The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

[Internal network control has been completed.]

As soon as Beta’s contact came, I finished serving the elves and left my post. Even though I was leaving my post openly, no one stopped me or gave me other work. They probably thought I was running an errand for a particularly picky guest.

Even if the intention of assigning me to serve the elves was to harass me, it was just an opportunity for me to use it as a good excuse.

Only the sound of my footsteps echoed in the quiet hallway. I was heading deeper and deeper into a more secluded place.

Although I had memorized the internal structure of the cruise ship, the route that Beta was guiding me through was so complicated that I couldn’t have come up with it myself. It was because I had to manipulate the surveillance cameras and also plan a route to avoid running into people.

[We have arrived.]

Although I had taken a big detour, thanks to that, I had arrived at my destination safely. A dark hallway.

There were no security personnel or anything. That, in itself, drew attention to the fact that there was an important person here.

The only remaining procedure was to enter the cabin. Picking the lock or suddenly giving a signal and raising suspicion was a bad move.

I had a method prepared.

It was time for the spirits to work. Greenwood had left a code related to the spirit’s cocoons.

Unlike the elves of the past, who were called the children of Mother Nature, the modern elves did not recognize the existence of spirits. But wouldn’t the elf princess be different?

If it worked, there would be no more secret and certain code exchange than this. And so, the spirits worked for the first time in a long time.

I made a small hole in the door and sent the spirits in. There was no immediate response. But the wait was not long.

The door opened. Finally.

Come to think of it, it was my first goal as a contractor, and it had taken a long time. It was a meeting with the head of Greenwood, who had been my guide on my journey as a druid.

***

The cabin of the cruise ship was spacious. It was partly because the ship was large and there was a lot of space for cabins, and partly because it was a space for nobles, so it was decorated to be comparable to a hotel.

Of course, this was the story of a suite. The structure of the room, which seemed to have been forcibly decorated as a cabin from a non-cabin space, did not look very comfortable.

Nevertheless, the fact that they had put so much effort into decorating and preparing the place must have meant that the owner of the cabin was a very important person.

“Amelia Greenwood?”

It was a name I had found out through the Brotherhood’s information network. The woman turned her head at my low question.

The sight of her simply turning around was so slow that I felt as if time had stretched like a taffy. It was that impressive of a beauty.

Even among the elves, who were said to be a joy to the eyes, she was in a different class. It was as if the vague image of an elf princess had been realized in reality.

But the shock did not last long. Well, the face I saw every day was that face.

Because the threshold of shock had been raised, I was able to regain my composure quickly.

“Was there a kid like this in our clan?”

It seemed that the other party was just as surprised. She said something strange with her wide-open eyes.

“No, looking at your ears, you’re not from our clan. Then…”

Her pupils shone brightly. It was a clear color, like the dew that sparkled in the sunrise at dawn.

“Yes, a druid. You were the one who sent this spirit.”

As expected, she could see the spirits. The spirits, without being called, all came out and circled around her.

Unlike their usual playful behavior, it was a poignant and happy gesture, as if they had met a long-lost relative. But I didn’t feel any fateful attraction or comfort.

The World Tree was also quiet.

Just as Greenwood had chased after the druids, I had also chased after Greenwood. This was because I had judged that Greenwood could be a guide and help me achieve my goal of reviving Mother Nature.

I was moved to have finally met the elf princess at the end of a long journey, but I hadn’t built up enough inner intimacy to quickly erase my wariness like the spirits or the elf princess.

That’s why my tone was quite business-like, regardless of my feelings.

“Katarina said that Greenwood was looking for a druid.”

“You met that child. That’s right, you’ve come to the right place. But how did you get to know that child? Did you finish your mission in the City of Iron and Blood and come back? Since you’re a contractor, you might have met her that way…”

“I’ll skip the detailed explanation, but things got very complicated because you disappeared.”

The terrarium of the united organization, the meeting with Elliot, the Guardians of the Dawn, the journey to the City of Iron and Blood. It was a story that was hard to finish in a short time.

I wasn’t here to complain about that, so I swallowed the bundle of words that had come up to my tongue.

“More importantly, you know my identity.”

I had become quite famous. Since Greenwood had entrusted requests to mercenaries and contractors, it was understandable that the elf princess, despite her noble status, would know about contractors.

But it was a different feeling. It was as if she had guessed from the beginning that I would come to find her.

And the time when she had stopped Greenwood’s activities and the time when I had gained fame were also far apart.

“I heard that you were the one who solved the request in the slums of District 7. The same goes for the raid on the Delipacy production factory. In District 7, where I went later, I confirmed the existence of a spirit. I was keeping a close eye on you.”

Just as I had been paying attention to Greenwood, had they also been paying attention to me? If things had gone well, could we have met naturally without going through all this trouble?

“Then you should have at least hinted at it through your organization members.”

“It wasn’t my own will to stop Greenwood’s activities.”

In the end, the fundamental reason things had gotten complicated was her sudden disappearance.

“Greenwood’s activities were my deviation. Yes, a deviation. The picky elders didn’t want me to act rashly.”

“I thought so. If an elf had been involved in Greenwood’s activities, they wouldn’t have shown signs of struggling with manpower, such as entrusting requests to contractors and mercenaries.”

“It’s a meaningless act anyway. That’s the opinion of the clan.”

