Chapter 201

Before coming here, I had this conversation with Hwi Someong.

-So we’re meeting the druids after all. That means we’ll encounter all seven major powers of the tower, right? We’ve integrated four, destroyed the Magic Tower, and the Academy was destroyed by the apostle, so now… what will happen to the druids?

-It would be wise to prepare contingency measures, Your Majesty. They’re not called psychopaths for nothing.

-But why psychopaths? Don’t druids value harmony and balance? That doesn’t seem to fit with the psychopath nickname.

-Ha! Harmony and balance! That’s exactly why they’re psychopaths. One day they’ll fight shoulder-to-shoulder with us, then the next day they’ll suddenly turn their protective talismans backwards and stab us. After gleefully slaughtering our allies like that, the day after they’ll help us repel enemy forces aiming for our weak spots. There are no allies or enemies for them. For the sake of that precious balance of theirs, they’ll gladly stand with calamity to massacre humans. They kill anyone based on their own standards… They’re the most untrustworthy bastards, Your Majesty.

Throughout my conversation with Forest’s Balance, Hwi Someong’s chilling voice seemed to echo in my ears.

Now I could fully empathize with why she had ground her teeth so furiously.

‘Psychopathic bastards…’

Forest’s Balance remained expressionless to the very end.

“I see.”

“I see… what do you mean? I just told you that the Outer God will erase this entire world! Humanity, of course, but everything in this world will disappear!”

“That too is balance. The Outer God trying to destroy the world and you trying to stop it—that’s also balance. Everything flows according to natural order.”

“…Are you insane? Then what about all those ‘innocent’ people who will die? Not a single child, not a single elderly person will survive! All humans—no, all biological species will perish!”

“This is tiresome. Both Grego-Ramdal and you keep making me repeat the same story.”

A flicker of annoyance crossed Forest’s Balance’s expressionless face.

“Grego-Ramdal! The Dean!”

I could hear Lytol’s shocked exclamation from behind us as he listened to our conversation, but it didn’t register properly in my ears.

“No, what does it matter to me what you told Grego-Ramdal or whoever?”

“Isn’t anyone else annoyed?”

“Don’t be swayed by emotions. We’ve debated for a very long time and ultimately reached a conclusion. It’s a conclusion reached after lengthy deliberation, so clear your prejudices and listen to my words.”

Forest’s Balance spoke as if teaching me.

“We have spent our entire lives maintaining the balance of the scales. But there is no balance in the current battle. Whether you win or the Outer God wins, it will inevitably lean permanently to one side or the other. So what should I—what should we druids—do…”

What? If the Outer God wins, everything disappears! And you’re still talking about balance?

“That’s right. Balance. Balance is always what matters most. So when the scales have tilted completely, they must make a full rotation instead. But to make a full rotation requires a central point. An unwavering axis. That’s why I—why we druids—must maintain neutrality.”

What is this crazy psychopath talking about?

‘The fanatics aren’t the Truth Tower people but rather these ones?’

A blind obsession with the concept of balance. It made my skin crawl.

“In any case, we permit your stay. Feel free to remain as long as you wish before leaving. Ah, let me warn you in advance—provocations are meaningless. On this land blessed by the World Tree, not even you could defeat us.”

With those final words, Forest’s Balance vanished. Leaves suddenly appeared, enveloped her as they passed by, and her figure was already gone. This time even I couldn’t grasp the moment of her disappearance. Even without wearing <Samantha>, having reached the 8th Step, how could I miss her presence…?

Could this be the blessing of the World Tree?

A bewildering and confused feeling.

Beatrice approached me as I stood there stupidly and asked.

“Right? That woman also has a god’s fragment?”

Tris had apparently been carefully observing her white hair too. I slowly nodded.

“She’s carrying one. Though I don’t know which god’s fragment it is.”

Tris frowned.

“But that woman… doesn’t seem like she’ll be on our side?”

Normally mages shouldn’t make such hasty predictions, but right now I couldn’t bring myself to caution Tris. I wholeheartedly agreed with her assessment.

