Chapter 60 Conflict as old as time itself

60 Conflict as old as time itself

"Meet Leinei, the divine dryad of the celestial forest." This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

Hearing the introduction, I wasn't really sure how I was supposed to react. Dryad? And a divine one at that? Was she one of those gods that Madam mentioned daring not to step into forbidden lands lightly? And what was even the difference between divine and celestial?

"This is Fay, my child, and this is Peter, her mate," Madam turned towards the two of us and introduced us, pointing her hand at the girl first and only then at me. "Fay, Peter, meet Leinei."

Now that I could see the dryad... I could hardly pull my eyes away. She was, just like Fay and Madam, a perfect example of what a beauty is. Her body had perfect shapes, although slightly leaner than Madam. She wore no clothes, using only some flowers and twigs to hide her private parts from everyone's view. Yet, as I looked a bit closer... I realized that it was all but a simple illusion. Or rather, while the shape of her body was real... she didn't have a single ounce of flesh on her frame. As a dryad, the kin of the forest should, her body fully consisted of wood and other plant matter. In that sense, she still was beautiful... just not in the sense of what a sane human could ever crave. I breathed out, gave Fay's hand a gentle squeeze, and then bowed down. "Hello, I'm Peter," I spoke out while lowering my head. "It's an honor to meet you."

Even though I knew close to nothing about this woman, Madam wouldn't be all that formal and low-key respectful if this was someone I could afford to offend. And again, what was with that divine title Madam oh-so-lightly served?

"I know you might be confused, but she's... pretty much like me and Fay," Madam muttered, her confidence suddenly shaken as she averted her eyes... in shame?

I already knew there were other celestial beasts in this forest. Given how little Madam moved around from her spot, it would be stupid to expect this entire, massive forest to be her territory and hers alone. But still... if this dryad was just another celestial beast, why not introduce her as such?

"You didn't tell him?" Noticing my reaction and Madam's awkwardness, Leinei pointed her finger at the mature fox and spoke in an accusatory tone.

"I wanted to!" Madam quickly replied... only to avert her eyes again under the scrutinous gaze of her fellow being. "I... There just never was the right time..." she added, clearly not sure how exactly she was supposed to speak to absolve herself of the apparent wrongdoing. 'She didn't tell me about what exactly?' I thought, growing suspicious not on the basis of Leinei's words but Madam's reaction to them. "Boy, listen," Leinei paid little to no mind to Madam, turning to address me directly. "We..." she started, only to hesitate and then shake her pretty head, causing the long weeds that served as her hair to shake in the air. "The celestial beasts control only about half of the celestial forest. The other half is the domain of the divine beasts."

Leinei sighed deeply before locking her arms on her chest and sending another angry gaze at Madam. "And as you might guess, where there are two different groups, conflict arises."

That... I could also believe it. There were more than enough examples of a situation like this arising in the history of earth for me not to consider it as an extremely probable result of the situation Leinei painted before my eyes. 'But doesn't that also mean, they are essentially the same as me? Just like all the other humans from earth, and possibly, from this world?'

"Yeah, I've heard your pacifist story a thousand times over," Madam gave me no time to think, responding to Leinei's words with a shrug of her shoulders. "This belief of yours is the only reason why I even allow you to reside in my domain!" 'And so, the plot thickens,' I thought, somewhat amused by the back-and-forth between the two. "Anyway," Leinei rolled her eyes, ignoring Madam's remark and focusing on my face again.

This time, though, I could sense the same disgust that I'd noticed before now take root in the dryad's eyes. "It's not the conflict as old as time itself that brought you here," she stated the obvious. And how could it, given how I learned about it only now? "So speak, human," the disgust in the dryad's voice now grew even stronger. "What brings you here?" Daily 3/3 Bonus 2/3

Total tally:

Daily 2/2

Daily wpc bonus 1/1

PS bonus 3/4 (Eh? When did we break past 200ps?)

Review bonus 1/2

Collection milestone bonus 0/2

Supergift bonus :c