Eat The World Tree Chapter 273: Merri (1)

“…Why, why didn’t you co? Why.”

rri muttered pitifully, as if blaming .

The murmurs around us began to spread. I scratched the back of my neck and stepped forward toward rri.

There’s a secrecy clause, so rumors wouldn’t spread on the internet, but even so, these gazes were uncomfortable.

“You, a re human… Why didn’t you listen to ?”

Her voice was full of tears.

I looked at rri with indifferent eyes.

I was too flustered to know what expression I should make. I hadn’t even thought I needed to fix my expression.

Perhaps because of that, seeing my empty stare, rri’s shoulders shook even more, filled with grief.

She probably thought I had cut off all emotional attachnt to her a long ti ago.

rri seed to think that way.

Drip.

Moisture gathered in rri’s eyes, and soon, tears as big as marbles began to pool.

“If it was hard… you could have just said so….”

If I had said that, she would have probably yelled at , calling a whining human brat.

Until not too long ago, that was exactly how rri’s personality was.

She would call whenever she could, having do massages, tend to her roots, water them, and even apply fertilizer. She would never do any of it on her own, and I had to take care of it all by myself.

These were all highly technical tasks, and if it weren’t for my high potential, it would have taken at least several decades of experience to accomplish them.

Yet, she told soone like that I lacked perseverance and said things like “That’s why you’re just a human.” Of course, that made feel bad.

Even if you expected to be insulted, it was still upsetting.

Drip, drip.

Tears fell onto the floor tiles.

Even in the midst of that, her gaze toward remained fierce.

While tending to her, I often thought rri gave off the impression of a princess who had thrown away all manners. Her hairstyle and appearance certainly added to that impression.

It felt like soone had pulled the imaginary rri from my mind and brought her to life.

“Who’s that person?”

“Don’t you know? It’s Lee Shiheon. He’s from El Academy, with Jung Siwoo….”

For now, it seed necessary to calm things down.

I unlocked the door, quickly entered the password, and spoke to rri, who was staring at from beside.

“For now, let’s go inside, Miss rri.”

rri nodded while sniffling.

I couldn’t tell if she was a tree or a cousin who cries at every little thing.

Sohow, I had felt at ease. No wonder today’s breakfast had tasted better than usual.

I let out a sigh.

rri walked barefoot into the living room, leaving small footprints on the floor.

The tiny footprints reminded of a puppy trotting through the snow, and for so reason, I found it adorable.

Specks of dirt fell onto the floor tiles.

rri followed , clutching the hem of her white robe in both hands.

“Please sit on the sofa over there. I’ll make tea shortly.”

“…Okay.”

Sniffling, she sat on the sofa as if it was natural for her to be served.

As I took out so high-quality tea leaves from the cupboard, I spoke to rri.

“But becoming human? Didn’t you hate humans?”

It ended up sounding sarcastic, but I was genuinely curious.

I never thought soone like rri, who despised humans so much, would tolerate having a body similar to theirs.

“You didn’t co. I called you over and over, but you never ca.”

Maybe rri misunderstood my question.

Her face, sitting on the sofa, turned teary once again.

Gurgle.

Pouring tea into the cup, I glanced at rri, who kept sneaking looks at . An indescribable feeling washed over .

What should I even say?

I couldn’t believe I had tried to work things out with soone like her.

The thought made feel like a piece of trash who was ssing with a girl’s body.

Though she was twenty-eight and older than , appearances often followed their original form, after all.

I handed rri the tea and snacks.

Standing a step away from the sofa, I idly stared ahead until rri asked cautiously.

“Hey…”

“Yes?”

She extended her thin index finger and pointed to the sofa in front of her.

“Aren’t… you going to sit?”

Was rri actually allowing to sit?

This was the sa rri who wouldn’t even let breathe when we were within ten centiters of each other.

What did she say back then? Sothing about feeling disgusted by even inhaling the carbon dioxide I exhaled?

