Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 99

“…So this is what it means when they say animals go missing from the forest.”

“Don’t you think about burning the forest down?”

“I need to think about it. It’s harder to put out a fire than to start one, you know.”

Vanessa suddenly felt the ground vibrating. Dalhoise’s steps were making the earth tremble.

“Dalhoise, don’t come here-”

“Huh?”

Vanessa turned her head. Dalhoise was tilting his head, looking at the root tangled around his feet with a puzzled expression. At the same time, branches rained down from above. Their tips gleamed sharply.

“Dalhoise!”

Vanessa immediately condensed and released her magic.

The compressed air exploded, and the branches fell weakly onto the snow. Even after falling, the branches writhed as if they were alive before turning black.

“What is it?”

Dalhoise wore a bewildered expression.

Then, a strange sound echoed. It was a loud sound, like wind returning through a hole in a tree.

Dalhoise didn’t know what was going on, but he decided to cut the root binding his ankle. He took the axe he had brought and swung it down. Blood spurted from the stems.

“Why is there blood coming from the stem!”

Dalhoise screamed in shock.

“Team members.”

Lieutenant Colonel Riet said seriously.

“Run.”

The roots intertwined on the ground began to slither and move. Andalus immediately grabbed Lieutenant Colonel Riet, who was nearby, and executed a teleportation spell.

Vanessa ran and grabbed Dalhoise.

“I’m not confident, so hold on tight.”

“Why are you making me nervous?”

In an instant, the two disappeared. The stem gripped the spot where Vanessa and Dalhoise had vanished, only to stir the empty air.

The stems writhed. As one tree swayed, the movement began to spread through the vibrations.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

While Dalhoise was retching on the ground due to the aftereffects of teleportation, Vanessa wiped away her cold sweat.

Andalus, who had moved a little further away, ran over. He briefly checked on Dalhoise, nodded when he realized he was okay.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just burn the forest down?”

“It could spread to an unmanageable range. The entire area behind us is a mountain range… A small fire is fine, but a huge wildfire would require calling in the wizards from the border.”

“The stems definitely seem to be moving. The roots looked shallow above the soil, so can they move?”

Vanessa asked, and Andalus looked troubled.

“I don’t know exactly. This is my first time seeing them in person… All I remember is that these creatures sleep during the day.”

“What are you going to do?”

Riet rubbed his face roughly and sighed.

“It seems we woke up something that was sleeping. We can’t let them swarm into the village. Tell Sleiman to come here immediately.”

Andalus furrowed his brow at Vanessa and patted her shoulder before turning and firing a beam of light into the sky. The beam of light took the shape of something and flew away.

“Ugh.”

“Dalhoise, are you okay?”

Vanessa patted Dalhoise, who couldn’t come to his senses. Dalhoise crawled and clung to Vanessa’s arm. His lips were pale.

“What kind of magic is this… Isn’t it an attack magic?”

“I thought so too at first. I thought I was going to die from the headache.”

She had experienced it for the first time when she fell into the cave, and the second time when she came out.

Gideon stroked her forehead because of the severe headache, and she acknowledged her feelings. After that, she suffered from unrequited love alone and ignored Gide’s calls for over a year. He was upset, so he didn’t contact her either….

Vanessa shook off the embarrassing history that flashed through her mind. Thinking about facing the monsters in the cold wind, she missed Gide very much today.

Even when I left, he was very anxious. I hope he’s doing well.

And against the backdrop of the pure white shining moon, she saw flocks of birds flying.

Birds wouldn’t move like that at night, so it must be because the branches were shaking.

“The Dotram branches seem to be able to move.”

Vanessa tilted her head.

“That’s right. I thought the roots looked very shallow… If the terrain was higher, it would have caused a landslide.”

Andalus also replied in a gloomy voice. Riet waved his arms around.

“Sleiman will be useful when he comes. Let’s set it on fire then. That guy is more useful for putting out fires.”

“Is he even coming? He’ll just complain about not wanting to work when he gets here.”

It was the first time Vanessa had heard the always calm Andalus use a reproachful tone, so she was genuinely curious about Captain Sleiman. Who is he to be like that?

“Dalhoise uses an axe. He’ll be confident with trees.”

Vanessa smiled, glancing at Dalhoise, and Dalhoise jumped up. His expression suddenly became lively.

“I may have been waiting for this day. I took up the axe for the crazy trees!”

Vanessa snorted at his serious voice. Andalus asked calmly.

“So, where is the Night Vandalu’s [likely a type of dark magic or cult] magic circle?”

“The place where they fed blood is the house of a child named Noah, so it would be better to search around there.”

Riet stroked his chin for a moment and stared at Vanessa. His black eyes gleamed eerily against the dim light.

