Davey sat comfortably next to the hammock where they had placed the unconscious Emilia. After catching his breath, he closed his eyes and said, Rinne, mobilize all of the fleet captains of the Decepticon Fleet. Block and surround the entire area for the time being.

Davey, you suffered a considerable amount of mental shock, huh?

I did something stupid and I paid for it dearly. Please.

Rinne is also very efficient at escort missions. Rinne evaluates this highly, Rinne said.

Rinne blinked slowly, her eyes turning a sparkling blue. Then, she spoke with a mysterious voice.

[Rinne is giving her successors, the Decepticon Fleet, her orders. Operation Net commence.]

Vwiiiiiing!!!

Clack!!!

Upon Rinnes command, cubes floated out of her coat, transforming into golems.

Davey had gotten himself out of Emilias Charm after much difficulty. For the time being, he needed some protection.

Its not that the World Tree doesnt have eyes. She must have known that this girl has such power What is she trying to do?

However, the person who usually expressed her opinions in whispers remained silent.

Perserque.

Davey called out to Perserque while circulating his mana. However, he was only greeted by silence.

The uncomfortable silence remained for a long time until

Sowing discord[1]

When a small voice rang in his ears, Davey flinched. He turned to look behind him only to see a pair of horns sticking out from behind a tree. Moments later, Perserque was no longer watching him and had disappeared.

Sowing discord, huh Davey muttered. He thought about the direction where the World Tree was headed, then guessed that she was heading toward the Eastern Continent.

Right.

After pondering for a moment, Davey realized that the nation in the middle of the World Trees chosen path was the continents largest and most powerful nation. It was the nation of swords, the Pallan Empire.

The Pallan Empire had overwhelming power. It appeared that the bastard World Tree knew of Emilias Charm and had intended to use her to wheedle the Pallan Empire and bring them to her side.

Shwaaaaaaaaaa

As the energy running rampant all over his body immediately cooled down, Davey muttered to himself, Even if this elf does not want to communicate with me, it seems like shes still offering her tribute to me, huh? Shes not an onion, but I discover more things with each layer I peel off.

Emilias Charm would turn the tides in their favor and would help the others view them in a positive note. However, the Pallan Empire did not have any reason to be antagonistic towards Davey. Besides, no human would be careless and complacent enough to just hate Davey without proper justification.

Simply put, the World Tree Yggdrasil wanted to make full use of Emilias Charm to conquer the entire Pallan Empire. By then, small political problems wouldnt matter, because she would already have half of the empire in her hands.

However, the use of such a method had poor consequences. The humans, especially the high-ranking nobles and members of the Imperial Family, would be incapable of leaving Emilia alone upon completely falling for her Charm.

Davey chuckled darkly when he realized that the World Tree was intending to sacrifice an elf, a child who she valued so dearly. He then asked Perserque, How high is the probability of this happening?

Perserques small voice rang out from behind the tree.

A A hundred percent.

Thats right

The strange tension between him and Perserque was making Davey dizzy. This had never happened before. When Davey and Perserque first met, they had been wary and hostile to each other. After that, through spending more time together and exchanging opinions, they had grown close. So, how did they come to this point?

But she couldnt have planned to send a time bomb like this girl all by herself, right?

In fact, Emilia herself appeared to be unaware of the Charm hidden inside of her. And if she failed to control this power, she herself would be waiting for a disaster to happen. The power affected all races, not distinguishing between humans, animals, and monsters, so Emilia was a literal time bomb.

Theres a high chance that she has an accomplice

Come out. Come out, then talk. I cant hear you from over there, Davey said.

However, Perserque still did not come out from behind the tree. In the end, Davey could only break the tree that she was hiding behind with a wave of his hand.

It was an unrefined act that deserved some criticism, but Davey couldnt do any more than that. It was already a miracle that he could talk while in the middle of a meditation and qi regulation. He couldnt really move any of his muscles, so what more could he do in this state?

Ack! Ah

Perserque, who was covering her face in shame, uttered an embarrassed cry from behind the now-broken tree.

Davey squinted at her.

Lets Lets talk later, Davey.

The strange tension remained between them. Thinking that it was difficult to persuade Perserque any further, Davey gave up for now.

Ugh Emilia grabbed her sore neck and groaned. She had just regained her consciousness.

Whe Where? Ha?! Emilia groaned as she slowly sat up straight. When she noticed that Davey was sitting right in front of her, her eyes widened and she instinctively moved away from him.

Aaaack!

However, when someone recklessly shifted their center of gravity while sitting in a hammock

Kyaaaaaaack!

Well, Emilia had simply turned into the epitome of a kimbap. Looking at how she had done that to herself, Davey thought that she was a bit stupid.

Emilia looked immature and child-like, but that did nothing to change the fact that her Charm could bring about no good. If it could even affect Davey, who had transcended the human realm, then it would only bring about a huge disaster to the general public.

Rinne, Davey called out softly.

The leaves of a nearby tree rustled as the silver-haired girl gently landed on the floor. With a laser sword appearing from the back of her arm, she easily cut a string of the hammock that was tied to a tree.

Kyaaaaack! Emilia screamed.

She fell to the ground. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she struggled to break free from the hammock that was tangled all around her. This was entirely her fault, but she still glared at Davey with a pout on her lips.

It seemed like Emilia was fearless despite being a hostage whose life and death was dependent on her actions.

A country-toppling beauty

To call Emilia a country-toppling beauty was to insult the true great beauties of the world. However, it was true that her Charm was enough to cause a nations downfall. As long as the elven woman decided to release her Charm, she would be able to engulf a battlefield and perhaps even the entire continent.

What would happen if she appeared and released this power in front of the most influential figures from an empire or two? Even if she did not do anything, all of the people who were subjected to her powers would grow excited and fascinated by her. In the end, chaos would ensue as they tried to get rid of their competitors.

