Chapter 70
May We Clean It
Up?
Translator : PolterGlast
"Uh, excuse me...
is it okay if we clean it up? I did knock, just in case."
"Of course. I was
the one who said you could enter any door that wasn't locked if there was no
reply."
Even if there was no
reply, any door I wasn't allowed to enter would be locked. This space with the
Mirror of Foresight—the World Tree leaf—could now be entered by anyone who used
the permission slip on my chest and murmured a spell. It was a very important
place, but precisely because it was important, the Head Tower believed that
everyone should be able to access it.
Relieved to receive a
response, I nodded. Usually, Ichi and the others hid their forms with my
illusion skill, but Veda already knew about them, so there was no need to hide.
"Yeeeeaah!" Ichi and the others, who had been peeking out from behind
me, leaped out, ready to do whatever they pleased (though they were already
doing so).
--Let's do it!
--We'll do it!
--We're gonna do it
like crazyyyyy!!!
The boing-boing was
intense.
While Ichi and the
others were bouncing around, cleaning every wall in sight, I walked over to
Veda.
"Um... excuse me,
we might be a little loud."
"No, please don't
worry about it. I appreciate it. I try to tell people to clean as much as
possible, but I always notice it's covered in dust... Still, it's quite rare
for slimes to listen to people. Is it because you're a demon?"
"Eh, well, um, I
don't think so."
Our bond had started
with my tamer skill, but now I considered it a pure friendship. So, I wasn't forcing
Ichi and the others to stay with me, and there was a possibility they might
say, "Sorry, El, but we're going to look for the next cleaning spot soon,
so see ya!" and leave. If that happened, I would thank them wholeheartedly
for everything. Just as I was thinking that, I saw them bouncing in the corner
of my vision, emphatically saying, "Cleaning with El is so much
fun~!" which made me grin sheepishly.
"In Soleil,
slimes have already mostly disappeared. It's a rare sight."
"You mentioned
that before. I always thought slimes were relatively everywhere, so it's
surprising."
"Slimes are said
to be messengers of the gods. Water and gods are synonymous. If there is no
water, the slimes' forms will probably disappear. In recent years, climate
change has become even more pronounced, and the water shortage in Soleil is
severe. We've managed to get by somehow by storing the occasional squalls in
the water sphere membrane, but we're nearing our limit."
The summoning of the
Saint could have happened in any of the four countries. There must have been
discussions going on in Soleil as well, but Cloudy must have beaten them to it.
While explaining, Veda moved his staff shan-shan and looked up at the World
Tree.
"...Um, what are
you doing?"
"I'm
working."
Shan! This time, he
made a loud sound and touched the ground with the tip of his staff. Then, a
part of a branch stretched out sharply, and the opposite branch withered and
fell off in an instant. "Eh, whoa!" "I'm pruning. I'm cutting
off branches that have no hope of growing." Come to think of it, when I
first met Veda here, he had said he was waiting while working. He must have
been doing the same thing then.
The fallen branch of
the World Tree gradually became thinner and withered, and before I knew it, it disappeared.
I realized again that it was different from an ordinary tree. "This is
also a task that requires the use of magic tools, but only I can do it."
He looked like he was having a hard time, and he wore bracelets on both arms.
The designs on his right and left bracelets were completely different, and
every time he moved his staff, the pattern on his right bracelet flickered.
(Veda's unique skill,
the ability to use magic tools skillfully... so these are magic tools that can
only be used with that skill, huh?)
He must have needed
more bodies than he had. After all, it was a job only he could do. Looking at
where the cut branches had been, it felt somewhat sad. As if he understood my
thoughts, he said, "It's alright. If you can cut them off properly and
skillfully, they will sprout again from where they were cut. The World Tree and
we coexist."
It was because of the
roots of the World Tree that they could use magic tools and send messages using
the branches. This country, no, all the leaves were supported by the World
Tree.
"By the way, in
Cloudy Country, Yuko-san said she couldn't use the branch because the ritual
wasn't over, but is there anything like that in Soleil?"
"Yes, there is.
Both the Head Tower and I have already completed it."
Wow.
At this moment, I was
conflicted about whether I should confess. But I figured Veda probably already
knew. Instead of pretending ignorance here, it would be better to confess
quickly, I decided, and groaned, "Excuse me, I used it quite a bit the
other day." "Of course, I know," he said, as if it were obvious.
After all, he had said he could tell when it was used, which was why he was
waiting here.
"So, you mustn't
use it anymore. You and Ichi-san are pretty much the only ones who don't mind
doors that require water every time they open and close. Please use the regular
entrance from now on."
Yes, sir! I didn't
want to be glared at by the gods.
Above us—well, the
ceiling part had been cut away, so I actually meant the very top—Ichi and the
others seemed to have reached it and were doing a great spinning rollercoaster,
saying they were going down. The slimes, the messengers of the gods, were
having a fun time among the World Tree. I couldn't help but worry if that was
extremely disrespectful.
More importantly, Veda
and I exchanged glances. Veda was a busy man. That's why we didn't meet very
often, but he had promised to let me know if, by any chance, a reply came from
Cloudy. The fact that he hadn't said anything meant that was probably the case.
Veda shrugged. When you tied a message to a branch of the World Tree, it would
reach its destination in an instant, so unless a goat had wandered in
somewhere, the possibility of a mail accident was low.
"Excuse me, do
goat-type monsters exist?"
"Eh? Yes, they
do."
They do exist...
No, so what if they
do? I was starting to get confused myself.
"They are
ignoring us, right?"
"Ignoring, of
course."
In other words, they
were giving us the cold shoulder.
What the heck? The
Magic Tower was the representative of Soleil, so ignoring them would develop
into a diplomatic issue. What on earth was happening in Cloudy? Just as I
involuntarily sighed, a single branch quietly glowed. "Eh, whoa whoa
whoa!" "...It's here." It was so bright that I closed my eyes, and
when I opened them, a piece of paper that hadn't been there before was tied to
the branch. The gray paper was the seal of Cloudy Country.
Veda waved his staff,
and the branch quietly descended before our eyes. "Excuse me." Veda
gently untied the message. He followed the words, his refined face frowning,
and then he seemed to reread it from the beginning. What unbelievable content
was written there?
"...To
summarize,"
Veda said slowly,
apparently concerned about my gaze.
"First, an
apology for the delay in their reply. And the reason is that they were
searching for the Saint within their country. Cloudy Country is unaware of the
Saint's existence, so it's merely a rumor to them."
"Eh, eeh,
that's..."
That was a bit
unreasonable. They were searching for me using the name of the Saint, or
rather, would that be the future? It was confusing, I thought, tilting my head.
"Well now," Veda narrowed his eyes smoothly.
"How exactly
should we interpret this...?"
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