I rember feeling hurt, as it was the harshest insult I’d ever heard.

‘Sure enough, her attitude has softened a lot. What on earth happened?’

I sat down on the sofa and put on a gentle expression, as I always did, with a faint smile.

“So, what brings you here?”

rri didn’t answer right away.

Could she have co just to see without any specific reason?

That didn’t seem likely. She probably hadn’t fully gathered her thoughts yet.

Well, whatever. What could I possibly do with soone like her?

Since she’s no longer my responsibility as the World Tree of Healing, I decided to treat her like a child who needed comforting.

I sat quietly, smiling, while waiting for her to organize her thoughts.

It took a long ti.

“You.”

By the ti the warmth of the teacup began to cool against my fingernails, rri finally opened her lips cautiously.

“That thing you said last ti… what did it an?”

“Last ti?”

“You said you couldn’t satisfy …”

Couldn’t satisfy her.

She must be talking about when I stord out of rri’s room, pretending to be angry.

“Oh, that.”

To be honest, it was all an act.

I thought it would help fix so of her bad habits.

What kind of backlash would I face if I brought it up again now?

I carefully weighed my words.

After all, I had treated her with lies from beginning to end.

“……”

Her eyes wavered with unease.

Tremble.

Her tightly clenched fists were shaking too.

Since becoming human, it seed like she couldn’t properly control her senses or emotions.

Was this so kind of side effect of becoming human?

It reminded of a frightened puppy in an unfamiliar and scary place.

Blink.

Why did those red eyes look so innocent? And why did her tiny fists look so cute when clenched?

It was hard to remain unaffected when she appeared as a human, especially in the form of a child.

Even though she was older, a child was still a child.

Thinking this, I racked my brain to find the right words to say to rri.

If I handled this well, maybe I could help her shake off her tree superiority complex.

I decided to avoid reprimanding her emotionally.

First, I needed to explain.

“So…”

rri shut her eyes tightly.

Like a child awaiting scolding, she stiffened and fidgeted with her lips, unable to swallow.

What’s the best thing I could say right now?

I kept thinking while continuing to speak.

“rri, you don’t like , right? No matter what I do for you… it only seems to make you feel worse.”

Until now, her insults had been sharp, bordering on personal attacks.

“So I thought it would be better to just step back and fail.”

As soon as I finished speaking, rri replied.

“…Then why didn’t you co? I called you, but you didn’t co…”

It was the sa reason.

“If I went, I’d just hear more about how I’m a human… And you’d get stressed too.”

“Did I. Did I say I was stressed? I never said anything like that-”

“You did.”

“……”

That wasn’t the only thing.

“You also insulted my parents who gave birth to . My future lover. Even my abilities.”

rri avoided my gaze.

Her tightly closed lips didn’t seem like she was throwing a tantrum, but more like she had nothing left to say.

Did she not even rember what she had said?

She always used such harsh words that all she could think about was how to insult further.

That’s just the kind of tree rri was. She spent so much ti thinking of insults that she couldn’t even recall what she had actually said.

“…That’s because you’re human.”

A childish complaint slipped from her lips.

“It’s… only natural…”

“rri.”

“Hic…”

Why did she think that was natural?

It wasn’t as though the other trees had fed her these common-sense ideas.

Despite being hurt and wounded all on her own, she acted like a hedgehog, constantly showing her spikes. I couldn’t understand it.

rri gave up looking at again.

She tightly closed her eyes.

“rri.”

I called her na once more.

Only then did she finally open her eyelids and et my gaze.

Her shoulders were trembling irregularly, and a soft hiccup escaped.

Pheromones were already at work, in hopes of easing her tension.

“To be honest, I don’t understand.”

“What…”

“You’re a tree, rri. A being higher than humans.”

rri seed to regain a bit of confidence from my sowhat agreeing words.

Although her voice was still shaking.

“Right, I’m above them, so… it’s natural… even if I insult you. And you…”

“Because you’re above them?”

