Drip drip.
I grabbed Linea’s hand and we walked together. From the outside, we probably looked like sisters—like an older sister who just started high school and a younger sister still in elementary school. Of course, since this was elf society, it wouldn’t be strange to see us as mother and daughter either. Elves don’t age much, after all.
“Heeh…”
Then, I spotted some street food being sold at a stall. Linea had packed me some delicious meat for lunch, but it had been since last night since I’d eaten, so I was feeling a bit peckish. I didn’t know what kind of meat it was, but the skewer smelled amazing.
“Huh?”
Linea noticed I had stopped walking and turned her head back. She followed my gaze, saw what I was looking at, and smiled.
“Lady Hana, should I buy one for you?”
I wanted her to say that. I nodded vigorously. Seeing me nod, Linea pulled out her wallet from her pocket and approached the stall. I followed slightly behind, watching as she bought the skewer. Even in this other world, society didn’t seem much different from humans. It was the usual scene of handing over money and receiving goods. Linea handed me a skewer that looked absolutely delicious.
“Eat it before it gets cold, Lady Hana!”
“Wow!”
I can’t say the food here is better than where I came from, but the food in this other world definitely has its own unique flavors. Of course, cleanliness is the most important thing. I glanced around, and it didn’t seem like they were making food with dirty hands like in some underdeveloped countries. They seemed to take hygiene pretty seriously.
I carefully took a bite of the skewer Linea handed me. I didn’t know what kind of animal the meat was from, but skewers like this aren’t really about the meat itself—it’s all about the seasoning. If there were no seasoning on this skewer, I’m sure this food would’ve disappeared long ago. Because a skewer without seasoning is just like chewing on a tire!
“Ooh, this is good!”
My first impression after taking a bite was that it was pretty decent! Even though the cooking system here is completely different, the taste felt somewhat familiar. Food tends to have the same roots when you trace it back far enough.
After finishing the skewer, I handed the stick back to Linea. I was about to throw it away myself, but she took it from me. I’m not the kind of rude person who would hand trash back to the person who bought me food.
And so, we continued our drip-drip journey toward the World Tree. Everyone here was smiling and enjoying the festival. Just being at this holy site seemed to bring them immense satisfaction. I’m not sure if this is normal everywhere or just something special about this place.
———————————————-
The tree was enormous. It was so big that you could probably see it from 100 kilometers away. Saying this might sound a bit off, but it was like the size of a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion. The sheer size of the tree was awe-inspiring.
And just like a museum, you could only look at it from a distance. Touching or getting close wasn’t allowed. The area within 100 meters of the World Tree was completely off-limits. Of course, you could see it just fine from afar, so there was no real need to get closer. But as I watched the leaves falling from above, a thought crossed my mind.
When autumn comes, this place is going to be a complete mess. The leaves were huge, about the size of A4 paper, fitting for such a massive tree. Thankfully, there weren’t too many falling at the moment, and whenever one did, people would quickly snatch it up. It seemed like they considered it some kind of special souvenir.
Watching this reminded me of a baseball stadium, where people scramble to catch foul balls or home runs. If these leaves were as heavy as bowling balls, it would’ve been a disaster. I don’t even want to imagine what would happen. Even small hailstones can injure people, so if leaves of this size and weight fell from such a height, this place would be uninhabitable.
“Here we are, World Tree!”
Linea went ahead somewhere, and soon a magical circle appeared. After passing through what seemed like a passageway, the World Tree came into full view right before our eyes. While others couldn’t even touch it…
It was a running tree, and I was about to show it right up close.
I don’t know, but if Linea showed an ordinary elf the World Tree this close, she’d probably get scolded like crazy. It was a restricted area where no one but priestesses could enter. But it didn’t seem to matter much to me. Linea’s thought was, “I’m the World Tree’s soul, so if you’re jealous, come see it yourself.”
As I went under the base of the tree, a huge space opened up. The tree was so massive that even this enormous space looked like just a tiny hole from the outside.
“This is the spot where we hold ceremonies for the World Tree!”
“Whoa… but is it okay to show me this?”
“Of course. Anyone who says something about the World Tree seeing the World Tree is crazy.”
I heard Linea only handled World Tree-related duties, so maybe that’s why she was so tough. With all the weirdos that come to tourist spots like this, her mental strength must’ve been rock solid. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to handle the tens of thousands of visitors every day.
Even as a priestess, she’s still in the service industry, and with so many elves around, there’s bound to be some odd ones. I blankly looked around the hollow. There were lots of fancy decorations. It was as if the place was showing off, flaunting all sorts of ornaments for the ceremony.
“What’s this?”
I got curious about the ceremonial items and asked. Honestly, there wasn’t much to see, and I wanted to go home, but Linea was looking at me with such sparkling eyes that I decided to ask. If I just turned around and left, she’d probably look all sulky on the way back.
When I asked, her face lit up, and she started rambling about the items. To me, it just looked like a ceramic ceremonial object, but Linea said it was a rare artifact with thousands of years of tradition.
She said if it went to auction, its value alone could easily buy a high-end mansion. My eyes widened the moment I heard that. A single bowl worth a high-end mansion? I licked my lips and stared at the bowl.
She said these items were for the ceremony meant for me, so maybe I could take a few? Of course, I decided to keep it as just a thought. It’s not like I was going to settle down here anyway.
I came here purely for tourism, so I vowed not to get greedy over money. Besides, Linea said she needed it for her use, so it already had an owner.
After looking around at all the glowing, intricate patterns, I was about to head back. I was planning to ask Linea to buy me some meat from the stall I saw earlier. The stall food was intense, but it had a tempting flavor.
“Huh? What’s this?”
I picked up what looked like a mysterious dusting tool on top of a box. The moment Linea saw me, she let out a startled scream.
“That’s a branch that connects to the World Tree for ceremonies…”
As I held it, a blinding light suddenly burst out. The radiant light illuminated the dim hollow, making it as bright as day. Honestly, it felt brighter than a flashbang.
—
“Wow! Look at that!”
The elves visiting the World Tree gasped in awe as the tree began to glow.
The leaves on the branches started emitting a white light. It was so high up that it looked like starlight raining down from the sky. Even the merchants who’d worked here for hundreds of years had never seen such a sight, so they could only stare in awe at the beautiful light show.
