Eat The World Tree

Merri’s tear ducts had their limits, even after sobbing as if she’d lost her country.

“Are you feeling a bit better now?”

After about an hour had passed, the noticeable sniffles began to subside.

“…Sniff.”

She kept nodding her head while sniffling. I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

‘What kind of hell is this…’

Since Merri had started crying, I had no idea how many times I had stroked her head, hugged her, and patted her back. The more I comforted her, the more emotional she became, crying even harder. She sobbed so sorrowfully that even I was on the verge of tears.

I kept stroking her head, avoiding the cumbersome branches. The same went for her back. I tapped her, carefully avoiding the wooden armor.

But if my hand slowed down even a little…

She gripped my collar tightly. It was the tree lady’s command to stroke more, and faster. So, I had to keep moving my hands diligently. Nothing had changed from before, except that Merri wasn’t crying anymore.

The posture was quite uncomfortable, too.

I was sitting awkwardly on the floor, and Merri had her face buried in my chest.

I lifted Merri up. I could feel her body trembling slightly.

She was so small and light, it didn’t even feel like I was holding anything. It was like carrying a crossbody bag with a few too many things in it.

When I sat down on the sofa with her, Merri clung to me, dangling.

She acted like a giant-sized Shiba.

I hoped our Shiba didn’t become as clingy as her.

“Merri.”

“…Yes.”

“Are you okay now?”

At my question, Merri nodded cautiously and looked up at me.

Her eyes were puffy. Different liquids clung to her eyes and nose. When I tried to wipe her nose with my sleeve, Merri pulled her head back, rejecting my hand.

“You said… you didn’t like me.”

Was that still on her mind?

Oh, my poor little thing. I’m doing things here that I haven’t even done for our shiba.

“If I really hated you, I would’ve kicked you out from the start.”

“…You humans all hate me.”

“If you keep cursing at people like you always do, that’s what they’ll think.”

I figured now that she had calmed down, it was time to resume some discipline.

“What have you always said to me, Merri?”

“…I said I didn’t like you.”

“How do you think that makes me feel?”

“I’ve never thought about it. Because you’re… a human.”

An intuitive explanation was necessary.

You couldn’t break through prejudice when someone was in a headstrong mood.

Only when they were emotionally unstable like now could you try to reach them.

“On the flip side, what if I cursed at you, Merri?”

“…Would you?”

“How do you think you’d feel?”

“Then… then, sniff… boo hoo.”

Maybe imagining me cursing at her triggered something. She started to tear up again, so I patted her back and stroked her head once more.

After barely calming down, Merri continued in a trembling voice.

“I wouldn’t like it…”

“People don’t like it either. Even if you’re a tree, you should respect them.”

“…A tree should respect humans?”

On any other day, Merri would’ve cursed me out for trying to lecture her. But now, surprisingly, she was listening attentively to what I was saying.

She probably hadn’t had many chances to hear or learn about this from anyone else.

I gave a light nod.

Power structures, in most cases, were useless without the people at the bottom.

Even if it was shaped like a pyramid, if those being governed refused to comply, all that was left was war or revolution.

I wondered if Merri could grasp such a concept.

It might be too hard for her to understand. In my eyes, she still seemed like a complete child.

“You can do a lot more than humans, right?”

“…Yes.”

So I persuaded her in a different way.

“You can know a lot more.”

“…That’s true.”

“You have more magical power, too. You’ve got much grander branches and deeper roots, right?”

“Yes.”

Living a life where you were worshipped by others—children went wild for that.

A world that revolved around them.

Because they believed this wholeheartedly, they expected it to happen in reality too.

Kids were usually like that. Merri wasn’t much different.

“If you help humans with that…”

I tempted her.

Then maybe you could really gather people who revolve around you.

There would be some bumps along the way, but this would be enough for now.

“At least some people might truly come to like you, Merri.”

“…But everyone hates me.”

“Think about it.”

