Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.
Chapter 445. Liu Shu’s Presence In The Country.

Liu Shu continued her exploration with her tipsy mind. She was going to be Tiering Up for a while, so her current state was not something that could easily come and go like alcohol. ‘Friendsss~, where are friendss?’

Ignatia’s words sparked that desire and hope, so she went through people’s houses, one by one, trying to find someone who might want to be her friend. She also paid attention to everyone talking to her or saying her name throughout her domain. 

Nevertheless, the words she listened to were not those of someone who wanted to be her friend. 

Many people called from hospitals and other places where they wished for things outside of their control to go well.

In the hospital, a doctor approached a waiting family and sighed. “I am sorry, but your grandpa passed away. I hope he can return to nature through Lady Liu Shu’s roots.”

A man was rubbing his thighs while sitting, his forehead perspiring with worry. “Lady Liu Shu, please bless my wife! She is about to give birth, and I want our child to be born healthy.”

A woman was grabbing a man’s hand as she muttered with a sigh. “Lady Liu Shu, please let my husband recover from his illness…”

Then, there were other people who spoke her name in an attempt to calm their nerves before doing important things. 

A woman wearing a formal set of clothes stood before a door, rubbing her hands. The clothes she wore were a beautiful white and green tunic. “I am nervous… Ah, Lady World Tree, please grant me the courage to tackle my job interview with a steady heart!”

An adolescent girl was nervously looking at the door of her parents’ room, her face complicated as she rubbed her slightly swollen stomach. “Oh, Lady World Tree, I hope my parents can understand that we are serious about it and it is not just a fling…”

A man was walking through the forest, wearing a set of armor and weapons. His face was filled with worry and determination. “Lady World Tree, bless this little one so that he can find his lost daughter.” 

Meanwhile, others just spoke casually about her or used her name in various, more common situations. 

A young boy was leaning back on his chair, looking at the ceiling while spinning the writing feather between his fingers. “Tomorrow I have a test about World Tree behavior… How were these books written, anyway? Isn’t talking with a World Tree a taboo or something?”

A young man was raising his arms while frowning at the person screaming in front of him. “I swear on Lady Liu Shu’s name that I didn’t cheat on you! Can you stop screaming like a hysterical shrew!?”

A blacksmith messed up his sword and cursed lightly. “Shit! On Lady Liu Shu’s name, I will create this weapon! You can’t stop me with one or two failures!”

The numerous people calling her name flowed through her roots, and even when she was groggy, she listened quietly to everyone’s calls. ‘Woah… When did people start using my name in this manner?’

She was mildly curious as to why some people used her name as someone who could control their fate. ‘Is having a source of faith a thing that can motivate living creatures?’ 

Such a thing seemed to be a shared trait among the myriad intelligent races living inside her domain. Be it at the north or south of her domain, places that had been separated for centuries or even longer, people had a tendency to rely on beings they considered all-powerful.  

“... How can there be a person who treats me as a friend, then?” Liu Shu pouted, feeling that Ignatia had deceived her. Suddenly, though, she heard the soft voice of a child calling her name, a rarity since a child’s mind had usually not developed enough for “faith” to be born in a genuine manner.

“Let’s play again, Liu Shu!”

Her “gaze” moved to that area, curious. ‘Again?’

Once she reached the area, Liu Shu saw a small and adorable black catkin girl walking around a place where her roots stuck out from the ground. The small girl approached one of her large and thick roots, and Liu Shu noticed a small excavated gap below it. Then, the little girl crawled inside. 

“Hep! Ugh… I am growing, and this place is getting tighter… Liu Shu, you need to treat your friends better!” 

Liu Shu paused and gently used her abilities to widen the small cave below her roots. If she were sober, she might’ve dismissed the child as an innocent and ignorant little one. However, with her current “friend searching” mindset, Liu Shu intervened. 

The child looked at the ground around her, which moved magically, and her gorgeous emerald cat eyes glittered. “Oh! You are listening to me again, Liu Shu? I thought you were angry, like Mommy and Daddy said! Hehehe, that’s great! Let’s play together.”

Liu Shu was about to talk, but she stopped herself. A strange peacefulness enveloped her dizzy mind, allowing her thoughts to focus on this point and reduce her tipsiness to a bearable amount. ‘This child… She is just an innocent little one. I guess I can play with her for a bit? But why does she think I’ve played with her in the past?’

That was a mystery that our World Tree couldn’t decipher. Nevertheless, she didn’t linger on that too much.

The young catkin’s ears twitched as she picked up a few rocks in the cave. Then, not caring about the dust and dirt staining her clothes, she began playing with the stones. “This is you, Liu Shu! And this is me!” Then, she moved both stones as if they were walking. “Now, we are going to school together! Pat, pat, pat!”

Liu Shu looked at her playing with a faint smile. She wondered how old this catkin was. ‘She looks around six to seven years old… What is she doing here? Aren’t her parents worried?’

While “herself” and the “Catkin” walked to school with the child’s sound effects, Liu Shu searched the surroundings for her parents. It wasn’t hard to encounter a mature catkin and her human partner in a common, non-tree-house not too far away. Those two had the energy signature of the catkin around them, after all.

