Chapter 37
Herald’s eyes suddenly widened.
“The root of the World Tree…? Are you sure?”
“Yes. The moment we placed the holy relic that the cardinal had, it reacted immediately. However, the color of the root had completely turned black. As if it were rotten.”
A crack appeared in Herald’s eyes.
The World Tree stood deep inside the Holy Nation, in a forest called the Sacred Land of Sericia, a place known as the origin of the world.
The Sacred Land and the Triangular Zone were very far apart. It would take several days to travel between them.
There was no way the root of the World Tree could naturally grow in such a distant place.
That meant the most likely possibility was that someone had dug up the root of the World Tree and placed it in the Triangular Zone to contaminate it.
Herald’s face instantly became serious. He leaned back against the chair, covered his jaw with his hand, and frowned.
“How on earth are those people in the Holy Nation managing that place?”
“When I went there, there weren’t many holy knights guarding the Triangular Zone.”
“Hoo… When was the root discovered?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Then it should have already appeared in the newspapers… Why hasn’t the Holy Nation officially announced it?”
“This is just my guess…”
Seian leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice.
“I think the Pope is going to change.”
“Your reason?”
“While I was there, the Pope never visited the Triangular Zone even once.”
“Then who purified the dark energy? The treaty clearly states that the Pope must personally purify the Triangular Zone at least once a month.”
“Yes. Cardinal Nikolai Delion led the entire operation on site. He was also in charge of the purification.”
“In that case…”
“He will probably become the next Pope.”
“Haa…”
Herald rubbed the area around his eyes roughly with his palm and leaned back deeply.
Those followers of worldly doctrines.
They were probably hiding it because they didn’t want the internal situation of the Holy Nation to be exposed.
If the news spread that the root of the World Tree had been found in the Triangular Zone, the Holy Nation would not be able to avoid responsibility for poor management.
Priests were supposed to serve others, yet they were only looking after their own interests.
It made his blood boil.
Crack.
Herald ground his teeth harshly.
Watching him nervously, Seian spoke.
“Your Grace, you’re not planning to do something, are you? It’s still too early to touch them. Most importantly, even the Imperial Family wouldn’t be able to interfere.”
“……”
Hearing Seian’s undeniable words, Herald took a deep breath through his nose and slowly let it out through his mouth, trying to calm his anger.
“By the way… your identity wasn’t discovered, was it?”
“Of course not. I performed so well that I could easily stand as the main actor at the Antonio Grand Theater.”
“……”
“I’m serious. Please believe me.”
Seeing Herald staring at him with cold eyes, Seian placed his hand on his chest and complained unfairly.
But Herald simply ignored him.
“For now, stay here as a private tutor until I give you the next order.”
“Excuse me? Live here?”
“Yes. I already told Carter.”
Herald spoke as if he were simply informing him of something that had already been decided.
Seian’s face immediately darkened.
“I… I would rather live at my own house.”
“……”
Herald stared at Seian silently. It was a wordless pressure telling him to just obey.
In the end, Seian weakly moved his lips.
“…The payment won’t change, right?”
“Right.”
“Yes… understood. But please don’t call me every day.”
“I’m busy. That won’t happen.”
After saying that firmly, Herald immediately stood up and walked to his desk, as if to prove his words.
“Where are we going?”
“To the annex.”
I answered shortly to Pepe, who was sitting on top of my head.
Right now, I was heading to the annex with Pepe.
Even though I had been visiting for over a month, I still hadn’t managed to open Cassio’s heart.
Usually I went with Elly or by myself, but today I brought Pepe along.
Why?
Because yesterday I learned that Cassio liked cute and small animals.
And Pepe’s appearance looked like a small and cute animal, so I decided to bring him.
Besides, Cassio already knew that Pepe could talk.
“Why there?”
“To meet someone.”
“Who?”
“A friend.”
“You have a friend?”
“…Someone who will become one.”
“As expected…”
Pepe clicked his tongue above my head.
Yes, I didn’t have friends. But I was determined to become friends with Cassio.
That was why I was even bringing this noisy squirrel with me.
Most of all, I didn’t want all the effort I had made until now to go to waste.
Do you know how much effort I put into him?
I really worked hard to become friends with Cassio.
I went to the market with Elly and bought street food and fresh fruits for him. I even gave him a letter written with sincerity. And recently, I gave him my precious four-leaf clover that I found while walking in the garden!
Just thinking about all that effort made me determined to succeed.
“By the way, that friend… is it the kid we saw that day?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“As expected…”
Pepe sighed deeply as if he already knew.
For some reason, his reaction irritated me.
“What do you mean ‘as expected’? Pepe, how do you know?”
“Of course I know. I saw everything that day.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“What do you mean what? I said I saw it all.”
He kept saying things that were hard to understand, so I frowned.
“What did you see? Stop making me angry and just say it.”
“You fell for him, didn’t you?”
The unbelievable words passed through my ears, and I stopped walking immediately.
What did this squirrel just say?
Did I hear that right?
Just in case, I rubbed my ears and asked again.
“What did you say? Say it again. I think I heard wrong.”
“I said you fell for him at first sight. Don’t you understand such simple words? You idiot—”
“You squeaky squirrel!”
I couldn’t hold it in anymore and swung both hands over my head. But this quick squirrel easily dodged every attack while continuing to talk.
“What?! Why are you suddenly like this?”
“Why are you suddenly talking nonsense?”
“What? I’m not a dog.”
“I mean you’re saying something weird!”
“Huh? But I saw it myself. Why is that weird?”
Ah! This little brat is really making me explode.
Full of frustration, I shouted loudly.
“Why would I like him? That’s absolutely not true!”
“Hmmm? But you were totally fascinated…”
“No! I’m not!”
“Then why were you staring at him the whole time?”
“What…?”
Did I really do that?
I tried to remember the moment when I first met Cassio.
Now that I thought about it, maybe I really couldn’t take my eyes off him. His face was blurred because of alchemy, but the atmosphere around him was very unusual.
“I just thought it was interesting.”
“What was interesting?”
“His atmosphere…”
“Atmosphere?”
Pepe repeated the word strangely as if he couldn’t understand.
“Ah, whatever! Anyway, I don’t like him!”
“Fine, forget that. But why do I have to go with you?”
“I think he likes cute animals. He seemed to like you when he saw you before.”
“What the… So you’re bringing me just to use me?”
“Uh…”
I couldn’t say no. Because that was exactly what I was doing.
“Forget it! Even if I meet him, I won’t do anything.”
No, you have to help me open Cassio’s heart.
“Hey, come on, help me just this once. When we go back, I’ll give you five cheese cookies.”
“…Give me pistachio cookies instead. I’m tired of cheese cookies after eating them yesterday.”
“Fine. Pistachio cookies it is. But when we meet him, just please, pleeease behave quietly. Okay?”
“Okay. I always keep my promises.”
While chatting with Pepe like that, we soon arrived at the garden of the annex.
And then I saw a familiar figure crouching beside a flower bed.