I momentarily stopped using formal speech. Merri’s reaction didn’t change much.

She widened her eyes a little in surprise, but she didn’t have the energy to scold me.

“If humans genuinely like you and bow their heads, they’d be wondering how they can make your life easier, Merri.”

“How do you know that… when everyone just lies?”

“You can tell by looking.”

The tone of someone bowing their head from the heart was impossible to fake.

Since Merri had only ever received negativity, she probably wouldn’t know that.

“If you don’t know, just try changing your attitude once.”

“Humans and trees aren’t that different. If you’ve wronged someone, say you’re sorry.”

“…Why should I?”

“Don’t want to?”

Merri nodded.

She hadn’t fully grasped it yet.

I cooled my voice.

“Don’t want to?”

I lowered my voice, as if disappointed. At that moment, I shifted my expression little by little as I locked eyes with her.

The more I stiffened my expression, the more Merri’s face paled.

“Uh, uh, uh…”

She shook her head frantically as if realizing she’d made a mistake.

“…So-sorry. Sorry…”

I didn’t expect her to go that far with formal speech, but it didn’t really matter.

I changed my expression again and stroked her head.

Merri seemed unsure about what had just happened.

I hugged her tightly as a compliment. I didn’t forget to use my pheromones.

I was told I gave off a pleasant scent, but I didn’t notice it myself.

However, Merri’s complexion seemed much brighter than before.

“You cursed at the forester too, didn’t you?”

“…I

“Merri?”

“…I did. I cursed a lot…”

“Then what should you do?”

“Say sorry… apologize?”

“That’s right. And watch their expressions.”

They’d probably look at her in surprise.

They might wonder if the kid ate something wrong and be baffled.

But if she consistently showed this change every day, the other party’s attitude would soften too.

Some people with bad tempers might still act prickly, but most wouldn’t dare mess with a tree.

“If you win people over like that, eventually even those who hated you will come to accept you.”

“What does that change?”

“Everything. You’ll have way more reasons to smile than when you were holed up in that room alone.”

Merri shook her head sadly at that.

“That’ll never happen…”

“Why?”

“…Because I can’t become the World Tree.”

A World Tree…

Merri wiped her tears with her sleeve. Her face scrunched up, as if her eyes stung.

“I don’t have enough branches… I’m too short. My roots aren’t deep enough, so I can’t be the World Tree.”

“So that’s why you feel ignored?”

-Nod.

So that’s what it was.

It seemed her inferiority complex wasn’t entirely baseless.

At times like this, the best thing to do was to show empathy.

“It must’ve been tough.”

I tapped Merri’s head lightly, and she shook her head enthusiastically.

“So, you need to try harder.”

“…What will change if I try? I’ve already finished growing…”

“Doesn’t growth continue even after it’s over?”

“…Yes, it does.”

Although she would grow very slowly, trees were different from humans.

If given enough time, they always had the potential to grow larger.

They could root deeper into the ground. I understood why Merri was feeling hopeless, but it was something she could definitely overcome.

“Then you should keep trying.”

“…But I could still be expelled. Humans told me I deserve it.”

“So you’re giving up because of that?”

“…What do you expect me to do?”

“You have to keep trying.”

I had the Tree Circle Pill.

I had around four. I managed to get quite a few because I got lucky while drawing for fertilizer and water.

But I wasn’t planning on giving them to her. I wasn’t even sure if it would have much of an effect on Merri.

Besides, teaching her to take the easy way out wouldn’t help her. She had to learn independence first.

“You can’t be afraid to try.”

Merri whimpered.

“…Everyone will think I’m just an eyesore.”

It had been quite a while. It was about time to wrap this up.

Looking back, since we met here, Merri hadn’t cursed even once.

Maybe it was because she was feeling vulnerable, but this was likely her true nature.

Just like elementary school kids who learned bad habits online, but when real trouble came, they looked around for help.

“Not everyone will think that.”

“Everyone will…”

I brushed Merri’s flushed forehead.

