Chapter 56: Why Are You Doing This to Me?

Awoooo

The howling of the wolf echoed through the air.

“Louis! Elena!!”

Lisa, with a bright smile on her face, waved her hand while riding on the back of a wolf.

And behind Lisa.

A considerable number of wolves were running after her.

For wild wolves, known for their ferocity, to be so docile.

Did she use her Magic Eyes?

If so, the situation made sense.

“You’re both safe!!”

Lisa quickly approached and embraced Elena.

The two hugged each other affectionately, enjoying the reunion.

And behind Lisa, the wolves that came with her wagged their tails, sitting on the ground.

They looked like tame puppies.

“So where were you two going?”

After exchanging greetings, the topic shifted to why we were on this hill.

“See that tree over there? We were heading there.”

“What’s there?”

“Last night, I saw a white beam of light there. I thought we might find something if we went there.”

Last night.

There was an unknown white pillar of light behind the faintly glowing World Tree.

Elena and I were heading there, thinking there might be something there.

Then we ran into Lisa.

Lisa looked up at where the World Tree stood after hearing my words.

Even in broad daylight, the pillar of light was clearly visible, and Lisa’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Are you talking about that…?”

And of course, I knew what that pillar of light was.

It was a landmark of sorts, intentionally created by Lumine, who sent us here, still emitting a bright light.

“What is that?”

“We don’t know either, but we think it might be related to why we’re here.”

“Is that so…?”

But I couldn’t tell them the whole truth, so I gave a vague answer.

“Then let’s go together!”

After a moment of contemplation, Lisa decided to join us.

We started walking towards the World Tree.

With Lisa joining us, the atmosphere became a little lighter.

Lisa, curious about everything, looked around here and there, seemingly enjoying the current situation.

She had been confined to a laboratory and subjected to various experiments since she was very young.

After that, she was asleep in a glass tube for almost 100 years, so she seemed to find the current situation intriguing.

Lisa ran around excitedly like a child.

Thanks to her, we were able to climb the steep hill in a much brighter mood.

As the World Tree, which had seemed distant, drew closer.

We took a short break, exhausted from climbing the high hill.

The wide-open view and clear sky.

Created a magnificent landscape.

The breathtakingly beautiful scenery seemed to wash away all the fatigue from our ordeal.

“They’ve already gone down that far.”

Looking down from the high hill, we saw a group running quickly somewhere.

The pack of wolves Lisa rode.

They started showing strange symptoms as they got closer to the World Tree.

Their eyes rolled back, and saliva dripped from their outstretched tongues.

Seeing them on the verge of going mad, I released the hypnosis on them.

I knew why they were showing such strange symptoms.

It was, of course, related to the World Tree.

The World Tree possessed immense power, almost like the source of all life energy.

We humans could withstand its energy to some extent because we possessed mana within our bodies.

But their minds, driven more by instinct than reason, refused to approach it.

Caught between the hypnosis controlling them and their instincts, they were on the verge of a mental breakdown.

As soon as I released the hypnosis, they ran away without looking back.

Lisa seemed a little sad to part with the wolves.

But she accepted the inevitable and quickly moved on.

Our sweet, short break ended.

And we resumed our journey.

As we approached the pillar of light that had seemed so distant.

“…What’s that?”

Something white was blocking our path in the distance.

And as we got closer, we could see what it was.

A pure white horse with a large horn on its head.

A Unicorn.

A mythical creature, considered a legendary animal, appeared before us.

We stopped, tense, at its mystical and unfamiliar appearance.

But regardless of us, it approached slowly with elegant steps.

Finally, the unicorn stopped in front of us.

It lowered its large body slightly and nudged its head against Elena.

“…???”

Elena, with a bewildered look at the unicorn’s sudden affectionate gesture, reached out and stroked its neck.

Snort

The unicorn snorted, seemingly enjoying Elena’s touch.

“Wow…. Wow…!”

