263: They say despair gets overturned by miracles

Shake-shake.

Shake-shake-shake.

Ugh. Just a bit longer, okay?

Shake-shake-shake-shake.

Shake-shake-shake-shake-shake.

Please. I’m exhausted. Five more minutes…

Shake-shake-shake-shake-shake-shake.

Shake-shake-shake-shake-shake-shake-shake.

I can’t stand it—I’m so sleepy. Let me sleep for five more years…

“…Craft, Brother!”

“Huh?!”

A sudden jolt hits my body, snapping me wide awake from sleep.

What the hell?!

I blink open my eyes—right in front of me is a close-up of a beautiful girl.

“Ah, Maina. Good morning.”

“Brother!”

As I mumble a sleepy greeting, Maina clings to my neck.

“Hic… I thought you weren’t gonna wake up… idiot… idiot…”

“I promised I’d come back, didn’t I?”

I ruffled Maina’s hair, and she quieted a bit, clinging to me and sniffling without a word.

Taking a second to check my surroundings, I was apparently still in the tent.

Someone new stepped inside. Eva.

“Phew. Finally woke up.”

“How long was I out?”

“Magic exhaustion. About three days.”

“Sorry I caused trouble.”

“As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters. The investigation of the World Tree’s already begun, led by Professor Javir and the others.”

Still holding Maina like a child, I stepped outside the tent. We were at the base camp, the ruins of the alchemist village.

Plenty of royal soldiers around, but no sign of Raidock or Leifan. Oh, Marilyn’s here.

“Didn’t you go on the survey?”

“Lililily’s handling that. And someone needs to guard the base camp, right?”

"Ah, I see."

With Jabir and Lililily handling the survey, there shouldn't be any issues. Perfect, if Leifan, Solal, Jitarou, Camille, and even Chiyome were there too. The rest of us just need to be guards and helpers, I guess.

"Progress?"

"……"

Not good, then. The giant tree looked just like the World Tree—but blackened.

But I’m not giving up.

"I’ll go too."

"Yes, but..."

Eva glanced briefly at Maina.

Yeah. Considering the risks, it’d be better to leave her behind.

"Maina, you’ll go back through the transfer gate to the estate."

"No."

"Then, maybe the kingdom soldiers... wait, what?"

"No. I’m going with you."

"Whoa, whoa—this is just a survey. Boring. I mean, it’s a survey. Boring."

Eva gave me a half-lidded look.

"Can’t you think of anything better to say?"

"Shut up!"

"Maina-sama, we'll call you again once the survey advances—"

"No. I'm going. Absolutely."

Ah, crap. This is one of those times nothing's gonna stop her.

Maina’s always charging into dangerous spots, you know?

She’s survived near-death a dozen times already, but somehow her heart never breaks. That’s admirable. And a real pain in the ass.

"Eva. How safe is the site?"

I ask, and she lets out a small sigh.

"Originally, it's a place with few plants and animals. Probably territory of the Nizhegg. No wildlife at all up on the mountain plateau, they say."

"Got it. Let's go."

"Understood. I'm coming too."

"What about guarding this place?"

"Kingdom soldiers alone are more than enough. Nothing like monsters shows up around here."

Huh. …Wait.

So why was Eva here in the first place? Even if she’s not as good as the expert Lilirily, her knowledge as a mage should’ve been perfect for the investigation.

Did my thoughts slip out? Now Maina gives me a sideways glance.

“Craft-sama… you’re such a dense idiot.”

“Wha—!? Wait! Where’d you even learn a phrase like that, Maina-san!?”

I got hit with a full one hundred thousand damage to the soul from that sudden roast!

W-Why’d I get yelled at all of a sudden?

Ignoring my confusion, Maina flicks a glance toward Eva.

“You’re coming with us.”

“Eh? Eh, yes. Of course. I’ll come with you.”

“Hmph.”

Huh. I feel something different from a monster. Probably just my imagination, though.

Anyway, we ended up moving to the plateau at the summit—the den of Niedhegg.

◆

A little farther along the plateau, towering trees began to appear—so tall they seemed to pierce the sky. If they’d been green and thriving, they’d have looked like a forest. But this world tree, blackened from root to crown, radiated a wicked, foreboding air.

Maina noticed it first. She let go of my hand and dashed forward.

I couldn’t think of anything to say. All I could do was follow her back.

In the center of the mountain plateau stood the obsidian world tree and a small hot spring bubbling up at its base—the source of the spring mentioned in her mother’s journal. “Fvælgermir’s Spring,” that’s what it must be.

Maina ran to the tree and just stood there, silent, staring up at the pitch-black giant.

“It’s gonna be okay, Maina. I’ll fix this. I swear I’ll fix it!”

If I study it hard enough, I can break the curse. There’s no doubt about it. The journal even said so—“the Alchemist of the Dusk” could do it!

I tried my best to cheer Maina up, but she didn’t seem to hear a word.

A single tear slid down her cheek and fell to the ground.

That’s when the tear hit the roots of the World Tree.

The pitch-black roots began to glow, shining around the tear—reclaiming their color, slowly, steadily!

Maina gasped, small and sharp.

“Eh?”

Raidock and the rest of the survey team, who’d been watching from a distance, rushed over.

“What the hell’s happening! Craft!”

“Don’t know! Don’t know!”

I could guess. After all, Maina’s tears were holy tears.

I placed my hand on the roots regaining their color and activated both magic and alchemy—“identification.” My mark gave me the answer.

“The curse on the World Tree is breaking… The method to make the cure—it’s whispering to me through the mark.”

Maina looked up at me, puzzled.

I nodded slowly.

"So, if we have Maina's tears, we can fix the World Tree... and bring Kyle back."

"That... that means, Brother, you're... coming back to life..."

"Yeah. So, just give me a little of your tears, okay?"

After that, I took full advantage of Maina's sudden burst of emotion, collecting plenty of the saint's tears.

Jitarou popped in with a single comment.

"Looks kinda weird... like some kind of pervert."

That was the moment I sincerely vowed to get my hands on a sturdy baseball bat.

◆

A few days later.

"The antidote to the curse of the Demon God Bagbeyar" was completed.

Loads of stuff to complain about.

What even is a Demon God?! And how do we even know the name?! And the massive pile of barrels stacked behind us?!

Yeah. A lot of stuff got finished.

Maina’s... Saintess’s tears are too powerful. Incidentally, I made an elixir out of a portion of it and healed everyone’s wounds completely. Persia had lost an arm, after all.

We’ve already shared the truth about the Demon God among the group, including Van. We decided to keep it quiet, so we’ve only told the soldiers and such that this alchemical potion is meant for the World Tree.

With Jitarou and Camille’s help, we sprinkled the elixir onto the World Tree.

The world around us shimmered in rainbow colors as the World Tree—previously completely blacked out—slowly regained its color.

“Ah…”

I plucked a single leaf, fresh and glowing green.

And so, at last, we finally have a leaf from the World Tree in our hands.

“Think it’d taste good fried?”

Jitarou! Don’t even think about eating a precious World Tree leaf!

Maina, don’t drool over whether your brother’s coming back or not!

……Yeah, I guess that’s just us, huh.