Chapter 200

“Another method…?”

The two beastmen looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.

Hmm. The bear beastman is just a beauty, so it’s fine, but the tiger beastman is… quite intimidating.

Let’s put aside the suspicious face for now and get on with the story.

“Yeah. Another method. If fighting each other doesn’t end even after days of battle, shouldn’t we try deciding the contest through another method?”

If the decision can’t be made between the two, then even more so…

Of course, if they could settle the victory or defeat by simply hitting and fighting, that would be the simplest way, but…

“The other method…?”

“But I only know how to fight…”

Their reactions weren’t very good. Hmm. It must feel awkward to decide the winner through a different method when they’re used to just hitting and fighting.

But…

“It’s not that difficult. Rather, it’s something you’re familiar with.”

So…

“First, let’s go to your tribes and discuss this further.”

Just because I propose this to these two doesn’t mean everyone else will agree.

If we’re going to persuade, we need to persuade everyone.

Thus, Asterios and I set off with the two beastmen leading the way towards their tribes.

—

At the edge of the continent, where the sun rises in the east, there stands a massive tree by the sea in a tranquil land.

The Divine Tree, also known as the Wounded Tree.

Its trunk is so thick that hundreds of people holding hands couldn’t encircle it completely, and its height is so immense that even climbing for days wouldn’t reach the top—so tall that the ten suns, children of the celestial emperor, rest here while waiting for their turn.

As people naturally gathered under the auspicious presence of this tree, they eventually formed a nation.

People called this land “The Land of the Quiet Morning.”

P.S. Although this tree is incomparably larger than other trees, it’s minuscule compared to the World Tree that elves worship as a god.

In previous editions, this point wasn’t reviewed properly, and due to the editor’s personal bias, it was mistakenly recorded as larger than the World Tree. However, following protests from the elves, we have revised this.

– About the Land of the Quiet Morning.

—

Thus, following the two beastmen, we arrived at a place where a towering tree stood.

“Whoa, that’s quite a big tree.”

“Quite…? This tree is ginormous!”

Asterios tilted her head at my words. Hmm, it is big, but compared to Yggdrasil, it’s small.

Though among other trees excluding Yggdrasil, it might be the largest. Still, even during the era when dinosaurs roamed and everything was enormous, trees this size were exceedingly rare.

However… when I traveled around the world with the hero and passed by here, I didn’t see such a tree growing here…

Considering a tree of this size must have grown for several hundred years… Hmm… Ah, right. Considering I’ve been in hibernation for over 300 years, my sense of time has become a bit distorted.

During that time, if some factor caused it to grow rapidly for hundreds of years… it could have reached this size.

Maybe something special in the ground provided nutrients, or the faith of the people surrounding the tree led to its deification and growth. Such cases are possible. Approximately speaking, something like that.

I turned my head to look at Asterios, who was following behind.

Since Asterios was trapped in a maze as a child, she’s never seen Yggdrasil and probably thinks this is the largest tree in the world.

“There’s a tree worshipped by the elves, Yggdrasil, which is much larger than this one. Haven’t you heard rumors about the World Tree, Asterios?”

“World Tree…? Hmm… I’m not really sure.”

Hmm, seems like she hasn’t heard of it. Though Minoa is somewhat distant from the Great Forest where the elves live, rumors should still spread.

Perhaps the elves are strangely isolated?

“Anyway, I know of a tree even larger than this one, so this isn’t the largest in the world.”

“A tree larger than the God Tree…?”

At my words, the tiger beastman looked at me in surprise.

“Such a tree exists?”

“Far away, there’s a tree much larger than this one. Once you see it, you’ll understand how arrogant it is to call this tree the ‘God Tree.'”

Truly divine in terms of trees is Yggdrasil.

After indulging in what felt less like boasting and more like genuine admiration, I turned to the tiger beastman and spoke.

“By the way, I haven’t asked your names yet. Would you mind introducing yourselves?”

