I didn't know how to respond. It felt as if my brain, pushed beyond its cognitive limits, had simply stopped thinking.
As I slowly opened my eyes, I met Rukkhadevata’s gaze once more. Simultaneously, a fragrant scent—gentle yet rich—began to permeate the air.
Whether there was something mixed into the aroma or not, my head began to clear.
Even though quite a bit of time must have passed, Rukkhadevata continued to watch me with the same expression as before. Seeing her, a strange sense of certainty washed over me.
The feeling that no matter what I said, things would somehow work out.
I slowly organized the thoughts in my mind.
If the being before me truly was Rukkhadevata, and if this branch she handed me was indeed the purest offshoot of Irminsul...
There was only one existence associated with the World Tree other than Rukkhadevata that came to mind.
“Na—”
I cut myself off instantly and tried again.
“...Let’s just say my knowledge is more vast than you might think.”
That was dangerous.
According to the lore I remembered, Nahida only appeared after Rukkhadevata disappeared. The name 'Nahida' shouldn't be mentioned yet.
Confusion flooded over me like a tidal wave born from my half-baked understanding.
I tried to tell myself that now wasn't the time for this, but for a person who had been perfectly ordinary until recently, it was an impossible task.
At that moment, one of Nahida’s voice lines flashed through my mind.
‘If you don't know what to do, why don't we take a look around together?’
The words calmed my heart instantly. I silently offered a prayer of thanks to the warm orb held in my hand.
“I see. So that’s how it is.”
Rukkhadevata gave a small nod at my words. Seeing her reaction, I realized one more thing.
I had spent quite a while agonizing over what to say, yet Rukkhadevata had waited for me to finish as if she knew exactly when I’d regain my composure before nodding.
The time I spent thinking was actually much shorter than it felt to me.
My anxiety, my worry, and the process of overcoming them had all occurred in a much shorter span of time than I perceived.
'Is this cognitive acceleration?'
I recalled something I’d read in the past. They say an adult perceives a minute as 60 seconds, a child as 70 seconds, and a pigeon as 140 seconds.
“So, what am I supposed to do with this?”
“It is to prepare for the future.”
“And?”
“To that end, I am currently constructing a system.”
“Are you talking about the Akasha?”
“...As expected, I cannot hide anything from you.”
‘No, I just happen to know about it unilaterally.’
Even though I knew this woman with such a mystical aura was a game character, seeing her alive and moving before my eyes made my heart pound.
Normally, I wouldn't have known where to look and would be darting my eyes around, but my mind was strangely calm. Was it thanks to Nahida’s words I recalled earlier?
I quickly brushed those thoughts aside. Now was not the time for such distractions.
“It has nothing to do with me.”
“If you had intended to stop me, My Lord, I likely would not be standing here now.”
‘No, you would’ve been. And you’d be perfectly fine, too.’
A bitter smile formed on my lips. A game character was speaking to me.
A character that should have been nothing more than a program mimicking a voice actor’s lines was breathing and living right in front of me.
Why was this happening? Was the character known as Rukkhadevata actually a person who existed in reality?
I lowered my gaze to my own hands.
Arms wrapped in black cloth. Hands and wrists emerging from the sleeves, blue veins visible beneath the skin of the wrists, and the palms above them.
But these weren't my hands.
The hands I saw were clean and pale, without a single blemish. My original hands were slightly tanned, rough, and calloused in places. There should have been a small tattoo on my wrist.
As I thought this, my gaze drifted past my hands to the pale feet resting on the grass. Realizing Rukkhadevata’s presence again, I looked up.
As our eyes met, Rukkhadevata spoke.
“I intend to leave a terminal for this child.”
I couldn't perfectly understand what she meant, but I pieced together the information I already had.
What I held in my hand was a branch of Irminsul. According to my memory, this would be Nahida.
And what Rukkhadevata just said... Rukkhadevata was the Dendro Archon before Nahida, and she created the Akasha. By 'terminal,' she must mean linking the connection between Irminsul and the Akasha to Nahida.
Perhaps because I already knew this, I was able to keep a straight face, as nothing she said struck me as particularly unusual.
‘Wait, what were we talking about again?’
Why did the Akasha come up all of a sudden?
And why did Rukkhadevata seek me out in the first place?
Countless questions arose, but none were destined to be answered.
Rukkhadevata took the hem of her dress, lifted it slightly, and bowed her head.
“Then, I shall take my leave.”
“...”
I had so many things I wanted to ask, but I couldn't. Judging by Rukkhadevata’s reactions and words, the 'me' of right now was some kind of high-ranking individual.
I didn't know what made me so superior, but as long as she perceived me that way, I had to play the part.
I watched the hem of her retreating dress. Walking toward the horizon under the moonlight, Rukkhadevata grew smaller and smaller until she finally vanished.
As the sweet lingering scent filled my nose, I opened my left hand.
‘This isn't a game.’
It was reality. The dampness of my sweat-soaked left hand weighed on my mind. The lukewarm sensation felt so disgustingly vivid that it made my stomach churn.
I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, and opened my other hand. Inside my right hand, a warm, light-green orb glowed clearly, reflecting the moonlight.
As I cupped it with both hands, I could feel a very faint, rhythmic pulsing within.
“What do I do now?”
Before me lay a lush, green world filled with trees and grass; behind me was a dark sea swallowed by the night. I could see the moonlight shimmering on the rippling waves.
With a deep sigh, I slumped into the chair, leaned my head against the backrest, and closed my eyes. A gentle sea breeze brushed past my hair and tickled my cheeks.
A black chair sitting all alone in a green field, with a suspicious person sitting in it.
I could taste the salt in the sea breeze on my face.
Thinking about how ridiculous the sight must be, I let out a short chuckle.
Where am I?
Crack—
“Hm?”
I opened my eyes at the sound of something small crumbling. I looked around to see if something was there, but I saw nothing.
Crack—
The sound came again. This time, it was slightly louder and clearer.
I turned my eyes toward the source of the noise. My gaze landed on my hands. The bright light of the full moon illuminated the orb. A small but distinct crack was etched into its surface.
I brought my hands together, placing the orb right in the center, and watched.
Crr-ack—!
At that moment, the orb shattered. The light-green shell broke away, and a clear light faintly emanated from within.
As the light gradually faded, the broken shards were nowhere to be found. Instead, a child smaller than the palm of my hand lay resting on my hands.
The child’s eyes slowly opened. A pair of bright, spring-green eyes—paler but clearer than Rukkhadevata’s—looked up at me.
White skin stained with a clear green liquid like sap, small and plump lips reminiscent of cherries, and lustrous white hair.
I didn't know much about childbirth, but I knew at least that a newborn didn't look like this. Weren't they supposed to have wrinkled skin and no hair?
But the child held carefully in my hands was the definition of adorable, with squirming little fingers and chubby cheeks. Her carefully blinking eyes were nothing short of lovely.
As I stared blankly down at the child, I saw her mouth slowly open. Her voice was incredibly tiny, but I could hear the word she uttered with perfect clarity.
“Dad?”
BOOM—!
At the same time, with the sound of an explosion, a pillar of water erupted from the sea.
—My Lord! Don't tell me you've joined hands with that wicked woman!
‘Shit.’
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