Chapter 7: The True Identity of the Tree Roots
Ahead was complete darkness.
Hearing the unusual scream of a woman, Christo ran out of the dining room, calling out Melvina's name in a loud voice.
In the shortest possible time, he reached the kitchen, kicked in the back door, and went outside.
He used his rune magic, "Arrow of Light," to obliterate the old wooden fence, and looking down from the steep cliff toward the riverbank, he saw a blazing fire near the halfway point of the cliff. Melvina was crouched in front of it.
"Melvina!"
"Christo-san! Please call a doctor! Caspar-san is in critical condition!"
“Are you okay!?”
He shouted as he descended the cliff.
The cliff was littered in places with the debris of branches, reminding him that only a few moments ago they had been raw wood. Melvina is crouched down in front of a reed-thorn bush. Below her lay Caspar, who had gone to wash his clothes.
"This is……"
Behind Melvina, there were countless marks made by the tremendous force that had pierced the rock's surface. And then there were the black robes and a woman's head, which had been cruelly discarded. Christo's eyes widened.
"Yattrud!"
"Yattrud-san attacked me. Caspar-san was also attacked by her."
"What do you mean? ――No, the first priority is to get Caspar out of this place. Right?"
"Yes"
Melvina looked back at the dark surface of the water beyond the reeds.
"Please be careful. There may still be enemies lurking somewhere."
"Okay. I'll carry him. I'll take the leg side, you take the shoulder. I'll pull him up the cliff."
Melvina nodded and put her arm under Caspar's shoulder.
The two carefully pulled the unconscious young administrator up, relying on the moonlight.
A short time later, they were joined by Blaise and the others who had followed Christo.
Leaving them to move Caspar's body, Christo descends once more to the riverbank to retrieve Yattrud's body.
The black surface of the water remained still, and there was no sign of any living creature.
× × ×
There are no proper doctors in the former Soderholm territory.
There are herbalists in the pioneer village, but they have no specialized knowledge and can only provide treatments that are an extension of the medicine and wisdom that has been passed down orally.
Caspar did not wake up after half an hour, but he was breathing and his pulse was stable, so they decided to let him sleep tonight. All they could do was let him sleep.
"I'll go to the village at daybreak to call an herbalist."
"And a monster expert, please."
Melvina said to Blaise as they came out of the guest room on the first floor of the castle.
According to Melvina, Yattrud is a monster.
Indeed, there was no bleeding on her body, and if you look at her back, you will see that something like a tree root had eaten through the skin on her back and was sticking out.
According to Christo's memory, Yattrud must have been a normal human at least until she was ten years old, so either a monster had killed the real her along the way and replaced her, or a monster had parasitized her and taken over her body, or she had been mutated by the elixir like Patricia.
Blaise shook his weary face.
"Yes, I suppose so. But I can't believe that Yattrud-san was a monster. She was cooking dinner for us yesterday. We even had a normal conversation. It's...... a nightmare that she's a monster."
"What if Yattrud puts something strange in our meal?"
Blaise tilted his head at the judicial official's feeble words.
"What kind of strange stuffs?"
"Poison, parasites, etc."
"No way. We are alive and well. The mashed potatoes she made were just mashed potatoes."
"I-I hope so..."
Blaise turned back to Christo and Melvina.
The light of the lantern in the ominous corridor of Soderholm Castle accentuated the deep wrinkles on his face.
"I'm really sorry when you both just arrived. None of us here are experts. We can't call on them right away. For now, we'll just have to maintain the status quo for tonight...... where is Yattrud-san's body?"
"It's tied up in the dungeon."
Christo replied.
If Melvina is right, Yattrud is a monster.
Even if decapitated, it could regenerate, so it was tightly chained.
If it were a powerful monster, such a restraint would be as good as nothing, but it would be a comfort.
"I see. I feel sorry for not being able to bury her..."
"What are you going to do from now on, Blaise-san?"
Melvina looked around and asked.
"Do you have normal work tomorrow?"
"In addition to my regular work, I have to go to the pioneer village. I completely threw the food problem of the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation] to the village chief of the pioneer village, so I have to follow up."
"I really want to go back and sleep."
The judicial official said tiredly.
"Caspar's condition seems to be stable, so he should be fine."
"What are you going to do Christopher-kun and Melvina-san tonight? The original plan was to have you both stay in the guest room of the castle, but now Caspar is occupying it."
"Could you lend us Ixel’s study room on the second floor?"
Melvina asks Blaise.
Christo frowned.
"Oi, oi, the study room was piled up with documents."
"Yeah, it's embarrassing. We just haven't been able to organize it."
"No, that's all right."
Melvina looked around.
