"Is that form called a Dryad......

Ivus nodded slightly, thoughtful: "I seem to have heard ...... before"

"Well, I asked someone. When Aya is fully transformed, her soul will ascend into the dream realm and become a sleeping tree completely. She may appear anywhere in the dream world where there is a tree, and she will look like any other tree.

"If you are comfortably awakened by soft music, it is possible to fulfill a wish of the awakener; And if awakened, the angry dryad will attack the passing phantoms. ”

“…… I think I've heard something like that. ”

Ivas felt that this statement was a little familiar: "In the literary work "Brave Series" during the Hellasr Empire, there is "The Goddess of the Forest".

"Legend has it that there was a brave man who traveled all over the world, but because he and his fiancée couldn't convince each other about what love is, and couldn't find a satisfactory answer after looking for friends, he wanted to ask the legendary goddess of the forest for an answer. During the adventure, the brave man was seriously injured due to a fight with a fierce beast, and his fiancée accidentally ingested poison in order to find herbs to heal his wounds, so he fell into a near-death state and even hallucinated.

After the brave man tried all kinds of means to save him, he hugged his unconscious fiancée and leaned on a tree in grief. He played the harmonica and wanted to accompany his fiancée until the end.

And after hearing his harmonica, the tree behind him came to life and gently wiped away his tears.

"It was a beautiful girl with long hair like branches, and the part below the knee gradually turned into a tree root. She healed the brave man and his fiancée, and when they woke up, they thanked the girl together. At the same time, they are bitter for each other's anxiety and concern for themselves, and apologize to each other for their previous stubbornness.

When the maiden heard the story of their visit, she laughed and made a flute out of her wood to cure diseases and curses, made an amulet of her leaves for a good night's sleep, made a pair of bracelets from her flowers that could hear each other's hearts, and finally fed them with her own fruit.

At this time, the two of them no longer had the stubbornness to continue the adventure and seek answers from the goddess of the forest, they just wanted to leave the dangerous forest as soon as possible. So they thanked the maiden and went home.

"As a result, after they told the story of their adventures to their wisest friend, they slapped each other on the thigh - the girl you met was the goddess of the forest!"

When Ivus finished telling the story, he realized that the girl had sat beside him at some point.

Anastasia listened intently to Ewas's story, her eyes sparkling. Her eyes lost their vigilance at some point, but became intimate.

"I'll ...... too. Become a forest goddess? ”

She asked, half curious, half yearning.

It was the first time Grace had seen such a bright light in her eyes.

She was also a little surprised: "Aya...... Like this story? ”

"Like. I love it. ”

Anastasia nodded vigorously, "I want to help others too...... I also want to give what I have on me to others.

"Mother, the goddess of the forest...... Is it a kid like me? ”

“…… If nothing else, it should be. ”

Grace was a little helpless.

Because she probably guessed the prototype of this story.

It was supposed to be those elves who lived in solitude, because of the onset of arborosis, and could not stand the noise of life in the town, so they went to the dense forest. Eventually, they turned into trees deep in the forest, but for some reason they didn't ascend to the dream realm properly.

"But this 'forest goddess' should also ascend to the dream realm in the future."

Grace whispered, "She shouldn't have slept enough...... In other words, they have not received enough sunlight to stay in the physical realm for a while. She took out almost all of the essence in her body and made it into a gift, just because she was leaving.

"Because she's woken up by the sound of soft music, that's the right way to wake up. If she had been woken up, she might have lost her temper - and after the tantrum had been done, the strength she might have accumulated would not be enough. ”

“…… No wonder. ”

Ivas touched his chin, "I've heard that some places have the idea of sacrificing to the 'tree god'. But there are times when the god of the tree suddenly becomes ineffective, and that should be the soul inside has ascended into the dream realm. ”

"It should be less in recent years."

Grace shook her head: "Some people say that the elven blood is not so pure now...... But I think it's mainly because the elves who might turn into dryads have ascended to the dream realm. Among the remaining elves, few of them will be as pure as Aya's bloodline. ”

"Atavistic ......"

Ivus muttered.

He was a little scared that Isabel would be a tree.

After all, Isabel and Anastasia have almost the same hair color, and both are good at illusion.

This made Ivus's heart tighten.

After all, Isabel would have become the queen of flowers and inherit the legacy of flowers...... This shows that she can at least awaken the blood of flowers in her body.

Perhaps, this is also a kind of atavism?

Grace obviously understood what Ivas meant, so she nodded, "It should be." After all, treeification basically only happens to pure-blood elves, and I haven't heard of the convention that half-elves or elves born to half-elves will be tree-born. ”

She was clearly aware of what Ivus was worried about.

…… That's good.

Ivas relieved slightly.

"Brother Ewas," Anastasia begged, "can you tell another story?" ”

The girl had apparently been lonely for too long, and it was rare to meet someone who sat next to her and told a story.

"Your brother Ivas is here to get down to business."

Grace patted Anastasia on the shoulder, then looked at Aivus.

Ivus nodded and asked softly, "Do you remember Yunus?" ”

“…… An uncle who plays the harp? ”

Anastasia's eyes lit up, and she immediately guessed the remaining half of what Ivus hadn't finished: "Did he come to me?" Uncle Yunus is coming for me! ”

"But you can't get out, Aya."

Grace immediately refused: "If you come into contact with the outside world at this time, maybe the progress of the tree transformation will immediately break through the danger value." ”

"Can Mr. Yunus come here?"

Anastasia asked rhetorically.

“…… I'm afraid not. ”

Grace shook her head hesitantly: "He's too old, I'm afraid he won't be innocent for a long time." ”

"Then I'm going out."

Anastasia said firmly, "Thanks to Uncle Yunus, those companions were able to get me back. He saved me, and I want to thank him in person. ”

“…… Even if it will make your treeification worse? ”

Ivas also asked.

He did not dissuade, nor did he persuade.

"That's what I'm going to do."

The girl was very stubborn: "And...... I don't think that's probably a bad thing anymore. ”

“…… Aya, you're not even a hundred years old. ”

Grace squatted down and hugged Anastasia's waist with some concern: "You haven't had a full childhood yet......"

"Mom, I know you want to be nice to me, and you want me to stay longer."

Anastasia suddenly spoke, "But I'm a phantom I can't keep.

"It's always been like this...... Maybe it's a little more painful. ”

At that moment, Grace suddenly froze.

She even stopped breathing for a moment.

Because Grace only realized one thing later—she didn't pay attention to whether she would feel pain in this state of transformation. Because Anastasia's life was so short, she has been trying her best to prolong her life, even at the cost of breaking taboos......

But maybe Anastasia is too sensible.

- She never mentioned that she would hurt like this.

“…… Did I make you miserable, Aya? ”

Grace's voice trembled a little.

And the girl just reached out and gently wiped away Grace's tears.

It was only then that Grace realized...... My daughter, who is not yet an adult, and even the daughter who was sent to the "frozen age" of the fairy kingdom at half of her adult age, already has a maturity and gentleness far beyond ordinary people.

Despite the childlike innocence、Although all the time in my previous life was with my parents and demons...... But Anastasia has decades to live, after all.

She was much more mature than Grace had expected.

"I have a gift for Uncle Yunus."

The girl whispered softly, "He is fragile and sad...... I want to help him.

"I might be able to save him...... Save his soul. ”

Her gentleness is like that of the goddess of the forest in the story of Evas.

(End of chapter)