"It's getting colder, huh..."
Brunhild was entering its winter season. It wasn't half as cold as the Kingdom
of Elfrau was when I'd visited, but it was still quite bad. It looked like snow was
due, too.
"Do we have sufficient countermeasures to stave off the cold?"
"All the houses in Brunhild have fireplaces. We have ample stores of
firewood, too. If anything, our concern should be preventing fires." That was
true. We formed a small fire brigade just in cases any places got lit up. Also,
there was a device much like a pump so fires could be extinguished quickly.
Kousaka was definitely thorough in his approach, so it was good to have him
around. It seemed the water from the town's canal would be our primary
method of opposing fire. For now, having them go on occasional patrols would
be enough. Maybe I'd equip them with some claves they could slap together to
alert others or something.
After finishing my formal affairs, I headed to the courtyard training grounds.
Hilde and Rebecca were both in the midst of a duel.
After she was officially announced as my fiancee, Hilde had come to live in my
castle.
In all honesty, I didn't expect her to come live with me until the wedding.
Fiancee or not, she was still the princess of another nation, and had national
duties.
Unlike Yumina, who seemed to take a while to settle with me, Lu and Hilde
seemed to have settled in relatively quickly. They were right at home. As you
might expect, Sue was the only one who didn't live with me. She still stayed
over two nights a week, though.
Obviously, she didn't sleep in my room either. She mostly stayed with Yumina.
Though I'd noticed she stayed with Renne some nights.
I didn't mind her staying overnight, but she really had to stop sneaking into
my room in order to wake me up. It was a little much to be woken up twice a
week by a little girl's body slamming into me.
As I winced, recalling the pain, Hilde wandered over toward me.
"Touya!"
"Nice job, Hilde." I cast [Refresh] and restored all of her fatigue. Whenever
she had time, she'd come to train here against my soldiers. I wouldn't have
expected anything less from a knight.
Hilde wasn't wearing the Lestian armor that she wore when we first met,
though. Instead, she had light armor of Brunhild's design on. Despite the fact
that she was a knight, she didn't belong to my country's knight order. She
herself said she wasn't a knight of Brunhild, but my own personal knight... I
knew for a fact that Commander Lain felt a little awkward having someone so
close to me fighting alongside them.
"Are you off somewhere?"
"I'm heading to the guild. Brunhild's branch finally opened up, so I'm gonna
check it out."
"Ooh... May I come with you?"
"Don't see why not. Let's go." Having her come with me and see the town was
on the agenda, so this was handy. I wanted her to get used to Brunhild sooner
rather than later.
I left the castle with Hilde. On our way into town, we passed a bunch of
excited children who didn't seem to care at all about the cold.
"Heeey, Milord! Nice to see ya!"
"Nice to see ya, Milooord!"
"Ah, yeah... Good to see you. Don't wander off too far, now."
"Ohkaaay!" The cheery kids ran off toward the fields. I'd been considering it
for a while, but I definitely needed to make a school. Kids that could read and
write, and learn other skills, would be useful to have in the country. Then again,
I didn't have any teachers.
We didn't have too many talented people amongst the general population...
"The children are happy... That's good, it makes me happy too."
"Yeah... We managed to build up the country without needing them to chip in
and work. That's a good thing, really." Brunhild could be considered a fairly
well-off country. We didn't have anything in the way of poverty, and most
people had jobs, but we also didn't really have anything in the way of industry...
Unless you counted bicycle production. I was doing some experiments with
trade, agriculture, and manufacturing, but it was nothing concrete just yet.
I'd asked Flora to improve several types of seed for me, so I wanted to kick off
more agricultural production, but... our territory wasn't all that vast or wide, so
we were a little limited in our operations.
As I pondered such things, we finally arrived at our destination, Brunhild's
guild hall. The place was already a little crowded. It seemed that the guild was
operating like any other.
I pulled a hood over my head and went inside. The crowd was pretty noisy,
come to think of it. The quest board had a ton of people in front of it checking
out all the different posts. Part of me missed the atmosphere. I'd completely
changed my life since I first arrived in this world.
Hilde kept looking around restlessly. I wondered if this was the first time she'd
been in a guild hall.
"Welcome! Are you a newcomer?"
"Ah, no... I just came to visit. Is the manager in?" I gave a vague answer to the
cat-eared receptionist and quietly flashed her my card. There were only two
Golds on the continent, after all.
"Wh...! W-Wow... A-Ah... Please wait just a moment!" The flustered catgirl
stumbled off up the stairs while her colleagues looked on in confusion. I briefly
caught the glance of a few adventurers, but they very quickly returned their
gazes to the quest listings. A few were glancing at Hilde, but that wasn't too
surprising. She stuck out like a sore thumb, after all.
After a while, the cat-eared girl came down and spoke in a low whisper.
"I'll take you to see the manager now... Y-Your Highness...!" The girl led me
off up the stairs, and we passed through to the back room. There, someone I
knew quite well was waiting on me.
"Huh? You're the manager here, Relisha?" Relisha, the elven guildmaster,
stood there and smiled at me. She was supposed to be one of the great
guildmasters of the west. I wondered if she'd been demoted or something.
"No, not quite. A guildmaster can choose which guild branch becomes their
home base, but I hadn't decided. However, after establishing the Brunhild
branch, I finally made my choice."
"Oh, so that's how it is..." I pulled down my hood and took a seat. The room I
was in was surprisingly gaudy, with several documents and books adorned the
place, neatly organized on shelves. There were various magically-charged items
dotted around, too. Guildmasters certainly lived interesting lives.
"Ah, Grand Duke... I've been informed you're engaged to the Lestian princess.
Please accept my congratulations."
"Ah... Thank you."
"A-Ah! Thank you so much!" Hilde... That was loud. She squirmed in
embarrassment, completely oblivious to my thoughts as I looked at her.
"On to other matters, the Yulong incident troubles me greatly. The guild
branch there was almost completely wiped out. The survivors were gravely
wounded. It will take a considerable amount of time, but we will rebuild.
Adventurers are necessary in a place with shattered morale." As I'd expected,
the effects of the incident were catastrophic. The information on the Phrase
had been sent to the other guildmasters, but not the individual hall staff. Had
they known, they may have found some way to escape.
"Are there any new reports of Phrase activity?"
"None at all, no. Do you believe it could happen again, Your Highness?"
"I don't think it's over, but I can't tell you when it'll happen again. Tomorrow?
A year? Ten years? I just can't say." Relisha frowned slightly, placing a hand to
her chin as if deep in thought.
"For now, we can continue to spread the warnings. I hope the same thing
doesn't happen in Yulong, though... Especially not after we rebuild." Relisha
chuckled faintly, as if she were telling a joke. Still, it was undeniable that the
possibility of disaster was ever present. I saw the tear in reality form back in
Yulong. There wasn't any guarantee it wouldn't open once more.
The towns and buildings themselves weren't especially damaged, since the
Phrase went after living targets exclusively, but many people didn't want to live
there simply because of the fact that a genocide had occurred.
The people of Yulong became refugees, having no choice but to escape to
neighboring nations. Some of them became thieves and brigands, while others
earned money defeating them... The lives of many were changed by the
incident.
"There are still many in Yulong who believe the invasion was your work,
Grand Duke. But nobody outside of that country believes in it, I can assure you.
