I Tried Digging Up a Tree

"Why are all the trees here so dark? It's creepy."

I had wandered into the forest to gather firewood for grilling fish.

It was already getting dark, and I thought I should learn the lay of the land while I was at it, so I had been looking around when something oddly out of place caught my eye.

It was a tree blackened all over, like fried batter after the oil had burned too hot.

Unlike the others around it, which were lush with green leaves, this one had withered and twisted like an ancient dead trunk.

It looked as if it were already dead.

It was huge—big enough to claim it was the largest tree in the forest—and if it had been healthy, it would have been beautiful, no doubt.

Even plants got sick.

The trees around the blackened one looked wilted too, so maybe they had all come down with some kind of plague?

"Better to use these things as firewood than living trees, right? They'll light more easily, too."

Most of all, it was enormous. Perfect.

If I brought this back, I probably wouldn't need to bother gathering firewood for a while.

I grabbed the trunk.

"Happy, happy, happy sunny day~ Hand in hand with our family, let's go together—Novel Mart~"

If you were going to use your strength, you had to sing a work song. That was the real way to do it.

Grrk— I strained and yanked upward on the trunk.

With a tremendous shudder, the tree that had been rooted deep into the earth came out by the roots.

It wasn't as though a beast's body was more convenient than a human one. That said, it didn't only have disadvantages, either.

Even I had to admit it was an incredible display of brute strength.

To lift and haul a tree this size would require a whole arsenal of modern heavy equipment.

If I went to a gym in this state, wouldn't I be benching, squatting, and deadlifting a combined 5,000 tons?

Back when I was human, even benching 100 kg had been a struggle.

Come to think of it, I was curious.

Could you still build muscle in a monster's body?

I pictured myself hoisting a barbell and deadlifting.

...No, let's not do that.

With the tree tucked under my arm, soil still spilling from its roots, I started back toward the river.

"Hiccup…."

I heard a sound.

When I shifted my gaze, I spotted someone hiding behind the trunk of another tree.

It was probably a girl. I could tell from the voice I'd just heard and the long, swaying hair.

But then again, could I really call it a person?

For a human, her ears were too sharp, poking out from the sides of the trunk-like face.

Well, whatever. It didn't matter.

This was the first time, since I had become a beast, that I'd run into something that looked human.

Feeling friendly, I was just about to take a step toward her to say hello.

"H-h-huuuu…."

As soon as I moved, the girl seemed to lose strength in her legs and collapsed onto the spot.

"Ah."

Of course. If a predator several times larger than you suddenly approached, anyone would be frightened.

Compared to bears, lions, or tigers, what I looked like now was so savage, so gigantic, and so terrifying that it would be rude to compare me to them.

Hmm. What should I do?

"Hello."

In times like this, there was nothing better than a greeting.

And then—

"Hiiiiiiiiii…!"

It backfired.

Damn it, fuck.

The girl started shaking as if she'd just met some knife-wielding thug.

What the hell? I was pretty sure I'd spoken as sweetly as possible.

Could it be she didn't understand the language?

"Hello?"

"Ni hao?"

"Ohayo?"

I tried greeting her earnestly in various languages from around the world, but all she did was wear the expression of someone about to pass out.

The repeated, emphatic sounds only made her more uneasy.

Looks like we don't speak the same language.

I'd finally met a person, and now we couldn't even talk.

That was heartbreakingly sad.

Still, I didn't lose hope.

Why?

Because there was one language that worked anywhere in the world.

Body language.

I set the tree down from under my arm.

Then I waved at the girl.

I made the gesture ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of someone glad to meet her, of someone promising not to hurt her.

And then I picked the tree back up and headed for the river again.

At this point, I had probably proven that I was harmless enough.

I smiled.

So there were people living around here too.

Once I had settled in a little, I should try greeting them when I found the chance.

"The Demon Tree is gone! At last, we are truly saved! Brothers, raise your cups! Let us savor today’s joy for all eternity!"