"It would be better to have someone on standby to respond when Caspar-san wakes up. We don't want Yattrud-san's body to suddenly come back to life and go on a rampage."
"C-come back to life!? A-ahahaha. To come back to life, that's stupid."
"Just in case. Christo-san, please borrow a vacant bed at Blaise-san's house in the castle town. Don't worry about me."
"Of course I do."
"But it would be selfish of me to stay in the study room."
"No, it's not selfish. It is true that it would be better if one of us were here to keep watch, but I really don't want to do it out of sentiment. However, if Melvina-san is the only one who has to watch, as an adult I can't overlook that, so I, as the head of the administration, will watch."
"No, I'll stay"
If anything, Christo was the most qualified person to take charge in case of an emergency. The others, including Blaise, were civil officials who could not even wield a sword properly.
Even if there is a monster attack, it is meaningless if they are eaten together with Caspar.
"It would be reassuring if you, the [Hero of the North], could take watch."
"It's settled. Leave the rest to me."
"I'm sorry. I'll tell the soldiers outside."
Blaise and the others left.
When he was alone with Melvina, Christo turned to her silently.
"......"
Melvina stiffens.
Christo stared down at her, and eventually, as if she couldn't take it anymore, she opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry. I broke my word and went outside the castle. I also did something dangerous."
"――――"
"Christo-san, are you angry?"
Melvina looked away and said so.
Christo swung his right hand up,
"――――"
He gently hugged Melvina.
"I'm glad you're okay"
"Christo-san..."
"I'm not angry at you. Your actions saved Caspar's life. You did a great job, Melvina. I'm proud of you."
"I-I am being praised... why?"
"On the contrary, why did you think I would get angry?"
"I broke my word. I should have called out Christo-san without jumping out. I always seem to get in the way and do things that I shouldn't have."
"Did Setanta tell you not to do anything unnecessary or that it's annoying?"
"N-no! Onii-sama has nothing to do with it! Onii-sama is a good person!"
Christo looked at Melvina who said that.
"I respect your intentions. I'll give you a warning in advance and protect you as much as possible, but that's all. You should honestly do what you think you have to do. Even this time, Did you move because you thought Caspar would die if you didn't do it?"
"Eh? I wonder. It's been a long time since I've had a feeling of battle, and my body moved on its own――"
"Eh"
"I did it for Caspar-san."
"Ah, that's right."
"Yes"
"You do what you think is right. If you fail, it's okay. I'll take care of it."
"Christo-san... thank you."
"Yeah"
After Christo nodded, he looked at Melvina's hands.
The sleeves of her clothes were tattered, as if they had been melted down by some chemical.
Yet her hands were smooth and white without a single injury.
It's clearly a mark of being attacked by poison or something from the enemy.
But Melvina is unharmed.
Flames were burning brightly at the battle site, and there was no doubt that there was a fierce battle with the enemy from the destruction of the cliff.
Until now, Melvina was Christo's goddess, a princess, and an object to be protected.
It should continue to be so.
He had been thinking about this...... but when he dug into his memory, his brain was flooded with episodes that seemed to him to be some kind of trouble.
Melvina was the sister of Setanta, who was by far the most dangerous person Christo had ever seen. Setanta was still alive after having his bones shattered and his chest stabbed with a sword, only to return to work a few days later as if nothing had happened to him.
Could it be that Melvina is also a dangerous person――?
Coming here, a new theory popped up in Christo―― the theory that Melvina is a dangerous person.
And it seemed like a dangerous new theory that should not be touched.
If he recognized that his wife was an out-of-this-world gorilla, he would feel fear every time she held his manhood, and he might have trouble getting an erection. He must avoid that.
But
"Me... Melvina"
"Yes"
(Stop it, it's not like that. Look at her blank face. She's the cutest in the world. She's my goddess. No matter what anyone says, she's a goddess.)
"What is it?"
"Hmm, nothing. I just felt like calling your name."
"Eh?"
In the popular phrase in the royal capital, [Idiot Couple]? It would seem that way.
But seeing Melvina's puzzled face, it's all right, Christo thought.
"I'm sorry that it was supposed to be a trip just to make out with you."
"No, I don't mind. There's nothing wrong with Christo-san."
"Yes?"
"Yes. ――Um, I also have something I want to say to Christo-san, is that okay?"
"Of course"
After Christo nodded, Melvina's eyes wandered, as if she were lost, and then she opened her mouth, as if she had made up her mind.
"Recently, Christo-san, aren’t you overprotective?"
"Eh? I-Is that so?"
"Yes. Just walking down the street, I was held so that I wouldn't fall, or just going to the bathroom and trying to follow me because it was too dangerous."
"Was that annoying?"