“Gaia told us to collect god’s fragments, right? This is problematic. We can’t kidnap her. The World Tree’s blessing is truly terrifying… Even a god couldn’t do as they pleased…”

Listening to Beatrice’s sighing voice, I glared at the World Tree towering majestically in the distance.

Is that supposed to be so impressive?

* * *

The tree staircase was a staircase built around the World Tree. It was more massive than any staircase we’d seen so far. The World Tree’s thickest root formed the gate leading to the 74th floor, while everything else became a foundation for people to live on.

People built houses in the gaps between the World Tree’s roots and trunk. Since the World Tree was so enormous, even a single leaf made an excellent roof, and small crevices were no different from deep, deep caves.

The large and small branches that grew from the World Tree were covered with leaves that blanketed walls, ground, and finally even the sky.

Here, the entire world was submerged in green shade. The scent of moss wafted from everywhere.

“A bit… suffocating, isn’t it?”

The atmosphere had been unsettled since Forest’s Balance departed. It was Grego-Ramdal, a 7th Circle wizard, who greeted us with handbags as we entered the tree staircase feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

“Somewhat, yes. I used to think green was a color that brought peace to mind and body… but my perspective changed here. I’m completely sick of it. This deep green that seems like it could swallow a person whole… here, there, everywhere—green. Green. Ugh… frightening. So frightening.”

In any case, Yuria was 10th Circle when it came to social skills. While kids like Lytol were too nervous to say a word, she alone carried on conversation with Grego-Ramdal without any awkwardness.

“Still, it’s fortunate that you’re alive. Though the relationship between Academy and Society wasn’t particularly good… seeing that scene left me feeling quite uneasy.”

Guardian Martial House Yeon Gae-bu-so occasionally exchanged words with Grego-Ramdal, though even that was rather awkward.

Except for Yuria, everyone was like that. We all walked uncomfortably, not knowing how to address Grego-Ramdal.

That’s because Grego-Ramdal’s identity was the Restoration Wizard, the famous Dean of Academy. Having just witnessed the tragedy that occurred at Academy’s headquarters, we couldn’t help but be especially careful in our actions.

“Hehe, that’s right. That’s right. Frightening green. There’s nothing but green here.”

Grego-Ramdal laughed like a kindly neighborhood grandfather at Yuria’s not-particularly-funny comment.

Whether his nature was originally humble, or he was dispirited because of Academy’s destruction, or his spirit had been completely drained by this endlessly green tree staircase… he didn’t carry any of the gravitas of a tower’s absolute ruler.

He even gave off an atmosphere as if he’d given up on everything, making even me hesitate to immediately ask what I absolutely needed to ask.

That’s when Yuria stepped forward.

“So, what about the tablet?”

As expected of her.

Merciless and direct.

Once you’ve gotten a bit familiar, she strikes with a fastball right away!

The effect was tremendous. Grego-Ramdal’s expression, which had been laughing cheerfully, visibly grew gloomy.

Hanging his head low, he spoke in a barely audible voice.

“…It’s not in my possession.”

“Why not?”

Grego-Ramdal looked at me with trembling eyes. Then he lowered his head even deeper, looking ashamed.

“Originally, I intended to prepare a path for you, Divine Wizard. But the apostle’s movements were faster than I expected, and I barely managed to escape with just the tablet.”

Grego-Ramdal’s eyes traced distant memories. My sister immediately put a stop to it.

“No. Don’t reminisce about the past. Just the main point. You took the tablet, so why don’t you have it now?”

Huh?

Looking closer, Yuria seemed somewhat angry. She relentlessly pressed Grego-Ramdal. Rather than the other mages not knowing what to do and gulping nervously, Yuria just glared with her sky-blue eyes blazing.

Grego-Ramdal finally squeezed his eyes shut.

“It was taken.”

“Taken? By whom?”

“…Renoa. By Forest’s Balance.”

Ah, so that infuriating Forest’s Balance’s name was Renoa.