It was a story related to Greenwood’s purpose.

“Do you know what purpose Greenwood is acting for?”

“I heard from Katarina. Was it to block the challenge to transcendence and postpone the destruction of the continent?”

“The people of this era don’t know how close destruction is. They don’t even feel it.”

“How do you know that? Is the elf royal family a prophet or something?”

“It’s not a prophecy. I know because I’ve experienced it once. The atmosphere is similar to the past when the World Tree died and the threat from beyond the extreme land began to loom.”

“……The only royal family.”

Unlike her appearance, was she old? A monster that lived a long life without aging. I already knew one person like that.

The vampire Sonia, the head of the Blood Alliance. No, if she remembered the old destruction, she might be older than her.

“It’s probably different from what you’re thinking. I haven’t lived a long time, I just woke up.”

“……?”

“It’s nothing special. I acted like a tomboy and was punished. But just then, the World Tree died, and I was asleep for a very long time.”

A bitter smile spread. She didn’t seem to have any intention of explaining in more detail.

And it wasn’t an important story that I had to know.

“Anyway, because of that, the elders didn’t listen to my opinion. They just thought that I was acting like a troublemaker, missing the old scenery in the changed environment after waking up from the seal. It’s not that there isn’t that side to it, but it’s not just because of that.”

“The upper class must know the truth of transcendence. But they ignored your warning?”

Transcendence was a concept that even the underboss of the Brotherhood knew. There was no way the elves didn’t know about the truth of transcendence.

“It doesn’t matter how much they know. On the contrary, the more you know, the easier it is to despair.”

“……?”

“Because the World Tree is dead. As long as the World Tree is not revived, whatever you do is just a stopgap measure. From what I see, it’s all just excuses, and it seems they think they don’t have enough time to enjoy their pleasures.”

In the current public perception, there were few who associated elves with Mother Nature. The modern elves were just an upper class that had colluded with the city and had inherited power.

Amelia, a person from the distant past, was bound to be different from them in every way, from her sensibility to her way of thinking.

“Anyway, that’s the opinion of the clan, and I was caught tampering with the city government’s database, so I was practically under house arrest. I didn’t want to stop Greenwood’s activities either.”

The city government’s database. It meant the map that showed the location of the spirit’s cocoons.

So that was the direct cause. It wasn’t a problem that I, who had benefited from it, could blame.

I could only be glad that we had met like this.

“Well, let’s stop with the complaints and excuses and get to the main point.”

I hadn’t come all this way just to hear such excuses and end it. Amelia spoke up first, so I could comfortably open my mouth.

“First of all, I’m not interested in grand causes like transcendence or the postponement of destruction.”

Meeting the elf princess did not mean that my goal was achieved. Greenwood was just a passing process to achieve my goal.

“I have something to ask.”

I turned my gaze to the corner of my vision. Then, the system message that had not disappeared since I had possessed this body, Allen, came into view.

「You are a druid!」

「As the last druid, revive Mother Nature!」

“What do I have to do to revive the withered Mother Nature of this world?”

The goal of this life that the system had decided. In game terms, it was the final quest.

Without solving this goal, nothing would progress.

“……You’re a druid, after all.”

Amelia’s voice was filled with admiration.

“It’s not that I had a particular interest in the contractor business and entered the industry.”

I had become a contractor after discovering the name Greenwood while investigating the World Tree. If there had been another way, I would not have chosen this profession.

“But do you need to ask me what you already know? As you have experienced, if you hatch the spirit’s cocoons, Mother Nature will be revived.”

“Do you think I would have asked what I already know?”

I still haven’t forgotten the fantastic sight of Mother Nature being revived when I first hatched the spirit’s cocoons. But the emotion was the emotion, and I couldn’t say that the hatching of the spirits was the key to the revival of Mother Nature.

“As you said earlier, that’s just a stopgap measure.”

This continent was too vast to achieve the revival of Mother Nature with just the spirit’s cocoons. The five cities, and even the extreme environment zones that formed the borderlands between them.

Even if I gathered all the spirit’s cocoons, I couldn’t change all that land.

“Since you said it was a stopgap measure, you must also know the fundamental solution. That’s what I want to know.”

As it happened, she was a person who had lived in the era before Mother Nature had withered in this world. Just as Greenwood had been my guide in my activities so far, she would be able to put a period on my worries.

“It would be meaningless to hear it…”

“So you do know.”

And as expected, she did not disappoint my expectations.

“The end of the continent, you just have to revive the World Tree there.”

“Are you talking about the role of the barrier?”

“Yes, if the World Tree once again plays the role of a barrier that blocks the connection of the dimensions, everything will go back to the way it was.”

It was a reenactment of the story I had heard from Katarina in Brahms. But unlike Katarina, whose words were hard to fully trust due to the lack of evidence, there was no need to doubt Amelia’s words.

“Then do I just have to go to the end of the continent with the World Tree?”

“It’s not that simple. Most of all, the World Tree is dead, so it’s a meaningless assumption…”

“I’m asking because it’s not a meaningless assumption.”

“……?”

“The World Tree is here.”

I tapped the part of my forearm that was covered by my clothes. Then, the World Tree, as if annoyed, twisted its body and slowly showed itself outside.

“……!”

Amelia, who had understood my words, covered her mouth with both hands.

(End of Chapter)