At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 215
It seemed Jiwoo would have to get used to the fact that these men didn’t even respond to what she said…
“Petar, don’t you have anything else to sell?”
“I told you, I don’t have anything for sale.”
When Jiwoo asked, Petar answered immediately.
“…Well, even if I’m not selling, there are things I can give.”
Then came an unexpected comment.
“We have some pride, you know. We can’t just take help and wipe our mouths clean, can we?”
Though he had joked about selling pets, his real meaning was that there were things he wanted to give without demanding payment.
“Follow me. It’s something I can only give you from inside the sea.”
With that, Petar headed toward the water.
Kaman sneered, as if he had won.
“Hmph. Since you can’t compete on land, you’re running off to the sea.”
“Well done…”
Skiass also praised Kaman as if agreeing.
…So that’s what was going on?
When would Jiwoo fully understand these men…
***
Solmih seemed to have business with Lanset and Arven, so in the end, only Kaman and Skiass accompanied Jiwoo as she followed Petar into the sea.
Changing into the swimsuit she had bought earlier, Jiwoo felt much lighter. The current toward the place with the tree was calm, and the seawater was pleasantly cool. Along the way, beautiful coral and colorful fish greeted the group.
It seemed like the sea was aware that Jiwoo liked such things, as the scenery grew more vibrant, keeping the journey from feeling dull.
The gentle currents under the sea, where she didn’t even have to hold her breath, were as fragrant as the breeze in a forest. Her hair floated freely in the water, and her light swimsuit fluttered with the waves, tickling her shoulders and legs.
She hadn’t realized that moving through the sea felt like flying.
This sea never stopped showing warmth and beauty.
Earlier, she had leisurely woken up past noon, taken a brief stroll through the shopping district, enjoyed a date, and watched the sunset while eating grilled shrimp on the beach. But now night had already fallen over the sea.
Before experiencing this, Jiwoo had vaguely thought the night sea was scary, but the moonlight reaching down to the ocean floor was especially bright, making it feel like walking through the Milky Way.
Though it was quite a long distance to swim, the pleasant journey made them arrive quickly.
They reached a spot very close to the group’s tree.
Moonlight descended around the tree and deep into the sea, forming what looked like a pillar of light.
“This isn’t just from me, but a gift decided upon by the entire group after consulting together.”
With those words, Kaman and Skiass, who had been engaged in a silent rivalry, stepped back a little.
It seemed even they respected this moment.
Maintaining their distance, Jiwoo and Petar were left alone. Petar quickly swam around the tree and pulled out an object small enough to hold in his hand from somewhere on the tree.
When Jiwoo received it, she saw it was a jet-black gem.
Like obsidian, no, so perfectly black it didn’t even reflect light.
“What is this?”
“Hmm. This… is a gemstone that’s only made here. It’s not a mineral, nor a plant. Oh, it’s not like pearls or coral either.”
“Really?”
Petar paused and thought for a moment.
“…I don’t really know either.”
“Then… is it like a meteorite?”
Not a mineral, not a plant, and not an organic gemstone, but still a gem. Jiwoo tentatively suggested, and Petar nodded as if he found the comparison amusing.
“Something like that. But at least meteorites fall from the sky in this dimension. This is more like a meteorite that fell from another dimension. In other words, it’s a fragment from another world.”
Honestly, it just looked like a plain black stone, so it was hard to tell what made it special.
Petar described it as a gemstone, but to the eye, it was just a rough, round object.
“It’s a remnant left behind when the sea tree nearly died once.”
So it wasn’t just a gemstone made here normally, but one created only under very special circumstances.
Petar lightly tapped the jet-black gem with his fingertip.
“They say the tree is a gateway to another world. Have you heard that?”
“Yes. Not exactly those words, but something similar.”
The tree in El Ragneil was like a sacred place in Caranazion.
They called places where different worlds collided sacred grounds, and the Akarna appeared in such places.
Since dimensional travel was common knowledge here, they also called it a gateway to another world.
“Living here, you might get caught in accidents where dimensions collide, like unexpected typhoons or floods. This is something useful in such cases.”
“How?”
“Hold it and watch.”
A faint light appeared inside the black gem like a tiny spark. It shone toward one direction.
“That light shows you where you want to go, or where you should go.”
“You mean it decides?”
“At least it guides you to a place you won’t regret.”
In other words, it was a compass you could use even if you didn’t know your destination.
“I just got some precious resin, is it okay to take this too?”
“Don’t say that.”
Petar, who had been acting cocky and provocative the whole time, spoke seriously this time.
“Please value it as the price for the tree’s safety and the lives of my brothers.”
“You’re always joking about that, though?”
“Oh dear. That’s not a joke.”
Jiwoo laughed at Petar’s usual silliness.
“But I don’t have a place I want to go now, why is that?”
“Then that must be the place you need to go.”
The compass’s light pointed to the beach Jiwoo had come from.
Her husbands were waiting there.
***
Meanwhile, Solmih, who was waiting for Jiwoo, scolded Lanset and Arven and, through them, found the alchemist who made the problematic bath salts.
It took no time at all to track him down and subdue him.
“Ugh…”
Wrapped tightly in plants that suddenly sprouted from the floor, the alchemist gasped for breath.