Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 8

by Hiro Ainana

  “B-but why?” Aaze asked.

  “Nanashi the Hero saved all eight World Trees, not just Bolenan’s. Thus, we felt that all of us should present our thanks.”

  “It pains us to break tradition, but we left the others to mind the World Trees and hurried straight here,” another high elf explained.

  “Hero Nanashi, we of the Biloanan clan acknowledge you as a friend and ally. You are welcome to visit us at any time. We look forward to comparing your flame techniques with those of our clan.”

  The redheaded high elf who otherwise looked just like Aaze shook my hand with an eager grin.

  “Hero Nanashi, we of the Bulainan clan also acknowledge you as a friend. We admire your intellect over your strength, and we await your visitation so that we might research together.”

  A high elf with unusual emerald hair smiled wisely and laid her slender hand atop mine.

  The other high elves gave similar words of thanks and placed their hands on the pile.

  Then, last but not least…

  “Hero Nanashi! We of the Beliunan clan thank you for resolving our errors! We vow to work together with all the clans to fulfill any request you may have at any time. Ask of us anything you wish.”

  The aqua-haired high elf from the Beliunan clan seemed to have water droplets in her hair as she wrapped both her hands around mine, tears in her eyes.

  “““We acknowledge Nanashi the Hero as the ninth Holytree.”””

  —Wait, what?

  “““Please grant him a blessing.”””

  The other high elves except Aaze all spoke in unison, then each of them placed a kiss of blessing on the forehead of my mask.

  Kind of embarrassing, to be honest.

  >Title Acquired: Sage

  >Title Acquired: Holytree

  >Title Acquired: Savior of the Elves

  >Title Acquired: Friend of the High Elves

  >Title Acquired: Savior of the High Elves

  Huh? I thought Holytree was a sort of nickname or role for the high elves, not a title.

  “““Ahhhhhh!””” Aaze shrieked, as did a few other voices, like Arisa and Lulu, from elsewhere in the plaza.

  For some reason, Aaze even had tears in her eyes.

  “…Th-the Ladies Holytree gave him a kiss of the covenant?” There was a murmur from some of the elves in the crowd.

  I’d been told early on that a kiss on the forehead was some kind of sacred act, so maybe the high elves doing it to a human was particularly shocking.

  “What’s wrong, Aaze? Will you not grant him one as well?” The high elf from Biloanan raised an eyebrow.

  “W-wehhh… I… I can’t…” Aaze turned bright red and shook her head rapidly.

  Darn. I would’ve liked a kiss from her, too, to be honest.

  “Hero Nanashi, this is a gift of our thanks. Please accept it.”

  The high elves used the Space Magic spell Garage to produce some large blue crystals.

  According to the AR, each of them contained about a ton of Holytree Stone.

  “You are free to use these however you wish. We look forward to your decision.”

  They probably wanted me to use them to take care of the Bolenan clan’s shortage of Holytree Stones, then. Maybe there was some special reason they couldn’t just do it directly.

  “Farewell, Hero Nanashi.”

  “Let’s meet again sometime!”

  With that, the high elves disappeared into the same pillars of light from whence they’d come.

  I guess I never told them my “real” name was Satou.

  If I ever went to visit their Holy Trees, maybe I would show them my real face and tell them my name.

  Turning around, I saw that Aaze was glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.

  “Miss Aaze, you can use these to restore the light ships to their original number.”

  “Hmm? But those are for you, remember?”

  I thought she’d been looking at me because she couldn’t admit that she wanted the Holytree crystal wood, but I guess I was wrong.

  “I could never use all of this by myself. I’d be happy if you use them to rebuild the light ships and any left over to restore the World Tree.”

  I already had plenty of bluecoins, so I didn’t have much use for Holytree Stone anyway.

  “You were kind enough to freely share so much of the Bolenan clan’s wisdom with me. Please allow me to give you this small repayment.”

  “Satou…” Aaze trailed off and gave me a grateful hug.

  In the distance, I could hear a declaration of “Guilty” from Arisa and Mia.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the elder elves give a signal to the band, starting the festivities off in Aaze’s place.

  “When did you seduce all those other high elves, darn it?”

  “Cheater.”

  Arisa and Mia grabbed my arms accusingly.

  Lulu, who was running a crepe stand for the festival, looked a little displeased as well.

  Meanwhile, Nana was helping Lulu, and the beastfolk girls were hard at work at their grilled meat skewer stand, befriending the people of Bolenan with their usual charm.

  The people of the forest didn’t seem to discriminate against races or even Arisa’s lilac hair or Lulu’s Japanese features. It might not be bad to settle here after my sightseeing trip was over.

  “Is something wrong, Miss Aaze?”

  Aaze had been glancing at me for a while now. She was acting so much like a teen girl who wanted her senpai to notice her that I couldn’t help my rising hopes.

  That was probably just my ego getting the best of me, but I thought most guys would feel the same way.

  “S-Satou, come with me.” Aaze grabbed my hand and stood up, looking frazzled.

  “Certainly, if that’s what you wish.”

  I nodded and stood up with her, but then I felt a tug at my sleeve.

