by Hiro Ainana
Unlike Jia, who had dollar signs in her eyes as she leaped for the bag, Miss Aaze tried to be reserved.
“Please, there’s no need to hold back. Just think of me as an honorary citizen of Bolenan, if you don’t mind.”
I took Aaze’s hands gently.
“Satou…”
Her eyes trembled as she gazed at me. If Jia and Lua weren’t there, I might’ve kissed her before I could stop myself.
“Mr. Satou?” Perhaps sensing this, Lua raised her eyebrows at me.
My words did sound a bit like a pickup line, but that wasn’t my intention this time, I swear.
The World Tree’s predicament was serious; it could eventually develop into a worldwide shortage of mana.
My mind went back to the wasteland around the dwarf village that had withered due to lack of mana.
If the whole world wound up like that, I wouldn’t exactly be able to go sightseeing anymore. Tourism’s no fun unless the locals are happy, after all.
Later on, I unexpectedly learned the reason those twenty thousand bluecoins had been in my Valley of Dragons spoils.
“As I recall, many bluecoins were given to the dragon god as a tribute in the Flue Empire’s twilight years. They were seeking a weapon to use against the demon lord known as the Golden Boar Lord, from what I heard.”
“A weapon?”
“Yes. I don’t know the details, but I know the vast desert in the middle of the continent was created as a result of the final battle between the Flue Empire and the Golden Boar Lord. Whatever happened, it was so intense that there were earthquakes all the way here in Bolenan.”
As I listened to Miss Jia’s explanation, I used my menu to display the map of the continent I’d acquired in the old capital.
I wasn’t sure how accurate it was, but there was indeed a desert that took up nearly 20 percent of the continent, from the middle to the western part.
If it was as big as the map implied, even a sweep of hydrogen bombs couldn’t have caused that.
I didn’t know what sort of weapon might have done it, but I hoped fervently that it didn’t exist.
Why would you make something like that, dragon god?
The thought was even scarier than the Holy Swords.
But then, I remembered the Meteor Shower spell I’d used from the magic menu.
If I filled all my Holy Swords to their limits with magic power and used them as batteries to fire Meteor Shower over and over, I might very well be able to do the same thing.
I’d better avoid using Meteor Showers in rapid succession, even by accident.
I didn’t want any titles like Demon Lord or Greater Demon Lord, thank you very much!
“…So basically, I’m looking for ideas to get rid of harmful pests and animals who are damaging a very important garden.”
When I returned to the ground, I gave my party a very approximate explanation of the jellyfish attacking the World Tree to see if they had any suggestions.
In the early stages of planning, it was best to brainstorm with a lot of different people.
You’d get plenty of nonsensical suggestions, of course, but sometimes you might get a clever idea that would never occur to an expert.
“Pest control, huh? If they’re animals, maybe a good zap; cockroaches, you want boric acid dumplings; poisoned food for termites, of course…”
“I’m afraid we’ve already tried those. As far as poison, we’re still doing research with the other clans.”
Lua the shrine maiden was here to convey what had been tried so far.
Several other ideas came up, but all of them had already been tested by the elves.
I guess when you have a meeting of the minds where all the minds are hundreds or thousands of years old, you get a wealth of ideas and experience.
“Hmm, seems like you’ve tried just about everything…,” Arisa murmured.
“If pushing doesn’t work, you just gotta pull, sir!” Pochi said brightly.
“What does that mean, specifically?”
“That’s for you or master to think of, sir! I just put the plans into action, sir.”
So she didn’t have a specific plan.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Arisa groaned and dropped her face onto the table.
Her hair spread out on its surface, spilling over the sides.
Swish, swish.
Tama, who’d grown bored of the meeting and was rolling around on the lawn-like floor, started swatting at Arisa’s hair from under the table. Every time Arisa groaned, her hair shifted, much to Tama’s entertainment.
She really was just like a real cat sometimes, getting so amused by moving objects.
…Hmm? That’s strange.
Something about Tama’s movements caught my attention.
I waved a strand of Arisa’s hair up and down, and Tama went flying after it.
“Mr. Satou, if you can’t focus any longer, perhaps we should wrap things up for today?”
“Sorry about that. I got an idea, so I was working out the details,” I informed Lua. “How about some fake bait?”
“Like the kind used for fishing?”
I nodded and explained further.
“So instead of removing the jellyfish through sheer force, we would convince them to move away of their own accord?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I nodded again.
“The suuun?”
“Tama’s right, sir! Master’s like the sun in the North Wind and the Sun story, sir!”
Tama and Pochi raised their hands excitedly.
Arisa must have told them that fable. I wasn’t sure if it was really applicable here, but they looked so pleased with themselves that I simply patted their heads and praised them for being so knowledgeable.
“Hasn’t anyone tested that yet?”
Lua looked reluctant to answer Arisa’s question.
“We knew they were drawn to magic, but when we tried to fish them out with it, it just led them to go into a rampage state and multiply…”
After that, no one had suggested anything along those lines.
