Chapter 354

Chapter 354

Eat The World Tree.

Episode 354: The Changing Times (4)

“Are you curious why I’m here?”

Perhaps to show off how tight-lipped she was, Champi tapped her lower lip with her hand and then leaned back against the wall.

“Do you want to know?”

Champi. As I knew her, she was someone who was deeply rooted in reality.

She could change her attitude like flipping a hand, depending on her situation.

Her top priority was her own safety.

The weak were meat; the strong ate.

That was my first impression of Champi.

“Isn’t it obviously related to Sansuyu? I’m also looking for her, so please share some information.”

But you couldn’t judge someone rashly based on just a few meetings.

Her eyebrows lifted in response to my reaction.

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

“Do you smoke?”

“I quit a long time ago.”

Because my daughter scolded me.

If I even touched a cigarette, Jin Dallae would give me hell.

“Brat. You dare not smoke in front of me? No way. Wait a sec.”

Champi detached herself from the wall, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her hoodie pocket, and opened the case.

“Oh!?”

Her face scrunches up in dismay.

“Shit, it’s all empty. Nothing for you either.”

“…Well, enjoy it then. What is this, Hallasan? You’re not even an old man.”

“Yeah, it’s fucking good. No one else smokes it, so I can have it all to myself~ Anyway, light it up.”

She held out her cigarette, so I lit it with a bit of magic.

Champi put the cigarette in her mouth and walked over to the window, perching on the sill and exhaling smoke.

For someone with such a childlike appearance, she smoked with quite the flair.

-Huuuuk.

She even made donuts with the smoke, enjoying it to the fullest.

I watched her from behind with a look of disbelief.

“Shiheon, are you gay?”

“Yes.”

“The times are changing. And fast too.”

As the conflict between the Flowers and the World Trees heated up, civilian anxiety was reaching its peak.

The powerful hunters were either at the front lines or dispatched to places protecting the World Trees, though they didn’t speak about it.

This was just from the perspective of hunters and heroes; if you looked at other fields, it’s even worse.

The stock market was in turmoil, the economy was collapsing.

With more governments becoming favorable to the Flowers, faith and religion had been completely discredited.

“You young ones are still growing. And now it’s a war zone… Shit. Looks like even the kids will be sacrificed.”

Wasn’t she supposed to talk about Sansuyu?

Everyone who was in the know understood that the world was falling apart.

As I tilted my head in confusion, Champi finally got to the point.

“You’re curious about Sansuyu, right? The successor of the Cornus Family.”

The Cornus Family, currently hidden and vanished.

“So yesterday… no, not even yesterday, three hours ago, the World Tree branded the entire Cornus Family as heretics.”

“Heretics?”

Champi nodded once.

“Fuck. Do you know how serious that is?”

“…”

“From now on, if anyone beats or rapes a member of the Cornus Family, or commits any other unimaginable atrocities! Neither the World Tree nor the government will hold them accountable. Understand?”

That included Sansuyu.

“But will it end there?”

Champi clicked her tongue in bitterness and took another drag from her cigarette.

The cigarette shortened rapidly. Ashes and sparks fell to the floor.

“I knew this would happen.”

Both Champi and I, Seong Jiho, and Sansuyu, everyone who had a rough idea of the events expected this.

It was only a matter of time before they were branded heretics.

That day had finally come.

“So, from today, Sansuyu is branded as a heretic?”

“Do I have to repeat myself?”

I just checked the facts.

I licked my dry lips, continuing to think.

If what Champi said was true, why was this woman here?

As soon as my gaze turned to her, she spoke sharply.

“Hey.”

Her fierce eyes looked down at me.

“If you even slightly cooperate with the Cornus Family, you’ll be treated as a heretic too.”

-Tak, tadak.

The cigarette fell outside the window, burning away.

The faint smell of tobacco lingered, an irritating scent.

“This doesn’t happen often. The last time it did, it was with the Peach Tree Family.”

