The schemes of the vile ones had ultimately succeeded.
Countless supplies were lost, and the most crucial item—the branch of the World Tree—had been contaminated.
"…Haha."
fernan stared blankly at the World Tree branch, about a quarter of it now blackened.
Was it over?
A failure, just like that?
At that moment, Aria strode forward, ripped open the wreckage of the box with brute force, and pulled out the branch of the World Tree.
Then, she summoned a blade of wind.
Shhh!
The branch of the World Tree trembled. A faint scratch appeared where the blade had passed.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Shhh!
"I asked you, what do you think you're doing?!"
"Senior, you said this man is Sir Hyde, right? Please ask him to cut this for me."
"You want to cut the branch of the World Tree?"
"The best thing to do is cut off the contaminated part. That way, we can still save the rest."
"You mean… it can still be saved?"
"Don't underestimate the vitality of the Mother Tree. Even if this is only an offshoot and not the main body."
At Aria's confident declaration, fernan gave Hyde a signal with his eyes.
Hyde drew his sword. A sharply honed red aura slashed down onto the World Tree's offshoot.
Clang!
"This thing's pretty tough…!"
"Cut it anyway. You must cut it! Every second counts!"
Seeing the black corruption subtly spreading further into the sapling, fernan shouted urgently.
If they waited any longer, the unaffected parts would be lost as well.
Once, twice, three times, four times—
After dozens of strikes, the corrupted part of the offshoot was finally severed.
Pshhh! The cut-off branch hit the ground, releasing a pungent smoke.
fernan looked at the heavily pruned World Tree branch and asked,
"Is it going to be okay?"
"The Mother Tree's offshoot just screamed."
"That means it's alive, at least."
He let out a sigh of relief.
"…I feel like I just lost ten years of my life."
If the branch of the World Tree had been completely corrupted and they'd failed the commission, the aftermath—and the loss—would've been unimaginable.
"Hyde, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. What about you, young master?"
"I'm fine."
He had expended quite a bit of mana pushing the golem to its limits, but that was all.
Originally, controlling a golem consumed mental strength as well as mana, but for some reason, he felt perfectly fine this time.
'Maybe I've gotten used to the headaches.'
Well, the headaches from golem control were nothing compared to the aftereffects of reading the future.
"Anyway, can't we do something about that?"
"About what?"
"Having such a clearly severed part makes it look like something went terribly wrong."
"If we plant it, it'll slowly regenerate… but I assume that's not what you want. There is a way, though. It's just that you're not going to like it."
"Does it cost a lot of money?"
Aria nodded.
"Feeding it an elixir speeds up the regeneration."
"…What an absurdly high-maintenance thing."
"It's disrespectful to speak that way about the Mother Tree's offshoot."
"It's your Mother Tree, not mine."
"Well, that's true."
She accepted that without argument this time, too.
"So, how are you going to store it? The box is smashed."
"Don't worry. I prepared a few extra boxes just in case."
They had no idea what kind of tricks the vile ones would pull, so he had taken every precaution possible.
He hadn't expected things to blow up quite like this, but at least he had spare containers prepared for the branch of the World Tree.
"That's a relief, at least."
"Yeah, barely."
First things first—clean-up came before anything else.
"Let's go back up. We need to assess the damage and start the recovery."
"Yes. I'll lift you."
"Wait a moment."
Just before stepping onto the Spirit Wind, fernan's gaze shifted to the fallen branch.
"Why are you picking that up all of a sudden?"
"It's still a part of the World Tree, after all."
Even if it had been contaminated, its essence hadn't disappeared.
You never know. Maybe the Dragon God Cult could purify it.
The losses were already severe. He needed to recover what he could.
"Then what about those monster lumps?"
"They might be worth something."
"Those hideous and disgusting things?"
"The value of an item depends on the person."
fernan pulled a storage case from his subspace and packed the severed branch of the World Tree and the monster chunks separately. Then he finally rose to the surface.
Aboveground was a complete disaster.
The sudden sinkhole had swallowed up half of the camp.
Though fernan had quickly created footholds to minimize the damage, there were still considerable injuries and material losses.
The one saving grace was that no one had died. That was sheer luck.
"Gather the wounded and supplies and relocate the camp."
"Yes, sir!"
Luckily, the rain had stopped—but the sun was already setting.
The only comfort was that some of the merchant group had regained consciousness before fernan arrived and had begun organizing things.
"I'm glad you're alright."
"What about the injured?"
"Among the 100 escorts, 21 are lightly injured and 12 are seriously hurt. Of the 100 workers, 53 are lightly injured and 27 are in serious condition. Among the 50 elves, 18 are lightly injured. Thanks to your quick response, there were no fatalities."
"And the wagons?"
"Eight out of ten fell. Five of them were completely destroyed, and their cargo lost. The remaining three wagons are structurally intact, but many items were lost—we're currently checking item by item."
fernan gave a hollow laugh. He had feared this might happen, but for it to actually happen…
Money. My hard-earned money.
His heart ached terribly.
"Hyde, send a message. You know what to say, right?"
"Yes, of course."
"Tell them to come as fast as possible. We can't afford any delays."
"They've been following us secretly nearby. It shouldn't take too long."
They were split into small covert units to avoid detection, so it would take time to gather them—but not too much.
"What are you talking about?"