A few more good ideas came up during our session, so I ended up taking notes (a habit from company meetings) and then giving them to Lua.
* * *
“Nanashi the Hero’s idea holds merit. The Bulainan clan approves this proposal.”
“W-we of the Beliunan clan support Nanashi’s proposal as well!”
I was participating in a gathering of high elves called a Holytree Council as an observer with Miss Aaze.
My notes from our brainstorming session had made the rounds and wound up being submitted to the council.
I didn’t want the name Satou to become famous outside of the Bolenan clan, so I had them introduce me as Nanashi the Hero.
We were in the communication room of the World Tree, watching the images of the other clans’ high elves.
Unlike my company’s videoconference system, this room actually projected 3-D images that looked just like the real thing.
Since they seemed so real, though, it made the delays in transmission that much stranger.
The Bulainan clan, the first to agree with my proposal, was evidently famous for their love of research.
The Beliunan clan was also famed for research, but unlike the knowledge-driven Bulainan clan, they seemed more concerned with earning approval.
“But we are already aware that magic provokes the Evil Jellies. Or have you forgotten the failure of we the Biloanan clan?!”
The high elf of the Biloanan clan sounded accusatory.
“Using magic as bait ended up provoking the jellyfish into a rampage and mass reproduction, did it not?”
“Of course we remember. But this proposal involves seeking bait material other than magic. If we can lure them without causing a rampage, there is no need to reject this proposal.”
The first two clans explained the goals of the plan to the objecting high elf.
“…Very well. If the resea
rch for the bait will only be conducted in one World Tree, we Biloanans will agree to the proposal.”
“Then allow us Bulainan elves to—”
“Not so fast! When it comes to chemicals, we Beliunans have far more achievements! We shall do it!”
The high elf of the Beliunan clan interrupted the one from the Bulainan clan, clearly out of a sense of rivalry.
It seemed that their clan really was the most skilled with chemicals, so the Bulainan high elf agreed to entrust the experiment site to the Beliunan family.
After a bit of quarreling, the Zuwakanan, Zantanan, Baleonan, and Dayosanan clans all consented as well, and finally the red-haired Biloanan high elf declared approval.
“Hero Nanashi, we shall send Aaze the records of we the Biloanan clan’s unsuccessful experiments. Please make use of our folly to dispose of these jellyfish once and for all.”
Huh? Why does it sound like I’m the one who’s stuck making the bait? Well, whatever. They would be sending us materials and live samples of the jellyfish, too.
For the sake of the World Tree—not to mention Miss Aaze and the smiles of everyone in our future sightseeing destinations—I had no objection to doing a little jellyfish-control research.
“I shall do my best.”
“Do more than your best, if possible. Once the jellyfish have been dealt with, I shall show you my flame spirit, Ifrit, as a special favor, so be sure to succeed.”
With that, the Biloanan clan disconnected the line, and the rest of the clans said their parting words and left one by one as well.
I hadn’t noticed due to her determined personality, but aside from her hair color, the high elf of the Biloanan clan looked just like Miss Aaze.
Curious, I asked Aaze about it.
“We high elves are made from the seven prototypes of the god of creation, so there are others besides her with the same face as me, too… Why, do you prefer girls like Fuuze?”
When she looked at me like an abandoned kitten, I could barely resist the urge to embrace her.
There was no way a demi-goddess who’d lived for more than a hundred million years would fall for a guy like me, but with a look like that, I was tempted to delude myself into believing it.
“Do you need a place to do your research? You do, right? I heard from Lady Aaze that you’re helping the Holytree Council. She told me, you see. So I thought perhaps you could use my father’s house. A wonderful idea, wouldn’t you agree?”
The day after the Holytree Council meeting, Mia’s mother had a proposal of her own for me.
Her father was none other than Mr. Trazayuya, the man who made the Cradle.
“…Is this it?”
“Yes, that’s right. This is the place.”
She led me by way of teleportation to a white house amid a sea of trees in the east of the Bolenan Forest.
Unlike the other workshops, it was located far from the World Tree.
She said it was for doing research, but as far as I could tell on the map, it was just an ordinary house. If I had to name any defining features, I guess it’d be all the ivy growing on the outside.
“I wonder if Gillil is here? Oh, I’m sure he is.”
Without waiting for a response, Mia’s mother opened the door and entered.
“Welcome back, dear Lady Lilinatoa.”
A brownie man emerged from the back of the house.
He was only the height of a child, but he had the face and features of an old man.
“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, Gillil? It surely has. You look well, very well indeed.”
“I’m pleased to see you looking well yourself, Lady Lilinatoa.”
As he conversed with Mia’s mother, Gillil glanced at me with a keenly observant eye.
“Yes, I’m quite well. I’m doing just wonderfully. Oh, let me give these to you right away. They’re my father’s notes. Mr. Satou gave them to me, you see? He found them for us. I’m sure you’d like to read them as well, wouldn’t you, Gillil?”
