Rite Castle, Attack (1)

A thick red root floats in midair.

The third root of the World Tree, a powerful item imbued with the power of <Destruction>.

Just like when he obtained the first root at Serdin City Hall.

Ethan reached out his hand towards the root.

But.

[The third root of the World Tree is wary of the stranger.]

Zap!

It rejected him by sending out a faint electric current.

‘Look at this one?’

Perhaps because it has a sense of self despite being an item.

Just as the thought that it was quite arrogant crossed his mind.

Its kin stepped in.

[The first root of the World Tree greets its sibling, saying it’s been a long time.]

[The third root of the World Tree asks why its brother is coming out from there.]

[The first root of the World Tree says there’s a complicated story and passes on recent memories.]

After waiting for a moment.

The fellow responded.

[The third root of the World Tree expresses its intention to participate in the user’s grand plan.]

‘What grand plan?’

He didn’t know what conversation the two had.

But it didn’t seem like they were going to answer.

-Whoosh!

This time, even before he could touch it, the root disassembled and absorbed itself.

[‘Destruction’ says it looks forward to working together.]

‘Alright, I look forward to it too.’

Ethan checked his status through the notification window.

Five equippable slots were added to the first root of the World Tree.

And the red root was equipped like a part in one of those slots.

The current level of <World Tree Root> is 20.

There was a cap on the maximum level, but it increased to 40 after absorbing the new root.

‘I guess the cap expands each time a root is absorbed.’

Then he checked what else had changed.

[Passive Skill: One Who Slowly Destroys.]

●Trees take root and burrow into rock crevices over long ages. There is no rock that cannot be broken, no wall that cannot be overcome.

You are granted the World Tree’s tenacious destructive power, LV.20 Within a 500m radius, reduces the attack power/defense/agility/fighting spirit of targets considered enemies by the user by 10%, and this effect increases by 5%p every 10 minutes.

A passive skill related to <Destruction>, the nature of the third root, was added.

<One Who Slowly Destroys> is a skill that slowly weakens enemies in case of prolonged battles.

‘If I had this, I might have caught Targan a bit more easily.’

Targan, the demon worshipper who popped out during the colony attack, gave him a big shock.

Levi, Hwaryon, and Ponya, whom he thought were strong, fell in an instant.

An experienced hunter who induced carelessness in allies and subdued them at once.

Ethan was still sore where he had been hit by him.

‘Our kids are strong too, but there are still many stronger ones in the world.’

Perhaps he might face a forced end before the main story even begins if he unfortunately runs into such beings.

That’s why Ethan resolved once again to become stronger.

Both himself and his wards.

As he was examining the skill’s effects for a while.

Borka tapped him.

“W-What was that just now?”

‘Ah, she saw me absorb the root.’

Ethan decided to gloss over it.

Not simply because he didn’t trust Borka.

Seeing how demon worshippers have seizures over things related to the World Tree, it was better if fewer people knew.

“Hmm… It’s an important item.”

“Did you absorb it? Like the skill book from before? My goodness.”

‘Was she just curious?’

After pondering for a moment, Ethan.

Held Borka’s hand and extended his pinky finger.

“Will you promise not to tell others about what you just saw?”

“A promise?”

“Yes, so… let’s make it a secret just between the two of us.”

“A secret, just between us.”

A precious phrase that reveals something small, secretive, yet intimate.

A kind of possessiveness arose, as if she had become Ethan’s special existence.

“Okay!”

Borka hooked her pinky finger without hesitation.

As the work of dismembering monsters and moving casualties to the surface was nearing its end.

Ethan explained everything that happened underground to Count Sharian and Cecil without omitting anything.

“A-Are you alright?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. I’m fine as you can see.”

“Phew, that’s truly a relief.”

Ethan was slightly moved by the count’s concern for him despite many of his soldiers being injured.

Cecil also wiped Ethan’s face with a handkerchief soaked in water and said.

“You’ve worked hard. Defeating 3 monster colonies in a row, and even eliminating a demon worshipper on top of that. We really owe you a great debt.”

“No, rather I’m the one who’s indebted. The count helped subjugate the monster colonies on my land.”

Though they joined hands to solve the mana stone depletion problem.

Count Sharian had no obligation to help him.

Originally, this land was sold to Ethan, and the mine buried underground was also practically his property.

Rather, he was grateful that Cecil took the lead in investigating the mine and offering to subjugate the monster colonies.

But that part sounded significant to Cecil.

‘Yes, this is land sold to Ethan-nim. We have no stake in it.’

It sounded like a threat to give up on coveting the income from the mana stone mine.

So Cecil answered even more politely to avoid misunderstanding.

“Not at all. Rather, since monster colonies appeared on the land we sold, our fault is greater. Of course we should do this much.”

Count Sharian, who had inadvertently incurred large expenses like hiring mercenaries without any income, seemed to have trouble managing his expression, but.

-Pinch.

Thanks to his daughter pinching his waist, he couldn’t even complain.

‘If we say one wrong word, we might end up like Marquis Maclton too.’

The count nodded repeatedly after reading the desperation in Cecil’s serious expression.

So Ethan had no choice but to think conversely.

‘What’s this? Is it a trap?’

There’s no way they don’t know how precious mana stones are.

The northeastern region was an intermediate zone through which goods from the Cragent Federation passed.

