The Druid Who Swallowed Mother Nature - Chapter 87



Only Noblemtl

Episode 87. From Here to There

The essence of a spring that never dries.

Promoting growth through spirits.

The leaves of grass at the gate of the ruins soon regained their vitality.

Krrrr!

There was a loud noise that seemed to shake the earth, but only the scenery before my eyes was vibrating.

It was quite an extraordinary experience to witness the sight of the air shaking violently without any aftereffects, including an earthquake.

Soon the scenery began to change.

“Wow.”

It was a far cry from the spectacle of something appearing out of nowhere or something rising from the ashes.

The ruins came into view naturally, without any sense of discomfort, as if they had just been there.

Pass!

A weathered piece of stone rolled into the air.

A wall so wide that its end cannot be seen.

There was a huge arched entrance right in front.

“These are ruins… … .”

“I am amazed by the grandeur of the World Tree.”

It seemed that the two children had finally let go of their lost hopes of finding a place to go.

“Don’t get too excited. It’s dangerous inside.”

Colin warned Sage, who had taken a step forward without thinking.

I agree.

“Take it.”

I handed her the stake and sword I had been carrying in my arms.

“What is it?”

“This is an artifact I took from the leader of the Thorson expedition. It will protect you in times of emergency.”

I explained the function of the relic to Sage.

As for how to use it, Sage knew it at a glance before I could even say a word.

By observing the flow of magic power, I was able to understand the structure.

It was an outstanding talent.

“That’s great, you might be able to combine these two relics.”

“yes?”

“After you return from exploring the ruins, think about it.”

Another use for relics is as a body transplant.

The equipment will be on the rooftop and experts will be on site as well.

If you process it into the shape of a staff, you might be able to get something quite useful.

“I feel a strong attraction to the World Tree.”

Unlike Sage, who was restrained by the adults, the World Tree moved as it pleased without interference from others.

It was as if I had entered my own home.

“This is… … .”

The ceiling of a long, arched entrance.

There was a painting with a familiar composition there.

“This painting was there when this place was first discovered. Since many parts were missing, I gave up on interpreting it.”

Overall, everything was blurred by the passage of time without exception.

However, it was not difficult for me to figure out the composition that the painting was trying to express.

‘It looks like the illustration I saw in the tower’s room.’

A giant tree has taken root at the end of the continent and grown like a castle wall.

The difference was that while the illustration seen in the tower’s room was half-torn, this one had the other half drawn as well, but the contents were crushed.

‘Did the history book in the tower’s room refer to this? If not… … .’

What does this picture mean?

A forgotten mystery has returned.

I had a gut feeling that I couldn’t miss it.

“When do you plan on arriving, Your Majesty?”

“He won’t come.”

There is no top holder.

“Didn’t you accept my proposal from the Magic Tower so that you could quickly finish the tower’s unfinished research?”

“That’s not wrong, but the Master is originally busy. If he had focused only on his personal research and not fulfilled his responsibilities as a Master, he would have had to step down early. Furthermore, the position of Master has many hidden responsibilities beyond what is revealed. It’s different from the school leader, where a certain amount of vacancy is tolerated. This case will be the same.”

“Hidden responsibility? What is that?”

“Even if you’re curious, there’s nothing I can tell you. I don’t know either.”

Colin shrugged.

It didn’t sound like a lie.

“I quickly gave up my curiosity because he said I would find out even if I didn’t want to when I became the owner of the tower. It seemed like a bother.”

I too was a former member of the Magic Tower in the game.

There was even a time when he coveted the capabilities of the magic tower and aimed for the magic tower owner.

But I have never heard that the Matapju had any hidden responsibilities during the process.

Of course, there was no way the game could contain all the information in the world.

Even taking that into account, it was still a strange thing.

‘I’m curious, though.’

There was no way to find out that I didn’t know.

“Anyway, the Master is no longer here. After I told him about what happened at the Magic Tower, he seemed to have lost interest and handed over full authority to explore the ruins. Isn’t that good news for you?”

“That’s true.”

If the top owner had been involved, the distribution of the relics would have involved a lot of negotiation and debate.

If I had handed Colin full authority, it would have saved me a lot of trouble.

“But why are you looking for the teacher?”

“When I entered the tower master’s room the other day, I found a book.”

“Books? Oh, if you feel bad about sneaking a peek, don’t worry about it. Since important magic books are all magically protected anyway, you don’t really get into trouble for reading them.”

Colin chuckled and patted her shoulder, asking why she was worrying about something like that after all this time.

He played it off as a joke, but it would actually be a crime if he got caught.

The strict and conservative elders will make you pay a price for knowledge.

But getting Colin’s consideration wasn’t the point of the matter at hand.

“It’s not a magic book.”

“then?”

“It was a history book. What was strange was that there were illustrations in it.”

“……no way?”

“It looked like the mural on the ceiling. It was a huge tree painted in the extremes that the city had not developed.”

“Is it really possible to interpret this structure that way?”

Colin nodded, feeling that it was persuasive.

“You said that this place was supposedly a Druid ruin. You said that the forest was prosperous before the city was built, so perhaps this mural is a depiction of that era?”

“It was huge. It surrounded the continent like a fence.”

“… … .”

“This is the half-illustration I checked.”

“How was the other half?”

“It was old and worn out, so it was crumbling.”

“Hmm.”

Colin now seemed to realize why I had raised the question.

