Whisperwood led me away from the main avenue and down a narrower, more winding path. The golden light of the forest dimmed, the air growing cooler and heavier. The familiar, pleasant scent of damp earth and flowers was slowly replaced by something else, a cloying, sickly-sweet smell like rotting fruit. The further we walked, the stronger the smell became, until it coated the back of my throat with a thick, syrupy film.
I didn't want to look at the demon king. I knew he was watching me. I could feel his gaze on my back like a physical weight, a constant, suffocating pressure. He was a silent observer, a judge waiting for me to fail. I refused to give him the satisfaction.
The path ended at the base of another colossal tree. But this one was different. Its bark was a sickly, mottled gray, and its leaves were a pale, wilted yellow. The ground around its roots was bare, the moss carpet replaced by a black, dusty soil that crumbled under my boots. This was the source of the smell, the heart of the corruption.
The blight has hollowed this bough, Whisperwood's thought-voice echoed in my mind. It seeks the heartwood. If it reaches it, the forest will die. The world will weaken.
"No pressure, then," I muttered, my hands clammy. "So, what do I do? Stare at it until it feels guilty and goes away?"
She raised a wooden hand, pointing to a spot on the trunk, about halfway up. A dark, viscous fluid was oozing from a crack in the bark, running down the gray wood in sluggish, black tears. That is the infection's focus. The wound from which it spreads. Your task is to cauterize it.
"Cauterize it," I repeated. "With what? A really harsh glare?"
You are a conduit, she thought, her calm presence a stark contrast to the rising panic in my chest. You draw power from the world around you. You must learn to shape it. To wield it. Let the forest guide you.
I stared at the weeping wound on the tree. The thought of using magic, of deliberately reaching for that tiny, flickering spark in my chest, was terrifying. The last time I had accessed it, I had passed out. The time before that, I had almost died.
"You want me to… what? Just… do magic?" I asked, my voice a little shaky. "I don't know how. I'm not a mage. I'm a hikkikomori from Earth. My only special skill is being able to binge-watch an entire season of a show in one sitting."
The body remembers what the mind forgets, she thought, her cryptic wisdom doing little to soothe my frayed nerves. Reach for the warmth in your chest. Do not fear it. It is a part of you. Nurture it.
I took a deep breath, the sickly-sweet air making me want to gag. Okay. I could do this. Probably. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the sight of the corrupted tree, the smell of rot, the feeling of the demon king's gaze on my back.
I focused on the warmth in my chest. It was there, a tiny, stubborn flicker in a vast, cold emptiness. I imagined it growing, feeding on the life of the forest around me. I pictured the clean, green energy flowing into me, filling the hollow ache, making the spark burn brighter.
The warmth grew, a slow, steady heat that spread through my chest and down my arms. It wasn't the searing, all-consuming fire from the night before. It was a controlled, manageable warmth. I could feel the energy building, a pleasant, tingling sensation in my palms. This was it. This was magic.
I opened my eyes and held out my hands, aiming them at the weeping wound on the tree. I focused on the warmth, on the energy pooling in my palms. I pictured it as a beam of light, a pure, white-hot force that would burn away the corruption. I pushed.
A single, pathetic spark shot out of my fingertips. It sputtered in the air for a moment, then fizzled out, landing on the black soil at my feet with a soft fizz.
Nothing happened.
The tree continued to weep its black tears. The corruption continued to spread.
I could feel the demon king's silent, mocking laughter without even having to turn around.
...So.
New plan.
"Tall dark and naked," I said aloud, not taking my eyes off the tree. "You have...fiery magic, right?" I asked. "Could you burn this...stuff?"
There was a long pause.
Probably because he was waiting for me to address him by anything else.
I refused. I said what I said. And if I went back on it, it'd only make it worse.
Finally, he spoke. "Why would I waste my energy on the request of a witless insect? Particularly when it's your own failure that puts you in this position. You should have listened to me when I offered to burn this whole forest down. After all, it would cauterize the wound." He sounded...
So smug.
This was...
So stupid.
The whole...gacha was that I didn't get magic. I got a weapon. But my weapon is insufferable.
I think...it's possible I can force him to do it. When I order him to do things, it seems to work. But it drains me. Exhausts me. And not only am I still recovering from the last time, but I need to be able to do something if he decides to burn this forest down, or attack whatever town we're going to.
So...I...
Walk over to a nearby rock and sit down on it.
I still don't look directly at the demon king, but I can see him in the corner of my vision watching me with a look that mixed his usual disgust with mild confusion.
I could leave. If I just get up and walk away, I doubt these dryads could stop him. If they could do it by force, we'd probably be prisoners instead of guests. So leaving with him is just...going along with what he wants. It might give me some kind of leverage to get what I want later.
Maybe.
That's probably just coping and making excuses, though.
It's just...
More than that. More than not wanting to concede any more ground to this man who would no doubt never stop pushing at any weakness I showed....
I'm supposed to be defeating the demon lord, right? That's why I was here. And I was given this other demon king to do it.
So...
Whisperwood wanted me to figure out how to use magic. And so does the demon king.
But I'm really just a NEET, not some warrior. Not even a mage.
The best - maybe only thing - I can do...is out-stubborn him. If I don't order him to do anything, it won't drain me, right? If he agrees to it, I don't have to do anything but wait and watch.
So...
Sitting in one place and doing nothing is something I'm pretty good at.
Maybe even something I'm better at than the Demon King.