  Looking down, I found Arisa and Mia hanging on to me. Don’t go! was written all over their faces.

  “I’ll be back soon,” I assured them with a smile, pulling my arm away.

  Then I took Aaze’s hand, and she teleported us to the World Tree.

  “This, uh, isn’t what I think it is, is it…?”

  We’d arrived in Aaze’s room inside the World Tree.

  I was listening to the sound of water through the door.

  Aaze was taking a shower in the bathroom.

  Just to be safe, I used the Everyday Magic spells Soft Wash and Dry to clean myself off, too.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting. Would you like to take a shower, too?”

  The sound of water ceased, and Aaze reappeared in a bathrobe.

  “Erm, that’s all right, thank you. I used Everyday Magic already.”

  “…I see. All right, then.”

  Intentionally or not, Aaze struck me as coquettish as she took my hand and led me into a dark room.

  “Wh-what is this place?”

  Pale lights flickered in the room, which was not quite what I’d expected.

  “This is the high elves’ memory archive. You’re the first human ever to see it, Satou.”

  I was honored, if perhaps a little disappointed for other reasons.

  I suppose I only had myself to blame for having impure expectations.

  “… Connect Memory Kiokuko Setsuzoku.”

  Aaze removed the bathrobe and spoke a password, and blue light enveloped her body.

  When the dance of the mystical light settled, she slowly opened her eyes.

  They looked deep and clear, like the elder elves before.

  “Satou, I’m sorry if my normal self gave you the wrong impression.”

  Her “normal self”?

  Did she have multiple personalities like an old literary character or something?

  Was she giving up her old self to become a new one or that kind of thing?

  “Do you have a different personality from the Miss Aaze I know?”

  “No, I’m still me. Right n
ow, I’m connected to the archiver of the World Tree’s memory archive, but my self is always one and the same.”

  She explained that her normal self retained detailed memories of only the past few hundred years, with just a vague index of her older experiences.

  Still, she sounded a little different than usual to me.

  “We change along with time, you see. When I am connected to all my old memories, I cannot help but become quieter and more introspective.”

  In this state, I could actually believe that Aaze was a demi-goddess. I decided to refer to this version of her as Goddess Aaze.

  “Fair enough.” Goddess Aaze smiled.

  “Wait, can you read my mind now, too?”

  “Just a little, yes. While in this room, the surfaces of our consciousnesses connect, so I can more or less follow any clear statements that you form in your mind.”

  I see. I’d better not think anything perverted, then.

  “That would be appreciated, yes. I have lived a long time indeed, but I am as yet an unmarried maiden.”

  The normal Aaze would never make that kind of joke.

  It was as if there really were two of her.

  “So may I ask why you have brought me here?”

  Surely it wasn’t just because I’d given them a lot of Holytree Stones.

  Goddess Aaze drew up her nude body, straightening her posture.

  “Indeed. There is something I wish to ask you.” She paused for a moment, then looked into my eyes. “Satou, who exactly are you?”

  Her question was so abrupt that I wasn’t sure how to answer.

  “Many heroes are unusual, but you are on a different level entirely. Why, I believe you are far stronger even than the great demon lord who revolted against the gods for some twenty thousand years, the one known as the ‘evil god’…”

  My easy extermination of the jellyfish attacking the World Trees must have aroused her suspicions.

  I didn’t want to scare her even further, so I decided not to mention that I hadn’t really been using my full power there.

  “…If you were a god yourself, perhaps it would make sense. But you are not a god, are you?”

  I shook my head and asked why she would think that.

  “Gods and their disciples cannot be Analyzed. Only demi-gods, like the dragon god or us high elves who have endless lives but are of the earth, or those with fixed life spans like fairies and humans.”

  Hmm. I’d better be careful if I ever ran into someone I couldn’t Analyze, then.

  I hadn’t been sure whether the elves had a fixed life span until now.

  “But your power is not all that is unique about you. Your absorption of knowledge is far faster than ordinary, as well. It’s as if you are relearning something you already knew; you learn one tenet and immediately seem to grasp ten. My normal self was simply excited about this, but within all my memories and even the database of the other high elves’, there has never been another like you.”

  That was probably because my INT was insanely high; plus I had knowledge from my old world.

  “Of course, I am well aware that you mean no harm toward the children of Bolenan or me. But as the Holytree who protects Bolenan, I have no choice but to ask you: Who are you really?”

  Hmm. I guess I’d better answer honestly.

  “It’s a bit of a long story. I come from another world, from the same place as the heroes…”

  I went on to explain everything.

  Even things I hadn’t told Arisa and the others, like how I’d brought down the dragon god.

  Part of it was because I thought that with her millions of years’ worth of knowledge, she might know why I had been brought to this world; more than that, though, I was afraid to keep it a secret while we were connected like this and incur her distrust or dislike.

  “…The dragon god?”

  “I’m afraid so. Though this may be a poor excuse, I didn’t know the power of the Meteor Shower at the time, nor that the dragon god was within range along with the army of lizardfolk.”

  “You have nothing to be ashamed of. Dragons revere those who can pose a challenge to them, even more so those who are strong enough to defeat them. I’m sure the dragon god would praise you for your victory, not resent you.”

