I Became a Witness (4)

The veins stood out on my reddened hand.

“…If you don’t want to be chopped down, you’d better hand over your fruit without a fuss.”

But contrary to my words, I had already pressed the saw against the tree.

It was Priest Malja who hurriedly stopped me.

“Priest! Priest! Stop! You worked so hard to raise it!”

That was when the hand that had been sawing came to an abrupt halt.

“Phew, I lost my composure for a moment. I never expected a tree, of all things, to hit me.”

Still, perhaps the threat had worked.

The elderberry’s branches were trembling like an aspen’s.

“That’s right, good. If you want to live a long time, you’d better not rebel. If you willingly hand over your fruit, I won’t cut you down.”...