glanced around the room. The hidden surveillance of the Great Witch… no, her observation… no, the voyeuristic insects didn’t show any signs of movement. Since I had just controlled a parrot, she probably wasn’t receiving the sensations of the insects right now.

“Maybe you should be more careful with your actions? I might not know, but you’re just a captive, Ms. Shay. If you spill unnecessary information, it could backfire on you. Got it?”

“Mm, mm!”

“I’ll take your word for it. From now on, please don’t let out any information that only you know.”

I’ll read it with my mind-reading ability. Realizing that the regressor had calmed down, I let go of my hand. The regressor nodded in agreement, albeit with a disgruntled expression.

“…I hadn’t thought of that. You’re quite sharp.”

“Weaker people tend to be more observant about various things. You, who have always been strong, might not understand.”

“If I were truly strong, I wouldn’t be here groaning with a broken arm… I’m not strong at all… I’ve always been weak. Weaker than the King of Sin, weaker than the Demon King, weaker than the Sword Master, and… even weaker than Nebida.”

The regressor lamented their own state with a sense of helplessness. With their confidence diminished and their fierce demeanor gone, they seemed rather cute. They had been too sharp until now.

“In terms of being able to count from the top, you’re already strong enough. So what does that make me?”

“…True. How did you survive?”

“It’s annoying to hear you acknowledge it out of the blue. How did I survive? I dodged danger and ran away, doing my best to stay alive! And you, who always sticks your head into places where you could die, have somehow managed to stay alive!”

‘Even though I’ve already died more than ten times.’

So. If I didn’t have the ability to regress, I would have died a long time ago. You should bow to the one who gave you that ability every time.

“If you want to follow me to the exchange meeting, you’d better get your arms in order quickly. I can’t be dragging around a walking waste bomb that’s spewing blood just because it moved.”

“It’s not that bad…! Uh….”

Suddenly, the regressor recalled their own state and let out a pitiful groan. Unable to move even a finger, their clothes were stained with blood, sweat, and dirt. Though they had been reattached, the sagging and torn skin oozed a sickly yellow fluid, leaving them with no argument against being called a waste bomb.

‘Normally, I would have at least wiped it off with my qi… but right now, I don’t even have the strength for that. Just maintaining the celestial barrier is exhausting. I should at least clean myself….’

However, with both qi and hands out of commission, the regressor had no means to clean their body. They continued to groan in thought.

‘Should I ask someone for help? But right now, the only ally I have is Hughes. If I were to ask Hughes….’

At that moment, the regressor thrashed about fiercely, almost unbelievable for someone injured.

‘No. Just endure it. It’s only a little uncomfortable. Just a bit….’

But once it was acknowledged, it became an issue that couldn’t be ignored. The regressor squirmed uncomfortably, their body writhing. The only part they could move, their legs, kept bouncing this way and that from the waist down.

‘Ugh. How do I even ask to be cleaned up? It’s strange! But there’s no one to entrust this to…! Witches? No, as long as the great witch exists, all witches are my enemies. I can’t entrust my body to an enemy, especially not now!’

With pride stung at the thought of saying something first, the regressor bit their lip and glared at me. A terrifying pressure filled the air.

Well, what can I do? So this is it? They don’t want to say it directly but wish I would do it for them? What a truly troublesome person.

I tried to ignore it and focus on preparing food for today, but the regressor’s gaze grew more intense. At this rate, my back would catch fire before the stove did.

“If you have something to say, just say it. Stop staring.”

“…Nothing, it’s nothing!”

“If it’s nothing, then stop staring! Focus on healing your own body!”

“I can’t focus! My clothes are soaked with blood, and my body is filthy!”

“Is that so? Should I at least clean your body?”

“Are you crazy?! Who would do that?!”

“Seriously, what do you want me to do!”

Ugh, this is a headache. How am I supposed to handle this? I need to clean it up, but how do I get past that defensive mechanism? Maybe? It seems unlikely, but should I give it a try?

“Hey, Shea. You’re a man, right? Men can help each other out.”

Only then did the reincarnator remember that he was dressed as a man and hesitantly replied.

“Oh, right. I… forgot?”

“Come on. Don’t be too shy. We should help each other when things get tough.”

“Uh, yeah. It’s not a request… Stop! Get your hands off my clothes!”

Darn it. I’ve been caught. No, it would be weirder if I hadn’t been caught. The reincarnator has really weakened. Unable to withstand the glare from the reincarnator, I pulled my hands away from trying to strip him and let out a sigh.

“So what are we going to do? Are you going to live in that forever?”

“…Is there… another way?”

“Where is this other way? Shea, you can’t touch it. But you want to wash your body. Yet you don’t want me to see it. Is that it?”

“Not to that extent…!”

‘…But it could work!’

“Ha. This is really troublesome. You’re a captive, yet you have so many demands.”

Just a lot of requests and complicated wishes.

Sigh, fine. The more difficult the wish, the more satisfying it is to fulfill. It’s a hassle, though. They say they grant the wishes of the dead, so why can’t I grant the wishes of the living?

“…Forget it. Just leave it. I’ll get better and do it myself.”

“When do you think you’ll get better? What about me, who has to stay with you in the meantime?”

I sighed and rummaged through the room. In the natural chamber created within the World Tree, all sorts of multi-purpose herbs were growing. While searching through various things, I found a lush patch of moss near the bathroom and pulled it out vigorously. The moss was dry yet felt soft like a towel.

Though it belonged to the same category of moss, it was a completely new species I had never seen before. This must also be something that was ‘improved’ by Nebida’s power.

“This feels like moss meant for cleaning the body. It’s dry now, but once it gets wet, it should become moist.”

I filled a water bucket made from a pumpkin shell and soaked the moss, placing it at the feet of the returner. Then, I summoned the tree of the source and made the moss ‘grow.’

“If we leave it like this, the moss will wrap around Shea’s body as it grows. That should at least clean it a bit. What do you think?”

It was undeniably suspicious, but it was enough to overcome the returner’s reluctance.

“…Well, that’s something.”

“Something. It’s the moss that’s doing the cleaning, not me. Whether it cleans well or not is none of my concern. You can’t complain about it. Understood?”

“Yeah.”

As we spoke, the moss that had grown began to stretch out its tendrils. For the moss without a stem to grow, it needed something to wrap around. The tendril, searching for support in the pumpkin bucket, finally found the returner’s bare foot and coiled around it.

‘Ah, it’s cold. It’s more moist than I expected. It’s growing quite fast… If it keeps this up, it should clean the body well. Huh?!’

In that moment, having found its support, the moss began to climb up the returner fiercely, as if competing with itself. The green moss brushed against the returner’s skin like a snake. Startled by the unfamiliar sensation rising from below, the returner exclaimed.

“Wait a second. Hughes. This…!”

“I don’t really know. I’ll just take a nap.”

This is what you wanted, right? If I had washed you with my own hands, you would have complained endlessly. Just endure it.

From noble mtl dot com

“T-this… inside…! Hughes, wait! Pull this off, eek!”

“Zzz.”

I turned my back on the returner, who was gradually being buried in moss, and lay down on the bed. Even though the returner was making a racket, I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep. But perhaps because I was tired, I surprisingly fell asleep easily.