Rose led Noel to a river that flowed not far away from the village. This was the source of water that provided life to the village.
However, what Rose wanted to show Noel wasn't the river but a tree next to the river.
The tree seemed to be the same as the ones around it, but its location was a bit unique. There were more than ten meters to the nearest trees as if the tree was being separated from the rest of the colony.
"This should be the place." Rose looked at the tree and touched the trunk, reminiscing the memory between her and her father.
"Father! Look, I managed to climb it!" Rose puffed her chest proudly as she was standing on top of a branch. She was only six years old at this time, but she somehow managed to climb this tree with that tiny body of hers.
"Rose. Please climb down. It's not safe!" A middle-aged man shouted gently, trying to coax her so that she would safely climb down.
But the small Rose was still cheeky as she proudly declared, "I won't go down. You can also climb the tree and catch me. I'm going to prevent dad from—ooowh?!"
When she was making a declaration, she puffed her chest, causing her balance to shift. She ended up slipping and falling to the ground.
Her father's heart skipped a beat. If he had been a normal father, he would have missed Rose because there was still some distance between them.
Rose could only look at the sky as her back would be the one hitting the ground first.
But to her surprise, she landed on her father's hands as the latter caught him gently, making her feel like she fell on top of a pillow.
"Huh?" Rose's body froze and her expression was terrified. She wanted to say something, but she panicked and her mouth refused to open.
In the end, she could only cry. "Waaa…"
Her father tried his best to make a comforting smile while gently holding her in his hands. "Are you alright, my sweetheart?"
"U…U…" Rose felt calmer a bit when she heard her father's voice and looked up, realizing that her father had managed to catch her. "I…"
She wanted to say something, but her father lowered her down gently before hugging her. "It's alright. It's alright. As long as you're safe…"
These comforting words gradually calmed Rose down.
"Sowwy…" Rose tried to apologize with all the tears on her cheeks and snot on her nose.
"It's fine. But with this, Daddy manages to catch you." Her father tried to make a light-hearted joke to lessen the mood.
Rose gasped in realization, but her father had circled around her and held her from behind.
"Hehe, Daddy won't let you go this time." He gently sat down with his back leaning on the tree. This way, he could let Rose rest while making sure she was alright.
Rose couldn't say anything at that time because she was still in shock, but she remembered what her father had said.
"Rose. Do you know there is something special about this tree?" Her father raised his hand as if trying to grasp the tree. "This tree is called Manloon Tree. It's a common tree that you can find anywhere, but you will see a tree separated from the rest here and there.
"It's a natural occurrence as if the tree is trying to tell everyone that it is different from the rest. The tree is screaming, 'I am special!' like that."
"Is… dad… special?" Rose asked with a shaking tone while rubbing her eyes to stop her tears.
"Hmm…What do you think?"
"I don't know. But Rose wants to be like daddy!"
"Then, daddy will be someone special, so Rose can become someone special!"
"Really?!"
"Yep." Her father smiled.
Those words made her forget about what had just happened earlier and stopped the tears from flowing out.
Now that she remembered that scene, Rose felt something was wrong. Her father wasn't supposed to be able to catch her back then. So, the fact that he managed to do it must be because he had been hiding his strength.
In other words, her father was special. And he might be the reason why the Supreme Devil Organization came to her.
Rose kept her eyes closed while remembering that scene. She gently placed her head on the trunk and muttered, "The Manloon Tree might be a common tree, but it's also one of the most resilient. And this tree that is separated from the rest has a different meaning.
"It's a special tree… one that holds a special meaning." Rose slowly turned around, looking at Noel. "I think if my father wants to hide something, he will hide it in this place. I believe we have to dig this area, Noel."
Noel furrowed his eyebrows. Although he was still confused about this tree, he still believed in Rose's judgment.
Instead of using his hand or sword to dig the ground, Noel cut a tree nearby and made two wooden shovels from the trunk.
The shovels would break if they used them like this, but Noel had applied the Hardening Rune to make sure that they didn't break.
He handed one to Rose and started digging. "You don't mind me digging around here, right?"
"Yeah. Though, I hope that you can be a bit gentle since this tree holds a special memory for me."
"Sure."
Noel nodded.
They tried to dig around the tree to see if Rose's father had hidden something underneath the tree.
As predicted, he indeed left something there.
When Noel stabbed the ground with the shovel, he seemed to have hit something hard.
*Clack!*
"Hmm?" Noel furrowed his eyebrows and tried to dig the ground near it to confirm his suspicion.
When the soil above it crumbled, Noel could finally find the thing that Rose's father hid.
"This is…" Noel frowned and called Rose since she was more familiar with her father. "Rose. Come here for a second. I think I've found it."