The biggest import item was mana stones.

‘But why?’

There’s no reason to fear the title of Serdin mayor’s special envoy.

Ethan had also heard rumors recently that the Sharian Count family had absorbed the territories of fallen nobles and become the leader of the northeastern region.

Though only a count in title, their influence had grown to rival that of most dukes.

There’s no way a mere special envoy from a free city would be burdensome.

Of course, it’s true that his wards achieved great military exploits.

But the count’s forces and the Aporia mercenary group also shed countless blood.

To console them, they should rightfully distribute gold coins, and it would be reasonable to demand a share of the mana stone mine for their sufficient contributions.

But the count didn’t do that, and instead volunteered to be a pushover with a bright smile.

‘He’s afraid of future troubles if I just gobble everything up.’

Ethan didn’t want to turn powerful people into enemies.

He knew well from experiencing it several times while playing <Isilium Legend Maker>.

The fact that if you mess with underworld organizations, vindictive nobles, or psycho royalty with ultimate obsession, you’ll be stressed until the end while playing the main story.

So he made a counter-proposal to the count.

“I heard the mana stone mine will be developed soon.”

“Yes, that’s right. There are a few other mana stone mines in the count’s domain besides this one, so we recruited personnel hoping it would help concurrently.”

‘Was that what he didn’t like?’

The count had to consider whether to withdraw the workforce he had already recruited right now.

“As I’m serving as the mayor’s assistant, I don’t have the capacity to supervise mine development by frequently coming here. If it’s not a burden, would it be alright to hand over the development rights of this place to Your Excellency along with a certain share?”

“!”

But at this unexpected answer.

The count and Cecil nodded with expressions of being moved.

“Of course. If we develop it in connection with the mines throughout the northeast, we’ll be able to operate much more efficiently.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you. Would 30% of the net profit be alright?”

“No, that’s too much. 10% is enough!”

“Pardon?”

He thought he would be hit with an iron mace for being greedy.

But instead, he was generously forgiven and even given the opportunity to participate in mana stone mine development.

‘Truly an excellent young man.’

The count was deeply moved.

Afterwards, when Ethan generously donated 100 gold per person to the injured or families of the deceased.

And announced that he would employ disabled veterans who could no longer work in the military or mercenary groups in the mines or merchant groups.

“…Is that true?”

“My goodness, I was at a loss for how to live from now on.”

“He’s a god!!”

Not only the count and Cecil, but the entire subjugation team began to revere Ethan like a god.

Levi watched this scene and smiled brightly.

“See, He’s different like this.”

“He really is.”

Borka readily agreed.

In her eyes, Ethan was truly the savior from legends incarnate.

While things were wrapping up in a warm atmosphere on this side.

A different crisis arrived at Rite Castle in the rear.

“Woosh~”

Kenny jumped out the window with both arms stretched out.

Fortunately, it was the first floor, not the second or third, so she wasn’t hurt.

Instead, she tormented others.

“Kenny!”

“Why is this child so fast!”

It was Teacher Yuria and Hwalin.

When Ethan left the two of them at Rite Castle and asked them to take care of Kenny, they honestly couldn’t understand.

-Is there a need for two people to stay?

Hwalin wanted to be with Ethan.

Teacher Yuria wanted to watch the children’s actual combat.

But Ethan smiled and answered like this.

-By tomorrow, you’ll think why I didn’t leave Sir Rashid behind too.

The two were feeling that deeply now.

Kenny was a lively child with good physical strength.

And she was also a clever child.

As a special note, when inspiration struck, she absolutely, absolutely, absolutely wouldn’t stay still.

She went around fixing various facilities throughout the castle with the golden hammer Ethan gave her.

She dragged around the Sharian Count family’s direct blacksmith all over the neighborhood.

Since there was a possibility that Kenny might go outside the castle or be in danger, Hwalin and Yuria had to exclusively mark Kenny 24 hours a day.

“Huff, huff, huff!”

“Why is, huff, this child, huff, so nimble.”

“Oh my, let’s go together!”

Even though a total of three people, including the blacksmith who noticed Kenny’s genius later, stuck to her.

They could hardly keep up with her movements.

Then one day.

Kenny, who had jumped out the window, came running back and quickly closed the window.

-Aaagh!!

-Call the castle guards! This damn! Aaaargh!!!

At the same time, screams were heard from outside.

“What’s going on? What’s happening out-“

Kenny grabbed the arm of the blacksmith who was about to go out.

Despite being a child, her strength was as strong as that of a decent blacksmith.

“What’s wrong?”

Kenny just shook her head.

And a moment later.

-Bang!

The door opened roughly and.

A soldier slid in.

“Kaha! Huff!”

“Hey, are you alright… Oh, dear God.”

The blacksmith tried to tend to the injured person but gave up and shook his head.

For good reason, as the soldier’s chest was pierced right through his armor.

Thud thud.

A beast-like girl walked in, dripping blood from her hand.

She had round horns like a mountain goat on her head and a tail wriggling between her two legs.

“Tch! This one’s no good either. Rude people are all like this.”

What appeared to be the soldier’s heart was half-bitten.

The girl threw away the heart without hesitation and.

Turned her gaze to discover Kenny and said.

“Oh! Found you. It’s you? Nice to meet you~”

In an instant, the girl’s ten fingers became long and sharp.

“Let’s play!”