Chapter 233

Quest (2)

An acorn bomb.

Judging by the name alone, it probably sounded like a tiny, adorable explosive.

But even a blank round could cause serious injury if discharged at point-blank range.

"Gaaah!"

That was precisely what had happened to me.

A small explosion had gone off right beside my head.

Although I hadn’t suffered any direct injuries, an intense ringing filled my ear.

I had effectively lost the hearing in one ear for the moment.

Drip—

I could even feel something warm trickling from it.

It was undoubtedly blood.

After hearing an explosion that loud at such close range, it was only natural for my eardrum to be injured.

At least, as far as I knew, an eardrum could heal naturally if properly treated.

Conversely, if treatment came too late, I would have to live with permanent hearing damage.

Just what the hell is that thing, and why does it have acorn bombs?

Struggling to suppress the ringing and dizziness, I followed the squirrel with my eyes.

It was incredibly difficult to deal with when it could move from one hollow to another like something out of a fairy tale.

But I couldn’t simply sit there doing nothing.

I had to respond immediately.

Stagger—

"Ugh!"

The severe dizziness accompanying the ringing made it difficult to even maintain my balance.

I squeezed my eyes shut, opened them again, and stared ahead.

The squirrel had hidden itself somewhere and was nowhere to be seen.

If another acorn bomb like that comes flying at me...

It would all be over if I took one head-on.

It might be small, but an explosion was still an explosion.

If my hearing were intact, I could determine where it was coming from, but even that was difficult now.

What the hell is that thing?

Fwoooosh!

Fortunately, my uninjured right ear caught the sound of something slicing through the air.

The moment I heard it, I raised my shield.

An explosion was only dangerous when I had no protection.

With a shield, I should be fine.

KABOOM!!

Just as I expected.

Although I felt a mild impact, it caused little actual damage.

The problem was the vibration.

The vibration from the explosion aggravated my injured eardrum.

"Urrgh...!"

I was already dizzy, and the added vibration made me feel nauseated.

I had experienced plenty of pain during fierce battles, but I had never suffered dizziness like this before.

There was a limit to how long I could endure it through sheer willpower.

I needed to end this fight as quickly as possible.

Namu ppareumbo tapped my shoulder and pointed to the left.

That meant an attack was coming from that direction.

I turned my head.

The moment I did, I saw the squirrel swinging its thick tail at me.

I couldn’t remain on the defensive forever.

In particular, the squirrel’s attacks followed a straight trajectory.

That meant they were easy to evade.

I lightly pivoted my body.

The dizziness made even turning difficult, but I managed to dodge by a hair’s breadth.

Now I just have to...

All I had to do was counterattack.

I immediately moved to strike.

However, there was something I had overlooked.

This forest was the squirrel’s home turf.

Naturally, it possessed the advantage of the terrain.

What did that mean?

Thump!

The squirrel used the tree behind me as a springboard and launched itself straight back at me.

The sight caught me completely off guard, but fortunately, I somehow managed to block it by raising my shield.

CLAAANG!

Of course, I still had to endure the resulting impact.

Even the arm holding my shield was beginning to ache.

Meanwhile, the squirrel swiftly disappeared into another tree hollow.

It would undoubtedly emerge from somewhere else again.

This thing was truly troublesome.

I have no choice.

I had decided against using such a crude method, but there was no other option.

Besides, its infuriating fighting style had awakened a stubborn urge within me to crush it somehow.

If it was exploiting its home-field advantage, then I simply had to prevent it from using that advantage.

HUMMMMM!!!

I poured as much Aura as possible into the Heavenly Demon’s Sword.

A towering blade of Aura rose as though it would pierce the sky.

I didn’t use the sword’s freezing power.

What I did next was simple.

Until now, the squirrel had always hidden inside the gleaming tree hollows.

In that case, why not cut down every one of those trees?

My actions were founded upon that simple and straightforward idea.

"Hup!"

I briefly held my breath and moved my sword toward the left.

Then, rotating my body in a full circle, I swept the sword horizontally.

SHRAAAAK!

Perhaps it was because I had recklessly poured so much Aura into the attack.

