A pure white squirrel was resting on the colorfully decorated altar as white particles escaped out of her body.
The squirrel was almost one meter without her tail and with pure white light coming out of its body; it was even easier to guess what this creature was.
Something similar to Celes and something that great nature gave birth to.
This was a special existence that was not well at all.
An [Origin Beast] that was going through a hard time maintaining its existence.
It wasn’t dying like Celes, but its existence was fading because of some unknown reason.
Fading out of existence would also mean its soul was integrating into nature.
But, seeing how it was so slow, it was definite that it wasn’t a normal situation.
“What the hell is happening to her?” I asked, turning my head towards the Orc.
Celes was nervous right now and I could feel it.
Her behavior was normal, as it was her first time seeing someone like her own.
But seeing her in this state would definitely make her sad.
[ “This is a soul illness that isn’t well known. If you are the unfortunate creature to get caught by it… just the thought of it is devastating.” ] He answered with a sad voice as he looked at the squirrel.
“A soul illness that can affect a [Origin Beast]?”
[ “We possess little knowledge of it. But we know the cure as the master cures it when other beings in this forest fall victim to it.” ] The Orc answered, not taking his eyes away from her.
“Master? She cured others?”
It was surprising to know she was a master of all these beasts, but it was more surprising to know this squeal knew about a cure for something like this.
This <Soul Illness> was a doubtful thing, and this cure was also something that didn’t go well with me.
Just then, Celes came out and sat beside the squirrel.
[[ Master! Remember that thing you got from the top of that gigantic tree!? ]] Celes suddenly shouted.
“What do you mean… oh! That thing?” I was confused, but a light suddenly flashed in my eyes and I shouted.
But…
[ “Oh, mother nature…” ]
I heard a sharp gasp and turned around.
The Orc was looking at the squirrel… no. He was looking at my Celes.
His eyes contained signs of shock and respect.
As I looked around, not only the Orc but also the hippo humanoid, old Ent, and many creatures behind them were looking at her in shock.
Even the Ent that brought me here was looking at Celes as if they were looking at the squirrel laying on the altar.
“What’s… wrong?” I asked awkwardly as I looked at them.
I knew Celes was special, but that respectful look in their eyes was more than just a random surprise.
[ “Oh, the person of the outside lands… no. Oh great one, forgive our rudeness.” ]
The orc… bowed his head?
And, not only him but all the creatures present bowed their heads respectfully.
What the hell was this?!
How did my survival journey become occultism?!
Why are these powerful beasts praising us?!
“The fuck are you all doing?!” I shouted, taking Celes in my hand and going a few steps back in shock.
[ “Oh! We didn’t mean to surprise you!” ]
The Orc hurriedly apologized and started explaining what was going on.
This one was more intelligent than I thought.
As I listened to him… many questions started popping into my mind.
“So, in short, this origin beast squirrel here is your master.
As there are very few beings purely born from nature, every such being is highly respected by certain groups of beasts?
In particular, Origin Beasts such as your master and Celes who possess affinities with all-natural elements are… worshipped?
And only those with an affinity for all-natural elements can get this <Soul Essence> from great trees or similar?”
I repeated as I played with the glass bottle with a white fluid in my hand.
I knew Celes was special, and I loved her but… seeing some beasts worship her…
‘No. No, no, no. Nope.’
Those things were a big no-no.
Celes was already so shy that she went into her mark the moment this Orc started explaining those weird things.
His bullshit was intriguing and I would remember it anyway, so thinking too deeply about it would be a waste.
This <Soul Essence> thing was indeed rare and taking it with me at that time was a wise decision.
Each great tree or similar large trees only produced one drop every year and that drop can only be taken by those with all six elemental affinities.
We didn’t know the reason, but we can only separate the drop from the tree crystal when you have all elemental affinities.
These beasts were finding someone with all elemental affinities for a month and when that Ent saw me, it found their light at the end of the tunnel.
The Ent thought I would understand them, so it was ‘just’ going to make me unconscious and take me here.
But things went wrong for it.
And now… we were here.
Sitting around their master, talking about such things.
We should have treated her first. What are we even discussing these things for?!
“Huu… let’s first cure your master. We should talk about other things after that.”
[ “You will use such precious treasure for us?! Thank you, oh great one!” ]
The Orc shouted, and every other beast behind them cheered up.
I felt like some prince that was going to wake up a sleeping princess from this atmosphere and it send butterflies to my stomach.
For god’s sake, mother nature, they were beasts that we humans killed for some monetary gain!
Showing such a sight to me was nothing less than a torcher!
With tear-filled eyes, I put the small, white, starry, shining liquid on the squirrel.
Well, it healed and increased the strength of one’s [Soul]. But, it wasn’t important to me right now.
I can get more of it now that I knew such a valuable thing grew on trees.
It was maybe wrong of me to think there was someone human like me here, but I wasn’t entirely wrong.
There was indeed someone like me here and more special than I thought.
This being was sick, and the reason was also the same as what Celes felt.
I was still far away from it, but Celes could faintly feel the [Soul Energy].
And right now, for the master squirrel, it was stabilizing and returning to normal, according to her.
We waited and the starry particles coming out of her body stopped and… it returned to normal.
The surrounding atmosphere also changed and became very approachable, calm, and happy.
With a slow tremble, she started opening her eyes.
They were purely light green, and they looked very happy to come back to their home. 𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
As this happened, all the beasts on the ground, along with the three besides me, started happily cheering up.
With tear-filled eyes, they bend down before their master.
I watched all of this as I was still sitting beside the squirrel.
With a warm smile on my face, I respectfully greeted the awaking squirrel.
“Rise and shine, lady Fern. Your family missed you so, get up~.”
With a warm smile and eyes that carried sadness, I looked as she fully woke up and set down.
Looking around her, she asked in a warm tone.
[ “Kyu?” ]