Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Episode 10: The Divine Tree (1)

Around the Divine Tree that had grown in the blink of an eye, National Intelligence Service employees disguised as workers tending saplings were sweating profusely as they measured various things.

There were two fortunate things, if they could be called fortunate.

One was that this was a remote country road where hardly even a few cars passed during the day.

The other was that, at the very least, there were people who could clean up the mess for me.

The three who had arrived around the same time each gave their own impressions as they looked at the Divine Tree.

“Ooooooh! It really is exactly the same as the Divine Tree on Mount Gyeryong!”

“I no longer even wish to be surprised.”

“Neither do I.”

“I worried that twisted monsters might flock here because of a Divine Tree leaf, and now you are practically advertising that there is a road to the Celestial Realm right here. Tsk.”

“I somehow feel sorry.”

“Fortunately, to ordinary people it appears to be nothing more than an ordinary oak tree. We have detected no radiation or other harmful substances either.”

“Would it be a Divine Tree if it emitted such vulgar things? If possible, tell those people to stop wasting their effort and sit down around the Divine Tree for a while. I cannot say for certain, but their exhausted bodies and souls should be purified considerably. They have all been suffering greatly lately because of this fellow, have they not?”

“Haha, I suppose we should.”

I felt like I was sitting on a bed of thorns.

At a time like this, making excuses would have been awkward too.

I could hardly go tattling that, judging by the circumstances, Goddess Mago seemed to have had something to do with the Divine Tree growing in my backyard, could I?

It was only a suspicion, and even if I invoked a god’s name, what had happened had already happened.

Despite her kindly appearance, Goddess Mago had a surprisingly mischievous side.

“Still, what are we to do about this?”

“But is there really much of a problem? Most monsters would not dare come near as long as the nine-tailed fox Elder is here.”

“Are you telling me to become some earthbound spirit tied to this place now? Insolent brat. I have plenty to do cleaning up after this fellow who works for the country.”

The nine-tailed fox pointed his long tobacco pipe at Director Baek Mahyeon and complained, clearly looking to remove himself from this matter.

If that was the case.

“By the way, don’t you leave Mount Gyeryong unattended fairly often?”

“There are soldiers guarding it in my place, so it’s fine to leave for short periods! Humans with spiritual cultivation also come and offer prayers, so unless it’s me or the nine-tailed fox, no one can get close to the Divine Tree!”

“We can’t exactly do that here, so this has become troublesome.”

“You only realize that now?”

“I thought the three of you would somehow handle it.”

It was like one of those river-crossing games.

The raccoon dog had to guard the Divine Tree, and the nine-tailed fox seemed busy in his own way. If we truly wanted to guard a second Divine Tree, then just as the raccoon dog said, my house would have to be swarming with soldiers and shamans.

Checkmate.

In the end, if this Divine Tree was to be protected, I, wearing the ring made of divine stone, had to remain here.

Just as the nine-tailed fox said, I was going to end up becoming an earthbound spirit tied to the Divine Tree.

But that could not happen.

My vacation ended tomorrow, and I had to go back to work.

I had to find a solution before then.

By any means necessary!

_______________

At the same time, in the Palace of the Heavenly Emperor in the Celestial Realm.

This enormous palace, said to touch the heavens even from heaven itself, looked quite different from usual.

Ordinarily, it should have been a peaceful scene where one might occasionally see only one or two messengers passing by, but on this day it was in utter chaos with carriages coming and going without pause.

Brilliant flags fluttered from every carriage, making it clear that those who rode in them were anything but ordinary.

“Hoho, you must all be extremely busy. What brings you all the way here?”

“Old Woman Mago, you have taken this prank too far.”

“That is right. To summon one who has opened divine eyes into the Celestial Realm!”

“It is unthinkable!”

“What were you planning to do if the Celestial Realm was thrown into chaos?”

The gods, each dressed in splendid garments, voiced their complaints at Goddess Mago.

But Goddess Mago, who had been sitting calmly with a benevolent smile, merely tapped her staff against the floor a few times as though it were nothing serious, silencing the commotion.

“Enough. I did not call him. He came here on his own.”

“What? Old Woman Mago, what do you mean...”

“Exactly what I said. He opened the gate to the Celestial Realm himself and came here. What could I have done? If you have an answer, then by all means tell me.”

“Are you saying that despite his lifespan not having ended, he attained enlightenment on his own and came to the Celestial Realm?”

“Hoho, I told you, I do not know.”

‘Something even Goddess Mago, who sees through the principles of all creation, does not know? Then is that not an even greater problem!’

There was already a similar precedent in the Celestial Realm, which made this an even greater concern.

“Why? Are you worried he might cause trouble like that monkey did last time?”

“Old Woman Mago, how can you bring that incident up again! And was that disaster not caused because you knew what would happen but refused to tell us?”

“Disaster? The peaches grown by the Great Sage Equal to Heaven still appear on your dining tables every season. How can you call that a disaster? Tsk.”

“Ahem.”

At Goddess Mago’s reply, everyone fell silent with awkward coughs.

There was no one who did not know how dearly the Great Sage Equal to Heaven treasured and cared for his peach trees.

But the process by which he had come to raise those peach trees had been excessively violent and outrageous.

Enough to shake the Celestial Realm itself.

‘Still, it is also true that because of that, no reckless fool has appeared to covet the peach trees.’

Did they not say that once something had passed, it became a memory?

To gods who lived for immeasurable ages, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven was unquestionably a dependable guardian of those precious peach trees.

Once their thoughts reached that point, the expressions of the quick-witted gods soon relaxed.

There were always few gods in the Celestial Realm who wished to work and many tasks that needed doing.

