Chapter 272
Chapter 272
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 272
Chapter Title: Woo the Tree (13)
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One day remained until the second trial concluded.
Because my trial supervisor had switched to the World Tree of Healing, I passed the second trial.
It was a bland ending, but it suited me just fine.
I wouldn't have to see Mary—that tree supremacist—again.
-Slurp.
It was 7 a.m.
The taste of pasta for breakfast. Even though the thick, gooey cheese felt a bit heavy, it was perfect for lifting my spirits.
Lately, I hadn't been hungry in the mornings for some reason, but maybe because I hadn't slept in Cornus's room? A good amount of food went down anyway.
'Feels good to be alive.'
With my passing all but guaranteed, I was essentially free.
After breakfast, some morning therapy with Cornus, then scouting around during lunch meetings to check for anyone acting suspicious, and a casual group dinner in the evening—perfect.
The gaps in between? Perfect for taking Marronier to meet the World Tree of Healing. A full day.
"Being this relaxed actually makes me uneasy."
I set down my fork mid-pasta bite.
Something was missing.
The one who always barged into my routine, caused chaos, and left.
The girl who was nominally a National Tree rep—always throwing punches whenever she got the chance, bragging she'd win next time, but amounting to nothing and always getting her ass kicked.
Her absence left a strange void in my chest.
She should've picked a fight by now, all confident-like.
Maybe the second trial wasn't going well for her?
"Hey."
"What."
I looked at Bao, who was tearing into her meat across from me.
Cornus woke up around 10 a.m. after doing who-knows-what at dawn, and Sun and Aori slept in too, so I'd come to the dining hall alone for breakfast. She happened to be there.
We knew each other well enough now, so we sat together.
"So, when are we fighting?"
"Dunno."
Bao chomped on her steak heartily, even early in the morning.
Juices splattered all over the tablecloth as she gnawed away.
For someone like her, watching her eat so enjoyably actually whetted my appetite.
"Nom, chomp chomp."
All that turning straight to muscle, huh.
Her Authority made her body grow, so she naturally ate more? The variety of dishes she'd demolished since morning already topped ten.
Gulp. Bao swallowed and provoked me.
"What, wanna fight?"
"Nah, suits me fine if we don't."
I doubted I'd feel great if she suddenly showed up demanding a match amid my busy schedule.
Right now was the perfect leisure window for a scrap.
"Don't wanna."
"Ungrateful bitch."
"Fuck off. We didn't set a deadline, right? It's my call. I'm not ready yet."
Planning to only fight when she was absolutely sure, since it was her last shot?
I twisted into a crooked smirk and speared a cherry tomato, popping it in my mouth.
"Just that for breakfast? That's why you Asians... Gotta pound the meat too."
"You eat like that and still can't beat me. Why bother?"
Bao's brow twitched at the bait.
"Tch, I won't lose this time. I'll prepare thoroughly."
"The longer you wait, the worse it gets for you."
"Always picking the bullshit lines."
It might sound like a joke to her, but I was dead serious, no humor intended.
To find her chance at victory, better to provoke her sooner.
Not just her potential—my Tree Encyclopedia leveled up pure stats every time I beat a National Tree or one of Flower's named executives.
If she wanted to drag it out, fine.
She could pick the fight whenever she felt ready.
I'd just refuse when it didn't suit me.
I stood, empty plate in hand.
"I'm out."
"Yeah."
So nonchalant. After glancing at Bao, who wouldn't look up from her plate, I cleared my dishes.
The dining hall was filling with early-rising National Trees and cadets eating.
Marronier was among them, poking at her food alone.
From afar, our eyes met—she startled, eyes widening, stared at me, then couldn't bear the weight of my gaze and bowed her head.
The more I saw her, the more she seemed like a kitten.
Her enslavement should lift on its own. Sun had said National Trees' mental fortitude wasn't weak, so it'd fade soon.
Hoping it happened quickly.
"Back to the room, then."
Today, just contact Azalea.
The rest had told me not to bother them with work.
I was busy too, but they were all ridiculously swamped. Even Azalea, who replied, squeezed time from company duties, cadet life, and spirit arts studies.
I rode the escalator up.
The hotel layout was familiar now. Reaching my floor's hallway...
"Who's that?"
"What the...?"
"A tree?"
The atmosphere buzzed with unrest.
