Dew on the Grass, Shadows of Ruin
Dew-laden grass blades tickled my cheek. I opened my eyes. Sunlight poured down—thicker and sweeter than yesterday.
I sat up. The grass, grown tall to my waist, parted like waves before my movement. The blades that had wrapped me so cozily last night now gleamed fresh, brimming with the vitality gathered at my roots.
"Slept great…!"
I stretched, and there came a crack, crack—not bones, but wooden stems twisting. It felt familiar now. I lifted my roots one by one. The soil clinging from the night sloughed away, sending pleasant tingles through me. Like emerging from buried sand.
I looked up. Then picked a direction.
No destination in mind. Just following my roots wherever they led. That was my only plan.
I kept walking steadily, without particular pauses. But right around the forest's edge, one beast lunged out, mad with rage or something—reason utterly gone.
"Kieeeek—!"
Whether rabid or driven by some other madness, it charged me wildly. I didn't slow my pace. Just swatted it away like an annoying fly with a light swing of my right hand.
The moment my hand touched its head, its body withered like a twisted dead tree. It started absorbing into me right then. No burst of blood and flesh—instead, gray ash scattered into the air. Not even a corpse left. It crumbled to wood dust, then green motes that the wind whisked away before hitting the ground.
A bit of the powder dusted my arm. I brushed it off and glanced around. Eyes from the bushes beyond, from the deep tree shadows. Frightened gazes. Not a new sensation. They'd been there for a while now, always around. But they never approached. Just background presences, like rustling leaves in the wind. Or the soil underfoot. Always keeping their distance, watching or fleeing.
I felt those gazes hold their breath for a moment. The presences in the bushes seemed to scramble deeper, farther away in a hurry.
No more interruptions now.
I walked on for a good while longer. The scenery shifted subtly with each step, but nothing major. Forest everywhere. Ordinary trees. Soil with the same scent. Sunlight trailed warmly at my back. A steady breeze grazed my skin. Utterly peaceful ordinariness.
After a long stretch like that, I stopped. The air's taste had changed. Not just the air—something felt subtly off. The sweet morning sunlight scent was gone, replaced by a chilling prickle.
"…Huh?"
I looked up, and there was the source of the chill. Ordinary plants on one side: trees, flowers, grass. But opposite, plants faded in color. I stood at the boundary, gazing at them for a bit.
Visually, no difference. Grass was grass, trees were trees. The wind blew the same, leaves swaying identically. But far off to the left, wildflowers hung their heads. Not just wilted. Stems charred black, leaves crumbled like life squeezed out of them.
"…"
The right side was fine. Still lush green, grass whispering in the breeze. I tilted my head.
"Weird…"
They were different. Definitely. I wondered why the plants suffered like that. Without hesitation, I stepped my roots left—deeper into the shadowed gloom.
.
.
.
How far had I gone? Bare, skeletal dead trees appeared—too sparse to call a forest. Beyond them loomed a massive shadow.
City walls. Crumbled roofs. Stone chunks twisted and dry, not even moss clinging. A ruined city. Near relic-level.
"Whoa……"
I gasped in awe. The scale was impressive. Inside, I sensed the auras of about a dozen people. Wind blew through, its howl through the ruins sounding like screams.
City center. The tallest structure: a clock tower. Crack. Crack. My roots probed the parched soil. I hid behind building debris and observed.
Mages in white robes. They drew intricate magic circles on the ground, measuring something with strange devices.
"Ugh… this is exhausting…."
One mage said, pulling off his gloves.
"Tell me about it. Never thought we'd get thrown in right after hearing the Demon King was dead."
They'd pinned charts to a fallen cathedral pillar and were debating. Another mage replied.
"Speaking of, heard one Demon King executive made a move?"
"Oh, that guy? Eh, one executive… With no Demon King, they're probably scattered to the winds."
"Yeah, and we doubled up on defensive magic circles just in case."
They chuckled. On this land where plants screamed in death, they chatted only about their own progress.
I looked down. At my roots' base, a single charred weed touched me. I blinked. Then lifted my gaze to the mages.
"Research, huh…."
I reached out, touching the stump of a dead tree nearby. Hardened wood. But I felt the faint, dormant flow of life within.
I raised my right hand. Or tried to. Not to kill, just a warning.
But luckily, no need.
"When can we revive this place, I wonder?"
"Yeah…."
I smiled faintly.
"Hey there."
I called out as gently as possible. But in the ruins' silence, my voice rang clearer than expected.
"……!"
"Who goes there!"
The mages sprang up like coiled springs. Three or four raised staves instantly; the rest fumbled through spellbooks, backing away.
Their eyes locked on me as I slowly rose from behind the debris.
"Wha…?"
"A tree…? No, a person?"
Their gazes slid from my upper body downward to my roots. The mages' faces twisted in horror. Some froze with mouths agape.
I moved my roots lightly, approaching them. Their shoulders twitched.
"M-monster! It's a ma물!"
"Wait, don't attack! The mana… it's there, but different from regular ma물!"
A young mage, then an older one.
I bowed my head slightly toward them.
"Hi. I'm just a flower."
The mana flickering at stave tips fizzled out. They still scanned me top to bottom in disbelief. I reflected in one of their crystal orbs: lilac hair, impassive eyes, roots in the earth.
The senior mage swallowed dryly, asking cautiously.
"You… are you with the Demon King's forces?"
"Demon King's forces?"
I couldn't help but laugh. Covering my mouth, I answered.
"Nope! If anything, I'm on the human side."
Their expressions turned odd—confusion mixing with curiosity.
"What's your name?"
I asked, and the senior replied blankly.
"Uh… I'm Delik Arthur, lead researcher from the Mage Guild branch. These are my assistant researchers."
"Delik."
Calling him, I placed a hand on the dead tree stump beside me.
"We're purifying this place, restoring the ecosystem. But… you sure you're okay? There's toxins…."
Toxins? It felt a bit stifling, sure. But no real danger.
"I'm fine. More importantly, you said now that the Demon King's dead, you can research freely?"
Delik flushed. He'd realized I'd overheard.
"W-well… it's true. We couldn't investigate properly before, watching for Demon King executives. As you know, this area was Bellishian Drakar's territory."
"Bellishian."
The familiar name made me blink. Elesia's broken-neck image flashed by.
"…That jerk."
Delik's eyes widened at my words. Brief silence. The air among the mages grew heavier, more cautious.
Delik asked lowly.
"You… know something about him?"
"Yeah. Fought him once."
"A Demon King executive…?!"
"Yep."
Not sure if it was him exactly, but one came to mind.
'Why is a being like you on the hero's side…!!!'
The dark, hooded robe guy who'd screamed while fleeing me.
"Well, he just ran away unilaterally."
Delik was speechless at my addendum. Just clamped his mouth shut. One assistant nearly dropped his measuring device.
"He… Bellishian Drakar fled from you?"
"Yeah."
I replied casually, turning back to the dead tree stump. Even in this barren ruin, I sensed faint plant breaths. And the thick mana residue crushing them.
I moved my roots again.
And helped.
"Huh…?"
Reactions came from the mages.