The Story of the Forest Goddess

"That form is called a tree spirit..."

Iver nodded slightly, seemingly lost in thought, "I think I've heard that before..."

"Yes, I asked around. Once Aya is fully transformed, her soul will ascend into the Dream Realm and become a sleeping tree. She might appear in any corner of the Dream Realm where there are trees, and she will look no different from any other tree."

"If one is comfortably awakened by gentle music, one wish may be granted; but if one is awakened by noise, the angry tree spirit will attack any passing phantoms."

"... I think I've heard something similar before."

Iver felt that this statement sounded familiar, "In the literary works of the Hero Series from the Herasul Empire, there is a chapter called ' The Forest Goddess '."

Legend has it that a Brave adventurer traveling the world was unable to convince his fiancée of the meaning of love, and after searching through all his friends without finding a satisfactory answer, he decided to seek the answer from the legendary Forest Goddess. During his adventure, the Brave was seriously injured in a battle with a wild beast, and his fiancée, while searching for herbs to heal him, accidentally ingested poison, thus falling into a near-death state and even experiencing hallucinations.

After all his efforts to save her failed, the Brave held his unconscious fiancée and leaned sadly against a tree. He played his harmonica, wanting to stay with her until the very end.

"And after hearing his harmonica music, the tree he was leaning against came to life and gently wiped away his tears."

"She was a beautiful girl with long, branch-like hair that gradually transformed into tree roots below her knees. She healed the Brave and his fiancée, and after they awoke, they thanked her together. At the same time, they were pained by each other's anxiety and concern for them, and apologized to each other for their previous stubbornness."

"After hearing the story of how the two came here, the girl smiled and used the wood from her body to make a flute that could cure diseases and curses, used her leaves to make amulets that would always help her sleep well, used her flowers to make a pair of bracelets that could hear each other's thoughts, and finally used her fruit to give the two a good meal."

"By this time, the two had lost their stubbornness in seeking answers from the Forest Goddess and wanted nothing more than to leave the dangerous forest as soon as possible. So they thanked the girl and returned home."

"After they told their adventure story to their wisest friend, the friend slapped his thigh and exclaimed, 'The girl you met is the Forest Goddess!'"

After telling the story, Iver realized that the girl had been sitting next to him at some point.

Anastasia listened intently to Iver's story, her eyes sparkling. The wariness in her eyes had vanished, replaced by affection.

"Will I... become Forest Goddess too?"

She asked, half out of curiosity and half out of longing.

This was the first time Grace had ever seen such a bright light in her eyes.

She was also a little surprised. "Aya... do you like this story?"

"I love it. I love it so much."

Anastasia nodded vigorously. "I also want to help others... I also want to give away what I have to others."

"Mom, is that Forest Goddess... a child like me?"

"... If nothing unexpected happens, it should be."

Grace was somewhat helpless.

Because she probably guessed the prototype of this story.

They must have been those reclusive elves who, suffering from treeification and unable to bear the noise of town life, ventured into the Dense Forest. Ultimately, they transformed into trees deep within the forest, but for some reason, failed to ascend properly into the Dream Realm.

"However, this ' Forest Goddess ' will probably ascend to the Dream Realm later."

Grace said softly, "She probably didn't get enough sleep... or rather, she didn't receive enough sunlight, which is why she lingered in the Material Realm for a while. She used almost all the essence of her being to make gifts because she was about to leave."

"Because she was awakened by gentle music, which is the right way to wake her up. If she had been woken up by noise, she might have gotten angry—and after getting angry, she might not have had enough energy left."

"...No wonder."

Iver stroked his chin. "I've heard that some places have the practice of worshipping ' Tree God '. But sometimes the Tree God suddenly become ineffective, which must mean that the souls within have ascended to the Dream Realm."

"There should be fewer of these in recent years."

Grace shook her head. "Some people say that the bloodlines of elves are not as pure as they used to be... but I think it's mainly because those elves who might become tree spirits have already ascended to the Dream Realm. Among the remaining elves, very few have bloodlines as pure as Aya's."

"Atavism..."

"Iver murmured."

He was a little afraid that Isabel would turn into a tree.

After all, Isabel and Anastasia have almost the same hair color, and both are skilled in illusion.

This made Iver's heart tighten.

After all, Isabel was originally destined to become the Queen of Flowers and inherit the Inheritance of Blooming Flowers... This means that she was at least able to awaken the blood of flowers within her.

Perhaps this could be considered a form of atavism?

Grace clearly understood what Iver meant, so she nodded. "That should be it. After all, tree-transformation basically only happens to Pure-Blood Elf. I have never heard of Half-Elf or an elf born from Half-Elf becoming a tree-transformation."

She was clearly aware of what Iver was worried about.

...That's good.

Iver felt a little relieved.

"Iver," Anastasia pleaded, "Could you tell me another story?"

The girl had clearly been lonely for too long, and it was rare to find someone sitting next to her telling her a story.

"Your Iver is here on business."

Grace patted Anastasia on the shoulder, then looked at Iver.

Iver nodded and asked softly, "Do you remember Yunus?"

"... The uncle playing the harp?"

Anastasia's eyes lit up, and she immediately guessed the rest of what Iver hadn't said, "He came to see me? Uncle Yunus came to see me!"

"But you can't go out, Aya."

Grace immediately refused, saying, "If you come into contact with the outside world at this time, the treeification process might immediately exceed the danger level."

"Could Mr. Yunus come here?"

Anastasia countered.

"... I'm afraid that won't work."

Grace hesitated and shook her head. "He's too old, he probably doesn't have any childlike innocence anymore."

"Then I'm going out."

Anastasia said firmly, "Thanks to Uncle Yunus, my friends were able to find me. He saved me, and I want to thank him in person."

"... Even if it will exacerbate your treeification?"

Iver also asked a question.

He neither dissuaded nor persuaded.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do."

The girl was very stubborn. "Besides... I now think that might not be a bad thing."

"... Aya, you're not even a hundred years old yet."

Grace crouched down and hugged Anastasia's waist with some concern. "You haven't had a complete childhood yet..."

"Mom, I know you want to be good to me and you want me to stay longer."

Anastasia suddenly spoke up, "But I am but an illusion that cannot be retained."

"Maintaining this state... might be even more painful."

For a moment, Grace froze.

She even stopped breathing for a moment.

Because Grace only then belatedly realized something—she hadn't considered whether she might feel pain during this transitional state. Because Anastasia's life was too short, she had been trying everything to prolong it, even at the cost of breaking taboos...

Perhaps Anastasia was just too sensible.

—She never mentioned that it hurt her.

"... Did I cause you pain, Aya?"

Grace's voice trembled slightly.

The girl simply reached out and gently wiped away Grace's tears.

It was only then that Grace realized... that her daughter, who was not yet an adult and had been sent to the Fairy Kingdom to "freeze her age" at half the age of adulthood, already possessed a maturity and gentleness far beyond that of ordinary people.

Despite possessing a childlike innocence, and despite having spent all her previous life with her parents and fairies... Anastasia has, after all, lived for several decades.

She was much more mature than Grace had expected.

"I have a gift I want to give to Uncle Yunus."

The girl said softly, "He is very fragile and sad... I want to help him."

"Perhaps I can save him... save his soul."

Her gentleness was like that of the Forest Goddess in the Iver story.