A crowd had formed in front of my room.
'What the hell.'
Another cadet spat between them?
I'd heard rumors of ranking-related inferiority complexes sparking fights.
Those usually ended quietly via management or expulsion notices.
But the chatter didn't sound like that.
To get to my door, I had to weave through the throng.
"Excuse me."
Murmuring apologies, I pushed through.
What could draw such a crowd?
Curiosity piqued, I advanced—and oddly, they formed a semicircle around my door.
What the...?
Stepping forward, dirt crunched underfoot.
From where I could only see above the door, nothing stood out.
Closer now, with a clear view: a girl stood before my door.
A small girl.
Petite stature just above the doorknob, tiny face.
Hair glowing pinkish-red in between.
Sprigs like our daughter Shiva's dotted the surroundings.
Above her ears, on the sides: red petals in a cross shape.
Twisted drill-like curls. Tiny petals and leaves bloomed amid the strands like decorations.
Clad in a pure white smock baring thighs, legs, and bare feet on my door's tiles.
Dirt caked her entire body.
Below the smock dangled brown root-like rods—tree roots, presumably.
"......"
She stared anxiously at the door, wordless.
Like she was waiting for something.
No idea why she was at my door.
I'd have to recognize her to know. Why barge into my room?
I turned to a nearby cadet.
"Hey."
"Yes?"
"What's going on?"
"Uh... I don't really know. About five minutes ago? Someone started pounding the door and yelling 'come out.'"
Looks like one of the basement trees.
"Trees can take human form?"
"Some can."
Depends on constitution and ability, but half the long-term residents here could.
Materializing was tough and draining, so they rarely did.
Then the girl strained, twisting the knob.
Forcing out a voice thick with anxiety.
"...Come out."
Hearing her first words clicked it.
I knew that voice intimately.
The one who'd summoned me nonstop for weeks, at odd hours like 1, 3, 5 a.m., denying sleep—then raging if I was late. My former supervisor tree.
She'd stopped calling lately, so I'd thought her gone. But here she was.
At first glance, I'd mistaken her for a first-gen Wood Person like Shiva—Shiva could shift forms freely too.
But up close: way more tree-like than Shiva.
From head branches, leaves, flowers to bark-like skin patches everywhere.
"...Come out."
Mary's quavering voice froze me.
"Why won't you come out."
The sadness laced in drew heavy stares.
Should we call someone?
Whispers spread. Some had already gone for help.
This much commotion would bring people. Even a tree like Mary couldn't avoid a warning now.
"......"
Thud thud.
The vigorous pounding turned to faint caresses.
'...No, she's not there.'
No one's home.
Normally, no answer means absent—who assumes zero reaction?
But Mary's state seemed off—deeper anguish than I'd gauged.
What to do.
I pondered.
Meeting her now would just be a hassle.
Why face the one who'd trashed humans as extinct-worthy multiple times daily? No good words there.
She looked rough, sure... but I'd already passed the trial.
To end clean without embarrassment, best slip away.
Especially since it was Mary.
That decided it.
I edged my foot back stealthily.
"...Sorry."
Her murmur halted me.
What did Mary just whisper?
"I'm sorry. Isn't that enough...? Don't you wanna see my face that bad?"
Emphasized twice, unmistakably.
A creeping voice unlike the Mary I knew. Anxiously stroking the door amid the murmurs.
What the hell was wrong with her.
I already knew Mary had deep insecurities. This situation? Arguably my doing.
'But... I never thought it'd hit this hard.'
Maybe her usual treatment was worse than I'd assumed.
Or excessive inferiority had shattered her self-rationalization.
That explained it.
She might've come in self-abandonment.
Either way, not the Mary I'd pictured.
Some shift in her feelings.
The one ranting humans were trash, beasts—now apologizing.
I slipped off my mask.
Logic said ignore her, but after a few days, my heart swayed ridiculously.
I pushed back through the crowd.
"Mary?"
She whipped around, startled at my voice.
Our eyes met first. Her huge eyes were dull, like a dusty gray sky.
But moments later...
Seeing my flustered face mixed with a faint smile, light slowly returned to her eyes.
Like finding a ray of hope.
No clue what she wanted to say.
"Hey..."
Mary's voice cracked.
"...Why... why didn't you come? Why."
It was the moment an unknown side of Mary burst forth.