Chapter 21
— — —
“…….”
Meanwhile, there was a child who had been listening to this confession without sleeping.
It was Sislein, who used the bed next to Annette’s.
His red eyes glowed quietly in the darkness. The boy soon closed his eyes without making a single sound.
Then, he pretended not to notice Heinri’s tears as he sobbed behind his back.
* * *
The next day.
Two notices were posted on the bulletin board from the morning.
「 Vivian has been sent to the ‘Temple of the Forest’ with 45 demerit points. 」
The first notice wasn’t particularly interesting since everyone already knew about it, but the second notice was the one that truly grabbed the children’s attention.
「 There will be a ‘Level Test’ tomorrow. Trees, please be prepared. 」
“Wow, they said there’s a level test tomorrow!”
“I hope I reach level 4 this time too.”
“Shasha, what level are you right now?”
“I’m level 5 right now……!”
Children as young as Julian were unranked. Everyone else had been assigned a level, but Sislein had never participated.
So, this was his first level test.
Sislein was reading the notice in place of Annette, who was sleeping in, when he suddenly looked to his side.
Heinri, whose eyes were swollen like a pufferfish, was reading the notice.
Sislein looked at those eyes and asked quietly.
“……Can you even see the letters?”
Heinri, with his swollen eyelids, blinked with difficulty and acted sensitive.
“I can see well enough to hit you once, can’t I?”
“Why do your eyes look like that? Did mosquitoes have a feast only on your eyelids?”
“Don’t pick a fight. I’m in a foul mood today.”
Sislein just stared at Heinri with his hands in his pockets.
Slowly, Heinri’s temper flared.
“Ugh, why are you staring at me, you beast, you’re so annoying!”
“Why did you do it?”
“……Do what?!”
Unlike Heinri, who jumped in surprise, Sislein spoke calmly.
“You’re the one who told Vivian about the hideout where I was.”
“……!”
Heinri’s face turned pale for a moment. Soon, Heinri asked sharply.
“You heard?”
Sislein’s red eyes narrowed.
“If you didn’t want to get caught, you shouldn’t have told anyone. That was sloppy.”
Realizing that Sislein had heard the confession he had been muttering to himself last night, Heinri’s face turned beet red, and he dragged Sislein to a place where no one else was.
In front of the hissing alpha cat, Sislein was like a calm wave.
“Because you snitched, I got beaten black and blue by Mrs. Mimosa and almost ended up shoved back into the hole. It would have been a disaster if it weren’t for Annette.”
Heinri was taken aback.
*What is this? Why is this guy so good at talking?*
He had never heard him speak in such long sentences before. He preferred it when he was quiet.
At least then, he wouldn’t have been caught off guard.
“S-so what do you want me to do?!”
“Because of you, I almost had a huge problem.”
The conscience that had been repenting while shedding tears all night felt like it was aching again.
Heinri couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Sislein.
So, he got even angrier at himself.
“I’m not sorry at all, you hear?”
He stomped his foot.
“I’m not sorry to a guy like you at all! You beast!”
It was strange, though, that saying it like that sounded like ‘I’m a little sorry.’
“……Hmm.”
Sislein’s eyes narrowed.
Heinri’s face was already so red that it felt like it would burst if poked.
Gritting his teeth, Heinri clenched his fists tightly.
“If you tell the lady, I’ll kill you.”
Releasing purple killing intent, Heinri ground his teeth.
Then, Sislein tossed out a remark.
“I won’t tell her.”
“……!”
Sislein just stood there quietly, not even taking his hands out of his pockets.
On the other hand, Heinri’s pupils wavered.
*Why? If it were me, I would have definitely told on him.*
Annette would naturally hate Sislein if she found out the truth. Then Annette would be all his again—wasn’t this the perfect opportunity?
Heinri’s small brain couldn’t comprehend it, so he eventually asked again.
“……Why won’t you tell her?”
Then, Sislein frowned as if it were a pointlessly childish question and replied.
“Because I’m not as petty as you.”
Heinri bit his lip, feeling a sense of frustration, but he had no particular rebuttal.
That made him even more frustrated.
Sislein continued with a calm face.
“And, because Annette would be sad if I told her.”
“……!”
That answer struck Heinri’s heart unexpectedly.
Without even saying he was leaving, Sislein just walked away, leaving Heinri there.
Left alone, Heinri felt a sense of defeat and a strange emotion.
*What is this? He’s just a beast who was living in a hole until recently.*
He talks like he cherishes the lady more than I do, it’s annoying.
But he could definitely feel that he liked Annette as much as he did.
And that he was looking out for her, too.
The feeling was strange, odd, and somewhat complicated.
“Because Annette would be sad if I told her.”
“Ugh, damn it!”
Heinri kicked the dirt floor.
“Damn it! Is it enough for him to just act cool on his own? So annoying.”
He acts like he’s letting me off the hook,
Acting all generous!
“Who are you to hide my secret…… who are you to do that?”
As he was grumbling and getting angry for no reason, Julian came running from afar.
Julian, with his flushed cheeks, said with his large sky-blue eyes sparkling.
“Where did Sis go, Heinri?!”
“……It’s Heinri, not Heinri.”
Heinri lowered his eyes and opened his mouth in annoyance.
“That beast…….”
“…….”
“Never mind.”
