"We have fully recognized how powerful the queendom is. We apologize for keep delaying the discussion, Your Majesty."
"Oh, that's great then."
Just then, Mother stopped giving off her overwhelming aura and the tension in the throne room eased down. Even though it was just a basic Intimidation, it inflicted a certain level of strain on the tree spirits' minds.
"Now then," Mother said. "It is true that the ancient dragon has been subdued by us. How did the dragon's disappearance relate to what was happening in the forest?"
"This is just our opinion, but the disappearance of the dragon might have a direct and indirect affect on the forest. The dragon had been the one emitting the miasma throughout the forest. It had been warding off relatively weak beings, including humans."
Yeah, it was Czarina who had been polluting the air in the forest with her thought and ominous miasma, so think that it was suffocating for significantly weak monsters and humans to dive and venture deeper in the forest.
She had been living in the dungeon since I tad her, and her aura eventually dissipated in the forest. Without her presence, people could explore the deeper parts of the forest. It was also the reason why our citizens could live more comfortably in our city.
But in reality, Czarina was not the one who was emitting that thick mana concentration in the forest, as it was currently still there, though nothing dreadful anymore. She was just mixing it with her own aura and making it intimidating. The source of the mana probably had sothing to do with the tree spirits.
"Are you saying humans have reached your ho?"
"Not quite yet." Aesfen responded to Mother's question. "However, since the dragon's disappearance, other than the monsters, we have noticed that there are more humans who are going deeper in the forest. We are afraid that they might find our abode soday."
"That is concerning. But we strictly ordered our population that they could only venture into the forest to gather resources only within our exclusive zone, reducing the possibilities of our adventurers invading your territory."
"It is unlikely that your people are involved with it, Your Majesty. Most of the humans going to the forest co from the south, if I am not wrong. Not only humans, but there are several nonhuman races among them."
"I see."
"We suspect that they are going after sothing in the ho as they were heading in our direction. But none of them have reached near us as they either got mauled by monsters or got secretly killed by us."
So they ca from the south, huh? If that were the case, the ones who had been venturing the forest were undoubtedly people from the Southern Continent.
The thing that concerned was that the Five Headed Hydra or the group behind it were involved with it. The Great Forest of Darkness was a giant treasure trove; sothing like them could not let the opportunity of Czarina's disappearance pass to exploit the forest.
(Not only the forest, but our nation was also at risk.)
"Your actions are totally understandable. We would do the sa if soone trespassed on our territory." Mother nodded as she said that. "But my question is, is there really anything that they wanted in our abode?"
Hearing Mother's question, the three green-haired won took glances at one another again. It seed like they were just having a staring contest on the surface, but I was sure that they have been talking to each other telepathically.
That was probably the case though, as they were expressing the faces of being in an argunt, especially since Fyr was kind of upset. But they eventually nodded and ca to a conclusion in the end.
"It looks like you have agreed to provide my answer."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"So what would it be?"
"Well, I think that those humans are probably after our abode, which is situated at the center of the forest. That place is where the source of almost all the mana in the forest is. Our ho is basically under the shades of the almighty World Treant."
It looked like my hunch was right, these ladies were related to that massive "tree." Right at the heart of this forest, lied the most massive being on the continent.
"World Treant?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. World Treant is the pinnacle form of the treants. You can compare them to a World Tree, but with will and sentience."
The World Treant, the highest evolution a treant could achieve so far. To achieve that level, a Black Treant must reach Level 2000. That was what made them extrely rare due to the challenges a treant always faced. It was a legendary monster ranked as the sa as Czarina.
As far as I was concerned, the sole World Treant of the forest, as well as being on the continent, was by far the most powerful creature I have encountered, if I were to exclude Iris. It even surpassed Czarina in terms of levels and total stats.
"I heard a World Tree could bear a fruit called Eternal Apple that grants eternal life to the ones who eat it. Does the World Treant do the sa?"
"Yes, the World Treant also produces those fruits. Moreover, it is also the one responsible for the circulation of thick mana throughout the forest. But her work was always being sowled by the dragon's miasma."
"That's interesting. But wait. What do you an by "her"?"
"Actually, we, the tree spirits, are created by World Treants themselves. Tree spirits are born from the excess mana a World Treant has collected. In other words, we are just her offshoots. That is the reason why we are considering the World Treant our mother."
"So that's it. I understand now why those people are interested in the forest and why you wanted our protection."
"Yes. But don't worry, the World Treant is being cloaked by layers of barriers that rendered her invisible and undetectable. But we feared that it can only keep her hidden to a certain extent. That was why we have decided to resort to approach the one responsible for the dragon's disappearance and seek protection."
"Hm. That's a big request you got there, and I can't just decide on my own without thinking about it thoroughly. Please give us so ti to discuss it further in private. Let's take a short break."
"I understand, Your Majesty."
Afterwards, we exited the throne room.
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