Even after personally looking at the whole battle process, they couldn't believe their eyes. Veyra, especially, felt her heart beating erratically. She, who always liked to have things under control, instantly felt everything slip through her fingers.
"Now that the annoyance is sleeping, we can talk."
The World Tree's disdainful and cold words as she looked down at them made Veyra's skin crawl. An overwhelming urge to leave the planet enveloped her. 'Deep breaths. According to Skyflower, this World Tree is a gentle one. Even though Orwen looks miserable, he is alive with around 10% of his
The person who spoke was, surprisingly, Cael. The man who had been silent all this time stepped forward and looked up with a serious look. "Lady Liu Shu, please understand that we have no malice. Lady Elyne and Lady Veyra tried to stop Orwen, but he acted individually. Once we return, he will be punished accordingly. However, know that if you continue threatening our safety, we will be forced to use everything to protect Lady Elyne."
The World Tree's expression didn't change even after he heard Cael's words. Instead, she spoke lightly. "It seems that you became too scared and didn't hear my words. I said that, since the annoyance is sleeping, meaning Orwen is unconscious, we can talk and communicate properly."
Cael's expression became slightly strange when the World Tree's cold expression showed confusion and repeated her previous words. At that moment, much of their fear was pacified as they slightly understood how this World Tree thought. 'Ah… She meant her words literally, not with hidden threats.'
Veyra's mind, which had been so tense as thousands of thoughts flashed in her mind, relaxed. A sigh escaped her, and then she chuckled. "Lady Elyne, may I be the one who speaks?"
Elyne, who had been looking troubled, nodded. "Alright… Don't offend Lady Liu Shu."
Veyra smiled and floated forward. Looking up, she smiled and spoke softly. "Lady Liu Shu, we are here because Skyflower spoke about you and told us many of your peculiarities. Please, could you explain to us if there are any conditions for you to assimilate other World Trees?"
Liu Shu spoke lightly. "First… Would you like to fly up? Looking down all the time is somewhat tiring." Her large eyes blinked twice, most of the ferocity behind them disappearing.
Liu Shu had already heard from the
Veyra answered with a nod. "It will be our pleasure, but… where do we sit?"
The World Tree's energy flowed gently, stirring the ambiance around her figure. Then, an empty platform from a city plaza was thrown into the sky by her roots and placed right in front of her face. The relatively petite wood surface, compared to her large visage, hung from her willow branches, swaying a few times before it came to a complete stop.
Looking down again, Liu Shu blinked and smiled. "How about here?"
Her soft and gentle voice enveloped the entire city. All the citizens who had been scared by Liu Shu's previous outburst felt a wave of relief together with her change of tone. Although they didn't know why their Lady World Tree attacked, they understood that everything was now fixed.
Elyne and the others also felt their hearts soften and their souls relax as Liu Shu's incomparably soft voice reached them. Elyne looked up with glowing eyes. "Ah… to think that we almost angered this beautiful being. Such a sin! We will all receive punishment when we return!"
The envoys almost dropped from mid-air, showing faces full of lamentation. Still, it only took a few minutes for everyone to reach the platform. There were even new arrivals.
After Liu Shu woke up and showed anger, naturally, the four Sylvans stopped all that they were doing and rushed toward her worriedly. Liu Shu, using her incomparable processing speed, spoke with them individually and explained the situation.
Upon hearing what happened, all four demanded to be present in the dialogue. Liu Shu didn't mind at all, so she accepted them. While the Sylvans pampered Liu Shu with love, that didn't mean that Liu Shu didn't like pampering her Sylvans as well!
Elyne and the others noticed the new arrivals, and their eyes shone with curiosity. The reason was that the energy of these four Sylvans was incredibly pure and had traces of the World Tree!
Veyra, among them, looked at them with a baffled expression. 'These four…'
Cinderielle took the lead, stepping forward with a gentle bend of her knees as she held her long skirt. "Welcome, envoys from the Verdant Sanctity Covenant. This one is named Cinderielle, surnamed Emberites. Although after I become Liu Shu's wife, you can also call me Tianlian Cinderielle."
Elyne exclaimed lightly. "Oh my! Liu Shu already has a wife?"
Verdantia stepped forward next, mimicking Verdantia's gestures, and presented herself. "This one is the second wife, named Verdantia, surnamed Liferoot…"
After hearing about the second wife, their gazes didn't show any awkwardness. It was clear that polygamy was not viewed as strange.
"This one is the third wife, named Tempestria, surnamed Rawinzor…"
"This one is the fourth wife, named Harmonixia, surnamed Songtree…"
Veyra smirked. "Oh my, it seems that Lady Liu Shu likes tall and beautiful Sylvan women."
Liu Shu spoke with a smile, not ashamed at all. "Yes! They are charming, and being hugged by them feels very nice!"
