At the Northern Fort V3C8: Invader
I did not know what was in the cave deep within the nest. That was because I was too scared to go into a place where the light from outside could not reach.
However, today was the day that I would reveal the secrets of this cave.
Thinking that I might be able to make it if I left it to momentum, I tried dashing into the depths of the den from the entrance of the nest, but as expected, I got scared after being enveloped with darkness. I made a small shriek of, ‘Kyaa!’ and turned my body around.
Then, after returning to the entrance, I turned around again and dashed towards the depths, screaming ‘kyaa!’ before coming back to the entrance again.
This is pretty fun in its own way.
“Milfiria, what are you doing?”
Still sitting on our bed in the nest, Mother in her vixen form asked that in a mystified manner.
I panted as I returned to Mother’s side.
“I was curious about the inside of the nest. There might be something there, and it might even be an amazing gem.”
It was both scary and exciting to step foot in a place that no other person had stepped in before.
My fear of the dark prevented me from going there, but the depths of the den were filled with a sense of adventure.
However, just as I started to get worked up talking about how I would one day discover all of its secrets, Mother readily tried to tell me the answer.
“There isn’t anything inside, noth—”
“W-Wait!”
“—ing is there. I properly investigated the inside when I decided to make a nest here.”
My dreams of adventure shattered with a loud crack.
“I told you to wait!”
Bawling loudly, I turned towards Mother and acted as though I would bite her.
But unfortunately, Mother wasn’t scared one bit. She was even yawning leisurely.
“Do you have an interest in gems, Milfiria? You did treasure that stone that Hilg brought over after all. Perhaps because you’ve been spending time with humans, you’ve started to develop a value system similar to humans.”
Without saying whether that was a good thing or not, Mother stood up.
“Look, there’s an icicle over there. Isn’t that quite like a jewel?”
She glanced at a long icicle dangling at the entrance of our den and said.
Icicles were pretty, but they’re different from gems. They melt too. Although they are pretty yummy when you eat them.
“Ah, but. That. I want the longest one over there.”
“Mother shall get it for you.”
Mother stretched her body out and headed towards the entrance of the den, but midway through her legs came to a stop. She tilted her head slightly upwards and to the side, and was moving her ears nervously.
“What’s wrong?”
“Someone is coming up the mountain.”
She said in a slightly low and wary voice.
“This presence is……like a spirit, but also unlike one. It does not seem to be a human either.”
I tilted my head together with Mother. Perhaps because I was insensitive to these things, I hadn’t noticed anyone entering the mountain.
“I wonder who it is?”
Feeling anxious, I went down the mountain with Mother to discern who the intruder was. I tried as hard as I could to run, but a gap opened up between me and the fast-footed Mother, and on top of that I ended up buried in the soft snow en route. Even when I tried to get out, the surrounding snow collapsed like sand, preventing me from escaping.
I hastily cried out in a high-pitched voice, calling for Mother’s aid.
Then, Mother immediately turned back and rescued me from within the snow. Still biting onto the nape of my neck, she casually tossed me onto her back.
I clung to Mother’s back so that I wouldn’t fall off as Mother pushed through the pure white landscape.
Once we passed the midpoint of the mountain, the number of areas without any snow, exposing the greenery underneath, grew more numerous.
After entering the coniferous forest, Mother soon started to decrease her speed.
“We’ve caught up to them. They’re over there.”
My eyes followed the direction that Mother pointed out with her snout. Staggering forth with a wooden staff in hand was a single man.
Although he wasn’t carrying an axe, he was dressed like a lumberjack and he didn’t seem out of place inside the forest.
However, like Mother had said before, he did not feel like a human.
“I can feel the weak energy of a spirit.”
After Mother declared thus, she made a stern expression and rapidly walked towards the intruder. I alighted from Mother’s back and followed after her.
Noticing our footsteps, the intruder raised his head and looked towards us.
“The snow spirit……?”
The voice and face of the man as he murmured that was incredibly calm and gentle. His stature wasn’t all that tall, nor was it all that short.
His hair was a warm emerald green and was rather short and curly. His collarless, white shirt hung loosely on his frame and had plants embroidered with a green thread around the collar and chest. He wore leather gloves, and on his lower half were a pair of deep green pants with suspenders hanging from them, as well as a pair of brown boots on his feet.
