Hero’s Downfall Report

96 – Report on the Decline of Kindness (6)

Lily examined the bizarre decoration carefully. It was an unpleasant feeling that could not be explained simply by drawing a human face on a tree.

When I took it apart into parts, I felt even more rejected. Protruding parts such as the eyes, nose, lips, and cheekbones have a particularly three-dimensional effect. On the other hand, the cheeks and cheekbones were sunken to the point of being plain.

The shape that seemed to imitate ‘half’ a person, but the sculpture was human-like, touched Lily’s heart. I even thought that the trees seemed to imitate people.

‘But… I feel so bad.’

But Lily didn’t know how to explain this hostility.

There was more to it than just feeling bad. Threat. Contempt. Conflict. The thought of wanting to fight. It was so unpleasant that I wanted to stamp it out…

‘Is it because of the snow?’

The eyes were protruding, but the pupils were sunken and scorched. Because it was scorched with sap, it really reminded me of the eyes of a stuffed animal.

Lily turned her head this way and that, nudged her steps, and looked into the sculpture’s eyes. No matter which angle she looked at, those eyes never took their gaze from Lily.

Lily, unable to bear it any longer, came to Cain’s side. Unlike Maria, who was trying to hide her embarrassment by twitching her cheeks, Cain was just being Cain as usual. Cain’s consistency was a comfort to Lily.

“Honey.”

Lily approached Cain. Cain said nothing and put his arm around Lily’s waist. Although she said it was her stomach, Lily’s legs gave out in the affectionate embrace. While she was thinking, “Oh my gosh,” She landed on a broken tree trunk.

Lily, startled, stood up quickly. Luckily she wasn’t pricked or scratched by the pointy parts. She laughed at the embarrassed Lily, as if Edith was amused, and she looked curiously at the distraught Cain.

“The man isn’t that surprised, is he?”

“I reassured her by letting her know in advance that there was something scary. But these patterns are similar to those carved on the pillars of that longhouse. “Actually, I was really surprised when I first saw it.”

“Ah. Yes. That’s right. I still feel creepy every time I see it. “If Roberta hadn’t explained the reason, I would have asked to leave right away.”

“Is there a reason it has to be here?”

In response to Cain’s question, Edith pointed to the cut down tree trunk.

“Actually, it’s because of this tree. It is a type of rosewood tree. It originally grows in hot areas, but there are seeds that grow even in these high, cool mountains. This is the only place in the Black Forest where rosewood trees grow.

The color of the wood is red and the sap is as red as blood, so if you cut it with an axe, it is extremely brutal… If you dry it properly, it is very pretty. They say the wood is hard, so it is often used for musical instruments and furniture. “It is especially popular in southern kingdoms that like red.”

Only then did Maria nod her head. But Cain was a little worried. Maria’s face was pale and she was dripping with cold sweat. She looked as if she had suddenly lost weight. But wasn’t she fine before she came here?

“Ah. Rosewood tree. I’ve heard of it. “I heard the drying process is complicated and requires a lot of work, and that’s what it comes from here.”

“You said you were from Magdeburg, right? After all, there is something different about rich cities.” Edith grinned.

“I have never seen musical instruments or furniture made from this. Instead, they cut down the logs, dry them well, and sell them to merchants at a good price. “Our main source of income is these rosewood trees. It’s a bit spooky, but the rosewood trees in the deep area, near the lumberyard, don’t have patterns like this.”

Maria approached Cain and Lily. She broke free and looked down at the tree trunk. The heartwood (the center of the tree, the dead tissue that has finished growing) rotted away and became empty.

“It feels like looking into the throat of a death row prisoner with her head cut off.”

Maria complained slightly and pointed to her tree trunk.

“It’s rotten inside, isn’t it?”

“Ah. They say that happens a lot with rosewood trees. The heartwood of some trees holds the center firmly, but rosewood trees are hollow on the inside. It’s kind of funny, right? “The wood itself is solid but hollow on the inside.”

Lily hid her body behind Cain. It seems like he felt quite a bit of resistance. But Cain took a step forward to her.

Cain thought about the Knights of the Holy Grail.

Products made from rosewood trees are traded at high prices even in the empire, but not many people actually know about the rosewood tree itself. This is because it is a tree that does not grow well in the empire.

So, even within the Order, there were probably few people who knew much about rosewood trees. The tree’s structure is so hard that an ax cannot penetrate it, and when you do, it drips blood-like sap.

‘It’s worth giving up on the ax and retreating. Moreover, if it was so rotten inside, it wouldn’t have been impossible to push and ‘break’ it.’

