Ch.780Do You See That Tree?

The second day of climbing was a bit easier than the first.

It wasn’t because the weather had gotten warmer or anything like that. How could it get warmer when we were climbing higher into the sky? If anything, it had only gotten colder.

The climb became easier simply because Demian and I had begun to adapt, however slightly, to the harshness of this extreme environment.

To the point where we could save about 20% of our strength compared to yesterday while covering the same distance.

Isn’t it said that humans are creatures of adaptation? I don’t know who said it, but it certainly proved true.

Well, whoever said that probably wouldn’t consider beings who start adapting to Antarctic-level cold after just one day to be human.

Weak Earthlings. Can you feel the power of isekai people? The people here are extraordinary beings who shoot fire and lightning from their hands and leap over castle walls in just a few jumps.

…Anyway, thanks to our adaptation, we were able to stand on “Elpinel’s Fingertip” by that afternoon.

“Isn’t the view killer?”

With my foot placed on a rock at the summit, I turned to Demian with a smirk. It was literally a spectacle you couldn’t buy even if you wanted to.

Excluding the World Tree, which made the very concept of height meaningless, this was the highest point in the entire continent—the summit of the Sky Mountains.

Is this what it’s like to view the world from a god’s perspective? Beyond the sea of white where snowstorms and clouds crashed like waves, an endless world stretched out.

Mountain ranges jutting up adorably. Glaciers flowing majestically. Brown earth and green vegetation extending beyond the white plains. Castles and cities that looked as small as ants.

Everything in the world looked small and delicate, as if I could crush it all with a single step.

It was a breathtaking view that made my chest feel wide open.

I smiled broadly with satisfaction. This was one of the few things I actually liked since coming to this world.

In my original world, the entire land was filled with either skyscrapers or ruins, so even if you flew in an airplane, it was rare to see such a magnificent view.

“…I feel like I’m going to die.”

Despite this beautiful scenery, Demian showed no appreciation whatsoever, only shivering and complaining about the cold.

What a bleak guy. They say it’s innate and can’t be helped…

…Well, he’ll improve someday. Probably.

Anyway, since we’d made it all the way to the summit, I looked around to take in the sights.

“See over there? That’s the permanent frost where the werebeasts live. I’m amazed they can survive in a place like that.”

To the north of the peak stretched an endless snowfield.

Beyond the mountains lay the frozen land of Baryachrus, the kingdom of the exiled werebeasts.

Villages and cities made of wood and ice were scattered like dots across the dazzling white plains that reflected the sunlight.

The werebeast settlements weren’t the only things visible.

The distance was too great to make out details clearly, but as I turned my head this way and that, I occasionally spotted black masses clashing with tiny, insect-like furry bundles of various colors.

“Haschal, is that…?”

“Yeah, werebeasts and monsters. There must be monsters beyond the Sky Mountains too. Not as frequent as on our side, but they’re there.”

I wish thousands would appear and annihilate each other… but that probably wouldn’t happen.

Based on my memories from my previous life and the frequency of monster appearances, most monsters seemed to prefer the fertile and vast central plains of the continent rather than remote places like this.

Yes, the Empire’s territory.

Although monster appearances were a worldwide phenomenon, the reason other races didn’t worry about the monster problem as much as the Empire did was precisely because of this.

While the Empire was subjugating a hundred monsters, they were only dealing with one or two at most. So naturally, they didn’t feel the same sense of crisis about the monster problem.

The dwarves were somewhat different… but I’d never seen any setting where their country was on the verge of collapse like the Empire.

“And…”

Anyway, whether monsters devoured werebeasts or werebeasts dismembered monsters was none of our concern, so I turned my gaze away from them to look at the western sky.

“Do you see that pillar-like thing over there? That long line stretching across the edge of the horizon.”

Demian followed my pointing finger and looked toward the green forest that resembled algae floating on a stream.

“Yes. I see it. Something like a rope…”

A rope?

That was an interesting expression. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t an incorrect comparison.

A brown pillar connecting the massive clouds, clearly visible even from here, to the green-covered land.

Since nothing was visible above the clouds, from a distance it looked as if the cloud was a ship that had dropped anchor.

I knew what it was.

