CHAPTER 171
The southern side of Dandelion—the place they used as a butcher’s shop—was upstream of a swamp.
Muddy water flowing slowly between rotten conifers. If they dumped slaughter byproducts here, they would get pushed along into the swamp where it pooled like a reservoir.
Then the Nepenthes monsters that made the swamp their habitat would eat up every last filthy thing and take care of it.
It was, truly, an eco-friendly food-waste processor.
“A rediscovery of Nepenthes.”
“Maybe because they’re plant-type, but they’re beneficial to the natural environment.”
At Eve’s words, Peony chimed in enthusiastically.
Right now, not only the people in charge of slaughtering but practically all the residents were gathered at the butcher’s shop. It was because they wanted to see the miracle Eve had boldly promised.
Eve’s miracle required preparation work. First, she assigned the Punishment Knights to clear the area.
They felled the nearby purple firs to secure access to sunlight, and they drove the Nepenthes monsters—who wandered around the swamp as if on a stroll—farther away.
Meanwhile, Eve was in the middle of alchemy with a massive cauldron set before her.
But the ingredients for the alchemy looked strange. Not medicinal herbs, but rotted leaves, bone powder from slaughtered magic beasts, purple fir charcoal, and piles of things like stinking mud. At a glance, it almost looked like forbidden black alchemy.
“There’s too much moisture. Add more bone powder and charcoal, Peony.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Since she’d already heard what they were making, Peony faithfully followed Eve’s instructions.
So Peony diligently poured in ingredients, and Eve vigorously stirred the cauldron with a wooden paddle.
“Hm…”
“Why, Your Highness?”
“Something’s missing.”
Just as she was about to activate the alchemy, Eve fell into serious contemplation.
But it didn’t last long. The moment she looked at Peony’s face, she was struck by inspiration.
“Ah, I remember.”
“What is it?”
“Peony.”
“Yes?”
“You’ve got ‘that,’ right. Hand it over.”
“A-ah!”
When Eve held out her hand, Peony took a hesitant step back.
But she couldn’t refuse her lord’s command, so before long, with a tearful face, Peony rummaged through her sleeve and offered up the item in question.
“Hiiing, it’s Sir Agnito’s!”
A high-grade pink stamina potion ended up in Eve’s hand.
Without mercy, it was poured straight into the cauldron—glug, glug.
Peony felt a heart-tearing bitterness.
“You’re making the tree… vigorous… to use it for what, exactly. Hngh…”
“Don’t cry. Stop.”
“Yes…”
At last, the cauldron flashed, and alchemy of an unknown nature was completed.
“Done. High-nutrient growing medium complete.”
Eve called the Punishment Knights and had them carry the growing medium away. In the midstream area where the muddy flow ended, they piled up a mound of soil and tamped it down firmly.
With that, the preparation work was finished.
Now it was time to do salvation gardening in front of the villagers in earnest.
Peony whispered into Eve’s ear as Eve tensed.
“Your Highness, are you ready?”
“Hoo… Yeah.”
“Remember. Your Highness’s concept is: the arrogance of Her Highness the 3rd Imperial Princess, the exaggeration of Young Master Redmon, and the lethal charm of Sir Agnito. Got it?”
“Got it.”
For a politician, image-making was basic. Eve clenched her fist tightly.
Standing atop the firmly packed soil, Eve looked around.
Everywhere, the eyes of Dandelion’s residents were fixed on her.
Honestly, at this point, she already had more than enough attention.
But Eve had just been shouting Alben’s name in her heart.
‘Give me strength, Alben!’
After casting such a powerful “spell,” she couldn’t possibly do something mild and ordinary and still have the nerve to face Alben. If she was going to do it, she had to do it properly.
“Residents of Dandelion, listen!”
Whirrk!
Eve stretched out her right arm long, making her robe billow grandly.
It was a crisp motion, as if she were drawing a sword.
“Yes, Savior!”
The residents of Dandelion responded with passion. Even now, they were ready to nod along and go wild no matter what Eve said.
Eve deliberately adopted a solemn expression and chose her words. For someone who craved attention, the rule was to provoke well.
Even people with horizon-wide tolerance needed to have controversy stirred up—only then could you say you’d lived up to the name of Alben.
Eve steeled herself and opened her mouth.
“Soon, you will drink the water of this swamp to your hearts’ content, and you will praise me.”
“Huh?”
Sure enough, the eyes of Dandelion’s residents went wide.
“You question me—do you not believe in me?”
“N-no! We believe! We believe!”
In truth, this swamp wasn’t only where they disposed of food waste—it also handled human waste.
When they imagined having to prove their faith by drinking that water, the residents’ faces turned pale.
Feeling sorry, Eve hurriedly pulled a branch of the World Tree from her robes.
“Then I will begin.”
Eve drove the branch straight into the ground—thunk.
The Punishment Knights and the residents of Dandelion stared in confusion, as if wondering whether Eve meant to plant a conqueror’s flag.
In the meantime, Eve crouched down and patted the soil so the branch would stand properly. Then she began chanting a magic incantation.
