"Because of a fire, a fire that almost burned down the entire City Defense Forest surrounding the Demon King Castle."
"The Luwaka Demon King inadvertently caused a disaster that nearly resulted in the death of hundreds of Tree Spirits on the spot."
Shami frowned, and Lureya also became nervous.
"That was in the late phase of the heroes’ campaign against Lord Luwaka, although I can’t remember exactly when. It was a particularly dry autumn, right after a major battle. By day, the Tree Spirits were exhausted from reporting to the Legion Commanders of the demon tribe, and at nightfall, they mostly fell into slumber. It was a rare time for the demon army to rest."
"It must have been late at night when Lord Luwaka walked out of the woods through the Teleportation Gate."
"Lord Luwaka was walking back, massaging his waist, while lighting a cigarette for himself."
"That night’s climate was unusually dry, and Lord Luwaka forgot to stub out the cigarette with his shoe. The cigarette butt, still carrying some sparks, was blown into the dry leaves by the wind, starting a huge fire. By the time the Tree Spirits reacted, half the forest was already ablaze."
"Because Lord Luwaka had done many things that the Tree Spirits protested against before. After that, the remaining Tree Spirits all fled."
Shami recalled his first time outside the Demon King Castle, where the ground was scorched black, and there were almost no trees left.
"So it wasn’t caused by war, but by Luwaka’s negligence? It surprisingly makes sense for something like that to happen with him. Speaking of which, after the heroes reached the Demon King Castle, did they still have time to visit the Succubus Tea House? They must have just come back from there!"
"Isn’t this normal? One person bearing the entire demon tribe’s safety, without somewhere to vent, can only secretly smoke alone. Don’t men usually not easily share their worries?"
"Normal my ass! How can you describe such a thing so righteously, when it was clearly the cigarette’s fault afterward!"
Luwaka was that obsessed with the Succubus Tea House.
When he has the ability, he’ll definitely try it himself to find out what kind of immense allure the succubus possesses!
"Don’t look at me with those ’I’m going to be doomed too, sob sob sob’ eyes, that was the previous Demon King!"
Shami looked helplessly at the flat-screen blondie.
Luwaka truly taught him lessons through every pit he fell into with his life.
Honestly, I could cry to death...
"No matter what, it’s impossible to sever ties with the Tree Spirits. The previous Demon King’s sins can’t be blamed on me. Since you know where the Tree Spirits are, let’s go find them and bring them back."
Shami made up his mind.
"That said, at least we should prepare a bit, to show a little sincerity, Shami."
Lureya tugged at Shami’s sleeve.
"Indeed. As the saying goes, first impressions are vital. We must make a good impression on the Tree Spirits the first time we meet, showing them that the present Demon King is absolutely not the same as Luwaka."
Following the skeleton’s direction, Shami opened the Teleportation Gate to a forest a hundred kilometers away. The forest had a mix of tree species, and at a glance, more than a dozen types of trees could be seen.
"Yes." The skeleton nodded, "When I was defeated by an adventure party and wandered outside, I came here and met a kind Wisteria Tree Spirit."
Shami looked at the skeleton.
The skeleton touched its skull with pride.
"Although I couldn’t understand the Tree Spirit’s language, thanks to its help at that time, I was able to rest peacefully for two days. It was truly an unforgettable, tranquil time. I shared my past with the Tree Spirit, just like old friends sharing drinks and laughter hahaha."
The skeleton recalled the scene while leading Shami and Lureya deeper into the forest.
Shami slowly glanced around, but all he saw was the normal scenery of the forest, with no signs of anything unusual.
The Tree Spirit’s concealment is excellent. When it wants to hide itself, it looks no different from normal trees.
After wandering for fifteen minutes, the two humans and one skeleton finally stopped in front of a massive Wisteria Tree.
Lureya’s gem-like eyes slowly surveyed the surroundings before settling on the large Wisteria Tree in front of them, with its thick, wilting vines hanging down like snakes.
He had seen Wisteria Trees, but their usual size was only about three to four meters in height, while this Wisteria Tree before them was a full twenty meters tall, with a canopy like a huge disc.
Beneath the furrowed trunk, the tree’s roots lay dormant on the ground surface.
The elf was also stunned.
The ancient feel of the Wisteria Tree made even the 79-year-old elf feel inadequate in comparison.
The skeleton waved at the Wisteria Tree, "Hi, my dear old friend, do you remember me?"
There was no response.
"I was the skeleton from that time, do you have any memory of me?"
There was no response.
The skeleton seemed to be talking to the air.
Shami slowly approached, moving under the canopy of the Wisteria Tree. He reached out his hand, just about to touch the trunk when the entire canopy of the Wisteria Tree began to buzz and move as if a small section of the sky was shaking.
Shami widened his eyes in surprise.
Thanks to the demon king’s language skills, he understood it.
The Tree Spirit in front of him was speaking.
After a moment, he frowned and looked at the skeleton.
"Skeleton, move further away, so far that we can’t see you."
"It doesn’t consider you an old friend at all. Seeing you again reminded it of painful memories from that time. If not for the fact that it thought there was no need to kill a skeleton again, it would have hit you with its vines."
"Wh-what, how can this be..." The skeleton knelt down painfully, looking at Shami with a last sliver of hope: "Did Lord Shami really hear such hurtful words..."
"Did you hang stockings on its branches? A skeleton carrying stockings, it thought they were taken from a corpse somewhere, and was so disgusted it almost wanted to prune the branch."
"But didn’t the Tree Spirit not resist back then? We clearly spent such peaceful two days together."
"That’s because it realized you were Luwaka’s personal skeleton. Although it didn’t understand why that position existed, just thinking that it was related to Luwaka made everything possible, instantly making you a hassle. It planned to play dead until you left quickly."
The skeleton, which had just been joyfully recounting memories to the two, crumpled in despair.
Unexpectedly, we really encountered a Tree Spirit...
The Wisteria Tree Spirit in front of him began addressing him in a very slow-speaking manner, and Shami sensed that the Tree Spirit didn’t harbor much hostility toward him.
[An old man like me enjoys stockings too... But a skeleton carrying stockings... even with a wealth of experience... would be resistant... catching diseases would be fine... cough cough...]
[Can understand Tree Spirit, huh... Either an elf... a demon king... or a Demon Envoy granted by the demon king who understands the Tree Spirit’s language... cough cough...]
[That cute blonde over there... must be an elf... cough cough...]