Chapter 215
Chapter 215
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: One of Them Is Flower (1)
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A massive transport plane.
It was a passenger jet so luxurious that one could say it had simply lifted an entire mansion into the sky. Inside, people from various places had gathered for a meeting.
"Soo-yeon~ Soo-yeon. Who do you think we'll get to meet?"
A pink-haired woman in a mask swung her slipper-clad feet innocently as she asked.
She wore traditional Japanese clothing based in pink.
Faint cherry blossoms drawn subtly in every corner of her outfit were emitting a soft glow.
"...Even if you ask me, what would I know? I'm not a World Tree, you know."
"Come on, come on. Will Si-heon be there, Si-heon?"
"Si-heon...? Oh, you mean Lee Si-heon."
Korea's National Tree. Rose of Sharon.
The granddaughter of the Hunter Association president who had reached the pinnacle realm.
Kim Soo-yeon brushed off Saku's words half-heartedly.
"Saku, don't get your hopes up too much. They're just academy cadets at best."
"But they wear masks."
"It's just that they're wearing masks. That's all."
The cherry blossom family had a peculiar custom: they never removed their masks except in front of family or their husbands.
Kim Soo-yeon tapped the cheek of Saku's mask.
A white base with long, cat-like slit eyes and ears. Red curved lines drawn on the cheeks and forehead.
The guardian spirit always depicted beside cherry trees. Wood Fox.
"You're wearing a fox mask. And that guy's... what was it? Anyway, the masks are different types."
"Isn't it romantic that each hides their face? He must be the type who only takes it off next to Kanojo."
"Romantic my foot... Seriously, you've been obsessed with those little details since you were a kid."
"Eh, don't you like romance?"
"No such thing."
"Hand!"
Well, she usually lived cooped up in a cage with hardly any meetings, so it was natural she'd be excited.
Even Kim Soo-yeon's heart was pounding a bit this time.
Cherry girl Saku bounced in her seat, flowers blooming in her mind.
The yukata she wore fluttered lightly.
"We're not here to play."
A woman pierced Saku's bubble with those words.
Bronze skin and fierce eyes.
The woman with books stacked on the desk and papers clutched tightly was India's National Tree. Banya.
Like Saku, vivid red patterns spread across her lower abdomen, shoulders, and back.
Korea, Japan, India.
Of course, story flowers were blooming among close Wood People at other tables too.
"Kuhaha! Wonder if everyone's ready?"
Blond hair. A boisterous voice as he lounged arrogantly on the sofa—the Oak Family main branch.
England's National Tree. Oak. Bell.
He glanced around.
"......Could you close your legs a bit? And your voice is too loud! Nearly blew out my eardrums."
A woman snapped at Bell.
Azure hair and petite stature—France's National Tree. Marronier.
At her words, Bell put a hand to his forehead, looked around, then feigned surprise at Marronier.
"Huh, is someone there? Oh~ I didn't see you 'cause you're too short."
"...Sigh. All bulk, no brains."
Marronier's eyes turned murderous at Bell's jab.
A brown-haired man watching their exchange chuckled.
"Kuhuhu. You two fight every damn day."
"Bell keeps acting all high and mighty. The puny thing."
"Tiny girl's got a big mouth."
"Oafish oak brute. Why don't you go paint your skin green over there? To match the orcs in your games. O~rc."
Germany's fir family. Abie mediated between them.
"Calm down, friends. No point fighting here. We should get along."
National Trees in their twenties.
In a few more years, they might reach the pinnacle, destined to support entire nations effortlessly.
Marronier shot at Abie.
"So? There's only one Forest Keeper spot among us anyway?"
"You're never gonna be Forest Keeper, so why not go make some friends over there, Marronier?"
"Shut up, green slime monster."
"Gasp."
Like dragon and tiger, they glared and gnashed teeth.
With the two refusing to stop, Abie had no choice but to half-close his eyes, revealing his brown irises.
Finger to his lips. Low voice.
"Survival rounds could drag on forever... Why make more enemies?"
Even among pinnacle National Trees, their numbers easily exceeded dozens.
To become Forest Keeper, one had to outcompete them all for first place.
And it wasn't just National Trees.
Rumors swirled that this year's academy cadets were no pushovers.
"Think about it. Wear the National Tree title, fight each other, and get eliminated? Or worse, lose to some academy cadet... You know what happens then."
Abie's warning.
-Gulp.
Marronier and Bell shuddered.
A National Tree losing to a mere academy cadet?
Instant national disgrace. Honor in ruins. They might have to lay low under public scorn for a while.
"When you return home, eggs might fly instead of flowers."
Abie's warning hit home; Marronier and Bell swallowed hard.
"Eh... We're not gonna lose."
"Right, right. Oak's got a point. Abie, you're too worried."
Bell laughed heartily but more reservedly than before, shrugging confidently.
Marronier agreed, but who knew for sure.
