The Pruning Part 2

"Touya has another sister?!"

"That's right, y'know? Her name is Mochizuki Moroha! Little Moroha! She's

my little sister, y'know?"

"Nice to meetcha." The Sword God... or rather, Moroha, my sister... shook

Linze's hand. Everyone was baffled by the sudden appearance of my second

sister. I couldn't blame them, since I was baffled too.

"So sorry we've taken this long to meet you. We're your brother's humble

betrothed... It's an honor."

"Yup, good stuff. I know you. You're Yumina, that one's Linze, and that little

one's Sue, yeah?"

"Ah, you know of us?"

"Yup. I've been watching you from up hi—"

"Letters! Letters! Yep! Karen's been writing letters to her, so that's how she

knows!" My new sister was close to saying something stupid, so I quickly butted

in. Moroha didn't seem the type to be able to read situations well. She seemed

a bit airheaded. She was about as beautiful as Karen, but they were in two

different categories. Karen was cutesy, but Moroha had an air of dignity and

class about her.

She was really tall, and moved with a manner of grace. If I'd found out she

was a member of a traveling dancing troupe, I wouldn't have been surprised.

"But still... what are you doing in such a place, hm?"

"Oh, uh... I tried to uh, force my way in and give it a go. It seemed pretty

interesting, yeah? Ended up losing because my teammates weren't all that

strong, though. But I basically came here to see about getting stronger."

Moroha came up with a convenient excuse to deflect Sue's interrogation.

Apparently she was watching from above, but found the situation so

interesting that she came down, forced her way into a tribe, and fought as a

member like it was normal. The tribe treated her as if she was an old friend,

though. I wondered if they'd been hypnotized... It shouldn't be impossible for a

god to manipulate someone like that.

Strictly speaking, the two of them were forbidden from interfering with

mortal affairs...

But apparently that just included them using their godly powers down here. If

they did things in their extremely overpowered human bodies, then it was

permitted. Their physical abilities were basically at the peak of mankind's

potential. They weren't master-tier, but more monster-tier.

Still, even if I begged them to wipe out the Phrase or to restore Yulong, it

wouldn't be possible. These useless gods were simply incapable of acting

outside their respective domains.

"Getting stronger? Is it possible that Touya's skill with a blade is the result of

your training?"

"Ah... Kinda, I guess. But Touya's swordsmanship is largely the result of his

own techniques."

"But there's nobody in the world who can match Moroha, y'know? She's the

greatest swordfighter on the planet." Karen started boasting, as if Moroha's

skill was her own. That was just like her. Well, she was a god too. I wondered if

it might be possible to ask Moroha to train our knight order.

Still, she was the Sword God... It was entirely possible she had no talent with

axes or spears. Well, it was also possible she'd be okay with daggers and short

blades, so I decided to ask her later.

"Oh, Yae's match is about to start! They'll advance to the finals if they win

this." Sue's voice stopped my pondering as I turned to the stage. Today's

matches would determine the top eight, and they'd go on to vie for the

Treelord title a day later. But right now, sixteen remained.

"The Balm tribe have won and advanced, as well."

"As we'd thought, their champions aren't the guys who picked a fight with us

earlier. They seem strong." That much was obvious. If they'd won with the

cannon fodder I'd seen yesterday, they'd have been extremely lucky.

I decided to stop thinking about those weirdos and watch Yae's match.

Yae's foe was a tribal figure covered in tattoos. He held a tomahawk in each

hand.

The moment the match started, he charged at Yae, raising his right hand high.

Yae stepped back, avoiding him easily, then used her left hand to parry his right.

She immediately jumped back, causing the two to be separated.

"It's Yae's win."

"Huh?" Moroha muttered to herself as she watched the match.

The man was closing in on Yae, but she simply continued to dodge his attacks,

as if she was waiting for something to happen. And then, Yae moved. She deftly

dodged his tomahawk and let her katana swipe out, cutting the thing in half.

The weapon's blade fell out of bounds. Her swooping motion wasn't done. As

her katana came back, it cut the other weapon to ribbons.

After that, her weapon came down upon the man's torso. He was defeated in

a single blow.

"Yae's katana wouldn't be able to handle clashing with a destructive weapon

like that. There'd be a chance that the blade would be damaged, after all. If she

attacked him and he guarded with his weapons, it'd be the same story. She was

biding her time until she could destroy the tomahawk. Even though she drew

her blade and defeated him in one swipe, she could've ended it much sooner.

The truth of the matter is that she was playing around. She was likely testing

her capabilities, seeing if she could disarm him entirely. She needs more

training, though."

Oho... I see... I don't fully get it, but she seems to... Moroha, the Sword God,

understood everything from a mere glance.

As for the rest of the matchup, Pam and Hilde won their rounds without any

trouble, so the Rauli tribe would safely advance to the finals.

We'd succeeded in reaching the final bout with no complications.

"Hm?" As I looked over the other fights, I noticed the Balm tribe fighting a

strange group.

