The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

The wind was strong. The tightly fastened coat fluttered greatly in the fierce wind.

“Ugh!”

Sage, who was holding onto my collar, swatted away the hem of the coat that was slapping her face as if brushing off a bug.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeees…”

Whether it was because of the cold wind or because the hem of the coat had hit her. Sage’s delicate skin was red. As we entered the waiting room along the path, Sage rubbed her nose with the back of her hand and said.

“The weather is not good.”

District 22, an undeveloped area. Although it was classified as a district within the city, it was a place that was hard to say belonged to Gellerg City. Except for the entrance, no human hand had touched any part of it. It was a wild land.

Unlike the city center where dense buildings formed a jungle, the view was wide open. That’s why the wind was strong. Since there were no obstacles to interfere with the flow of the atmosphere, it was directly affected by the bad weather.

The airship tied to the mooring tower swayed back and forth. I felt a tug on my collar. Sage, who was looking outside, had unknowingly put a lot of strength into her hand.

“……It’s not going to fall, is it?”

“Well.”

As I stroked my chin with a serious look, Sage’s eyes shot up sharply.

“Don’t tease me.”

She seemed to be seriously worried.

「The World Tree agrees and hits my forearm.」

The World Tree was the same. I have two children.

‘You’ve become a sacred tree, so why are you acting the same?’

Just as when it had evolved into a sapling, the World Tree, which had obtained a fragment of divinity, had fallen into a long sleep. Fortunately, it had woken up the day before boarding the airship. When I said we were going by the sky road, it had been full of anticipation like the day before a picnic, but when the day came, it was like this.

「The World Tree urges me to answer quickly, saying what does that have to do with it.」

I knew well what it was feeling. I had come from a world where airplanes were common, but for them, it was their first experience. Above all, it is a human instinct to be afraid of high places.

Although there were many humans who wanted to fly in the sky, most of the flights challenged by wingless humans had ended in a fall to their death. So it wasn’t something to be ashamed of to be scared… but I wonder if she would be fooled if I told her she had to take off her shoes when boarding the airship.

I suppressed the mischievous thought that was rising.

“If it were dangerous, the crew would have announced it first or delayed the boarding.”

“Hmm.”

Sage still looked anxious. With a very serious expression, she stuck to the glass window and did not take her eyes off the airship. At some point, her breathing even became rough.

“If you’re really anxious, you can go back now.”

“I don’t want to.”

Sage shook her head.

“I’m going too.”

The answer was the same as when I had asked her several times before coming here. If I asked her again, she would answer the same way. It was worth acknowledging this much. Seeing her being stubborn even after I had tried to stop her this much, it seemed impossible to leave Sage behind.

‘She looks like she’ll follow me even if I force her to stay.’

It’s not that I keep asking her because it’s hard and a waste to get one more ticket. Since even my ticket was something I had asked someone else for. It was just that Claire had said that there seemed to be some commotion in the City of Iron and Blood.

Taking care of myself and taking care of a companion are two different things. I couldn’t help but be concerned. But her will was firm, and if you think about it, she was more likely to be a help than a hindrance.

“I’ve told you over and over, we’re not going to play. If you must go, have the mindset that you’ll do your part rather than expecting my help.”

Why had I entrusted Sage to Colin and gone through the trouble of sending her to the Mage Tower? It was to make her talent as a great mage bloom and use it. Just because I had grown fond of her, I couldn’t keep coddling her forever.

And the fact that her achievements had reached a certain level was guaranteed by the Mage Tower, which had permitted her external training, and by Colin, who had readily allowed the journey. Even if her skills did not yet meet my expectations, it was fine.

Her eyes were worth the trouble. I took out a pendant from my pocket and held it out.

“You can still see it well, right?”

“Yes.”

Sage’s gaze, reflected in the window, flashed. It was proof of her innate talent as a great mage and the light of intellect she had polished at the Mage Tower. A glittering halo of light in her pupils, which were like a deep lake, as she looked into the pendant.

She could distinguish and identify mana with her naked eye. It was thanks to that that she had been able to track me down with her bare body when we had separated in the slums.

“I can see a blurry mixture of mana under the thick, dark red mana.”

“Remember it well.”

That was probably the mana of the Greenwood member I was looking for. Although the owner of the pendant was Elliot, it was made by a Greenwood member, so his mana remained.

‘Then is Elliot’s mana dark red?’

Mana is unique to each individual, so it contains some of their personality and characteristics. A thick, dark red color would not give a good impression to anyone. Was it natural for a person who had lived obsessed with revenge?

In fact, the personality of Elliot I had experienced myself was a type of person I didn’t want to get close to.

“Passengers, please proceed to the boarding location.”

It was finally time to board the airship. We stopped our conversation and left the waiting room. The altitude of the airship, which had been tied to the mooring tower, approached the ground, and stairs came down from the ship-like body.

“Two tickets, confirmed.”

We were the last. We had our tickets checked by the crew and went inside.

“……!”

Sage’s face, which had been anxious and not knowing where to look until she went up the stairs, cleared up. The inside of the airship was spacious. It was completely different from an airplane, which was packed with chairs in a narrow space.

There were private cabins at every corner of the hallway, and the space at the bow was wide open and equipped with convenience and entertainment facilities. Although they were using the wide-open sky road, the journey from city to city was long.

It was a structure decorated like a passenger ship so that they would not feel uncomfortable or bored during that time.

“We will be taking off soon, so please proceed to your cabins and wait.”

We followed the announcement and moved to our assigned cabin. Sage, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, asked with a voice full of a mixture of excitement and anxiety.

