The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 122

“As you can see, all the giants here look that innocent and simple. Of course, this is my first time seeing them in person too, but since they look exactly like the illustrations, I guess the Guardian Tree must be the same.”

“Is the Guardian Tree also like that, um…… with that kind of feeling…….”

Perhaps because he was having trouble choosing the right words, Nam Woo-jin frowned, scratched the back of his neck, and trailed off.

The giants were so huge that they were easy to see, but the actual distance was still quite far, so I kept walking forward as I answered.

“It was drawn as a huge tree with an old woman’s face. Unlike the giants, it really looked like a person, but since its main body is a tree, it looked more like a sculpture.”

“Then…… we have to burn a tree that looks like an old woman…….”

“They said it can talk, so won’t it scream too?”

“Maybe. Even when fire just touches your skin a little, it hurts, but its whole body will be burning.”

“…….”

Why does the conversation keep going in this direction?

My expression gradually changed as if I were chewing on a sour persimmon at the sound of their conversation. But I couldn’t tell whether this was how ordinary people thought or whether these guys were just unusually sensitive, so I felt awkward about stopping them.

Then again, both Guides and Espers disliked monsters that looked like people, so perhaps it was only natural.

If they were people I would have to spend a long time with, I would have corrected their hesitation by giving them a long speech about thinking of the creatures inside Gates as aliens, or about how monsters killed people. But once we left the Gate, we would simply exchange information and go our separate ways.

For now, it was better to solve things as quickly as possible. I had things I needed to do too.

Without paying any more attention to it, I continued walking toward the village.

As we got closer to the giants, the conversation between the three began to decrease. Perhaps they were nervous, because they swallowed dryly several times.

The boundary of the village was where the plain stone floor changed into neatly polished white stone. True to its name, ‘Garden,’ the inside of the village was decorated brightly.

Strange but beautiful flowers were planted here and there, with their colors arranged in gradients depending on the area. Beside them were trees with their branches neatly trimmed, and I could see clusters of fruit in similar colors hanging from them.

The buildings and decorations in the village were considerably more elaborate than those I had seen along the way. On top of that, every one of them was enormous, to the point that they even felt intimidating.

And those same giants with their warm, gentle smiles were leisurely wandering around the village, watering flowers, trimming trees, or sweeping the ground.

Their hands were blunt and short, so they repeatedly dropped the watering cans, scissors, and brooms, then laughed awkwardly. They looked unbelievably happy.

“It looks so peaceful…….”

I strongly agreed. Although it had been written that the giants of Giant Garden were gentle in nature and that the village was well maintained, it hadn’t described what the scenery actually looked like, so even I was taken aback.

Even the area near the building presumed to be a temple had different-colored floor tiles, more carefully trimmed trees, fuller-looking flowers, and various decorations…… Anyway, it was obvious at a glance that the place was cherished.

I hadn’t told the three of them yet, but apparently the roots of the Guardian Tree were connected to Giant Garden.

In other words, if we burned the Guardian Tree, this peaceful village would inevitably burn down completely as well.

“…….”

At this point, I wondered if the Awakened who had entered before had intentionally left out the appearance of the village from their reports.

As for the giants, they didn’t attack first, so they could technically be ignored. But the thought of burning this entire village down still bothered me morally.

Even I, who believed that ‘monsters are monsters, whether they look like people or not,’ felt uncomfortable with it, so there was no need to even see how the three of them felt.

Sure enough, even though they didn’t know that the ‘entire village would burn down,’ Park Min-seok cautiously spoke to me.

“Um, noona. I’m really sorry to say this when we’re the ones receiving your help, but…… is there really no other way to clear it……?”

He was so careful that even his tone had become strangely polite.

When I turned around, all three of them had their hands neatly clasped together and their heads lowered, like people who had done something wrong.

I looked at the giants again, then at the three of them who had shrunk into themselves, then back at the giants, and finally swallowed a groan before barely answering.

“As far as I know, there isn’t. To leave the Gate, we have to eliminate the Named Monster.”

That was a rule that had never changed since the time Gates first appeared.

There was only one exception, ‘False Paradise.’

But that was a Unified Gate, and it was an unusual place in many ways. There was zero chance of the same phenomenon occurring in Giant Garden.

Meanwhile, the giants exchanged words in an incomprehensible language and laughed. When Nam Woo-jin heard that, his face became completely miserable. It was the exact same expression he had when he was sucked into the Gate.

‘I guess I’ll have to clear this one alone after all…….’

Originally, I had planned to find oil in the food storage and carry it together with them, then have them set the Guardian Tree on fire while I distracted the giants. When I said that we had to ‘move around extremely hard to clear the Gate,’ that was what I meant.

But looking at how hesitant they were, I didn’t think they would be able to do it properly even if I ordered them to, and even if they forced themselves to do it, they would probably suffer from trauma afterward.

It wasn’t just the tree that would burn. The entire village would become an inferno.

And if I switched roles with them, they were so fragile that instead of distracting the giants, I would be lucky if they didn’t get stepped on and killed.

‘Well, it can’t be helped.’

It would take a little more time, but I didn’t mind. I would probably be able to get something more out of them using this as leverage. In that sense, I had confidence.

After finishing my calculations in a short amount of time, I immediately spoke to Han Yeon-woo.

“You should just hide.”

“N-no. I can follow whatever you tell me to do, so please don’t worry.”

“It’s fine. It might be a little troublesome, but I can clear it by myself.”

“If you’re worried that we might get in your way, please really don’t worry. It’s just our first time inside a Gate, so we were a little nervous. We’ve also received some training in preparation for situations like this……”

“Once the Guardian Tree catches fire, this whole village will become an inferno, and the giants will go berserk. You could get seriously hurt if you hesitate even for a moment. That’s what I’m worried about.”

I wasn’t making this up or making excuses. I truly meant it. There were things everywhere, like trees and flowers, that would burn easily, so they would be too busy avoiding the fire and the giants that had lost their reason and become violent.

“If I had known the village looked like this, I wouldn’t have asked you to help me in the first place.”

At my added words as I shrugged, Han Yeon-woo only moved his lips without saying anything else. It seemed that he realized they wouldn’t be of much help.

I took out some bandages, disinfectant, painkillers, and other medicines from my bag and put them into a small pouch. Then I also took two mini flashlights and two spare mini grenades and handed them to Han Yeon-woo.

“If you get hurt, use these to give yourself at least some first aid. Keep the flashlight in case of an emergency, and these grenades…….”

“I know how to use them. We…… have them too. Where we’re from.”

It was a vague explanation, but I understood immediately.

Everything I had was made by the Association, and the same was true of these mini grenades. I had vaguely guessed it from their clothes and behavior, but as expected, the ‘Captain’ these three had mentioned must have been someone from the Association.

Han Yeon-woo was probably giving me some information in his own way by saying that.

Since the important thing was to clear the Gate quickly, instead of asking more questions, I pointed toward the inside of the village and said.