EP.94 One Who Hears the Wind
The Undying One who awoke from a long slumber immediately kicked open the cabinet and leapt down.
Landing forcefully on the ground, he stumbled for a moment. It was because the hastily attached arm and leg hadn't fully joined yet and were wobbling.
However, he was an Undying One with regenerative abilities, and moreover, his body was brimming with vital energy.
"Heop!"
When the Undying One exerted his strength, the slightly twisted arm and leg instantly returned to their proper positions. The wounds covering his body healed in an instant, and his shriveled body swelled up all at once as if thoroughly soaked with water.
The fully resurrected Undying One looked down at his hands and feet and shouted.
"Oh! The vital energy is overflowing! How did this happen?"
When the Undying One looked around, the officer who happened to be standing before him spoke with a stiff neck.
"Tantalos Training Unit, Rash. Correct?"
The Undying One promptly answered.
"That is so! To have such a beautiful beauty greet me the moment I open my eyes. My life until now has not been in vain! This too must be the arrangement of the Earth Mother Goddess!"
"...Beauty?"
"Of course, if you cannot call a beautiful person a beauty, then what would you call them!"
The Undying One's words were cheeky but so sudden that the officer couldn't properly process them and merely frowned.
"No time for wordplay. I am Lieutenant Commander Calis Kritz, appointed as Tantalos's instructor, and also the administrator of this Tantalos. And."
The officer opened the bundle and took out the object inside. Rash, who had been watching it with curious eyes, beamed when he recognized what it was.
"This is a World Tree leaf!"
"You recognize it."
If beasts have a king, then grass and trees have the World Tree.
However, unlike beasts, the king of plants did not take human form.
Humans are the dominant species on land, but that only applies to the domain of beasts. No matter how arrogant a human may be, they could not dare claim that humanity dominates even plants.
This was indeed the case. Plants didn't even care what became of beasts and preserved their original forms.
Even the countless flowers and grass that bloom and wither have a king, but finding their king is nearly impossible. The kings of plants each take their own forms making them difficult to distinguish, and even if one discovers them by heavenly fortune, their life ends the moment they are plucked.
However, some trees can live for thousands of years, and the same holds true for their king.
The king of trees has lived for decades at shortest and thousands of years at longest, and among them, there existed a king of trees that had existed for so long that its whereabouts were known.
People called it the World Tree.
Having absorbed the earth's vital energy to the fullest over thousands of years, it was said that a single root was like a small hill and a single leaf was like a large fan. This great and mystical king of trees that was born and grew alongside the Earth Mother Goddess, some people revered and worshipped it like a god.
The Undying One Rash was one of them.
"Of course I know! My tribe is closer to the Earth Mother Goddess than anyone else in the world. How could I not recognize something so full of vital energy! The mystical ginkgo tree, though it's not near us! It has always been an object of longing for us!"
And, to people other than such ones, it was generally perceived as a slightly unusual and large tree.
A somewhat precious tree whose fallen leaves could be sold for money.
The officer said.
"Then you must know how valuable this is?"
"Of course I know its objective value too! I tried to buy one once but it was damn expensive! The pittance I earned from hard labor wasn't even close! Anyway, thank you! I was suffering from slow regeneration due to lack of vital energy! Thanks to this, my body has fully healed!"
The Undying One promptly nodded. The officer who had actually handed over the World Tree leaf, though not showing it in her expression, was inwardly bewildered.
'Strange. I didn't even feed him the World Tree leaf, but his right arm jumped up on its own and he recovered his energy. What's going on?'
Wait a moment. The recovery potion that healed the right arm, could it be.
With a suspicion in mind, I asked the regressor.
"Ms. Shea. By any chance, in the recovery potion ingredients..."
"Yeah. In cases like the Undying One, earth's vital energy works well, so I used World Tree leaves?"
I couldn't help but be horrified at the regressor who answered so casually.
"Wow. Only at times like this does she spend so lavishly."
"It was the minimum cost necessary. Because someone turned their arm into complete rags, the curse was serious, and it wouldn't have healed without that much."
"You're right. It's all my fault."
Tch. Clicking my tongue, I pressed close to the corner and carefully peeked inside the training room. The regressor followed behind me without understanding why.
"The lieutenant commander met the Undying One. Is that why you called me?"
"It's already too late. Let's just watch."
While the regressor and I peered inside through the open door, the officer also evaluated the Undying One with sharp eyes from beneath her hat brim.
A muscular giant who looked to be about 2 meters tall. The body visible through the tattered shirt was darker than bronze, looking more like metal than skin. His rugged body was overflowing with vitality, and he had regained the strength of his prime even without using the World Tree leaf yet.
'Anyway, what was the deal with that right arm that jumped in earlier...?'