Even so, the thickness of the tree rings was quite thick. If a storm were to break a tree like this, many nearby trees would have fallen as well. But the only thing broken was this tree.

‘Did someone fell the tree without the knights’ knowledge?’

This is an unlikely story. Although the Holy Grail Knights are incompetent, they are not a group so low that they do not set up even a guard, and they would not just sit by and watch until a tree is ‘pushed’ down.

Still, just in case, Cain swept the trunk of her tree with her hand. She wanted to check if she had been cut up with a saw or an axe. It appears that she did not use such a tool, as the cross section was bumpy and uneven.

‘Then the story is that he fell alone or someone pushed him down. Does that make sense?’

She saw something in Cain’s eyes as he was thinking.

The Black Forest is as dark as its reputation. The place where the group is standing is no exception. Cain wanted to see what was wriggling at the bottom of the hollow core, but he couldn’t see anything at all from where he was standing.

Cain leaned against the trunk of her tree and looked inside. Her sleeves were rolled up, so everyone could see the bruises on her arms from fighting her bullies.

And ‘it’ came out.

It did not soar upward like a fountain. It just spit out like a backflowing sewer. The sap is sticky, red, and smells like roses.

But can we say that it is an eruption of sap? No other tree in the world sheds sap in this way. It may be that the blood flowing from the decapitated body was forcibly held down, but it was not the amount that would be seen simply by placing a hand on a tree trunk.

Cain withdrew her hand a little later. Half of her hands were covered in red sap. She waved her hand around as if Cain was displeased, and then she reached out to the tree next to her.

“No!”

Edith let out her scream. Cain stopped. Edith’s body was shaking, but she still managed to smile and say, “I’m sorry. However, wiping the sap from another tree does not clean it well. “She would rather be dusted on the dirt floor,” She explained.

Red-color sap was flowing out from the broken tree.

“Oh my god. What the hell is this… “

Lily moaned involuntarily and looked at Maria.

“… “Nun?”

Lily, startled, ran towards Maria.

“Why, why?”

Maria did not know the English text. Lily dabbed her fingers under her porcelain eyes. Maria stretched her fingers to her cheek. Her fingertips were wet and shiny.

“… “Am I crying?”

“Don’t cry.”

Lily hugged Maria tightly. With the sleeve of her dress she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and her tears. Cain looked at Edith. She also noticed that her eyes were looking at the bruises on her arms that had appeared when her bully blocked her fist.

“I guess I’ll have to go back and clean the rest. I think that’s enough. “Let’s go back.”

Maria stepped forward and organized it. Everyone was happy and took steps forward. Before she was completely out of the way, Lily glanced back at her sculpture that was having a snowball fight with her.

Then her sculpture also glanced at Lily. It seemed to Lily that she had slightly rolled her eyes.

Like a real person.

* * * * *

Edith guided them to Brother Henry’s cabin. He also joked that it doesn’t matter if you’re late for dinner, but that you should come as soon as possible because if you do that, you might end up scraping the bottom of the stew with your spoon.

Brother Henry was not present. I left a note on the table that said, ‘I’m going to dig up some herbs in a moment.’

As soon as she came in, Lily stood close to her door and looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping. As Cain approached her window, she stopped Mary, who also tried to put her on guard.

“Maria, rest. “I feel very unwell.”

“That’s right. You seemed to be breaking into a cold sweat. “Aren’t you pretending?”

“Didn’t you see me flying around?”

Maria growled, but she couldn’t use her strength.

“Mr. Ai, why are you so serious!”

“What’s going on?”

“My body doesn’t listen.” Maria furrowed her brow. “Other than when I was thrown upside down in a beer keg and when you hit me on the forehead with a club and I passed out, this has never happened… “

“Isn’t that too much?”

Mary glanced at Cain as if he was dumbfounded.

“What did I do today?”

Lily, who had been watching quietly, mediated between the two.

“Maybe it’s because of that piece? For some reason, just looking at it made me feel bad. It’s my first time seeing something like that. It was like seeing a gargoyle water spout in an old castle. But no matter who sees it, it’s a monster… “

“Anyone can see that that is a human being.” Maria frowned.

“This is my first time seeing something like that. This is my first time seeing something like that exist in the empire. There are a lot of different superstitions, but is it possible to carve a human face like that on wood with a carving knife? To the pagans, the kings of olden days? That’s bullsh*t. When was that story? Cain, did you see it too? “Sap wriggling.”

“I saw it.” Cain shook her own hand. Even though all her juices had been wiped away, she still had a faint sweet smell.

