New Face

Normally, a Divine Beast that created a Sanctuary ended up living together with that region.

Therefore, it was bound to the land and became unable to leave until the Sanctuary disappeared.

Divine Beasts were, quite literally, the guardian gods of their lands… which was actually a fairly famous story.

But currently, Simurg-san and Wheel-san were normally going back and forth between each other’s villages.

Naturally, they were clearly leaving their own Sanctuaries.

According to Simurg-san, she had not been able to do it before, but for some reason, she could do it now.

Even they themselves did not seem to really understand the logic behind it.

Thanks to that, Simurg-san and Wheel-san were now often together.

I had seen Simurg-san in Guinea Village many times too, brought along by Wheel-san, who could get along with anyone.

They would probably deny it themselves, but in one way or another, the Divine Beasts got along well.

That was why, even when they brought up that subject, I was able to accept it without being especially surprised.

“Woody, actually…”

“A Divine Beast we know has been pestering us, saying she wants to come here!”

The two of them said in unison.

“—A new Divine Beast-sama!?”

I had been wondering what they wanted to talk about, but even so, I had not expected that.

“Well, this place has become famous recently, so it has also become fairly famous among Divine Beast circles.”

“Divine Beasts-sama are surprisingly worldly, aren’t they…?”

“Of course we are. To begin with, we can’t display our true strength without faith!”

This Divine Beast-sama had apparently been living near the residence of other elves who had heard about Bibi Village.

Until now, I had hardly ever heard anything about Divine Beasts in the kingdom, but… could it be that there were more Divine Beasts than I thought?

But a new Divine Beast-sama, huh… Ah, right!

In that case, wouldn’t it be fine to have that person turn the new village into a Sanctuary!?

I told Simurg-san and the others about the new dungeon and the plan to build a new village alongside its development.

Wheel, who occasionally went down to human settlements, knew about it, but Simurg-san, who basically liked relaxing alone, seemed to know nothing about the situation.

I spread out the map I had brought with me and explained the location to the two of them.

“Around here would be outside the Sanctuary’s range, right?”

“Indeed, there should be no problem. And if it is that far away, it seems I would not need to come here either…”

“However, since the village we’re making this time will be near a dungeon, compared to Tree Village or Guinea Village, I think various problems with public order, crime prevention, and other things are likely to arise… Will that be all right?”

Divine Beasts did not interfere much with the secular world.

But the village we were going to make next seemed likely to have a faster flow of people than here, so I thought various public order problems would arise.

Personally, that was a fairly big concern for me, but… even after hearing that, Simurg-san and the others did not waver at all and merely nodded.

“If it is her, there will be no problem.”

“That’s right. She’s a nagging woman, so there’s no doubt she’ll happily stick her nose into it herself.”

“My, it sounds like you’re discussing something quite interesting.”

A new voice suddenly appeared.

It was a calm, glossy voice of an adult woman I had never heard before.

When Simurg-san and the others heard that voice, they turned around with a creak… like broken dolls.

And there stood… a silver wolf with the most beautiful fur I had ever seen.

I unconsciously stared at the wolf who had suddenly appeared.

In terms of size, she was about the same as Simurg-san and Wheel-san.

She was a little shorter than I was, so as a wolf, she was quite large.

Her fluffy silver fur was carefully groomed and gave off a luster that made me want to touch it without thinking.

An intelligent light dwelled in her golden eyes, making her look very wise.

Her overall form was slender, giving her a somewhat feminine impression.

Um, judging from how shaken the two of them were… was she the Divine Beast they had been planning to call?

“Fem, you were already here? In that case, I would have liked you to say so first, hahaha…”

“Th-that’s right! Keeping secrets between us is rather distant, you know!”

The two of them were clearly flustered, and they were sweating coldly enough for it to be visible.

After looking at the two men with eyes that seemed to mock them, the silver wolf—Fem-san—smoothly turned her gaze toward me.

Then, after walking over with light steps, she lowered her head slightly.

Since a Divine Beast-sama was greeting me, I bowed back as well.

“Hello, I am Woody Adastria, the one governing this Wenti.”

“Hello, Woody-san. I am Divine Wolf Fem. Please feel free to call me Fem-san.”

When she smiled as she said that, sharp fangs peeked out.

But even after seeing them, I did not feel that she was frightening.

Just like Simurg-san and the others, her expression was somehow full of humanity.

The sharp, composed feeling from earlier had also disappeared.

“I have heard much of your great fame.”

“Th-that is… thank you very much.”

“To be honest, the rumors I had heard were doubtful, so I wanted to come here once and see the place for myself… but honestly, it was beyond my imagination. You have even tamed these two, so you must be quite capable.”

“Tamed them? Not at all! The two of them are always lending me their strength, and they help me every time!”

“…And your character is also good. I see, it is only natural that people would gather around you.”

“Woody, actually, Fem can detect lies from a person’s scent.”

“Eh!?”

At those unexpected words, I could not help letting out an ugly voice.

I wondered whether I had said anything bad… but when I thought back on it, I realized there was no problem at all.

To begin with, I was not really the type to lie very much.

“And that means you are also an easygoing person.”

She trembled slightly while showing her fangs. Apparently, she was laughing.

I was surprised by her sudden visit, but it seemed her impression of me was not that bad either.

“Woody-san, would you be willing to share World Tree Fruit with me as well? In exchange, though it may be a modest contribution, I would like to help you with the management of your territory.”

I told Fem-san the same thing I had been telling Simurg-san and the others.

She nodded along, then moved her foreleg and placed it softly on the ground.

“Please leave it to me. Fortunately, I have some experience handling rough men. Ufufufufu…”

Fem-san laughed as she said that.

Her attitude was gentle, but I felt I somehow understood why Simurg-san and the others feared her.

She was probably—a woman of great caliber.

Looking at Simurg-san and the others, who were shrinking their shoulders in fear, I realized that I must never go against Fem-san.