Duke Kailan entrusted me with full authority over the punishment of the elves.
I wondered why Duke Kailan also had the right to punish them or receive compensation.
But I was a citizen of Silvaerin and an honorary quartermaster, and I had been kidnapped.
So it was deemed that Duke Kailan, as its ruler, had also suffered damages, and while not as much as I had, he was granted some rights as well.
As his compensation, Duke Kailan pulled off the remarkable feat of extracting 100 kilograms of various crops, by type.
Of course, there was no way to carry them off immediately, so this too would be put on the books and requested when needed.
The elves harvested crops by borrowing the vitality of the World Tree, and that amount was by no means small.
I wondered if we ought to be worried about the World Tree growing gaunt.
“Yes... Understood. Please take them whenever you wish...”
“Mm. Thank you.”
Yet Trea and Elioren, who heard the proposal, agreed without any objection.
In truth, it was less that they had no objections and more that the shock was so great they could not think of anything else.
Just as the final agreement was about to be concluded, Trea asked,
“Jinwoo. Must you truly... try eating the World Tree? If you wish, we can offer you other rare fruits instead.”
“No. I won’t trade.”
“Khuhuk...”
Trea, the Grand Elder of the elves, let out a groan and sighed.
No... What am I supposed to do when I’m curious?
Whether the World Tree bears fruit, or whether it has no special fruit and instead sap flows from it.
And whether that can be eaten or not.
I did not know exactly what the principle behind vitality was, but I could tell that it was an extremely wondrous power.
Since it was a tree imbued with such power, wouldn’t it have some kind of effect if consumed?
When I remained firm, Trea sighed.
“Haa... Understood. The first time is difficult, but from the second time onward, the shock is at least less severe.”
“Pardon? The second time?”
What did that mean?
There was someone besides me who had tried to eat the World Tree?
Had another human visited Nuardel before me?
Or maybe someone had secretly intruded and eaten it.
“Yes. She is right before your eyes, Jinwoo. The ‘first elf to have eaten the World Tree.’”
“Uh... Don’t tell me?”
From the flow of the conversation, she was not referring to herself or Elioren...
I turned my gaze to the three elves standing behind us.
Seiran and Veila awkwardly avoided my eyes.
And... one elf whose ears had turned bright red, unable to even raise her head.
“Iseria. You, seriously?”
“Uuuuh... That’s not what’s important right now...”
Iseria blushed and twisted her symbolic twin tails around her fingers.
Wow. Not even a human, but an elf.
And on top of that, a young elf lady from a fairly prestigious family had tried eating the World Tree?
Eating the World Tree was not on the level of wandering around the sample corners at a big supermarket and picking up a piece or two of meat.
This time, I was the one who fell into shock and lost my words.
“Yes. Well... as she said, it was a deviation from the past. She paid the full price for that crime as well.”
“The price?”
“Yes. I punished her myself. Five hundred strikes with a switch...”
“Grand Elder! Please!”
Iseria, who had calmly apologized for her crime and accepted her punishment, shouted for the first time.
It was definitely a dark history. Even Elioren couldn’t bring himself to lift his head.
Since she used the word crime, was eating the World Tree illegal?
Nuardel was a rule-of-thumb society where the law was not clearly institutionalized in the first place.
But since it was an act that harmed the one and only sacred tree of this world, it was certainly morally uncomfortable.
“Is it perhaps illegal, or something like that?”
“No... Nuardel does not have a structured legal system, but from a common-sense standpoint, it is an irreverent act...”
“Ah.”
Trea answered my question while sweating profusely.
Still, I could yield everything else, but I could not give up on the World Tree.
From the moment I opened my eyes in Nuardel to the very air in this conference room now.
There had been a faint fragrance that continuously made its presence known.
At first, I simply thought it was the phytoncides of a green forest, the smell of grass, but after smelling it constantly, I realized it was different.
Wherever living beings dwell, filth is bound to be produced.
Byproducts of life activities, agricultural waste...
And such filth inevitably produces a foul odor.
Yet for some reason, I had no memory of smelling anything unpleasant in Nuardel.
Even when I approached a heap of piled-up straw, all I felt was its unique musty, soft smell; I could not detect any stench of rot at all.
Leaving only the warm scent of straw behind, an unknown, refreshing fragrance faintly lingered.
Whoosh—
I turned my head toward the window and looked at the towering giant tree.
The majesty I had witnessed on the first day was still vivid even now.
The World Tree, visible from anywhere in Nuardel.
The closer one got to that World Tree, the stronger this mysterious fresh fragrance became.
This fragrance was most likely the scent of the World Tree.
An outstanding deodorizing effect that left only the ingredient’s natural flavor while erasing every other off-smell.
I had said that I wanted to try eating the World Tree, but what I desired was this.
An invincible cooking deodorizer that completely killed any and all unpleasant odors.
I saw that possibility in the World Tree.
So... I really wanted to try it somehow, just once, and at least confirm it.
When I visibly agonized over it, Trea said,
“Damaging the wooden body of the World Tree would be difficult, even for you, Jinwoo.”
“Ah... Yes.”
“Instead, I can give you the World Tree’s sap and naturally fallen leaves.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. Since they have already separated from its body, there is no significant issue. In fact, the World Tree encourages their use.”
Nice!
I cheered inwardly.
Then, now that all matters had been settled, there was no need to keep dragging this out.
I sprang up from my seat and said,
“Let’s go to the World Tree.”
