At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 181
There was no need to shed blood for healing wounds or purifying miasma, and in fact, it was said that the pain itself was hard to experience because the attacks were deflected. To use that power forcefully on someone else, brainwashing was essential.
It was after learning this fact that Jiwoo, who originally could only heal humans, gained the ability to heal trees as well.
‘I should try it.’
As Jiwoo approached, the wolf, which had been lying down, rolled its eyes and looked at her.
At first, it seemed like it was about to growl, but then the wolf slumped back down.
―Seo Jiwoo, do you know? Animals can commit suicide. They can end their own lives.
Suddenly, Tevon’s words from the past came to mind.
―Sometimes animals go looking for predators to kill them. It’s not common. It’s a rare thing to hear.
The wolf seemed to have accepted the pain and was probably hoping Jiwoo would end it for it.
Tevon had said that he first became interested in Jiwoo because of this behavior, back when he saw her act like this.
‘…I thought it resembled Lanceil. Turns out it was me.’
The reason this continued to bother her was that she had felt a sense of kinship with her old self.
That was a relief, though. Akarna could heal those she considered her allies.
Without needing to bleed herself, Jiwoo gently stroked the wolf, just as she had treated the trees in the past.
Since the injury wasn’t visible, she couldn’t tell if it was healing, but the wolf’s breathing, which had been heavy with pain, gradually slowed down.
Then, it suddenly jumped up. It was clear the wolf had recovered.
“…It’s cold. Do you want to stay with me?”
The wolf rolled its eyes and glanced at Jiwoo, then moved to a spot further away where there was no pool of blood.
Jiwoo thought it was about to leave, but the wolf sat down again and pressed its head to the ground.
After a moment of hesitation, Jiwoo sat down beside the wolf. It glanced at her briefly but didn’t bark or growl.
The wolf wrapped its thick tail around her body, and a sudden drowsiness overtook her. The scent of snowdrop flowers from its warm tail made Jiwoo drift off to sleep.
* * *
The next day, when Jiwoo opened her eyes, she was alone.
As the sun rose, the wolf had disappeared, and Jiwoo found herself once again alone in the middle of the forest.
She had spent the night in an unfamiliar place.
‘What do I do now…?’
It seemed like she had lost her way and her husbands as well. She had simply woken up from a peaceful sleep, yet nothing was as it seemed.
As Jiwoo began to feel a bit down, she heard rustling sounds from somewhere nearby.
Worried that it might be another wild animal, Jiwoo tensed up.
“Hey, what’s that?”
It was a familiar voice.
‘Lanceil!’
Hearing the voice, Jiwoo’s tension completely melted away as she saw the person emerge from the bushes.
‘Lanceil, I’m here!’
But Jiwoo was shocked.
She tried to greet him, but only her lips moved yet her voice wouldn’t come out. The voice, which had been perfectly fine when she spoke to the wolf, was now gone.
“Hmm?”
What was even stranger was the look Lanceil gave her.
“An incarnation?”
Lanceil acted as if he was seeing her for the first time.
“…No, that’s not it.”
He quickly realized he had misunderstood.
Then, as Jiwoo approached with a warm smile, he stepped back.
“Shh! Don’t come any closer. Why is an outsider here?”
He didn’t even call her by name but referred to her as an outsider. It truly felt like he was meeting her for the first time.
“What’s going on? What’s the deal with this?”
The rustling from the bushes grew louder, and others appeared.
At first, Jiwoo thought they were the husbands who often hung around with Lanceil, but they weren’t.
It was a different group.
A different group that occasionally interacted with theirs.
“A female?”
Since it was rare to encounter outsiders in El Ragneil, they naturally assumed Jiwoo was one.
“No.”
“Is she from Caranazion?”
“She’s an outsider.”
They spoke while drawing out their bows and swords.
Seeing the sharp weapons aimed at her, Jiwoo flinched in surprise. Of course, it was expected that they wouldn’t welcome outsiders, but…
Until now, when they met other groups in El Ragneil, Jiwoo had been treated kindly, so this was the first time she’d been treated like this.
“How did you get here?”
“How did you cross the great vortex?”
Jiwoo tried to speak, but her voice still wouldn’t come out.
‘I can’t speak…’
But they didn’t seem to care about her condition.
“Are you not going to answer?”
“Then we have no choice.”
For a moment, Jiwoo was shocked by how different Lanceil seemed, but then she was even more surprised when the others didn’t hesitate to try to kill her.
“Wait. You’re really going to kill her?”
But unexpectedly, it was Lanceil who blocked the weapons and stopped them.
“We should kill her. Isn’t that obvious?”
“If we leave her be, the trees will get angry.”
There was a split between those who insisted on killing the outsider immediately and those who didn’t want to go that far.
“No, there’s no need for that. If the trees were angry, she wouldn’t be here in the first place.”
But the hostility that the children of Ellandos felt toward outsiders ran deep.
Outsiders were known for prospering by cutting down and burning trees, while they lived in harmony with the trees. It was inevitable that they would be at odds.
“So? How greedy are the Caranazion people?”
“There are even rumors that their greed has spread here, making the miasma worse.”
That was true. The aftermath of the destructive actions of the greedy Caranazion had even reached El Ragneil.
Naturally, the majority continued to display their hostility.
“Still, what can this outsider do on her own?”
But Lanceil shook his head stubbornly.
“And that’s exactly why we shouldn’t touch her. The trees will handle it.”
The others scoffed at Lanceil’s words.
“You’re saying we shouldn’t make the trees use their power?”
“Step aside, Lanceil!”
When Lanceil didn’t move, one of them raised their voice, irritated by his attitude.
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