Hearing the faint note of complaint in Dominante's voice, Yuuki chuckled softly and stepped forward, pressing the tip of his foot into the ground.
A dense surge of earth-attribute mana erupted from beneath him, forming a gray-brown current that spread outward before sinking into the soil.
In the next instant—
The ground rippled like waves.
Starting from Yuuki as the center, the uneven, battered terrain left behind by the earlier fight smoothed itself out at an astonishing speed. Pits vanished, cracks sealed, and within a few breaths, the damaged lawn was completely restored.
Dominante's eyes widened in disbelief.
Neige, who had been sitting upright nearby, exclaimed excitedly,
"Yuuki-sama, that was amazing!"
Yuuki lifted his wrist. A single seed appeared in his palm, which he casually tossed forward.
Shhk!
The seed struck the grass—and immediately sprouted.
Before everyone's eyes, a sapling burst from the ground, growing at a startling rate. Branches spread, leaves unfurled, and in mere moments, the tree stood nearly three meters tall, its branches heavy with bright red apples.
Yuuki stepped forward, plucked one apple, and tossed it to the stunned Dominante. He picked another for himself and took a large bite.
"…A bit too sweet. Guess I overdid the mana input."
Watching him chew with mild dissatisfaction, Dominante stared at the apple in her hand, then took a bite herself. Sweetness flooded her mouth.
She looked up at Yuuki, unable to hide her curiosity.
"Just how many kinds of magic do you actually have?"
"Who knows," Yuuki replied with a faint smile.
Neige, unable to contain himself, jogged over from the edge of the lawn, staring at the apple tree in amazement.
"Yuuki-sama…"
"Go on, try one."
Yuuki waved his hand, causing every apple on the tree to drop and float neatly beside him. He selected one and handed it to Neige, then added calmly,
"Neige, help Mariella back to the castle. She's drained too much mana."
Though Mariella's injuries had already been healed by Phoenix Feather Robe, mana exhaustion couldn't be fixed so easily.
"Okay!"
Neige nodded enthusiastically, clutching the apple. Carefully using his Snow Magic, he supported Mariella and guided her back toward the castle.
Soon, only Yuuki and Dominante remained on the lawn.
Yuuki sat down casually, leaning against the apple tree. He snapped off a twig and began drawing something in the dirt.
"That kid—Neige," Dominante said, sitting down as well. "Where did you find him?"
"If I said I picked him up off the ground, would you believe me?" Yuuki replied without looking up.
Dominante rolled her eyes, then shifted her attention to the drawing. Whatever it was, it wasn't finished yet.
After a brief silence, she spoke again—this time more quietly.
"…Thank you. For dealing with the Diamond Kingdom's assassination unit."
Mariella had already told her everything. When Dominante first heard that Yuuki had wiped out all of Diamond's infiltrators, she'd been stunned.
She knew he was strong—but not this strong.
That level of power likely surpassed even the Eight Shining Generals… perhaps even rivaled the captains of Clover Kingdom's Magic Knight squads.
More importantly, those assassins had been targeting her husband, Fanzell. With them gone, his safety was no longer in immediate danger.
"If you really want to thank me," Yuuki said lightly, "speed up your compilation of the Magic Script."
"No problem. Give me half a month—I'll have it done."
She smiled wryly. Organizing every Magic Script she knew was tedious work, especially since she rarely used most of them. Still, now that Yuuki had resolved her greatest worry, she had no excuse to drag her feet.
By then, Yuuki had finished the drawing.
"Do you recognize this?" he asked, gesturing at the symbol etched into the ground—the Tree of Life.
Dominante leaned forward, studying it carefully.
After a long moment, she folded her arms, closed her eyes, and frowned as if searching her memory.
Yuuki waited patiently.
Born in the Witch's Forest and skilled in magical artifacts, Dominante had access to knowledge far older than the Four Great Kingdoms themselves. The Witch Queen alone had lived for over five centuries.
If anyone had seen records of this symbol, it would be her.
At last, Dominante opened her eyes and shook her head.
"I've definitely seen it before… but I can't remember where."
She pointed to the circles on the diagram.
"Judging by its structure, it looks like a massive magic array. Each circle seems independent—probably representing different concepts."