Her hair fell back, revealing the pale face of a young girl.

She had cried so much that there were quite a few blemishes.

When a tree took on human form… the appearance truly became like a work of art.

As I muttered something to Merri, who had fallen into despair, I stood up from my seat.

“I told you, if you sincerely apologize, people will change their attitude.”

“…There it is again… that won’t happen…”

“Well, someone’s already changed.”

Dealing with one kid was so exhausting.

I added a bit of exaggerated body language, and Merri, startled, closed her mouth.

She looked at me with tears still trickling down her cheeks.

Kids needed to see visible change before they acted.

Once they got a reason, they’d run with it.

“Do your best. And if you do get expelled… come find me.”

I couldn’t be her guardian, but I could help her find someone who could.

“…You would, for me?”

But Merri seemed to misunderstand, blinking rapidly in surprise.

“Yeah.”

A few more tears fell.

No, it was a flood at this point.

“Do you want some water?”

“…Yes.”

“How about some fertilizer?”

“…I want some.”

I had successfully comforted her and given her some direction.

Maybe I was better at nurturing than I thought.

Feeling a little proud inside, I tore open the remaining bag of fertilizer and handed it to Merri.

I wondered how she would eat it, but she found a spoon and started shoveling it in.

Her way of eating was astonishing.

People joked about eating dirt, but here was someone actually doing it.

And she was eating too fast, in huge gulps.

“Hey, are you crazy? Have you been starving for a week? You’re going to choke.”

I said that because it was obvious she’d overeat, but…

“…Gulp, gulp, sniff, sob…”

She started crying again.

“Ugh, seriously.”

Handling her was exhausting.

“Lee Shiheon.”

A night had passed.

It was the last day of the second trial.

At one point, the forester came by, saying they wanted to take Merri away, but she threw a tantrum, insisting on staying one more day, so we ended up spending the night.

I wanted to send her off, but the forester pleaded sincerely.

“I’m sorry. Once she makes up her mind, no one can stop her.”

They said I had to sacrifice this time.

Their faces were filled with exhaustion as they asked, so I had no choice. I accepted, albeit begrudgingly.

In the end, nothing much happened.

Aside from having to comfort her every time she cried and the constant annoyance of her sitting at my feet, there wasn’t any major incident.

“What is it?”

I answered Merri’s question.

At this point, we were speaking informally to each other.

“…Lee Shiheon, I’ll treat you like… a tree, just this once.”

Oh boy, not a tree person, but a tree.

At least I was a tier above Lim Jonghyun, so that felt good.

“Go ahead.”

“…Tsk, you’re supposed to be happy about it. Be happy!”

“I’m happy. Very happy.”

She banged her head against my stomach, demanding joy with her cute little threats.

My stomach hadn’t been cold for even a second during the day Merri had spent sitting there.

Whenever she had a chance, she sat on my lap or my stomach. She made such a fuss that it wouldn’t be surprising if there were butt marks left on my clothes.

She even demanded massages, and while I could do that because she was a tree, I refused, saying her body couldn’t handle a massage, which led to more tantrums.

But her personality had improved significantly.

A girl who used to constantly think of how to curse people now refrained from doing so and even acted cute.

It seemed sharing emotions helped bring humans and trees closer, just as it did with people.

“…I’m going to try really hard to plant my roots. There has to be a human like you somewhere.”

That was how she was maturing.

“Give it your best shot.”

I hadn’t been without mistakes.

The biggest one was hugging Merri to comfort her when she was crying.

Once she got a taste of that, she started clinging to me whenever she had a chance.

Merri, bouncing on my lap, turned her head this time and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I found it annoying, but I decided to interpret it as her way of showing gratitude.

“Pat my back.”

Her neediness hadn’t changed at all.

“And my head, too.”

If she grew up and became a World Tree… hmm.

Who knows, maybe that would work in my favor someday.

I decided to think of it with a light heart.

With a light heart.