episode_0032

A guild alienated from the empire in this small village. Could there be anything useful to me in such a place? That’s a disappointing thought. Is the [Garden] not right in front of this guild? The outskirts of the [Garden] are safe, so people’s hands have touched it, and there’s no way ordinary items would gather in a place influenced by the World Tree. There are even stories from back when I enjoyed this as a game, of people receiving top-tier weapons as rewards for simply resolving unexpected requests. This is both the advantage and disadvantage of this guild. Despite having good items influenced by the World Tree, there’s no one capable of discerning their value, so these items are left to rot in this underground space. An unknown treasure, and simultaneously, an unfortunate village. These people don’t know that the items they give to adventurers, merely as a token of goodwill, are far more precious than their perceived value.

Creak creak.

Was this path not originally well-trodden, or has it rusted significantly from many people passing by? I was following the guild guide, feeling intense auditory torment from the stairs, which were so indistinguishable from the trees on the outskirts of the [Garden] that if you cut a tree in half and laid it on the ground, you couldn’t tell them apart.

Tap tap.

The wood grain felt so pronounced that if I mishandled my staff, my rapier felt like it would fall into a hole. So, I merely tapped the wall, sending my magic down into the depths below.

“Ha… seeing you smile like that, I guess you’re confident?”

What I had maintained was a subtle smile, not a broad grin. However, the magic returning from below was a feast far exceeding my expectations, a social gathering where my secret spear would find companions. I wanted to stop for a moment and study each returning magic stream in more detail, but perhaps my appearance displeased her. Anxiety, irritation, regret. Various emotions mixed with the returning artifacts and were perceived by me.

“Ah, my apologies. My staff almost fell into a hole for a moment. Let’s continue.”

Thump thump.

As we continued down the straight underground staircase, a small door appeared before us.

Click.

The guild guide took out a small key from her pocket, inserted it into the quaint keyhole, and opened the door.

Creak…

The other side of the door, opened with a spine-chilling sound, came into my view. Dust-covered shields where insects scurried, their past glory faded. Arrows whose tips were rusted, as if they should now vanish into memory. Swords with broken blades, dust lodged in their crevices. All these items recognized the magic I sent, and returned it severalfold, as if begging to be noticed. For a long time, as the magic surged, I felt momentarily dazed, processing the information right there. Along with the thought that I should deploy as little magic as possible directly in front of the World Tree.

“How many can I take from here?”

“Well, Ibn-nim would probably allow you to take as many as you need, if you can solve this problem.”

“That’s fortunate then. I was worried three might be too many.”

Three artifacts influenced by the [Garden]… Honestly, these three aren’t all necessary to deal with the elves and monsters and restore the World Tree. One is for the World Tree’s healing, and one is for dealing with the people involved in the [Garden Erosion]. As for the remaining one, well, it wouldn’t be inconvenient to think of it as my reward.

I began to recall the strategies written by veteran players of the game, tapping my head.

“Right… they said to touch each of these arrowheads…”

Normally in the game, I would have had to touch each arrow one by one to check its color. But fortunately, because I was blind, and my sensitivity to magic was superior to that of a typical player character, I was able to discover an arrowhead that exuded a warm aura. A part of the wooden shaft had a slight mold, indicating water leakage in the basement. When I dusted it off slightly, a burning carriage emblem appeared. It had to be the arrow I was looking for. However, I felt a slight regret and looked around. Gods do not share their authority with humans. However, they do not hesitate to bestow their authority upon their own possessions. Perhaps this is what a true divine weapon means. The spear I use, and the divine weapons hidden throughout this world, were merely created to kill someone. If so, can you understand why I was looking around, searching for something? Of course, I was looking for the bow part of this arrow. This arrow merely contained a one-time power; to repeatedly generate this power, a critical component like a bow would be necessary. Therefore, I made my magic collide even more strongly with the items.

