A New Power

“Hmm, hmm, I see, so there’s no mastermind behind them…”

Nadja brought back the bandits she had tied up in ropes, all within less than a day after she had gone out.

It seemed they had a hideout nearby, and she had also managed to capture the men stationed there.

Using Simurg-san’s magic of truth discernment, we examined the chain of command, but there was no great organization or conspiracy lurking behind them.

They were just ordinary sand bandits, preying on nearby villages and passing merchant caravans.

For the time being, since we had wiped them out in one swoop, we would no longer have to worry about sand bandits for a while.

But in exchange, we had gained a new problem.

“What should we do with these sand bandits…”

Yes… the problem was what to do with the captured bandits.

Normally, killing them all would have been acceptable—by the kingdom’s laws, bandits could be killed without penalty.

But the desert already had too few people.

If we thought of them as human resources, there might be some way to make use of them.

And if they truly reformed, they could even become valuable villagers.

“Well, at least this means we won’t have to worry about a place to hold them.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

What we were gazing at as we said this was a single tree.

But it was quite different from the trees I had planted so far.

If I had to put it in one word… it was a tree that looked like a single-story house.

The roof part was covered with thick green leaves, and vines grew around its trunk outside. It looked just like a house that had been left for years and was being overtaken by nature.

This tree was formally called the House Tree.

It was one of the new trees that had become available to plant.

If I tried planting trees now, the options looked like this:

By leveling up, I could now plant mysterious trees that didn’t bear fruit.

For example, the Light Tree absorbed sunlight in the morning and then glowed brightly at night.

If I placed it inside a House Tree, there would be no need for lamps even at night.

That wasn’t all.

I could also now grow grapes, which meant I could make wine.

Being able to brew alcohol would surely make it a valuable trade good, and merchants would surely be drawn to us.

The food problem had been solved, so now we had to solve the next problem.

It almost felt like my aptitude itself was telling me that.

Ah, right.

With the level-up, I could now plant non-fruit-bearing World Trees.

This solved the problem of the World Tree’s fruit being too precious and too easily obtainable.

It was fine if we ate them ourselves, but if someone outside got hold of them and realized their value, it would definitely cause trouble.

The House Tree, simply put, was a tree that served as a house.

A single look inside made that clear.

“It seems to provide the minimum living environment, doesn’t it…”

“Yeah, being able to plant something like this really helps.”

“So… this is still a tree, right?”

Aira tilted her head.

Thinking the view might change from a different angle, I tilted my head too.

“Haah!? …(You’re too cute, Woody-sama!)”

Well, there was no helping it.

If I could plant it, then it was better to use it than not.

Inside were leaf-made carpets and wooden tables, providing the basic furnishings for living.

…Honestly, it was sturdier than the house I had stayed in at Shekuri-san’s place.

Even I thought it was questionable whether this could still be called a tree.

But since it was grown through Tree Planting, there was no doubt it was a tree.

For now, I decided to gradually replace the villagers’ homes with House Trees.

The vacant homes left behind by the villagers could serve as temporary holding places for the bandits.

“But with such lax supervision, won’t the bandits just escape?”

“No, that won’t be a problem.”

When I said this with a smile, Aira for some reason looked down.

Maybe she didn’t believe my words.

But really, it wouldn’t be a problem.

With the new trees I could now plant, there was no way they could escape.