Chapter – 24
“How could this happen….”
There was never a scene like this awakening in the original story.
And besides, the only one who had ever awakened in the Forest of Evil Spirits was Lyria…
[Wendy, I’ll buy you some time. You’ve always saved us. I believe you will this time too.]
Yeriel’s voice flowed directly into my mind while I was lost in thought.
And then—
“Uncle turned into a tree!”
The twins shouted in shock as they looked at Yeriel.
“A tree, huh.”
Zenon reacted indifferently despite his companion turning into a tree.
“Give me back our uncle!”
Lyria, who must not have seen the process from the rear, looked like she might start sawing the tree down as she cried.
“Idiot, that tree is Uncle Yeriel!”
Eden tried to stop her.
Judging from everyone’s reactions, it seemed I was the only one who could hear Yeriel’s voice.
“Is delivering messages to chosen people also one of your abilities, Mr. Yeriel?”
When I glanced at him, Yeriel lightly shook his thin branches as if answering.
[Yes. I think I could probably send messages to others too… but strangely, it feels a little easier to communicate with you, Wendy.]
I didn’t know the reason, but for now he said it was easier to talk to me.
“Alright.”
Whatever. That wasn’t important right now.
“Do you have any skills you can use immediately?”
At my question, his pale pink leaves fluttered as if he were thinking, then he seemed to nod.
[Hmm.]
Well… it only looked that way.
There was no way a tree could actually nod like a human.
[I think I do. A skill perfect for this situation.]
Yeriel, now transformed into a white tree, gently waved the tip of his branches.
[Ten Million Blossoms]
Suddenly, a sweet floral fragrance filled the air and fully bloomed petals began to scatter everywhere.
“Ah….”
“This is….”
The small wounds on those touched by the petals began to heal.
The unexpected flower storm softened the tense atmosphere.
[After turning into a tree, the number of flowers I can bloom increased. I also bloomed Kindness Flowers, so people should be more reasonable now.]
Kindness Flowers had never appeared in the original story.
But judging from the name, they probably stimulated goodwill in people.
Then how should I use this?
I had to think fast.
Usually, those who awaken can maintain their maximum growth potential for anywhere from a few minutes to several tens of minutes.
Meaning Yeriel’s awakening was successful.
But once it ended, he would revert to a tiny sapling close to Level 1.
So I needed a solution immediately.
Before his awakening ended—anything!
“Thanks to him, this pointless fight has been delayed a bit.”
Zenon muttered beside me.
That snapped me back to reality.
Right. There were people here who didn’t need to fight.
The evil spirits.
Their survival depended on avoiding the rulers.
The reason they attacked Zenon was simple.
Rather than living in endless fear, they thought attacking him to secure a “guaranteed safe zone” had better odds.
I decided to target that psychology.
Instead of attacking us—
I needed to convince them that cooperating with us improved their survival chances.
“Yeriel! Can you make the flowers look more dazzling and intense?”
His branches shook strongly in response.
Soon the gently falling petals began swirling dramatically in the wind.
“Zenon!”
He turned at my call.
“When I give the signal, try to look scary in front of everyone.”
“I’m not particularly interested.”
I ignored his reluctant reply.
“Silvester.”
I reached out to him.
“You have that gift from your prankster constellation, right?”
His constellation was Hermes, the All-Talented Youngest.
If he was Hermes’ incarnation, he must have received a starting artifact.
Some high-rank constellations cherished their incarnations.
They would even lower their own status to gift high-grade relics.
And Hermes was famous for doting on his incarnations.
“The Junk Workshop. Can you make a loudspeaker?”
Silvester’s eyes widened as if asking how I knew.
I simply smiled.
“I don’t know how you know that but…”
He hesitated, fidgeting with his hands, then nodded.
“It’s a pretty noona’s request, so okay. Wait a moment.”
That was a yes.
Soon after—
He handed me a trumpet-shaped loudspeaker.
<Incomplete Loudspeaker>
One-time consumable item
[Delivers your voice clearly to all living beings nearby.
Duration: 3 minutes]
“Thanks.”
I nodded in gratitude.
Silvester’s cheeks flushed slightly.
I slowly looked down at the crowd.
The Incomplete Loudspeaker was temporary—
but right now, it was more than enough.
I quickly activated it.
{Ah, ah. Evil spirits, please listen to me for a moment.}
The performance was excellent.
Everyone staring blankly at Yeriel’s miracle now focused on me.
{I understand your fear.}
Convincing the rulers was impossible.
{That’s why I understand why you came here.}
The rulers had to kill evil spirits to survive.
So instead, I would recruit the other half.
{Rather than waiting in fear of being attacked at any moment, you probably thought attacking us and escaping quickly was better.}
I paused.
“What?”
“Someone hiding behind strong allies like you understands us?!”
“Hypocrite!”
As expected.
Not everyone reacted well.
But—
“That woman is right.”
“We just wanted to live….”
Some agreed.
This is the important part.
I took a deep breath and signaled Zenon.
Though displeased, he placed his hand on his sword.
{But the ones you want to attack—}
I placed a hand on Zenon’s shoulder for dramatic effect.
{And we, his companions, are not weak.}
Zenon released a dark aura and killing intent.
“M-monster….”
“How is that possible this early?”
The crowd froze.
They were right.
In a phase where everyone should be equal—
why was he overwhelmingly stronger?
I had wondered too.
But considering he summoned items and even asked to be hit—
from his perspective, I was just as strange.
Anyway.
I put that aside.
Eden had also quietly formed a black spear threateningly.
Sharp kid.
{Of course, if you all attack at once, we couldn’t withstand it.}
Even they wouldn’t believe an obvious lie.
But a believable lie?
{If you attack, we have the ability to critically wound about 20% of you.}
Zenon slowly drew his sword.
{If these healing petals turned into blades, how many of you would survive to fight us?}
[Um, Wendy. That’s impossible…]
Yeriel’s voice echoed in panic.
I touched his trunk reassuringly and whispered:
“That was a lie.”
[A… a lie?]
Of course he didn’t have that ability.
And even if he did, he wouldn’t use it.
But so what?
They didn’t know that.
{So instead of attacking us, help us. We can be your shield.}
As I said that, the loudspeaker’s time expired.
Perfect timing.
Their condition for survival was endurance.
If they believed our protection gave better odds—
“Bold young lady. Fine, I’ll trust this side!”
Allies would appear.
“M-me too… I don’t want to take risks.”
“I oppose violence as well.”
“I never liked those so-called rulers anyway!”
One by one, the evil spirits stepped out.
Success.
At least half the enemies were gone.
And some even became allies.
“Waaa!”
“Peace wins!”
The balance of the forest, once tilted toward the rulers—
[The constellation Hell’s Orator is bored with this situation.]
—was slowly returning to equilibrium thanks to the defectors.