“It’s a lie. Those are very recent ones. I lightly scratched the burned area with my hand, and it came out intact. And rosewood? Do you think I don’t know about rosewood trees? There is no rosewood tree that looks like this. “There is no rosewood tree with a mixture of bright red, white, and dark red, as if a pig had been cut with a two-handed knife.”

‘Yes. ‘It’s not a rosewood tree.’

Cain quietly looked at the bruises on her arms that had appeared while fighting a bully. The trunk was fine when Lily sat on it, but when she reached out and touched it, she spat out her juices.

From Noble mtl dot com

Fat and Slim described Cain as ‘broken.’ Edith also stared at Cain’s bruises.

And when Edith saw Cain trying to ‘touch’ another tree, she let out her scream. ‘No.’ Why doesn’t it work? As if trying to do something dangerous or unclean…

Cain suddenly stood up. She approached the desk as if fascinated. She opened the books on the monk’s desk as she pleased. She had the exquisite handwriting characteristic of a learned monk.

Cain opened the book and compared the notes and handwriting. Just looking at it, the handwriting on the note was extremely poor. It was closer to imitating and drawing as much as possible rather than writing, but judging from the pen pressure and the angle at which the letters were written, it seemed like a note written by a completely different person.

“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”

Maria asked the question with difficulty.

“This memo is fake. “Someone imitated Brother Henry’s handwriting.”

Maria blushed.

Cain stopped Lily, who was startled and tried to run to her. She lifted Maria up and laid her on her bed. Her body was shaking and her eyes were rolling back. It was a seizure. But she didn’t know what was causing her seizures.

“Lily. MARIA I think she needs to take the thongs off her clothes. I’ll hold it so you… “

Maria grabbed Cain’s wrist. The force was strong enough to cause pain and bruises. She felt like she was going to be crushed.

“… Maria?”

Underneath her closed eyelids, the movement of her eyes was vividly visible. Maria stuttered and mumbled something of her own.

“Maria. Are you okay. Because me and Lily are here… “

Maria opened her eyes. She glared at Cain as if she were going to eat him. Her chin was pressed close, and her eyes were filled with an unprecedented venomous aura.

“Why?”

The voice was also different. It’s like he’s a completely different person. Like when I knocked her out in Magdeburg. Like that time she walked around Masada with her heart stabbed.

“… Why did you bring my daughter to this dirty place? Is it you or what you did? You who have covered your hands with the blood of the tree, you who have committed an indelible sin against the tree! “What on earth are you going to do to the daughter of the ash tree?”

Mary’s hand grabbed Cain’s neck. Cain struggled to shake off her arm, but Mary’s grip strength was beyond imagination.

“Maria… Maria!”

Lily tried her best, but she never gave up.

“… Do… “

Cain tried her hardest.

“Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! I’m trying to help! Your daughter, us, the world! Just like Haspel did! So, please help us!”

Maria let go of her hand. Her eyes still burned with hatred, and she bared her teeth and snarled.

“Haspel… “

“Okay. Father Haspel… Your… “

“Stop!”

Maria raised her finger threateningly. She seemed ready to stab Cain in the eye. Instead, she bit her own finger.

Lily let out a small scream. But Maria didn’t care. She forced Cain’s palm open and drew her pattern in one go. It was a mark that Cain was familiar with: black fire.

“Don’t ask the witch any favors or treat her as you please! A witch repays good deeds threefold and evil deeds threefold.

She is good and evil, but she is not a reclusive witch. There are many witches with temptation, threats, capriciousness, and hatred, but there is no witch who is isolated from the world!

So don’t just receive, and don’t just give. Big or small doesn’t matter. “If you have received, give, and if you have given, take!”

The black fire drawn on Cain’s hand burned. It was not a sacred fire. A black, fluttering fire that eats fire, a fire that distorts, distorts, and tears apart. Cain gritted his teeth at the searing pain she felt.

But she soon disappeared without a single scar. Like she was never there in the first place. She didn’t feel any burning or pain.

Maria’s body went limp. Lily examined her Maria’s fingers. There was not a single wound where it had been bitten.

“Maria, Maria!”

Lily shook Maria frantically. Maria opened her eyes with difficulty.

“Stop shaking. Head hurts… Breathe! Hey, hey. “Lily!”

Lily hugged Maria as if she would be broken. Maria struggled even though she was suffocating. Cain stood close to Lily’s doorway. The guards outside were still the same.

“I hate trees. “I hate the forest even more.”

Maria sighed. When she finally managed to get up, something fell out of her clothes. It was a leather strap with ancient script written on it.