MTLNOVEL Chapter 219
219. Not Being Able To Find The First Step To Move Forward Is Hard, Isn’t It?
With Kyle, sealed asleep within the ice, at my back, Jabil-sensei and I return to the conference room where everyone is waiting.
As we take our seats, His Majesty the King… Van rests his chin on his hand.
“Understood the situation?”
“Yeah.”
I nod slowly and meet his gaze with determination.
That seems to be enough for Van.
“I hereby command you. Use any means necessary. Create the revival drug and bring Kyle back to life!”
“I’ll make it happen! …That’s all well and good, but was it really okay to mention the resurrection drug?”
I only told Jabil-sensei about it, but all that trouble…
Van crosses his arms.
“Given the circumstances, I’ve decided to inform everyone here. Of course, they’ve sworn not to disclose it.”
“What circumstances?”
“Primarily, we needed to share information to request cooperation. But another reason is that those present either witnessed the situation through the communication magic tool or are connected to those who did.”
Ah, right. Chiyome was watching, so she couldn’t hide it from her superior Nobuna, who in turn had to report further up. So, the upper echelons of the Mizuho Divine Kingdom already know.
Thinking about it that way, explaining the situation and securing their secrecy is the better move.
Jitarou was watching too, so his presence here makes sense.
Van lets out a sigh and kneels on one knee.
“Needless to say, the difficulty of solving this problem is extraordinary, yet due to confidentiality, we can only select personnel from this group.”
I see. To increase the odds even slightly, they’ve shared the information with those they can trust.
“Craft. If you request it, those here can assist you directly… or indirectly. Batista and Zaid will handle background support.”
Hearing that, Zaid frowns.
“Naturally, Your Majesty is also part of the background support, correct?”
“Ugh… Y-yes, of course.”
“Good, as long as you understand.”
Whoa, was he seriously planning to help directly!?
Zaid’s sharp enough to call him out on it! Mmm. This guy’s crazy competent as a bureaucrat.
Steeling myself, I stand up.
“Of course, I’ll do anything for Kyle! Anything at all!”
I slam my hands on the table as I declare it.
But. But still.
“Where the hell do I even start!?”
That’s the biggest problem. Revival drug, resurrection drug, underworld-returning drug—whatever! How the hell do you even make something like that!?
Jabir presses a hand to his forehead and points at me.
“Now then. You mentioned there was a material Soma requires that you couldn’t obtain. What was it?”
He mutters under his breath, as if he already has an idea.
“The only material Soma requires that’s currently unobtainable… is a leaf from Yggdrasil.”
At my announcement, everyone except Van and Zaid—the king and his aide—burst into murmurs.
“Yggdrasil? Does it really exist?”
“It shows up a lot in fairy tales, doesn’t it?”
“If we need it, we’ll just have to go find it!”
“Ancient records suggest it definitely existed at some point, but…”
“Once, some idiot tried to pass off shiso leaves as Yggdrasil leaves, y’know.”
Sensei. The way you said that makes it unclear whether they fell for it or not. Kinda worrying.
“Assuming Yggdrasil exists, is its leaf truly necessary?”
“Indeed. If we go through all that trouble only to find out it wasn’t needed, it’d be more than just wasted effort.”
The brains of the Mizuho Divine Kingdom are impressively pragmatic. Always thinking ahead—as expected.
I pull out a sealed treasure box from Spatial Storage. Jabil-sensei glances at it and nods at me.
Opening the box so everyone can see, I reveal the black plant inside.
Zaid, peering in, makes a bitter face—maybe remembering the Hydra incident. Back then, he was at peak screw-up mode.
In contrast, Muten, still blind, sits properly with a lonely expression.
Once things settle down, I wanna fix that! But I don’t even have time to gather materials right now!
Just hang in there until Kyle’s back on his feet!
“This black plant is believed to be the cause of the monster stampedes. It’s not confirmed yet, so we’re still investigating. As for its true identity…”
Van raises an eyebrow, looking at me and Jabir. His gaze seems to say, I wasn’t told about this.
Jabil-sensei subtly shakes his head, and Van sighs and nods.
Their silent communication is impressive, but he must’ve realized Jabil-sensei was the one who kept it quiet.
Van gestures for me to continue, so I do.
“We believe this is a corrupted fragment of Yggdrasil.”
“Believe? You didn’t appraise it?”
“The appraisal results were… inconclusive. Probably due to lack of knowledge. While studying black plants for Sensei’s assignments, my Crest whispered that Yggdrasil leaves are needed for the resurrection drug.”
Van strokes his chin.
“Now that you mention it, I’ve had moments during sword training where I suddenly grasped a technique. That ‘inspiration’ is what you call the Crest’s whisper, right?”
“Exactly. I’ve never heard of the Crest’s whispers spreading false knowledge, so Yggdrasil and its leaves must exist!”
But Jabil-sensei shakes his head.
“Craft. The necessity of Yggdrasil leaves as material and the existence of Yggdrasil in this world are not the same.”
“Huh!?”
“Think simply. Yggdrasil might only have existed in the past.”
“…Oh!”
No way! Then what the hell do we do!?
Wait, no—that’s just one possibility. It might not exist now, but it might.
“Isn’t it also possible that it still exists somewhere!?”
“Indeed. The problem lies elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere?”
“Have you not realized? We’ve already found Yggdrasil itself.”
My thoughts freeze for a second.
“Ah… Aah! It’s corrupted, but this is Yggdrasil!”
“Correct. That’s precisely it. We’ve already obtained Yggdrasil—in a sense.”
“Then all we need is to find an uncorrupted Yggdrasil, right!?”
Goal set! I leap up, but Jabil-sensei gives me a weary look.
“Uh, did I miss something?”
“You’re not wrong… but you’re overlooking something.”
“Like what?”
If Yggdrasil’s existence is confirmed, we just have to search for it, right?
“The possibility that all Yggdrasil—however many there are—have already been corrupted.”
A chill runs down my spine.
“Furthermore, even if we find an uncorrupted Yggdrasil… its leaves are a separate issue.”
He’s right. But still—
“I’ll search anyway. For Kyle’s sake, I’ll find an uncorrupted Yggdrasil leaf! I will make it happen!”
I clench my fist and reaffirm my resolve.
“…But where do I even start looking?”
As I shrug, the others slump one after another.
“Oi, you screwin’ with me!?”
“Craft-kun…”
“Flying by the seat of your pants is just how you roll, huh!?”
“Should we start by investigating the black plant?”
“Wasn’t the research result that it’s corrupted Yggdrasil?”
“If it’s the black Yggdrasil, monster gatherings might help predict its locations, but… that’s rough, no?”
“And even then, we’d only find the corrupted ones, right?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
And so, right from the start, everyone’s left scratching their heads.
Except for one—the Sorcerer, Eva.