The refugees who leave always end up learning the truth, as well. The more
people they meet, the fewer lies they believe. I'm certain the stories won't
persist much longer."
"They can say whatever they want, honestly. I'm just about done with
Yulong."
"They've been rallying people lately with catchphrases and slogans like 'Never
forgive, never forget.' It's entirely possible they may cause trouble for you down
the line."
"Then I'll crush whoever's rallying them should it come to that. I'm not a
wimp, so if someone causes me trouble, then I'll squash them. Peace begets
peace, and violence breeds violence." I had no choice but to take that stance. I
sympathized with Yulong, but this was another matter entirely. I didn't want
anything to do with their lies.
"We'll spread such a message from our guilds, then. Something along the
lines of 'The grand duke of Brunhild is a benevolent man, but he will surely
strike down anyone that opposes his nation.' Something to that effect." I
figured that'd be enough. Though I didn't want to be exaggerated out of
context too much... Still, there was nothing I could do. I decided to change the
subject.
"How's the guild going?"
"Well, it's going. We're employing plenty of people for general quests, and
missions to kill monsters are coming in from Belfast and Regulus. The only real
issue is there aren't any high-tier missions available... Though, I suppose that's a
testament to how peaceful Brunhild is, no?" There weren't any magic beasts
around or anything, and I'd cleared out all the brigands. The quests here
wouldn't be fulfilling for people who wanted to earn a lot at once, since it was
mostly small stuff.
Just then, I heard some rowdy voices from downstairs. I wondered what it
could be. I asked Relisha, and she told me that disputes were regular in guild
halls, and fights were just a part of life here.
I wasn't too surprised. After all, I'd been involved in a few conflicts like that
myself.
"Hey, twerp. This isn't a place you can just stroll into, got it?"
"Come on, now. Don't you think you're just talking tough because you have a
woman with you?"
"Shut it. I'll teach you how to be a real adventurer. Your wallet can be my
payment."
...The situation didn't exactly sound amicable.
Guilds typically didn't interfere in disputes between adventurers. So long as
there was no damage to the property, it wasn't their business.
If people scuffled, they typically took it outside anyway. That was one of the
reasons the guild was built with a wide area in front of it.
Eventually we heard loud footsteps that grew fainter as people went outside.
I figured they must've been asked to leave by the staff.
"Oh, seems they've taken it outside," Relisha muttered to herself as she
peeked out the window.
That reminded me of my own experience too. I'd once been told to take it
outside. Back then they'd intended to humiliate me in front of the town, rather
than just the guild, but they were the ones who ended up humiliated.
"Hmph... Aren't they ashamed of ganging up on one person like that...? It's a
woman, as well..." Hilde peeked out the window. She seemed rather interested
as well.
"She seems stronger than them, though. See? She beat a bunch already."
"Incredible. She must be strong to heft that axe around... She's certainly lightfooted as well. It looks like she might just be naturally talented, since she's not
moving like she has formal training... Her clothes are strange, as well..."
"I believe that's the traditional garb of the Rauli tribe, from the Sea of Trees. I
never expected to see one of them out here..."
Huh...? What'd they say just now...? The Rauli Tribe... Why does that ring a
bell?
I peeked out from another window and saw four men on the ground. A
tanned woman was fighting a fifth.
What?! That girl!
"Touya?" Ignoring Hilde, I darted out of the room, bolted past reception, and
ran outside. I made it there just in time to see the girl kick the last man hard in
the side of the face.
The onlookers cheered as the girl looked down on her attackers.
Suddenly, her eyes fell upon me. As I'd expected, it was her. She was the
granddaughter of the Rauli tribe chief, and the girl who bit me way back when.
Her name was Pam, if I recalled correctly.
"... Found you."
Huh? Did she just speak? I didn't know she could speak the common tongue.
My thoughts were interrupted by Pam suddenly charging over and embracing
me. She bowled me over and started rubbing her cheek against mine.
W-Wait a second now! The girl was wearing something like a hide mantle, but
she only had a chest wrap and a loincloth covering her breasts and nether
region respectively. She was... hitting against me, in various ways. They were
definitely as big as I remembered.
"Wh-What are you doing?!" I looked toward the guild's entrance and saw
Hilde standing there, red in the face. She was fidgeting like crazy.
...This feels dangerous. Oh geez... Yep, this is a familiar sensation...
"What are you doing?! Get off Touya!"
"Who you? This Pam's lover. Pam am having baby with him."
"Wh-Wh-Wh-What?!" Hilde's cheeks grew redder than beets.
What the hell is going on here?! I don't understand! Someone explain the
situation, damn it!
◇ ◇ ◇
"I can't allow this."
"Why? If child born from Touya and Pam is girl, our tribe raises. If child is boy,
you raise."
Yumina simply replied with a sigh and a shake of her head.
"I'm sorry, but you aren't suited to become Touya's wife. You really need to
leave."
"Pam doesn't wish to be bride. Just having Touya's seed is good. With Touya's
seed, I make strongest baby to become queen of Sea of Trees." Well, her
intentions were certainly plain and simple. We'd been talking in circles for
hours. Pam had left the Sea of Trees in order to find me. She'd learned the
common tongue during the trip, so it seemed she was smarter than I'd initially
given her credit for.
After the fuss in the guild, a bridal conference was called. The theme of the
meeting was "Can Pam be accepted?"
"Pam don't know why you guys have problem."
"You're more than free to want a baby, Pam, but it's another matter entirely
if it's Touya's child as well. You'd choose the prosperity of your people over
Touya's happiness. A person like that can't be allowed to have his baby."
Yumina glared down at Pam with a tremendously imposing force behind her
words. In all honesty, she scared me a bit too.
"...The baby doesn't have to be Touya's, does it? It doesn't need to be him if
you want a strong child. Just go sleep around with some strong men, I'm sure
one of them will take hold." Linze let loose some bitter words as well. She
seemed to be fully behind Yumina's stance here.
"Cannot. Pam has given Touya the Oathbite. That mean Touya is Pam's."
"How utterly selfish! There's no way Touya would acknowledge something so
stupid!" Hilde stood up in her chair and yelled over at Pam. Sounded like that
bite Pam had given me a while ago was the equivalent of a promise in their
culture. Something like 'I've marked this guy as mine, so back off.'
Their culture really didn't care about men or their personal circumstances. It
was entirely female-dominated. They were pretty similar to the traditional idea
of the Amazons.
"Let us begin from the start, yes? Why do you wish to bear Touya-dono's
child? There must surely be more than your simple reason, there must." Yae
took a more gentle approach in quizzing Pam, to which the brown-skinned girl
replied by frowning and muttering.
"We tribe of war... But we do not attack others, except for making child. We
fight to protect home, but not to attack others. Still, lately many tribes attack us
stronger and harder. Strong blood needed so we can stay in Sea of Trees. Also
to win during the pruning."
"Hm...? What's the pruning?" Sue tilted her head slightly and asked a
question. As far as I understood it, pruning was when you cut off troublesome
branches and leaves from trees in order to make it look better or help fruits
grow.
"The Pruning is war between tribes of Sea of Trees. Every ten years, warriors
from every tribe comes battle to decide which tribe is strongest. Winning tribe
becomes Tribe of the Treelord and can make one law in Sea of Trees."
