At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 291
“So if you don’t want your side to suffer even more, come deal with it. You’ve already started a fight, so it’s a little late to pretend otherwise, isn’t it? Besides, if your tree hadn’t grown so ridiculously large, none of this would have happened.”
“Bu, but I heard your side was the one that started the fight…”
“You were the ones sneaking around the edge of our territory first.”
It seemed that their investigation into what had happened around their tree had been interpreted by the underground clan as a deliberate provocation.
“And after dragging me here like this, do you really think my brothers are just going to let it go?”
“…”
“You seem to have someone capable of restoring the damaged land. If you come quietly and fix it, we’ll overlook everything.”
This was not a request for help. It was much closer to a threat.
“Ju, just give us a moment to discuss it.”
“You’d better decide quickly. Unless you want people getting hurt.”
Jiwoo rose from her seat and pulled Helka aside. While Marron and Night remained behind to watch Shaen, Jiwoo led Helka to a quiet corner.
“Helka, do you think this is okay?”
“Whether to show them goodwill is your decision. However, I would not recommend it.”
That much had been obvious. This time, it seemed his concern went beyond Jiwoo exhausting herself on another trip.
“These people…”
Helka paused, choosing his words carefully.
“They tend to regard anyone outside their own clan as expendable if it serves their purpose. Whatever they want, they rarely ask or negotiate with compensation. They prefer threats. This situation is likely no different. And much of what he told us may not even be true.”
“He’d lie even in this situation?”
“Yes.”
What part was a lie? There was no way to know.
Isn’t he afraid? Jiwoo wondered. By all appearances, he had entered enemy territory completely alone. Or perhaps he simply had something to rely on.
“If this troubles you or makes you uncomfortable, I’ll stop it.”
“If… If everything he said is true, I was planning to go if I could. It affects our tree too…”
If their tree became sick, then her husbands could weaken as well. The thought of them remaining frail for decades instead of merely enduring an inconvenience filled her with anxiety.
“It’s not that I want to help them. I just want to solve our problem while we still can.”
And she doesn’t want to stay tangled up with them any longer than necessary…
Even with Narkreed still struggling to adjust to his enhanced eyesight, it had taken him, together with the two brothers who specialized in combat, all three of them just to contend with a single underground-born opponent.
And from the way Shaen kept referring to his brothers, there were clearly more people like him. If their side numbered around thirty, then purely in terms of combat strength, they might outmatch Jiwoo’s village three or four to one.
No wonder she felt uneasy. If there was any way to resolve everything peacefully and avoid unnecessary harm, she wanted to take it.
“As long as we don’t venture too deeply underground and avoid encountering the other clans, there shouldn’t be any major problems. They would also prefer resolving the territorial issue over starting an outright conflict. But… are you all right with this?”
“If it’s like cleansing corrupted land… it won’t be that difficult.”
The previous trips had been much like treating injured people back at the temple. This felt closer to when she had purified corrupted territory.
“There is… one thing I’m worried about.”
“What is it?”
“If we’re going underground… who should come with me?”
“Those best suited to respond if anything happens.”
“Respond?”
Did he mean the husbands capable of standing against the underground clan?
“In that case…”
This wasn’t something they could decide by drawing lots like before.
Underground was hardly a safe or comfortable place, even for the children of Ellandos. And now the dimensional disturbances had made the environment even more unpredictable.
This time they needed a proper team, not a random one.
“I still don’t know who would be the best choice… Could you all decide among yourselves this time?”
“Understood.”
* * *
Helkainis conveyed Jiwoo’s decision to the others in what he considered the most efficient manner possible.
Unfortunately, Helka had never been one for detailed explanations. His habit of reducing everything to the bare essentials often stripped away most of the original meaning.
“So… she wants us to pick the biggest bastard among us?”
And so…a vote began under a rather unfortunate misunderstanding.
The rules were simple.
Everyone received one vote.
Voting for yourself was prohibited.
Including Jiwoo, there were thirty-three votes in total.
None of the husbands really understood why they were holding such a vote, but after hearing that Jiwoo had asked for it, they earnestly set about choosing the person with the worst personality.
The voting itself didn’t take long.
Jiwoo accepted the box filled with ballots and waited for Helka to count them.
Clearing her throat, she addressed everyone.
“After hearing both sides, I decided this is a situation where I should make the trip. But it also seems more dangerous than my previous ones, so I asked all of you to choose the people you think would be most suitable to come with me. And so…”