Chapter 61
The journey they had started to mediate between species was now heading in an unexpected direction.
“Who would’ve thought I’d end up bringing the Ents all the way to Ludwig’s Demon Lord Territory…”
“The great Gold Dragon shall appear before us when we are lost! And then he shall guide the Ents to a new promised land!”
“You’re following me? Suit yourself. I’m going home now.”
“We shall follow you, great one!”
The “home” being referred to, of course, was Ludwig’s Demon Lord Territory.
“There’s no way my land is their so-called promised paradise…”
But since they insisted on following, it wasn’t like she could refuse them.
And so, this strange march began.
“What are they going to do if they’re disappointed when they get there?”
Ludwig’s land wasn’t exactly fertile.
There was certainly no World Tree.
If such a thing had been here, the place would already have been a lush jungle.
Right now, they were barely able to grow crops, let alone have a thriving forest.
“Look, our soldiers are up ahead.”
Ludwig was staring at the horizon as the procession neared the outer edges of his territory.
They could see the stationed troops, who were on guard against orc attacks.
“Ulken’s there.”
From the camp, a werewolf-like silhouette came rushing out.
It was an understandable reaction.
They must have already recognized Ludwig and Ariella from afar, but the enormous army of tree-men trailing behind them? That was a whole new mystery.
A moment later, Ludwig’s group stopped in front of Ulken’s soldiers.
Ulken pointed at the Ents with a baffled look.
“My lord, you’re back sooner than I expected… but what is all this? Aren’t you supposed to be mediating? Don’t tell me you’re moving the entire negotiation site here!”
He squinted, examining the strange sight.
“And if that’s the case, where are the fairies?”
“Ah… well…”
Ludwig grimaced, realizing how exhausting it would be to explain this whole story again.
But before he could answer—
“By the roots! What is this place?”
Suddenly, a loud commotion broke out among the Ents.
They uncurled the roots they had been using as wheels, plunging them deep into the ground.
The demons didn’t know this, but for Ents, this was like tasting and smelling the earth.
They analyzed the soil and absorbed its moisture through their roots.
“What’s going on with them?” Ariella muttered, confused.
Then the Ent leader cried out with joy:
“This is the land!”
“What?”
“As expected of the Gold Dragon! The Golden One has led us to the golden earth!”
He turned to his kin and shouted:
“Brothers! This is the promised land where we shall plant our seeds and raise new saplings!”
Ariella blinked in disbelief.
This land? Their “promised land”? Their “paradise”?
The Ents burst into cheers.
Some wept and bowed low, pressing their foreheads to the ground, while others danced, scattering blue leaves into the air.
“You said you need the World Tree’s power to plant Ent seeds, right?” Ariella asked.
“Yes!”
“But there’s no World Tree here.”
“Indeed!”
“Then why do you like this place so much?”
The Ent looked at her as if the answer was obvious and replied with awe:
“Can’t you feel it? The overflowing life force in this land. This is a blessing!”
“Life force? But this area was barren wasteland… wait a minute.”
This was the same land where Ulken had built fortifications long ago.
The orcs and demon army had fought countless battles here.
Ludwig’s territory was already desolate, and these endless clashes made it even harder for plants to grow.
But now…
“When did all this grass grow here?”
Ariella’s eyes widened as she looked around.
She hadn’t been to this border region in ages, not since her early days in the demon realm.
Back then, the land was nothing but dry, red soil. Not a single blade of green.
Yet now, there were dandelions, clovers, and wild grass everywhere.
Ludwig muttered:
“Has it been a few weeks now?”
“You knew about this?” Ariella shot him a look.
Ulken answered instead:
“Yes, my lord. The grass started growing all of a sudden.”
“And neither of you thought that was strange?”
The change was far too sudden to be natural.
But Ludwig and Ulken just shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Ugh, these two are hopeless.”
The Ents, however, were ecstatic.
“What a divine blessing! Such abundant vitality! It may not be as vast as the World Tree’s domain, but it’s more than enough to plant new seeds. Our dream… at last!”
Ariella knelt down, pressing her hand to the earth and closing her eyes.
‘Huh? He’s right…’
There was a faint magic spread across the land.
It was subtle—easy to miss—but it was definitely there.
‘But this isn’t like fairy magic… it feels more like…’
Her eyes shifted to the hatchling.
The little dragon also looked confused by the Ents’ reaction.
The Ents inspected the area further. There was plenty of grass but no large trees.
“With this much vitality, we won’t have to kill off other plants to establish our territory.”
Thud! Thud!
One of the Ents approached Ariella after pulling his roots free from the soil.
“Contractor of the Demon Lord! Or was your name Ariella? I have a request.”
He gestured to the land with a branch.
“Please, allow our people to take root here.”
“You mean… move here?”
The Ent nodded.
“Yes! We won’t bring everyone. We only wish to relocate half of our kin from the Fairy Forest to this place.”
This would create space in the Fairy Forest and let them plant seeds in both territories, finally breaking centuries of stagnation.
“If you grant us this, we will gladly allow the fairies to freely harvest herbs in our forest!”
Ariella’s mind raced.
“If the Ents grow a new forest here, this would be a huge benefit for us! And it solves the conflict too!”
She turned to Ludwig with determination.
“We have to agree to this. It’s an incredible deal.”
“I know. This solves everything.”
Ulken added, “And having the Ents on the border will make it much easier to defend!”
The little dragon, however, grumbled to himself.
“Why this land? I come here every day…”
After confirming Ludwig’s agreement, Ariella turned back to the Ent.
She decided to be honest rather than hide the truth.
“Before you finalize this move, there’s something you should know.”
“What is it?”
“This is a border zone. Orcs invade here all the time. Will that be okay? You said you hate intruders.”
“Orcs?”
The Ent chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound.
“Orcs… are hardly a threat.”
A Few Days Later…
A group of orcs approached the border of Ludwig’s land, weapons in hand.
“This way!”
They were here to raid.
They had waited a long time for word from Bepar, but there’d been no contact.
They couldn’t just sit around forever.
So the chieftain decided to launch this raid without waiting for orders.
The demon forces had reinforced their positions, leading to a few recent battles.
This time, the orc chieftain wanted to surprise them, attacking from an unexpected angle.
They planned to plunder supplies and flee before reinforcements arrived.
But then—
“Huh? What’s that?”
The orc chieftain squinted.
“Are my eyes playing tricks on me?”
“Chief! Is that… a forest?”
They rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
The wasteland, where nothing had grown for ages, was now filled with towering trees lined up like walls around the demon territory.
“What sorcery is this…?”
Unease rippled through the orc soldiers.
“Is this the demons’ doing?”
They’d never heard of a spell that could create a forest out of barren land.
A sense of foreboding crept over them.
But the chieftain quickly rallied himself.
He had to steady his troops before fear spread.
“Ha! Looks like the demons are up to some fancy tricks. Good! That just means there’s more food for us to steal!”
“Yeah! More crops for us!”
“Who cares if there’s a forest? Trees won’t stop us!”
The orcs roared, banging their weapons together.
The tension eased, and their morale returned.
The chieftain smirked.
“Good. Advance!”
The orcs charged forward, aiming to march straight through the new forest.
The leading orc soldier stepped near a tree root.
WHOOSH!
The air shifted.
SMASH!
“GYAAAAAAH!”
The orc was hurled high into the sky, screaming in agony.
