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#222. The Last Forest (4)
‘Mercred’s executive.’
Beings who cannot control their emotions due to the tattoos the doctor has on their bodies.
The feeling of obsession that was so bloated that it seemed like it would burst made it impossible to assume any other existence.
Ray responded to the other person’s greeting while keeping his distance.
“Hello. What are you doing here?”
“I’m watering the flowers. There are a lot of children here who need my care.”
It was literal.
The woman was creating water droplets from the abundant water element in the air and sprinkling them on the flower garden.
Ray asked a provocative question.
“The flower garden looks too big to do alone. How about asking for help from the other elves in the village? Since it’s a job to tend to the forest, I’m sure they wouldn’t refuse.”
In an instant, the smile disappeared from the woman’s face.
“These are my children. I can’t leave them in the hands of other people.”
The cold voice and venomous expression gave off an eerie feeling for a moment.
The emotions of obsession contained in the bowl were throbbing fiercely.
‘Up access.’
Ray was able to instantly confirm his opponent’s identity.
I remembered my conversation with Curiosa.
“I don’t really remember. The only time we spent together was a few years in an orphanage before we were each taken to the lab. But one thing I remember for sure about Upseth is that he was extremely greedy.”
“greed?”
“To be exact, he was extremely attached to his belongings. He never lent out even the smallest items and kept them hidden away.”
Curiosa added with boiling anger.
“Now that I think about it, I think the doctor may have just picked up on each of our executives’ rough feelings and amplified them. Looking back, all the experiments the doctor did on me were related to things that stimulated my curiosity. Hehehe! Kehahaha!”
Curiosa suddenly burst into laughter.
Ray, who had a poor ability to read the fine lines of actions, could not tell what kind of laughter it was.
However, sadness was rippling in the vessel of the monster cursed with curiosity.
“… … .”
Ray snapped out of his thoughts.
Anyway, based on the information, we can guess that the person in front of us was Upss, who had shown a strong attachment to possessions since childhood.
That emotional quality is amplified hundreds of times due to the addiction.
“I’ve never seen you in the village. Do you live alone?”
“That’s right, not all elves live in villages.”
Ray thought as he watched Upss return to her cheerful smile in an instant.
‘… The most reasonable guess is that he came into the forest in advance to target me.’
Although the homunculi’s attacks had stopped for quite some time, I didn’t think the doctor had completely retreated.
It is clear that they will send strong people like executives to cause disruption.
But that aside.
‘A vessel of ups and downs, showing no particular hostility or wariness.’
Rather, I had a strong curiosity, interest, and favor towards this side.
Originally, executives were said to be difficult to predict due to their unstable emotions, but now… I really couldn’t tell.
Then Ups*x asked.
“Hey, have you ever grown a plant?”
“there is.”
“Then, would you mind looking after some sprouts here? I’ve been watering them for a few days, but they seem to be dying.”
“… … .”
It was dangerous to attack rashly because we had not yet determined their strength.
Ray, who had only taken a few steps closer, spoke firmly.
“I heard that you shouldn’t go near people you don’t know well.”
“Oh my, who told you that?”
“To my friend.”
Ray thought of the brown curly haired boy buried in a pile of papers in the sector.
“Well, you usually hear such advice from your parents rather than your friends. Don’t you have a mother by any chance?”
“… … ?”
The unexpected fastball caught even the boy off guard for a moment.
What? Should I be angry?
I thought it was an insult taking advantage of my parents’ absence, but when I saw the other person’s calm emotions, I realized it was an innocent question.
In fact, even though it was an insult, it didn’t have much of a impact.
“No. I’ve been alone since I was very young.”
“I see. You’re not even an adult yet. How pitiful.”
Oddly enough, I felt like I was talking to an ordinary woman, not an enemy.
A happy smile on her face as she watches her children running around the street.
…a woman you might see anywhere.
After much thought, the boy came up with a three-letter word that fit that feeling.
“I’m Sayaran. Now that you know my name, we’re not strangers anymore, right?”
“… … .”
Where are you talking about?
——————
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The moment she thought that, mana flashed in the woman’s eyes.
Dark flesh-toned, beige mana.
The main elements are those of fascination and domination.
That was the reason why Ray never let down his guard.
Because it was a characteristic of the bewitchment series of magic to act on the mind regardless of the opponent’s magical level.
‘… If you are deceived, you will become a puppet that moves according to the other person’s orders.’
The important thing was mental toughness.
The healthier you are mentally, the lower your chances of being affected.
On the other hand, it was a magic that drastically increased the probability of being hit by someone who had a lot of anxiety.
Wooooow──
The boy’s eyes, looking into the woman’s eyes, began to gradually lose focus.
Soon I was completely relaxed and dazed.
“Come here.”
The boy, who was walking with a plodding pace, was thrown into the woman’s arms.
The woman asked, stroking the boy’s head affectionately.
“What is your name?”
“Ray.”
“Ray, yeah, Ray… that’s a really cool name. It’s really cool… .”
“… … .”
Ray looked around, listening to the woman’s faint voice.
The enchantment was resisted without difficulty.
He’s just pretending to be hurt.
I planned to respond immediately if the other person sensed something strange, but they didn’t seem to notice anything.
‘The village children are missing, and there is a high probability that Upseth is the culprit.’
