Orwen woke up, his consciousness stirring the thorns as his senses spread out. The two holes where his eyes would usually be glowed with purple light, showing that he was conscious. "What… happened?"
His head hurt for a moment as he tried to recall the last events before he fainted. Once he did, his facial expression twisted, his thorns wriggling as anger and reluctance spread from the bottom of his heart.
"You are finally awake."
Orwen jumped, startled by hearing a voice right by his side. Looking sideways, he noticed Lysara sitting on a wooden chair and reading a book. As Lysara flipped the page, Orwen couldn't help but speak up.
"...What happened after that?"
Lysara answered lightly. "We spoke with Liu Shu, made a deal, and became her followers." Her translucent eyes filled with glowing green veins raised, looking at Orwen. "What were you thinking…? No, were you even thinking at all?"
Orwen frowned deeply. "What do you mean? It was that World Tree who attacked me first. Do you want me to stay still and not retaliate when she was damaging me so grievously?"
"Yes," Lysara answered flatly. "That was the point. To show forgiveness, you were meant to just defend and not retaliate until her anger was relieved."
Orwen scowled. "Didn't you see that her strength is abnormal? If I had not retaliated, I would've been killed!"
"Do you really think so?" Lysara sighed, closing the book with a crisp sound. "She let you live even after making you lose consciousness. Do you really think that if you showed a remorseful attitude, or an honestly apologetic one, she would've been more ruthless?"
Orwen couldn't answer. Or, more precisely, he didn't want to answer. While he was impulsive and wasn't the brightest leaf in the canopy, that didn't mean that he was hopelessly irrational. "...So, she won't be punished for attacking our delegation?"
Lysara snorted, crossing her legs and placing the book on a small table at the side. "You are lucky that she decided to let you live, even at the risk of you becoming resentful and later backstabbing her."
Her words made Orwen silent. He sat on the bed, his thoughts running in his head. After a little bit, he spoke up. His tone remained cold and indifferent, but there was no resentment in his aura like before. "How long did I sleep?"
"Two weeks." Lysara saw Orwen's surprised expression and sympathized. "Honestly, I am as astonished as you are. Elyne tried to heal you properly after three days. Nevertheless, she was unable to bring back your consciousness. It felt as if you were… What words did Lady Elyne use…? Ah, right. Unsynchronized with reality."
Puzzlement flashed in his expression. "What does that mean?"
"Even Lady Elyne doesn't know accurately, so you should ask her."
After saying such words, Lysara stood up and warned. "Orwen, I really hope that you've learned your lesson. If you don't want anything to do with Liu Shu, stay silent for the duration of our stay. Once we return, you will be placed in another branch far away."
Orwen said, unresigned. "If the situation were not so sudden, I wouldn't have been beaten so one-sidedly."
"On the contrary." Lysara paused at the door and turned to look. "I think that if you dare attack her again, things won't end in something as tame as grievous wounds."
Then, she left the room. Her willingness to leave him on his own showed that she didn't fear Orwen retaliating. With a complicated mood, Orwen slowly moved his legs and stood up from the bed. Looking around the room, he quickly noticed a wardrobe with clothes similar to the ones he had worn previously.
After changing, he stepped out of the room and saw many stairs going down in a square spiral. Leaning over the railing, he noticed that there were a few floors above and below him. 'What kind of building is this?'
The image of large trees making up the entire city flashed in his mind for a second. "Am I inside one of those?"
"Lord Orwen, you've woken up!"
A woman's voice reached Orwen, and looking sideways, he saw a short Sylvan woman smiling at him. The woman had pink hair and eyes, with a cute face and slender body. Orwen nodded lightly and also showed a hint of a smile. "Sweris."
Sweris smiled happily, showing a bit of shyness. Then, as if recalling something, her face became complicated. "That… Lord Orwen, do not feel too bad about your defeat! I am sure that if Lord Orwen weren't holding back at first, things would've developed much differently."
Orwen felt his stifled mood relax when he heard Sweris' serious words. Looking at her earnest pink eyes, Orwen raised his hand and moved his thorns on top of Sweris' head. "I understand. Even then, this defeat is a sign that I was taking things too easily."
