The first place Eden-san brought me to was the uninhabited island that she had mentioned a while ago. It wasn't very large, looking like it was just placed there in the middle of the ocean.
Just as Eden-san said, there may not be anything like a forest, but grass and flowers were growing sparsely, and the earthen ground was visible in places.
Unlike the spectacular scenery of tourist spots, there is no eye-catching beautiful scenery... but I still liked this scenery a lot.
Back then... When I was in Elementary School, I went to visit my mother's family. They were living in a very rural area, with the nearest convenience store a few kilometers away, but unlike the scenery found in the city, the scenery I found there was quite novel.
On that occasion, I climbed a small mountain behind my mother's house. No, it wasn't really a mountain, and was instead more like a small hill. Walking up the bumpy road that just had grass mowed, I looked at the scenery.
All I could see were houses, rice fields, and other mountains. Looking back on it, I feel like those mountains really weren't taller than the hill I was on.It wasn't as beautiful as tourist attractions, and there wasn't anything particularly eye-catching... but I liked looking at that scenery because it gave me an inexplicable sense of security.
It's great to see beautiful scenery, but just looking at beautiful sceneries... could somehow feel a little tiring.
That's why, as if I'm blankly gazing at a nondescript landscape, this atmosphere is so terribly relaxing... and I quite liked it.
[...Eden-san, it's a nice and quiet place, isn't it?]
[Yes, it's a really nice atmosphere. I especially like the fact that there are no lumps of flesh littering this place. It's so wonderful to have nothing but my beloved child and nature in my view. Of course, standing beside my beloved child, all other sceneries couldn't even compare, but acting as a background for my beloved child, such sceneries isn't so bad. I have a personal attachment to these small islands, and I can't stop loving the thought of being there with my child. I thought of preserving this moment forever, and I can certainly do that... But not being able to see my beloved child grow with each passing day is also a big negative, so it's not easy to make a decision. In the first place...]
...No way... I just took my eyes off the road for a dozen seconds, you know? Wasn't she still on Phase 2 just a few moments ago? Rushing through all phases, she flipped the rampage switch on!?
O- Oh my goodness... This is too quick. This is completely no good, let's ask Kuro for help and call it a night...
[...Eh?]
Immediately after I thought Eden-san went on a rampage and this would be the end, the scenery suddenly switched. After the surrounding area changed, looking as if we're in space, "a very thick laser suddenly blasted in and wiped Eden-san out without a trace".
[E- Eeehhhh...]
As I moved my gaze to the sudden anomaly, I saw what looked like a huge iron star that must have fired that laser in the far distance.
Before I could even think about what that thing was, Eden-san appeared in front of me again, disappeared without saying a word, and a little while later, the scenery returned to the original deserted island.
A few seconds later, Eden-san came back again.
[...It was a close one. Sorry to startle you, my beloved child.]
She's back to Phase 1? What is this, what in the world happened this time?
[Errr, Eden-san... What was that?]
[It's one of my countermeasures. I had set it up so that if my love for my beloved child rises to a certain standard, I would erase this body once without question. I can't say it works for certain, but by shutting out my thoughts for a few moments before regenerating, I was able to regain a very faint sense of my reason. Then, I immediately moved to another space to cool myself down.]
[...I- Is that so, you've even taken such measures huh.]
[To be honest, this isn't a move that can be used many times. I did have one more "last-ditch" strategy in mind, but it could be described as a plan that I should only use when it really couldn't be helped.]
[...]
What the heck is this feeling? I don't even know how to respond. I guess I should be impressed with the seriousness with which they prepared other countermeasures, or if I should be impressed with the fact that she was giving off an air that feels like she was in quite the critical situation... In short, should I be dismayed that the content is whether or not she would go on a rampage, or should I shudder at her love is supposedly so heavy that she's unable to stop it without going that far... I'm really perplexed.
[...Ummm, shall we pull ourselves together, take a stroll and look at the scenery?]
[Yes, let's do that. When I'm with my beloved child, my motherliness gets me so excited that I feel like I'm about to explode.]
[T- That's rough.]
[As a mother, it was quite a blessing though...]
...Was motherliness something that can excite someone or even make them explode? Also, I'm wondering if that's something you can really call motherliness... Well, I think I'll just tire myself out if I keep on throwing tsukkomi back at her, so I won't bother.
However, she said that she still had one "last-ditch" measure... I wonder what could possibly be a better measure than literally exterminating her body?
Thinking about it is rather scary….. but for sure, I could predict the future where such a measure will be used.