“D-do we not have to wear seatbelts or anything?”

Before I could answer, the scenery outside the window began to change. The exterior of the waiting room was pushed out of the window frame, and the horizon in the distance sank, and then the blue sky spread out like a painting.

“……Wow.”

A beat-late admiration followed. Sage went to the window with small steps and looked at the scenery outside. I also stood behind her and took in the same scenery.

The sun was burning at the same eye level, and the clouds were so close that they seemed to be within reach.

「The World Tree looks down at the window with an arrogant expression, saying that all things look as insignificant as bugs.」

…She wasn’t scared at all now that she was in the sky, and she had a sentiment that was hard to react to. Last time she was crazy about people’s attention, and this time she’s a chuunibyou?

Whether she was or not, the rope tied to the mooring tower was cut, and at the same time, the engine started.

The airship cut through the clouds and flew on the sky road.

***

The scenery from the sky was beautiful. The complicated city jungle that hurt the eyes, the grayish color of the undeveloped district where no human hand had touched. Regardless of such things, there was a moving feeling that tickled the heart.

Of course, that was at most for ten minutes. No matter how strong the stimulus, it was nothing special once you got used to it. But Sage’s emotion was a little longer.

Although she was now the disciple of a Mage Tower school head and a rising star recognized by the Mage Tower, she was born in the slums. It meant that her knowledge was short. Even after her fortunes had turned, she had only lived in the Mage Tower except for the time of the ruin exploration, so a part of her innocence that had not been worn out remained.

“I’ll go out first, so come out when you get bored.”

“……”

There was no answer, but she had pricked up her ears, so she must have heard. I left Sage, who had become one with the glass window, and moved to the main hall. I sat down at a table that was in plain sight and looked around.

‘There are certainly few passengers.’

There were few people for such a spacious area. The number of people visible in the main hall was only five, including me. There must be people remaining in the cabins, but even including them, the presence I felt did not exceed ten.

At this rate, the operation of the airship was a loss. It must have been unavoidable since it was a regular flight. The faint shadow on the face of the crew, who had a welcoming smile on their face, was probably because of that.

I spoke to a crew member standing next to me.

“There are few people.”

“Yes, I heard that it has been like that recently.”

“You must have just started working on the airship?”

“Yes, it’s embarrassing, but today is my first official assignment.”

I thought he was very nervous. It was a good thing.

“I heard that the number of passengers on other flights is the same, but is there a reason why only the airship to the City of Iron and Blood has few people?”

I asked nonchalantly, as if it were a topic I had brought up to continue the conversation out of boredom.

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help.”

The crew member bowed his head as if he were sorry. The passengers on the airship were mostly from the upper class. His expression was exaggerated, as if he were trying not to get on their bad side.

But although it was partly an act, it didn’t seem like he was lying.

‘As expected, it’s not something a crew member would know.’

They were just employees who worked according to a set manual. They did not know the inner workings of the city. It would be the same even if I asked the other passengers on the airship. Those who knew the details would not have boarded this airship.

In the end, it seemed I had no choice but to go and find out what had happened in the City of Iron and Blood myself.

“I felt that the wind was a bit strong before boarding the airship. Is it not dangerous or a hindrance? I heard that airships are weak to bad weather.”

“Oh, you seem to know a lot about airships.”

“I know as much as others.”

“Haha, you don’t have to worry. How dangerous are the environmental zones that block each city? The scorching sun shines down, thunder strikes from a clear sky, and it rains from time to time. But since the airship has been in operation, there has not been a single accident. It is said that it has been inspected by the Mage Tower and is designed to be safe unless there is a typhoon or a direct physical impact on the hull. To explain the principle…”

It was a topic I had brought up lightly, as cutting off the conversation here would reveal my intentions. But the crew member started talking garrulously, as if he had been waiting for it.

Even when my agreement had stopped at some point, he continued talking on his own without caring. It seemed that the reason he had this job was because of his preference. Thanks to that, I didn’t have to continue a conversation with no nutritional value while faking it, which was a relief, but it was also embarrassing, and my ears hurt a little.

Fortunately, after a while, another crew member who had read my uncomfortable expression dragged him away. Their steps headed to a corner. Since he had said he was a rookie, I thought he would probably get some training from a senior.

“……”

After that, I quietly drank from the glass prepared on the table. As the talkative crew member left, the surroundings became quiet. Except for the softly playing classical music and the sound of the engine mixed in with it, there were no voices.

It seemed that was the culture of the airship. Well, their inner thoughts would be different, but it was a journey to the outside, leaving their own territory. The possibility that it was a purpose that could be mentioned publicly was low.

If it was an official of the city government, it was also related to the future policies of the city. The best way not to reveal a secret is for only the person concerned to know it. Naturally, the atmosphere inside the airship, unlike the splendid facilities, must have been far from that of a high-society social gathering.

Although there were things to play with, it was not an atmosphere where one could relax and enjoy them. This flight was especially so. If there were so few people, anyone who was not very dull would wonder if something was wrong.

Even though the scenery was beautiful with the wide-open windows on both sides, it became stuffy for no reason, and everyone was watching each other, and the atmosphere sank.

“I’m here.”

It was around then that Sage came out of the cabin. She had finished looking outside and was now curious about the inside, so she was rolling her eyes without rest. Then, Sage’s head suddenly stopped.

Had someone laughed at her for being a country bumpkin? I followed her gaze and asked.

“Why?”

“……Don’t go over there.”

Sage’s eyes sharpened, like a cat raising its fur in caution.

“There’s a dangerous person.”

(End of Chapter)