Gillil, who seemed practiced in dealing with Mia’s mother’s machine gun–like rambling, looked surprised when she said “my father’s notes.”
He hesitated for a moment, then accepted the papers as if he were receiving a sacred scripture.
After holding the notes to his chest for a long, emotional moment, he seemed to suddenly remember the situation and quickly turned to me.
“You must be the human who saved Misanaria’s life.”
Maybe it was just my imagination, but the look in his eye seemed a little gentler than before.
“Oh yes. This is him all right.”
Mia’s mother resumed her onslaught.
“I’d like to let Mr. Satou use Father’s house. Is that all right? We have Lady Aaze’s permission, too. Everything’s perfect.”
“If Saint Holytree and the sage’s successor, Lady Lilinatoa, both approve, then I certainly have no objections.”
The “sage” seemed to be his way of referring to Mr. Trazayuya.
“Sir Satou, please take this key.”
“Key? It looks a bit like an amulet.”
“I shall now perform the user registration. Transfer: Satou Jouto Satou.”
Gillil ignored my comment and carried out his duties.
The golden key glowed blue in response to his casting, then displayed the name SATOU in Elvish letters.
That must make me its registered user.
“Now I shall explain how to reach the underground laboratory via the Travel Gate.”
Gillil guided me to the Travel Gate in question.
Mia’s mother, having said that her job here was done, had already gone home.
Unlike the fairy rings, this Travel Gate was made from a loop of emerald branches connected with a cord, giving it a little mechanical sci-fi feel.
“When you enter the loop, it will trigger a switch in the floor, teleporting you automatically. Once I have disappeared, please step inside the ring.”
I nodded, and Gillil stepped into the ring, vanishing with a little green special effect.
Aside from the switch, which was like an automatic doormat, it seemed to be just like a normal fairy ring.
When I teleported, I was greeted by the night sky—no, just a very tall ceiling. I saw some moss and minerals glowing up there on the rocks’ surface.
According to my map, this was an underground cave nearly half a mile beneath the house. It was very large, too.
“Allow me to turn on the lights.”
Gillil pressed a button on the wall, and streetlights lit up, rendering the panorama of lights on the ceiling invisible.
The light revealed several building-like structures. Those must be Trazayuya’s laboratory, experiment sites, and so on.
I entered.
“This is the main laboratory.”
The floors and walls inside were made from a linoleum-like resin, bearing a resemblance to the research lab I’d seen in the Cradle.
The lab included a reference room, a library, and even bigger transmutation equipment than the stuff at the magic-tool workshop.
The hangar in the back of the transmutation room contained something even more interesting.
…What is that?
There were several glass tubes standing along the wall, big enough for a human to enter.
“Those are cultivation tanks for creating and repairing homunculi. The sage mainly used them to produce body parts.”
I searched via Storage through the other documents I’d found in Trazayuya’s Cradle.
According to the manual I found, I could use this equipment to enhance Nana’s Foundation techniques.
It was like the kind of power-up area you’d find in certain games.
Research day one: I’ve been poring over manuals all day, trying to get the equipment to work.
Setting it all up and learning how to use it ate up more time than I’d expected, so now I’m just hoping to finish before dawn.
Mr. Trazayuya, the head of t
his laboratory, seems to have kept a development log as he worked, so I’ve decided to do the same.
Research day two: Miss Jia visited to bring the materials and specimens provided by the other clans.
I put them away in Storage and used “Parallel Thoughts” to read several documents at a time. My menu’s character string search function came in handy for the first time in a while. If I’d had these abilities when I was a game developer, I bet I would never have had to do any death marches.
By the way, these materials were all sent by way of Travel Gates among the World Trees. Apparently, they’re rarely used because of the high cost of transmission.
Research day three: Finished reading all the materials. The elves are even more brilliant than I imagined.
They’ve just about finished researching repellent substances already. Since these can all be omitted from the search for attractive substances, things should proceed pretty quickly.
For now, I’ll experiment on the jellyfish tentacle samples I collected in the void.
Research day five: tough going. Is magic the only thing the jellyfish are attracted to?
Research day six: I’ve been taking advantage of my body’s relative lack of needs, but Mr. Gillil told me to take a nap.
Come to think of it, I do feel like my brainpower has been a little low. I guess working for more than five days without sleep isn’t very efficient.
I’ll eat the cream puffs Lulu brought me when I wake up. I bet they’ll go great with some nice black coffee.
Research day seven: Don’t underestimate the power of sleep.
With a clear head, I stopped blindly experimenting and went back to searching through my materials.
In Trazayuya’s library and reference room, I found some notes analyzing jellyfish from the past tens of thousands of years.
I’ll make copies of these notes and have them sent to the Beliunans and the other clans.
Research day eight: Finally made a little progress.
When I gave Gillil a taste of dragonspring liquor, the jellyfish tentacles reacted.
At first, I thought it was just because that sake was made from the black dragon’s magic and probably contained a lot of mana, but they reacted faintly to other distilled liquor, too.
