Chapter 299
Chapter 299
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 299
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon Uses Magic (8)
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Shiba's mornings came early.
"Beep."
Rubbing her eyes, she woke up in her toddler bed.
With Dad gone, there was no need to act spoiled anymore.
Summer was creeping in, so even at dawn, the sun began to rise.
For a growing tree that photosynthesized, nothing could be better.
-Drrrk.
She drew back the curtains and bathed in the sunlight.
The room brightened under the slanted red sun.
Shiba's shadow formed naturally.
Her mouth was parched, making her grimace.
-Slither.
A massive tree branch sprouted across the floor in place of Shiba's shadow.
A surreal phenomenon occasionally seen in first-generation Wood People. Even in humanoid form, their tree nature manifested as a shadow. The young Shiba had no way of noticing it.
Scary.
The young sapling was gradually growing.
The cotyledon on her head had vanished, and branches now poked out from between her hair.
Touching it, hard bark had grown over her scalp.
The other kids could control theirs.
But strangely, she couldn't. Shiba reached up and fiddled with her branch.
"Pii."
A hoarse sound.
Maybe her throat was just dry.
Shiba turned and headed back to the bed.
With hands as delicate as fern fronds, she fiddled with her phone, and Dad's face popped up on the screen.
"Hehe…."
A silly laugh slipped out.
But a belated loneliness dug into her waist, and her smile soon hardened.
Shiba clutched the phone to her chest and, holding her chick doll 'Sva' in one hand, toddled off to Azalea's bedroom.
"Mom."
"…Huh?"
Azalea woke to Shiba's voice.
Still groggy, she reached out first and foremost to stroke Shiba's head.
As Shiba climbed onto the bed, Azalea spread her arms and hugged her tenderly.
"Shiba misses Dad…."
She mumbled in her mother's warm embrace.
Shiba had grown remarkably even without Lee Si-heon around.
The child, who had been about four years old, now had the body of a seven-year-old.
She could speak properly now.
And express her feelings clearly.
Like her dad, perhaps.
She felt lonely a lot.
But she didn't say it.
She knew Dad was busy.
Expressing feelings and asserting herself were different things.
She wanted to run off to Dad right now, but she told Mom she was fine.
Shiba had already learned to lie.
But for some reason, today she felt like whining. Such days were rare.
"Miss Dad?"
"…Yeah."
It had only been a little over a month.
Having always grown in her dad's arms, his absence felt even larger to Shiba.
Was it too greedy for her?
Compared to before, things were much cozier now.
Back when Dad went to school and she was planted alone in a pot.
Now Mom was always there, and there were teachers too.
She spent far more time with people than before.
……Even so.
Shiba stroked her chest.
"Mom, it gets all dark in here…."
Just two hours out of twenty-four.
Excluding sleep, that was the time baby Shiba could spend with him while he attended school.
Those two hours had felt even happier than now.
Azalea jolted fully awake in surprise.
She patted Shiba's back repeatedly, pouring out every bit of affection she could.
But some voids couldn't be filled.
"Dad will come back soon."
"Really…?"
"Of course. Dad loves Shiba more than anyone."
"Then why doesn't he visit?"
"He's preparing to become an even cooler dad."
"I want him now."
"When he's cooler, you might feel different then?"
"……."
"Twice as cool Dad."
"Twice as cool Dad… I like."
"Right? So let's wait just a little longer, our Shiba."
-Kiss.
She pressed her lips to Shiba's cheek.
Azalea had become a full-fledged mother in the time it took to raise Shiba.
Shiba wiped her tears on Azalea's chest, her face a bit calmer now.
-Thump, thump.
Shiba didn't know how to put this feeling into words.
It felt like Dad was about to leave for somewhere far away.
Not right this moment.
But soon, it seemed like she wouldn't see him for a very long time.
The dream from last night made it feel even more real.
-Bang!
A single gunshot, and the mask Dad always wore shattered.
*****
[Shiba's really lonely.]
Azalea's voice echoed from the phone.
I couldn't respond for a long while, then finally pulled my mouth away.
"…Yeah?"
Shiba not forgetting me felt good, yet bittersweet.
I knew my father-daughter bond with her had grown distant compared to before.
Even if I was always away for work, we'd never gone this long without seeing each other.
The Forest Keeper selection had been going on for nearly two months.
In terms of Shiba's life, that was a full third without me.
[She doesn't usually whine like this…. Especially today.]
What to do with such a daddy's girl.
I wanted to see her too.
More than anyone. My love for Shiba was second to none.
If possible, I'd ditch the selection, Flower, everything, and dream of a normal family life with Shiba.
I never knew I had daughter-doting tendencies. Once I got a taste for raising her, leaving her behind was impossible.
Especially since Shiba, being a tree, grew by leaps and bounds daily—pure joy in raising her.
That's why I was on the phone with Azalea now.
Why I kept getting Shiba photos.
[…You okay?]
"Doesn't seem like it."
I answered her plea.
The situation didn't allow it.
I was here for Star and Master's request, but I could be targeted any moment.
I might not even get to see Shiba.
Sorry to her, but there was a reason I'd arranged for the nanny alongside Azalea.
"Soothe her a bit. You're Mom."
[…Mom. Hehe. You admitting it?]
"I admit it. Shiba admits it."
We exchanged a few more words before hanging up.
It was just before dawn. Maronie, unable to endure the long all-nighter, had fallen asleep first.
