Chapter 591: I'll Be Getting Off Here
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 591: I'll Be Getting Off Here
There once was a girl. A girl of such outstanding beauty, even at her young age, that she was a precious child who was the apple of everyone’s eye—a child who must never be hurt.
The name of this girl, heir to a noble bloodline, was Hexia Agartha.
She was the princess of Manguo and the ruler who would one day inherit the mask and conceive a new Manguo.
A cute, noble child. A child raised with both calculated and pure love from countless people usually grows up in one of two ways: they either take that grace for granted, or they commendably try to repay it.
That Hexia Agartha grew up to be a good child was a great blessing for Manguo.
“You know, I wish meat grew on trees! Then my nanny, my father, and the page could all eat their fill of meat!”
However… the fact that the good Hexia Agartha possessed an immense talent was too great a blessing. So great that not even a nation like Manguo could handle it.
“So, I made the blessed maidenhair tree bear nuts that taste like meat!”
The World Tree, the blessed maidenhair tree, was male.
Meat growing on a tree. This fact was a shocking event even to the druids, who were respected by many, and to the witches, who were treated slightly less so.
Some argued that the very existence of the meat-fruit went against the natural order, while others defended it, saying it was simply a fruit that tasted like meat. The chancellor rejoiced that they had solved the food problem, but his advisor expressed disapproval, stating it was harder to cultivate than livestock.
Only the witches offered consistent support, though others placed no value on their endorsement.
The debate raged on. It was a heated discussion, all the more so because they knew it would never end. The sun set, the moon waxed, and the topic repeated itself like the changing of the seasons. The chatter was so loud that chirping birds covered their ears and hid in their nests; the dialogue was so sharp that beasts of prey stalking their game were too afraid to approach.
“Proceed.”
But in the end, it was secular power that won. The story concluded when Muhu Agartha herself made the final decision.
“If you have any complaints, I will hear them in my bedchamber. Instead, let us bear fruit together.”
Yes. It was over.
The meat-fruit was a remarkably delicate and sensitive crop. Even from the same root, it grew in vastly different ways depending on how it was cultivated. Even the most skilled druids couldn't figure out how to improve it and simply wasted time.
It was around that time that Muhu invited the Primordial Druid, Nevida.
“Muhu used the princess’s pure goodwill for an Anathema.”
[Shut up… I said, shut up!]
The Primordial Druid lived up to her name. Nevida, who was knowledgeable in both animals and plants, personally led the cultivation with her knowledge and experience. Dog, cat, goat, sheep, cow, chicken, pig, monkey. All sorts of meat-fruits began to grow. Both witches and druids were astounded by her outstanding ability.
Because they could not understand, they could not approach, and because they could not approach, the gap widened. The druids, once respected by many, became relative fools, and Muhu now spoke only with the Great Druid and Princess Hexia instead of the fools. The fools dared not intervene. Having realized the gap, they chose to look away instead.
One day, as the chasm between knowing and not knowing grew ever wider, druids from the Great Forest arrived from outside the woods. Claiming to have secretly followed the Great Druid, they delivered a story that shocked everyone.
The Great Druid Nevida, a legendary primordial being whose stories every druid had heard at least once.
Had dabbled in the Anathema of Splicing.
“What? Don’t tell me all those beastkin were born from a tree? But I thought the life from the Tree of Genesis had its limits…?”
“That is correct. The beasts born from the meat-fruit do not live long. It is the same principle as a fruit spoiling and rotting once it falls from the tree. It was an insurmountable flaw, born from choosing the way of plants.”
“But, if what you’re saying is true, they eventually succeeded in… mass-producing beastkin, right? How?”
“…The way of the beast is through the beast.”
The beasts that grew from the fruit spoiled quickly after birth. It couldn't be helped. Animals are different from plants.
So Muhu gathered the children Agartha had birthed. The beastkin with animal ears and tails. The creations born from successive Agarthas who had indulged in ennui and stimulation.
“I will become the king of the beastkin, Hexia.”
Hexia’s siblings, who had ears and tails, obeyed their mother’s words. For those who grew up receiving a love directed at beasts, Agartha’s command was absolute. She was their leader, their mother, and their master.
“This power, usurped from the King of Humans. The days of living with only a fragment of it will one day end. Unless one is the King of Humans, one cannot become a king in the truest sense. However, beastkin are superior to humans. If such new beasts were to be born.”
And so… the countless females still hanging from the fruit, not yet ripe… curled up with their umbilical cords… no, the pistils…
Drugged into a rut, they clung naked to the fruits, indulging in and violating each one.
Sucking the essence of the World Tree, they impregnated the flesh submerged within the pulp, like insects laying their eggs in fruit.
“We shall become living Divines, and in doing so, the Beast King.”