They had elongated, skinny bodies with a hunched posture. The lot of them

wore unusual masks on their faces, and claws on their fingers. Well... calling it a

mask wasn't quite true, since it looked closer to a gas filter. For half a second, I

could've easily mistaken them for a hazmat cleanup operation.

Their eyes looked... odd, as well. Almost like there was a kind of madness in

them.

The Balm tribe's current fighter, a hefty man wielding a spear, wasn't doing

too well. He had tons of tiny scratches all over his body.

He brought his weapon forward, but his aim was completely off. The man was

breathing heavily and sweating up a storm, as well. He seemed beyond

fatigued.

"Hm, poison?"

"What?" Moroha suddenly commented, much to my surprise. If it was

poison... then their claws were probably laced with the stuff.

"It's not like it can kill or anything, but it seems like it causes dizziness,

numbness, and drowsiness. It's not just on their weapons, but scattered across

the entire stage."

"Isn't that against the rules?"

"You'd think that, but nope. Magic's forbidden, but nothing else. Sure,

dishonorable stuff's forbidden too, but poison's a bit of a gray area. After all,

some tribes use poison to hunt their prey."

I guess that's true. Feels kinda cowardly, though. I guess those skinny guys

aren't exactly strong, so they use poison to make up for their lack of physical

strength... It's a pretty clever way of compensating, I'll give them that.

I figured fighting with what you're specialized in wasn't something inherently

wrong.

With the Balm warrior completely dazed, the hunched man charged forward

and sank his claws into his enemy's stomach. Game, set, match.

After that round, the Balm tribe took a massive blow to morale. It didn't take

long for them to lose the next two fights either. The poison-wielders, known as

the Rivet Tribe, completely eliminated Balm from the proceedings without

much fanfare.

"Huh, the Balm tribe lost."

"At least the Rauli tribe can rest a little easier now." This meant that the Balm

tribe couldn't take the Treelord title and create a law that harmed the Rauli

tribe, so that was a major relief.

Still, that poison was certainly worrying. If it was really scattered across the

fighting stage, then they didn't even need to land a hit for it to be applied. They

seemed to run defensive battles and wait for the poison to take effect. No point

fighting when you can just wait your opponent out, after all.

Luckily the spirit's blessing prevented the poison from spilling out beyond the

confines of the stump arena.

Though I suppose that was a subtle confirmation that the forest spirit and the

judges approved of the poison. Speaking of which, the referee on stage was also

affected by the poison, but it wasn't a lethal dose, so he'd be up on his feet

within a couple of hours.

Regardless of it being a non-lethal amount, it was a major detriment. I

decided it'd be wise for Yae and the others to prepare necessary

countermeasures. They could find themselves facing that tribe, after all.

I had asked about the Rivet tribe's history in the Pruning, but apparently this

was their first year. They were a relatively new tribe that had split off from a

larger one. The original tribe used some poisons while hunting, but the splinter

group was far more focused on it.

The tribes of the Sea of Trees weren't really families, but more like tiny

societies. New tribes were born all the time, old tribes collapsed, or tribes

merged with one another regularly.

"Oh." The brawler from the Dragon Clan was fighting elsewhere. She moved

with the same deliberate gait, not expending any unnecessary movements. Just

as before, her enemy was blasted away.

That was the tribe's third match, so the one she represented was also moving

to the finals.

Each of the top eight tribes had some unique element to them. One of them

wore full fur pelts of what looked to be jaguars, another used weaponry made

out of animal bones, and so on. They had a lot of variety to them.

I was a little concerned about the challenge.

"Are we really doing this?"

"Yup. Don't hold back. Come at me any time. Magic isn't allowed, though."

After I introduced Moroha to the other girls, Hilde and Yae requested that she

spar with them.

Karen kept gloating about Moroha's swordplay, which sparked the interest of

the two. But Hilde and Yae were still participating in the Pruning, so I couldn't

afford to have either worn out. There was an important match coming up the

following day. It would be too risky.

But even so, Hilde and Yae kept demanding that they see an example of

Moroha's skills. So, after some arguing, it was decided that we'd hold a mock

battle.

"Why do I have to do it?"

"There's nobody else for it, really." That was true enough. Even excluding Yae

and Hilde, it wasn't like I could let Linze or Yumina go up against her.

It was just one of those things. Truth be told, I was a little curious myself. I

gripped the mithril blade in my hands and faced Moroha down.

"Make sure to go all-out, yeah?"

"Then I'll start! Haaah!" I rushed in and swung my sword down, since I wanted

to test something. My elder sister parried the blow with ease and spun around

me, then swung her own sword at my back. I bent down and managed to dodge

the blade, just barely.

I charged in again and tried a feint. I pretended to aim for her torso with a

horizontal slice, but suddenly shifted my movement upward to go for her arm.

However, before I could do anything, Moroha slammed right into me, knocking

me off-balance. I fell on the ground and rolled a considerable distance away.

She didn't chase after me, so obviously she wasn't even using her full power.

