Chapter 64

There were three people in the room, all of them draped in black robes.

Brooches pinned to their chests marked who they were.

One wore a skull, another an ant, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the third a mushroom.

The one with the skull brooch rose from the leather sofa. The others across from him flinched, looking for all the world like children who had been caught doing something wrong.

Their eyes followed the skull as he walked toward the wall made entirely of glass.

Beyond it, midday Gangnam spread out below, laid bare in a single glance.

"So the Banum sent after Baek Do-woon was captured?"

He stood before ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the window and spoke in a low voice.

The one with the mushroom brooch bent at the waist until his upper body was nearly folded in half.

"I’m sorry! I did something unnecessary…!"

"You idiot. Why would you go and do something no one even ordered you to do, then make a mess of everything?"

"……."

Sensing an opening, the ant brooch took the chance to chew the mushroom out.

The mushroom sat there with his head bowed, quietly listening to the ant’s scolding.

But the two fists resting on his knees were trembling hard enough to give away how much he was forcing himself to hold back.

Ant seemed to like the sight of that and let the corners of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his mouth curl upward.

The skull turned back to look at the mushroom, who was still bent over.

"I know you only did it because you wanted to make a good impression, so how could I possibly blame you?"

"Huh? But-"

Ant was thrown off by the unexpected words coming from Skull’s mouth.

He started to speak in protest, but before he could get the words out, he had to close his mouth again.

Skull had raised a hand and motioned for him to be quiet.

Ant shut up at once, though he bit his lip as if he didn’t like it one bit.

"Still, if someone has done wrong, it’s only natural that he should be punished."

"...Yes, sir."

"You will not attend any more meetings from now on."

"What? Wait! You mean you’re cutting me from the leadership?"

"Hm? What does a thing like Banum have to do with cutting you from the leadership? I’m merely telling you not to attend the meetings."

Because I can’t stand looking at you.

It felt as though the words themselves were hanging in the air, though he never said them aloud.

The mushroom, who had straightened up in alarm, sagged again. By contrast, the ant beside him smiled as though he were enjoying every second of it.

"As for Baek Do-woon…."

Skull began, then stopped and turned his head.

Mana was surging in front of the two-paneled door.

Before long, the churning mana resolved into a teleportation circle.

Two robed figures appeared from it.

Each wore a round brooch and one shaped like a wolf’s head.

The moment Skull saw them, he asked, his voice sharp with edge.

"What brings you here?"

"I came because of punishment."

"Punishment? Why?"

As he asked, Skull checked the time.

The pendulum clock on the wall showed 10:07.

"By now, she should have killed the orphanage’s head nun."

"No, she couldn’t."

Couldn’t?

Skull looked at the round brooch, unable to make sense of it.

If he had said she hadn’t, it would have been easier to understand. Punishment was a woman who enjoyed doing things however she pleased.

But Round had said she couldn’t.

That meant they had tried to kill the head nun, and failed.

"Look at this."

Round extended his right arm.

From the smartwatch on his wrist, a hologram sprang up at once.

The three of them looked down at it.

The video showed nothing but a cluster of trees.

"It’s just a bunch of trees."

"Look closer."

"……?"

Ant tilted his head, still confused.

Then Skull let out a low breath, as if he had spotted something in the footage.

At the same time, Mushroom, who had been standing beside Ant, gasped.

Finally, Ant discovered the secret hidden in the video and frowned.

"Could it be… that’s Punishment?"

Skull asked, and Round nodded.

Ant and Mushroom both let out the same low, uneasy sound Skull had made.

In the video, there were indeed many trees.

Only, at the roots of those trees lay something vaguely human-shaped.

It was pale and hollow, as though every ounce of life had been drained out of it.

At a glance, it almost looked like a withered tree itself.

"What in the world happened? Why is Punishment lying there looking like that?"

"No, she isn’t dead. She’s alive."

"...What?"

At Round’s words, Skull looked back at the footage.

So did Ant and Mushroom.

They studied the thing in the video more closely.