Let’s hurry up and go already. The anticipation was killing me.
***
After leaving the conference room, Trea and I headed straight for the World Tree.
The Sildiel family mansion was located in what could be called the center of Nuardel.
Even from there, we had to go deeper into the innermost area, and the path was no simple matter.
It was not that the road was unmaintained or merely a forest path; rather, various barrier spells cast by the elves to protect the World Tree lay in wait.
And the Verdant Curtain spread along Nuardel’s border.
On top of that, an even thicker barrier of the World Tree itself had been laid over this place.
‘How did Iseria break through this?’
It was a level of security that naturally made such a question arise.
The main stronghold of the World Tree, where high-level restrictions were layered one upon another.
Aside from me, the one receiving the compensation, Arthur, Kailan, and even the elf Elioren could not accompany us.
Unless one had special business, even a family head could not come and go as they pleased.
And aside from that, Elioren had no choice but to head elsewhere... in order to manage the three rookie criminals of his family.
Arthur and Kailan were humans who were not involved parties, so naturally they could not enter.
“Please be careful not to fall behind. You may lose your way in an instant.”
“Gasp, yes.”
At Trea’s warning, I sharpened my focus.
Fog lay thick across the area, and strange tree vines stretched out everywhere... It was quite ominous.
As I walked while gripping the hem of Trea’s clothes tightly,
the dim surroundings filled with bright light in an instant.
“Wow...”
“We have arrived. This is the sacred tree of the elves, the World Tree.”
“A baobab tree?”
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“Ah, I said it’s so beautiful.”
Among all the trees I had seen in my life, the biggest had been a baobab tree I saw when I visited an arboretum.
It was only because of my limited experience that a baobab tree came to mind; at this size, what was it again?
It was more like one of those pictures online titled [100-million-year-old Earth-ruling-class sequoia tree.jpg].
It had looked outrageously huge in the photo... but this World Tree seemed even bigger.
The circumference of the tree was nearly half that of the Sildiel mansion, and its height was like a high-rise building in Gangnam.
What made even less sense was that, despite its overwhelming size, countless branches spread out from it.
If it had grown long and narrow like a cedar, it might be able to endure.
But the World Tree was closer in form to a zelkova, spreading wide while boasting a glittering radiance.
If that were the case, the higher it went, the more surface area would be exposed to the wind, making it extremely dangerous.
If a tree on this scale snapped in a typhoon or something, wouldn’t that be the day Nuardel’s service shut down?
“Wow... It really is the kind of existence that could create faith where none existed.”
“Huhu. I am glad you recognize it.”
However, I soon set aside my concerns about safety.
There were all kinds of security spells cast here, so it did not seem likely they could not block something as simple as wind.
I purely admired the majesty of the World Tree.
When one witnesses a nature so immense that it takes their breath away, they feel as if they have become as small as an ant.
That was exactly how I felt now. My chest swelled.
Since I had seen something good, I stored it away somewhere in my mind.
Then I spoke to Trea about the original purpose.
“Lady Trea. So what sap and leaves should I take?”
“I will give you leaves that have been gathered, and for the sap, please come this way.”
Trea entered a hut used as both a rest area and storage room, then brought out a beautifully crafted glass bottle.
A transparent glass bottle about a handspan long in my hand.
I followed behind Trea as she walked along familiarly.
“Can you see it over there? The sap is flowing.”
“Ah, I see it.”
“Yes. If you would wait here for just a moment...”
“No. I’d like to collect it myself.”
“Pardon? Ah... Understood. Please be careful.”
Collecting sap was not difficult, and if possible, I wanted to do it myself.
I would likely never have another chance in my life to come this close to the World Tree.
And more than anything... you never knew.
‘If I touch the World Tree, will it register in the [Mana Market]?’
The [Mana Market] did not handle anything that was not classified as an ingredient.
I used it often because it was useful, but I had no guess as to its true nature.
Since I was not going to research magic, it would be difficult to find out in the future as well.
In any case, this ability that even transcended the common sense of another world—could it register even the World Tree?
It was an impious thought, but if by some chance it did register,
it might be possible to plant another World Tree.
I had no intention of making money with this, nor of living in luxury under the World Tree’s shade.
‘I’m just... curious.’
How could I endure this?
I stepped onto a massive tree root protruding above the ground and approached the place where the sap was flowing.
My careful footsteps and the exhilaration of my pounding heart.
At last, I reached the trunk of the World Tree where sap flowed.
Wooooong—
Was this low-frequency sound I was hearing now a hallucination born of my nervousness?
Or was it the voice of the being known as the World Tree?
I placed the glass bottle precisely against it so the sap would not leak out.
And with my other palm, I touched the World Tree.
Crackle—!
“Uwah?!”
The moment I touched it, I felt a sharp, tingling pain.
A shock more numbing than static electricity made me nearly drop the sap bottle.
‘What is this? Is it rejecting me?’
Until now, none of the ingredients I had registered in the [Mana Market] had shown a reaction like this.
Either they registered with a sensation of seeping in, or there was no reaction at all.
Just as my mind became confused with bewilderment, a message appeared before my eyes.
[This item cannot be registered yet!]
A short line of text written in a mechanical manner.
It was a message in the same format as the status window I usually saw.
But—
A chill ran down my spine in an instant, and goosebumps rose all over my body.
‘If it says yet...’
Then it can be registered? The World Tree?