However, for Manguo, it was a calamity disguised as a blessing.
Hexia was intelligent and kind. So kind that she could not turn a blind eye to the meat-fruits hanging from the tree she had created, forced to conceive unblessed lives without love or freedom.
Nenyaphh calmly relayed the truth. For some, it was a pain sharper than a dagger. Perhaps the reason Nenyaphh had not met the Great Witch until now was out of consideration for her.
Or perhaps she had been saving the blade to keep it sharp.
“It was the princess who requested that we stop the former king back then.”
The parrot let out a loud squawk, as if to drown out Nenyaphh’s words. But no matter how loudly it shrieked, Nenyaphh’s voice could not be silenced.
“She intended to drive out the humans who originally lived there and fill the land with beastkin crafted from the tree. By the time we noticed, countless beastkin had already been born and scattered throughout the jungle… The humans who had been pushed aside, unable to receive Agartha’s favor, rose up with weapons in hand, driven by jealousy and envy.”
It was only natural that chaos would ensue when a number of beastkin equivalent to an entire race was released. Had it not been Manguo, their population would have been immediately assessed. But since they had spread throughout a territory that was half-wild, Agartha’s atrocities went largely unknown.
By the time the problem was recognized, it had already occurred. That was likely why the rebellion was so late.
“Abusing the essence of the World Tree, desecrating the value of birth, and trampling on human dignity. The World Tree was debased, hanging with countless meat-fruits like tumors. What we truly intended to do was to scrape off the World Tree’s tumors… though in the end, everything was consumed by a rage like wildfire.”
Having stated the facts dispassionately, Nenyaphh delivered the final blow.
“Thanks to you, Princess, we were able to stop the World Tree from bearing the fruits of sin.”
[No one told you to burn the World Tree! No one told you to kill my mother, steal the mask, and destroy the nation!]
“Regrettably, it came to that because our power was insufficient. Just as it was for you, Princess.”
Nenyaphh hadn't intended for it to happen either. It was simply unavoidable. They were a ragtag rebel army, and Agartha’s power was formidable. Had they hesitated for even a moment, Agartha would have seduced and won over the majority of the rebels, turning them into her own limbs.
To achieve their goal, they had no choice. If they hadn't killed Agartha and torn her mask, the rebellion would have failed.
And the one who had intended it was the Great Witch. The target of the Great Witch’s rage included herself.
“Princess. Therefore, please let us pass. Otherwise, the depravity of that time will be repeated.”
[What nonsense…!]
“Right now, at the top of the Tree of Corruption, are humans not being created? The King of Humans is the seed of the great sin for that purpose. That is the only way to end this without repeating the tragedy.”
The reason they brought me here was to prevent the tragedy of that time from repeating. Because, if I helped, Nevida could create even humans.
[Get them away!]
The parrot shrieked fiercely. But the force of the pandemonium was not what it had been. The rage and wildness that could cover the jungle were gone. The Great Witch’s pet familiars stood stock-still, their fur merely bristled.
Contrary to her passionate words, the Great Witch’s emotions were in turmoil. The familiars, who felt their master’s emotions directly, read the Great Witch’s hesitation.
Reading the flow of the situation, Nenyaphh pressed on.
“Let us hurry. Now that you know the truth, Princess, the Great Druid will also arrive soon.”
“Ah, I see. Thank you. Thanks to you, I understand the whole story now.”
“Did I not say I would explain on the way?”
“You knew the Great Witch would come.”
“It is because I was forced to kill the princess’s parrot. It was necessary to find where you were staying.”
“Of course. I understand. That it couldn't be helped.”
The Great Witch’s thoughts were fragmented and emotional. The memories I read from her were focused on the time after the World Tree burned and fell. Before the fire, the Great Witch had been young and naive, and had deliberately tried not to think about the meat-fruits.
But reading Nenyaphh’s thoughts as well made everything clearer. What Agartha had planned, and why she had created the beastkin.
“You didn’t want to destroy the country either, did you? You didn’t want to burn the World Tree. But the existence of the meat-fruits bothered you more, right? It must have been hard for you all. How did you endure all those years without a country or a World Tree?”
Nenyaphh climbed back onto the deer and said.
“Arborification. It is a secret art that turns the body into a tree. We took turns waking up for a year at a time to care for one another, which is how we were able to continue our sinful lives.”
“So that’s how you endured. I’ve heard enough.”
“Then, let us press on.”
“No, I said I’ve heard enough. So I’ll be getting off here now. Thanks for everything up to this point. A deer’s back is more comfortable than I thought.”
You said I could jump off if I didn’t like it, right? I actually liked the story itself, but that made the conclusion even easier to reach. I sat Shei on the saddle and leaped off without a second thought.