Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1827, page 1799: The Golden Tree
A fragrance of flowers and herbs he had never smelled before wafted into Lan En's nostrils.

The essence of fragrance is the sensation of odor particles entering the nasal cavity, being captured by sensory cells, and then presented in the brain.

However, for Lan En, who had already had the [taste monitoring nerve] implanted, what he felt more deeply was the reaction after these odor particles were captured by the taste nerve.

"Although this fragrance is 75% similar to that of lilies and 92% similar to that of roses, but..."

Mentos calmly and reliably provided the analysis results in Lann's mind.

"Without a doubt, sir. It's only similar. We've never encountered or heard of the source of this herbal fragrance. It's an unfamiliar species from another world."

"I see."

Lan En also gave a very calm answer.

The Ear of Lyman grants him exceptional balance and resistance to dizziness.

Therefore, even after passing through the rift where the celestial spheres meet, Lan En's reaction was much better than before.

At least as soon as he arrived, his senses of smell, taste, hearing, and other sensory abilities did not malfunction due to dizziness; instead, they functioned steadily.

However, for some reason, he felt a bit of blinding light when he passed through the rift between the celestial spheres this time.

That's why I subconsciously squinted my eyes slightly, allowing my other senses to pick up the information from the outside world first.

"The velvet ball and the Qilin, are they both fine?"

Lan En opened his eyes and asked the question to the person beside him, receiving an immediate and reassuring response.

"I'm fine, meow!"

"Whoosh!"

The Palico's energetic voice and the Ancient Dragon's snort rang out together, and at that moment, Lann opened his eyes completely and saw everything in front of him.

"Whoosh~" She couldn't help but whistle in amazement, "This scene... is beautiful!"

Even though he had traveled to many worlds and witnessed the strange Yharnam, the decaying Lothric, the desolate Lonely Mountain, and the serene and beautiful Rivendell, Lann still exclaimed in amazement at the scene before him.

He recognized the source of the unfamiliar herbal scent he had just smelled.

Lan En is currently in what appears to be an ancient ruin.

However, this ancient ruin, where even the bluestone appears aged, does not seem to have been abandoned. Instead, it has been used as a flower bed or garden.

Many distinctly different kinds of flowers and plants grow systematically on the ground.

Some flower buds shone with a golden, unmistakable light, while others were large, sunflower-like blooms, exuding a palpable sense of sacredness…

This is clearly a garden where unusual plants are cultivated.

At the landing point of Lan En and his group, the wind blowing due to the difference in air pressure on both sides of the celestial sphere intersection rift caused a small patch of vegetation to bend and sway.

Lan En felt a bit troubled. After all, he had just arrived in this world and had already messed up a small part of someone's garden. He didn't even know the exact value of these plants, so it wouldn't be easy for him to offer compensation.

However, all the other sights and emotions in Lan En's eyes paled in comparison to the magnificent view in the distance!
"It's simply... an overwhelming amount of gold."

The Witcher sighed.

Far away from where he was now, a magnificent city stood on a flat, golden plain, with golden roofs and white walls.

Lann has never been to the Golden Tower City of Nilfgaard, but he thinks that the name "Golden Tower City" is probably more fitting than the magnificent city in his sight.

But even such a magnificent city looked like a pile of building blocks on the ground in front of that giant golden tree!
It was a colossal tree that seemed to be made of energy, yet also had the texture of solidified wood!

That size was truly 'sky-high'!
The magnificent city in the distance is not even as large as the trunk of a tree!
Following the tree trunk upwards, which resembled a curtain hanging from the sky, abundant golden leaves spread out in the air. From where Lan En stood, no matter how he turned his head, the golden leaves occupied at least half of the sky.

The golden light shone on the earth, making it impossible for Lann to even be sure whether the sun was actually in the sky.

"Wow~"

The plush ball jumped onto Lan En's shoulder, and the calico kitten also stared in amazement at the fantastical scene in the distance.

"I thought I'd been buried in Smaug's Lonely Mountain vault again! But this is even more outrageous, meow!"

The Lonely Mountain vault, which Smaug occupied, was also filled with an enormous mountain of gold.

However, the gold in those pieces was different from what was in front of them; the velvet ball could clearly feel it.

The genuine gold, tainted by the evil dragon's aura, felt gloomy and heavy on the velvet ball, and even the glittering gold coins seemed dazzling.

But the golden trees, golden fields, golden city before my eyes... it seems that the color of gold is everywhere, and my first feeling is warmth, stability and peace.

