188: The thing is, problems tend to grow on their own, huh.

I scratched my head, staring at the black plant in front of me.

"That's the one, right? The stuff that was all over the Hydral's sleeping area."

"Yeah."

"Why'd it take so long to find something like this?"

The marshlands had definitely been off-limits for a while, but they’ve been open since the lizards showed up.

There were strong monsters there, so regular adventurers probably couldn’t make it to the center, but this bunch shouldn’t have been a problem.

"Oh, right. Craft didn’t get the report, did he?"

Leifan slapped his forehead, eyes widening.

"When we lifted the ban on the marshlands and let the lizards in, we naturally asked the Adventurer’s Guild to cull the monsters and do a survey."

“That, I didn’t hear about.”

“Craft was busy back then, so we didn’t pass on the irrelevant stuff.”

“Is that right?”

Guess I was being looked after, then.

“Still, naturally, we sent Raidock and the others to check out that suspicious black forest…”

Raidock shrugged and shook his head.

“Clean as a whistle—just the black plants were gone.”

“No way.”

“Yeah. Took me by surprise, I’ll admit.”

“Anyway, it was too weird for us to handle, so we went to talk to Professor Javir. He said we’d need the actual thing first.”

Makes sense.

You can’t study a mystery plant you’ve only seen once.

“Right. So now we’ve got the real thing right in front of us. Good job finding it.”

That black plant we found during the Cocatris incident—should’ve been burned to ash by Raidock and the others. Must’ve been a real pain in the ass to track down.

"Yeah. Every time I’m out on a job, I gather intel from the guilds and merchants. Went to a place where monsters were swarming, finally found it."

"Damn. Impressive."

Not hunting the plant itself—just using past experience to guess where monsters gather in mass and moving on that hunch? That’s the mark of a real pro.

Evie’d probably be proud of that kind of thinking.

"Now, there’s an issue with this. You’re handling the report to Kyle."

"What happened?"

The black plant we found in the monster nest wasn’t much to speak of. The monsters eating it were noticeably stronger than usual, but still no match for us. Nothing like the Hydra’s master.

“Could it just be that the more they ate, the stronger they got? Doesn’t seem like a real problem.”

“No. The problem came after we wiped out the monsters and collected the black plant using the gear entrusted to us by Jabir.”

Raidock looked at the plant sealed inside the chest.

“First, we gathered enough to fit in the box, then returned to the guild to report. After that, we brought in another adventurer and went back to the site for more collection—”

“Wait.”

I remembered the swamp and stood up without thinking.

“Yeah. Exactly that. The black plants we were certain were still there… were completely gone.”

"Damn."

Everyone fell silent.

Natural. Too damn bad. It was almost suspicious—like someone had messed with it on purpose.

"...We can’t overthink this now. We’ll start by checking things out."

"Yeah."

I casually picked up the black plant.

"Hey!"

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"It’s fine. Remember the Hydra incident? The deep woods were covered in these black things back then. If anything was gonna happen, we’d’ve all gone weird by now."

I’d touched them enough back then—no sudden rage or anything like that.

"Still, you could’ve been a little more careful."

"Wouldn’t have done it if Raidock and the professor weren’t here. Besides—'Identify,' please."

Yeah, when it comes to鉴定, holding it in your hand’s the most accurate. Can’t have the professor do it, so in the end, it’s gotta be me. Just saved some time, that’s all!

It takes a little while to鉴定. Not like usual, where it pops into my head all at once. Feels like it’s spreading slowly, seeping in.

Sweat drips from my forehead—something totally new.

"...hey, Craft. Say something."

"Uh-huh. Hurry up and tell me."

From the mess of broken, scattered info, I barely pull out one word.

"Changed... part of the World Tree?"

"Wha—!?"

It’s Professor Javir who shouts.

"Th-the World Tree!? The one that stood at the heart of the world in ancient times!?"

"The World Tree!?"

"Sorry. The鉴定 spell just wouldn’t work right—only this word came through."

"Damn it! Give it here!"

"Ah!"

Professor Javir snatches the black plant from my hand and casts the鉴定 spell.

My caution was pointless, wasn’t it?

...Well, I guess it’s fine. Probably.

"Ugh... Unfortunately, I can't鉴定 it. Never felt anything like this before—odd resistance. Now I understand your odd鉴定 result."

"Huh... I wish I hadn’t heard that."

Evie rubs her forehead.

"Still, he can't just make up lies or twist info on the spot."

"That’s right, Craft-kun."

"Wait—am I being praised or not!?"

Yeah, I know it was weird to blurt out such a big word like that. But hey, Raidock, the professor, even Leifan—they all trust me. So it’s not like I’m lying.

“Hmph. That face—‘we’re safe because it’s us,’ you’re justifying yourself, aren’t you?”

“We’re worried because you’ll pull something stupid even when outsiders are around.”

“Craft’s always been like that, though.”

“You should have a bit more… no, *alchemist* pride, really.”

“Craft, you’re still too much.”

“U… I’ll be careful.”

No point arguing. I nod and promise to heed the warning.

“Still… the World Tree… it really exists, doesn’t it?”

“Adventurer, I’ve heard the term, but what’s it actually like?”

“Hmph. Then I’ll give a quick lecture.”

Professor Jabir raised a finger sharply.

"First off, the common belief—there’s some colossal tree reaching into the sky somewhere in the world, holding immense magical power, and its leaves cure every illness known to man. That’s the one, right?"

"Yeah. From what I’ve heard from veteran adventurers, it’s pretty much along those lines."

"But I’ve got doubts about that."

The professor shakes his head sharply. Eva’s eyes widen.

"You know, humanity nearly died out once, so records from before that are extremely scarce. But from what little we’ve found, it’s hard to believe the world tree was just one."

"Got proof?"

Eva leans in, eyes alight. Yeah, magic users really are the type to get obsessed with this kind of thing.

Not exactly proof. But when you read through the recovered texts, most of them describe the World Tree being right next to the author. Still, the documents mentioning the World Tree were found in distant lands.

"Can't really confirm that from just that."

"Mm. They're just scattered records from the same region. That's probably the more natural explanation. Still..."

The professor hesitates. Seems like he's weighing whether to keep talking.

But under Eva's sharp gaze, he presses on.

"Words carry regional flavor. Like a local dialect. I can feel that similarity in each document based on where it was unearthed. So I think they were written right where they were found. That's my take."

"...Could I see those documents sometime?"

"Leave it to Lord Battista. If he’s in a good mood, you might get to see the kingdom’s holdings. The Adventurer’s Guild probably has some too—try there."

The master mentioned the name of Battista, head alchemist of the Maugaria Kingdom. So the documents were state property. Which meant the master himself was impressive for being allowed to read them.

"Understood."

"Well, I’ll put in a word for you with Battista myself."

"That’d be a great help. Thank you."

"Hmm. More importantly…"

After everyone stared down the black plant—the corrupted World Tree—they all turned their eyes to me.

"What do we do now?"

"Trouble’s brewing."

"Every time this guy gets involved, things just get bigger…"

And then, in perfect unison, they all sighed.

Wait—?!

It’s not my fault, is it!?