After searching for a while, Werther finally found the source of the scent. It was above him.
He looked up. There was only one towering tree and no other plants. Could the scent be coming from its fruit?
But the tree was so tall that he couldn't tell whether it had any fruit at all.
"Baldy, go up and take a look! It smells too tempting. Even if we can't eat it, I'd be happy just to smell it."
Tuski nodded beside Anita, agreeing with her.
"Why don't you go up? Climbing a tree would be beneath a great swordsman like me. I'm not doing it."
At that, Werther swallowed again.
"You—you—hmph! Tuski, climb up for me. I can't get up there."
Tuski looked at Anita and nodded, then prepared to fly up and see whether the tree had fruit. Even if it didn't, Tuski wanted to find out where that wonderful scent came from.
"Wait, I'll do it. If there's danger up there, it'll be hard for you to defend yourself while flying."
Werther took off his shirt and began his climb. He'd only said that earlier to annoy the little girl.
Looking up from below, Werther had known the tree was tall, but he hadn't expected it to be this tall. He had been climbing for nearly five minutes without spotting anything resembling fruit, though the fragrance had grown stronger.
At last, when Tuski and Anita were barely visible below, he found the source of the scent: the tree's fruit.
It looked like a coconut, but it was much larger—about the size of a basketball. Its shell was so hard that Werther couldn't break it open with brute strength alone.
Werther picked every fruit he could find and filled a large sack with dozens of them. Then he