Now that they looked again, Punishment wasn’t buried under the tree roots at all.

It looked more as though trees had grown out from her body.

Then her right eye moved and stared straight at the camera. Her left eye was already swallowed by the roots.

[Kill me. Please, just kill me.]

[A demon. He’s a demon....]

The Punishment in the video pleaded with them.

Ant and Mushroom both shuddered at the sight.

Skull stroked his chin and muttered, "That bastard...? That one?"

That bastard.

An ability related to trees.

...Trees?

A man flashed through his mind, the one who had been hurling giant pine needles into the sky.

"Could it be... Baek Do-woon?"

"Certain. We confirmed Baek Do-woon was in that area."

Round nodded in agreement.

Skull, who had been calmly assessing the situation, swung his arm.

In his hand now was a long staff made from all manner of bones.

The staff slammed against the glass with a heavy crack.

Even after such a fierce blow, the window did not shatter. Instead, the sound of the impact rang out through the room.

"...Baek Do-woon!"

"Calm yourself, my friend."

"How do you expect me to calm down right now? Just how many did that bastard take out—"

Skull’s outrage faded just as quickly as it had risen.

Someone was knocking on the large double door.

The knock was polite.

"Come in."

The door opened, and another robed figure entered.

A beetle brooch gleamed on that person’s chest.

"Um…."

"What is it? Has the Scale Guild started making a nuisance of itself again?"

"No, sir. He has arrived."

Flustered, Beetle shook his head in a hurry and answered respectfully.

"He?"

"Choi Dong-hoon from Aigaion is here."

"Ah. Ah, right. It was today, wasn’t it?"

"Yes. He is waiting downstairs."

"Very well. We’ll greet our guest first."

The staff vanished from Skull’s hand.

"We can think about Baek Do-woon later."

With that, he left the room.

The others followed after him.

They were going to meet Choi Dong-hoon.

Only Mushroom was left behind in the room.

"Baek Do-woon…."

Mushroom’s fists trembled.

***

I’d finished pruning.

As expected, trees had sprouted from the arms and legs that had blown apart.

Because I’d done it in the mountains, there was no dungeon purification this time like before.

It had just become another mountain, even denser with trees than before, with little real difference beyond that.

The pure energy of the World Tree did make it feel like this place might turn into one of those mountains famous for forest bathing.

If I had to name one real difference, though, it was this:

"Ah, a demon…."

A bee-man who had lost all his strength was now stuck there.

I wasn’t sure whether something that had become one with rapidly growing trees could still be called human, but that was the shape it had taken.

It had ended up like this because I’d brought my torn-off limbs close to its body.

The plants that had sprouted from my arms and legs had burrowed into the thing’s body and grown lushly, feeding on its strength.

And that was how the bee-man became one with the trees.

"Huh. Sap?"

So the reward was sap from the previous World Tree.

I wasn’t making Arca again, so I didn’t really need it right now.

Making another piece of armor was an option, I supposed, but….

Thanks to the tree bark, the armor Yu Jae-i had given me was already more than enough.

"Well, if I’m not taking it, I guess it doesn’t matter."

I closed the notification.

The sap from the previous World Tree was only an intermediate reward.

If I killed six more, I could complete the quest.

I was curious what reward I’d get for hunting all ten.

"Kill me, please…."

It was pleading with me.

I reached out toward it, my hand leaving the message window behind.

With a bright smile, I stroked its cheek.

It felt like touching soft tree bark.

"You shouldn’t be saying that already. You’ve got to live like this for a while yet."

"N-no…!"

"Have some regrets that actually come from the heart. I’m not even asking you to apologize to the kids you killed."

"Please, please!"

I ignored its begging for death.

I was about to put Arca back into my inventory and head down the mountain when a single bee sting lying in the grass caught my eye.

Its color had changed from black to silver, but the length was about right, so it had definitely been cut from its right arm.

I’d assumed it would have been purified and vanished.

"Why is this still intact?"

Saessak sent me a message.

Judging from that, and from the way the color had changed, it had definitely been purified.

