Chapter 227
Chapter 227: What the Hell Is Wrong With You?
Sparse clouds drifted with the breeze, veiling the face of the moon.
The midnight chill spread through the back garden of the Clavena Manor.
The cold air cleared Viktor's head considerably. He stood silently in the vast back garden, gazing at the waves of grass swaying in the wind.
His Coat stirred faintly.
After dealing with the Divine Tree Yadh, Viktor had stayed in the Elven Forest for only 1 day.
Once the new Divine Tree had been awakened, he returned early to the Clavena old Manor.
He had no part in the Elves' meetings—he simply left Cocotte and Leon to remain in the Elven Forest for the time being.
From this trip, Viktor had incidentally earned an achievement:
【Elven Liberator】—5%
It was an achievement that required time to unlock.
The birth of a new Divine Tree meant that the Elves' reproduction issue had been resolved.
And with the death of the Divine Tree Yadh, the entire Elven population had been freed from their shackles and granted a new liberty.
Even so, even with the Divine Tree Yadh dead, a large portion of the Elves' thinking still remained imprisoned in their old memories—not yet fully liberated.
But that was only a matter of time.
The new Divine Tree could support the Elves in producing new generations, so all it needed was more time, and the Elves would adapt to their entirely new lives.
And throughout the process of reproduction, the Elven population would also recover to a relatively balanced level.
Once the Elven population had fully recovered, the unlock progress on this achievement would likely reach one hundred percent.
At that moment, Viktor extended one hand and tossed something upward toward the sky.
A small, jade-green heart, carrying a dense and natural aura, climbed up toward the sky.
【Will of Yadh】
This was no longer the heart of the Divine Tree—it was the powerful will born from the Divine Tree.
Yadh had not fully perished. Or rather, Viktor had not killed it entirely.
Its body had indeed been destroyed, leaving only an obstinate will that had transformed into this small heart.
Setting aside the Divine Tree Yadh's act of controlling the Elves, it was still quite useful to Viktor.
Viktor extended his other hand and drew out clear, shimmering water from a glass bottle at his waist.
The silver-white water flowed upward into the sky, wrapping itself around the heart.
This was the Moon Sacred Spring water Viktor had taken from the Elven Forest.
The Moon Sacred Spring carried an effect of accelerating growth—the most fitting nourishment for a Divine Tree.
In the Crow's eyes, the spring water began to fall, cascading heavily from around the heart down into the soil.
The instant it touched the ground, the clear water merged entirely with the earth, and the ground beneath his feet began to churn.
Intense tremors radiated outward from all around. A green sprout burst through the hard earth, then—rapidly—grew into an enormous, bronze-colored ancient tree.
The great tree shattered countless tender blades of grass, pushed up through thick layers of soil, and rose high into the night sky.
Its branches parted the mist and clouds. Silver stars accompanied the great tree from all around, reflecting the brilliant white moonlight.
Weija watched Viktor go through all of this and felt thoroughly puzzled:
"After all that, this is what you came up with?"
The Divine Tree's purpose was solely to nurture Elves, so 1 in the Elven Forest was perfectly sufficient.
Weija genuinely could not figure out why Viktor would bother planting another one in the back garden of the Clavena Manor.
Was he actually planning to just grow a few Elves to put to work?
Viktor explained, calm and unhurried:
"I never said a Divine Tree could only create Elves."
Weija stood on his shoulder in puzzlement for a moment, watching the jade-green heart before Viktor slowly radiate light in all directions.
Then, softly, it drifted upward and into the interior of the Divine Tree.
"You will continue to exist in reality under the name of Yadh. This is a chance I am giving you."
Viktor's voice fell, and the heart of Yadh made full contact with the Divine Tree.
After a flash of green light spilled through the seams between them, the 2 fused together.
The Divine Tree seemed to gain a soul. Its green branches scattered stardust as they lowered themselves toward Viktor, like a worshipper bowing before a god.
***
Early the next morning, bright sunlight climbed the walls of the Clavena Manor without delay.
Leah yawned, rubbing her hazy, sleep-filled eyes, and pushed open her bedroom window.
She stared at the vast grassland of the back garden with a completely blank expression.
What on earth was that thing?
In the place of the usual open plain, an astounding great tree had appeared out of nowhere, seemingly occupying the entire expanse of the back garden.
Even from where Leah stood inside her bedroom, she could make out the clear patterns of the tree's bark beneath the thick shadow cast by its flourishing branches.
At the base where the trunk met the earth, wildflowers and grass grew in dense, tangled clusters, in some places rising well above the knee.
Silver stars slowly descended from between the branches, drifting down to rest among the flowers.
And a group of Servants had gathered beneath the great tree, looking it up and down, every bit as stunned by this tree that had appeared from nowhere.
Compared to that great tree, the Servants looked like the tiny ants one might usually see beneath an ordinary tree.
Seeing this, Leah felt a wave of genuine shock rise from within.
What in the world was that thing? When had it shown up?
All at once, a possibility occurred to Leah. She immediately set off at a run, not even stopping to change her clothes, and dashed out of the bedroom.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Bang!
Leah burst through the door of Viktor's bedroom, gasping for breath as she called out:
"Viktor!"