“Come to think of it, does Lieutenant Vanessa have any external conditions?”

“Ah… no, I don’t.”

“You don’t?”

Dalhoise, who didn’t know about Vanessa’s conditions, widened his eyes. Riet whistled and laughed.

“Good. The biggest problem with these trees is that they catch prey using their roots and stems. Lieutenant Dalhoise, who has superior physical abilities, will go with Major Andalus. The Major has conditional requirements.”

And he continued.

“Lieutenant Vanessa Rose, can you go alone? If not, come with me.”

Vanessa hesitated for a moment, but she knew that there were three paths leading from the forest to the village.

“I’ll go alone.”

“Good. Let’s signal immediately if it seems dangerous.”

Vanessa took a deep breath. Dalhoise whispered worriedly beside her.

“Are you okay?”

At those words, Vanessa recalled the backyard where she was beaten with magic by Jenian. Memories of rolling forward and backward.

Will those trees be stronger than Jenian?

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

Vanessa replied firmly.

Whether they were strong or weak, they would definitely be less vicious than Jenian. No monster would beat Vanessa as viciously as Jenian. If so, she could do it.

“Since those tree-shaped monsters only move at night, we just need to get through tonight. I’ll take revenge during the day.”

Riet said, pretending to break a branch with his hand. Andalus nodded.

“Coincidentally, there are exactly three entrances from the forest to the village, so we can split up.”

That’s what he said, but Andalus looked worried.

“Lieutenant Rose, are you really okay? This is your first dispatch.”

“Yes, I’m okay. I’ll signal immediately if it’s dangerous.”

Andalus cheered her on with an ambiguous voice at her cheerful answer.

“If it gets too dangerous, just set it on fire without thinking about the aftermath. The Captain… will take care of something…”

Vanessa smiled slightly at those words. She couldn’t put such a burden on Gideon.

Vanessa bumped fists with Dalhoise.

The Lieutenant Colonel, Major, and two Lieutenants split into three paths.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

North path from the forest to Belos. White steam rose along with the breath coming out of her mouth.

Vanessa enjoyed the beautiful winter night scenery for a moment.

It was necessary to calm her mind as she watched the snow and soil being dug up by something approaching from afar.

Vanessa knew that it required a very high level of concentration to hit a distant target, especially a moving one, with magic. And some more delicate modifications too.

So, what was the method that Gideon had subtly told her?

‘If there’s no one around who could be harmed, it’s easier to just realize magic on a large scale.’

‘…Is that your advice?’

‘It’s advice because your magical power seems sufficient.’

She even missed the corners of his lips that had somehow turned up unpleasantly. When she returned, she would secretly sneak into Balder Castle and surprise him.

Vanessa took a deep breath as she looked at the slender roots that were slowly approaching, plowing through the dirt. If she couldn’t hit the roots, she could just hit the main body.

Vanessa first summoned light and wrapped it around her body. A warm warmth spread, melting her frozen fingertips.

Then, there was the sound of something tearing. It was the sound of wind swirling.

Vanessa smiled. At the same time, the flow of swirling air changed. According to Vanessa’s will, the flow of air spread wide and thin, eventually turning into a knife.

A thin whip sound and a dull sound echoed together, and the base of the trees right nearby was half blown away.

The tree roots that had been advancing in search of prey hesitated. But they didn’t stop moving.

“Hmm.”

The tree is harder than I thought? Vanessa tilted her head.

“Then….”

Vanessa decided to stop controlling her magic power. It was a pity that the beautiful trees were damaged, not the ‘Dotram branches’ [the animated trees], but it was not easy to distinguish between the two in a limited field of vision.

As Vanessa willed it, a light breeze brushed past her fingertips. However, it was not light at all for the trees.

Thump!

With a roar, dozens of trees in front of Vanessa slowly tilted. Vanessa covered her forehead, having devastated an excessively wide area.

It was always like this. When she tried to control it, she wasn’t satisfied, and when she gave up on controlling it, excessively strong magic burst out.

This is why the middle path is difficult. Vanessa sniffled in the cold.

Numerous staggering trees fell to the ground, and the ground vibrated strongly under her feet. Red water burst out from between the trees, dyeing the white snow piled on the ground. It seemed to be the blood of the prey they had hunted so far.

The approaching roots stopped, and the flying stems retreated for a moment. Some of the fallen trees shriveled as if they were completely dry.

“I guess I just have to break them.”

Ironically, the blood that her own kind, the ‘Dotram branches’, spat out as they died, attracted other Dotram branches. The forest began to stir with moving trees.

Vanessa looked up at the sky for a moment. The crescent moon hanging in the darkness was still high.

The dawn will be long.

The clusters of light still surrounded Vanessa as if to protect her. Vanessa focused on the approaching stealthy movements.