She smiled softly at me, but that only irritated me more. Alright, she's not

being serious, so let's go all-out!

"...I give up." There I was, dazed and battered on the ground, in a state of

utter surrender. It was impossible. Absolutely impossible. I managed to graze

her one or two times, but I couldn't land a solid blow. If I had been able to use

magic, it might've worked, but my swordplay alone was years behind hers. I

couldn't hope to compare. She was the god of swords, after all. What was I

expecting?

"Wowser, you were tougher than I thought. I even ended up getting a little

serious. I bet if you keep it up and train a little harder you could reach my level,

yeah?"

No thanks... Not interested in being your apprentice or anything. Besides, if I

get that good with the sword, then I won't be able to fight fairly against anyone

except you.

"I-I could barely even register their movements, I could not."

"S-Same here... Both of them... are amazing..." Hilde and Yae looked utterly

flabbergasted, but they still managed to speak a little. Even if they thought it

was amazing, there was a clear and marked difference between my skill and

Moroha's. I didn't have the strength to say that to them, though.

"Hmm? Barely? That means you two could see our movements even a little

though, yeah? Wow... you guys are pretty promising..." Moroha smiled over at

Yae and Hilde. The two of them looked at her with amazement. I could

practically see the stars in their eyes. They seemed to be happy just being

acknowledged by her, I figured.

"I intend to stay with Touya for a while, so I'd like to tutor you both in the

ways of the sword."

"Really?! Th-Thank you, dear sister!"

"O-Oh goodness... You have my deepest thanks, you do." Both of the girls

looked even more excited now. I couldn't help but feel it was the birth of two

new acolytes of the Sword God.

"Hmph... Seems little Moroha stole two of my sisters-in-law, y'know...?"

"I-I-I still respect you a lot, K-Karen..."

"Aww! Linzey-winzey! You're such a good girl, I love you!" Karen had Linze

wrapped up in a bear hug for reasons completely unknown to me. Lu wasn't

completely enamored like the other two, but she was a little interested in

Moroha as well. She wasn't a complete sword nut like Yae and Hilde, so her

reservation was understandable.

I finally regained the ability to move again, so I cast [Refresh] on myself and

was fighting fit once more. Geez... Looks like I've still got a bit to learn.

I didn't know when exactly, but we'd attracted spectators. Our fight was

pretty wild, so it wasn't all that surprising.

"Who are those people?"

"Guests of the Rauli tribe. Those ones aren't their champions, though."

"Goodness... but they're so strong. Why isn't that one participating for

them?"

"I know, right?" The spectators continued their careless whispers around us.

Why wasn't I fighting in the Pruning? That was obvious. I was a man!

I noticed the bald-headed staff wielder, and the Dragon Clan brawler amongst

the crowd.

The bald man bowed his head in greeting as our gazes locked, but the

dragongirl just gazed at me without moving at all. Huh... Her right eye's golden,

but her left is red... Does she have a Mystic Eye or something? Her gaze was

trained on me, but I suddenly felt a sense of incoming danger. I pulled out

Brunhild and pulled the trigger within a matter of seconds.

A man suddenly fell out of a tree behind the dragongirl. I'd hit him with a

paralyzing shot. He was still clutching a bow and arrow in his hands. Evidently, it

had been trained on the dragongirl.

"Do you know this man?" I spoke to the dragongirl while pointing at the guy.

"...An earlier opponent, from a tribe I fought today." That made sense. It was

a revenge attack. He couldn't handle losing, so he decided to hurt her. A man

from the Jaja tribe came out and dragged the immobilized guy away.

The Pruning was fraught with danger, but it wasn't like attacking people in

dishonorable ways wouldn't have consequences. In this case, his tribe would be

banned from the next Pruning. Naturally, his people would turn against him

because of the penalty he brought them. Exile would be a likely punishment in

the end.

He would have to walk the Sea of Trees on his own for the rest of his life. That

was punishment enough.

"I owe you a debt. My name is Sonia Parallem. I'm currently staying with the

Ruluch tribe." The dragongirl, Sonia, slowly bowed her head to me.

"And I'm Rengetsu. Thank you so much for helping Sonia-san out of a

potentially dangerous situation!" The shaved staff-wielder bowed his head to

me as well. With a name like Rengetsu, I wondered if he was from Yulong or

Eashen. I couldn't discern much about his ethnicity through hair color, either.

He didn't have any, after all. Though, when I looked closely at his eyebrows, I

did note that they were black.

"Rengetsu, where are you from?"

"...Hm? I'm from Eashen. Why?" Thank goodness... Would've been a pain in

the ass if this guy was Yulongese... Man, Eashenese people really like to travel a

lot though; even Yae was wandering when I first met her. It's probably a case of

training their bodies and learning the ways of the world.

On the flipside, Yulongese people didn't travel much at all. Or rather, leaving

the country was difficult to begin with due to the old government policies.

There was a lot of red tape and difficult rules and regulations. It got to the point

where people just didn't bother trying to leave. Their international news was

also suppressed.

