When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 395: Chapter 301 Tree Carvings_2 Chapter 395: Chapter 301 Tree Carvings_2 Sherlock then countered with a question.

Upon hearing this, Hayna finally fell silent.

She hissed softly, falling into confusion as well.

Indeed, why was that?

Aiwass seemed to have a vague idea.

He softly asked, “Senior, how much do you know about these forests?”

“Ah, Aiwass, you really should stop calling me ‘Senior,’ I’ve already graduated…”

Hayna said somewhat awkwardly, waving her hand, “Just call me Hayna.”

Now, just listening to Aiwass’s polite and affectionate address, she felt like she was breaking into a sweat.

For a young minister with real power, the current head of the Founding Families, a Round Table Hall Member…

and possibly the future Prince Regent, the future Round Table Hall Speaker, to call her “Senior,” she didn’t have that much face.

Hayna of today was not as young and naïve as when she had just started working at the Supervisory Bureau, full of youthful vigor.

She had grown up some more, understanding more things.

Her interactions with Aiwass were not as frequent…

The cause for their close relationship was merely due to Aiwass sharing with her the taboo secret about the Silver-Crowned Dragon becoming a Pillar God.@@novelbin@@

Since then, they had become accomplices.

Because they shared a taboo secret and each knew the other also held it, and knew that neither had reported the other at the first opportunity—they had become grasshoppers on the same rope.

It was after that Hayna was forced to join the many schemes of Aiwass and Sherlock.

The more she learned, the more she couldn’t escape.

Now that she completely understood what the name Aiwass meant in Avalon, she wished she could go back in time and give her old naive self a good punching.

Aiwass just smiled, easily seeing through what Hayna was hesitant about, “It’s okay, Senior.

From the first time I called you ‘Senior,’ you gave me a kind response…

From then on, I can call you Senior.”

“When I later called you by your name, ‘Hayna,’ it was to express closeness; now circumstances have changed, calling you by your name has become a matter of official business, while calling you ‘Senior’ has become an expression of closeness, so naturally, I will choose the more affectionate address.”

“But…”

“There are no ‘buts.'”

Aiwass’s fingertips gently tapped on the tabletop, the tapping sound gently interrupting Hayna’s words.

Although he no longer used a wheelchair, the habits of the past still lingered.

“You are the Grand Arbitrator’s close disciple.”

Aiwass said nonchalantly, “A genius who reached The Fourth Energy Level Wall at the age of twenty-two and two months.”

“Who can say…

you are not the next Grand Arbitrator?”

“Ah no no no no, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.”

Hayna was terribly frightened, turned pale, and shook her head and waved her hands repeatedly.

She didn’t feel the vigorous fighting spirit of her ambition being stoked, only felt enormous pressure.

Even if Hayna didn’t understand politics, her instincts allowed her to realize—the Grand Arbitrator was the protector of Avalon, a powerhouse defending the country.

If Avalon lost the Grand Arbitrator, it would likely be immediately dragged into war.

So what did it mean to be the next Grand Arbitrator?

It meant she had to take on this “national defense” responsibility!

In other words, if the Grand Arbitrator’s position was in her hands, and Avalon was dragged into war, then it would be her responsibility!

—It would all be because she was not as strong as her teacher!

Further thinking, if Avalon were to be destroyed due to this…

wouldn’t she be the sinner!

The thought of future history books listing her as the direct cause of Avalon’s fall made Hayna feel a tingling in her hands.

How could she possibly bear such a level of responsibility…

Aiwass smiled and didn’t continue the pursuit.

But he returned to the previous topic, “Senior, did you ever carve into a small tree on your way to school?”

“Ah, you noticed it?”

Hayna seemed a bit embarrassed, “Indeed, its location is still too conspicuous…

Yes, when I was in middle school, I carved a notch into that little tree on my way to school.

When I came back a few days ago, I found it still in the same place.

Both the tree’s location and the scar on it were exactly the same as before.

I was truly touched, everything seemed as if nothing had changed.”

“…Carved a notch?”

Sherlock suddenly realized something.

He raised an eyebrow, closed the book, and put it aside, sitting upright.

“You didn’t use that tree to record your height, did you?”

“…No, isn’t that okay?”

Hayna hesitated.

She had an incurable disease of feeling guilty whenever Sherlock questioned her.

“Really?”

Sherlock simply counter-questioned.

“It’s quite accurate.”

Hayna was somewhat puzzled.

“Are you sure that the width of the mark is the same as when you carved it?”

“It’s the same, I remember it very clearly.

The depth is the same too, it’s just covered with a layer of scar.”

Hayna answered confidently, “It’s not just the mark, even the shape of the tree canopy is the exact same.

That tree is so beautiful, I rarely see one that looks so much like a tree…

that sounds a bit off, but you understand what I mean!”

Sherlock inhaled sharply, “No, haven’t you ever questioned that there’s something wrong with this?”

Even Lily couldn’t help but interject.

She spoke softly, “Hayna…

a sapling is different from a tree that has fully grown, and trees are different from people.

Scars on people do not grow with age, but marks on a sapling would gradually widen.

Although the speed is very slow, the carvings you left behind would certainly become distorted.”

“They won’t rise but will become longer, thicker…”

“——No.

Saying this, Senior might not understand.”

Aiwass sighed, “How can she realize that trees grow when she has lived in a village where ‘trees do not change’ from birth until she was thirteen or fourteen?”

“What are you talking about, of course I know trees…

grow…”

Hayna said offhandedly.

But she suddenly paused, covering her head and mumbling softly, “No, wait a moment…”

The common knowledge in her mind was changing—her hometown was unchanging, trees grow.

The two starkly different common knowledges rose and fell in her mind, making her feel for the first time how surreal the world could be.

Her pupils emitted a faint yellow hue, which was then shattered by a compelling azure.

Witnessing Hayna’s intense reaction, Sherlock was somewhat impressed but also watched Aiwass with a puzzled look, “When did you discover this?”

“Just now.”

Aiwass replied, “Because I am very clear about how close the explosion was to the woods and how powerful it was.

“But after the explosion, the ground was left with a deep crater.

However, those trees were completely undamaged, not even dropping a few branches.”

He looked toward Hayna, who was holding her head and trembling, and said softly, “So actually, both of you did not understand what I meant.

“I wasn’t trying to tell Hayna, ‘Trees grow, so the carvings you left will twist and distort,’ ‘The sapling from that year shouldn’t look exactly the same as it does now.’ Those are minor details.

“——I wanted to ask, Senior, what did you use to leave that mark on the tree?”