Grego-Ramdal then spoke as if squeezing out the words. This too was behavior completely unbecoming of a 7th Circle’s dignity.

“While escaping from the apostle’s grasp, the tablet broke in half. If I’d had the tablet’s power, I could have resisted even with the World Tree’s blessing, but… I ruined everything. I made a covenant in my name… I swore I would open a path for the Divine Wizard…”

Ah, now I understand.

Why Yuria was angry.

Why Grego-Ramdal was so dispirited.

The magical powers murmured. Disappointed in Grego-Ramdal, they scattered in all directions.

Grego-Ramdal had failed to keep his promise. Therefore, he had lost his magic. Though he still had seven Circles remaining, they clearly wouldn’t obey Grego-Ramdal’s will. As time passed like this, his Circles would disappear one by one before long.

I could understand what situation he was in now.

But there was still an aspect I couldn’t understand.

Restraining the furious, huffing Yuria, I interjected.

“So you gave up?”

Grego-Ramdal’s eyes opened. He seemed startled.

I was irritated.

“The tablet broke in half, the tablet was taken, you couldn’t keep your promise. So you gave up?”

Incomprehensible.

A 7th Circle grand wizard giving up over something like that? What is 7th Circle? It’s a realm reached by overcoming countless impossibilities and touching miracles! Right. You might face tremendous penalties for failing to keep a promise. But you can try again, can’t you? A 7th Circle’s will isn’t that frivolous!

“But… this is the druids’ sacred ground.”

Grego-Ramdal muttered, avoiding my eyes.

“A place where nothing changes under the name of balance. A place that just stagnates and rots away in green. Look. This is the 73rd floor. Where was the previous Magic Emperor’s Allied Command? It was on the 65th floor. That means this 73rd floor should have been conquered by the Outer God long ago. But what of it? Countless people still live here, don’t they? This is the World Tree. Even the Outer God’s power bypasses this place. Perhaps even if the world is destroyed, only this tree staircase will survive… Forest’s Balance and all those mages gathered here probably think the same thing.”

From his speech pattern switching between formal and informal language, between polite and casual speech, I could feel Grego-Ramdal’s confusion and despair in its entirety.

“Here, you can never defeat Forest’s Balance. Since Forest’s Balance took the tablet… you can never retrieve it. Since I couldn’t persuade Forest’s Balance, I can never gain the World Tree’s cooperation again. I ruined it… I—because of my failure… couldn’t open your path…”

Only then did I realize.

‘Ah… this person has completely fallen into despair.’

Is it that the harder something is, the more it can’t be repaired once broken?

A 7th Circle grand wizard who failed to fulfill his role in humanity’s fight for survival.

The Academy Dean who read the stars in the Plains of Revelation and divined the path we must take.

Knowing a bit more than others, he had despaired more greatly than others.

In his heart, the world had already been destroyed and his life had been determined worthless.

I clicked my tongue.

So,

If you’re going to know, at least know properly.

I looked up at the sky.

The sky wasn’t visible. All I could see was the dark green shade created by leaves.

I could see mages sitting quietly among those shades.

Many.

More than I thought. I’d never heard of this many druids before—had refugees flocked here after the great cataclysm? I could see plenty of those hard-to-find Ki-blood mages too.

They were all just sitting there. Sitting under the green shade, each pursuing their own cultivation. Letting the outside world go to hell, pursuing their own harmony and balance.

Hiding under the World Tree’s shade.

I frowned and said,

“As expected… there’s too much green here.”

Yuria replied with a somewhat melancholy voice,

“Well, the World Tree covers even the sky…”

“Right? It’s because of the World Tree after all?”

“…Do you have something in mind?”

As expected, she’s quick on the uptake. The dejected Yuria immediately turned to me with sparkling sky-blue eyes.

I craned my neck back as far as it would go. As if trying to see through to the top of the World Tree, hidden behind layers upon layers of green leaves.

“Yeah. I’m going to pull it right out.”

Open up the lid and let some sunlight in, and maybe this grandfather’s, Grego-Ramdal, depression will improve a bit.