But the old regime had been completely destroyed, so refugees were spilling

out of Yulong at an alarming rate. There weren't a lot of them, since most of the

population had been annihilated by the Phrase, but I felt sorry for the nations

that had to take them in.

"I'm Mochizuki Touya. I'm staying with the... Rauli... Tribe. Sorry, are you

alright?" Sonia was glaring at me in a weird way, which kind of put a damper on

my introduction. I wondered if she was invoking that Mystic Eye of hers.

"Uhm... what's up?"

"...I'm not sure if I wish to know the answer, but... why are you posing as a

woman?"

Wait what? Did my [Mirage] go on the fritz or something? Or can she just see

through it. I quietly asked Sonia, and she nodded.

"Ah, don't worry... I know some people have this kind of hobby, I'm not a

judgmental person."

"W-W-Wait a second now! You're misunderstanding the entire situation

here!" She thought I was some kind of cross-dresser or a man who liked to be

seen as a woman. It's just an illusion, I'm not even cross-dressing! I took the two

of them to a secluded area to explain myself.

The Rauli tribe wouldn't lose any honor because I wasn't one of their

champions. Even if I was exposed, the only penalty would be me losing the

ability to watch the matches. If that happened, I'd just cast [Invisible] and

spectate that way.

"So... is your Mystic Eye the reason my illusion wasn't working?"

"Yes. I have the Mystic Eye of Revelation. I can negate visual trickery. Any kind

of visual effects caused by magic are completely undone by my right eye."

Incredible. So she can probably negate blinding spells as well. Oh, but then

again... if she's caught off guard she might not be able to trigger it in time.

"This isn't a huge deal, but I'd prefer it if you both kept quiet about it."

"Alright. That makes us even, then. My debt repaid to you for saving me."

Good to see some reasonable people around. These two are actually pretty

nice, easy to talk to... According to the duo, they were adventurers who

traveled the world together in order to improve. Apparently they were just in

the region, and two champions of the Ruluch tribe came down with sickness, so

they took their place.

"We were lucky enough to see your battle earlier, Touya. You're certainly

something, but... The woman you fought, who is she?"

"Aha. That's one of my big sisters, Moroha... She's the middle child, and I'm

the youngest. Winning against her is pretty much impossible. When it comes to

swordplay, she's peerless."

"Peerless, you say..." The look on their faces spoke plainly. They didn't believe

me. Didn't change the truth, though.

For the time being we decided that we'd cheer one another on. After that, I

parted with them.

"So, you were here?"

"Hm? Pam?" After I split from the two of them, Pam showed up. Her figure

revealed itself from the shadows, faintly illuminated by the moonlight.

"The Balm tribe isn't gonna win, you can rest easy."

"That's true... but I'd still like to see about... planning for the next Pruning. I'd

really like your child after all, Touya."

"You said you'd give up on that if we won."

"I know I did. And a Rauli woman doesn't break her promises." Pam sulked a

little bit. Clearly she was disappointed.

"If we win, will you be using your law to banish the Balm tribe?"

"Mm, that might work out... But we've come this far, so I was considering

some other laws. It's hard to think about what might benefit the Rauli tribe,

though..." Pam pondered quietly to herself.

Something to benefit the Rauli tribe, huh...? I guess the natural one would be a

law that benefits women. The Rauli tribe is opposed to gender equality, after

all... Still, it'd be best if they didn't mix their gender politics into the laws of a

whole region.

The disparity between men and women was only present in the Balm and

Rauli tribes, after all.

Though, if I had to admit it, I would say that women probably had it rougher

than men across the board in the Sea of Trees.

"Oh! How about making it so only women can participate in the Pruning?"

"Don't be an idiot. That'd definitely make people freak out."

Guess you have a point. The other tribes would hate it. There are some tribes

with mighty women, but most of the warriors are men.

"Then what about making two separate Pruning ceremonies divided by

gender?"

"Hm... That... could be interesting... If it was split by gender, my tribe would

have an incredible advantage." Pam began to think once more.

Hey now, I wasn't being all that serious... But I guess having men and women

fight each other in the same contest is a little unfair. The Olympics has two

separate categories, after all. The body of a man and the body of a woman are

fundamentally built for different things. That's a biological fact. It's not

discrimination, but simple differentiation.

"But if that rule's established, tribes will likely participate in both divisions.

Won't that put the Rauli tribe at a disadvantage? The Balm tribe, too."

"That's fine. Actually, I'd prefer it. If we put this into effect, the tribes in

general will start to value women more." Well, that made sense. I didn't think

about it from that angle. If women were put into an enforced category, then

they'd become more active in society as well.

Although, if the women of all the tribes started to find their strength and

independence, they may look for a place where that strength is better

respected. They might even end up finding themselves involved with the Rauli

tribe before long. That'd result in the tribe becoming stronger... Pretty cunning,

really.

Improving a woman's place in society was definitely not a bad thing... At least

it shouldn't have been, but the manly man in me felt a little mixed. I might've

proposed something strange.