“So Goddess Mago has already made arrangements regarding that person?”

“Hoho, I entrusted that child with a tree to protect as well.”

“As expected, your insight is profound!”

The fact that the tree was one of only two Divine Trees in the mortal world, and that she had not said so much as half a word about it to the person involved, bothered her somewhat.

However, Goddess Mago had no intention whatsoever of telling them and stirring up needless trouble.

Judging from the atmosphere, they seemed to assume she had entrusted him with something no more important than an udumbara flower.

“He will do very well. He seemed kindhearted and highly responsible.”

Unfortunately, however, events in the mortal world were moving in a direction completely different from what the Celestial Realm hoped.

_____________

No matter how long I thought about it, there was only one conclusion.

“Let’s dig it up.”

“What?”

“I said we should dig it up. We should dig it out and move it next to the Divine Tree on Mount Gyeryong.”

“You have truly gone completely insane. Are you really saying we should dig up a Divine Tree after returning from the Celestial Realm yourself?”

“There’s another one on Mount Gyeryong anyway. No matter how I think about it, this thing is more trouble than it’s worth. You said monsters might flock here, so there’s no reason to leave that sort of future trouble here. Keeping the two together would probably make them easier to manage as well.”

In a way, it was even worse than something that was merely more trouble than it was worth.

To put it bluntly, even dealing with just one raccoon dog had been a continuous series of exhausting incidents.

And now I was being told monsters on a similar level might come to see the Divine Tree.

Just imagining that was enough to make my head spin with nightmares.

I had received the ring in preparation for events like that, but I had thought of it merely as insurance against something that might happen someday.

If a Divine Tree was sitting right in my yard, then that ring was less like insurance and more like a final weapon prepared for the decisive battle.

I felt sorry toward Goddess Mago, but there was no particular reason such a Divine Tree needed to be in my backyard.

No, it absolutely should not be here.

Not for someone like me, who intended to serve coffee in moderation, earn money, and proudly aim for a place in Gangnam.

“And what will you do if something goes wrong?”

“It’s a Divine Tree. Surely nothing will happen just because we dig it up? We can carry it straight to Mount Gyeryong and replant it there. If you’re truly worried, why don’t we dig it up and move it only as far as right out front first? If anything strange starts happening midway, we can stop immediately.”

No one would know until we tried.

Compared against all the trouble this one tree might cause in the future, it was more than worth attempting.

“I truly have lived too long. To think I would live to see someone dig up a Divine Tree.”

“Let’s try it!”

It was permission that was not quite permission.

Both divine beasts had agreed, so there was no reason to delay.

-Dig. Dig.

The shovels and pickaxes the National Intelligence Service employees had brought as part of their disguises carefully began digging along the ground surrounding the Divine Tree.

After the employees had dug out all the surrounding soil, the most important task of digging the earth connecting the bottom of the tree to the ground was left to me, the nine-tailed fox, and the raccoon dog.

Everyone else stood by with their shovels loaded full of dirt, just in case something happened.

If necessary, we would have to quickly bury it again.

“But if something goes wrong with the Divine Tree, Goddess Mago might scold us. Last time I helped the independence fighters, she scolded me for interfering too much in the mortal world.”

“Hm? Obviously the fellow who suggested this will be the one scolded, so what does it matter? We merely helped.”

No, these divine beasts were shameless!

“Shared responsibility. Shared responsibility. We made the decision together, so what are you talking about?”

“Then I’ll get scolded too? I don’t want that!”

“Goddess Mago is kind, so it’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“How is this something kindness can overlook? If a Buddha who had attained enlightenment saw us digging up a Divine Tree, even he would pick up a club and chase us.”

“Yes. If that happens, I’ll take the beating from Buddha in your place. So please dig properly. It feels like I’m the only one doing any work.”

“It is your fault for making an old man shovel.”

“I’ll dig properly! Hyaaaaaah!”

“Hey, careful! Careful!”

“Wait!”

Apparently motivated by my words, the raccoon dog, which had been busily digging with its forepaws, suddenly sped up.

Perhaps it did not hear our urgent attempts to stop it, because the raccoon dog vanished directly beneath the Divine Tree, leaving a massive hole behind.

And naturally, that hole was where the soil supporting the Divine Tree had been.

Having lost the ground beneath its feet(?), even a sacred Divine Tree could not ultimately overcome the laws of physics.

-Thuuuuud.

We were screwed.

We had knocked over the Divine Tree.

And from the fallen Divine Tree, a far denser blue light than before was pouring out.

Something had clearly gone terribly wrong.

“Oof, I dug too deep.”

“Y-You... you damned raccoon dog!”

“Aaaah! Why are you hitting me again!”

“You have to ask?! What are we supposed to do with that now!”

“Huh? The Divine Tree fell over...”

“We have to stand it back up first! Quickly!”

I spoke urgently, but there was nowhere near enough time to attach ropes to the excavator we had prepared in advance and use it to lift the tree.

“Damn it, there’s no choice! Everyone get back!”

“Yes, Elder!”

“Everyone move away!”

Seeing the blue light pouring from the Divine Tree growing weaker and weaker, the nine-tailed fox ordered everyone back.

What is he trying to do?

The moment everyone had moved well away from the Divine Tree,

-Hummmmmm.

A gust of wind rose around the handsome young man who looked barely over twenty, and a real nine-tailed fox appeared before our eyes.

Its body was as large as a dump truck.

“Now! We have to fill the ground back in quickly!”

I urgently shouted at everyone who was staring blankly at the suddenly manifested nine-tailed fox.

And while the nine-tailed fox raised the tree with one enormous forepaw, we frantically began packing the soil back down.

Desperately praying that nothing would go wrong.