Weed ~The One’s Gardener~ - Chapter 22

In the past, he would tolerate situations like this, dealing with them alone in the solitude of the night when no one was around though he couldn’t bear it any longer today. He didn’t want to be distant from Hana while spending time together.

Still, he realized that it would be better than revealing his current state, so he made the difficult decision to distance himself.

“Haa…”

Weed inspected the area where the blood had splattered. To his surprise, sprouts had grown where the drop of blood landed, and a pile of herbs had sprouted in the bloodstain that formed a puddle just below him.

It was clear evidence that he had successfully stabilized.

“Weed. Wi-wipe it with this.”

“…Yes.”

From somewhere in the vicinity, a priest who had been observing the scene approached and offered a wet towel.

As he accepted the towel, Weed gently wiped away the blood stains on his mouth, chin and the tears resulting from the painful coughing fit. Once he finished, he returned the towel to the priest.

The priest’s hand trembled as they took the towel back from him, as tears streamed down her face. It was as if the priest had been the one coughing and vomiting blood instead of Weed, who now had a calm expression.

“The center, we went to the center.”

“Do we?”

Despite the tearful plea from the priest, Weed responded with indifference.

The priest had been helpless, watching him suffer from the sidelines as he coughed and vomited blood.

No medicine, poison, or magic seemed to have any effect on him. With the golden hue of God’s will surrounding him, Weed was beyond the reach of conventional remedies like medicine and poison, and even magical interventions proved ineffective.

Seeing him suffer, the priest cried bitterly, knowing there was nothing she could do to ease his pain.

“I thought it was getting better. The leaves sprouted again, and the rotten roots got better again. We were all happy that it was a good phenomenon…”

“Mmm.”

“I thought only the leaves had fallen again. I was too happy to foolishly check what exactly happened. The, the condition is getting…”

The priest bowed her head, unable to finish her words.

He could tell without the priest having to say it. The condition of his main body was gradually deteriorating… like a candle before it went out. Maybe it was trying to beautify itself, at least for a splendid last moment?

The temporarily scattered healthy leaves only gave them useless hope.

“Weed, please. Please…”

“I see what you’re trying to say again. I won’t allow it.”

“Still, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the ritual procedure. The summoning ritual was really successful. Weed, please, Weed, can’t you please do as we wanted just this once?”

He sighed.

This repetitive situation only tired him. He didn’t have time to waste like this.

“I’ll ask again. When was the last time I told you I wanted to live?”

“Why… why would you say that? Didn’t Weed understand the desire to live more than anyone else and thus allow us to grow next to you? Wasn’t you more merciful than anyone else, so you dealt with the void? Why, why in the world can you not understand our hearts…?”

“It’s not worth answering.”

Weed ignored the priest. He had already spent way too much time here.

As he turned around to go back quickly, the priest pleaded for the last time.

“Then, at least without the sacrifice, no… without her, without Shin Hana, we’ll try to slow down the progress of the disease. In the meantime, please do not use the main body’s power. It’s severely strained. That’s all I ask, please…”

Weed glanced at the priest.

Normally, he would have ignored it and walked away though the priest corrected the title sacrifice and called Hana’s name instead, so he turned around.

The priest with red hair bowed.

He had been ignoring them and didn’t even pay attention to their appearance. He didn’t even know their name, and he never called it because he wasn’t interested. A face came to mind who had wondered why he didn’t even know their name.

It looked like it was strange that Weed didn’t know her name. Hana shouldn’t see it like that.

“What is your name?”

At the question, the priest jerked her head as the green eyes widened in surprise.

“…I am Rutis.”

He sighed again.

The main body’s power had been unused for a long time. The tribe of the forest of Lár de Ligna Initia was powerful, so there was nothing big enough for him to step in. It would be so in the future.

‘It would be okay if I didn’t use the main body’s power.’

Just as he was about to reply to Rutis, a priest from a distance hurriedly ran and shouted.

“Weed! Trouble! Hana is…!”

Rutis did not hear his answer. It was because as soon as he heard Hana’s name, Weed ran before he knew what was going on.

* * *

As he ran, his mind was flooded with tens of thousands of thoughts, and Hana’s name kept echoing in his mind. In that short moment of his absence, he couldn’t help but wonder what might have happened to her.

Was she experiencing the aftereffects again?

Perhaps she was in agonizing pain all over her body, just like the last time. He still didn’t know the underlying cause of her suffering during those moments.

This question had been haunting him, distracting him from everything else. Finding the reason behind her excruciating pain was of paramount importance to him, and he regretted not having discovered it sooner.

He dismissed the possibility of the priests taking her to the center as a sacrifice. Despite their disagreements with him, they wouldn’t act disobediently and go against his orders to watch over Hana and keep her safe.

Yet, if an accident had occurred, and the tribes of the forest were now searching for him in distress, it wouldn’t be an ordinary situation.

Arriving at the spot where Hana was supposed to be, Weed found several priests gathered there, just as he had expected. However, they appeared confused and unable to do anything about the current situation.

“What is going on?”

“Weed!”

Even before listening to the priest’s explanation, he was able to understand the situation. His eyes followed where Hana was, and the problem lay with her.

Her body was floating in the air.

She was staring down at the floor, her body rigid with tension. No, she wasn’t looking at anything. Even from a distance, they could see that she was terrified. Hana was so terrified that she couldn’t even cry or scream.

Weed asked without taking his eyes off her.

“…Did she use floating grass?”

“No!”

The priest immediately denied it.

If she had used the floating grass to keep her body afloat, she could fly on her own will. He thought that she was in fear because her body was floating in the air, so it might be difficult for her to step on the ground at her own will.

Though when he opened up the possibility and asked, the priest immediately denied it and explained.

“If it was floating grass, she could go up at her own will. It seemed that some other force was at work.”

“Other force?”

“… I don’t know. Our power couldn’t reach it. Even magic doesn’t work.”

“What was she doing?”

The location wasn’t far from where they stood.

Hana was observing a peculiar flower—one with stamens that absorb magic, granting individuals the ability to use specific magic when they either smell its fragrance or consume its nectar. Though he didn’t inquire about the specific type of magic involved, the priest answered without hesitation.

“We didn’t even gather enough magical energy to use floating magic. The types are completely different. It was just the kind that gave the effect of maximizing the five senses. Here… here it is.”

He accepted the flower given by the priest.

It was right in Weed’s eyes. The flower’s effects weren’t particularly shocking since it merely maximized one’s five senses. When eating delicious food, individuals could savor the taste even more, see things in greater detail, or hear pleasant sounds more acutely. That was the extent of the flower’s effects.

“…You have to hear from her to know what happened.”

“I guess.”

Weed rolled up his sleeve and exposed all his arms. It didn’t matter too much about why this happened. This was the only way to solve it in a hurry.

It was when he had just taken one step without taking his eyes off Hana…

“Weed!”

…One of the priests grabbed his arm. It was to restrain him.

“Let go.”

Weed was somewhat surprised. So far, no one had ever opposed what he was trying to do, nor had anyone ever tried to stop him in this way.