The tree spirit would have to grant two laws if the Pruning was split into two,

though... That'd probably be fine.

It's not like the spirit actually granted the law, they just determined whether

it was appropriate or not. Enforcing it was down to the tribes themselves.

"I'll consult the rest of the tribeswomen. This could change the Pruning for

the better." Pam ran off with a spring in her step. As I wondered whether I'd

done the right thing, the tree spirit suddenly appeared next to me. She was

glowing as usual.

"That was not a bad suggestion. Women may end up being treated better in

the Sea of Trees as a result. While the Rauli tribe is an extreme example, the

other tribes have women with potential as well..."

Hm... I see, I see... Then it might not be so clear-cut... The Rauli tribe might

even make themselves some rivals with this law.

I decided to head back to everyone else. The tree spirit vanished as well, just

like that.

She didn't ask about Moroha, which made me wonder if the Sword God had

concealed her divinity entirely. It was still leaking from me, though... I had no

idea how to turn off the faucet, so I had a feeling it'd cause me trouble again

before long.

On my way back, I suddenly turned around. I saw shadowed individuals

heading deeper into the forest. Are those... members of the Rivet tribe? Yeah,

those masks are too unique to be anything else.

At the time I just assumed they were going off to the bathroom or something.

I didn't think anything of it. Sadly, that proved to be a terrible mistake.

◇ ◇ ◇

The third day of the Pruning had begun.

The day had come to end this conflict. The remaining eight teams would fight,

and the Tribe of the Treelord would be determined by sundown.

Pam spoke about my proposal to her fellow tribeswomen, and it was met

with an enthusiastic reception. I was a little worried that maybe I'd done

something unnecessary, but I decided to just forget about it. Whatever would

come to pass would come to pass.

The first four matches would be held at the same time. That way, the top four

tribes would be decided quickly. After that, two matches would be held one

after the other to determine the finalists. Then, the finals would begin.

The tribes all faced each other, atop the tree stumps in the Wishing Grounds.

I wasn't actually sure why the arenas were in the shape of stumps...

Apparently they vanished into the ground once the Pruning was over. I figured

it was more of the spirit's power, or something. I decided it wasn't worth

thinking or worrying about.

"Our first matchup is... with a tribe of strange ones." They were draped head

to toe in birth feathers, wore mantles around their necks that made me think of

bird wings, and had head ornaments fashioned from the skull of what I could

only assume to be giant birds. That's... certainly an ensemble... I wonder if

they're a science ninja team or something...

Once the match began, the bird guy jolted forward with incredible speed.

Whoa! That guy's fast! Elze, who was watching him, didn't move a muscle.

The man kept running around Elze, charging in for feints and real attacks at

his own discretion. He kept trying to fake her out, charging in only to pull back,

and jumping or rolling around like a madman. Even so, Elze didn't move.

Suddenly, he boosted his speed even more, using the momentum to get

behind Elze's back. Then, he pulled out a dagger and aimed right for her neck,

but she sidestepped it masterfully. In a flash, Elze delivered a catastrophic chop

that smashed the bird skull the man was wearing. I was fairly sure it would've

smashed his actual skull if the protection wasn't in place. Ouch.

The bird tribesman had fallen and he couldn't get up. He wouldn't die, but it

really felt like a serious case of overkill.

After Elze, Yae and Hilde both achieved easy victories. The Rauli tribe was the

first to advance to the semi-finals.

"Incredible, y'know? They just totally overwhelmed them!"

"If they were going up against slow and brawny opponents, their tactics

would have worked. Using speedy disruptions is smart, but they were no match

for Elze and the others. No match at all." Like Karen and Moroha said, it was a

case of a bad matchup for our enemies. The girls had become even stronger

since the first day, somehow. It was terrifying...

...Wait, don't tell me that they've become Moroha's Wards too?! Yae and

Hilde have been hanging out with her lately, but... Oh geez... That's totally what

happened, huh?

Well, it's not like that's a bad thing. I just feel a little bad since they're all

caught up in my weird circumstances now.

"Ah, Touya. Look over there."

"Hm?" Linze pointed over at Rengetsu, the guy with the bo staff. He had just

felled his own opponent. The Ruluch tribe had achieved a consecutive victory as

well.

Thus, the top four tribes had been determined. One of them was the poisonwielding Rivet tribe, as well.

I'd prepared filtration masks for Yae and the others as a last-ditch

countermeasure, just in case we were paired up with them.

The final four were:

The Femme Fatales, the Rauli tribe.

The Poisonous Pests, the Rivet tribe.

The Martial Masters, the Ruluch tribe.

And the Remna tribe, who were really strong or whatever.

With that, we had four basic Japanese starting syllables. Ra, Ri, Ru, Re! Ro was

missing, though... Didn't get a full set.

"Should we be worried about the Rivet tribe?"

"Well, there's also the Ruluch tribe, since that's the one with Sonia.