It was a matter from Dowon.

My expression hardened. Champi twirled a dagger she pulled from her pocket.

“So, do you know what happened to those branded before they were cursed?”

“…Are you talking about my master?”

“Except for her. I don’t know how, but her body was intact.”

-Thwack!

Throwing the dagger to the floor, it stuck into the tile. The crack reached towards me.

“They became slaves, sex toys, nourishment for some trees. Except for your master, not a single one survived.”

“…”

“The friend you know, the one you’re close with. Can you guarantee she won’t end up like that?”

“Your words are filthy.”

“Fuck, the world is filthy. Do you think I became a hunter because I wanted to do this shit?”

Champi scrunched up her face, touching her forehead. Her hand was trembling.

“A subjugation order.”

“What?”

“Subjugation order… Subjugation! All those bastards. I have to kill them, or someone else will.”

Her eyes narrowed, her voice filled with rage came out between clenched teeth.

“So. You stay out of it.”

A clear warning sign.

“It’s already over. Why are you here? It’s just one kid you haven’t seen in months. Why bother investigating?”

“So, you’re saying you’ll kill Sansuyu?”

“…”

Her lips curled up. It felt more like a sneer at herself than at me.

“Then. Will you kill her?”

She growled.

“If you’re going to kill, do it cleanly. Make sure she feels no pain.”

Her voice was heavy with emotion, yet still empty.

“Or. With things this fucked up, do you plan to help her?”

“Is that something a master should say about Sansuyu?”

“Master, fuck. It’s just playing teacher.”

Her eyes didn’t change.

If she decided to, she might swing that blade at me right here.

I adjusted my mana circuits lightly, ready to move at any moment.

“…”

“…”

Silence stretched on.

Sansuyu was now a heretic, and subjugation was on the horizon.

Just like that day in Dowon. Naturally, the Flowers wouldn’t intervene.

At this rate, the destruction of the Cornus Family was inevitable.

In such turbulent times, how many would risk their lives for someone they had known for just a few months?

Unless one was an oddball who clung to such brief connections.

Anyone would give up.

I didn’t feel like blaming her.

It’s just a different approach.

“Sorry. I got a bit excited. I’ve been thinking a lot lately, life’s been shit.”

“You might as well die then.”

“Fuck you.”

Champi raised her middle finger, exhaling hot breath.

Sweat beads were forming on her forehead.

“My lady…”

Was she going to oppose Sansuyu?

“It seems so.”

Before I could even finish asking, she answered.

I sighed, squinting my eyes.

What sin could Sansuyu have committed to deserve this fate?

When I muttered in disbelief, Champi sneered at me.

“Have we ever only killed those who were guilty?”

Though she had quite the old-school vibe, she was right.

We were not so different.

“What will you do?”

In response to Champi’s question, I met her eyes with a dry expression.

I was not saying I didn’t understand her thoughts.

If it weren’t for Sansuyu, I might have abandoned someone in this situation too.

I told her several times during the Forester Selection Competition that she should live.

I could help her.

Please, help me. Just that one word.

If she had said that, I would have helped her just as I did for others, and just as my master did for me. I intended to repay the kindness I received.

Yet, Sansuyu left without even a single message.

Maybe she didn’t want to cause me trouble; I didn’t know. Perhaps she thought I might push her away out of annoyance.

‘What was her wish?’

It was so absurd that it made me laugh.

I ran my hand through my hair, then faced Champi.

“I’ll do it my way.”

I would help the branded Sansuyu.

Even if I was targeted by the World Tree, no matter what happened. In my own way, even if I lost my status and became a target.

“Is that so?”

Champi nodded with a relieved look, as if she wouldn’t argue further.

-Chek.

The dagger from her bosom flew out in an instant.

-Clang!

I reflexively moved my hand to break the blade of the dagger.

The mana flowing from my entire body swirled around Champi’s arm.

