Light

“Good morning!”

“Morning~”

The day after Miria-san and Lulu-san arrived, I had called them to the lord’s manor to check whether they were lacking anything.

Both looked perfectly fine. If anything, after eating so much fruit yesterday, their complexion seemed even better today.

“Mmm… my apologies. I didn’t sleep well last night…”

“Did the bed not suit you?”

“N-no, that was not the issue at all!”

Judging from her expression, it didn’t seem like any problems had occurred.

If anything, they had simply been too excited to sleep—nothing more.

So the bedding wasn’t the issue.

That was a relief.

“In fact, I slept better than usual. The Elf part of my heart was extremely pleased.”

“Aah… yes, I think I understand. Sleeping inside a tree feels… reassuring, somehow.”

It seemed that even Dark Elves retained some faint sense of affinity for trees and forests.

Compared to sleeping in the desert, resting in a lush, natural space made them feel safer.

“But… haha, if I told the elders that I slept inside a House Tree, they would faint.”

“Eh!?”

I was the one shocked by Miria-san’s shy remark.

Seeing my reaction, Miria-san looked equally surprised.

Our wide-eyed gazes met.

“Wh-what is it, Woody-dono!?”

“Miria-san, you know about House Trees?”

Before I could create them, I had never even heard of House Trees.

I thought they were a rare tree species, like Element variants… but maybe they were more common?

“—Fumu fumu, I see…”

According to Miria-san, House Trees were actually quite common in the Elf world.

When one imagined the homes within the World Tree settlement— those houses shaped like trees, blending into the scenery— those were all long-developed cultivars of House Trees.

“Though the detailed knowledge mostly remains with the elder generations.

My father’s and grandfather’s age group are the last who heard those stories directly.”

“For us, it’s more like ‘oh, that happened?’ from a very distant time. Fufu, but now we might be the only Dark Elves living in a House Tree!”

I didn’t really know what being a “House Tree resident” meant, but since Lulu-san seemed delighted, that was enough.

Still… if that’s the case, could I actually create a World Tree settlement myself?

If I did, it would be populated by Dark Elves, though.

“See you later~!”

After being cheerfully waved off by Lulu-san, Miria-san and I headed toward Simurgh-san’s Element Fruit orchard.

As expected of the so-called Fashion Leader, Lulu-san had already begun blending into the village.

Somehow—through means I did not understand— she was already becoming a leader figure among the young girls.

“Leave this to me! Go on ahead!”

She really said that.

A dependable ally indeed.

That morning, Simurgh-san had summoned me.

It was rare for him to call me on his own.

So I prepared for something serious— but what came out of his beak was entirely unexpected.

“Woody, I have thought of something. I want you to feed one of your World Tree fruits… to Miria and the others.”

“Huh? I mean, I can, but… why?”

“The Sanctuary has purification properties. The World Tree fruit contains an even more concentrated version of that power. If they consume it, it might be possible to purify the mana and miasma that have clung to Dark Elf bodies… and perhaps allow them to receive the World Tree’s blessing once more.”

A fruit that repelled monsters, purified corruption, and inspired repentance— and perhaps could restore what the Dark Elves had lost.

If it could help, there was no reason not to give it to them.

I had plenty in stock anyway; I couldn’t sell them, and even Divine Beasts only ate them occasionally.

“So, here you are.”

“O-ohh… how divine…”

The golden, radiant fruit of the World Tree.

There was a time when this was what kept me alive through starvation.

Nowadays I ate them like nutritional supplements when busy…

While I was reminiscing, Miria-san took a bite—crunch.

And then—

Her entire body began to shine in the same golden light as the fruit!

“Th-this is…!?”

As the light faded, standing there was—