If that was the case, then what should Davey do?

Dont kill her, Davey

At that moment, Perserques head popped out from the base of the broken tree.

Shes unstable. The World Tree would not let you go if that girl experienced a huge problem. Im sure of it

Davey just nodded at Perserques sudden input.

Emilia, at worst, was the previous Divine Trees Saintess. If so, she would have a lot of memories and information about the most sacred place in the Divine Tree. What would happen if something went wrong with Emilia, then?

Davey looked at it from the World Trees perspective. If he was the World Tree, who had chosen to sacrifice Emilia, then He would have planted a huge bomb within Emilias Charm. That way, if anything went wrong with Emilia, everything would simply be blown into smithereens. The World Tree would then be able to protect the elves high self-esteem and ego while keeping their information safe and inflicting huge damage on the humans.

Davey hadnt checked that carefully because he had been hit by the sudden flash of Charm. However, Perserque was aware of Charm being a trap, so she had dug deeper and had seen what was hidden behind it.

Country-toppling beauty? What does that mean?

It means exactly what it sounds like, someone who is beautiful enough to cause an entire nation to collapse.

Why did you mention that all of a sudden?

That is your situation right now.

Emilia frowned. Youre disgusting.

Disgusting? Me? Do you even have a conscience?

You kept on saying those words even before! What the hell is wrong with you?!

Stop shouting. Its making my head pound, Davey said as he slowly stood up from the ground. Then, he grabbed Emilia by the collar and slammed her against one of the trees.

Ugh?!

You dont even know your own body and what youre hiding deep inside. yet youre walking around carelessly and without any fear, huh?

What do you?

What did the World Tree tell you when she sent you to the Pallan Empire?

Making guesses and speculations was something else completely from finding out the actual truth. There was a high chance that Perserque was right, but Davey wanted to be cautious. He had already experienced getting stabbed in the back while unprepared.

Y You

Ah, its high time you found out where you are and who I am, right?

No way

Thats right. I am Davey ORowane, the one whos sharpening his blade to kill you and the World Tree.

Emilias eyes widened at Daveys words.

It seems like youre still completely unaware of the situation that youre in right now. The moment you show your tears in front of anyone, a war will break out and devour the continent.

What are you?

Charm. The power of Charm hidden inside of you has already gone beyond the normal limit and is still getting stronger by the day.

It was embarrassing enough to learn that she had been caught by the enemy camp, but what made her expression turn wrinkled and ugly was discovering that she hid a ridiculous power inside of her body. In the first place, she had not left the forest to make contact with Davey. She had left the forest to become a mediator.

Then, after being attacked out of the blue, she had woken up to the enemy staring right at her. Of course she would be flustered and embarrassed.

Davey let Emilia go. Then, he lightly placed the cup of tea that Yuria had made on the wooden table. He said, You are a hostage right now. And Im going to pull everything about World Tree Yggdrasil out of that head of yours.

In fact, Davey did not even need Emilia to tell him the truth. All Emilia needed to do was to say all that she knew as well as the things that she did not know, then Davey would do the decoding on his own and complete the puzzle.

Davey did feel a bit sorry for Emilia, but she was someone who the World Tree had willingly cast away. He was free to do what he wanted to her. However, Davey also knew the World Tree the best. He knew that Yggdrasil was not an easy opponent who would show mercy and let her enemies go away with only light injuries.

Do Do you think I would tell you those things, huh? Emilia stuttered. She wanted to appear proud and brave, but she was too fearful to even look Davey in the eyes.

Thats good. Thats how things should be. Thats right. This is how I get enough motivation to do things.

Then, lets talk peacefully over a cup of tea.

A mellow scent wafted in the air as hot water was being poured into a teacup.

What the hell are you

Ah, Im telling you this in advance but dont enjoy the tea too much, old lady. That lady? The leader of this forest? She has a strong penchant for a challenge

Emilia looked at Davey suspiciously. She didnt understand what he meant.

This tea is made out of crickets.

What did you say? Cri Crickets?! Emilia was appalled.

Davey nodded with a straight face. I will make you drink this tea from now on. But if you still dont feel like opening your mouth, then

I will make you drink tea made from expertly extracted mantis eyes which have been processed and cured for a very long time.

You Youre crazy!

Are you already scared by something like this? Just so you know, theres also tea made from sterilized and dried cockroach eggs.

No sane person would willingly try all of the tea that Davey had mentioned. In fact, Emilias face was turning pale from him just speaking about those disgusting teas.

Davey was listing all of the teas, as if reading from a breakfast menu.

Rinne, catch her.

Rinne has underestimated Daveys judgment. Rinne has analyzed the matter. There is a high probability of having serious stomach problems upon consumption.

Rinne, who always sang a song about gathering data for taste as she looked for food, could not help but show disgust when she saw Daveys unusually expressionless face.

Despite voicing her complaints, Rinne still moved to overpower the elf. She grabbed Emilias limbs and forced her to kneel.

Emilia, who knew the situation that she was in, struggled fiercely. Her face turned an ugly shade of blue.

You dont have to worry. I can guarantee that the tea has an amazing aroma and the flavor.

I Im telling you! So, stop it!!!

You wont tell me? Well, its alright. We have a lot of time, and no elf will come here to save you.

Kyaaaaaaack!

Davey did not know about the others, but he had a tough enough stomach to drink most of Yurias tea. That was why he could form an objective and unbiased opinion about it. And to be honest, the taste of the tea that Yuria made was better than what anyone thought.

1. - (, Fn jin j), the 33rd stratagem in the 36 stratagems mentioned in the Art of War. It is the act of undermining and forcing the enemies to compromise their attacks and defenses by sowing internal discord