The pieces of mana that had been attached to the children were found nearby.
Also, if you used a charm spell to turn someone in the village into a puppet.
Then it is possible to sneak the children away while avoiding the eyes of the elves.
However, there was no way to know where all those children were now.
“…my own. My own child.”
The woman muttered as she released the boy from her arms, then turned her gaze to the small sprout growing on the ground.
“You said you’ve raised plants before. Could you please take a look at this one?”
The sprout was drenched in water and had its head hanging down.
what.
If you do this, the cactus will probably die from overwatering.
“I think I gave it too much water.”
“Is that too much?”
“If you water it this much, the roots will rot easily. I think you should take it to a knowledgeable person to find out the exact condition.”
Ray reached out to the sprout.
Then Upseth quickly pulled Ray into his arms and stopped him from doing so.
“… No. No one can take my child.”
“… … .”
Ray, who had quietly left her embrace, examined her bowl.
A feeling of obsession that vacillates anxiously.
‘Next, in the case of the ring.’
It was normal until the 1st and 2nd circles.
Although the flesh-colored mana ratio was dominant, the other colors were still somewhat harmonious.
However, the 3rd and 4th circles contained only flesh-colored mana.
In other words.
It meant that when she was building her 3rd circle, probably when she was much younger than she is now, there must have been some incident that made her obsession worse.
“Sprout, I won’t take it. So don’t be so anxious.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“But have you ever grown a plant?”
“Have you ever raised one?”
“What kind of plants did you grow?”
“Have you ever raised one… Have you ever raised one…? Hmm? It wasn’t a plant…?”
Upscess narrowed his eyes.
He said it as if he had given up, repeating the same words over and over again, looking very confused.
“I feel like I cherished something… but I can’t quite remember what it was.”
“Anyway, you shouldn’t overwater any plant.”
“I didn’t give you water.”
“sure?”
“You gave me love.”
“Love is not good if it is excessive.”
Actually, I didn’t know much about the emotion called love, but I said so anyway.
Because it is the law of the world that anything in excess is not good.
*
Ray spent three days searching for the flower garden’s upsurge.
“Come in, my good child.”
The woman held the boy in her arms and stroked his head every time.
As if performing some kind of sacred ritual.
As if they were his own real children.
“… … .”
In the warm hands, the boy never let his guard down.
It wouldn’t be strange if the extremely unstable emotions of the other person exploded at any time and created a dangerous situation.
Ray cautiously asked questions to find out the whereabouts of the missing children.
“Children are disappearing from the village. One by one, every two days.”
“That’s because the children left the village on their own. All the elves in the village were mothers and fathers. The children must have been unhappy. It was a time when they had a strong desire to monopolize something. The children must have wanted their own mothers. So they left the village to find someone who would become their new mother. Hehe.”
It was a remark that completely ignored the emotions of an elf who had no sense of possessiveness.
Ray didn’t argue with that statement so as not to provoke Ups*x.
However, from the way he spoke, as if he knew everything, I could once again confirm that there was a traitor in the village.
‘…up access.’
What on earth is their plan?
What are you planning to do with the kids?
I asked several probing questions, but nothing meaningful came of it.
What was certain was that the safety of the missing children had to be secured before any further response could be undertaken.
‘It doesn’t seem like Upss*x moved on his own. It’s more likely that he was the sole action of an informant who followed orders. The best thing to do is to follow the informant and find the place where he hid the children.’
But finding the informant wasn’t easy.
The potential suspects are all the elves in the village.
Moreover, the magic of enchantment worked on the mind, leaving no traces of mana behind, making it impossible to distinguish with the naked eye.
…one person or two people.
Maybe even more than that.
He walked through the village, casting persistent, furtive glances at every elf.
And then at some point.
I came to one conclusion.
*
A small room in the old tree.
Gwendel and Ray sat across from each other at the table.
“You have something to say?”
“The children are missing. The elves in the village are very worried.”
Gwendel’s face, which had been smiling gently, darkened.
“It can’t be helped. Children, young lives, are the sprouts of the forest and treasures. They worry a lot. But… the ones who worry the most are the biological parents. They treat all children as their own, but the children they gave birth to through womb pain are bound to be even more special.”
Gwendel cited Greene as an example.
“No matter how old I get, I’m always childish and worried. When Grine went on a mission to the outside world, I felt even more like that. I’d go out into the forest every day and look out into the wilderness, waiting. I’d wonder when this child would come back.”
“You go out into the forest every day.”
“I don’t think I missed a single day. I’m so glad you came back safely.”
Ray nodded as if he understood.
“There is someone who seems to be the culprit.”
“What is it?”
“World demand.”
Gwendel was silent for a moment.
He then spoke in an uncomfortable voice.
“I don’t know what Reim saw that made him think that way, but the World Tree is not a being that would do something like that. Of course, it is true that the village’s public opinion toward the World Tree is worsening… but all living things in the forest can be said to be the children of the World Tree. In other words, the World Tree is the parent of all living things in the forest. Where in the world would a parent do something like that to their own child?”
“… There’s no way the World Tree could be the culprit. You can’t help but think that way.”
Ray looked straight into Gwendel’s eyes and said.
“Because you are the culprit who kidnapped the children.”