Honkai Star Rail: I Became the World Tree — Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Human Trafficker Stelle

Stelle blinked, genuinely surprised by the discovery hiding among the dense foliage.

“Huh! There’s a little girl up here!”

Her loud, echoing shout immediately drew the attention of Furina and March 7th, who were waiting at the base of the massive trunk.

Furina cupped her hands around her mouth, leaning back to peer into the canopy. “Stelle, what are you going on about? We can’t hear you up there!”

Stelle pointed toward a hollowed-out alcove in the bark. “I said! There’s a little girl hiding up here!”

Just as the words left her mouth, Stelle realized why her companions couldn’t see anything. The ancient tree trunk was so ridiculously wide that the canopy swallowed all line of sight from the forest floor. Tucked safely within the wooden grooves, a tiny figure looked up at the Trailblazer with wide, timid eyes.

“Big sister…” the little girl whispered, her voice trembling like a leaf in the wind. “Hold onto the trunk tightly. Don’t… don’t fall. If you fall, it will hurt a lot.”

Stelle offered a reassuring nod, her chaotic energy softening for a brief moment. “Let’s head down and talk, alright?”

The little girl hesitated, peeking nervously past Stelle toward the distant figures of Furina and March 7th below. Finally, she gave a tiny nod. “Okay…”

Carefully handling the thick vines and protruding bark, the two of them made their way down to the forest floor. As soon as their boots touched the grass, Furina and March 7th crowded around, their eyes wide with curiosity at the newly discovered elf.

She was a pitiful sight. The little elf girl wore nothing but a coarse, hole-riddled linen tunic that hung loosely from her frail frame. Smudges of dirt and soot covered her pale cheeks, and her silver hair was a tangled mess.

Furina leaned in, inspecting the girl with a mixture of pity and fascination, which only made the poor elf shrink back in shyness.

“Hello there, little sister,” Furina said, offering her most elegant, welcoming smile. “What’s your name? I am Furina.”

March 7th immediately popped up right beside her, grinning from ear to ear. “Yeah, yeah, what’s your name? I’m March 7th!”

Faced with March’s overwhelming, bubbly proximity, the little elf girl’s face flushed a brilliant crimson, practically radiating heat from embarrassment.

“I… my name is An… Anviel,” she stammered, shrinking into herself. “Sister March 7th… please… please don’t get so close…”

Watching Anviel turn into a blushing, stuttering mess, March 7th’s playful instincts flared to life. She was simply too cute not to tease.

“Oh~ so your name is Anviel,” March purred, crossing her arms with a mock-villainous smirk. “Hehe, come along now. I’m going to sell you to a grumpy old farmer and make you work hard in the muddy fields every single day!”

Instead of crying, Anviel just looked up at the pink-haired archer, her large eyes blinking slowly. “You won’t… Anviel believes Sister March 7th wouldn’t do that.” A soft, innocent smile touched her lips. “Sister March 7th… is a good person.”

March’s smirk faltered, but she tried to keep the bit going, letting out a theatrical, wicked laugh. “Hehe, who told you that? I’m a big, scary villain! Rawr!”

Anviel watched March mimic a roaring dragon and shook her head gently. “Anviel’s skill can see into people’s hearts… and the hearts of you three sisters… are very pure. You are good people.”

Defeated by sheer, unadulterated wholesomeness, March dropped her claws and sighed. “Well, I guess the jig is up~”

Furina stepped forward, her expression turning gentle. “Anviel, why are you out here in the forest all by yourself? Where is your family? It’s incredibly dangerous for a child to wander these woods alone.”

Anviel’s frail shoulders slumped, her gaze dropping to the dirt. “Anviel… has always been alone. Mama and Papa… were both… killed by the Orcs.”

The heavy silence of the forest seemed to press down on them. The traumatic memories of a brutal war, etched deeply into her young mind, bubbled to the surface. Her lower lip quivered.

“Waaaah~”

Tears spilled over her dirty cheeks as she finally broke down crying.

Panic flashed across Furina’s face. She immediately dropped to her knees and pulled Anviel into a tight, warm hug, gently stroking the girl’s trembling back. “There, there, Anviel, please don’t cry. It’s alright now. Come on, I’ll treat you to the most delicious little cakes you’ve ever tasted, okay?”

Desperate to help, March 7th and Stelle began pulling the most ridiculous, exaggerated faces they could muster.

“Anviel, look at this one! Wah~” March crossed her eyes and puffed out her cheeks, while Stelle contorted her features into a bizarre, trash-raccoon grimace.

Between the warm embrace and the utterly absurd expressions of the Trailblazers, Anviel’s sobs slowly quieted down into soft hiccups.

With the crisis averted, Stelle dusted off her hands and looked at the other two. “So, what’s the game plan now?”

March tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Well, we obviously can’t just leave Anviel out here. How about we take her back to town and ask Samuel? She’s an elf, right? She must have been one of his former followers.”

Furina nodded in agreement, gently wiping a tear from Anviel’s cheek. “I think that’s a brilliant idea. Once we finish gathering our quota of Mushrooms, we’ll take her straight to Samuel.”