At the same time, she mimicked the exaggerated hand gestures Alben had shown before—like an orchestra conductor.
After a long time of seriously kneading the air, Eve cast the spell.
It was aging magic.
For the World Tree, which grew without a limit to its lifespan, “aging” was no different from “growth.”
Because Eve was deeply versed in practical gardening magic, the results appeared immediately.
“L-look! Look at that!”
“Woooow!”
A sprout rose from the branch, then in an instant swelled in volume.
The tiny bud quickly became a stem, then transformed into a woody tree trunk.
The growth was so fast that Eve flinched and had to step aside from atop the growing medium.
Before long, atop the soil mound, a single enormous tree planted itself firmly.
If it were an ordinary tree, you might have guessed it to be around five hundred years old—an overwhelming size.
With a majestic silhouette like a zelkova and bark as white as a birch, it looked like a gigantic coral reef on land.
Even though its branches were still bare, the beautiful tree created a breathtaking spectacle—and that was the moment it happened.
From every branch at once, fresh green leaves burst forth.
“My goodness!”
It was too soon to finish being amazed. Having taken root, the World Tree immediately began reshaping the surroundings into an environment suited to itself.
The nearby soil and the swamp were purified. The muddy brook—practically the same as household wastewater—turned, in an instant, into a clear stream trickling along.
The dank swamp that looked as if it would drag you into an abyss the moment your foot sank also separated into earth and water. The filthy mud either settled or vanished as if dissolving.
Soon it was purified so clear that it looked shallower than it truly was—the swamp, no, the lake, sparkled emerald.
“Hoo… Success.”
Eve smiled brightly in relief. But then she collected herself and fixed her expression into solemnity again.
This time, she stretched both arms out to either side so her robe flared even wider, and she spoke.
“Now, have you seen? This is the miracle I, the Savior, bestow upon you.”
The residents had been gaping in shock. Only then, as if their voices finally returned, they cried out.
“A-a miracle! The Savior made a lake by miracle!”
“Of course—this is our Savior! The prophecy was right!”
“Ooooh, O King of humans and homunculi!”
“We believe! We believe!”
It was a fervent response. Eve, feeling quite pleased herself, gladly basked in the praise pouring in from all directions.
But the residents of Dandelion were more devout than Eve had expected.
“Let’s name the lake after the Savior! Carve it on a monument—Lake Evienrose of Miracle and Salvation!”
“A monument isn’t enough! We must erect a statue of the Savior!”
“Good! A statue of the Goddess of Salvation!”
‘Ghk! That’s a bit—?!’
Eve’s naturally gentle, proper self timidly raised its head. A wave of rejection swept over her.
But Eve steadied herself again.
‘Alben!’
It worked.
Whirrk!
Eve billowed her robe again, lifted her chin, and declared:
“H-how overexcited. For a savior, this much is merely the basics.”
As if it were nothing, Eve brushed her bangs back with one hand and laughed.
Because she held her chin so high, her eyes looked as if she were looking down on others, and also as if she were lazily lowering her gaze toward the ground.
That exquisite handling of her gaze was arrogant like Brigitte, yet captivating like Mikael.
Seeing it, Peony quickly raised both thumbs and clapped—clap clap clap.
Around then, Helione, the village chief, approached and asked quietly.
“Your Highness, if I’m thinking correctly… this tree is…”
“Yes. That’s right. It’s the World Tree.”
“My goodness… T-to give us such a precious tree…”
Helione’s eyes quickly grew moist.
Just as Eve was about to comfort her, Mikael approached and reported that there was a problem.
“Your Highness, the Nepenthes monsters are acting strangely.”
“Ah… Right. They’re coming?”
The Nepenthes that had been chased away were swimming across the lake, approaching the World Tree.
Judging by the speed and momentum of their advance, they were brimming with intent to fight.
“It seems contaminated monsters feel threatened by the very existence of the World Tree. Well… being ‘clean’ isn’t always purely good for living creatures.”
“Yes. Their habitat has completely changed, so it’s only natural they’d dislike it. In any case, we should take measures.”
“Yeah. Make the residents’ safety the top priority.”
“Understood. Punishment Knights, all units—prepare for combat!”
At the captain’s call, the Punishment Knights drew their weapons in unison.
And then, it happened.
Sshiiik! Sshiiik!
Suddenly, from the lakeshore, tentacle-like roots burst upward and began whipping the Nepenthes monsters—thud, thud.
The attacking tentacles were nothing like the black-green tentacles the contaminated Nepenthes had.
They were white, fresh, living tentacle-roots.
At the sudden carnage of tentacles, the residents of Dandelion panicked.
“W-what is it? Is it a turf war between Nepenthes?”
“I don’t think so. If those are Nepenthes roots, the color is strange.”
“Somehow, this is…”
Everyone’s gaze turned to the World Tree, resembling an enormous zelkova.
The World Tree still boasted majestic beauty, rustling its leaves in the wind.
Just looking at it made peace seep into your heart.
But it couldn’t fool people’s eyes.
Eve opened her mouth in stunned alarm.
“W-wait… the World Tree’s roots were tentacles too?”