The Hero Is Surrounded
[…It's no use, Hero. I have no intention of talking to you anymore, so just go back.]
It's no use, Hero. I have no intention of talking to you anymore, so just go back.
'Quick on the uptake, huh.' I scowled at the World Tree's voice echoing in my head. It felt infuriating because it seemed like just a little more prodding might have drawn out some crucial information, but the damn thing had pulled back right in front of me.
"Just telling me to leave?"
Yes. Go.
A strange laugh escaped me at the World Tree's curt dismissal, like it was issuing an expulsion order. From the way it was specifically telling me to get out, it looked like it couldn't actually force me to leave this place. I'd carved out busy time to drag my ass here, so if I wasn't getting the info I wanted, it was only right to take something else.
"Nah, don't wanna."
W-what?
"You think I'm just gonna bail after all the trouble I went through to get here?"
The World Tree fell silent at my words. Of course, it knew full well that the path to find it hadn't been that grueling. The avatar sprawled limply on the ground slowly lifted its body and spoke to me.
"…What do you want me to do, then?"
Since it hadn't bothered with any disguise, I could see white semen trickling back out of the avatar's nostrils. As I stared at it with interest, the World Tree—or rather, the avatar—frantically wiped its nose with the back of its hand.
"Nothing much. How about tossing me a souvenir or something."
"This is a sword without the blade, no strength to it."
The World Tree narrowed its eyes and said that to me. But when I just grinned cheekily, it sighed and started speaking again.
"As you know, this is a space for records only. Even if I wanted to give you something, there's nothing here I could…"
"Whoa, now you've drawn the blade. Better think carefully before you speak."
I drew my sword and snarked back. It might really have nothing to offer, but that didn't matter. It pissed me off that it was hiding something from me, and if push came to shove, I planned to trash the space inside the World Tree. Hell, if it truly had jack shit, I'd just take its avatar.
"Stop! These aren't records for the likes of you to… Huh?"
"What?"
"You're carrying something quite intriguing. Fine. If you want it that badly, I'll give you a gift."
The World Tree eyed my sword intently before speaking. Soon, a faint green energy extended from its hand. I reflexively swatted it away with my blade, but the green glow seeped into my sword without any hostile intent.
Hm?
And moments later, something odd popped out of the sword Katrin had made. It was a girl with black hair matching the pitch-black blade and porcelain-white skin. She looked around curiously before spotting me and flashing a bright smile. One eye was red, the other blue, giving her an air of profound mystery.
"What the hell is this?"
"What else? The spirit dwelling in your sword. No idea how a spirit ended up in there, but it's a precious one—treat it well."
The World Tree said that to me, and I blankly stared at the odd-eyed girl. So this thing in front of me was the entity that had been pumping lewd energy into all those women.
"You're… the sword?"
Yeah! Fuck me already!
I let out a hollow laugh at the girl who straight-up demanded I fuck her. It was absurd—now even my sword was begging for it.
"This is your gift?"
I asked the World Tree. It sure as hell wasn't what I'd had in mind. I'd at least expected something like spirit affinity, given it was the World Tree.
"It's more than you deserve. Now get out, as promised."
I pondered the World Tree's words. A sword spirit wasn't my business, but if even it called it "more than you deserve," that changed things.
You gonna fuck me or not?
I scratched the back of my head at the sword spirit staring at me with those signature eyes. It claimed to be precious, sure, but it didn't look all that stable.
"Who can you blame? It's all because of you."
The World Tree read my expression and said that. I sighed deeply at the sword spirit blinking excitedly up at me with a troubled look. I'd known the sword was off from the start, ignored it, even exploited it—so regretting now would be ridiculous.
"So, can I fuck it once before I go?"
"Get… out! Before I take back my gift!"
The World Tree snapped in a fury. Its reaction seemed off, so I shrugged and headed for the exit.
Fuck me! Fuck me!
The odd-eyed sword spirit clung to my arm, whining, but as a newly awakened spirit, its power was weak. Ignoring its pleas, I moved toward the exit.
"Hero."
"What? More to say?"
But just before stepping out, I halted at the World Tree's voice from behind.
"Don't feel too hard done by. Everything has a cause."
I furrowed my brow at the cryptic words and stepped outside.
'Ha, this is just great.'
I sighed heavily upon emerging from the World Tree. No sooner had I stepped out than I faced elves surrounding me, each gripping weapons with blatant hostility. The atmosphere was tense. Glancing around, I easily spotted Emiri and Skevin from earlier. They'd snapped out of it late and called the elves, apparently. My plan to meet the World Tree quietly had gone to shit. And among the elves stood Queen Isabela, her face hardened. Knowing her personality, I was certain she wouldn't let this slide easily.
"You'll need to explain yourself, Hero."
I twitched an eyebrow at Isabela's icy tone. Her attitude—like she'd caught me red-handed—stirred memories of the past.
"Explain?"
"I don't know if you knew what you were doing, but this is the elves' holy site. Trespassing isn't a light offense."
Isabela didn't really want an explanation. She'd use this as leverage to exploit me or extract compensation from the Empire—that was her game. I didn't care what the Empire paid, but things going her way wasn't what I wanted.
Instead, I yelled at her, feigning outrage.
"You want an explanation, but you point weapons at someone who came to help? Is that how elves do things?"
At my brazen counterattack, Isabela bit her lower lip.
"Hoo. Did I hear that right? You trespassed in our holy site first…"
"Didn't know."
"You call that an excuse?"
"First time in the Great Forest—how the hell was I supposed to know this was your holy site?"
Isabela's expression stiffened at my words. Strictly speaking, in this life, it was my first time in the Great Forest, and I had plenty of proof. The World Tree was fine, and I'd claimed ignorance—it should all blow over nicely. But with her greed piqued, Isabela kept grasping for a hold.
"Ignorance doesn't make it go away. You ignored the guards and entered—that's on you."
She looked smug, like she'd landed a solid hit. But it was exactly what I'd been waiting for. Emiri and Skevin—who'd rallied the elves—panicked instead of me. I flashed a victorious smirk at the two elves rolling their eyes anxiously.
"Guards? Where? All I saw were elves fucking around here."
"What?"
"You telling me elves have sex in what they call a holy site? Wait, is 'holy site' code for 'fuck spot'?"
At my snide remark, Isabela shot a piercing glare at Emiri and Skevin.