At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 281
“Unlike that old man up ahead, whose taste buds have already given up, aahh!”
Tevon’s ears were promptly grabbed by Lanceil.
“Even if it’s true, you shouldn’t say it so carelessly.”
Apparently, even Lanceil couldn’t deny that Lugarmel’s taste buds were beyond saving…
As they continued on, Jiwoo noticed once again how much denser the forest had become compared to the previous year. Flowers bloomed everywhere in dazzling colors. The downside, however, was that the path had grown much rougher, making it difficult for her to walk on her own.
After falling behind several times, she eventually ended up being carried by Lanceil.
“By the way, Lanceil.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t think I’m the only one who’s noticed this…”
Being carried gave her a better view of the forest. Would this be a strange way to put it? It almost feels like it’s showing off.
“Hasn’t there been an unusually large number of flowers blooming this year? Even their fragrance is much stronger.”
“There has been a bit more than usual.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“I’m… not sure I’d say that.”
They already knew the surrounding environment had changed. Jiwoo had wondered if it was because of all the flower seeds she’d collected during her trips to different regions and planted here as keepsakes, but the difference was far greater than that. Last year, the crops certainly hadn’t lost their flavor like this.
Walking ahead of them, Lugarmel glanced back over his shoulder with an easy laugh.
“Darling, that’s exactly what we’re going to find out. Ah, we’ve arrived.”
A little while later, Lugarmel led them to a secluded corner of the forest where sunlight barely reached, no matter how lush the woods were.
Though it was still midday, it felt almost like dusk. Just as Jiwoo noticed the damp air mixed with the scent of moss, Lugarmel came to a stop.
“Here we are.”
“Wow…”
Jiwoo marveled at the sight before her.
It looked as though a piece of the night sky had opened in the middle of the forest.
More accurately, part of the ground had collapsed away, exposing a vast underground space beneath. A soft lavender glow seeped up from below, as though something down there emitted its own light. No wonder it had reminded her of a star-filled sky at first glance.
“Jiwoo, we’ll stay nearby.”
“Don’t worry about us. Take your time.”
“Huh? Okay.”
For some reason, Lanceil and Tevon excused themselves, saying they’d look around the area. Left alone with Lugarmel, Jiwoo asked the first question on her mind.
“What is this?”
“Just what it looks like, a passage leading underground.”
“You can actually go down there?”
“Yes. People live down there, after all.”
“People live down there?”
Just judging from the enormous opening alone, the underground space had to be vast. And people traveled in and out of it?
The Children of Ellandos were closer to plants than humans. They loved sunlight and welcomed the rain. Every tribe Jiwoo had met had been like that.
The idea that another group lived beneath the earth, where the sky was completely shut out, felt almost impossible to imagine. Perhaps sensing her confusion, Lugarmel began explaining with a series of questions.
“If a tree were to move, which part do you think would move first?”
It was difficult enough to picture a tree moving at all, but one answer immediately came to mind.
“The roots?”
“Exactly. As our tree expanded its territory, its roots reached this area first. That changed the surrounding environment. What you’re seeing now is the influence of an underground Ellandos.”
An underground Ellandos…
Every Ellandos Jiwoo had ever seen had been radiant, bathed in sunlight, stretching high into the sky with an almost sacred presence.
“Trees can grow underground?”
When she thought of a tree, sunlight seemed like an absolute necessity. Could an Ellandos really grow beneath the earth?
…Then again, she corrected herself.
She’d been told before that Ellandos didn’t necessarily have to take the form of a tree. Such cases were exceedingly rare, and even if they did occur, they struggled to maintain their form in this world, which was why they were almost never seen.
Could it be some enormous mushroom…?
“Mhm, not quite. Our Tree has roots that extend deep underground as well, doesn’t it? We simply inherited more of the Tree’s upper half, while they inherited more of what lies beneath.”
In other words, everyone Jiwoo had met so far resembled the tree’s leaves, flowers, and fruit, people with sweet scents, fragrant bodily fluids, and vibrant, colorful appearances.
The ones living underground were closer to its roots.
“And Ellandos roots generally contain poison. So they’ve absorbed far more toxicity into their bodies.”
A body steeped in poison. The moment he said that, something clicked into place.
“Like Marron and Night?”
“Yes.”
Now it was much easier to picture. Jiwoo silently congratulated herself for not blurting out her mushroom theory first.
“Mushrooms can become Ellandos, but they disappear again almost immediately.”
“Oh…”
Jiwoo blushed. He saw right through her.
“How adorable.”
Thankfully, he let the matter drop after that instead of teasing her further.
“Now, do you see that over there?”
Following the direction of his hand, Jiwoo looked deeper into the cavern. Intertwined together was a dense mass of roots that gleamed with an almost painfully brilliant white.
Normally, Ellandos roots spread boldly through the earth. Even when they encountered enormous obstacles like boulders, they rarely bothered going around them, they simply pushed straight through.
The roots before her, however, were twisted and knotted together.