Hearing the mention of their task, Anviel weakly raised a small, dirt-stained hand. “Um… do the sisters want to pick Mushrooms? Anviel knows exactly where the good ones grow.”

Furina’s eyes lit up with dramatic flair. “Oh? You know the best foraging spots?”

Anviel nodded earnestly. “Yes… Anviel has… always lived nearby all these years. I know the forest very well.”

Stelle grinned, giving a thumbs-up. “Now that’s what I call a lucky break!”

For the next hour, Anviel guided the trio through the dense underbrush, pointing out hidden patches of vibrant fungi. Left to their own devices, Furina, March, and Stelle managed to confidently pluck several highly toxic, brightly colored mushrooms. Fortunately, Anviel was there to frantically swat the poisonous caps out of their hands before they could be bagged.

Half an hour later, they arrived back at the settlement.

“Samuel! Come look!” Stelle’s voice boomed across the street. “We kidnapped a little girl for you!!!”

Sitting peacefully at the entrance of his General Store, Samuel paused mid-sip. The warm porcelain teacup hovered near his lips.

What the hell? he thought, lowering the cup. Brought a little girl back for me? Have these three seriously resorted to human trafficking?

He looked up. Down the dirt road, Stelle, March 7th, and Furina were marching toward him, flanked by a tiny, ragged elf girl.

The moment his eyes landed on her, Samuel recognized her. A cascade of information surfaced effortlessly in his mind. As the living incarnation of Irminsul, the World Tree, his consciousness housed the records and memories of all living beings connected to this world.

The trio stopped in front of the store, pushing Anviel gently forward.

Stelle flashed a mischievous, utterly unapologetic grin. “Look, Samuel. We ran into this little elf while picking Mushrooms, so we brought her back as a souvenir.”

Samuel ignored the Trailblazer’s chaotic phrasing. He set his teacup down, his gaze softening as he looked at the trembling child. A warm, nostalgic smile touched his lips.

“Anviel,” he said, his voice rich and steady. “Long time no see.”

Anviel froze. That voice. It connected deep within her chest, carrying an ancient, comforting warmth that felt impossibly familiar.

“This big brother…” she murmured, staring up at him with wide eyes. “Your voice… it sounds so familiar to Anviel.”

Samuel’s smile widened. Of course it was familiar. His current human vessel was the direct incarnation of Irminsul. His voice, his presence, and his very soul were identical to the ‘previous generation’ Sacred Tree she had known.

“Anviel,” Samuel said softly, leaning forward. “I still remember those days when you didn’t want to go to your lessons. You would sneak away and run all the way to the foot of my roots just to take a nap in the shade.”

The moment those words left his mouth, a vivid memory flashed through Anviel’s mind. The towering canopy, the rustling leaves, the overwhelming sense of safety. Slowly, the image of the young man sitting before her merged perfectly with the colossal, divine presence from her childhood.

Tears welled up in her eyes, spilling over her lashes in an uncontrollable flood.

“You… you are Lord Sacred Tree!!!”

Samuel stood up, closed the distance between them, and gently rested his hand on top of her head, ruffling her silver hair exactly as the tree’s gentle vines used to do in her memories.

“You finally remembered,” Samuel whispered, his tone carrying the weight of a protective father. “Anviel… welcome home.”

With a broken sob, Anviel threw herself forward, burying her face into Samuel’s waist. She wrapped her thin arms around him and wailed. For years, this little girl had wandered the unforgiving forest alone, freezing, starving, and hiding from monsters.

Hearing those two simple words—welcome home—shattered the heavy walls she had built around her heart.

Samuel simply stood there, gently stroking her hair as she cried out years of accumulated grief and loneliness.

After a long while, the desperate sobs faded into exhausted, quiet sniffles. Anviel’s emotional storm had finally passed.

Samuel looked down at the tattered, drafty linen she was wearing and frowned slightly. He turned his attention to the Hydro Archon. “Furina, could you do me a favor? Take Anviel into town and buy her a few proper sets of clothes.”

Furina nodded instantly, stepping forward to take Anviel’s small hand in hers. “Of course I will. But it might have to wait just a moment. Stelle, March, and I still need to deliver these supplies to the children in the Lower District.”

She gestured toward the massive, neatly stacked pile of provisions resting nearby.

Samuel nodded in understanding. “Alright, you girls go handle that. I’ll take Anviel to pick out a comfortable Treehouse for her to live in first.”

Furina flashed him a bright ‘OK’ gesture.

Stepping up to the pile, Clorinde raised her hand. With a subtle pulse of elemental energy, the Champion Duelist used the spatial storage of her Vision, sweeping the massive haul of supplies into her inventory in the blink of an eye.

Because the trip had been somewhat impromptu, Clorinde had only managed to secure about five hundred kilograms of rice and fifty kilograms of assorted fresh vegetables. Even so, this mountain of food was more than enough to keep the starving children of the Lower District fed for a very long time.