Lisa watched in awe.

“C-Can I touch it too…?”

Snort

As if answering Lisa’s question, the unicorn nodded.

With the unicorn’s permission, Lisa carefully stroked its neck.

I watched the scene from a distance.

Unicorn.

It was Lumine’s guardian, dispatched to protect the World Tree.

It was guarding this place through a contract with Lumine, the dragon.

And that was the reason I came straight here, ignoring the other trials scattered around.

Unicorns were divine beasts that belonged to the side of good.

They were aggressive towards evil beings.

But they became infinitely generous towards those who weren’t.

And of course, there were no evil people in our group.

A simple trial where we just had to prove our goodness through the unicorn and pass through the gate.

It didn’t react to Elena or Lisa.

Relieved, I approached.

But for some reason, the unicorn frowned and started backing away as I got closer.

Did it perceive me as evil?

‘But I haven’t done anything bad…?’

It didn’t show any aggression, just kept avoiding me, as if it didn’t want to be touched by something unpleasant.

…What?

I frowned, watching the unicorn persistently avoid me.

Why did I suddenly remember the saying that unicorns liked virgins?

Was this guy really like that?

There was a derogatory term associated with unicorns in fantasy works.

Virgin-obsessed.

They were incredibly affectionate towards beautiful virgins.

But they showed disgust towards non-virgins and men.

Was that why it was blocking me?

The unicorn continued to block my path, avoiding me with the same attitude.

“…….”

It started to point its horn at me threateningly, as if about to stab me.

And its eyes were filled with disgust.

This crazy horse
…?

Should I just rip its horn off?

“Louis, let’s go….”

I briefly considered blasting the unicorn with Lightning Strike.

But seeing Elena trying to stop me, I barely managed to restrain myself.

Passing by the unicorn, we approached the pillar of light.

We could return to the academy if we passed through this pillar of light.

I cautiously stepped inside.

…Where was this?

When the light subsided and I opened my eyes, I was greeted by.

Not the familiar scenery of the academy, but an unfamiliar space.

Elena and Lisa were gone. I was alone.

As I looked around, bewildered, a voice from above made me look up.

“Greetings.”

Lumine was looking down at me.

What was going on?

Why did she bring me here?

She wasn’t even trying to hide her immense magical power.

With unease, I waited for her to speak.

“I summoned you because I was curious about you.”

That was a relief.

It seemed Lumine had simply summoned me to satisfy her curiosity.

It didn’t seem like a dangerous situation.

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief.

“But….”

Lumine’s expression changed as she looked at me with a serious look.

“You don’t ask about my identity. Nor do you seem afraid.”

My body froze at her words.

“You have eyes that seem to know everything.”

Lumine’s golden eyes stared at me.

It was like the gaze of a predator right before it devoured its prey.

“As if you know I won’t harm you.”

…I made a mistake.

My unguarded demeanor seemed to have offended her.

An ordinary person would be overwhelmed and tremble in fear at the sight of her.

An overwhelming sense of helplessness.

And being dropped into an unknown space.

It was natural to be filled with questions.

But knowing she was a dragon, I wasn’t surprised.

And that must have seemed strange to Lumine.

Should I prostrate myself and beg for forgiveness?

…No.

Lumine didn’t like such groveling.

So that wasn’t a good choice.

I just swallowed hard, not avoiding her gaze.

Lumine, watching me, smiled brightly.

“You’re arrogant. But I like it.”

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to dislike my attitude.

It was the right decision not to lower my head.

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief.

Lumine started speaking.

“I shall give you a gift.”

A gift all of a sudden…?

I was puzzled by her unexpected words.

But her next words made my face turn pale.

“Try your best. If you overcome the trial, you will become stronger.”

A special trial gifted by a dragon?

I didn’t want anything like that….

But ignoring my wishes, Lumine sent a surge of dense mana towards me.

Enveloped by the completed magic circle, I was once again immersed in a white light.