Chicken Coop Smell
The World Tree, seen with his own eyes, was remarkably small.
Its height fell just short of Adonis's thigh, so of course it did.
Its skin was white as snow, without the faintest flush of red, leaving an impression more of pallor—or of a corpse.
Had it not been for the vitality and lively spark in its eyes, calling it a living corpse would hardly have been an exaggeration.
"Whoa! You've gotten so big since I last saw you! You changed your hair color too! It suits you now, but I think the blond looked better."
"Yes. It's been a long time."
A long time.
In truth it was more accurate to call this their first meeting, yet Adonis pretended otherwise, offering an awkward smile as he bowed his head.
He had seen it on a screen before, so it was not entirely unfamiliar.
The World Tree accepted Adonis's greeting with a bright smile, then shifted its gaze to Semiramis, who stood with a blank expression, her arm still wound around Adonis's.
Both Adonis and Semiramis were tall, so it had to crane its neck upward.
That alone might have drawn a look of discomfort, yet a smile never left the World Tree's lips.
From the violent mana tremor a moment earlier, it already knew a dragon had arrived.
But never had it imagined that dragon would come bringing the Hero—or that the Hero would come bringing a dragon.
Imagining what might have passed between the two of them, the World Tree greeted them in a sunny voice.
"Hi? This is the first time I've faced a dragon like this, isn't it? I've seen a few flying near the forest, though."
The World Tree was startled that a dragon—and the Evil Dragon, no less—was clinging so tightly to a human Hero, yet it began in a voice thick with calm, straightforward simplicity.
"Indeed. I, too, never imagined a day would come when I would face the World Tree. Still… from the way you speak, it seems you remember me."
"A dragon flying around is rare enough that it's hard to forget, no matter how much time passes. Looking for a good spot to build a lair, maybe?"
"Oh? You figured that out well. Or did you learn it later?"
When Semiramis smiled, baring sharp teeth, the World Tree laughed just as cheerfully and shook its head.
Dragons circle the world for two reasons: to pursue amusement, or to search for lair sites.
From experience and accumulated wisdom the World Tree already knew this, so it answered that it had never bothered to dig into the matter afterward.
Semiramis thought it only natural for a being who lived with ears keener than anyone else's, and simply nodded without a word.
Watching that, the World Tree quickly pointed toward an outdoor table prepared near the tree roots.
Four long wooden benches surrounded a square wooden table.
"Anyway, welcome. Let's sit first. Titania! Bring something to eat and brew some tea!"
"Yes. Understood."
As the World Tree turned and called out while inviting them to sit, Titania, standing at the end of that gaze, bowed her waist with formal courtesy and answered.
From the way she greeted, the tone of her voice, even the manner of her departure—anyone could tell at a glance that she was highly refined.
Once the World Tree took its seat first, Adonis and Semiramis naturally settled across from it.
The thick scent of blood.
And eyes that had grown calm and settled, as though the person himself had changed.
The World Tree looked at Adonis—so greatly altered from before—and narrowed its eyes with something like pity.
Watching him at leisure, a wave of sorrow seemed to surge over it.
It could easily guess why Adonis had become this way.
Even so, deciding it was not its place to pry, the World Tree kept its smile and asked,
"So what brings you all the way out here? Hero, you got some territory from the… what was it? The Empire's top brass, right?"
"Uh… yes?"
Top brass.
Adonis's face went blank at the cheap ring of a word he could scarcely believe had come from the World Tree's mouth.
A blank expression so complete no one could look more idiotic.
He stayed dazed for a while.
Only when Titania, who had left her seat, returned carrying tea and sweets could he gather the thoughts that had stalled in confusion.
"I did… receive a territory, but I left it behind and came out."
"…I see."
The World Tree did not ask why; it simply twisted the corner of its mouth in a bitter look.
It was an expression possible only because it knew what kind of treatment Adonis had suffered.
Semiramis, watching quietly, thought that otherwise it could never have looked that way.
"Sorry. I asked something unnecessary."
"It's fine. If anything, if the World Tree feels apologetic toward me, it may make the conversation easier to lead."
When Adonis smirked as if that suited him better, the World Tree's expression brightened at once.
An answer half sincere and half jest was deeply welcome.
"Then I guess I have to tell you anything I know. What do you want to know?"
"The current state of the people who made up the expedition centered on me. Honestly, that's why I came here."
Seizing the moment, Adonis spoke at once; this time the World Tree blinked and closed its mouth.
Its lips formed a dull "Uh," yet it was sorting both the reason Adonis had asked the question and the answer to it at the same time.
"Uh… current state, you say?"
"Yes. Their current state."
Just in case.
When Adonis fixed it with anxious eyes, the World Tree decided it should answer quickly and opened its mouth in haste.
Its thoughts were already arranged, so there was no reason to drag things out further.
"Well… I was thinking about who to start with, and maybe it's better to start with the mage…?"
