At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 148

“…The group of the tree I treated earlier, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why would they do something like this…?”

“This is their nature.”

“…”

Jiwoo’s expression darkened. She had previously treated trees from the more peaceful and weaker groups, like Asilion’s faction, which had been friendly. Because of that, she hadn’t fully understood how aggressive, greedy, and sly the residents of El Ragneil could be.

In fact, even the group Jiwoo was traveling with had similar tendencies, despite being more peaceful.

Helka’s faction had once calmly discussed how to eliminate the search party that had been sent out to capture Jiwoo, intending to take her from the Empire. They had even planned to quietly kill them or take Jiwoo without giving them any chance to resist or make contact.

Though Jiwoo’s natural tendency was to refuse to witness killing firsthand, it seemed the best approach was to silently take action without leaving room for opposition. If nothing had gone wrong, it would have been a calculated success.

“― ――――― ―― ―――― ―――!!”

But beside her, Tevon kept muttering in frustration, and Jiwoo couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.

“Tevon, just wait a little bit. I’ve been learning El Ragneil’s language, so I’ll be able to understand soon.”

At first, it was difficult to understand the language when Jiwoo lost her power, but after adapting a little, she could speak and understand what she had learned. Even now, she was frustrated and turned to the best translator available.

“Anyway… what has Tevon been saying since earlier?”

Night gave a small laugh and translated.

“Just send Helka.”

He then went on, “They probably underestimated us. Since Helka’s a little out of sorts, they thought it’d be easy. But they didn’t realize that Helka, even in this state, can now distinguish friend from foe. They’re all dead meat now. I didn’t like how those rude bastards kept bossing us around for trivial reasons—”

….though the rest of his words were too long to translate directly.

Before Jiwoo could respond, Helka began growling, acting like a beast.

“Grrrr…”

“Helka?”

It was like watching a real beast.

“Go, Helka!”

At Tevon’s shout, Helka stopped growling briefly before leaping into the thick forest.

…..on all fours.

“Kyaaak!”

“Uwack! What the heck is this?!”

“An Ellandos wizard using miasma…!”

Other children of Ellandos hidden nearby screamed.

“Heh, serves them right.”

Tevon’s words didn’t need translation, as they were obvious.

So that’s what he meant by Helka turning into a beast…

Jiwoo hadn’t realized it before, having only seen Helka in his more foolish appearance….

* * *

Before Jiwoo could fully collect her thoughts, the instigator of the situation revealed himself.

“Helka, come here.”

When Jiwoo called, Helka, who was in a berserk state, had been shaking the collar of one of the other faction’s wizards and tossed him to the ground.

Then, as if nothing had happened, Helka ran over to Jiwoo with a pure smile and hugged her again.

The wizard kneeling before them was not the Ramon they had seen earlier. For a moment, Jiwoo thought they might have mistakenly been part of a different group. But…

“This group has two wizards. One tried to earn favor, while the other planned to attack us.”

In other words, they had intended to kill this group and deceive Jiwoo to seize what they had.

After threatening them never to come near again, they finally retreated. Despite being fully exposed, they still seemed confused, tilting their heads as if they couldn’t understand what had just happened.

“…Why didn’t she choose this side? This place offers much better conditions.”

Perhaps it was because some time had passed since Jiwoo had lost her Akarna power. For some reason, Jiwoo could clearly understand those last words.

* * *

The trip ended in a complete mess.

Now Jiwoo understood why their position had been so precarious. She was a little upset.

Jiwoo had clearly chosen this faction, but they seemed to think they could overpower this group, handle things, and replace it if needed. Whether Jiwoo had chosen this side personally or not didn’t seem to matter to them.

After all, by offering fine clothes, good food, and royal treatment to Akarna, who could help trees grow well, would make it thrive. Even if there were initial worries or grudges, they could easily deceive Jiwoo about the situation in El Ragneil.

If they succeeded in their attack, what if Jiwoo, unaware of it all, was taken care of by them and was told that her former group had died in some accident? Jiwoo probably wouldn’t have questioned it much.

That’s right. As Lofrel said, her position here was useful but not entirely safe.

‘Would this have happened if I was a female manifestation?’

If Jiwoo had the same overwhelming power as a female manifestation, this wouldn’t have occurred. She truly realized that rarity may be valuable but doesn’t give power.

Akarna was not like the female manifestation they revered. She simply functioned similarly, and if she existed, they would greedily desire to possess it.

‘Now I understand why they wanted to take me…’

The children of Ellandos were from a different race, and she could be easily deceived by their beautiful appearance. In the end, they were no different from the humans of Caranazion.

Jiwoo now realized that Asilion, who had tried to approach gently while considering her situation, was relatively a better faction.

From the perspective of the female manifestation, Jiwoo, who had once been exploited in the temple, would naturally be a cause for concern.

But Jiwoo had one more worry.

Had her desire to heal the trees inadvertently put Helka’s faction in danger?