The poor town of Orchidia couldn’t catch a break. First was the demonic incursion and now it was a strange overgrown plant. Haru knew it was trouble the moment he saw it. The damn thing popped up right after the fight against the demons. There was no way it was a ‘gift from Illumin’ like some religious fools claimed standing next to the monstrous plant. He didn’t bother doing anything about it, however. He knew it was only a matter of time before something even weirder came along and the idiots followed that bandwagon, leaving this one. Then, some sensible and responsible citizens would cut down the tree and all things would be back as they were and should be.

Haru walked down the streets drinking out of his juice box, giving an annoyed look towards the excited group of townsfolk swarmed around the giant plant. He looked up to see how tall it had grown since the previous day. His eyes went wide in shock when he realized it had shot up at least a dozen meters over what it had been before. “What the hell?!” he muttered. Just then, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“If it isn’t Lieutenant Akimoto,” Nilan said, patting the young man on his back. “Oh! Hello, Inspector Nilan,” Haru said, smiling at the Orchidian inspector. The two had collaborated on a few cases a long while ago and the twenty-one-year-old was quite surprised that the inspector remembered him. “This thing is growing too fast,” Haru stated the obvious, turning back towards the tree. “No kidding. I was going to let it remain as a tourist attraction, honestly. Would have helped with the rebuilding funds. But… Unfortunately, there have been cases of people getting sick after touching the tree. So, we need to chop it down,” the inspector said.

Haru knew what that meant. “Just say the word and I’ll clear this thing in no time. Will be nothing but a warm up,” the swordsman boasted, flexing his shoulders. “Well… Can’t be helped. Take a few of the pages with you for assistance if you’d like,” the inspector offered, which Haru dismissed quickly with a wave. He didn’t think much of Pages. Most of them would just be in his way and slow him down. There were a few exceptions, of course. His new sparring partner was a great example of that.

Haru had already taken a few steps towards the giant plant when Nilan stopped him. “Hey! Wait up. Don’t forget these,” he said, handing a few vials and syringes to Haru. “Take some samples so that they can be studied. In case more of these things pop up, we’ll need to come up with a defence,” the inspector explained. Haru simply nodded and pocketed the equipment as he walked towards the base of the tree. “If you guys don’t want a giant tree to fall on your head, I suggest you evacuate the area,” he shouted at the crowd as he made his way through them.

Most people heeded his warning and left the area. Some even screamed. Haru frowned at their overreaction. But what truly pissed him off were the stragglers who thought he was joking. “No! Seriously. Get the hell out of here,” he said, waving his hand exaggeratedly away from the tree. That did the trick. Mostly. There were still a few who wouldn’t budge. Haru simply shook his head and decided to start with the chopping. He figured maybe that would scare them away. It did.

The tree was extremely tall and the trunk was already turning brown, forming the bark. If they had let this thing grow for even one or two more days, cutting it down would have become a headache. The wretched thing was in the middle of the town and already posed a threat of crashing into buildings when cut down. Any higher and that would have been inevitable.

Haru walked around the tree to find the right angle where the tree’s fall would cause minimal damage. On one side was an alley, which was obviously a bad choice given the number of people there. Another one was a tall building. Again, terrible idea. The east side faced a park. It seemed to be the most practical side. He noticed that there were a few kids playing inside the park. Now, getting them out of there… he hated.

The Lieutenant walked in to the park. There were half a dozen kids in there playing ball. Haru wasn’t the same annoyed being that he was with the adults. The moment he laid eyes on the younglings, his expression softened and he smiled. “Hey fellas! Sorry about this. But we need to close the park early today,” he said, scratching his head. Obviously, it took more than that to convince the kids. In fact, it took about fifteen minutes of cajoling before the six of them would leave the premises. But finally they did.

He then made his way back to the tree, pulled out his weapon and got ready to cut the thing down. With a press of a button the mana blade materialized with its usual hum. Haru positioned himself and the lightsabre at the base of the tree in such a manner that when it falls down it crashes into the empty plot of the park. With one swift strike he cut the tree, but it didn’t fall yet. There was no mistaking that the blade entered from one end and left from the other. It would seem the cut was so sharp that the tree only felt the shearing force and no transversal force that would topple it just from the cut. Sure that he had made the cut, Haru simply kicked the tree hard towards the park.

The tall plant then began to topple. First slowly, and then gaining speed thanks to gravity. Haru dashed back a good ten meters away from the crash zone. The thundering sound did alert almost everyone in the vicinity, but Haru didn’t care. He was fine so long as no one was hurt. Once the dust settled, he walked to the tree, collected the sample using the equipment Nilan gave and headed back to the Rune Knight base to hand it in.