Chicken Coop Smell #3
There exists a forest where the leaves forever glitter with vitality, and where, once you step inside, air clearer than anywhere else on the continent drifts in quiet currents.
So pure is that air that the filthy are said to come away clean, the dregs accumulated inside the body vanishing altogether—a reputation lofty enough to draw the powerful and the wealthy who longed to turn the place into a private resort.
Having money and authority, of course they coveted their health. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy it for as long as possible?
Yet the forest belonged to the elves who lived there and tended it, and that was why a hushed, overflowing vitality filled every corner. The World Tree—said to be the only one of its kind—stood firmly at its heart as well, and much of the forest’s blessing flowed from that fact. Consequently even those who possessed both wealth and power, nobles and royalty among them, could not simply set foot inside. Elves did not welcome outsiders.
Still, exceptions exist in every age, and the elves too had once been forced to open their doors, however narrowly. The rise of the demon race and the expansion of the Demon Realm had shaken the once-tranquil Elf Forest. It was the expedition led by the Adonis of the past that had stilled that tremor, and for that reason contact continued even now. Vivian had joined the hero party around that same time.
What was this strange feeling—nostalgic and yet not nostalgic at all?
Adonis let out a sigh as he took in the scenery he had once only seen through a screen, landscapes the pictures had never fully captured. Even the artistic vista of pure-white roofs settled across the entire forest failed to register.
“Who goes there?”
One of the reasons was the unfamiliar woman’s voice that rang clearly in his ears. The same voice belonged to the culprit who, the moment he set foot before the forest, had driven an arrow into the ground right at the tip of his toes. Because of that, Adonis could not relax. This was not enemy territory, yet neither was it friendly ground.
Beside him, Semiramis sighed and tried to cool the rage boiling up inside her. She truly made an effort. The elves’ hedgehog-like closed nature was nothing new, but those spines had been aimed at Adonis, and that she could not forgive. Had the arrow been loosed at her instead, she might at least have considered letting it pass once.
“Hss…”
Semiramis folded her arms and parted her lips just enough to draw a shallow breath; her chest swelled slightly. Even now her insides seemed to seethe and bubble; if she did not vent it, she felt she would burn clean through and melt away without leaving so much as a handful of ash. So she meant to exhale that thin breath and purge everything—even if, in cooling her fury, the Elf Forest before her eyes were swept into a sea of flame and left nothing but cinders.
“Semiramis.”
Yet the instant Adonis laid a finger across her lips, the mouth that had been about to breathe fire closed. The seething breath cooled until it was almost cold. At the same time the mana that had been heaving like an earthquake fell utterly still.
“Crazy…”
High in a tree, hidden in the shade of branches draped like a canopy, an elf trembled from head to toe and muttered under her breath. She still could not tear her eyes from Adonis, but terror flooded her gaze. If the mere aftershock of power that had never even been released felt like this, what would have happened had that breath actually been loosed? The thought turned her mind blank white. She even wanted to abandon her post at the entrance and flee—never mind that flight itself would have been futile.
Thank goodness.
Adonis inwardly sighed with relief at the sight of Semiramis abandoning the breath she had been about to unleash—then his eyes flew wide in startlement. For Semiramis had slipped her tongue out between the fingers he had pressed to her lips to stop her. What’s more, her face was flushed and her half-lidded eyes were fixed on him with unmistakable intent. The lewd wet sound that followed rang clearly in the ears of both Adonis and the elf still hiding in the treetop shade.
“Mmm…”
This was no infant idly sucking a finger out of curiosity; the deliberate seduction was blatant. Watching Semiramis—who, after they had shared a bed, had become every bit as lustful as he was—Adonis felt a complicated mix of pleasure and awkwardness.
He steadied his breathing, forced his racing heart to settle, and shifted his gaze toward the shadowed trees in the corner. Having been drenched in Semiramis’s blood and transformed in race itself, his senses and abilities were incomparably sharper than before. Thanks to that, he could pinpoint exactly where the elf who had fired the arrow was hiding.
“To the elf within the forest: please inform the World Tree that the hero Adonis has arrived. Should it refuse us entry, we will leave quietly.”
Even if a gatekeeper granted permission, without the World Tree’s leave they would be driven out soon enough. He had planned from the start to give his name to the guard and request entry; the arrow flying at them without warning had simply forced the present situation. Speaking the title himself made his face burn with embarrassment, yet there was no help for it. The sudden clamor of elves raising their voices to verify the claim already proved how effective the name still was. He could hardly fail to announce himself as the hero—especially when even after hearing the word they showed no further hostility.