"Long live the Rough Wood Forest! Long live Nillius! Long live Nillia!"

"Wooooaaahhhhh!"

At the heart of the Gehenna Great Forest lay the Rough Wood Forest.

And in that forest lived the elves.

For a long time, they had suffered under the Demon Tree, which gnawed at the life of the forest.

To the elves, who lived by drinking in the forest's yang and yin energies, the Demon Tree—possessing the power to command the forest's vitality—was their natural enemy. And since it could not be defeated even by elven magic or weapons, they had no way to resist it.

Although the Demon Tree could have wiped out the elves entirely after settling in the forest, it had not done so.

Just as elves lived by drinking the forest's energy, the Demon Tree lived by drinking elven life. To it, elves were precious food, and for that reason it had spared them.

The Demon Tree demanded sacrifices from the elves.

Offer up an elf as sacrifice once every six months. Do that, and the Rough Wood Forest and your race shall not perish, but endure forever.

The elves had no choice but to accept that cruel demand.

The number of elves sacrificed to the Demon Tree had reached a full one hundred.

Over the course of about fifty years, the elf population of the Rough Wood Forest had fallen by one third.

Unlike other races, they gave birth only once every few hundred years, so if things had continued like this, their entire species would have been doomed to extermination by the Demon Tree.

But then, two days ago, a miracle happened.

And that miracle had occurred just as Nillia, the younger sister of Nillius, was about to be offered as the sacrifice.

"Nillia."

When the celebration for the elves' liberation from the Demon Tree had reached a certain peak, Nillius spoke.

"Yes, Brother."

"Tell our people of the miracle you witnessed."

Nillius, leader of the Rough Wood Forest elves, asked his younger sister for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an explanation.

"I volunteered to be offered as a sacrifice to the Demon Tree. It was for the sake of our people—that is, all of you—that I did so. Though you opposed me, Brother, after a long and lengthy conversation I was able to persuade you. With tears, I said farewell to all of you and set off for the place where the Demon Tree stood."

Nillius's eyes grew red as he listened.

Nillia continued with a small smile.

"Yes. I had resolved to die. If I could use my insignificant life to protect our people for another half year, I was willing to sacrifice myself. Just as all the members of our race who had been offered to the Demon Tree before me did."

The elves listening were touched as well; more than a few had tears in their eyes.

Those who had lost family members let their tears fall freely.

"But perhaps it was because the souls of those who had been sacrificed until now were pitied. A being beyond all description stood in my way."

Nillia told her people of the sight she had seen that day.

She spoke of the black dragon that had crossed the earth, cloaked in black scales.

"He seized the Demon Tree with arms thicker than a merchant's waist. And then He said this to the Demon Tree Himself."

Nillia still could not forget the melody that He had sung.

"When He sang a melody as beautiful as He was impossible to describe, the Demon Tree met its end. And then He lifted the tree's corpse and tucked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it under His arm before saying to me—"

"Hello."

"Ni hao."

"Hello."

"At first, I mistook Him for a monster. I couldn't understand what I was seeing. But when He set down the Demon Tree's corpse and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠waved at me, speaking once again in that incomprehensible language, I finally understood His true intent."

Nillia pressed a hand to her chest.

She had been overwhelmed, remembering the kindest and strongest being in the world.

"He had come all the way to this shabby forest Himself to save us, I thought. There is something I'd like to ask of all of you. Though I don't know whether our voices will reach Him, let us offer our thanks to the great one who saved us."

The elves joined their hands and closed their eyes.

And they gave thanks.

"Thank you."

"Thank you."

Then one elf among them raised a hand and said,

"Wouldn't it be better if we said it in the language He used?"

"But we don't even know that language."

The speaking elf shook his head.

"He'll understand the feeling in our hearts for sure."

And so the elves became one and sang.

And that song was passed down among the elves of the Rough Wood Forest from one generation to the next.