Every ten years, huh... Well, that sounds interesting. I guess the winning tribe
can establish a law to make it easier for his tribe and harder on the others.
"A law? So can you pick and choose anything? What if you wanted to make a
law to expel a tribe or something?" Elze took the words right out of my mouth. I
wondered if you could make a law like 'Tribe A must pledge obedience to Tribe
B' or something like that. I doubted you could make a dumb law like 'Give me a
hundred more laws,' though.
In classic stories involving situations with one wish, there's usually a rule
against wishing for more wishes.
"If allowed by Great Wishing Tree, yes. If it does not dishonor tribe, then any
law."
"Great... Wishing Tree?"
"Is guardian deity of us. Grants all tribes spirit's blessing and protection."
...Like one of those trees you tie talismans to? Still, I kinda wonder what she
means by spirits. Hopefully nothing like the one that rampaged around in
Ramissh... If there's a wishing tree like that, I wonder... Does the Sea of Trees
have a forest spirit?
From what I understood, spirits were benign for the most part. In the case of
the one at Ramissh, it went berserk due to being sealed underground for
centuries. Plus, it was kind of an asshole after it fused with Ramirez and gained
his negativity.
The people from the Sea of Trees lived their lives worshiping this wishing tree
and lived according to a spiritual creed. In a way, they were similar to the
people of Ramissh.
"Rauli tribe loses in Pruning for last seventy years now. Other tribes take in
new blood. Strong blood. Pam and Touya's baby will win Pruning. Restore honor
and glory. If Pam do nothing, Rauli tribe destroyed by Balm tribe soon."
"The Balm tribe? They're another tribe in the Sea of Trees, then?"
"Yes. Is tribe that says women less good than men. They steal woman from
other tribes, fill seed, make many babies. If baby boy, raise as warrior. If baby
girl, cast out mother and child."
That's not all that different from the Rauli tribe, though... Just a reversal of
roles, honestly. Not that I'm saying either is right, it's quite awful.
There seemed to be a deep hate between the male-dominated tribe, Balm,
and the female-dominated tribe, Rauli. Given their creeds, there could probably
never be peace between the two.
Both tribes were strong enough to keep the other in check, but the arrival of
the Spider Phrase caused catastrophic damage to the Rauli people. The warriors
that were to represent the tribe in the pruning ended up dying. Because of that,
they were sitting ducks for the Balm tribe to pick away at.
"We given up on winning next Pruning. Only hope that Balm does not win and
become Tribe of the Treelord. But Pam and Touya's child can win next Pruning,
and we become Tribe of the Treelord." That was certainly a long-term plan. Still,
after hearing her circumstances, I couldn't accept. I didn't want her to give birth
to my daughter just to make the girl fight. That would be horrible.
"When's the next Pruning?"
"One month. We fight. Tribe brings great shame if not participating. We will
lose. Pam not fight because Pam is here. Pruning has five tribe champions fight
other tribe's five champions. If unlucky, you die." That sounded terribly
dangerous. From what I had heard, the Pruning followed a simple set of rules. It
was similar to a five-versus-five tournament. It was beginning to sound more
and more like a military event than anything else.
"Hm..."
"Yumina?" Yumina was deep in thought as Lu tried calling out to her.
"What kind of law will the Balm tribe add if they win this Pruning?"
"Likely some law that drives Rauli tribe to edge of Sea of Trees. Bad hunt, bad
soil. Hard to live. Kill us slow, over time. Does not dishonor Balm to make law.
They take our hunting grounds after."
"Then what kind of law would the Rauli tribe make if they won?"
"Same law, but drive away Balm tribe to die slow."
These guys really are two sides of the same coin. It'd be better if they could
just get along already... Can't they just be a big gender-equal tribe? I'd been
thinking a lot more about gender equality lately, especially with regards to
family.
"So you only want Touya's child so you can use her to drive out the Balm
tribe?"
"It is not only reason, but yes, for most part."
"...Very well, then. Let's strike up a deal. We can help the Rauli tribe win the
current Pruning. We can help your tribe reach this... Treelord Tribe status. In
exchange, give up on Touya entirely."
Wait, seriously?! You're gonna participate in the survival game?! I mean, I'd
like to help Pam too, but... I can't give her a baby, that's way too much.
"...Can you win?"
"Hard to say, but it's better to take a chance instead of losing now and betting
on the next decade, no?" Yumina replied with a little smile. The girl was
emanating some kind of womanly intensity, I could feel it.
Come to think of it, after a decade or so my kid would only be nine or ten.
They weren't thinking of putting her in a survival game then, were they?
"...If you say. If you can win, then Pam will be happy. But if lose like Pam
expect, then Pam make a baby with Touya."
"I doubt it'll come down to that." Yumina and Pam gently smiled at one
another. For some reason it was terrifying, though.
Apparently if Yumina and the girls temporarily joined the Rauli tribe, they'd
be allowed to join the games. I couldn't help but find it a little weird, though.
It'd be like having eight foreigners come in and substitute for your baseball
team. It wouldn't be the original team anymore, but just a group of some
random guys.
"Yumina-dono, are you serious, are you?"
"I think this is the best compromise we can get. Are we all agreed?" I looked
around, and found nobody disagreeing. Part of me did want to object, though. I
didn't want to see the girls get injured.
But I knew that if I did object, they'd say something like... "You want to have a
baby with Pam that much, huh? I see, I see... Is it because of her enormous
boobs? Do you love boobs that much?!" I felt like some of them would worry,
so I couldn't really speak my mind.
A lot of my fiancees had some insecurity about their breasts, which I thought
was a tad silly. Most of them were still growing, so it was fine.
In terms of breast size, Yae was the biggest, then Hilde, then a considerable
jump down to Linze, then Elze, then Lu, then Yumina, and... if you could call
them breasts, Sue. Pam's knockers were bigger than Yae's though, so even she
could get insecure.
Flora had mentioned some kind of dubious boob-enhancing medicine... but I
wasn't so sure about it... If Yumina suddenly showed up with a back-breaking
mega rack, I just didn't know how I'd feel.
"Then we will represent the Rauli tribe, we will. We will win the Pruning and
gain the title for your tribe. But there is limited space for participation, there is."
"That's true... I guess if Pam goes in to rep her tribe, then the other four
would be me, Hilde, Lu, and Yae, right?" Elze spoke up. This seemed fair, since
Yumina and Linze weren't capable of close-range combat. The two of them
were long-range fighters. Sue couldn't do much in the way of fighting, either.
Though she had been learning about wrestling from Lapis, Cecile, and Renne.
She had a keen interest in those maids. I wondered if she wanted to become
one or something.
At any rate, a plan of action had been decided upon. It was a little
troublesome I couldn't get a word in edgewise the entire time, though.
"Ah, Yumina? I have a question..."
"Yes, Sue?" Sue tilted her head a little, speaking over to Yumina.
"Are we all going to go to the pruning?"
"I suppose so, yes. You can all cheer on the Rauli tribe as they fight. Plus,
something may happen that leaves us needing a substitute."
"What about Touya?"
"He's central to this, so yes. I want him to cheer us all on as we fight... It'd also
be nice to have him around in case of an incident."
