Chapter 203. Delegation Reaction. Ignatia's Conundrum.

Liu Shu looked at the people leaving and kept a metaphorical eye on them. She wanted to see if they would be silly enough to talk about anything interesting before leaving her domain. 

While they were leaving, they were all silent during the road, their arms crossed and thoughtful. Naturally, they understood that a World Tree could listen long distances. Therefore, they restrained themselves from saying anything until they were far away. Or at least, far away enough that they thought they were safe. 

"How far away are we now?"

The carriage driver spoke. "We are about to leave the forest grounds." 

Once they left, the person in the carriage looked from the back window at the large forest wall and complained. "We are finally out of that place…" Then, he hit the side of the carriage with a loud boom. "That was the most humiliating moment of my life! How dare that monster order me around!?"

It wasn't only him; most delegation members had always been treated with respect. Therefore, this visit had been quite a loud slap to their usually arrogant faces. The driver asked. "My Lord, will you tell the master back home everything that the Rose Fairy said?"

"Ha!" The man snorted. "The reason that the saying 'Don't curse the leaf for the winds it carries' exists is because I now have total control over what my master will hear. Since they treated me as such, then war is what they will get. Moreover, that one foxkin they killed? They will regret it. That foxkin was part of <Celestial Cherry Blossom Sect>. They are not kind to those who harm their people. They are excellent merchants, but beyond that, they are a powerful force linked with one of the behemoths, the <Celestial Lotus Empire>." 

The driver asked, confused. "But, My Lord, aren't we in the <Azure Rose Confederation>'s territory? I think Fortuna City will have a higher say, right?"

"Heh. I wouldn't be so sure. When fighting for a new World Tree, lines become blurry. That's why there are so many spots conquered by other superpowers in all territories."

Many of the envoys reacted similarly, and Liu Shu heard it all. The reason was simple, really. After reaching Level 20, her roots could expand exaggeratedly. From the previous 3,000 meters, now they could reach 10,000. From Liu Shu to the furthest edge of the Golden Sap Forest, there were no more than 5,000 meters!

'Hm… I see. So that's what happens when you react strongly. Selfishness is really dangerous. Just because his feelings were hurt, he is now going to lie to the person he swore loyalty and send many more people to war. How many people will die because of this selfish action of not telling the truth? How many bloodlines will be cut? How many families will be broken? All because they didn't like how they were treated…'

The World Tree couldn't help but marvel at the narrow-mindedness of the intelligent races. She was even confused as to how they had managed to become so dominant in the first place. How could these mostly selfish beings develop so far and wide, dominating so many places and beings? Collapsing from the inside felt like a matter of course. 'How about the Sylvans?'

There were four Sylvans in the delegation of 24 people, so she was curious about their reaction. One of them spoke with an upset tone. "Those beast descendants, they couldn't keep their mouths shut for a few seconds!? Now that gorgeous World Tree is angry at us!"

The driver of her carriage coughed. "My Lady, I am sure the World Tree could notice how you were silent and respectful the whole time."

The Sylvan sighed. "I really hope so, but… ARGH!" The Sylvan used her hands to mess up her hair. "I could've talked with a World Tree if the freaking animals were silent! I want to kill them myself slowly!"

Liu Shu was surprised and looked at the other Sylvans. 

"... AND EVEN BETTER! SHE HAS A FREAKING GIANT WINGED SNAKE AS A DRESS!? THAT IS SO COOL! OH, BRANCHES ABOVE! I AM CRYING BECAUSE OF HOW GORGEOUS SHE IS! THE PRETTIEST WORLD TREE IN THE WORLD!"

Liu Shu was baffled because the Sylvan was indeed crying because of emotions. 'Hm. Let's ignore that one. What about the last two?'

"That green-haired woman is from the Liferoot family, right? What does she have to do with Lady Verena?"

The driver spoke. "If I am not wrong, that Sylvan is Lady Verena's daughter."

"WHAT!?" The Sylvan stomped the carriage floor, almost breaking it. "Those stupid animals that think with their assholes! I was going to meet Lady Verena's daughter and it all got ruined because of that!? AH! I WANT TO KILL SOME OF THEM! TURN AROUND! TURN AROUND AT THIS EXACT INSTANT!"

The driver coughed. "I can't do that, my lady."

"AHHH! KILL THEM ALLLLLL!"

Liu Shu didn't know what to think anymore, so she looked at the last Sylvan. 'Oh… this one is calm! She is even sipping… something from a cup!'

Liu Shu heard the driver clear his throat and ask. "Um. My Lady, why are you so silent?"

"Hm?" The Sylvan blinked and sighed. "I was reminiscing about that World Tree's aura, ah. Hm. This is bad; I might be wet."

Liu Shu decided to stop listening and ignore everyone else. 'I see… Not a single Sylvan is ordinary. Anyway, where was I? Ah, right. So, my <Enchanted Growth> aura reaches everywhere, even outside the forest. This is accelerating the flora that had been without influence from anything and…'

While Liu Shu distracted herself from the conversations, Flor flopped on the little chair she had for her petite body. It had Liu Shu's leaves as cushions, making it very comfy to lean on. "Ah… I messed up."