I remembered it piercing through the tree bark and scratching my cheek.

I’d better check it once.

I picked up the bee sting and lightly scratched my palm with it. A little blood welled up from the cut.

The tree bark that had activated was useless now.

"You were carrying something nice after all, huh?"

"Ah…."

It looked at me holding the bee sting.

From the look on its face, it seemed to be begging me to stab it with that instead.

Dream on.

I put the bee sting into my inventory and headed straight back down.

The place I went after coming down the mountain was, naturally, Bangju Orphanage.

People might be worried about me, so I hurried back.

At the front of the orphanage, familiar faces were waiting for me.

Kim Sang-cheol and Lee Jae-wook.

So they’d decided to stop pretending they were tailing me?

"What are you two doing?"

While I’d been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the hospital, we’d switched to informal speech.

They’d asked me to speak casually, saying they wanted to be closer than just boss and subordinate.

We weren’t even in the same guild anymore, so I’d gone along with it.

I couldn’t exactly keep making them call me Team Leader all the time.

Kim Sang-cheol answered for the two of them.

"What do you think? We’re guarding the place for you, hyung."

"You two are guarding here?"

The orphanage had Dohee’s protective magic layered over it several times.

It was safer than having B-class hunters like Kim Sang-cheol and Lee Jae-wook stand watch.

They knew that too, so they smiled faintly and nodded.

Then Lee Jae-wook asked, "Did you catch the bastard who came at you?"

"By now, he’s probably regretting ever laying a finger on this place. Somewhere over in those mountains."

"As expected of you, hyung!"

As I pointed behind me and said that, Lee Jae-wook gave me a thumbs-up.

I’d heard hyung before, but hyung-nim was still a little awkward.

I’d be fine if they just called me hyung like Kim Sang-cheol did.

"Go on in. The head nun’s been waiting for you."

"Oh, and there was a kid with her. He was crying in her arms."

That had to be Kang Woo-hyeok.

Crying in her arms?

He must have remembered attacking the old lady.

"...Tch. Maybe I was too soft on him."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Good work."

I waved them off and went past them.

"You’ve worked hard," they called after me.

Worked hard, my ass.

Anyone hearing that would think I’d been off doing something difficult.

When I went inside the orphanage, I saw the old lady sitting on a bench by the playground.

Beside her sat Kang Woo-hyeok, exhausted from crying himself to sleep, still clutching her hand tightly.

The old lady met my eyes and mouthed, You’re back?

She must have done that because she was afraid of waking him.

"Hey, wake up."

I casually ruined all that effort.

The old lady glared at me sharply, but I ignored her and watched Kang Woo-hyeok rub his eyes.

It was absolutely not because I was too scared to look back at her.

Kang Woo-hyeok only woke after his shoulders gave a little shudder.

"Mmm…?"

His eyelids, fixed on me, slowly lowered once, then twice.

And then they flew open.

"Oh! Mister…!"

"……."

"Pfft."

The old lady burst out laughing.

When I narrowed my eyes and glared at her, she didn’t even bother trying to suppress it, only shrugging her shoulders as if it were the funniest thing in the world.

I’m only twenty-six, and he doesn’t call me big brother, he calls me mister….

Now I was starting to want that hyung-nim after all.

"I brought this for you to look at before bed."

I took the bee sting out of my inventory.

The moment Kang Woo-hyeok saw it, he jerked in surprise and hid behind the old lady sitting next to him.

The color had changed, but he recognized exactly what it was.

"You know what it is?"

At my question, he slowly nodded.

Still hiding behind the old lady.

But his eyes never left the bee sting.

That was enough for now.

"What do you think it means that I’ve got this?"

"……."

"It means that monster is gone now."

The child’s eyes widened a little.

With trembling lips, he asked, "...Really?"

"I’m telling you, yeah."

"Really, really?"

"Really, really."

"Uwa…."

Tears gathered in his eyes.

His lips pressed shut, but before long they parted again.

He couldn’t hold back the sob that burst out of him.

Feeling sorry for him, I reached out and rubbed his head.

"You did good."