A trace of disappointment flickered through Yuuki's eyes—but it also confirmed something important.
The Witch's Forest did possess records of the Tree of Life.
That alone strengthened his resolve to visit it someday.
After further discussion, Dominante left the lawn.
Yuuki remained, gazing silently at the symbol.
He pulled out his grimoire, staring at the clover on its cover—the empty space where something should have been.
When he'd seen the stone monument before, the grimoire had trembled in response.
Yet now, there was no visible change.
"So the reaction wasn't the stone itself… but the Tree of Life."
Yuuki's eyes narrowed.
"Could the fourth leaf… be connected to this?"
He had perfectly replicated Yuno's four-leaf grimoire, and only then had his own three-leaf clover changed—creating an empty space rather than forming the fourth leaf outright.
Something was missing.
Originally, he'd thought raw mana growth might trigger it. But now, the Tree of Life suggested another possibility.
"…Still not enough information."
He sighed, reaching out to erase the drawing—then paused.
In this world, his knowledge of the Tree of Life was limited. But in his previous life…
His thoughts turned to scripture.
In Genesis, Eden contained two trees: the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil—and the Tree of Life, also known as the Inverted Tree.
Yuuki straightened.
The Tree of Life consisted of three pillars, ten Sephiroth, four worlds, and twenty-two paths.
If translated into this world—
The ten Sephiroth corresponded to the ten highest-ranking devils of the underworld.
The three pillars guarded the three ruling devils.
Lucifero, wielder of Gravity Magic.
Beelzebub, master of Spatial Magic.
Astaroth, sovereign of Time.
Then what about the four worlds?
Yuuki's eyes flashed.
Fire—Divinity.
Wind—Creation.
Water—Formation.
Earth—Materialization.
"…The four great elemental spirits."
And the twenty-two paths—the lines connecting the Sephiroth—
Paths to godhood.
"If the Wizard King's true goal… is to become a god…"
Yuuki stood slowly.
"Now that would be interesting."
The thought flickered—and he immediately shook his head.
Speculation aside, none of this mattered yet.
"For now, I'll focus on what causes a three-leaf clover to become a four-leaf one. As for the Tree of Life… anything involving devils can wait."
He wiped away the drawing, stood up, and said quietly,
"I've been gone long enough. Time to head back to the tavern."
Spatial mana enveloped him, and he vanished.
With Yuuki gone, the apple tree lost its mana support, withering away until it dispersed completely.
Over the next few days, Yuuki remained mostly at the tavern—caring for the recovering Rebecca and taking over part of Valtos's authority per Licht's instructions.
Truthfully, the added responsibilities meant little to him. If anything, managing more Eye of the Midnight Sun members felt like a nuisance.
Still, it gave him manpower to handle his own investigations.
Because Neige had been recruited—and his brother Baro had died earlier than in the original timeline—the second major clash between Clover Kingdom and the Eye never occurred.
As a result, the Magic Knights had far less information about the Eye, especially regarding the Third Eye.
To Yuuki, that was an opportunity.
He ordered Eye members to monitor Clover Kingdom while personally infiltrating the Royal Library at night, researching ancient records. He also continued training in strong magic regions.
By the third day, Rebecca had fully recovered, and the tavern reopened—its business booming more than before.
Then, on the fifth day, news finally arrived from the Magic Knights:
Captain Gueldre Poizot of the Purple Orcas had been arrested.
The exact charges weren't disclosed, but Yuuki knew the truth.
And he knew it was time—
Time to contact Yami again… as the mysterious informant.
Black Bulls' Hideout
Yami had been in a foul mood lately.
Even the rowdy Bulls could sense it, steering clear of him to avoid a beating.
"Still not enough intel… and that bastard still hasn't contacted me."
Squatting in the bathroom, Yami exhaled thick smoke, his expression grim.
He had erased the magic mark on Noelle—there was no way the other party hadn't noticed.
And after delivering that prophetic warning, continued contact should have been inevitable.
"…Did the guy die or something?"
The stench in the air made him grimace.
"And Gueldre… selling out the kingdom over a few magic tools and some cash."
Yami clicked his tongue.
Damn idiot.
(End of Chapter)
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