Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Trial of the World Tree
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Creak—
The door to the room on the second floor, in the farthest corner, swung open.
I threw myself straight onto the bed.
A soft thud, and the pillow bounced slightly.
And then…
“Zzz…”
I turned my gaze to the side.
A pile of blankets stacked layer upon layer, like a fortress at first glance, or a nest upon second look.
But looking even closer, it was a tower of blankets that resembled a stone pillar.
At the very top, Veronica lay curled up halfway, fast asleep.
“Ugh.”
I’d barely touched the bed before springing back up.
Instinctively.
There’s an old saying—no, a saying I just made up—
Never step carelessly into a dragon’s nest.
Was there ever a situation more fitting for those words?
I tried to leave the room as quietly as possible, tiptoeing without making a single sound…
“Hey.”
Thud.
A chill raced up my spine.
My shoulders stiffened automatically, and I turned my head stiffly, like a rusty gear.
…Half-lidded eyes atop the nest.
A vertically slit dragon pupil pierced right through me.
Veronica spoke without fully opening her eyes.
“Just one bite.”
Flick.
Her gaze shifted to my hand.
More precisely… to the sandwich I was holding.
“……”
I thought for a very brief moment.
‘Even if I say no and don’t want to give it, can I really refuse?’
The conclusion… was no.
In the end, I gently extended the sandwich forward.
Veronica’s jaws parted at a speed unbefitting a dragon.
“Nom—”
One bite.
No, to be precise, the whole thing.
The sandwich vanished.
All that remained…
“……”
A few crumbs between my fingers.
I stared at my palm with the grief of a family member at a gruesome crime scene.
It had originally been a 20cm sandwich.
But its massive form had been reduced to mere crumbs, an irreparable tragedy.
At that moment—
“Here.”
I looked up.
Veronica, still sprawled on the blankets, casually lifted one arm halfway.
And…
Plop—
Something was shoved into my mouth.
A small, round object slipped perfectly between my lips.
“…?”
The sensation of it rolling around.
A sweet grape scent spreading.
It was candy.
Veronica opened her mouth again…
“Trade.”
…And that was it.
The moment she finished speaking, she burrowed back into the blankets.
“Zzz…”
The little dragon fell asleep in an instant.
I stood there dazed, unable to roll the candy around or chew it.
‘……’
Size of the sandwich Veronica devoured: about 20cm.
Size of the candy now shoved in my mouth: about 3cm.
Was there ever a more distorted definition of a trade?
As the sweet grape flavor spread in my mouth, the question of ‘who lost out’ had already been settled.
‘…Still.’
No matter how you sliced it… getting just one bite taken by a dragon, and this was the best I could do?
No, no.
Absolutely, definitely, it didn’t feel that way.
‘……’
To sum it up—
I lost a sandwich, gained a candy, and suffered mental damage.
And… the dragon was sleeping soundly.
Very, very smugly.
***
Stars studded the night sky.
So densely packed that the only fitting phrase was “studded,” tiny points twinkled across the deep indigo heavens.
Whoooosh—
A cold wind.
After tonight, in just a few hours… the Trial of the World Tree would begin.
And before that trial, I would ultimately face it.
‘Me,’ or ‘Adel.’
One or the other, or perhaps both.
The fragments of the past I’d ignored, forgotten, or deliberately buried.
With such thoughts chaining together and churning in my mind, sleep was impossible.
“……”
On the mansion’s rooftop.
Feeling the chill night air, I crouched there.
Below me, everyone slept quietly; above, countless stars twinkled.
‘Haa…’
I wanted to sleep like a normal person.
But… far from sleeping, even closing my eyes was difficult.
Even when my eyelids drooped beneath the mask, my thoughts wandered too far.
In the silent stillness of the night, I quietly raised my hand.
Flick.
As my finger scratched the air, a thin line etched into the void.
Like invisible paint being sprayed, blue solid lines lit up one by one where I moved.
I added more lines between them, and thin threads of mana began weaving through the air in multiple strands.
Swish—
I wasn’t drawing a magic circle, exactly.
Nor was it anything particularly meaningful.
Just… something to organize my thoughts.
“……”
I connected the mana ever so slowly with my fingertips.
Where lines met, small points formed, and new lines branched out from those points.
And at some point—
I realized those points looked like stars.
‘…Ha.’
I let out a small chuckle.
Hours before the Trial of the World Tree, sitting on the roof drawing stars with mana—it was so ridiculous even to me.
When the sky was already full of stars, I could just look up.
The fact that I was reaching out to dot new ones in the air was probably proof of how tangled my mind was.
Then—
“Hey.”
“…?”
I turned at the voice from behind.
And… as expected.
Veronica stood there against the night sky, clutching a blanket and pillow under each arm.
“What’re you doing up here.”
[And what about you, Dean?]
“I came here to sleep.”
[?]
“It’s hot.”
[It’s cold.]
“I’m hot.”
I was at a loss for words.
I’d left her sleeping like a log in the room, yet here she was, claiming it was ‘hot’ and climbing up to the roof for the chilly night air on purpose.
I had no idea what to say.
“So, what’re you doing up here.”
[Thinking.]
“Thinking? About what? Me?”
[No.]
“Yeah, fuck that.”
Flick.
Veronica spread the blanket beside me with a snap, plopped the pillow down, and in one second, sprawled out in a perfect, comfortable pose.