Then, hesitating as if making an embarrassing confession, he pointed with his finger toward where Sislein had disappeared.
“‘Sislein’ went that way…….”
Strangely, Heinri felt a little sorry for calling him a ‘beast.’
* * *
Mrs. Mimosa’s room.
She was talking to someone through a communication device. The person on the other end was J, a long-time sponsor of The Forest.
“Yes, Jay. As you said, I will conduct the level test tomorrow.”
A voice saying that was good to hear came from the other side. And questions about Sislein followed. Mrs. Mimosa listened quietly before answering.
“That’s right, ‘Sislein’ was almost discarded. But Annette has been taking care of that child lately.”
[ Has Sislein improved much? ]
Jay asked.
“Of course, so Sislein is growing into a proper ‘Tree’ of the forest.”
Sislein had awakened a powerful ability, but the child himself was so sensitive that he was at a level where he couldn’t be used at all.
The fact that someone was taking care of such a Sislein was something Mrs. Mimosa had known in advance.
The trap she had set to catch Sislein had definitely been stained with ‘blood,’ but she had been suspicious from the moment the child’s ankle turned out to be fine.
The fact that a Healing Potion had disappeared from the infirmary was likely no coincidence either.
Mrs. Mimosa was able to find out who the culprit was after discovering Annette taking care of Sislein in the hideout.
Not only that, but when Viscount Puterio came, it was that clever Annette who led the summary trial to their advantage.
“Thank you for removing all the fuzzy peaches from the dinner as requested. Thanks to you, the Viscount will be able to eat safely without any allergic reactions. We appreciate Mrs. Mimosa’s consideration.”
That was what the secretary who came to check the cooking before the summary trial had said to Mrs. Mimosa.
And that day, she found evidence that Annette had pilfered a basket of peaches from the ingredient warehouse.
*She’s clever, indeed…….*
In fact, the summary trial wasn’t that important.
Sislein was gradually improving at the time, so if she had lost the trial, she had planned to just pay the 50 million gold.
Sislein’s value was incomparable to a mere 50 million gold.
However, it was quite interesting that Annette cherished Sislein to that extent.
Mrs. Mimosa said to Jay.
“Annette is creating synergy while looking after Sislein. I have high expectations.”
[ But if Annette does not awaken, she is useless. You know that, Madam. ]
Jay said in a slightly lowered voice.
[ Do not forget that Annette is the most important talent in our ‘Forest’. ]
“……Of course. That child is truly special.”
A faint smile touched the corners of Mrs. Mimosa’s wrinkled mouth.
“I am seeing her talent clearly at every moment with the eyes I have embedded with my ‘Jumul (cursed object)’.”
Mrs. Mimosa recalled the time she first met Annette.
To be precise, the moment she first encountered the ‘color of that child’s soul.’
High-purity talent.
A bright light burning intensely.
The light was a very soft color, yet it was brilliant and beautiful enough not to lose to any darkness.
She knew at a glance.
That the child was the one Mrs. Mimosa had been waiting for all her life.
That the child was the material to become the greatest ‘Awakened’ in the history of the forest.
However, even with that immense talent, Annette had only been living quietly in the forest all this time.
Was she a model student type who was worryingly modest?
Usually, children with great talent had eccentric sides like Heinri or Sislein, but Annette always liked to smile brightly and take care of the children in small ways.
She never asked for or wanted anything.
The first time Annette ever asked Mrs. Mimosa for something was after she met ‘Sislein.’
“I will take responsibility and fix him, Madam.”
Annette had stepped forward to cure Sislein’s water trauma, just as she had stepped forward to clear her name of the thief’s accusations.
The reason Mrs. Mimosa continued to give Annette such opportunities was partly because she trusted the girl as a diligent, model student, but the real reason was...
‘I was curious. Very.’
To see how that precious child would grow.
“As you know, Jay, Annette is a Special Level 1, or perhaps even more.”
She never showed it, but her heart always fluttered with excitement whenever she thought of Annette.
“And if things go well tomorrow, Annette will finally stand at the ‘pinnacle of the Awakened.’ All the Awakened will bow at her feet.”
[ Do you plan to ‘force the awakening’ during tomorrow’s level test? ]
“Yes, I have decided to hasten it.”
If she could not break out of the egg on her own, there was no choice but to roll the shell off a cliff.
Mrs. Mimosa lifted her teaspoon and stirred her teacup lightly.
The blood-red black tea formed a small whirlpool inside the cup.
She lowered her eyes and whispered.
“If she continues to live worthlessly as an unawakened, then... from our perspective, it is no different than the child being dead.”
[ I agree, Madam. But what if she truly dies while attempting a forced awakening? ]
Mrs. Mimosa’s cold face revealed a deep, intense desire for a fleeting moment. Then, she wore a cruel smile that could be compared to no one else’s.
She quietly took a sip of tea and replied.
“Well... if she dies tomorrow, wouldn’t that also be the child’s fate?”
Because no matter how beautiful a flower bud may be, if it cannot bloom, it eventually becomes nothing more than an impurity that must be withered and cut away.
[ I look forward to tomorrow. ]
With that final response, the communication through the device was cleanly severed.
Mrs. Mimosa’s cool, golden eyes were reflected in the communication device.
She gazed out the window and whispered languidly.
“I look forward to it, too—tomorrow.”
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