I definitely didn't plan to just leave them to handle everything themselves. I'd
accompany them as both moral support and actual support if anything bad
happened. I had no idea what might happen, after all. I'd have liked to think
there'd be no foul play, but there was no real frame of reference.
"Uhm... Touya's a man, though."
"Ah..." Everyone suddenly made the same noise. And she was right. If I called
myself a guest with the Rauli tribe, my sex would be something people would
find weird. If anything happened, I'd likely be told to butt out because I was an
outsider, so I needed to make sure I was recognized as a tribe member. But I
wasn't sure what to do.
"...Crossdressing, I suppose."
"No way! No way, damn it!" I finally mustered the strength to speak my
objections to Linze's idle muttering.
◇ ◇ ◇
The Pruning.
All the tribes in the Sea of Trees gathered beneath the Great Wishing Tree. It
was said that they competed for the sake of honor beneath the judgment of
their patron deity.
It was definitely something akin to a survival game.
We were participating as members of the Rauli tribe and aiming to win. That
way we could secure the Treelord title for them. If we didn't, Pam would keep
begging me for a baby... The Pruning would last a total of three days, so it
wouldn't be awful in the end. Elze and Hilde were quite eager to fight. They
were the kind of people who enjoyed testing their abilities. Plus, if things went
well, we'd have solid ties with the tribe that controlled the Sea of Trees until
the next Pruning.
Linze really wanted me to cross-dress, but I got out of it in the end. I was able
to use [Mirage] to change my external appearance to that of a woman.
Someone would find out if they touched me, but I was willing to chance it. I
sent Pam back to the Rauli village using [Gate].
I also realized that holding conversations with them in their tongue would be
difficult, so I learned the Null spell [Translation] for the occasion. It basically
translated spoken words. To the listener, I'd be speaking their language. To me,
they'd be speaking mine. Everyone won.
It was sort of similar to the innate communication that I had with Kohaku and
my other summons.
For now... Pam, Yae, Elze, Hilde, and Lu were the ones picked to participate. I
thought maybe we'd have to call on a substitute in case of injury, but
apparently they had to lock in the teams they started with.
I wanted to participate, since it'd be pretty easy that way, but Pam and the
other Rauli tribeswomen opposed the idea. Apparently if the Rauli tribe sent
out a man, even a disguised one, to the Pruning, it would be considered
dishonorable. Even if it was a case of me participating as an outside helper, they
vetoed it.
It was a case of 'a man should be seen and not heard' with them. Honestly, it
was a little scary being around them. Part of me pined for the safety of the Balm
tribe.
After that, a month passed.
The day had finally arrived, and we headed to the Great Wishing Tree.
"Phew..." The tree was big. That was all I could really say about it.
What the hell... It's like several dozen meters across... Beautiful green leaves
and branches spread out as far as the eye could see, all from a remarkably thick
trunk. The tree wasn't nearly as tall as it was wide. It evoked the image of a fully
unfolded umbrella with most of its grip cut off.
Sunlight broke through its leaves, illuminating the ground in dots and streaks.
All the great tribes of the Sea of Trees gathered to bask in that light.
There were various tree stumps dotted around the Great Wishing Tree. Even
the smallest were around twenty meters in diameter. Apparently they too were
part of the big one, and used as staging grounds for duels.
There were two-hundred-and-forty tribes living in the Sea of Trees. But only
one, the Jaja Tribe, hosted the Pruning ceremony. They were also known as the
Judgment Tribe. Apparently they were the only tribe that the spirits had
allowed to live at the base of the Great Wishing Tree. They had a fairly
impressive claim to the land they called the Wishing Grounds. In exchange, they
weren't allowed to participate in the Pruning. Apparently they worked like the
priests of the region, conveying the will of the spirits to the other tribes.
"...There sure are a lot, huh..." I glanced around nervously. There were tribes
of fat people, tribes of thin people. I saw tribes with weird head decorations,
tribes with jangly bracelets... I even saw a tribe full of people with really bad
mustaches, and a tribe of people clad head-to-toe in hooded green cloaks.
As I'd expected, most of the tribals here had a lot of skin exposure, both men
and women. Nobody was sitting there with their junk hanging out, but some
tribes wore so little that I didn't know what to look at.
"I am glad that we do not stand out, I am."
"Touya... It'd be best if you didn't gawp at women so much. You're disguised
as one, after all." Lu made a backhanded little comment, so I replied with a
cough as I stiffened my posture.
Everyone was wearing traditional Rauli clothing. In other words, chest wraps
and loincloths. The girls were clearly embarrassed, so they wore little ponchos
and wraparound skirts above the basic outfits. The clothes seemed suitable for
Elze to fight freely in, though.
My [Mirage] projection was wearing the same as them, of course. But
underneath it all, I was just wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I didn't want anyone to
touch me and feel the sensation of clothing, after all.
Sue was also wearing the Rauli style, but she only looked cute. I didn't feel
any kind of arousal when I saw her in it. The other girls, however... I had to
avert my gaze, since they were pretty damn stimulating.
But hey, a lot of the tribes I was looking at were wearing even less, so this was
modest by regional standards.
"Is there a reason we need to fight atop the stumps?"
"Yes, there is. The spirits offer their divine protection to the areas above the
stumps. Fatal attacks are nullified within the confines. If someone tries to fatally
strike someone in the head, for example, the person would merely be stunned
instead. Lethal blows are simply downgraded." I didn't know how it worked, but
spirits were certainly interesting. I wondered if it was similar to my [Shield]
spell. Then again, it straight-up prevented fatal damage, so it was likely very
different. It reminded me of mechanics in some games where the damage
stopped at 1HP.
In other words, death wasn't likely during the challenge. Though, apparently
people still died now and then. The stumps were around two meters off the
ground, so if a participant fell off and hit themselves at an odd angle, the impact
would kill them.
"What about magic?"
"Ah... It's all nullified. You shouldn't use fire-based techniques here, either.
You'll be driven out of the region, and the Judgment Tribe will blacklist you." So
even magic wasn't permitted. That meant Elze wouldn't be able to cast [Boost]
at all. Everyone was equipped with regular weapons too, since enchanted ones
became inert.
I could understand why they banned fire. If it actually caught and spread, it
would've been awful. Apparently there was a large stream of water right
outside the Wishing Grounds. Most people prepared food there to be safe.
There was seating arranged amidst the tree branches, so supporters could
look down and cheer for their tribe. The trees were connected by suspension
bridges.
"When does the first match start?"
"Soon. If we win against three other tribes, we'll be done for the day. That's
how we advance to tomorrow's matches." So two-hundred-and-forty tribes
fight around three times... This round should bring them down to thirty. If
today's matches are the preliminaries, then tomorrow's will be the finals.
A bell rang out from somewhere all of a sudden. All the chatter and murmur
from nearby died down, and a voice called out to everyone.
"It is time. All but the participants must clear the area. All after this is the will
of the spirits." A man from the Judgment Tribe, clad in a white uniform, spoke
up. The spectators from the other tribes began to file off, moving toward the
treehouse viewing platforms.
We decided to leave as well.
"Alright, guys. Make sure to do your best. Stay safe."
"I will do my best, I will."
"Gotcha."
"Leave it to us!"
"I'll try hard."
"Let's do it, then!" Yae, Elze, Hilde, and Lu followed after Pam to the tree
stump where they'd do battle.