Cinderielle picked a Rose-Fairy-sized cup and placed it in front of Flor with two of her fingers. Then, she cautiously poured herself a tea made from Liu Shu's leaves. "Don't be so harsh on yourself, Flor. It went as it should've gone." 

The depressed Rose Fairy Queen snorted. "We are probably going to war…"

Tempestria smirked. "Isn't that good? We are going to level up lots!"

Flor almost became a puddle as she sunk deeper into the chair. "I will need to work so hard…"

Verdantia sent a soft life aura Flor's way, creating a pleasant sensation around the Rose Fairy. "We can take on most of the task, don't worry."

Flor sighed again. "My time with Ignatia will get shortened again…"

Two hands came from behind Flor's chair and lifted the limp Rose Fairy as if she were a doll. Flor didn't resist, and soon, her body squished between two giant marshmallows. "There, there. I can come often to visit you. Okay?"

Flor sunk into Ignatia's chest and sighed comfortably. "What if Wert comes?"

Ignatia laughed. "Then, I'll say hi to Wert~. Now that he knows about Liu Shu, I can just show him my title, and he will at least trust me somewhat."

Flor snorted. "Whatever. I wanna sleep…"

Ignatia patted Flor's back while chuckling softly. "Sure, sure."

The Three Sylvans looked at Flor and Ignatia, their lips twitching. 'Ignatia has completely tamed Flor.'

Ignatia looked at them with her insectoid compound eyes and smiled. "Do you have anything to say?"

The three Sylvans felt a chill going up their spines, and they all answered swiftly. 

Cinderielle answered first. "H-How could that be!? You and Flor make such a cute pair."

Tempestria nodded twice. "Right? I am envious."

Verdantia coughed. "Do you want a cup of tea, Ignatia?"

Ignatia's lips arched, and then she laughed. "Okay, okay. I am messing around. However, I was half serious about revealing myself to Wert. What do you three say? I am a bit lonely being down there all the time, and while I have a direct path into the Town Hall dug by my babies, moving around like that feels quite awful… I am in my baby's territory! I should be able to walk around without any problems!"

"Y-Your baby?" Cinderielle asked, baffled.

Ignatia nodded strongly. "Flor is Little Liu Shu's Mom. Flor is mine, so by default, Little Liu Shu is my baby! Right, dear?" 

"Hehehe~. Right, right~." Liu Shu's laughter spread in the room, making all of them smile. Tempestria asked. "Speaking of mothers, how is Tree doing, Liu Shu?"

"Great!" Liu Shu said. "I have been concentrating quite a lot of my aura toward her, so she has grown beautiful and strong! She even told me that she unlocked my previous skill, <Willow Strike>!"

The girls nodded. "That's nice. She is Level 14, right? So she will be able to defend herself from most things."

Liu Shu hummed. "She Leveled Up! She is now Level 16!"

Verdantia blinked. "Oh? What happened?"

Liu Shu explained. "A few silly humans and beastkin stopped by the lake saw how pretty Tree Mom was, and tried to approach to get her wood! Hehe, they all got smacked to death! I didn't even need to help her other than using all my buffing auras on her! Tree Mom did everything!"

The girls' lips twitched. 'I think that increasing the stats by 40% is not nothing, but well.'

Ignatia coughed. "So, back to my question. Should I reveal myself to Wert? He seems quite a nice human. I even saw him saving one of my babies twice!"

"Oh? He saved an ant?"

Ignatia nodded. "Twice! They were doing their usual work and one person tried to attack them for some reason. Wert was around and he smacked the people who did that. That's quite nice."

The Sylvans thought. 'He was probably more afraid of triggering a chain reaction and feared that the ants would go crazy if one of them got killed, but well.'

Verdantia hummed. "How about you go and present yourself to him? What Level are you, Ignatia?"

Ignatia sighed. "I am quite slow, to be honest. I am only Level 23. By my current age, other Ant Queens would be Level 30 or so…" 

The Sylvans looked at the Ant Queen with wide eyes. 'Level 23!?'

They have been practicing tirelessly for the last year and eating Liu Shu's berries daily, reaching Level 18 not too long ago, and yet, the Ant Queen here was Level 23 already.

Flor answered languidly. "They were Level 30 because they were fighting the entire world. Probably masses and masses of people constantly attacking their colonies. You are Level 23 without ever going to a proper war with anyone."

Ignatia laughed and lifted Flor, raining kisses on her face. "You are so cute!" Then, she squeezed her back between her breasts.

The Sylvans' lips twitched. However, when they imagined themselves being squeezed between Liu Shu's breasts in the same way, their body started heating up. Almost simultaneously, the three of them stood up and coughed. 

Cinderielle commented. "I need to go to my room. I forgot something there. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Verdantia nodded. "I have to go back and water a few of my plants. I'll be back in a few minutes as well."

Tempestria smiled. "Well, same."

Then, they left, leaving a baffled Ignatia behind. "Huh? Since when did Little Tempestria have plants?"

Flor snorted. "Who cares… Pamper me moreee."

Ignatia nodded. "Right, who cares? Let's pamper my pretty fairy more~."

Meanwhile, Liu Shu started something. 'Time to tier up some skills!'