Regardless of whether they contained golden acorns, every tree in range was cleanly severed by the Aura.

Creeeak! Crack! Craaash!

The result was exactly as I had anticipated.

The towering trees toppled one after another like dominoes.

Even as they collapsed, I remained vigilant.

The squirrel might use this opportunity to ambush me.

Rumble! Crash!

No such attack came.

Before long, every tree had fallen.

"Chrrrk!"

Just as one of the trees struck the ground, the squirrel popped out of its hollow.

Apparently, it had been unable to withstand the force of the tree’s collapse and was thrown outside.

Without hesitation, I charged toward it.

If I missed this opportunity, I might never get another one.

Grab!

"Chreek!"

"Got you, you little rat bastard!"

While the squirrel was still disoriented, I snatched it up with one hand.

Startled, it thrashed wildly, but its struggles were completely useless.

"Hissss!"

As a final act of resistance, it bit my hand.

Unfortunately for it, the attack accomplished nothing.

I was currently wearing my World Tree gloves.

Eventually, after struggling for a while, the squirrel appeared to give up and went limp.

I might have captured it through brute force, but a victory was still a victory.

I should treat my ear first.

The dizziness had subsided somewhat, but my hearing still hadn’t returned.

Of course my ear was still damaged.

It had even bled, so that was only natural.

The fact that I had won in that condition was a miracle.

[My friend! Are you all right?]

Just then, Cain’s voice reached my uninjured ear.

When I turned toward him, the entire group came rushing over.

Apparently, they had heard the commotion and come to investigate.

After looking around at the countless fallen trees, they approached me.

[We came as soon as we heard the explosions. What happened?]

"Ah, well... I’ll explain later. Ludwig?"

"What is it?"

"Hold this guy for me. Be careful—it bites."

I handed the squirrel to Ludwig and began treating myself.

After pouring some elixir into my ear and waiting for a while, my hearing gradually returned.

It hadn’t recovered completely, but at least I could hear something now.

"Phew. Thank you. As for what happened..."

I explained everything that had occurred.

I started with the misunderstanding that led to my fight with the squirrel and ended with how I had knocked down all the trees.

The battle itself had been brief, but I had faced several dangerous moments.

Its teleportation had been especially troublesome.

Without Namu ppareumbo’s assistance, the first Iron Mountain Lean would probably have knocked me unconscious.

[Teleportation? This creature can teleport?]

"Yes. I don’t know how it works, but I think every tree hollow here is connected somehow."

[My junior, could you show me that squirrel more closely?]

Cain appeared to know something, so he asked Ludwig to hold the squirrel out for him.

Ludwig brought it closer to Cain.

Having exhausted its strength, the squirrel hung limply in his hands.

Cain examined it from every angle for quite some time before speaking in astonishment.

[Remarkable. Though it would be a distant relative, its appearance is nearly identical to Ratatoskr’s.]

"Ratatoskr?"

[It is famous as the squirrel that tends the World Tree. This creature’s bloodline has merely become greatly diluted. It is still undeniably one of Ratatoskr’s descendants.]

Even I had heard of Ratatoskr.

It was a creature from Norse mythology.

I didn’t know the details, but it was astonishing to learn that this squirrel was connected to mythology.

[Within its domain, the World Tree produces terrifying mana fluctuations, even if the same cannot be said outside it. Those fluctuations are powerful enough to distort space itself. The resulting space is notoriously complex, like a labyrinth. Curiously, however, Ratatoskrs are exceptionally skilled at finding their way through it. For that reason, they often serve as guides and gardeners within the World Tree’s domain.]

"Then what is this one?"

[I cannot say. Perhaps it manages this forest...]

"Hmm... It would be a bad idea to kill it, wouldn’t it?"

Cain gave an ambiguous response to my question.

But one person—or rather, one animal—had a different opinion.

Tap, tap—

Namu ppareumbo tapped me on the shoulder as if he had something to say.

"Hmm? What is it?"

When I turned toward him, he slowly shook his head from side to side.

He was telling me not to kill it.

It was slightly surprising to see the usually quiet Namu ppareumbo express his opinion, but he must have had a reason.

