Fruit

Morning came.

My body, tired from walking all day, had refreshed, and it seemed my ability to think had returned as well.

“Hey, Nadja, can I ask you something really obvious?”

“Ah, you can ask me anything.”

“Was it really okay for you to come here?”

“There is no problem at all. I don’t regret a single thing about my decision.”

“But Nadja, with your Sword Saint aptitude, if you married Ashid…”

My words stopped.

Because Nadja pressed her fingertip against my lips.

“You’re too persistent, Woody. I told you before we parted, didn’t I? I would rather die than marry that bastard.”

Nadja winked one eye as she said that.

Hearing her words, the memory of the day we separated resurfaced in my mind—

It was soon after I had been sentenced to exile.

Nadja, who had come to congratulate me on inheriting the Great Magus, approached me with a sorrowful expression.

“Nadja…”

“I found you, Woody.”

At that time, I was a little reckless.

It was because Ashid and his servants had treated me horribly.

I was convinced Nadja had come to mock me too.

“—That duke, how dare he do something so outrageous! To confine Woody in a horse stable like this!”

“…Nadja?”

But instead of mocking me, she was angry at my father for throwing me out of my room and shoving me into the stables.

Surprised by her unexpected reaction, I felt her hand gently touch my cheek.

“I heard the story from your father. That you couldn’t inherit the Great Magus. That the aptitude you received was a production-type one called Tree Planting.”

“Yeah, sorry about that… ha ha.”

I laughed.

There was nothing else I could do.

Because if I didn’t laugh to deceive myself, I felt like I might break apart.

Thinking things like, What had my life even been for up until now?

Or, I might cry from shame.

All those feelings swirled together, and I felt like I couldn’t hold them in.

“B-but I… I failed. So Nadja… marry Ashid, and be happy. If the Conrad and Tristan houses unite, your future, and that of your children, will surely be secure—”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Marrying someone like him would never make for a proper marriage. To bear the child of someone I don’t love… just imagining it makes my skin crawl. The one I want to marry is… well, that is…”

“What is it?”

As she faltered, Nadja’s face turned bright red.

I looked up at her, worried.

I was short, and Nadja was tall for a woman, so naturally I had to look up.

“N-nothing, it’s nothing! A-anyway! I would never marry Ashid, not even if it killed me! If it came to that, I’d bite my tongue and die! (S-so cute, way too cute! At this point I don’t even care about aptitudes, I just love her!)”

What determination that was.

I did think Ashid had a pretty bad personality, but maybe he had even treated Nadja cruelly.

Unforgivable, I thought, when Nadja stood and pointed at something.

She then pointed to the stable’s exit.

“Th-that’s right! Woody, use your aptitude to plant a tree. Give me that tree as a present.”

“O-okay, sure…”

I did as she asked and planted a tree with my aptitude.

It was the first time anyone had asked me to use it, so naturally it was the first time I had planted a tree.

When Nadja saw the small tree I planted, she smiled.

“It’s a cute tree, just like you, Woody… I like it! I’ll have it replanted and bring it back to my home!”

Thanks to Nadja, I was able to like my aptitude, even if just a little.

It was a deeply memorable moment—

“Don’t worry. I already left a letter of severance. I put it in the desk drawer, so my father should be finding it about now.”

“S-severance!? Was it okay to do that?”

“If I can’t marry the one I love, then I’ll just give up being a noble!”

“I-I see… you really hated the idea of a political marriage that much, huh…”

Now that I was no longer a noble, I understood. Political marriages meant only to pass on aptitudes were worthless.

For a cute girl like Nadja, of course she would want a normal marriage built on love.

Maybe she hated the idea of marrying me, too.

Thinking like that, I felt a little sad.

“N-no, that’s not it, you’ve got it wrong! I-I hated the idea of marrying Ashid, but marrying Woody… m-mumble mumble…”

Turning her face away, Nadja poked her index fingers together nervously.

Seeing her like that, Aira said:

“S-so sly… to pull that off so naturally… Nadja, what a terrifying girl!”

For some reason, she rolled her eyes in shock.

I had no idea why she was doing that.

“Forgive me for intruding on your sweet mood.”

“Ah, Divine Beast-sama.”

The Divine Beast appeared.

I had thought it had returned to where it came from when I woke up in the morning, but apparently not.

Carrying a monster in its long talons, it slipped easily through the barrier.

Then it landed in the open space opposite us.

“I dislike being called by such a pompous title. Please, call me simply Simurg.”

“Understood, Simurg-san.”

“Good. Then I too shall call you Woody, with familiarity. Woody, I have one request… would you grant me one of the World Tree’s fruits? Of course, I will pay you properly in return.”

Ah, I had completely forgotten about the World Tree.

…Wait a second.

Now that I thought about it… what we’d been eating… those were World Tree fruits, weren’t they?

If even Simurg-san wanted them… maybe they were something incredible. We had just been eating them every day without a second thought because they were delicious.