We moved up to the seats atop a nearby tree, climbing up some stairs and
making our way to sit down. Our view of the fighting area was pretty damn
good.
"I'm a little excited..." Sue leaned forward against the safety rail, staring down
at the site below. Everyone in this particular tree belonged to the Rauli tribe.
There were around fifty spectators from this tribe in particular... I found it a
little awkward, being the only man. Even though they physically saw me as a
woman, they knew I was really a dude. I really should've thought about this
harder. I could've just used [Invisible] or something.
Still, that would've made intervening harder in case of an emergency. It was
better to be disguised as a member of the Rauli tribe, even if it was
uncomfortable.
"Oh, Touya... Take a look over there."
"Hm?" I looked to where Linze was pointing, and saw rays of sunlight shining
down like spotlights, focused on each tribe's representative. Slowly the rays
moved, guiding each fighter to their stage.
I looked up toward the branches and saw them freely moving their leaves to
guide the light. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Did the Great Wishing Tree
really have a will of its own? Apparently the lights decided who would fight
who.
I didn't have too much time to think, because the battles began immediately.
There wasn't even an opening ceremony.
"Are all the fights one-on-one?"
"Apparently if the first three win, then the remaining two don't have to
battle." In other words, if one of the representatives was a great fighter, they
could still lose if the other four were no good. If it was just a knockout
tournament, one person could carry whole team, but that wasn't the case here.
A loss counted as either a surrender or one party being unable to fight
anymore. Falling from the stump also counted as a loss. Cheating was
forbidden, and any party found dishonoring his tribe would be disqualified.
I looked over at another stage and saw two people fighting. A large man
brought down an axe onto his enemy's head. While it would've split open like a
melon under regular circumstances, the guy just fell down where he stood.
It seemed like the spirits offered some kind of divine protection. Not all the
wounds were prevented. Cuts and bruises still existed on the beaten man's
body, so it was likely that all it did was prevent the killing blow. The man was
simply unconscious instead of dead.
"Oh, the Rauli match is coming up." Yumina pointed at a place that was pretty
far to see. I used [Mirage] and [Long Sense] in tandem to project a feed of the
match into the air.
Amazed exclamations came from all sides of the crowd. It seemed my magic
was still usable, since I wasn't the one on the stage.
I changed the size of the projection to a widescreen in front of the audience.
Lu was the first one up to fight.
Her opponent was a tall guy wielding a lance. There was a height difference of
about forty centimeters between him and her. Lu confronted him, wielding her
dual daggers.
"Fight!" The white-clad referee brought down his hand, and Lu made a
beeline for the man. He thrust his spear forward in response, but she repelled it
using one of her blades and directed his attack elsewhere.
Lu did a sliding tackle, brought her left arm out, and pierced hard into the
man's side.
A dull sound echoed as flesh tore. The spearman crumbled. She took him out
in under a minute.
Roars of joy from the Rauli tribe echoed out.
Lu hadn't been training with me and Yae for show. From her perspective, the
spear guy was way too dull in his motions.
Plus, twinblades like her were naturally quick on their feet. Their technique
involved confusing and dazzling the opponent with fast footwork and
distracting motions. They didn't have the raw strength of someone with an axe
or broadsword, but they had boundless finesse.
That wasn't to say they couldn't defeat their foes in a single blow, either.
Aiming for vital or weak spots meant very easy kills for them. They specialized in
agility and accuracy, so going for the kill was practically what they were made
for.
Lu looked over to us and gave a triumphant wave.
Thus, the curtains fell on our first battle.
◇ ◇ ◇
On the first day we won with relative ease, securing three victories and
advancing to the next round. Nobody except for Lu, Elze, and Yae even had to
fight their battles. It was decided in a mere three matches. We were on a hot
streak.
Though, we were probably just lucky. Our opponents weren't particularly
tough.
"Let's hope we can keep up this momentum tomorrow." I muttered quietly as
I watched the sun set, the day leaving alongside it. We were in a forest by the
river a bit away from the Wishing Grounds. The matches were all over, so
everyone was preparing their meals.
Even the tribes that lost had come by to cook their meals. I figured they were
going to watch the remaining matches regardless of their own losses.
We could've easily gone home and eaten in the castle, but the Rauli tribe had
gone out in search of prey to cook up for us, so we decided to stay for some
traditional tribal cuisine.
I took out a BBQ pit from [Storage], lit up the charcoal, and prepped it for
cooking. Then, I pulled out salt, pepper, and some different sauces as well.
After a while, the Rauli tribeswomen came back with a bunch of what
appeared to be various dead birds and rabbits. This place was a free hunting
ground during the Pruning. For the rest of the ten-year period, only the
Judgment Tribe were allowed to hunt here. There was more than enough
wildlife to go around as a result. A vast number of animals were hunted and
killed during the three days of the Pruning, but their numbers always
replenished well enough before the next one came about. I wondered if this
was another part of the spirit's blessing.
"Cooking outdoors surrounded by the beauty of nature isn't so bad now and
then, is it?"
"Mm, you're right... Ah, Touya... This one's burning up!" Yumina was helping
me grill dinner. We both looked like women from an outsider's perspective, so I
hoped nobody thought anything weird of how close we were.
Eating meat alone wouldn't be much good, so I took out some peppers,
onions, and pumpkins from [Storage] to use. I sliced them up, grilled them a bit,
and put them on a skewer along with the meat. As a finishing touch, I slathered
it all in BBQ sauce. A delicious combo, if I do say so myself.
"This is a first for me... but I quite like it." Lu smiled a bit as she cautiously bit
into the food. I wasn't too surprised. A sheltered Princess of Regulus wouldn't
have had this kind of food before. I was happy that she was happy.
Well, she might've been happy and relaxed, but I was more than a little
uncomfortable being surrounded by so many girls. I was more than a bit out of
my depth, for sure. I had a feeling that the former king of Lestia would be a little
more proactive than me in a situation like this, though.
As I pondered to myself, I heard a noise behind me. Two beefy dudes were
fighting against each other. They seemed to be in the middle of a dispute. It was
kind of annoying, so I wished they'd go elsewhere.
"There's a lot of tribes here, so having them fight now and then isn't much of
a surprise." Pam bit into the roast meat as she spoke. Apparently during the
Pruning you weren't allowed to interfere during arguments, only the tribes of
the people involved were allowed to speak up. The two quarreling men didn't
seem to be active participants either way. Not that it mattered to me.
"Hm... Seems there are some strange people here. Oh wait, it's just the Rauli
freaks." A few brawny guys came over, walking past the two arguing men. Their
bodies were kind of like upside down triangles, as their chests were
extraordinarily broad and muscular. They had scars and tattoos running along
them as well. Their heads were shaved, except for the mohawks they had
running along the middle. They definitely seemed like bad news.
"What do you want, Balm scum?" Pam chewed on her meat, a low glare
directed toward the men. Evidently they were from the Balm tribe.
They sneered down at us with eyes filled with self-righteousness. Some of
them were snickering and smirking at us, as well. I never wanted to be anything
like these guys.
"We're pretty surprised you guys actually showed up this time. Weren't your
best and brightest killed in that attack a while back? Pretty goddamn miserable,
isn't it? But that's women for ya."