“Nn… slurp…”
Adonis sighed again as Semiramis progressed from licking his finger to outright sucking on it. She might have no need for the face-saving manners of humans or elves, but she was far too unrestrained. The brazenness still weighed on him, yet at the same time it pleased him; he wriggled his finger in answer. In response Semiramis gave him a sulky look and slowly worked her tongue.
At last one of the elves hidden in the shade dropped to the ground. She was a female elf with green hair and pointed ears. She strode straight up to Adonis—who had been rather occupied—and dropped to her knees, pressing her forehead to the earth.
“The World Tree has commanded that you be escorted inside. Before that, however, I am fully aware of how grave the discourtesy I committed was. If possible, I beg you to allow me to atone with my life alone.”
“Ah… well…”
When the arrow had first come flying he had been considerably startled. Even a body that would not die from a single shaft still belonged to a person; the reaction was only natural. Still, Adonis had no intention of making an issue of it or exacting heavy revenge. He simply wanted to meet the World Tree and talk. Elves might be conservative about opening their borders, yet they had always kept their ears wide open.
Wait a moment.
Adonis withdrew his hand from Semiramis’s lips and sank onto one knee. The moment the finger she had been savoring left her mouth, a shadow crossed her face—exactly like a child scolded by a parent and having its toy snatched away.
“It’s all right. In any case, since we’ve been granted leave, would you guide us to where the World Tree is?”
“…Thank you for your clemency.”
When Adonis forgave her, the elf who had been grinding her forehead into the dirt lifted her head and bowed once more. She’s laying on the courtesy a bit thick out of sheer terror, Adonis thought.
“This way, please.”
Adonis rose slowly and followed the elf’s back as she walked into the forest. Naturally Semiramis stuck herself to his side with the most casual air imaginable. She linked her arm through his and, without the slightest attempt to hide the vulgarity, nestled his forearm deep into the valley of her breasts. The heavy, soft pressure of that flesh against his arm sent blood pooling lower; had he not thrown every ounce of will into thinking of something—anything—else, the front of his trousers would already have been embarrassingly tented.
“The air really is wonderful.”
By forcing his thoughts elsewhere he finally noticed how exceptionally clean the air slipping into his nostrils was. Seizing the convenient topic, he murmured the observation aloud, and Semiramis’s lips parted as if she had been waiting for exactly that.
“The Elf Forest, centered on the World Tree, has air unlike any other place. The pure air generated here is excellent even for recuperation. That is why humans once eyed it hungrily as a personal retreat. Demons, of course, are innately close to demonic energy, so whether the air is pure or foul matters little to them.”
“You know a lot about it. Have you been here before?”
“No. I only glanced at it while passing nearby; I have never actually entered. As a rule it is better for the world if one leaves the World Tree alone.”
Balance, then.
Adonis nodded, recalling what Semiramis had once told him of dragon habits. They spent the greater part of their endless lives sleeping in their lairs, and on rare occasions of boredom would polymorph and mingle among other races—yet their true essence lay in guarding the world.
“We have arrived. From here the two of you must proceed alone. Simply walk straight toward the World Tree standing ahead.”
Emerging from the slightly shadowed woods, the female elf bowed in final farewell. Beyond her stretched a broad, open meadow, its grass rippling like waves in the breeze.
“Whoa.”
Once the guiding elf had departed, Adonis took a step forward. A sensation as soft and springy as the finest mattress spread up through the sole of his foot; the low murmur of wonder escaped him before he could stop it. Semiramis said nothing, yet her slightly widened eyes betrayed her own surprise. Experiencing something firsthand, he was reminded, made a far greater difference than merely knowing of it.
One step. Another.
The farther he walked, the more the tree towered until even tipping his head all the way back could not find its crown; he almost believed it held up the sky itself. Idle thoughts drifted through his mind—what would it feel like to dig a tunnel into that trunk and climb inside?
A house on the meadow.
Before he reached the World Tree, Adonis eyed a log cabin and cocked his head. Building it practically at the roots of the World Tree was odd enough; the sight of a single solitary dwelling standing alone felt stranger still.
“It stands right ahead. Do you see?”
“Yeah. I see it perfectly.”
While Adonis’s eyes lingered on the cabin, Semiramis’s gaze was fixed forward. She had already spotted the small child standing before the roots of the World Tree, and the elf standing beside that child.
Ahead, huh.
Adonis followed the direction of Semiramis’s pointing finger and nodded. He too could see the child she had taken in.
Welcome.
He calmly watched the child’s mouth form the silent word, then started walking forward again—reminding himself that the figure who looked, at a glance, like nothing more than a young child was in truth the World Tree itself.