“That’s the World Tree. The tree that the elves consider sacred. Their god.”

The tree god of the elves, said to have roots in the earth and branches in the heavens, connecting the two worlds. That was the identity of that brown pillar.

Whether the inside of those clouds was really the entrance to heaven was something no one could know without climbing up there… but at least the elves believed so.

“That is… the World Tree…?”

Demian murmured quietly as he gazed at the World Tree. His tone seemed somewhat confused, if I had to describe it.

“What, are you feeling something like awe from seeing the elves’ god in person?”

“No, it’s not that… it’s just, how should I put this…”

Demian kept tilting his head in bewilderment, staring at the World Tree with a face full of perplexity.

Yes, staring.

There was something like hostility in Demian’s eyes as he looked at the World Tree.

“Did your mouth freeze? If you have something to say, just spit it out clearly. Don’t mutter like that.”

“No, it’s just, well… it’s strange. I don’t know why, but looking at that tree makes my head feel hot, like I’m getting a fever, and my heart is pounding…”

He seemed unable to understand why he felt hostility himself.

[Could it be…! No, it wouldn’t be unprecedented, but even so, could it really be…?]

Rather, Hersella cried out in startled realization.

‘What’s suddenly wrong with you?’

[Don’t you understand? His head feels hot and his heart is pounding, yet he doesn’t know why—there can only be one answer. My goodness, could Demian be…]

From any perspective, she seemed to be jumping to a wild conclusion rather than having realized the answer.

[To think he was a madman who feels romantic attraction toward trees!]

‘What the actual fuck?’

It wasn’t just a wild conclusion—it was such an outlandish idea that I couldn’t help but blurt out a crude expletive.

I should have known. They say you see what you want to see, and like the crazy woman she is, she’s spouting nonsense.

Demian being a dendrophile? Is that something you say about a man who already has a perfectly normal lover?

[I’ve heard that men who cannot find partners sometimes take trees as lovers to ease their loneliness… but to think Demian, who already has a mate, would have such tastes…!]

Perhaps shocked by the revelation that tree-lovers actually existed beyond rumors, Hersella continued her rapid-fire monologue as if she hadn’t even heard my curse.

[No… is that it? Is that what it was? Yes, I understand now. That woman was just a substitute. A human lover with leaf-like green hair to substitute for a tree…!]

She’s talking complete nonsense.

‘Where did you even pick up such ridiculous ideas? What kind of lunatic would take a tree as a lover? Even elves wouldn’t do something like that.’

[That can’t be true. Though I’ve never seen it myself, Jahan told me about seven years ago that he saw it with his own eyes. An old, shabby Western slave grabbed a tree trunk and caressed it…]

…Seven years ago would have been when Hersella was twelve.

What kind of crazy things was Jahan telling a twelve-year-old girl? No wonder she grew up like this.

I thought Hersella’s twisted personality was due to not having a mother, but thinking about it again, Jahan’s influence might have been substantial.

A bandit who couldn’t distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate conversation raised her—no wonder she couldn’t grow up to be a normal human being.

‘It’s not like that, so stop talking nonsense.’

I sighed, scolded Hersella, and then spoke again to Demian, who was confused by his own emotions.

“Never mind your head or chest, just think carefully and answer this. What do you want to do to that tree?”

“What do I want to do? Hmm… well…”

After pondering for a moment, Demian clenched his fist firmly and nodded as if he had realized something.

“I don’t know why, but I want to cut it to pieces with my sword. No, it’s more than that. It’s not just that I want to destroy it—I feel like I must destroy it…”

As I thought, Demian harbored hostility toward the World Tree. Why, neither Demian himself nor I could easily understand.

Was it because he was the hero of the original story?

Was it because, as a human hero, he instinctively felt hostility toward the elven sacred tree that was not only useless to the human world but practically an enemy?

…Well, though the reason was unknown, it wasn’t a bad thing. I felt similarly.

“You can’t accept that such a tree exists, and you feel you must eliminate it. Something like that?”

“Yes. That’s exactly it.”

“Is that so? Then remember this feeling well.”

I lightly patted Demian’s shoulder and taught him the name of the emotion he had discovered after fear.

“That is the feeling of hostility, disgust, and hatred.”

The virtue of a warrior.