"You scum... Are you disrespecting our fallen?" Pam and the other Rauli
tribeswomen lowered their stances a bit in order to make it easier for them to
charge into battle. The Balm tribesmen switched their stances as well, as if
anticipating an attack. A tense atmosphere quickly developed between the two
sides.
"No, we're not disrespecting them... I just think that men from our tribe
would've killed that monster in seconds flat."
"Pfft. You're ignorant and foolish, then. Even if the entire Balm tribe gathered
together, they wouldn't do a thing to that crystal creature. It would've wiped
out every last one of you."
"The hell'd you say?!" They were just yelling at each other now. Spitting
venom without any clear aim. The whole situation reminded me of cats being at
odds with dogs.
"Don't be an idiot! If the pathetic Rauli bitches could kill it, then we definitely
could."
"Well, I'm sad to say that it wasn't our tribe that took it out. That honor goes
to Touya here."
"Hm?!" H-Hey now... Don't point! The entire Balm posse turned their heads to
look at me.
"This bitch?" A man from the Balm tribe came over toward me. He seemed to
be around a hundred-and-ninety centimeters tall. He gazed down at me as if
picking me apart. Then eventually, he smiled in a way that creeped me the hell
out.
"You're quite a pretty little thing, aren't you? I'm a little smitten."
"Gross!"
"Excuse me?!" I couldn't help but say it. It wasn't exactly my fault! From my
perspective, some big hunk of beefsteak was checking me out! It gave me the
absolute creeps.
"You whore!" The enraged man tried to grab me by the arm.
"Don't you touch me!"
"Gaugh!" I kicked the man in the stomach, blasting him back a few meters. I
couldn't afford to go easy on him. I was scared for my chastity!
"Bitch!"
"Get her!" I avoided all the Balm tribesmen who came after me, knocking
them back one by one. I kicked them instead of using my hands. I didn't want to
touch a single one of them. Honestly, I got a bit of a sense for how it must have
been for some women in daily life... Being ogled by big creepy guys couldn't be
a pleasurable experience for either gender.
"Get this bitch, get her!"
"Haaaaaaaaah!!!" A musclebound mass of man-meat was charging my way. It
was horrifying!
"[Shield]!"
"Ghuawuh?!" I stopped them all in their tracks with an invisible barrier. They
fell to the ground one by one. It was seriously sickening.
"The Balm tribe really is nothing to write home about, eh? All this struggling
against one girl?"
"Guh..." Pam was laughing provocatively toward the fallen tribesmen. I really
wished she wouldn't, though. I didn't feel like going for a second bout.
The remaining men had ashamed, red faces. From their perspective they'd
been made a complete mockery of by a lone woman. There was no way a
misogynistic tribe wouldn't be mad about that.
"Take your fallen and get outta here. It'd be a pain if you leave unpleasant
clutter laying around." I was in complete agreement with Pam. If this persisted,
I'd develop machophobia or something.
"Guh... We'll remember this!" The Balm tribesmen scurried off, dragging their
defeated with them.
They were disgusting. Their eyes on me made me feel like a cheap piece of
meat. I didn't ever want to be the kind of men they were.
"So that was the Balm tribe? They weren't all that tough."
"None of those were their tribe's champions. By Balm standards, those guys
were meek. They were underage, too. Brats who haven't undergone the rites of
passage." Pam answered Elze's query. I couldn't believe what I was hearing,
though. From what I understood you were regarded as an adult in the Sea of
Trees when you turned fifteen. That made those musclebound freaks even
younger than me...! I thought they were creepy old guys.
There's just no way... There's no way they're the same age as middleschoolers... Do they get some kind of intense training or something? Good
grief... All of a sudden, I wasn't all that hungry anymore.
After the barbeque ended, it was time to rest. The tribeswomen were
sleeping in shifts, some acting as alternating lookouts.
Ostensibly, it was to watch out for any monsters that lurked in the forest, but
the threat of other tribes attacking was very real as well. Not every tribe was
hostile, but we were certainly in the company of some violent types.
I was a little tempted to whip up a [Gate] and get the heck out, but leaving
after hearing about the issue would've left a bad taste in my mouth.
I set up a barrier around us using [Shield] and decided to join the guard shift.
The barrier was a temporary measure at best, after all. The five champions
didn't have to take the night watch. They needed all their strength for the
matches the following day. They were allowed to sleep all the way through the
night. Having Sue join the watch would've been pointless as well, so we just let
her sleep too.
It was just me and some Rauli tribeswomen. We were surrounding a blazing
campfire, paying attention to the surroundings.
Linze and Yumina had taken the previous shift, so they were sleeping soundly
in sleeping bags nearby.
Suddenly, I felt something strange. What... This is...
I stood up and walked deeper into the trees. The Rauli tribeswomen turned
their eyes to me briefly, but then went back to what they were doing. They
likely assumed I was taking a bathroom break or something.
Deeper and deeper I walked, and the presence I felt grew stronger as I walked
on. It was one I recognized. One I had felt back in Ramissh.
I came to a clearing deep in the forest.
It was here. Right here. I'd found the spot.
"Can you hear me?" All the trees in the vicinity were suddenly jostled by
wind. Moonlight shone down on me, illuminating the clearing.
Amidst the moonlight, a green glow began to reveal itself to me.
"Name thyself." The green light gradually changed its form. After a time, it
took the shape of a young girl with dazzling emerald hair. She wore a one-piece
dress, and her body emitted a faint green light. Her eyes shone like precious
jade.
"You're... a spirit?"
"I am. I am the tree that presides over the Sea of Trees. I am the Wishing Tree
incarnate."
"Just as I'd thought. I felt something similar to what I'd felt back in Ramissh.
Though, the presence back then felt... dirtier. More toxic." I'd felt a faint
presence from the Wishing Tree itself, but it was far more clear from this girl. If
she hadn't fully manifested, I likely wouldn't have noticed her at all.
"You are the one...? You fought the Spirit of Darkness? Then you are the one
who saved it?"
"Saved? I just ran in and exorcised it, really."
"Spirits are immortal beings, child. As the world turns, so too do we. The Spirit
of Darkness will one day return to walk the earth. More importantly than that...
Just what are you? Why do you wear such a meager skin? What is that... smell?
That feeling? Your body leaks power beyond even mine." Hm... Can she sense
divine power or something? I guess I was casting a lot of spells earlier... Maybe
my power leaked out a bit when I was doing that. I undid my [Mirage] and
revealed my true form.
"I'm Mochizuki Touya. I'm the grand duke of Brunhild, a Duchy just to the
north of this area. I'm currently subject to some... special circumstances, but for
all intents and purposes, I'm a human."
"Just what is that supposed to mean...?" The tree spirit looked confused. I
didn't really know what to do. It was clear my explanation of things wasn't too
satisfying... but I had no idea if she'd believe me if I told her about God.
I didn't really feel like the situation was important enough to call God
Almighty down here, either... But there was another option, even if she was a
little awkward.
I opened up a [Gate] and plopped her in front of me. It seems she'd been
sleeping in her bed when the portal opened.
"O-Owie! Wh-What's going on here, Touya?! That hurts, y'know?!" Karen, my
dear sister, looked around with half-lidded eyes. She was wearing pink pajamas
covered in pink hearts... It was a little weird.