"No. It's not annoying at all. But it was sad. I felt like I was a five-year-old child."
"I-I'm sorry"
"It's fine as long as you treat me normally. It's strange to think that you would even go to the kitchen to get beer and try to accompany me."
Christo put his finger to his forehead anxiously.
"My love for you was driving me crazy. Not good. It seems that in front of a beautiful flower like you, I become a bee of love."
"A bee of love. What a wonderful expression. You are indeed Christo-san. Nope......! Cristo-san is the kind of guy who keeps his lover on a short leash."
"Isn't that the case with everyone? Patricia, for example, she's definitely the type to bind you."
"Eh, sister-in-law Patricia is not. She let Onii-sama do whatever he wanted, and she rarely ordered him to do anything."
"That's right, that was a plea."
And Setanta did not listen.
But Patricia to Christo is like someone who binds him and orders him to do something――.
"Do you dislike bondage-type lovers?"
"Eh!? If you ask me if I like it or not, I might like it …I'm sorry, I am a pervert too."
"Even if you are a pervert, I would be troubled if the people around me thought I was abnormal. Thank you for pointing it out. I will be careful from now on. If you have any other complaints about me, please let me know."
That was the end of the discussion about her restrictive lover.
After that, Christo shut himself up in the study room and took care of the documents. After Melvina finished cleaning up the dining room, she went down to the dungeon saying she wanted to see Yattrud's body tied up in the basement.
They spent the night absorbed in their respective tasks, and at 8:00 a.m. Blaise and the others came to work, so they switched places and went to sleep.
The sleeping place is on the sofa in the study room.
Ixel had two large sofas in his study room.
It was the first time he slept on the sofa, but it was surprisingly comfortable.
It was late afternoon when they woke up, but even then, Caspar seemed to be still sleeping on the bed in the guest room, as if dead.
× × ×
After 16:00, he had a meal with Melvina.
The topic of conversation was about the microscope that was on the desk in the study room.
Melvina woke up first, but when Christo woke up, Melvina was looking at the microscope on the desk. When she noticed that Christo had woken up, she said, [Not good! I'll go make you a meal right away], and left, returning a short time later with a plate of food on a tray.
And so, the topic of the microscope was a natural progression.
"I apologize for using it without permission."
"No, it's fine. The microscope was given to Ixel by an old friend. I had never seen Ixel use the microscope until the day I left the castle at the age of fifteen. The microscope would have been happier if you had used it than if it had been left in a corner of the study unused."
To be precise, the demon Surt, aka Ixel, had inherited it from a vampire friend who was an alchemist. Since Ixel preferred to be exposed to the operas, poetry, and literary works of the human race rather than look through a microscope, there was no way the microscope would ever come to use.
"Who owns the microscope?"
"It must be the temporary administrator here. Blaise-san, the head of the administration, is the administrator now. So it doesn't make any sense for you to get permission to use it. It's not mine, and I don't control it."
"That's right. If he is not going to use it, could they lend it to me?"
"Then I will ask Frontier Count Netzel. I will write to him later. If Netzel agrees, Blaise-san will give the okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. It's not much trouble. What were you looking at under the microscope?"
Melvina smiled beautifully like a goddess.
"It's body tissue taken from Yattrud-san's body."
"――――――――――――――――"
(Eh, yuck. Don't, goddess)
"I was curious as to the nature of the tree-root-like tentacles protruding from her...... Actually, I was also interested in her internal organs, but I gave up on that because I was told that an expert from the Adventurers' Guild would be coming later. I had secretly collected the tentacle tissue last night."
Don't tell anyone――
Melvina winks at him.
(Hmm, this is a goddess!)
"Did you learn anything by observing the body tissue?"
"Yes. It turned out to be very interesting. ――She seems to be a peculiar being, one might say a Skogsra person."
"What's a Skogsra?"
"It is a monster of a subspecies of the elf kind. They look like a combination of a tree and a human. They are also called Dryads."
Melvina stands up, carefully wiping her fingers clean.
Christo follows behind her to the microscope, chewing on a crunchy potato sandwich.
"Take a look"
"Oh, so this is the one with Yattrud's tentacles all magnified."
"And here it is."
Melvina opened her suitcase and took out a book with [♡Monster♡ Encyclopedia☆Mi desu] written on it. As she flipped through the pages, she opened a page entitled Skogsra.
"A sketch of the body tissues of the tentacles of Skogsra."
"That's a cute handwriting. The handwriting resembles the writer."
"As you can see, the tissue structures are almost identical. However, I don't see any chloroplasts in Yattrud-san's tissue. Yattrud-san can't photosynthesize."