Left alone in the training ground, I'd spent ages refining the magics.
I set the phone on the desk and turned to look at the Sage.
"Enjoy eavesdropping?"
"…A little? I like seeing your human side, Siheon. Never let it go."
"Oh yeah. If you drip-feed some of that info you know, you'd earn more brownie points."
-Chirp, caw.
I stroked the tree sparrow and woodpecker asleep on my lap while chatting with the Sage.
Formulating spells was beyond my level, so I'd relied heavily on the spirits' help.
Spirits usually didn't go that far, but these two had granted every material and spiritual request. I was grateful.
Worth giving them mana without stint.
My phone wallpaper was today's photo of Shiba sleeping.
"Your daughter?"
"Adorably so, right?"
My slang drew a wry smile to her lips.
"Children's smiles are beautiful. The standards of beauty shift endlessly, but pure beauty has always existed."
"…Gotta make it that complicated?"
"Habit."
The Sage reached out and stroked the photo on the screen.
As her finger touched the surface, the gray lock screen rippled outward.
A few swipes, and it unlocked naturally.
"You know? Mana vibrations linger even in simple places like this."
My growth was so rapid that unless I focused, mana leaked from my body.
I'd learned to hide power from the Heavenly Demon. But I wasn't using it here.
I shrugged once.
Unlocking a phone screen via mana traces.
Even imitating it would be tough for anyone but the Sage.
"Anyway. Check this out."
I handed over the paper where I'd compiled the magic I'd been working on.
The Sage took it with the look one gives a foal taking its first steps, then read it over.
Mixing demonic qi into magic.
It had taken quite some time, but it was worth it.
The paper rustled a few times before the Sage pursed her lips into an O.
Her eyes widened slightly more than before, and she nodded emphatically.
"Not bad."
"For real?"
"Would I say real if it was fake?"
Tension drained from my shoulders.
I leaned back fully into the chair and let out a sigh laced with relief.
"Haa…."
"Got your questions ready?"
She'd promised answers to three questions.
"Questions, huh~"
Still basking in the afterglow of creating the magic, I turned back to her and asked lightly.
"Bear panties again today?"
A tossed-off joke.
"…You."
"Kidding. Kidding."
Who'd seriously ask the famously knowledgeable and wise Sage about her underwear?
From my position at the training desk, the entrance was in clear view, and with the stairs fairly high, peeking was easy. I already knew her tastes well.
Today's were bears with ribbon headbands.
"Sephiroth's taste. If I don't wear them, Sephiroth starts crying…."
"Got it, got it."
"Don't brush it off."
"Yes, ma'am."
"……."
Felt like I'd get smacked if I said more, so I straightened up.
I had more questions than I could count.
But first, I nudged the two spirits off to dreamland and sent them back to the spirit realm.
The top priority question.
Framed by my current situation, and assuming I could trust the Sage, these were my three picked questions.
I slowly opened my mouth.
"Heavenly Demon."
My three masters.
Yellow Path, White Path, and Heavenly Path.
Bonds incomparable to anything else.
"I know he's under a World Tree curse."
"……And?"
"It only lifts if the caster dies. You know about that?"
"Few do."
As a subordinate of the Knowledge World Tree, the Sage had to know.
From what I'd heard via Chamfi, the Heavenly Path was aiding a World Tree.
As a vanguard to eliminate Flower. She'd despise World Trees more than anyone, yet she helped her family's enemy.
I had questions about that too.
"It's true. What's got you curious?"
The Sage answered forthrightly.
"Why the Heavenly Demon aids the World Tree, and which World Tree cursed him."
"Two questions?"
"We'll lump 'em as one."
"……Hopeless. Looks like Siheon doesn't trust me, so I've gotta buy some goodwill."
Would've been touching without the tail end.
I stifled a laugh at the absurdity and waited for the rest.
"World Tree of Justice. You'd know her better as the founder of El Academy."
"One of the Five Great World Trees."
"Yes. A tree that can't tolerate injustice. Well, from the World Trees' perspective, anyway."
The overseer of the justice concept.
Proxy: Angelica.
"I don't know exactly what passed between the World Tree and Heavenly Path."
"But you know a bit?"
The Sage nodded and continued.
That's why two questions counted as one.
She couldn't give a full answer, so it felt like a bonus.
Chamfi had rattled off reasons like rebuilding the dojo or avenging the copycat family's insult.
But those were just guesses.
I waited, and soon enough, she spoke.
"……Back then, it was about returning what was most precious to the Heavenly Demon."
"Pardon?"
What the hell.
"Don't know what that precious thing was, though."
Return.
Precious thing.
The words orbited my brain but refused to connect.
The Heavenly Path had more than one or two important things.
Chamfi's guess might've been right after all.
Maybe something about her father, the previous Heavenly Demon.
I wanted to ask how the dojo fell, but held back.
"That answer your question?"
"…Not fully, but roughly."
"Then I've got morning routines. Next question, pronto."
Second and third questions.
I'd already prepared for those too.
One about Cornus's illness.
I kept injecting healing power, but could she be fully cured?
The other was when the raid following the Forest Keeper selection was scheduled.
I asked the last one probingly, since even the Sage might not know.
She answered without hesitation.
Proving she truly knew everything.
"14 days."
Flower's plan dropped from her lips.
"Lots of trees will die."
Mixed in was the slightly pleasing news that my mortal enemy trees would burn.