Depending on who you're up against, that could be close." It'd be pretty easy if

they were against the Remna tribe. All they had going for them was physical

ability. Though it would've been bad if they got caught by one of them. The men

from Remna had the physical strength to shatter a bear's spine with one arm.

The girls just had to keep out of their reach, which wouldn't be too hard due to

how simplistic their style was.

"Oh, the first match is starting. Oh my..." Sue gestured to the stage. The

branches began to rustle and creak as sunlight shone down onto the two

selected teams. Rauli and Ruluch.

"It's Sonia's group... This'll be a tough one." In all honesty, I didn't think Lu

had a chance if she went up against either of those two. The same probably

applied to Pam. I wondered if Yae and Hilde would be able to match up to

Sonia. Elze would likely lose against Rengetsu due to it being a bad matchup. If

Pam and Elze were knocked out by Rengetsu and Sonia, and Lu lost her fight...

We'd be done for.

I still thought we had a higher chance of winning than losing, though.

Both sides moved to their respective positions on the stump arena. You could

see clearly from up here, but the participants didn't know who they'd be

fighting until just before the battle began.

"Oh dear..." Lu was matched with Rengetsu, and Elze was matched with

Sonia. That was a bit worrying. Still, even if they lost, Yae, Hilde and Pam could

pull out a win. I was only really worried about Pam.

It would basically be a certain victory for us if Lu or Elze won their battles.

Elze had the best chances of winning, but it was basically a duel between

brawlers. I wasn't certain of her chances with Sonia. If she was able to use

[Boost] she'd have the upper hand, but such a luxury was not afforded.

The first match began, so Lu and Rengetsu walked toward the middle of the

stump. There was a serious height disparity between them. Rengetsu was over

a hundred-and-eighty centimeters tall, while Lu wasn't even at a hundred-andforty-five. It looked like an adult prepping to fight a child. I wondered if people

would consider it dishonorable if Rengetsu beat her.

The referee called the start of the fight. Lu took an offensive stance with her

twinblades, and Rengetsu prepared his staff. The man's staff was a gleaming

silver, and had each end tipped with gold. At a glance I'd guess it was a mithril

and orichalcum weapon. He handled it like a pro. His strength was clearly

nothing to sniff at, but if the staff was actually made of iron and gold instead of

light metals, I'd have been even more terrified.

Lu dashed forward, and Rengetsu responded by moving his staff. She scraped

down the side of his staff with one of the blades and tried using her forward

momentum to jump at his chest. Rengetsu responded in kind by thrusting the

bo staff into the ground and pole vaulting over her. His agility was nuts.

Hmph... I guess this guy really is one level above. He saw through her entirely.

"Lu... Will Lu be okay?"

"Come now, she won't let it end so easily." Lu held her swords, spun them

around, and charged right back into the fray. She sent blow after blow against

him, attempting to wear him down with an overwhelming barrage. She was

both light on her feet and monstrously relentless. It was almost scary...

However, I noticed something off about her movements.

"Wow... She's moving just like a brawler, yeah? Did Elze teach her that?"

Moroha understood immediately. She saw exactly what was going on. Lu's

movements were nigh identical to Elze's deft footwork. It seemed that she'd

been learning well.

"Guh!" Rengetsu endured the assault using his staff, refusing her access to his

vital spots. Still, Lu had the upper hand, since she was wearing him down. After

a while he found himself cornered, sweeping his staff to the side and taking a

few steps back.

Lu, however, relentlessly pursued him. That was when Rengetsu changed his

attack plan. He suddenly dashed forward, tossing the staff at Lu's feet. She

stumbled, and he drove his hand against her breast as she lost her balance.

"Augh!" Lu fell to the ground and rolled off to the side before getting back up.

That definitely hurt.

Rengetsu, you bastard! What do you think you're doing to my princess, huh?!

You bald bastard! I'll kill you! My thoughts briefly grew incomprehensibly angry.

...Calm down, calm down. This is just a match. Let it go, let it go. You'll get

revenge later... You'll [Slip] the bastard good.

This time it was Rengetsu's turn to unleash a barrage of attacks on Lu. She

could barely avoid the staff as it jabbed against her, but then she dropped the

sword in her left hand and caught the pole beneath her armpit. Still, just as she

was about to launch her counter, Rengetsu let go of his staff.

"What? Uwah!"

"Haaah!!" Lu suddenly lost her balance entirely. Discarding his staff, Rengetsu

held out his palm and yelled loudly. In an instant, an invisible force seemed to

shoot out and knock Lu backward.

Wait, is that the same explosion of force I saw Sonia use? I guess they're allies,

so it's not too surprising.

Lu managed to maintain her composure and, after flying through the air,

gracefully landed on her feet. Out of bounds, though.

"The winner is Rengetsu!" The referee announced the winner just like that. A

thunder of clapping and cheering echoed out from across the venue.

Lu was defeated. She was simply knocked away at a bad angle. If she was only

a meter closer to the center, she'd have been okay.

