Before Nic went to the Weeping Willow Tree tourist spot, he had already researched the area and its guardians. Nic also knew that the partner flower for the Weeping Willow Tree was the Lotus Flower.
Returning to Nic, who was taking the Weeping Willow Tree guardian to a certain place.
"Your name is Pillow, right?" Nic asked, trying to start a conversation.
"Um, please don't call me that name... I feel weird because I'm always regarded as an object for sleeping..." the guardian said listlessly.
Nic understood that. "So? What should I call you?"
The Weeping Willow Tree guardian looked confused and finally gave a non-committal answer, "Whatever."
Nic just smiled while thinking of a nice name to call him.
Nic continued to ponder the name while walking, and finally, Nic came up with a simple name.
"May I call you Weewi?"
Silence...
Zeta appeared in front of Nic.
[ Pffft, Master Nic, are you really incapable of giving anyone a good name? ]
"Ugh, is it bad? Sorry, I didn't mean that. I mean maybe Willee," Nic said, scratching his cheek.
The Weeping Willow Tree guardian laughed until tears came out, surprising Nic. He, who was listless, could actually laugh.
And Nic just realized that they had almost reached the place Nic was heading to.
The Weeping Willow Tree guardian nodded while giving a thumbs up, saying he didn't mind being called anything as long as it wasn't Pillow.
"The name is funny. I like it," Willee said.
Nic asked, curious why Willee suddenly started talking, even though he had been listless earlier.
"Ah, I'm confused too... it feels like my spirits suddenly returned," Willee said with a sweet smile.
"Where are we actually going? This area looks familiar," Willee said, looking around.
And a moment later, they finally arrived, and Willee immediately saw an area surrounded by water a calm lake with several trees.
The Weeping Willow Tree guardian's eyes immediately lit up after seeing the calm river.
It felt as if the energy of Nature had returned into his body.
"Why did you bring me here...?" Willee said, splashing water on his face.
"Do I need to explain it?" Nic said, looking at him.
Willee looked at Nic strangely. "You are an unusual visitor... but for some reason, I don't feel any threat from you."
Nic explained that he admired the guardians of the Natural Tree of Heaven because their beautiful trees could grow so beautifully without disappearing.
"I was worried when I saw you looking so listless, so I looked for a place that might be able to heal you," Nic said while playing with the water.
Then, suddenly, there was the sound of applause, startling Nic.
But the applause sounded like a melody, not ordinary clapping... then someone appeared from behind the trees, and it turned out to be the Lotus Flower Guardian, Lusita, who was also Willee's partner.
"You passed as a visitor... we will watch you from now on~" Lusita said in an elegant tone.
"Huh, passed? I don't feel like I was taking any test?" Nic said, confused.
[ Every flower will test Master Nic, whether Master Nic is an anomaly, an ordinary person, or someone they deem important, or even a useless fool... this is to keep the tree guardians safe. ]
"Are you kind of insulting me, Zeta?" Nic said internally.
[ Oops, sorry if you feel insulted, Master Nic... but you are definitely not one of the bad descriptions I mentioned. ]
After that, Lusita approached Willee and whispered something to him.
"WHAT!?" Willee screamed in shock.
Nic tried to chime in, but Lusita held him back.
"Excuse me, visitor, this is our problem... you don't need to be involved."
Nic didn't care and wanted to start his actions in the Eastern country, but it seemed it wouldn't be overt.
"I want to know, who knows, maybe I can help? Please... even though I wasn't born in this country, I am worried about the problems that will come to Eastern's nature," Nic said firmly.
"You know our problem, visitor? Haven't you just arrived here?" Lotus asked curiously.
Nic nodded. "That's right, and please don't call me visitor... call me Nic."
"Ah... it seems fine for the visitor—I mean Nic to join the discussion, right?" Lusita looked at Willee.
Willee nodded friendly and also told Lusita that his name was now Willee.
"Willee? Oh, I know why you weren't using your old name," Lusita said, covering her mouth with her hand.
Willee was just shy and gently pinched her.
After that, they finally discussed the important matter. Lusita informed Nic that 3 of the Natural Tree of Heaven areas were threatened with destruction by the government.
Lusita explained that those three trees were the ones with the lowest annual income, but the trees were numerous and existed outside the tourist spot as well. Although numerous, they were still considered quite rare in other countries.
The new Eastern government, which adopted the motto that nature hinders progress, wanted to build new factories to add resources they claimed were for the future of Eastern so it wouldn't be left behind.
Lusita looked at the clouds. "What I worry about is that there are pros and cons to this issue. Only the old generation and the old successors still care and reject this because they are the ones who made Eastern so beautiful before. So destroying it casually feels very painful."
Willee added, "And the ones who are pro are mostly the new generation who don't care much about Nature and rarely interact with it. They are used to the traditions of other countries and agree to be like them."
Nic was silent. "This is very complicated... this is indeed a difference in perspective from generation to generation... we can't blame anyone because people's views are different... but I think every country must have its own identity, and Eastern's is nature... therefore, we must protect Eastern's identity so it doesn't disappear, and then find other solutions for progress instead of destroying the country's own nature."
Lusita and Willee were silent. They didn't expect Nic to think so deeply as a visitor who wasn't a local resident.
Lusita approached Nic and looked at him seriously. "Hey Nic, what are you going to do? This is very complicated and difficult for you to handle."
"I will help as much as I can. You can believe me or not. Can you tell me the 3 threatened trees?" Nic said.
Lusita smiled. "Alright, we have decided to trust you. The 3 threatened Natural Tree of Heaven areas are: the Rainbow Eucalyptus, the Weeping Willow Tree, and the Flamboyant Tree."
"Wait, Willee's place is threatened? Isn't the Weeping Willow Tree beautiful?" Nic said, confused.
Willee explained that the problem was that the one in the tourist spot and its original habitat were different, and the Weeping Willow Tree habitat was more varied, which is why it was unpopular at the tourist spot.
"I see... alright, it looks like I should go to the Rainbow Eucalyptus tourist spot first to see them... thanks for the info! I will come back later!" Nic said, leaving while waving his hand.
Lusita asked Willee, "Do you think he is cool?"
"What are you saying... I just hope he is indeed cool, heehee," Willee said, and he wanted to return to the tourist spot.
To be continued...