The mage—Aria.
The moment that word entered his ears, Adonis's pupils, which had been wavering, flared with a fierce light.
His eyes sharpened, his lips pressed tight and trembled, and from the expression that had gone cold as ice one could read anger beyond measure.
She was a woman he had known even before becoming a Hero, so the sense of betrayal cut all the deeper.
Having heard the whole story from Adonis, Semiramis knew why he looked that way—and because of it she felt jealousy.
Grinding one's teeth over a traitor was only natural, yet she could easily tell that the emotion was different from the rest.
Even among betrayals, when the one who commits it is someone close, the pain grows that much greater.
Of course she knew full well that such a thing was distant from the Adonis of now, yet the way she involuntarily empathized made Semiramis jealous.
Enough that she found herself thinking she ought to tear that mage apart first.
The World Tree looked with some bewilderment at Semiramis, sparks practically flying from her eyes out of jealousy, then cleared its throat and spoke.
Thinking how overly dramatic she was being.
"Anyway, the mage… I forgot the name, but that mage is doing fine. Same for the other humans who were with the Hero, but anyway. At the Empire's Mage Tower her rank is… which was it? Anyway, they say it's gotten ridiculously high. High enough to count on one hand."
The way it fidgeted its small hands as it spoke looked almost like it was being cute, yet its expression and voice were more serious than usual.
Adonis knew as much, so he simply nodded without particular thought and kept his ears on the World Tree's voice.
Isabel, as Saintess with authority below the Pope of the Continental Church yet above the twelve cardinals, was still living well and eating well.
Olivier, once a thief, was working in the shadows as vice-director of the Empire's intelligence officers, while outwardly pretending to be an ordinary noble.
Castro was serving as training instructor for the Empire's central knight order, and with his bold personality and combat experience he was receiving a great deal of praise, it said.
Adonis ground his teeth at the fact that that damned Castro was receiving praise.
He ground them so hard that a grating, spine-chilling sound rang clearly in the ear.
It meant he harbored a rage even fiercer than when he had heard that the mage Aria was living well and eating well.
Enough to startle both the watching World Tree and Semiramis, who had long since heard every story from Adonis.
Those bastards.
Adonis had expected it would be like this, yet the moment he actually received the news he realized the shock was even greater.
Then, suddenly recalling that one person's story was missing, he opened his mouth.
"But what became of Vivian?"
"Vivian? That chicken-coop smell? Ugh. Just thinking about it makes my nose feel like it's rotting, so I wiped her from my head… and now you're making me remember."
The elf Vivian. The moment Adonis spoke that name, the World Tree shuddered from head to toe as if thoroughly sick of it.
It pressed the half-cooled teacup to its nose and sniffed, then grabbed a handful of the round cookies on the plate and chewed them before its expression finally eased.
"Chicken-coop smell?"
When Adonis tilted his head, utterly at a loss, the World Tree muttered "chicken-coop smell" over and over as well.
"Yeah. Chicken-coop smell. Went crazy for men, calmly betrayed the Hero, and still doesn't even know she did anything wrong. So her soul rotted. That's why the chicken-coop smell comes off her."
"Does that kind of smell come from an elf who betrayed?"
"Yep. The Hero and that dragon there might not know, but I can smell it. I'm the World Tree, after all."
The World Tree puffed out its chest proudly and smiled with a haughty look.
To Adonis's and Semiramis's eyes it only looked like a child cutely boasting about itself.
Adonis rummaged through his clothes to take out something to write with, intending to note down what the World Tree had told him, only to tilt his head when Semiramis's hand stopped him.
"Don't worry. I will remember everything, so there is no need to go to the trouble of recording it."
"Ah. Then I don't have to write it down."
Hearing Semiramis's confident whisper, Adonis slipped the small paper and pen he had been holding back into his inner pocket.
The World Tree watched that blankly, then, deciding the chance had finally come, threw out a question at once.
"But how did the Hero end up knowing this dragon? I don't really want to say it myself, but among humans her reputation couldn't have been that good."
The World Tree knew the stories of the Evil Dragon Semiramis well.
It had been alive even then, and it had gathered information about the kingdom that burned, so it could not fail to know.
That made it all the more curious—yet the answer Adonis gave was truly unexpected.
"She just had extreme love for her child, that's all."
For Adonis it was only a vague truth offered because he did not want to answer at length, yet Semiramis, hearing it, once again sank into emotion and sparkled her eyes.
Because of it her love for Adonis, and her obsession, grew still deeper—yet the Adonis of the present could not know that fact.
The World Tree's innocent voice speaking of chicken-coop smell kept echoing endlessly in his ears.
Because of that, a hollow laugh slipped past Adonis's lips.
"Oh."
The World Tree watched that blankly, then simply, in a low voice, let out a single syllable.
A very short sound that revealed its admiration.