"Can I ask why? I don’t know anything about this place."

Instead of answering, Namu ppareumbo pointed toward the area where all the trees had fallen.

It felt as though he were telling me that the squirrel had raised those trees.

More broadly speaking, perhaps it managed this entire forest.

[Squirrels are known as the gardeners of the forest. They bury acorns and various other seeds all over the place.]

"Really?"

[Indeed. Of course, their actual intention is merely to store food. They simply forget where they buried most of it.]

So it was just because squirrels were idiots.

Still, "gardeners of the forest" was an appropriate description.

In any case, after hearing Namu ppareumbo’s opinion, I decided to spare the squirrel.

But first, I still had something to do.

I left the squirrel with Ludwig and walked toward the fallen trees.

Glint! Glint!

I couldn’t possibly resist golden acorns.

I eagerly began gathering the golden acorns gleaming among the wreckage.

They had been my original objective, so naturally I had to take them.

Wow, there are so many. Should I make acorn jelly with these?

Acorn jelly made with golden acorns.

It sounded delicious.

I could either obtain soy sauce and various vegetables through the Gallery or grow them myself.

I was gathering the ordinary acorns as well when—

"Screeeech! Screech! Chrrrk!"

Perhaps the squirrel felt as though it were being openly robbed before its very eyes.

Despite having hung limply moments earlier, it began thrashing wildly in Ludwig’s hands.

But in the wild, the loser forfeited everything.

I spoke in a dignified voice.

"What are you complaining about? You shouldn’t have attacked me first."

"Screeeech! Screech!"

"You are thief. Thieves must die."

As expected, no one could match Kkobong when it came to translating animal speech.

I nodded after hearing his interpretation.

From the squirrel’s perspective, I must have looked like a thief.

I had, in fact, intended to take its acorns.

"You attacked me first. I was just going to leave."

"Screech! Chrrk!"

"Cannot trust someone who peeped all the way inside tree hollow."

"Hmm."

When it put it that way, I had nothing to say.

My eyes wandered awkwardly.

"So?"

"Screech?"

"So what can you do about it? Aside from struggling in our hands, what exactly can you do?"

I brazenly fired back.

The squirrel stiffened as though deeply shocked.

Its eyes began to water, and it soon started sobbing.

"...Chrrk..."

"Bad man. Can you even call yourself an animal?"

"Uh..."

"Lower than beast, Master."

"Shut up for a second."

Seeing such a tiny, adorable squirrel cry made my heart ache.

"..."

"Screeech..."

We really had been the ones to invade its territory.

I had even completely destroyed its home.

The wild might operate according to the rule that the loser lost everything, but this still felt excessive.

"Fine. I understand. I won’t take all of them. But I’m taking at least one, okay?"

"Screech... Chrrk..."

"No. Those trees were planted to court females. You ruined all its plans."

"You really are trash."

"You’d better watch yourself when we get home. So, what do you want me to do?"

When I cautiously asked, the squirrel stared at me with tearful eyes.

It then looked toward the fallen trees and quietly spoke.

"Chrrk. Screech."

"Plant trees. Trees superior to those."

"You want me to plant trees?"

"Screeech. Chrrk."

"Then it will forgive you. You may take all the acorns."

"Hmm..."

The moment I heard that, one particular person came to mind.

The problem was—

Would it really be safe to plant one here?

"..."

Even Banir, a dragon, had incinerated one with her breath.

But if I could exchange a World Tree sapling for golden acorns...

Besides, World Tree saplings took an extraordinarily long time to grow.

And if a World Tree sapling wasn’t suitable, I could simply provide another kind of tree.

"All right. I’ll plant some trees for you. Give me a moment."

I immediately logged into the Gallery to request saplings from Let’sGrowTrees.

[Let’sGrowTrees: World Tree saplings? Of course I can give you some right away! How many do you need?]

[Wild Grylls: Are you actually allowed to hand those out as you please?]

[Let’sGrowTrees: It’s perfectly fine with me!]

[Wild Grylls: ;;;]

Was this really all right?

...Wouldn’t I still be coming out far ahead in this trade?