At my words, rri fell silent.

“rri. Can I ask you a question?”

“……”

Nod.

“How have the humans you’ve t so far reacted to you, rri?”

I spoke softly, as if handling a child.

My voice was as gentle as possible, aiming to make her feel comfortable.

I let a bit of my magical energy seep out, warming the air in the room.

“…They tried to flatter .”

“Because that’s natural, right?”

“Yeah.”

“But how did it end?”

“They either insulted behind my back or ran away.”

This ti, I slightly changed the question.

“How about ?”

“…You’re the sa.”

“Then why did you co looking for ?”

“Unlike the others, you didn’t insult … You just said you were sorry, even though you didn’t have to be….”

She was aware.

rri knew she had been treating humans harshly.

There must be so reason why she continued to push humans despite knowing that.

I couldn’t figure that out just yet. I needed to keep talking to her.

After asking the question, I remained silent for a long ti.

I just stared at rri.

She trembled for a long ti. It looked like she wanted to escape this situation, distracted and avoiding my gaze as much as possible.

“Why… aren’t you saying anything?”

“Why do you think?”

I responded to her question with another question.

We waited for a long ti. The minute hand on the clock moved several tis.

I gave rri as much space as possible to express her feelings. I set the stage for her to open up.

“…Do you…”

Finally, she spoke.

“Do you hate too?”

I answered briefly.

“I do.”

Thud. The sound of her heart sinking echoed.

rri clutched her chest in pain, blinking her tear-filled eyes.

The more she tried to dry her tears, the more they spilled out, falling onto the sofa in droplets.

“Most humans probably feel that way.”

“…Ugh. Sniff.”

What are these World Trees doing, not educating their children properly?

Without humans, they’d have no honor or power.

Treating humans like trash to be stepped on in a place that’s supposed to be the cradle of the trees… What were they thinking?

…Or maybe.

rri might not even be worthy of receiving an education.

The World Tree of Healing received plenty of guidance and education upon arriving here.

So rri was like one of those nobles on the outskirts.

Not particularly great, filling their inferiority complex by tearing others down.

“…Sniff, sob.”

rri was holding back her tears as much as possible.

Tears kept falling to the floor.

“They’re all… the sa….”

“Pardon?”

“…Why is it always just …”

Another complaint.

I hid my weariness behind a friendly smile.

Well, she was a tree.

Maybe her ntal age was younger than others’.

“They always say they’ll cast out… They always, always insult ….”

“Is that so?”

“Because I’m an immature and underdeveloped World Tree, they always…”

This was a problem.

I intended to shock her, but it looks like I had hit too hard.

I smiled bitterly.

What should I do now?

When dealing with a child like Shiba, hugging them was always the best way to console them.

Without saying a word, I stood up and approached rri.

She didn’t notice coming, too busy crying her eyes out.

When soone’s mind was this shattered, there were usually a few ways to handle it.

You could keep pressing their mistakes, or you could empathize with them, comfort them first, and slowly persuade them.

I didn’t know which would work for rri, but I moved my hand where my heart led.

“I haven’t finished speaking yet.”

I knelt down and hugged rri.

She tried to pull away a little, but eventually, she collapsed into my arms, continuing to sob.

“I know it’s hard. Everyone insults you, so you start insulting them too. But if you keep insulting every person you et, of course, they’re going to dislike you.”

“…Sniff, ugh, waaah.”

Sigh, now she couldn’t even respond.

I sighed and continued to pat rri’s back.

“So maybe you could reach out to them first, so that people can start liking you, rri.”

I wasn’t sure if she was really listening or not.

But if I could plant this thought in her head, maybe her attitude would soften over ti.

Perhaps so of the humans who treated her like a nuisance might change their perspective when they see her transformation.

“Waaah… Sniff, sob, sniff.”

When would this end?

It had been a long ti since I last experienced the exhaustion of consoling soone like this.