Aria, who had been quietly listening from the side, tilted her head in confusion.
"Did you anticipate this? Even though it was a monster attack?"
"I've encountered the vile ones before. I prepared for this just in case."
And that preparation went far beyond simply increasing the number of escorts and ships.
He'd secured identical goods in advance—just in case the wagons were destroyed and the supplies lost.
"So what you're saying is…"
"Identical goods, along with an equal number of escorts and workers, will arrive shortly. We'll make the swap and resume the caravan as if nothing happened."
Fortunately, the elves only suffered minor injuries.
"…When did you even plan all this? If nothing had gone wrong, wouldn't it have been a waste?"
"Everything I procured has value. It'll sell well anywhere. So it wouldn't be a loss."
He had gotten the hint from the Book of Prophecies.
Whether this was the original future or one that changed because of his intervention—he couldn't know.
But at least for the sake of the family, this outcome was the correct one.
"So remember this, Aria."
fernan looked her straight in the eyes.
"Today, for us—"
Nothing happened.
"Nothing at all happened."
That's how it has to be.
That's the right answer.
Aria didn't answer right away.
She simply stared blankly at her reflection in fernan's eyes.
Then, she smiled brightly.
"Why should I pretend like nothing happened? The World Tree's branch was damaged, the promised supplies were compromised, and the trade expedition was affected. Isn't it clearly Pellanberg's fault?"
"So what?"
"Which means we'd make a fortune even if we just claim damages for the failure."
Exactly. That was why this incident needed to be buried in secrecy.
To minimize losses, and to prevent any harm to the honor and trust of the merchant group.
"There's never a time when things go smoothly, huh."
He'd hoped that fighting together had built enough camaraderie for her to let it slide.
fernan let out a short sigh.
"The yacht club invitation."
"It's a bit small, but fine—I'll accept it!"
Because, as you said, we did build camaraderie by fighting together.
"No problems occurred with the trade expedition. Isn't that right?"
"Yeah. That's it."
fernan nodded.
Four days later, the injured personnel were swapped out for healthy ones, the supplies were replenished, and the caravan—restored to its pristine form—resumed its journey.
There had been no problems with the expedition. Just some delays from the rain.
"It really turned out exactly as you predicted, young master."
"Those vile bastards wouldn't miss a chance like that."
"I'll make sure everyone keeps their mouths shut."
"Same here. I was paid—I should earn it."
There was no need to rush the expedition either. They had padded the schedule to account for just such events.
"Don't let your guard down. This may not be the end of it."
Especially at sea.
They'd already experienced chaos once before on the ocean, and he couldn't afford to lower his guard again.
"Did the recording sphere capture everything?"
"It was tied to my neck, so it shook a lot, but it's still good enough to recognize the monster."
"Good. Make a copy and send it to my father."
"Yes, sir."
The evidence was steadily piling up. But it still wasn't enough. Once he had more—something undeniable—he planned to release it all in one explosive reveal.
"What is?"
"It's not about the expedition. Just ignore it and go."
"But it's about those vile ones, right? Still, we fought together—"
"Funny how that camaraderie only shows up when it's inconvenient."
After that day, the expedition proceeded without further trouble and safely arrived at Kaide.
But fernan didn't immediately set sail.
Despite having finished preparations long ago, he delayed because of the World Tree's branch.
"There. Now it'll grow well."
He dug a hole, added a few elixirs, and planted the branch of the World Tree inside.
Fueled by the elixirs and nurtured under Aria's personal care, the branch rapidly began to restore its original form.
"…How much is this tree even worth?"
"The Mother Tree is beyond price. Its value can't be measured in money."
"But the elixirs it drank can be priced."
Still, it was far cheaper than paying the penalty for a failed trade expedition, so he just had to swallow the pain and move on.
"But does it always grow this well just with elixirs?"
"Of course not. This isn't growth—it's recovery. There's a difference."
Right. If it grew instantly just from a few elixirs, it wouldn't be a World Tree—it'd be a monster.
Once the branch had fully regained its original appearance, the expedition finally departed by ship—three ships in total.
Accompanied by an almost excessive number of escort vessels—ten warships.
"The sea really is awful. Truly vile and horrible. I knew it was cursed the moment I saw that disgusting shade of blue."
But contrary to their worries, the sea journey went smoothly.
Except for the elves. All of them ended up completely drained, like dried-up squid, vomiting every last drop of fluid from their bodies.
"So this is why elves rarely go out to sea, huh?"
"Yeah, elves and the ocean are… not so compatib— BLEUARGH!"
"And you still want a yacht club invitation?"
"That's completely unrelated!"
fernan took a step back. The flying chunks of vomit were blocked by a barrier just in time.
"You're splattering. Don't be so unsightly."
"Who are you calling— URGH— unsightly?!"
"Pitiful. And you'll have to head back right away once we reach the Academy."
"I'd rather go to hell than board another ship! Bleargh!"
All 50 elves turned pale as sheets.
"Oh, right. Aria—I have a request for you."
"A… request?"
Aria, looking like a dead fish, asked back with a groan. fernan frowned at the vomit clinging to her mouth.
"Never mind. I'll tell you after we disembark."
A few days later, the expedition's fleet docked at the Academy harbor.
So far, no problems yet.
Was this the original future foretold by the Book of Prophecies, or had fernan changed the course of fate?
Time would tell.