Chapter 16: Welcome

We kept walking for about half an hour.

The tree's foliage became denser until it became hard to see the light anymore, but this didn’t seem to hinder the Queen who was leading us.

Her beautiful figure moved gracefully in a straight line as if the trees themselves deviated from her path.

After an entire week in this forest, I knew it wasn’t something natural.

However, I didn’t ask her anything as it didn’t interest me enough to interrogate her.

As a result, I followed her quietly until she abruptly stopped.

I almost ran into her but stopped at the last second.

I breathed a sigh of relief because I was sure it wouldn’t be nice to see if I touched their Queen.

I looked ahead to see why she stopped and couldn’t help but gasp in surprise.

We were in front of the biggest trees I had ever seen. There were dozens of different kinds of giant trees aligned together forming a giant natural barrier with their tangled branches. There were also several different kinds of plants with thorns under the trees.

It wasn’t possible to continue in this direction.

The forest itself seemed to forbid this to us.

“So where are we heading now?” I asked her not understanding why she didn’t move.

There was no point staying here as the trees wouldn't move to let us through.

“We wait.”

“Wait for what?”

“For the forest to answer my call”

I didn’t understand, but as if to explain what she was saying, the branches began to move.

At first, I thought it was the wind, but after a few seconds, I clearly saw the enormous branches slowly spreading.

“What the…”

This time I couldn’t hide my surprise.

The ancient trees were moving.

It wasn’t fluid, but they were moving nonetheless.

“These trees are alive?!?”

“Of course. Did you think trees are merely objects?”

“No but… I didn’t know trees could move.”

“Every single plant is alive. Humans can’t sense or understand it. That’s why they aren't allowed near our forests. Elves are the guardians of those frail lives.”

“I see. I never saw anything like that before.”

Since my reincarnation in this world, I discovered several things. I learned magic and saw several unknown creatures, but none of them made me feel like this. While I was watching the trees moving, I felt that I was really in another world where different rules existed.

I couldn’t help but smile in front of the breathtaking view of this giant cocoon opening in front of us.

The Queen also smiled seeing my reaction.

“You don’t seem to be insensitive.”

“Who could stay impassive in front of something like this?”

She smiled wryly and answered with a sad voice.

“You would be surprised.”

While we were talking, the trees continued to move in rhythm. After a few minutes, the barrier of trees was gone. Instead, there was a path made of grass large enough to allow four people to walk side by side.

We walked together following the Queen.

“Welcome to Numelil, the city of the Great Forest of the West!”

My eyes widened in front of the view.

Only one word came to my mind at this moment.

Beautiful.

There were hundreds of trees with different shapes and even colors. Some were small while others were dozens of feet high. Several bridges connected the largest trees together forming an impressive view. There were also small lights around the bridges like fireflies moving along the wind.

I turned my head left and right to try to see everything and noticed a small river running along the green scenery with several small cascades along the way. The sound of the water falling was regular and incredibly soothing. The sun's rays reflecting off the surface of the water gave it a surrealist appearance. It was just as if another world was waiting for us beyond the water’s surface.

Suddenly, a chuckle near me brought me out of my silent contemplation.

I turned my head and saw the radiant smile of the Queen.

I felt my head becoming hotter.

She was truly beautiful, even with the damn hamster on her shoulder.

“Do you want me to show you around?”

I thought she was making fun of me, so I didn’t answer immediately, but in front of her gentle gaze, I understood that she was serious.

“I would love it.”

I temporarily put away my worries and expressed this sincere wish.

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I really wanted to see as much as I could while it was possible.

The last few years weren’t easy much least the last weeks. Therefore, this view coming out from a fairy tale was like a breath of fresh air.

The Queen smiled once more before leading the way.

There wasn’t any path or stone road. There was only bright green grass.

We walked half an hour inside the city.

Each tree I saw along the way seemed completely different from the one right next to it.

My head was filled with questions. I’ve held out at first, but I could not hold back my curiosity when I saw a huge cushion of grass suddenly forming to catch young elves who jumped off one of the largest bridges connecting two giant trees.  

“What is this? How is this possible?” I asked with a shocked voice.

The Queen turned her lovely head to look at my face once more. She had a small smile on her lips. She seemed to enjoy my childishness and my delight.

“What are you talking about?”

“The kids! They jumped and landed on the grass without any problem.”

“It’s normal. The forest is protecting them."

"The forest protects them? What do you mean by that?"

She waited a few seconds before asking.

"Do you know what symbiosis means?”

I didn’t understand the word she told me. I never heard this word once since coming to this world.

“I don’t know.”

I knew I looked like a child with my innocent answer, but there was nothing I could do about it.

“Look around you. What did we build here?”

I looked around carefully and finally answered.

“The bridges!”

Her smile became larger.

“Look closer.”

I glanced at the closest bridge.

I tilted my head, not understanding.

After several seconds of pondering, I noticed that I couldn’t see the boards.

I continued to look and saw that the ropes weren’t ropes, but creepers or small branches tangled together.

This bridge wasn’t made by the elves.

They were the continuation of the trees themselves.

I looked around me one more time, but I couldn’t find anything made by the elves.

I finally looked at the Queen and answered her previous question.

“You didn’t build anything here.”

“Correct. The forest allows us to live here and create everything to protect us. In return, we protect the forest and give her the magic she needs to live. This is a symbiosis relation. We help each other to be able to live together.”

I finally understood what she meant. I also remembered what I learned a few years ago. Elves are terrible with fire magic. I finally understood why. They are the protectors of the forest. It was not possible for them to be really comfortable near a fire.

I thought about the Elven's magic and if I could also use it to communicate with the trees when a question suddenly crossed my mind.

‘Why are there only four primordial magic?’ 

It was a stupid question.

I never heard anyone asking something like this.

For everyone, this was one of the laws of this world.

However, I was from another world.

A world where magic doesn’t exist. A world where humans could only imagine magic. It was weird I never ask this question. However, I was sure that even if I asked the only answer would have been that it was natural just like the sun rising every day.

“Is something wrong?”

The voice of the Queen brought me back from my thoughts.

“No, everything is alright. It’s just that I finally understand that I don’t know anything about this world.”

She smiled once more.

"Time will let you know if you continue to look for the answers."

I nodded at her words.

We continued to walk through the city, but after a couple of minutes, Hirillë abruptly stopped.

She turned her head toward me with a serious face.

"We're close now. Are you ready to meet our ancestor?"

"I am."

I answered without hesitation. I knew that I didn't have any choice and already agreed to meet him. I also knew that I didn't do anything wrong except killing a few small animals to survive this last week. If they really called me evil because of that, then it would truly be an injustice.

"Then, let's go Sillath"

“Yes, Hirillë!”

I used her name without thinking after hearing numerous elves along the way calling her that way. I quickly realized my mistake, but she didn’t seem to care.

I was walking side by side with this Queen from another world with a dozen elves behind us.

Life was really strange.

In this paradise, it was hard to remember what I experienced just a week ago.

The wind blew in my direction, making my hair move in rhythm. The smell brought by the wind wasn't the smell of death or despair.

It was the smell of a newfound hope.

The hope that this world would bring me something else than misery.