Abie smirked with half-lidded eyes, scratching his brown hair.
"...We'll see. The Korean I saw back then had some talent. Still a long way off, though."
"Korean you saw before?"
"Jeong Si-woo."
"Oh, that kid... Yeah, he had talent."
Marronier nodded at Abie's words.
World Tree husband candidate. Jeong Si-woo.
Of course, an academy cadet far below them.
Popular worldwide as a husband candidate, but his skills didn't match the hype.
'Still, that grit was something.'
He wasn't participating in this Forest Keeper selection, right?
That was a shame. No telling when another like him might appear.
Abie sighed bitterly, surveying the room.
A place where National Trees gathered in groups.
Seemed friendly at a glance, but clear boundaries existed between cliques.
Even National Trees had trees they got along with and those they didn't.
'Three Asian women... Plum blossom and ginkgo haven't arrived yet?'
Kim Soo-yeon, Saku, Banya.
All formidable in their own right.
'Guess those three are teaming up.'
Abie concluded tentatively.
Teams of three to four were most effective.
The Forest Keeper selection was billed as individuals, but teaming wasn't forbidden.
Survival from hundreds.
Teaming was a key strategy to shake off rivals easily.
Isolated island survival missions made teams essential.
Thus, National Trees began clustering.
Abie, Marronier, and Bell sat together for similar reasons.
'Wonder how this selection will go.'
Abie clasped hands behind his head, smirking.
'Won't end pretty, that's for sure.'
A massive building slowly came into view outside the plane's window.
-Click.
And in a corner of the plane.
A black-skinned woman, alone with no one nearby, tapped her phone irritably.
'The one most tied to Peach Garden Haven.'
Africa's National Tree. Baobab.
The continent crippled by gate and Flower terrorism still had its National Trees.
Black hair. Yellow eyes. Clothes barely covering her chest.
Bao.
A warrior race that fought terrorists, gate monsters, and ents from childhood.
"......Where are you."
Her eyes fierce, she muttered one man's name.
"Lee Si-heon."
The man closest to Peach Garden Haven in the Forest Keeper selection.
The masked man's photo filled the screen of Bao's phone.
*****
[Reporter Yoo Seung-ah?]
[Yes, this is Yoo Seung-ah from MBS. I'm at the site where the Forest Keeper selection is underway.]
The screen showed news and broadcasts of the ongoing event.
National Trees and academy cadets disembarking one by one.
They lined up beside their national flags.
Representing the academy, but also their nations.
National Trees stood at the front of each flag, waving them.
-Crunch.
Baek Do watched, munching a hard peach.
Rosie, Goroshi, and P munched peaches beside him.
[Kyaa~ Statue! Baek Do's statue over there! The statue's on TV!]
'...What's so special about that.'
[Seeing it on TV feels different! But he's wearing a mask?]
-Crunch.
Enjoying the hard peach's sweetness briefly.
Rosie, spotting something on screen, pointed at Lee Si-heon.
"Oh, there he is. The reserve Peach Garden Haven member."
"Yeah, I saw. He's looking good in videos lately."
P replied to Rosie.
"P. Your sister's not mentoring this time?"
"Hell if I know... I'd have to hear from that bitch."
"That Chomp-y?"
"Fuck, I told you not to say that name."
"How's a person's name Chomp-y."
"Yeah, Goroshi."
Bickering.
Spit flying overhead annoyed Baek Do.
"Shut up and sit quietly."
"Yes."
"Got it."
Both clammed up.
Baek Do stared blankly at Lee Si-heon on screen, crunching his peach.
Quiet. Perfect.
The peach tasted sweeter somehow.
"Huh? Wait.... Hey, Bob."
"What is it?"
Then P spoke up.
Blank-faced, she pointed at a corner of the TV.
A long line of people.
Off to the side, a black-skinned woman waving not a national flag, but something else.
P pointed at her, asking Bob.
"Isn't that your sister?"
"YES?"
"Looks like she's here hunting you down."
Originally, Bob should have been there.
But he dodged National Tree duty, fleeing straight to the Peach Garden Haven mercenaries.
Her sister filling the vacancy, perhaps.
"...Oh. Yeah, looks like it."
"'Looks like it' my ass, you're a total nuisance. Shouldn't you go take her place?"
"No way."
Bob was firm.
The reason Bob left Africa for Peach Garden Haven abruptly.
"Until I meet the strongest tree, I'm not going back."
Not even Rosie, P, or Baek Do fully grasped Bob's goal.
It was too lofty, too absurd.
When he first tried leaving home, family opposed fiercely, he said.
Most opposed by his sister there.
Still scouring the world for Bob—that was Bao.
Bao suddenly entering the Forest Keeper selection.
Meant she'd tracked Peach Garden Haven.
And her target: naturally, the one sole contact with Do Won members.
"Ah."
Rosie sighed.
"Si-heon's fucked."