We can’t keep calling you ‘tiger beastman’ and ‘bear beastman,’ can we? We should at least exchange introductions, right?

At this, the tiger and bear beastmen glanced at each other, then nodded at us.

“I’m Goma from the Snowfield Bear Tribe.”

The bear beastman smiled shyly while speaking. Goma. Despite looking somewhat young-faced, his muscular body gives an unbalanced impression.

“As for me… Hwan. From the Tiger Tribe.”

“Hwan is usually pronounced Ho-Hwan.”

Ho-Hwan? Could it be the same Ho-Hwan from the Ho-Hwan Mama?

From what I know, Ho-Hwan uses the word ‘worry’ in his name… Did he name his own child ‘worry’?

Seems like there’s a parent failing here too.

Anyway, since we now know their names, it’s our turn to introduce ourselves.

“I am currently using the name Tiamat. This large fellow is Asterios. We’re traveling around the world.”

“Tiamat? Asterios? Names from the west sure are strange.”

Of course, Western-style names and Eastern-style names feel different.

Although the language itself has been unified, names remain unaffected.

Or rather, despite unifying the language and using the same words, why do differences still arise in names and proper nouns? I don’t understand.

It feels like someone is guiding it this way. The frequent appearance of names similar to those on Earth is also curious.

Anyway, after exchanging introductions, we continued walking toward the giant tree until we finally faced a large village.

“This village built under the God Tree is a combined effort of our tribes. Originally, we lived in separate villages, but after merging, we created this new, larger settlement.”

I thought the tribes wouldn’t be very large, but judging by this, the population seems quite substantial. It rivals the size of city-states in the west.

A large village surrounded by fences made of logs. Throughout the village, people patrolled carrying spears with bronze blades.

Humans, bear beastmen, tiger beastmen, and various other beastmen all lived together.

“So there are more than just bear and tiger beastmen?”

“Yeah. While the largest tribes were the Bear Tribe and Tiger Tribe, we decided to merge all minor tribes during this process.”

“To be exact, the Bear Tribe and Tiger Tribe competed to expand their influence by absorbing smaller tribes.”

Hmm, indeed. Population equals military strength. To become stronger than the opponent, increasing numbers takes priority.

The competition between the Bear Tribe and Tiger Tribe led to the absorption of other tribes.

“First, we should talk to the leaders of both tribes, right? I’ll guide you to our Bear Tribe leader.”

“No, the Tiger Tribe leader should come first.”

“Hmm?”

Goma and Ho-Hwan began glaring at each other, creating a tense atmosphere.

Even in trivial matters like this, pride clashes. This seems quite exhausting.

Still, there’s a simple solution in situations like this.

“You two go and fetch your leaders.”

There’s no need to go; just summon them.

The thirsty dig wells, so whoever’s more urgent will come first.

Of course, coming first doesn’t mean anything will be given preferentially.

If they hear about me defeating both Goma and Ho-Hwan, the tribal leaders will rush here anxiously.

“U-Uh… us?”

“Yes, you two. If we visit one tribe first, the other might cause problems. It’ll be simpler if you both fetch them.”

My reasoning seemed convincing as Ho-Hwan nodded.

“Alright. I’ll be back.”

“Now, wait! You can’t leave first!”

Watching Ho-Hwan sprint nimbly toward the village and Goma lumbering after with heavy steps, I casually cut a nearby rock to create a makeshift seat.

Seeing this, Asterios opened her mouth with a puzzled expression.

“Tia, what do you plan to do? Talking about settling the contest through another method.”

“Another method.”

For now, I have two ideas in mind.

To avoid complaints, we should aim for best-of-three rounds. So, I need to think of one more.

Of course, for it to be called a contest, neither side should have an advantage or disadvantage, so we need to carefully choose fair events. Hmm…

What should the remaining one be? I easily decided on the other two… Hmm… Let me think about it before Goma and Ho-Hwan return.