"That's not true!" Sweris, who was comfortably being patted, raised her head and showed a serious expression. "Lord Orwen is always working hard! I can see you train and practice almost every day that you have free!"
Orwen shook his head and sighed. "Let's go down. Since we'll be staying in this place for a while, we should visit the place. Have you gone out during these two weeks?"
Sweris scratched her cheek, showing a bit of embarrassment. "That… I was too worried about Lord Orwen and didn't dare to leave Lord's side. What if something stirred during your sleep? I was here to inform Lady Elyne in case something happened!"
Orwen's heart finally relaxed completely as he showed a gentle expression. "Let's go, Sweris. Let's explore together."
Sweris walked behind Orwen with a big smile. "Alright, Lord Orwen!"
They went down and stepped outside. The fresh air and thick ternary essence in their surroundings made both of them feel like taking a deep breath. Sweris muttered. "The air here is quite refreshing… Ah. But! Of course, it is not that good. Hmph. How can that rude World Tree produce nice air?"
Orwen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Clearly, the Sylvan was worried that praising the World Tree would affect him negatively. "You silly girl. If things are good, they are good. Don't resent the World Tree too much. She showed mercy, and now I am able to walk around, fully recovered."
"But…"
Orwen looked down at the woman chewing her lips and finally let go. 'I can't linger on my resentment now, can I? They were rude, but my answers were clearly too emotional at that time.'
"No buts. Forget about it."
Sweris was a bit reluctant, but she nodded. "Alright… I will."
While they were talking, a vast presence enveloped them. "I didn't expect this."
Sweris jumped and quickly took out her spear, showing a wary look. Orwen raised his hand and lowered it.
Bonk!
"Ow!"
Sweris held the top of her head and turned around with teary eyes. "L-Lord Orwen, why did you hit me?"
Orwen smiled faintly. "Didn't I say to forgive? Don't overreact." Then, while Sweris rubbed the top of her head, he turned to look at the massive World Tree. "I won't apologize. However, know that I do not have resentment about what happened."
"Hm~. You are a stubborn person, but not an evil one."
"E-Evil!?" Sweris looked like a cat whose fur was puffing out. "Lord Orwen has saved more people than this small planet currently holds! How dare you—"
Bonk!
"Ow!"
Sweris turned around with crying eyes once more. Lord Orwen chuckled and slowly rubbed the place he hit. "Either way, we will just roam the place. Is that okay with you, World Tree?"
"You can roam the place. I don't mind. Nevertheless, I hope that you hold back your arrogance and status when speaking with people here… Right, the coins we use here are…"
Liu Shu explained about the currency, and Orwen took out a single coin and asked. "How many
Liu Shu hummed and looked at his hand. "Is this the Interstellar currency Elyne talked about?"
Orwen nodded. "This is a
The World Tree's root slowly rose out of the ground as she asked. "Can I hold it? I want to test the energy purity compared to the
"Sure." Orwen let the root take the coin. The root then went underground for a moment.
"Hm~. From what I can sense, this coin has the same energy stored inside compared to our
"Oh?" Orwen was honestly surprised by this. "Can I see one of those
Sweris harrumphed. "You are probably bragging."
Liu Shu ignored the fiercely defensive girl and manifested an
"While that might be true in total energy, there are a few more impurities inside the
Orwen slightly admired Liu Shu's non-greedy heart. Looking at the large World Tree, who had her eyes closed, he sighed. "How is the buying power of an
Liu Shu chuckled. "If we use the same comparison that you used, a common family can probably live… over 300,000 years comfortably with one
"Huh?" Both Orwen and Sweris showed shocked expressions.
Liu Shu explained. "In our place, there are
Orwen showed a look of surprise for a second, but he quickly accepted it. The cases where a
Sweris became a bit bold and asked. "U-Um, World Tree, how many
"Not that many. My treasury has around 375
Orwen hummed. "375
"Alpha?"
Orwen nodded. "Equipment with skills attached has different suffixes.
"I see." Liu Shu nodded and spoke softly. "Have a good time in my city. One Arbor can buy you anything you want. If you want more coin exchange, call my name."