Champi stepped back, drawing another dagger from behind and gripping it in reverse. Unsettling mana emanated from the dagger.

I clenched my fist and thrust it forward.

-Boom!!

Blood sprayed in a straight line across the corridor.

Just one exchange. Neither I nor Champi intended to kill each other.

“Kehehe… hmph. Tough one.”

Champi, who was pinned to the floor under my fist, laughed thickly.

It was clear she hadn’t used her full strength.

For some reason, the dagger that was meant to stab me had instead pierced her own thigh.

Blood was gushing from the severed blood vessels in her thigh.

“…I still don’t get it. Why do you care so much about one kid? Is it love? Did you fall for her because of her big chest?”

“I owe her my life.”

“Was there such an event between you two?”

“Maybe, it’s just something I know.”

“Yeah, is that so… Hey… Hiss. How many weeks of treatment do you think I’ll need for this?”

Considering the broken mana circuits and the thigh she had destroyed herself, Champi had self-induced a critical injury.

“About two weeks.”

“Haah. Fuck.”

Champi grimaced in pain, covering her forehead with her arm.

“…Hey.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t get caught stupidly.”

After pulling the sword from her thigh, Champi now stabbed her own side.

-Thud!

Her eyes were bloodshot. After coughing for a while, she finally calmed down and spoke to me.

“I’ll handle the aftermath, so get lost. I was attacked by the Flowers.”

“What. You said you’d oppose Sansuyu?”

“Kehehe. Fuck. It’s an order. If I disobey, I’ll be the heretic.”

Champi wiped the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

“I’m not as great as you, I’m just a coward, so please, look after Sansuyu, okay?”

“…”

“That kid… she’s slow and kind to a fault. And isn’t she pretty? If she gets caught, who knows what might happen to her.”

Perhaps due to the pain, her face was pale, and her voice trembled.

Champi had witnessed the downfall of Dowon firsthand.

She knew better than I did what happened there.

“In the worst moment, just… call me. I’ll take the blame. Got it?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Kehehe, you piece of shit.”

Unexpectedly, a lot of blood was flowing from where she had cut her abdomen.

She must have made up her mind. She did this because she had a way to survive.

Without looking back, I escaped from the mansion.

From behind, Champi’s small voice reached me.

“Ugh, my cigarette’s all wet.”

Me too.

Sansuyu had been declared a heretic.

I found this out just last night, and it hadn’t been announced to the public yet.

It would take from a few days to a few weeks before things really started moving, so I also needed to prepare as much as possible before that time.

No, rather than preparing, it would be more accurate to say it’s going straight into action.

I was helping Sansuyu, not the Cornus Family.

Even that wasn’t going to be easy; I needed someone to help.

Someone who knew everything about my identity and past, someone who would be on my side.

Instead of feeling like a comrade, Taeyang, who felt more like a subordinate, was sitting at a low desk, looking at me.

“Are you listening to me?”

“…Yes. What.”

A studio apartment even more rotten than where I used to live.

The place was a mess beyond description.

It was not even properly cleaned, with clumps of tissue scattered around, and when I went to the bathroom earlier, I saw the drain was about to clog.

Was this really what living in poverty looked like? Should I help him move to a decent place?

Well, that was not the important thing.

“But, hyung.”

Taeyang cautiously asked.

“Yeah.”

“Shouldn’t we respect personal privacy here? This is also a way to make money.”

Aori wasn’t in this room, but there was one woman.

Quite a young lady, lying half-naked on the bed.

Massage. I had no comments if that was how Taeyang earned his money.

But doing massages in his own living space already had an air of creepiness to it.

“Didn’t you tell me to come anytime?”

“But I didn’t expect it to coincide like this.”

“…”

The woman on the bed, wrapped in her blanket, looked back and forth between me and Taeyang with wide eyes.

As I caught a glimpse of discomfort in her eyes, I sighed.

“…I’ll come back in 30 minutes, so finish up.”