I thought a bit about how I'd been treating Karen, and I realized I hadn't
exactly been very gentle. But when I looked at her, I didn't really get the
impression of a god. She was reckless, liked to play pranks, was terribly selfish,
and stole my snacks!
Even so, I couldn't hate her. In a way, I really did feel like a member of her
family. She also treated me like a little brother... so I was satisfied.
"Hey, Karen. Can you do that fwoosh thing that old man God does?"
"Huh? I don't know any fwoosh thing, y'know? Did you mean the Divine
Release?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Light suddenly emanated from my sister's
body, blinding everyone in the vicinity. It wasn't nearly as overpowering as God
Almighty's, but it was definitely amazing. Even if she was a bit of a doofus, she
was clearly a part of a divine pantheon.
"Hmmm... Are you perhaps thinking something impolite?"
"A-Ah, I'm sorry! F-Fowgihve me! L-Lemme goh!!!" She immediately began
pinching my cheeks. It hurt like hell.
As I rubbed my poor face, the tree spirit had shifted herself to a fully
prostrated bow.
It seemed that the divine aura was even effective against beings like her.
Gods had incredible power, after all. Even if that god was... Karen.
"I can tell when you're thinking nasty things, y'know?"
"Agh, I'm sohrry! Fowgihve me!"
...Truly, the gods were terrifying.
"Then... Lord Touya is Lady Karen's..."
"Little brother in this world, yes. He's also an individual bestowed with power
by the Almighty World God, y'know?"
That wasn't the full truth. It's not like I'd been bestowed power for any special
reason, it was a simple case of chance. A mistake on the old man's part, really.
But still, the tree spirit seemed satisfied, so that was that.
"Why is a man like this present at the Pruning?"
"I'm here to cheer for my family members, some of them are participating.
Ah, right... Don't rig the game in my favor or anything."
"I-I see..." Well, the Jaja Tribe was the group in charge of declaring the
winner, so she probably didn't have anything to do with it.
Still, this situation was interesting. It seemed that, while Karen could suppress
her divinity entirely... I wasn't capable of such a feat. That was how the tree
spirit caught wind of me to begin with. It wasn't harmful for the time being, so I
decided not to worry. It was probably a power I'd learn given time, anyway.
Divine power wasn't something that could just be taught and passed on, it was
an innate thing.
"So... this Pruning... is it a festival or something?"
"In the past, tribesmen would duel to settle their disputes. I used my spiritual
protection to ensure they didn't lose their lives. Before long, it became
somewhat of a tradition and a festival, though now it involves matters of honor
and territory."
"Ah, that reminds me, y'know? I recall the Wishing Tree's spirit having the
ability to nurture and protect life. Makes sense to me!"
That was interesting. The tree spirit had the ability to preserve life, that must
have been one of her innate talents. But she didn't seem all that forgiving when
you took into account those that died during the Pruning.
But still, if it could protect anyone anywhere, it's not like there'd be so much
of a survival struggle in the Sea of Trees.
"This is quite interesting, y'know... Yes, I'd quite like to watch this Pruning
first-hand. I'll cheer for Yae and the others!"
"Wait, you're not going home?!"
"You know... saying something like that after forcibly summoning a girl all the
way here... It's more than a little rude... y'know?"
"Owowowowow!!!" I was mercilessly pinched once more.
The second day of the Pruning was upon us.
The tribes that had advanced to the second round were all ready to go. The
day's agenda consisted of two matches. The eight winners would progress to
the finals, which were to be held the next day.
In all honesty, I hadn't seen anyone who could match up to the Rauli team.
"By the way... which tribe won the last Pruning?"
"They called themselves the Panau tribe, but they're long-gone now." That
wasn't terribly surprising. Ten years or so had passed since the last Pruning. It
was a long time in a place built around survival of the fittest.
There were a lot of strong contenders, but they still didn't quite match up to
our team. As far as our roster went, Lu was definitely the weakest link. Pam was
stronger than her, and Elze was stronger than Pam when she employed [Boost]
at least. Without any fortification spells, Yae and Hilde were as strong as Elze
was with [Boost] too.
I couldn't imagine anyone beating our lineup, but we definitely had to
consider weapon compatibility and the types of opponents they might face. It'd
be bad if Pam, who wielded an Axe, was pitted against an agile knife-wielder.
It'd also be bad if Elze, a close-range fighter, got paired up against someone
with a spear. We also had to consider the fighting order as well.
Today's order was different to yesterday's. Yae was up first, then Pam, then
Hilde, then Elze, and then Lu, the captain, was up last in the batting order.
"Wahoo! Yae's fight's about to begin, y'know?! Let's cheer! Knock it outta the
park! Yae, Yae, she's our girl! If she can't do it, I'll totally hurl!"
"Karen... This isn't baseball... And it's not a cheerleading event, either." Karen
stood by my side, prancing around like an idiot. Naturally, she was wearing the
Rauli outfit as well. It would've been embarrassing if she had remained in her
pajamas, but this was pretty embarrassing too.
Karen really stood out because she had a great figure. I shouldn't have been
too surprised by her body. She was literally a goddess, after all.
As I was lost in thought, Yae easily struck her enemy down. The match-up was
nothing to worry about. The enemy team looked completely dumbfounded.
They must have sent a strong guy in, but if that was the best they had to offer,
then we were gonna be just fine.
Our team won pretty handily. Both Pam and Hilde won their matches without
a hitch.
"What's with this... Were they always this tough?" They'd been practicing
every day, as well as completing the occasional guild quest. But still, even
though they'd done daily training in our private facilities, the sheer speed of
their increase in strength was something that startled me.
As I muttered and pondered, Karen turned toward me.
"Hm... I wonder... It might be that they're transforming into Wards, y'know?"
"Wards? What do you mean?"
"The divine power you hold is just the power of the gods... but it hasn't
awoken completely in you. You can't use it on demand, y'know? If I was to
describe what you were right now... I'd call you a demigod, y'know?"
Wait... I'm at that level already? I mean, I've felt my body shifting a bit, but
still... That means I'm becoming less human even faster than I'd anticipated.
"Those I refer to as Wards are those that have received the blessings of a god.
Touya, you're unconsciously distributing fragments of your divinity to the
people you regard as family. You could consider it a blessing born from the love
of a god... If we were to look at it on a more macro scale, we gods are all the
Wards of World God. His almighty power is distributed to us, his family,
y'know?"
Ah, I kinda get it... I think of those girls as my family, for sure. I want to see
them protected. So that means I've made them into my Wards without
knowing? Huh... So I guess Karen, and even me, are Wards of God Almighty.
"Those girls won't ever awaken to their own divine power or anything, but
they may develop special abilities as a result of your presence. I'm certain that if
things continue like this, they'll go down in history as some of the strongest
humans."
"They'll get that powerful?!"
"God's love is no trifling matter, y'know? Beings that are loved by the divine
simply become powerful. It's the natural order of things. The process will
reverse if you ever come to hate them, though." That's not gonna happen. I
couldn't imagine hating any of the girls... But man, I didn't know I was making
them more powerful by caring about them.
"Still... you're only a demigod... They're a little powerful for... Oh... Oh!"
"Huh?"
"Oh, I see... That's how it is, then...? I suppose that's fine, y'know?"
"...Please stop reassuring yourself. Just tell me already." I grumbled over at
Karen, who had suddenly begun muttering to herself for whatever reason.