"So... she lost."

"Hey now, we weren't going in expecting smooth sailing. Even Lu knew she

might lose." I patted the sulky Sue on the head, then gazed down at Lu. She

collected up her weapons and shook Rengetsu's hand. She seemed really

disappointed. There was no doubt she wished she could've carried on. But to

me, she'd done incredibly.

"Well, now that this has happened, we really need to win the next..." Elze and

Sonia both made their way to the stage.

Both were melee brawlers, and they both signaled their readiness by

smacking their gauntlets together.

They took their stances opposite one another, looking at the other dead-on.

The referee raised his hand and looked between the two. Then, he brought it

down in a flash.

"Begin!"

Whoooooosh. They both charged toward one another at full speed. Their fists

were flying toward their enemy's face, and both hits connected. It was an

incredible cross-counter, on both sides. Whaaat!!! That's way too fast! And why

are they smiling?!

"You're... pretty good."

"Y-You too."

Oh come the hell on, what are you guys?! Gang leaders brawling on a

riverbank?! They separated and immediately began exchanging blows. Elze

unleashed a straight right, and Sonia absorbed it with her gauntlet. Sonia then

made for a left hook, but Elze parried that as well.

The sound of metal was intense.

Clang. Thwack. Thump. Thud. Scrape! The sound of metal on metal

permeated the air around the stage. It was terrifying. The terror was amplified

by the fact that both of them were laughing. They were smacking the hell out of

each other, and cackling. It was seriously scary! I doubt anyone would

understand how freaked out I was!

Alright, that's all folks! Come on now! Bye bye, okay! That's it!

I was uncomfortable, like a man possessed.

Metal continued to clash, over and over again. Relentless. Strike, block. Strike,

block. Strike, block...

It looked like they were following some unspoken rule of taking turns to hit

one another. The speed slowly ramped up until it was basically just two flurries

of blows storming on at each other.

"Hiyaaaaaah!!!"

"Gaaaaaaaaah!!!" The sound of scraping metal rang out as their fists

connected again, both of them going in for a straight right.

For a moment, the two of them stood still, grinning and laughing all the while.

I had no idea what high they were riding, but it was frightening.

Then, both of them jumped back at the same time before rushing in and

launching a flurry of kicks. The greaves on their legs clunked and chimed as they

smacked against each other. After that, the metal sounds of clashing gauntlets

repeated itself once more.

"Hiyaaah!" Elze performed a spin kick. Sonia tried to block it, but the

momentum was too strong, resulting in the girl being pushed further back. Elze

charged forward, intent on following it up, but Sonia quickly dodged to the side

and lashed out using her tail.

Elze took the full brunt of the tail whip and was knocked back a bit herself.

Sonia went on the offensive now, attempting to land a drop kick, but Elze

brought both arms up in a cross and blocked it perfectly. Sonia kicked against

Elze's gauntlets and used the momentum to create some distance between the

two.

The heated battle continued to rise in temperature, with the offensive and

defensive flickering making the crowd get excited.

"Moroha, what do you think's gonna happen, y'know?"

"Hard to say. This isn't a battle of blades. Unfortunately, my knowledge when

it comes to fists is a little more lacking. Elze has the superior mobility, yeah? But

Sonia's definitely kicking it big with the power. The gap between the two isn't

all that huge, though. Sonia also has an ace up her sleeve, one she's yet to

play."

You mean that energy release thing... Elze hasn't really given her a chance to

use it so far, since there haven't been any openings at all.

Elze was unable to use her [Boost] too. Yae had watched several martial arts

videos on my smartphone, but so had Elze. She learned a lot from researching

how many different people fight.

The two were slowly becoming a little slower in their motions, likely because

they were running out of energy. Regardless, their fists kept flying back and

forth, over and over again.

Elze made a mighty sweep toward Sonia, but she managed to avoid being

knocked off-balance by stabilizing her tail's position. That tail of hers was really

something. I wondered if it kept her more stable and balanced than regular

humans.

Sonia then used her tail to attack Elze. Elze steeled herself and took the brunt

of the attack with her gauntlets. Then, she gripped the tail firmly, pulled on it,

and tossed Sonia over her shoulder with all the strength she could muster.

"Haaaaaah!!!"

"Guh!" Sonia had been knocked prone, and Elze jumped in to land the

finishing blow. But alas, Sonia rolled to the side and deftly dodged the attack.

She rose to her feet, braced her body, and held out her palm. Shit, not good!

"Haaa!!!" With a loud boom, Elze was knocked flying. She rolled all the way

across the stage and just managed to stop herself from falling out of bounds.

Goddamn! That was dangerously close to being the same as the Lu situation.

I knew that stance meant bad news. It was definitely some kind of invisible

ranged attack. Elze didn't even get hit by it directly, but she was still knocked a

fair bit away.

Elze was on her knees, and looked to be in considerable pain. Sonia, refusing

to let up, began charging toward her once more. Elze stood up and blocked it,

but the pain from the previous attack was still taking its toll. Elze was shifted to

the defensive position, and the stage's boundary line was right behind her.