Even the restless Qilin slowly walked to Lan En's side, looking up at the golden tree in the distance, seemingly immersed in the scene.

"Golden Tree... Golden Tree..."

Lan En muttered to himself, still seemingly stunned, but then his tone changed and his voice rose. "We're sorry, we don't know who this garden belongs to; we're just passersby who came to see the golden trees. If these flowers are damaged, we're willing to compensate for them."

The Witcher's words couldn't be clearer, and the well-mannered Velvetball immediately snapped out of his shock at the scene and focused on what was in front of him.

With a light leap from Lan En's shoulder, it ran to the back of the Qilin's horse and stood there, its little paws gripping the hilt of the small sword sticking out from its shoulder, its big, watery eyes alertly and seriously looking around.

The sound of footsteps approaching was highlighted after the Qilin and his companions, who were stunned by the scenery, quieted down.

This place was originally a ruined architectural site, with gaps everywhere except for a few brick and stone walls that had not yet collapsed.

At each of the gaps, a group of strangely shaped creatures were cautiously gathering around.

When he saw the group of creatures, Lan En frowned slightly.

Because their appearance is quite strange.

They were roughly human-shaped, but hunched over and disheveled. Their skulls were also deformed, some resembling apes, some like wolves, and some simply flat.

But that's not all; the key issue lies in their physical condition.

The spine is followed by a tail, which is covered with scales resembling those of reptiles.

However, it has deformed, thin wings on its back, covered with bird feathers.

Mammals, reptiles, birds...

The cross-species characteristics seemed to be fused and manifested in them, making Lan En almost think that it was the product of some kind of artificially intervened experiment.

I wonder if I've fallen into some mad scientist's lab.
Fortunately, through the creatures' movement and the force feedback upon landing, Lan En could easily judge with his experience and eyesight that these creatures were not particularly strong.

The opponent wasn't too strong, and their hostility wasn't too intense, so Lan En didn't react violently.

He raised his hand to indicate that he had no intention of using violence, and reiterated this point.

"We didn't wander in here on purpose, we just got lost. There's no need for a conflict, folks."

The creatures stopped, not because Lann's words had any effect, but simply because they had already taken their positions.

Furthermore, they showed no intention of putting away the short knives, hand axes, daggers, and other weapons they carried.

But just as the velvet ball was frowning and about to draw its sword.

"Heh, that's quite strange." A somewhat muffled female voice came from behind the dilapidated wall, and the creature in that direction made way for her. "You're actually being so polite to a hybrid?"

The person who came was probably a woman, but her clothes were so tightly wrapped that it was impossible to tell the difference between her and her gender.

A headscarf and a veil covered her face, leaving only a slit for her eyes to be visible.

The thick cloth cloak and apron, with a tree pattern sewn in gold thread on the front of the apron, give it an overall Arabic feel.

The pattern on the person's clothes confirmed Lan En's guess: such a magnificent piece of gold standing here could not possibly not be a sublime and great symbol.

Therefore, there are definitely no shortage of people who come to see or even worship.

The identity I gave after a brief moment of thought is most likely correct.

“No,” Lan En said, his thoughts racing, but he continued to communicate smoothly with the other person. “I was just wondering when you would step forward.”

This information was also gleaned from the other party's words. These creatures, known as 'hybrids,' seemed to be disrespected and unwelcome here.

Although Lan En himself only felt that these hybrids looked deformed, he went along with what the other person said so that he wouldn't seem so strange.

The Witcher glanced down; the vibration of the roaring bear head pendant around his neck was already very weak, and the chaotic magical fluctuations from the celestial sphere intersection rift were almost imperceptible.

Now I can leave immediately without any burden.

"Is that so?" The other person didn't seem to have any intention of pressing the matter further. The eyes behind the veil merely glanced at Lan En. "Even so, your attitude towards them is still quite mild."

"Don't be nervous, I'm Torisha, the perfumer."

The newcomer introduced herself, and Lan En could indeed smell many artificially processed compound fragrances on her. She calmly approached and looked down at the small patch of flowerbeds that had been blown over.

"Hmm, it seems you didn't suffer too much damage."

Perfumer, as the name suggests, is usually associated with the perfume industry.

But right now, Lann saw a finely crafted brass dagger at the waist beneath Torisha's thick cloak.

Add to that the fact that these seemingly ferocious mixed-race individuals were completely obedient to her.

Lan En didn't believe that the essence of this profession in this world could be equated with the perfumer he subconsciously thought of.

(End of this chapter)