Although his attire made him look like a stylish lumberjack, his clothes were dirty, and his face was listless.
He looked haggard, but after the intruder noticed my figure behind Mother, his face relaxed into a smile.
“Ah, you have a child with you too. How cute. I like children.”
Seeing the intruder approach us with a peaceful smile, Mother bared her fangs and growled menacingly.
“Do not approach my child!”
“S-Sorry. Don’t get so angry.”
The intruder stopped and cowered. He didn’t seem to be very brave.
“I am the snow spirit Snowlea. Who are you? Why have you chosen to enter my territory without asking? Depending on your answer, you may not get off so easily.”
Even now it seemed like Mother would bite him. Feeling threatened, the other party had a cold sweat as he explained.
“W-Wait a moment. I am the tree spirit Woodbaum.”
“Woodbaum? You are different from the Woodbaum that I met once before.”
“The one that you know is probably my father. My Father gave me his name when I left the nest. Though I did tell him that it was still too early for that.”
“So, what is your aim?”
Mother glared at Woodbaum as she spoke. Woodbaum shrunk his body uncomfortably as he replied.
“Please don’t glare at me. I hate fighting. It was my fault for having entered your territory without asking, but I wasn’t planning on stealing it from you or anything. I was just wandering aimlessly, looking for a beautiful land, when I arrived here.”
“A beautiful land? Why?”
I suddenly poked my head out from behind Mother’s body and asked.
Woodbaum’s face relaxed at the sight of me and started to explain.
“It has been a hundred and fifty years since I left the nest. After deciding to make my domicile in Poplar Forest, I had lived there all this time. Do you know of the country of Poplar? You might be a bit too young to know about it, right?”
He said that gently like a daycare worker, and then made a sad expression.
“But, about ten years ago the forest started to be cut down due to logging. Humans have been using trees in their daily lives since long ago, but perhaps because their numbers have increased so much, lately they have been cutting down the trees endlessly. In addition, a town also developed around the forest, causing the pure environment from the past to disappear. The water of the nearby river also got polluted, and though the humans still haven’t noticed it, the earth, the air, and the rain that falls on the forest has also become dirty.”
So this world also has environmental issues, I thought to myself as I looked at Woodbaum’s exhausted expression.
“Water, earth, light, and an appropriate temperature. Even though the surrounding environment is important for trees to grow healthily, the actions of humans end up destroying that environment.”
Like how humans would feel unwell if they just ate things that were bad for them, trees also required a balanced environment, or else it would be easier for them to get sick. Thus, a sickness spread in the forest that Woodbaum lived in.
“In these past ten years, I gave my power to the withering children, heal the sick children, and also made direct appeals to the humans, but I’m too tired now. Although the humans said that it couldn’t be helped that the forest would be destroyed for the sake of their own development, they still continued to ask me to grow more trees for them.”
Because he seemed to be a kind spirit, he was not as feared as Mother was. However, because of that, he may have been thought of as a convenient existence who could make more trees grow no matter how many they cut down.
Woodbaum combed out his curly hair with a hand and spoke.
“I think that I have also caught that illness. My hair has gotten all dried out, and my clothes and skin have also become unclean with a filth that I can’t get out. Whenever I use the transfer technique, I get sent to strange places, and I can no longer utilise my power very well.”
“So spirits can become ill too? No wonder your power feels so weak. I could hardly feel it.”
Mother’s voice, while still wary of the intruder, started to have a bit of pity mixed into it.
“Indeed, but I believe that I will probably be cured if I stay in a pure land. In reality, after coming here I feel like my body’s burden has gotten a little lighter. The land in this region has beautiful snowmelt permeating the earth, and the trees that are drinking that water also seem healthy. Though they do say that the winters are tough because it gets so cold and that they would like it to be a little bit warmer.”
Woodbaum placed a hand on the thick trunk of the tree next to him and smiled. And then, he gazed at Mother’s eyes and pleaded thus.
“Oh merciful snow spirit, Snowlea. Please, allow me to rest in this land for a short while.”
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Translator Comments:
Mil being adorable to the harsh reality of human-induced climate change. The whiplash of reality is rough. Poor Woodbaum. I wonder if this is a world where spirits slowly start to die out as a result of human activity messing with the environment? That would be a tragic twist.
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