"I can't do photosynthesis either... Of course, you shouldn't be able to do it either."
"Skogsras are capable of photosynthesis. Regular Skogsras have tree roots on their feet. Due to this special leg structure, they are able to absorb moisture and nutrients from the ground and move underground at high speed. On the other hand, Yattrud-san's feet have retained the form of human feet."
"I got it."
Christo took a bite of his sandwich.
"In short?"
"It's not a complete Skogsra, it's a special existence that also has the structure of a human body."
Melvina started walking back and forth on the spot.
"The Skogsra-like body tissue was most abundant around the tentacles and less abundant away from the tentacles, toward the legs and toward the face, as if the tentacles were the starting point of the body. It was as if Yattrud-san had mutated into a Skogsra starting from the tentacles."
"Interesting. For example, the transformation into a demon using the [primordial elixir] also starts from the area where a lot of body tissues are coated."
"As I recall, that was a mutation induced by infecting the subject and having the subject take in the body tissues of the demon during that time, wasn't it? The mutation is similar to this case in that the structure of the internal organs does not change, wings, tail, horns, etc. do not grow, and the physique does not change, but it is different in that the bones, muscles, and other body tissues completely become those of the demon that has taken over."
Melvina continued.
"Yattrud-san's mutation is sparse. Some are Skogsra and some are human. This is similar to the case of a parasite being taken over. Vampires of the kingly class and above can parasitize humans and take over their bodies, even if they are only headless, but their mutation into vampires is also more common closer to the neck. The area near the feet is very vulnerable, much like humans."
"Hmm. Interesting. If, as you seem to think, Yattrud was transformed into a demon by a parasitic tentacle growing on the back, then that tentacle is a parasitic creature that is a threat to humanity."
"I am not an expert, and this is all just a theory. I have no proof. Please take it half seriously."
"Yeah, I know."
(But parasite.)
Lately, he's had a strong connection to parasites.
When Patricia mutated into a demon, she was spitting out a mouthful of pale, glistening, slug-like parasite. As soon as the slug left Patricia's body, it transformed into the form of a branch of the holy tree.
There is no proof, but that was probably the seed of the pseudo-holy sword from the [Holy Sword that Slays Devils] that grew in her belly.
When her internal organs were in such a bad state that she needed stomach medicine, she vomited out a slug, a branch of the holy tree.
Christo recalled that the corpse of the holy sword maiden he had slain so far had turned into a small holy tree.
"Changing the subject, what are your plans for the rest of the day?"
"What are your plans, Christo-san?"
"All the monster subjugation requests have been canceled, and I'll do the paperwork at night. Making the resident register and helping with the documents will probably be postponed if you look at the current state of the temporary executives. First, we need to coordinate with the mercenary group with Breast Knight and Tiger Black, and talk with the experts about Caspar."
"You mean to say that there is nothing else to do except to file the paperwork?"
"That's right. Well, I came here with the intention of taking a leisurely trip with you, and this is the development I was hoping for."
"Let's finish organizing the documents first."
"I don't want to. Look at the mess in this room."
Christo looks around the study room where piles of documents about one meter high are scattered.
"I'm going to put these things in a file and put them on that bookshelf over there. It's not organizing anymore, it's tidying up, cleaning up. And I'm devastatingly bad at cleaning. You know that, right?"
"Yes, Christo-san’s room is certainly a mess."
"It's clean because you clean it.... I'm always sorry."
"No, no. Everyone has things they're not good at. If Christo-san was good at housework, I'd be surprised because you're too perfect for a human."
"Hmm..."
He's been spoiled for fifteen years here, and having women (mainly Laira and Margret) take care of him while he was in the monastery. Christo was hopelessly incapable of making a living.
(If I don't do something, I'll end up as the devil myself. Training, isn't it? If you don't train the bride, you have to train the bridegroom.)
"If you don't like cleaning, what are we going to do? There's still more than five hours until sunset."
"Let's go to the pioneer village!"
"Well."
Christo swallowed his sandwich and snapped his fingers.
"There's a beautiful cold spring and a sauna on the edge of the village. It is the main entertainment of this Soderholm territory. Or rather, there is little else to do but sauna, s*x, and drugs."
"Ara……"
"The sauna is deserted after dark. And with the dangers of the northern forest, no one will go near the springs at night."
"It's private!"
"Exactly. If you want to enjoy the sauna, now is the time."
"Then let's get our bath sets and swimsuits ready and get going!"
"Well. Let's forget all about the mundane and indulge in the pleasures of the world!"
"Oh, how lovely!"
So, Melvina and Christo decided to go to the pioneer village and the sauna.
My take, the "holy" tree is actually a hive tree or smth. Can control people and parasite people, so.
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