“None…”

That’s right. This arrow must be one of the arrows a god accidentally dropped while taking a stroll in the [Garden]. The game also stated that gods are unexpectedly arrogant creatures, and paradoxically, they make many mistakes. I held out the red-glowing arrow that warmed my hand into the air.

[@#$’s Arrow can be stored in Mind Sword. Store? Yes/No]

Such unexpected convenience. I could only be grateful to the system. I had just been wondering how to shoot arrows well. Leaving the arrow I had thrown into the air behind, I smacked my lips and looked around. Was there not still time for shopping? I couldn’t stop smiling at the thought that there was still much to enjoy.

[3 hours later]

My expression as I carried goods from the shop was like the sun, while Eileen’s face, having watched me for three hours, was like the moon. She walked ahead with vacant eyes, guiding me to the [Garden].

Thump thump.

The eyes of the people who saw us taking a side path were so squinted that I couldn’t clearly make out their expressions. Why are they going that way? If it’s that path, there’s nothing but the [Garden] beyond it. Why are they going there now? Such questions exuded from people’s expressions and were indirectly conveyed to me.

“This is the outskirts of the [Garden]. I hope you resolve it well.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for your support.”

The emotions of Eileen, upon hearing my words, vibrated so strongly that I could feel them even without deploying much magic. A faint tremor hidden within negative emotions like fear, worry, anger, and fatigue allowed me to enter the outskirts of the [Garden]. When someone has even a little bit of hope for me, do I have time to delay?

Tap tap.

I began to walk along the path, which was difficult to traverse because it hadn’t been cleared, tapping the outermost trees of the World Tree, which were not as massive as those at the entrance.

Thump thump.

How long did I walk? I stood somewhere in the [Garden] and simply looked up at the sky. As a player, that is, when I was playing the game, I could see. Therefore, I didn’t know what kind of magic this [Garden] was made of, or how difficult it was to distinguish between the intermingling magic. Why am I suddenly bringing up this explanation? Can’t you guess? After staring blankly at the sky obscured by giant leaves, I tapped my staff on the ground to deploy my magic as delicately as possible. Pure and clean magic. Magic that could be called nature itself began to flow into me simultaneously. Why hadn’t I noticed this problem beforehand when I saw the World Tree? I had only conceptualized it as a mass, driven by the desire to see the World Tree’s colossal form, but I didn’t realize it would still appear as a mass even after entering the [Garden]. Having forgotten that everything in the [Garden] constantly emitted pure magic from its surface, I had truly become blind.

Ah, why are those trees constantly moving? My mood is already heavy, so why is the wind blowing so much? Can’t ordinary people feel the wind in the [Garden]?

[Mind Sword]

Since I wanted to avoid getting cut by branches touching my skin, I firmly raised my hand and cut down the moving trees. My impure magic was already difficult to perceive amidst the pure magic here, and the presence of moving trees just made my irritation surge. But this isn’t a situation where I can stand here and lament my fate forever, is it? I came out boasting so much; if I were to say I couldn’t do anything because I couldn’t see, I would rot in this place for the rest of my life. I don’t know how many players are in this place, but my absence would surely be a loss for them.

Phew…

I took a deep breath and tried my best to distinguish between objects and trees, increasing the density of each magical stream as much as possible. Because of the World Tree’s magic floating in the air, I swayed, unable to perceive space, and having all sorts of leaves stuck to my clothes was an added bonus. How long did I walk aimlessly like that? As I pursued the giant mass before my eyes, moving deeper into the [Garden], I felt something. A human form. However, that human form possessed the exact same magic as the trees.

‘Elves…!’

At that moment, a single race came to mind. A race with a human form and magic so pure and fitting the name of nature that they couldn’t be distinguished from nature itself. At least according to my common sense, only one race fit all these criteria. How happy I was. I couldn’t help but direct my footsteps towards that elf. To heal their mother, And to lay the foundation for stopping the [Garden Erosion].