Chương 63: Picked Up, Not Stolen

The elf meeting hall was on the ground. Kichan found that a little unexpected. For a species that loved tree balconies and leaf passageways so much, he had assumed they held meetings high in the branches as well. But beside the great root at the village center was a low, wide circular yard. The floor was not packed earth but the flat back of an ancient root, and leaf-shaped lanterns hung low along its edges. At its center was placed the World Tree fruit.

Riphiel dismounted from the saber-toothed tiger and stood beside Kichan. The tiger slowly swayed its tail at the edge of the yard, and several elf children stole glances at its black stripes from afar.

"A child of the World Tree, a fruit of the World Tree, and a black creature that brought the fruit in its mouth."

"Don't summarize. It gets worse." The chieftain sat across from the fruit. The elders surrounded them in a semicircle, and the young elves stood a little behind. The village, which had just been busy dealing with the invasion, went quiet again. Kichan hated that quiet. Sometimes meetings took longer than wars. He had already learned that a few times. The chieftain asked.

"Why did it take the fruit?" Kichan looked at Dust.

"Why did you take it." Dust flicked a leg. Riphiel said very seriously.

"It says it picked it up." Kichan looked at Riphiel.

"You understand Dust's speech?"

"The expression says so."

"It doesn't have expressions." Riphiel said confidently.

"Therefore, it is all the more honest." Several young elves standing at the edge of the yard pressed their lips. Faces holding back laughter. The elders did not laugh. The chieftain did not laugh either. Only a very ancient weariness added slightly to his face. Kichan raised a finger toward Dust."'Picked up' means you took something that was already lying on the ground." Dust flicked a leg.

"So was it lying on the ground?" Dust flicked a leg more slowly. Riphiel said.

"It seems to be claiming it was about to fall."

"That's stealing." Dust stopped. The water drop went pop — small — before the fruit. This time it sounded less like stopping Dust and more like agreeing with Kichan. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Kichan looked at the water drop.

"You think so too?" The water drop went pop again. Dust flicked a leg one more time. Kichan sighed.

"I didn't ask your opinion." The air in the yard loosened slightly. One of the young elves eventually lowered their head and trembled at the shoulders. The elf beside them elbowed them. One elder glared sharply that way, but the tips of their ears moved very slightly. The chieftain looked at the fruit.

"Fruits fall from the World Tree. But not every fall means you may take it."

"I get that." Kichan looked down at the fruit. Inside the green skin, ripple patterns overlapped. It was strange to simply call it a shining fruit. When he brought his hand close, the sensation that had come after touching the Voynich manuscript reacted very faintly. It was also different from the sense he used for herbs or poisons. Before determining whether it could be eaten, used as medicine, or used as a material, the structure itself was too deep. The feeling of a single life closed in one layer.

Kichan did not bring his hand any closer.

"It does look expensive." The faces of the elf elders hardened simultaneously. Riphiel hurriedly stepped forward one pace.

"His saying it is expensive means he acknowledges the value of the forest." Kichan said immediately.

"It's not." Riphiel turned her head slightly toward Kichan. Her eyes were a little desperate.

"Then it would be good to interpret it that way."

"Why do you get to decide what I mean?"

"It is necessary right now." Kichan grew more tired. The chieftain did not stop Riphiel. Instead, he looked at the fact that Kichan's hand had moved away from the fruit. He looked at that fact longer.

"Do you covet it?"

"Just because something looks expensive doesn't mean I take it home." Kichan looked right at Dust.

"We usually don't." Dust pretended not to hear.

"And I didn't ask if it's edible either." One elder drew in a very small breath at those words. Kichan did not miss that reaction.

"So it is edible." Riphiel opened her mouth.

"It can be eaten, but ordinarily it is not used for that purpose—" Kichan raised his hand.

"I get it. Enough fruit talk." Riphiel shut her mouth. Kichan looked down at the water drop sitting before the fruit. The water drop was not playing as usual. Even while blocking Dust, it did not draw away from the fruit. Its small body, caught between the fruit and the World Tree, was hesitating between Kichan's sleeve and the roots inside the yard.

"Why are you blocking this thing." Instead of answering, the water drop swelled round before the fruit.

"Is it yours?" Pop. It sounded like a no.

"Then is it the World Tree's?" This time, the water drop stayed still. Kichan nodded.

"I get the gist." The chieftain asked.

"What have you understood?"

"It doesn't know either." The yard went quiet. Kichan dusted off the end of his sleeve. The water drop came back close to Kichan's wrist, then stayed before the fruit. It was a gesture wanting both.

"It doesn't know whether this is home, or whether that fruit is an object or family. But it knows Dust shouldn't carry it off." The chieftain said nothing. The elders' faces shifted a little as well. Someone looked at Kichan as if seeing him for the first time, and someone looked down toward the World Tree fruit. Riphiel quietly marveled.

"Very blunt, but accurate."

"Don't compliment me."

"It is not a compliment—""Don't record either." Riphiel shut her mouth. The chieftain raised a hand to quiet the elves. They were already quiet, but behind that gesture, a deeper silence fell.

"The fruit will be recovered immediately." Kichan nodded.

"Fine." Dust flicked a leg.

"You be quiet." The chieftain continued.

"However, we must confirm. Whether the fruit fell on its own or was torn off forcibly. Why the child of the World Tree is at your side. And how the World Tree receives this matter." Kichan looked at the chieftain.

"Another meeting?" The chieftain slowly rose.

"This time, it is the tree." Riphiel opened her mouth.

"We do not know whether the tree will answer."

"Let's ask first, then we'll know."