“If it was a history book in the tower’s room, it wouldn’t have written something that didn’t exist.”

The bookshelf in the tower master’s room is a treasure trove of knowledge accumulated by past tower masters.

If there was any absurd content, it would have been cross-checked and released long ago.

“If it’s a history book that was passed down to the Tower Lord, it must contain information that has not been passed down to the world. That unidentified tree that you confirmed must be one of those things.”

“I can guess what the tree is. It’s probably the World Tree.”

“The World Tree, you mean the legendary tree?”

“Did you know?”

“It is a legendary mystery that is on par with the dragon, so any scholar would have heard of it. However, unlike the dragon, whose existence is somewhat possible, the World Tree is somewhat absurd.”

Colin stroked his chin and smiled strangely.

It was an atmosphere that felt like listening to a child’s imagination and being immersed in memories.

“It’s ridiculous to think of a tree that can reach the sky. It’s hard to find a plant that exists in the world that’s bigger than a building.”

“It is said that its existence was discovered in a history book in the tower’s room.”

“That is truly amazing.”

Does this mean that one of the past tower owners recorded the existence of the World Tree, contrary to popular opinion?

“Is it possible that the records of the World Tree have been passed down to the tower owners?”

“Well… … I am the disciple of the Tower Master, not the Tower Master. My knowledge is limited.”

Right now, he doesn’t even know where Topju went or what he was doing.

“Anyway, thanks to this, I now understand why the Master studied this relic for such a long time. It was too much to say it was a simple thirst for knowledge or a sense of triumph over a difficult problem.”

The tower is busy with construction.

Even just studying magic is a task that requires a lifetime of investment, so it was significant that he spent several years directly on just one relic.

“Let’s talk about that in detail after we break through this ruin. Even if we don’t quibble, there might be a clue at the end of the ruin that will solve the mystery.”

It is not impossible that the top owner also does not know what this picture means.

The reason for putting so much effort into the ruins may be to resolve the mystery.

“Well, I’ll remember it and ask Master later.”

“thank you.”

As the conversation came to a close, Sage, who had been quiet, grabbed my collar.

“Aren’t you going?”

“… … Okay, let’s go.”

The story became longer because of an unexpected mystery.

Colin and I entered the ruins with bitter smiles on our faces.

***

“Ugh.”

The moment I passed the entrance, Sage stumbled and grabbed me by the collar.

He looked very uneasy, as if he was about to fall over.

Although the wizard race itself is lacking in athletic ability, it is not to the point where they suffer from anemia.

The reason Sage had such a strange reaction was not because of her physical problems, but because of the sight before her eyes.

“It looks like a foggy area.”

“It’s a shame, but you’re wrong. Not everyone gets it right.”

Colin’s eyes had a peculiar halo of light radiating from them.

But the light in his eyes disappeared without penetrating anything.

“It’s a phenomenon that occurs because the concentration of magical power is high. When you look with your eyes, it looks like there’s a thick fog, but in reality, the thick magical power has seeped into each and every object, blurring the image.”

There was no need to delve deeply into Colin’s expert explanations.

It was enough that the surroundings were just blurry.

I wondered if I was standing on the ground or floating in the sky.

One of the magical phenomena that frequently occurs in ruins, I didn’t know that perception impairment could be implemented in this way in reality.

After a while, Sage, who had been shaking, carefully examined his son-in-law, frowned and muttered.

“This is… … a ruin.”

“Because it’s a relic. It’s a trace left behind by some civilization.”

No one knew whether it was a civilization from a previous era or a civilization from another dimension or world.

This is because the people involved in the exploration of the ruins were too blinded by the profits they could make from the ruins to conduct research for academic purposes.

The investigation into the truth of the relics has not made any academic progress due to the circumstances of such high-ranking officials.

‘Even the interpretation of the gate of the ruins did not yield any meaningful results at the moment.’

Unlike the analysis of the identity of relics, which is merely a humanistic achievement, if the interpretation is successful, the applications are endless.

Still, there was no progress.

The only achievement is that it is a technique that is different from the barriers that belong to magic or sorcery.

‘Users’ guesses were that it should be approached with a dimensional concept rather than a spatial concept.’

In any case, the identity of the relics is shrouded in mystery.

“It’s so vast. It must have been a very prosperous civilization.”

For a wizard, curiosity is in his nature.

Sage, who had come along to gain life experience, showed curiosity with his eyes sparkling with wonder.

I held back a strange feeling of nodding my head as I looked at that innocent look.

The image of her in the future, worn out by the world, kept appearing in my mind.

‘It was a different ruin, but at the time, he seemed bored and kept nagging us to hurry up and retrieve the relics before leaving.’

I feel it again, but I wonder if people can change this much.

“… … What did I do wrong, sir?”

Sage guessed at my drowsy expression and wiggled his fingers.

Exploring ruins is a dangerous task.

It was not a bad practice to tell new employees not to get excited, but a long-standing tradition.

I had heard similar stories before, so I spoke to her to clear up any misunderstanding.

“no.”

“sure?”

“From here to there.”

I stretched out my finger and swept it all the way from left to right.

Sage’s vision followed my finger, extending beyond the horizon.

Exploring the ruins is basically threatening due to traps and the presence of guardians.

But if I had to pick the most awkward part, there would be one.

“That means we have to check everything.”

As the word exploration implies, we had to dig deep into this vast space.

“… … !”

Sage’s once curious face turned pale.