“Hey, have you seen Tanya?” The man asked carelessly as he wore a set of expensive robes.

The woman, leaning over the counter and putting on makeup, spoke leisurely. “Who knows? She is not a little kitten anymore; she can take care of herself.”

The man hummed. “Well, you are not wrong. Crimes against children have basically stopped altogether since we fell under the Golden Sap City’s governance.” The man looked at his wife and commented. “Still, she needs to be back by dinner time. So, if she doesn’t appear by then, make sure to get her.”

The female catkin snorted as if she were annoyed. “Whatever.”

Liu Shu glanced at the surroundings and noticed that they were living in a town not too far away from the <Witch Of The End Dungeon>. This town had become extremely prosperous during recent years thanks to the large influx of people coming from afar to participate in the <Dungeon>. 

“We’ve arrived!”

Hearing her cue, our World Tree refocused on Tanya’s little cave under her root. The catkin was satisfied with the “journey” her stones realized. “Liu Shu, you are a little fairy now instead of a big tree, so you need to be careful! There are many bullies in school!”

The World Tree chuckled at her antics. While looking, an idea popped up in her tipsy mind. Tanya, who was about to move the rocks to a “classroom” made out of fallen branches, saw a root pop up from the ground, forcing a small scream out of her. “Ah!”

The root flinched for a moment, its glowing blue veins illuminating the somewhat dark cave beautifully. Seeing those familiar blue energy veins, little Tanya’s wary expression relaxed. “... Liu Shu?”

The root stayed still for a moment, as if hesitating. Eventually, it moved and coiled around the stone Tanya had dropped. Then, it began “walking” around like Tanya had done before. The clever little catkin smiled widely. “Hehe. You’ve come to play in person? Hahaha. Let’s go to the classroom, then! Follow me, Liu Shu!”

Liu Shu’s roots extended as she moved the rock and followed behind Tanya’s hand, which held her own stone. Tanya's tail wagged when she saw Liu Shu following her lead. A giggle escaped her. “Remember to be careful! The bullies are super strong!”

While she was curious as to why Tanya was so obsessed with these “bullies,” our World Tree just followed along. Once they arrived at the class, Tanya spoke a bit about receiving classes. Then, she made some sound as if time was passing. 

“Great! We’ve learned lots today, too! I am sure Mommy and Daddy will praise me lots at home.” 

‘Is she an unwanted child? But her parents seem like affluent people. She should have enough toys and a playground at home to not feel tempted to come outside…’ 

While curious about this child’s background, she didn’t probe around. Right now, she just wanted to play as “Liu Shu” in Tanya’s mind. 

“Now, Liu Shu.” Tanya’s face became super serious, making Liu Shu smirk in her head. ‘What now?’

“It is time to eat.” 

The serious tone when saying those words made even her main face on the World Tree body gain a faint smirk. ‘Is eating so scary? Why are you so serious? Hahaha.’

Tanya moved her stone toward what Liu Shu could only guess was the Dining Hall. Tanya set down her stone, and Liu Shu did the same. “Now…” Tanya looked at the table as if it were her enemy number one. “It’s time to eat vegetables.”

Liu Shu burst into laughter inside her Avatar room. Thankfully, she was alone since Tempestria took Dewna and Eluan with her. Otherwise, her loud burst of laughter might’ve startled both children. 

Thinking about it, Liu Shu moved her roots and grabbed the small pebbles that Tanya was using to simulate the food. “Huh?” Tanya’s big cat eyes widened. “Are you going to eat all the vegetables? Wow! You are so grown up! As expected of my friend!”

Liu Shu looked around the small cave and saw a reddish-brown stone. Then, she brought it with another root and placed it in front of Tanya. Tanya blinked. “Woah! A second Liu Shu!” 

Still, the second root quickly returned to the ground, so Tanya didn’t linger on that. Instead, she saw the rather large pebble, and she frowned. “So… Did you take the small vegetables to give me the biggest one?” Her face was on the verge of tears, full of betrayal. “I didn’t expect this from you, Liu Shu…” 

Liu Shu almost rolled off her bed from the laughter. Still, she tried to explain while waving her root left and right. Seeing the negative, Tanya blinked her large, teary cat eyes. “Not vegetables?”

‘Not vegetables.’ 

Tanya thought and clapped. “Ah! So this is delicious meat!”

Liu Shu waved her root up and down, and Tanya’s eyes glittered with happiness. “Yeah! Meat! It has been two weeks since I ate meat!”

This comment made the laughter on our World Tree pause. Unlike normal cats, catkin didn't need to eat meat regularly. However, it was much more nutritious for them than any other type of food. While some fruits, etc., simulated meat, they couldn’t copy the proteins and other unique nutritional values that meat had. 

‘Hm… I won’t intervene much for now. Perhaps there is a reason behind it?’ However, thinking back on how her parents reacted to her “disappearance,” there were some doubts in Liu Shu’s mind. ‘Even if it is a common occurrence, they should at least check if Tanya has gone playing at her usual site, no?’