Anyway, if the result is good, that's all that matters. The officer who set aside thoughts of the right arm for now looked the Undying One's body up and down.
'They said he tore people apart with bare hands. Though it doesn't stand out since this is the Bottomless Pit, an undying race once called the kin of berserkers. Among them, he held the position of "Right Arm," the second highest rank... He can become a sufficient helper.'
The land of Undying Ones who couldn't escape tribal society. Rash, the Undying One who left that place and wandered the world, took great interest in the Military Nation. After various negotiations with the Military Nation and accepting harsh conditions, he even received a temporary citizenship and stayed in the Military Nation.
Though he ended up falling into the Bottomless Pit with no room for reconsideration due to committing murder.
'One of the few who holds goodwill toward the Military Nation.'
The Bottomless Pit full of enemies. In a place isolated from the world, she had discovered the only existence with the potential to become an ally.
The officer inwardly felt great relief.
'I'm glad I solved the mystery of that bundle. If I hadn't recalled it... Their orders are always delivered so ambiguously...'
The officer who had been pondering with her hand on her chin finished her cold calculation. The Undying One, looking at the World Tree leaf with apparent happiness, said full of expectation.
"May I truly take this?"
"Fine. However, there is a condition."
"Oh, such a precious gift! Thank you!"
"I said there is a condition?"
Having judged that he was sufficiently worth utilizing, the officer pressed down her hat brim and spoke.
"It is not a gift. It is the cost I paid for you, a trainee. I also suffered considerable loss, so you must repay me that much..."
"Haha! People of the Military Nation sure have a talent for speaking stiffly! I will receive this gift with true joy and gratitude!"
"Trainee. I've said it multiple times but..."
The officer looked at the Undying One who kept emphasizing it was a gift with disapproving eyes. The officer thought the Undying One intended to dismiss it as a gift and gulp it down.
However, that was underestimating the Undying One's magnanimity too much.
"No, it is a gift!"
The Undying One who stubbornly shook his head raised his thumb again and said.
"This is an incredibly precious gift to me, and also the nourishment I needed most right now when I'm lacking vital energy! You came to find me and handed this gift to me personally. This item must surely be a gift containing your heart, and since our hearts have exchanged, wouldn't you say we can soon be called friends!"
"...What?"
The officer who grew up in the Military Nation and was not used to such words belatedly understood the Undying One's meaning.
In other words, instead of refusing a debt relationship, the Undying One had chosen to owe a debt of the heart.
With a debt, the relationship ends once payment is made, but a friend does not wither until the heart is owed.
"I am not one to refuse a friend's request. So, what request do you have, friend?"
This situation must have been unexpected for the officer as well, as she lost her words for a moment and fell into thought.
However, backed into a corner. Right now, she had no reason to refuse, no justification.
Nor the will to.
"...I have something I must do. I want you, trainee, to help me with it."
"Haha! If it's a friend's request, of course!"
The Undying One extended his hand, and the officer, though not very willing, eventually grasped it.
'...I don't want to be friends with a convict trapped in the Bottomless Pit. But for utilizing him immediately, that's better.'
Whether it's in the form of friendship or a debt relationship, it doesn't matter.
As long as she could use this Undying One who didn't seem to value his own life, the officer decided not to care what to call this relationship.
'Must be because of his large build... His hand is also large. Even his fingers are two joints longer...'
The instructor who suddenly had an out-of-place thought while shaking hands briefly shook her head and recomposed herself.
'No. I was simply thinking about his physique. With this size, he'd be perfect as a meat shield.'
Alright.
It's about time to slowly withdraw. Taking my eyes off them, I whispered into the regressor's ear.
"Ms. Shea."
Then the regressor jumped up in disgust.
"Ah, shit. You startled me. What?"
Why such an overreaction? I asked the regressor who was bristling all over and baring his teeth.
"Why are you so startled between fellow men?"
"It's creepy! You could just speak normally, why whisper!"
"They'll hear us inside, so I can't shout."
"I always keep my voice from leaking out, so it's fine!"
So stalking is a passive skill. Very desirable.
I nodded and pointed to the side with my finger.
"They'll be coming out soon, so shall we escape?"
"Escape? Didn't you have business with the Undying One?"
"It ended earlier."
I glanced over there and muttered looking at the officer who had obtained the helper she wished to trust and rely on.
"Because what was desired has been achieved."
The regressor didn't understand my meaning and tilted his head.
"Leaving like this feels a bit unsatisfied. The Undying One... even if he joined the lieutenant commander, he won't create a significant change... But getting entangled is still something I'd rather avoid."
"Really. The most troublesome thing in the world."
"What?"
"Never mind. Just come with me for now!"
It's the timing when the officer and the Undying One will slowly come out of the training room. To not disturb them, I dragged the regressor and headed outside.