—Perfect, Isis escaped. Now what do we do?—Tea asked reluctantly, watching as the door drawn on the tree remained closed.

—Call your little pet back. I'm not leaving this forest without my axe. So, find a place to live in the nearby town or help me find my axe—The giant replied immediately.

*Tock, Tock*...With a grimace of discomfort on her face, Tea began to hit the tree, cursing her bad luck at being chosen for her first mission away from the castle with her drunken uncle. However, he had no choice, and given the order, he had to carry it out.

—I don't want to come out!—The girl on the other side shouted, still angry at the threat.

—But my uncle will really burn the forest if you don't come out...—Tea persuaded, pointing to a nearby tree with her hand. Immediately, a nearly one-meter fireball began to form in front of the redhead's hand. As this happened, Apolo looked at the size of the fireball in disbelief. This young man was almost his age, but his mastery of this spell was on a completely different level compared to his own. Without warning, the huge fireball shot out, causing the trees in its path to split in half. Immediately, the charred remains of the unfortunate trees began to spread the flames to nearby trees, causing a small fire.

—Damn it, you're going to alert all the villagers, you idiot!—The giant exclaimed grudgingly, watching the fire rapidly spreading. However, his actions contradicted his words since the giant did absolutely nothing to prevent the fire from continuing to spread through the forest. Instead, he waited for the hidden creature to come out of the tree where it was hiding.

—I feel the trees crying. What the hell did you do, Tea?!—The girl said as she emerged from her hiding place in a hurry, showing in her expression that she was genuinely concerned about what had just happened. Upon emerging, Isis ignored the red-haired teenager and the giant, who were looking at her with silly smiles on their faces, and watched in horror as the forest fire was getting out of hand, and more and more trees fell victim to the curse of the flames—No...

—Yes, of course. Where's my axe, little pet?—The giant asked with a sadistic smile on his face, completely ignoring the disaster his nephew had just caused.

—How could you do this, Tea?! You swore you would always protect the forest! Why are you betraying your words now?—The girl shouted as she slowly descended to the ground, shedding more tears from her eyes. It seemed that the more the creature cried, the less it could fly. Until finally, Isis touched the ground and burst into heart-wrenching tears.

—I swore to protect the Black Forest and only that forest. We're not in the Black Forest; we're in enemy territory, so I'm not breaking my contract—Tea replied coldly.

—No, we're in neutral or gray territory, which is influenced by the castle we've been besieging for five years. Speak with proper terms, brat! Did my brother educate you poorly or did you get distracted from your lessons by learning cheap magic?—The giant said, giving Tea a slap on the back of the head, making his neck turn red. As ridiculous as it may seem, the giant Cristobal was more upset about his nephew's lack of vocabulary than the increasingly out-of-control fire that the redhead had caused.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Tea held his neck in pain but refrained from uttering a single complaint in response to his uncle's scolding. Instead, the teenager bent down, picked up the crying little girl from the ground, and placed her in the palm of his hand, while comforting her:

—Come on, Isis, we need the axe so we can get back home quickly. I don't like this mission either, but I have no choice: it's either this or exile.

—For now, you don't like it, but later, you will: war is more fun when there are enemies and something to fight for...—Murmured Cristobal with concern, not so pleased to see and hear the expression and weary tone of his nephew when he said those words.

However, the girl continued to cry, ignoring the manipulative comfort of the young redhead. It seemed that Isis didn't want to talk and just watched in desperation as more and more trees in the forest began to catch fire.

—Do you want me to put out the fire, little pet?—The giant asked in a calmer tone than usual, pointing with his hand to the trees catching fire nearby.

Wiping the tears from her eyes with her little hands, the girl nodded her head, as if indicating to the giant to please do it.

—Then tell me where my axe is, and I'll do it. Without my axe, I can't put out the fire, so I'm afraid many trees will have to die until the fire goes out on its own—Cristobal added slowly while smiling falsely at the little creature.

Without replying, the girl jumped out of Tea's hands in an attempt to indicate the direction. Despite her intentions, Isis went into a nosedive, causing Tea to throw himself to the ground to catch the girl just before she crashed into the earth. Immediately, the redhead stood up and dispiritedly said:

—You can't fly when you're sad, Isis. Point with your hands in the direction the trees tell you, and my uncle will save your little friends.

The girl pointed with her little hand in a direction in the middle of the flames, causing the giant to run towards that spot, ignoring the fire. While this was happening, Apolo exited from Cristobal's body to see what his descendant would do next, who would probably be in more danger if the fire got out of control. In a hurry, Apolo ran and entered Tea's body, avoiding missing any conversation the redhead might have with the tiny girl.

—Go back to your hiding place and get out of this dangerous forest—Tea insisted as he took the little girl into the seemingly bottomless hole in the middle of the tree. The fire had not reached this area yet, but it wouldn't be long before it did, and the redhead wanted to make sure the creature escaped the flames.

—But the trees are crying, we have to protect them!—Isis cried out as she was pushed by the young redhead to enter the hiding place.

—My uncle will take care of that. You go away and trust that everything will be fine...—Tea replied, closing the door. Immediately, the young man ran out and hid among some nearby bushes to watch the wooden door. It seemed that the redhead wanted to see if the girl would really leave or not. For a few minutes, Apolo observed with boredom as his descendant stared at the tree where the creature had hidden. It seemed that Tea was patient or crazy enough not to care too much about the forest continuing to catch fire around him.

The young man patiently watched until the wooden door in the tree bark disappeared. It was then that the redhead finally stopped worrying about the creature and ran toward the direction where his uncle had gone, venturing into the flames and making Apolo nervous. Inside Tea, Apolo worriedly thought that this was his first adventure as an ancestor, and he didn't want his descendant to die so foolishly due to his lack of care.