“Why, is that what you were referring to, Alk?” I asked quietly. I didn’t want whatever it was to feel threatened, though I couldn’t quell the excitement that was rising up within me.
“You finally see it, yes? It is a treant sapling,” he explained. “They are sometimes born when a tree feeds on mana present in the ground.”
With each step the sapling took, it snapped off twigs that had been sticking out in his path. Its leg-roots flattened the undergrowth and the ground beneath as it moved around. This explained the strangely level pathways!
“It would appear that this treant has only just been born. It’s wandering around in search of sunlight and nutrients so that it might hasten its growth.”
I giggled. “Since it is capable of moving itself to a prime location, I would wager that it’ll find somewhere with plenty of those things that it can keep all to itself!”
“Treants are meek by nature,” Alk said. “It shouldn’t attack us if we leave it be.”
Now and then, it would panic as it got caught on ivy that was wrapped around other trees. It would shift its own roots very slowly as it avoided stepping on a flower in its path sometimes too. Just watching the treant was enough to warm my heart. “Meek” was a good way to describe it.
My first encounter with monsters had been those goblins, and it had ended up being quite traumatic. It was only now that I realized that monsters came in many forms. While some might attack the moment they laid eyes on you, others—like this sapling—were content to simply ignore us. Now that I thought of it, perhaps I was incredibly lucky that Alk was spending time with me and that the other spirits were willing to make friends with me too.
“What is it, Fran?”
I supposed it was a bit rude of me to have been staring at Alk. My face stiffened when he spoke. I probably look silly now...
“Oh, nothing,” I said. “I was just reminding myself how much of an honor it is to be able to spend this time with you.” I smiled at Alk, feigning composure. After all, there was no technique more fundamental to a lady than being able to prevent her agitation from appearing on her face.
It looked like he wasn’t going to fall for it.
He hummed. “Allow me to commend that attitude of yours, Fran. It will be interesting to see how long you can maintain it.”
Are you serious? I wished he would have pretended that he hadn’t seen through me! I sighed, half in anger and half in resignation. Meanwhile, the sapling was still ambling about in search of its ideal location.
“I had thought it would spot us immediately, but it doesn’t seem wary of us whatsoever,” I commented.
“Although it is a monster now, it used to be a tree. A tree’s thought process is more or less incomprehensible.”
“That’s a rather...inoffensive way of putting it.”
“Before my slumber, I once came across another treant,” he said. “It was dispirited because its leaves and bark were being consumed by a young deer.”
It sounded like said treant had been caught up in the struggle for survival. Had it survived? Could it even survive if it was stripped of its bark? Perhaps it could simply regrow it if its roots were intact. I really wasn’t sure. Considering that it was capable of locomotion in the first place, I figured it should have been able to run away from lumberjacks or animals.
It might’ve just been my imagination, but the lumbering sapling had somewhat of a self-important air about it. The scenery before us had a prevailing sense of peace until Alk had led me to think about things a little differently. I sighed as if to release the pressure from the indescribable feeling that had built up in my chest.
Suddenly, the treant looked around the area. Its foliage shook—the creature seemed panicked.
What’s wrong?! I wasn’t thinking anything rude about you, I promise!
Well, I had been imagining it sitting there miserably while a deer stripped it of its bark... Had it sensed that somehow?!
I straightened up due to my own nervousness too, and that was when something buzzed right past my ear.
“Fran, move!”
“Wh—” I began, but my own shriek cut me off.
My vision went blank, covered up by darkness so devastating that it was enough to extinguish the dazzling sun.
Is Alk...embracing me?! And what was that sound?
My thoughts were muddled as I turned to look at the sapling. I regretted doing so almost immediately.
“Alk...?” I asked, my voice quivering. “Wh-What is that...?”
“A giant longhorn. Though it is rare for them to be quite so giant.”
“I... I cannot stand those insects!” I screamed.
The sapling was shifting this way and that as it tried to repel the huge thing that was thrusting its mandible forward toward it. What I was seeing was probably a bigger version of a longhorn beetle...but just picturing those insects—no, even acknowledging the thing before me made me feel all creepy and crawly and...eek!!! It was even affecting my word choices! Those long antennae... The black luster of its body... AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!
“It is a surprise to see you so agitated. You dislike them that much?”
“If you think it’s pathetic enough to laugh about, then be my guest! B-But those insects...” I whined and shoved my head into Alk’s chest, desperate to dislodge the image of what I had seen from my mind. I even nuzzled into him, hoping that the sensation of doing so might somehow help me forget my woes.
Oh dear... I could deal with lizards, snakes, and even frogs, but insects of that particular body type were not my forte! It wasn’t all insects that I had issues with—butterflies, ladybugs; I didn’t mind those. But when a creature’s antennae started squirming faster and glistening and gleaming...!
Perhaps I should give up on my dreams of gardening...
My thoughts were so overwhelming that tears sprang to my eyes. Oh, but as a lady, I’m supposed to maintain my composure at all times!
“You are rather entertaining when you’re panicking, Fran.” I could hear Alk’s gleeful remark from above my head just as the arms around my waist slipped away.
“What?”
I had no time to work out what was happening before I felt his torso begin to rumble. Soon after, I could smell something burning. I warily opened my eyes to see the sapling shaking its green leaves joyfully and that there was something black beneath its branches.
“Charcoal...?”
Then, I realized that Alk had slain the insect! I was still trying to forget what it had looked like before it’d been burnt to a crisp, but it certainly wasn’t all that scary anymore...
“You will be thankful that I allowed you to pass without suffering,” Alk told its charred remains.
“Th-Thank you, Alk! Though I do not wish for you to exterminate all of them—they’re free to exist as long as they stay out of my sight!” I rambled, my words all coming out in a single breath.
Ecosystems were important, and I was undoubtedly aware that some insects were beneficial to mankind. But, just like everybody else, I had my weaknesses...
Alk hummed thoughtfully. “You seem even more elated than I had expected, Fran. You truly detest those things, don’t you?” If I wasn’t mistaken, he seemed the slightest bit exasperated.
My gaze was still glued to the ground when I sensed something moving from the corner of my eye. The sapling was stretching out slowly, its entire body rustling as it seemed to glance in our direction.
“The treant seems to be all right too,” I said. “Thank goodness...”
A strong sense of affection was coming from it—though I couldn’t say I’d done anything to help it personally. It stayed like that for a while, thanking us, until it suddenly tucked in its roots and set off again.
“Giant longhorns have a particular fondness for mana-rich trees. That sapling must have seemed like the perfect meal,” Alk explained.
“I’m just relieved that it will live to see another day.”
Creatures eat and are eaten by each other—that was just how the world worked. I knew that, but it didn’t mean I was willing to watch a living thing get devoured right in front of me. However, it might’ve been true that I lacked some resilience...
“Shall we turn back? You wanted to see where that new cave entrance leads, didn’t you?” Alk asked.
“Oh, right! Yes, we must have a look! I wonder which part of the shrine it will take us to!”
We watched the lumbering sapling swagger away into the forest before we turned on our heels to return to the meadow.