She looked up, and it seemed Viktor had already been awake for some time.
He stood by the window, greeting the white morning sun, his Coat swaying gently in the fresh breeze.
Sensing Leah enter, he slowly turned his head.
Leah looked at him and asked urgently:
"When did you get back?"
"Last night. What's wrong?"
At that, Leah couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
Hearing Viktor's words, she already had her answer.
She asked offhandedly:
"What about Leon and Cocotte? Didn't they come back with you?"
Viktor turned his gaze back to the view outside the window:
"They're staying in the Elven Forest for the time being. They'll be back in a while."
"Oh. Oh."
Leah nodded, then suddenly felt a little awkward.
Thinking about how she had completely ignored Viktor's privacy and rudely shoved open his bedroom door made her a little embarrassed.
For a brief moment she didn't know what else to say, so she simply turned her head and said:
"Well... if there's nothing else, I'll go get back to work."
"There's still a lot waiting for me to deal with at home."
Viktor turned back around, hands in his pockets, glanced at Leah, and said evenly:
"Before you do—that tree in the back garden. You saw it."
"Yeah, what about it?"
Leah replied.
That great tree was simply too staggering.
Appearing out of thin air in the back garden overnight—just thinking about it felt almost unbelievable.
Leah had a feeling that something like this could only be Viktor's doing.
Which was exactly how she had known he was back.
"Have Helnersen select a few people with strong constitutions, then bring them with you down to that tree."
Viktor instructed.
Leah didn't quite understand, but she nodded and turned to go carry it out—then heard Viktor suddenly add one more thing:
"It can examine the body."
Leah's eyes lit up instantly.
Because there were many servants in the household, regular health checks were necessary to prevent any hidden infectious diseases from spreading through the Manor.
These costs were essentially covered by the Clavena Family, and every year it added up to a considerable sum.
And now, with a single tree capable of doing all of that—wouldn't it save the household a large chunk of expenses?
This was good news.
Leah, delighted by this, hummed a light little tune and turned to head downstairs.
But before she could leave, she heard Viktor add one more thing.
"Oh, and—remember to change your clothes."
"Hm?"
Leah froze abruptly, feeling a gaze sweep over her from behind, roaming without the slightest reservation.
A calm voice followed:
"The pink pajamas are adorable. It's just that if the Servants were to see them, it would rather damage the Clavena Family's reputation."
In an instant, a deep flush of red crept from Leah's neck all the way up to her cheeks.
She could no longer be bothered about any notion of composure. She snapped Viktor's bedroom door shut with a hard bang.
Accompanied by the sound of thud-thud-thud footsteps, she disappeared into the distance.
Once she was fully gone, the light returned to Weija's eyes.
It looked at Viktor, a trace of puzzlement in its gaze.
"I don't quite understand what it is you're trying to do."
"Just a small experiment."
After a while, Viktor felt the time was about right and was just about to step out of the room.
He opened the door.
Bang!
The door seemed to collide with something soft.
"Ow..."
Ow ow ow.
Heni pressed one hand to her head and half-collapsed onto the floor.
The moment she recognized Viktor's face, she hurried to her feet, straightened her robes, and broke into a sheepish grin:
"Professor! Good morning!"
Viktor gave a calm nod and shifted his gaze away from Heni.
This little Succubus was leveling up a little too quickly. Even with that wide robe on—the one that concealed her charm—he was finding it harder these days to look at her directly.
"What is it?"
At Viktor's brief inquiry, Heni pulled several documents from inside her robe:
"It's like this, Professor!"
"The Academy opens in 1 more week, and at that point they'll be setting topics for the incoming students and holding an enrollment exam."
"I'd like to ask you to look over these questions and see if there are any errors."
Viktor took the documents and ran his gaze across them.
In truth, he was only putting on a show of reading. The one doing the careful examining was the One-eyed Crow perched on his shoulder.
The Crow's voice sounded in his ear.
"Hmm, let me see, let me see."
"Here—there's a small loophole and error. Revise the Rune combination formula."
"Here—this could be more thorough, more suitable for Magic beginners... the Runes don't need to be this complex either."
Viktor suddenly asked:
"Do you have a pen?"
Heni immediately began patting down her pockets—then suddenly heard Viktor say, perfectly composed:
"Never mind."
Viktor lightly pinched two fingers in midair. A faint flame transformed into a quill pen, which he held in his hand.
With a casual, unhurried motion, he wrote 2 strokes across the documents, leaving a trail of fiery script.
The red flame flickered for a brief moment, then went out, leaving a line of black characters on the paper.
Once done, he handed the documents back to Heni.
Heni stared blankly at the added black writing, reading it over carefully, and her eyes immediately lit up:
"That's... that's an incredible approach!"
"Professor Viktor, you truly are a genius!"
She looked at Viktor with an expression full of admiration.
Viktor simply nodded, and was just about to leave when he heard Heni continue:
"Ah, ah—there's one more thing! Professor!"
He turned back, and saw Heni looking at him with completely earnest eyes:
"The Academy hopes you might be able to design a 'Dungeon' like the one from the last exam, to serve as a practical combat assessment—and as something to promote."
"The Principal asked me to come consult you on your thoughts."