"Ah, well... Those girls... are my Wards as well, it would seem."
"What?"
"I view you as my little brother, Touya. As family. Thus, they are my family as
well, and I love them a lot. But my love for them isn't as strong as yours,
y'know?" That made sense. She was the god of love, after all. I was a mere
demigod. The girls had a good relationship with her, as well. It made me happy
to see them getting along with their 'sister-in-law.'
"...Something wrong?" Linze called out to us, curiosity overtaking her. All the
cheering in the vicinity made it impossible for her to actually hear our talking.
Though, even if she had heard it, she'd have likely had trouble understanding.
"Nope, all good."
"I was just checking how much Touya wuvs you, Linze."
"I-Is that... so?! I-I, uhm... I-I also l-love you..."
"Ehehe! That's right, you do! You cutie pie!" Karen pulled Linze, who was now
red as a beet, into a big hug.
Yep... That's a god's love, alright. I can see why they'd be her Wards too.
"Touya, take a look over there."
"Hm?" I looked over to the direction Yumina had pointed at, and saw two
men standing atop one of the arena stumps. One of the men was large, flailing a
great sword around. The other was bald-headed, more nimble, and wielding a
bo staff.
The huge man was clearly from the Sea of Trees, but the other man seemed
different. Looking at his skin color, he seemed to be of eastern descent. I
wondered if he was a helper like we were.
He continued to deftly dodge each blow, wearing out the giant with ease.
Eventually, he saw his chance and took it, driving the staff hard into his enemy's
chest. The giant was felled in seconds flat, and the bald man was the victor. He
bowed to his enemy and returned to the tribe he was representing.
He was strong, and clearly skilled, as well. He might've been hired by one of
the tribes to win the tournament for them. By the way, completely unrelated,
but try saying "balding bo brawler" really fast. Quite the tongue twister, right? I
couldn't manage it more than three times.
I continued to look over, stupid thoughts like that in my head, until I saw
another foreigner come out to represent that tribe. I was surprised to see a
woman emerge, one who definitely looked out of place amongst the people
here.
Her ears were pointed like knives, her pupils were a pure gold. There were
traces of scales on her brown skin. On top of that, a broad tail jutted out from
above her behind, and two curved horns grew out from her short black hair. I'd
never seen anything quite like her before.
"She's from the Dragon Clan, isn't she?" Yumina whispered to me. The Dragon
Clan... That was likely the case. The Dragon Clan was one of Mismede's seven
demi-human clans.
"The Dragon Clan is few in number. Amongst the clans in Mismede, they have
the least members, but they're a noble race of warriors, and they're said to be
exceptionally powerful. It's my first time seeing one in the flesh." I hadn't seen
any when we were in Mismede, either. Apparently the Dragon Clan didn't like
to get involved in politics and generally only focused their interests on training
and exercise. They didn't hold any high positions in Mismede, either.
She was wielding dark gray gauntlets. It looked like she was a brawler like
Elze.
The moment her match started, she stepped forward in a flash. Within
seconds, she was inches away from her axe-wielding foe. Her right palm shot
out, almost imperceptible to the naked eye. A rumbling sound echoed out, and
her opponent was rocketed out of bounds. She hadn't even placed her hand on
him.
What the hell... Was that some kind of... release of stored energy? It couldn't
have been magic, since that stuff's forbidden in the ring.
Just like the bald guy, she bowed and walked back to camp. She seemed
pretty dignified. I wondered if they were students of a fighting school that
taught respect to a defeated enemy, like in kendo or judo.
"Seems like winning won't be a complete cakewalk, then."
"Seems like it." We looked at the other battlegrounds and saw various toughlooking warriors. None of them seemed quite as imposing as the bald man and
the dragongirl, though.
"Whuh?!" Karen suddenly made a weird noise as she looked down at a match.
I wondered what it was she'd seen. I looked over and saw two people clashing
swords. One was clearly a tribesman from the Sea of Trees. The other seemed
to be an outsider from another nation. She was a swordswoman, wielding a
blade in one hand and skillfully parrying her enemy's attacks. Her hair was short
and purple, and her skin was a very pale white.
"Why... Oh... Oh dear..." Incredible. She isn't moving at all... She's even
blocking attacks coming from behind! How can she do all of that?! More
importantly, how can she do all of that one-handed?!
Eventually her opponent ran out of energy, and she put him down by striking
him in the shoulder. With a single blow, he was down for the count. Her victory
was sealed.
What the hell... She won without moving at all! That guy didn't seem like a
pushover, either.
Sadly, the swordswoman's tribe couldn't match up to her, and her allies lost
their following few matches.
"What... Why? Why is she here of all places?"
"Hm?" Does Karen know her? We saw her walking out of the Wishing
Grounds, but she suddenly turned around. For whatever reason, she waved up
at me and smiled.
What? Huh? Do I know her?
"Touya... I need you a moment. Yumina, I'll be borrowing your fiance for a
moment, thank you."
"Hm? Alright, then." Karen dragged me away, way out of the Wishing
Grounds, in fact. And, as if waiting for us, we came across the swordswoman.
She was standing beneath the shadow of a tree, smiling.
"Yo."
"Don't 'Yo' me! What are you doing here?!" Karen folded her arms, an
absolutely incredulous expression on her face. The swordswoman replied with a
dry, fearless laugh.
"Officially, I'm here to aid you. Unofficially, I thought this might be fun."
"Hrmph..." The swordswoman's identity was completely unknown to me, but
I had one terrible idea. I didn't want it to be true, though...
"Karen... This girl... Is she...?"
"Yes. One of my kind. The god of swords."
"The god of swords?!" I was right, and she was a combat god no less... A
whimsical one who'd come down for fun, apparently. But still, it really felt to
me like the gods had a little too much free time on their hands. Though, I
suppose capturing servile gods was technically work, even if it felt more like a
convenient excuse to goof off...
"A pleasure to meet you, I suppose. Though I've been spying on you now and
then, so I feel like I already know you. Cool stuff, bro."
"Uh... Nice to meet you, then. I'm Mochizuki Touya."
"Oh, but uh... Hey, Love God. What's the deal with that Karen stuff?"
"That's my identity down here! I'm his big sister, y'know? Mochizuki Karen!
Has a nice ring to it, don'tcha think?" Karen puffed out her chest and cleared
her throat. I had no idea why she was gloating. Then the swordswoman, or
rather... the Sword God, said something completely out of left field.
"Sounds cool, yeah. Alright, I'm a sister too."
"That's forbidden, y'know? I'm the only big sister around here!" Karen started
blushing and laughing like an idiot. In response, the Sword God clasped both her
hands together.
"I'm telling you it's cool, man. I'm the second sister, so that makes me your
younger sister. C'mon, Karen... Big sis..."
"I-I'm the older sister of two?"
"Yup, that's the one. I'm your little sis, yeah?" Karen made an exaggerated
gesture as she tapped her chin. Eventually, she clicked her tongue as she looked
between the two of us. It felt like some kind of stage play.
"Alrighty then! That's just fine, y'know?"
"Cool beans. That makes me your sister too, so be good to me." The Sword
God, who had inexplicably become my second sister, turned toward me and
smiled.
And, just like that. I had another member of my family.
What the hell just happened?