Even if Liu Shu has gone through many things, her core personality hasn't really changed much. After all, of the almost 70 years of age, she has passed over half of them asleep or spacing out. For a long-lived, well, now immortal being, a bit over 30 years was just a tiny droplet in the ocean that their life could become.
Hearing Liu Shu's unabashed praise, the four Sylvans became a bit shy. Still, they maintained their expressions, showing perfect manners.
After they joined the table, Elyne thought about looking at their stat pages. However, she ended up not doing so. 'At first, I thought Liu Shu was interesting but nothing else. Looking at their stat pages would've given me an accurate assessment. However, now it's different. It isn't worth offending Liu Shu by being rude.'
Thinking as such, Elyne took the initiative to confess. "Ah, Lady Liu Shu. Previously, I utilized my skills to inspect your world leaders. I apologize for that."
Liu Shu blinked, her large eyes looking thoughtful. "Hm… Well, don't do that again. It's a bit rude to look into other people's System Page."
Elyne nodded eagerly, her lips arching into a beautiful smile. "I won't, Lady Liu Shu."
"Also…" Liu Shu looked at the 199 envoys and spoke softly. "I don't really like formal addressing and those complicated things. Let's get along normally. Can I call you by your names?"
Veyra covered her mouth with her hand, hiding her smile. 'So cute.' "Ahem. Of course, you can do as you please, Liu Shu. We will also accept your suggestion."
"Great~." Liu Shu hummed pleasantly. "Then, let's leave Orwen here and start our talks for real!"
Everyone blinked and then saw a branch throw the thorn-man creature onto the stage, making a splat. Their lips twitched, but Liu Shu didn't notice as she spoke. "I asked my best healer, Aurelise, to heal him, but she said she couldn't. His
Elyne waved her hand with a smile. "Don't worry, Liu Shu. Leave that to me."
Incomparably profound Life Energy enveloped Orwen, stopping his bleeding. But, as soon as the bleeding stopped, Elyne gestured with her hand and retrieved the healing energies. "That's enough for him not to have lasting damage. He can sleep for a little while more."
Her tone was gentle, but there was a sense of disdain in her face as she looked at Orwen. She was extremely displeased that this person dared to attack Liu Shu.
Veyra looked at the World Tree's giant, beautiful face and asked lightly. "Now that we are set up, would you please answer my previous question? Your answer is very important, as it will guide how we will treat you from here on."
Liu Shu recalled the question. "Ah. You asked the conditions to assimilate other World Trees, right? Well…" Liu Shu tilted her head lightly, her beautiful verdant green hair moving with her gesture and spilling some flowers into the air. "...As far as I know, the World Tree's agreement is the only condition."
Elyne, Veyra, Cael, and Lysara all showed stupefied expressions. Veyra couldn't help but ask for confirmation. "Really? There is nothing else?"
Liu Shu nodded, her face innocent. "Until now, at least, there has not been a problem. As long as I can spread my roots into their domain and they accept me, I will be able to assimilate them." She added, unsure. "I can't guarantee that it will be the same with stronger World Trees that span not continents but worlds or solar systems. Still, I have never experienced any difficulties during the process. Assimilating World Trees and Life Trees comes very naturally to me."
While Veyra, Lysara, and Cael were stunned by this information, Elyne's eyes were about to glow brighter than a nightlamp. 'Such a blessed being! Ah! I am glad that I was sent here to witness Lady Liu Shu's awakening!'
Not knowing that she had earned a number one fan, Liu Shu asked questions back. "That… What does the Covenant want from me? Also, how do you tie yourselves to the Explorer Association? Ah, and will the Abyssal Void Nexus continue to bother me? I was once almost corrupted, and that feeling is really bad…"
"What!?" Elyne stood up, her face full of shock and anger. "W-W-Who dares to insult Your Ladyship, Lady Liu Shu's, pure existence!?"
Everyone looked at the agitated woman with baffled expressions. 'Why is she so worked up!?'
Veyra coughed once. "Lady Elyne, please calm down a bit."
Elyne blinked twice and then sat back down, her face showing a bit of embarrassment. "That. Sorry, I lost control for a second."
Liu Shu giggled. "Don't apologize. It makes me happy that you can feel anger for me. It's quite an honor for someone as strong as you to feel empathy."
Elyne's fingers tangled together. If she had a tail, it would've been wagging quite rapidly.
"To answer your questions," Veyra started. "First, the Covenant usually would want obedience from the newly formed
That statement caused everyone to forget about Elyne and focus on Veyra. Veyra spoke at a pleasant cadence. "When a new
"Hm…" Liu Shu tilted her head. "The third step feels easier than the second one."
Veyra chuckled. "Do not underestimate distances in space, Liu Shu. Your Solar System's inner region, the most useful one because of its planets, might cover a distance of billions of kilometers. But the distance between stars is as far as a few trillion, or, put another way, several light-years."
"Light years…" Liu Shu muttered lightly before she asked Veyra to explain a bit more about her questions.