“So, what’re you thinking about.”
“……”
I stayed silent for a while.
Gazing at the night sky, I moved my hand again, curling my fingertip to draw the final solid line.
[The trial.]
“The one that shows your past?”
[Yes.]
Swish—
A small completed constellation in the air twinkled, overlapping with the stars in the sky.
“Why’s that.”
[My past is problematic.]
“…What, did you suffer domestic abuse or something.”
She seemed to realize her own mistake right after saying it, averting her eyes awkwardly.
I dashed her hopeful expectation myself.
[I don’t think I can handle it.]
“……”
[No matter how shitty it is, I still have to smile through it.]
Something unbearable.
Whatever emerged from the past, whether ‘me’ or ‘Adel,’ I wouldn’t be able to handle it in the end.
And yet, I’d have to smile anyway.
Pretend it was nothing.
To avoid showing I’d shattered, to keep the broken pieces from leaking out again,
Today too, I had to wear the mask.
Because I couldn’t take it off, because I always had to struggle and climb.
“Haa…”
A long, deep sigh escaped Veronica’s lips.
She stayed quiet for a while, then suddenly bolted upright and came around behind me.
Thud.
A heavy sensation settled on my head.
I slowly rolled my eyes upward.
Atop my head was neither a star nor the wind… but Veronica’s chin.
“You know.”
Veronica reached out.
She overlaid her own color onto the constellation I’d drawn in the air.
Varied solid lines merged atop the night sky, their colors blending and swaying lazily.
“Grown-ups can’t stay kids forever.”
One line.
Another.
“But kids.”
Over the stars I’d made, Veronica’s stars layered on steadily.
“Can stay kids forever.”
[Do I look like a kid to you?]
“No, you are a kid.”
[Don’t treat me like one.]
“That’s why I’m treating you like one.”
Veronica casually rolled her chin side to side.
Each time, my crown ached a little from the pressure.
“I know whatever you see, whatever you face, it’s gonna piss you off like hell.”
[I know.]
“A mere kid like you doesn’t need to deal with it.”
[Then who does?]
“You don’t have to.”
[But I end up having to anyway.]
“If you don’t wanna laugh, don’t.”
[I have to fake it to seem okay.]
“…But even if you fake a smile, no one’s gonna see through it anyway, right?”
[Yeah.]
Swish—
My eyelids grew heavy.
“At least…”
Veronica’s voice wavered at the edge of consciousness.
The star cluster I’d floated in the air began slowly losing its light and fading—
“In front of me, you don’t have to wear that shitty mask.”
The fading starlight gathered once more beneath Veronica’s hand.
She collected the scattered stars and launched them toward the night sky.
Twinkle.
It lasted only an instant… but the star cluster bloomed like a galaxy.
“So act like a kid for once. Always pretending to be an adult—it’s not cute at all.”
Thud.
My body went limp, drained of strength, and a soft sensation pressed on my head.
It was the pillow Veronica had laid out beforehand.
“…Hey.”
My consciousness blurred.
Veronica’s voice seemed distant.
“That’s my pillow…”
And—
I let go of the thread of awareness without hearing the rest.
***
“You’re late, Adel!”
[The kids?]
“They’ve all gone in already~”
Ugh.
I overslept.
It was frustrating that no one woke me, and on such an important day as the World Tree Trial, no less.
I lifted the whiteboard slightly, then lowered it.
No point protesting—it wouldn’t change anything.
“Adel was sleeping so peacefully, I couldn’t bear to wake you.”
Delphine nailed my grievance perfectly.
I glanced at Delphine, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Caden, and raised the whiteboard.
[Won’t you go in, Professor?]
“I’m fine. Trials are tedious.”
Seems this professor’s life had more messy twists than I knew.
To call the World Tree Trial ‘tedious.’
“Very well, Adel. Will you challenge the trial?”
“……”
I turned to Caden.
Right before him.
The World Tree’s thick trunk parted on both sides like an entrance.
Inside was foggy white, with neither wind nor presence.
[Yes.]
Nod.
As I slowly nodded… Caden raised his hand high.
“I’ll explain the precautions!”
Caden held up one finger.
“The trial proceeds not with your actual body, but in the form of your soul!”
Two.
“Even if you die inside, you won’t really die! Just a little scratch on your mind! Sometimes a bit deeper, but very rarely!”
Three.
“Actually, that’s only for a tiny fraction! A tiny, tiny fraction!”
Caden delivered these unclear warnings—precautions or scares?—in an annoyingly cheerful tone.
Finally, his hands clasped neatly toward the World Tree’s gap.
“And lastly! You can retry anytime, even if you fail!”
“……”
“Just step inside.”
I stepped into the gap without further hesitation.
As the saying goes, rip the iron horns off while they’re hot—dwelling on ‘let’s think a bit more’ only makes it scarier.
“May the World Tree look kindly upon you.”
My vision faded gradually.
Caden’s final words followed through the haze.
“Good luck, Adel.”
In that instant—
All sensation sank away.
A brief void.
Then my eyelids lifted naturally.
“……”
And I understood immediately.
The scene before me could be summed up in one word.
‘…Doors.’
Plain doors, utterly undecorated, without labels.
Dozens—no, hundreds of them.
Lined up to the unreachable horizon.
“……”
I stopped in place.
And understood again.
Each and every door—
Led to the ‘past.’