  I remembered the black dragon Hei Long and his obsession with battle.

  Maybe all dragons had a similar thought process to his.

  “Besides, the dragon god is indestructible. Within a hundred years, it will surely be revived, body and all. Then it will most likely be able to revive the other dragons with the same power.”

  I guess they didn’t call the dragon god the strongest for nothing. Even its miracles were on another level.

  “Though the dragon god hates to lose, so I expect you will find yourself challenged to a rematch.”

  Geh, really? I’m pretty sure I only won because it wasn’t expecting that attack…

  “Well, I hope that happens before my life span runs out.”

  I used my “Poker Face” skill to try to impress Goddess Aaze with my bluff, even though I knew it was impossible.

  She smiled in response, kindly accepting my statement at face value.

  “I do not know why you were brought to this world. However, since you have Unique Skills, I believe it is likely that you are under the divine protection of a god. We have no way of discerning which one, but I’m sure they will contact you themselves eventually.”

  For some reason, those words evoked a flashback in my mind.

  Maybe the image of that girl with the multicolored hair was a message from the god who had brought me to this parallel world.

  The mood had gotten a bit heavy, so I tried to lighten it by telling the story of my travels, from meeting my friends to battling the whales, in as entertaining a way as I could.

  “Sightseeing, you say…? That sounds quite fun.”

  “Would you like to come with me? You’d be more than welcome to join us, Miss Aaze.”

  Goddess Aaze’s voice held notes of longing and loneliness, so I made the offer before I could stop myself.

  Since we were connected here, she was probably already well aware of my growing romantic and physical feelings for her.

  “I’m sorry, Satou.”

  Her words of rejection pierced my heart more deeply than I’d expected. “N-no, there’s no need to apologize.”

  I managed to keep up appearances, but the tumultuous emotions churning in my heart threatened to spill out of my mouth all at once.

  “Satou, I am the final Holytree of Bolenan. It is my duty to protect the World Tree and the children of Bolenan. Thus, I cannot return your feelings.”

  Goddess Aaze held my head against her chest.

  I wanted to wrap my arms around her slim body, but I managed to keep myself under control with logic and restraint.

  “Besides, we high elves are the brides of ‘the god who could not wed.’ For a being with a fixed life span to lay a hand on any of us would be to invite the wrath of that god. And so, this is all I can do…”

  Goddess Aaze laid a gentle kiss on my forehead and slowly released me from her embrace.

  “…Satou, I will keep this and the secrets you told me locked away in my personal memory archive. The other high elves will be unable to see them, and my normal self will not have access to them, so worry not,” she promised.

  The kiss would be kept a secret from the normal Aaze, too, it seemed.

  “If we don’t cut the connection to the memory archive soon, it will have a negative effect on your body… So let us meet again. Or is that strange to say? At any rate, please treat my normal self as you usually would.”

  With that, the mystic light surrounding Goddess Aaze disappeared.

  Once the connection was severed, the regular Aaze got embarrassed that I had seen her naked and avoided me for a while. Just as Goddess Aaze had promised, she didn’t seem to remember our conversation.

  Thus, my confession of love was over before
it could even begin. But the more obstacles it faced, the stronger love would grow.

  If I could find a way to wake the other high elves safely, and if I could do something about the so-called wrath of some god or other, I decided I would confess to her again, properly this time.

  Until then, I would just have to settle for trying to be something more than friends but less than lovers.

  It had been a month since the festival.

  Our days in the Bolenan Forest were almost at an end.

  If I were to describe each one, you could probably fill a whole novel with it.

  “Satou, the observational satellite golem Kakashi MK 7 is working wonderfully. I’d like to improve the precision of its telescopic lens a little more, but first…”

  “Enough already, Keze of the Bulainan clan! The plans for the jellyfish investigation deep space golem are complete. We shall send along our blueprints for peer review at once.”

  “Honestly, Saaze of the Beliunan clan. Can’t you wait your turn?”

  We were developing units for detecting jellyfish as early as possible and for investigating the cause of the jellyfish outbreak.

  I had intended to help them out until the units were complete, but since they’d come so far already, they should be fine without me from here on in.

  So as the two high elves taunted each other in friendly competition, I looked over the plans they’d sent.

  “Ah, Mr. Satou, the light ship rebuilding is going smoothly as well. Bolenan’s light ships should be restored to their usual number within half a year.” Jia the gardener happened to be passing by. “Oh, and could you stop by later, please? Kiya said he had a question about the coaxial skypower engine you made.”

  “All right. I’m supposed to learn how to make divine gold at the transmutation workshop today, so I’ll come by after that.”

  “Good idea. Kiya can go on for a while.”

  She wasn’t wrong, but I owed a lot to Kiya from the magic-tool studio, since he’d helped me remodel the magic ship I planned to use to get to Labyrinth City.

  “Master, preparations are complete, I report.”

  “All right. Calm down a little, please.”

  Standing in front of the cultivation tanks in the underground research lab, Nana flung her clothes off eagerly, so I politely handed her a towel.