"Haaaaaa!" Sonia brought her right fist rocketing forward, but Elze caught it

using her left. Sonia then followed up with an attack from her left hand, but Elze

caught it using her right! Sonia raised her leg in an attempt to kick Elze, and that

was when Elze used her grip on the girl's hands to start throwing her backward.

Elze brought her own leg up, placing the flat of her foot on Sonia's abs, and

then began to hurl the girl upward with all of her strength.

It looked pretty unconventional, but it was some kind of overhead throw.

Elze's head was leaning over the edge of the stage as she was on her back and

hoisted Sonia into the air, though the rules stated your whole body needed to

be out for it to count as a loss.

"Ghhh...!" It looked like Elze was about to succeed in throwing Sonia out of

bounds, but... Sonia twisted her body around and lashed out with her tail,

escaping from Elze's grip. Her body leaned backward, toward center stage.

Sonia was barely balanced on the edge of the arena, but she wasn't out of

bounds. Suddenly, Elze came up to her from the front.

"Hiyaaah!" Elze screamed and brought a right straight headed directly for her

enemy. And, by reflex, Sonia brought her arms up to defend against the hit.

Avoiding or dodging wasn't feasible given her precarious situation.

Unfortunately for Sonia, the punch was just enough to ruin her balance,

sending her hurtling into the air and out of bounds completely. Game, set,

match.

"The winner is Elze Silhoueska!" The referee declared the winner, and the

audience went wild. The two were applauded and cheered for.

"She won! Elze won!" Sue cheered merrily. But honestly, it felt like more of a

draw. Elze was really hurt. Neither had managed to knock out the other, either.

But still, I believed that if it was a real fight, one unrestrained by rules, Elze

would've come out on top.

Elze shook Sonia's hand as we all clapped for her.

We had one loss and one win. So long as two more of our remaining fighters

won, we'd be in the finals.

I thought Pam might be a dead weight, but it was wrong of me to feel that

way. She performed like a champ in the third match and won in under three

minutes. She knocked her foe out of bounds with unrelenting fury. The girl was

like a whirlwind.

Yae was up after that, and came out on top with the greatest of ease. With

that, the Rauli tribe easily secured its success over the Ruluch tribe. We'd made

it to the finals.

"Somehow, we managed." I felt nothing but relief. The Ruluch tribe was the

tribe that I had the most concerns about, so the final match was probably going

to be a cakewalk.

I cast [Refresh] and some recovery magic on the participants. Just to be safe, I

prioritized Elze and Lu, though. They needed it the most.

After that I cast [Slip] and made Rengetsu fall over repeatedly. He was sitting

with the rest of the tribesmen that he'd represented, when suddenly he slipped

and bashed his head on the ground. He stood up, utterly confused, and had no

idea what was going on. He was on soil, so he wasn't hurt or anything, just

shocked.

"What are you doing...?"

"Well... he hurt Lu, so I kinda got mad."

"That dragongirl hurt me, too!"

"Well, I know... but I couldn't really get angry at your fight. It was like

watching a hot-blooded drama." Elze grumbled slightly and pouted. Well, it

wasn't my place to intrude on the fast-paced battle between two girls. Still, if

her opponent was a guy, then I'd have definitely tormented him or something...

"Either way, we're in the finals. One more to victory. Ah, take these." I

handed a small vial of pills that kind of looked like the round thing in ramune

soda to Elze and the others. It was an antidote I had Flora produce. It

completely eliminated poison from the human body.

"There'll be poison scattered on the stage, so wear your masks before your

turn comes. Then when it's time for you to actually fight, remove your mask

and eat one of these the moment your round begins. That way their claws

won't do anything to you, since the poison will be nullified. You don't need to

worry about the passive poison, either. One pill should last about ten minutes,

so try to win before then. Take three of them." After that, the girls returned to

the Wishing Grounds. If poison was one viable method, an antidote was

another. It wasn't magic, so it didn't go against the rules.

We returned to our seats in the audience, but quickly found some commotion

going on.

Once we took our seats, we discovered that the Rivet tribe had already won

their battles and been declared as the finalists. No matter how you looked at it,

that was a little fast.

"The Remna tribe moved to attack when the round started, but they

collapsed immediately. It seems the Rivet tribe has a blowgun. Their dart was

extremely narrow too, so nobody could see it... Even though they used masks to

defend against the scattered poison, they couldn't do a thing against poison

directly entering their bodies! Plus, the poison acts incredibly quickly. It's not

immediately lethal, but if the affected doesn't get medical attention fast... Well,

it could be ugly." I looked down on the grounds as Moroha spoke to me, and I

saw Elze handing over antidote pills to the fallen tribesmen. Yup, good work... I

gave them all a few, so sharing is caring.

"Still, you said a blowgun? It's pretty impractical unless the poison alongside it

works." If they'd been using throwing weapons like shuriken or knives, that'd be

another story... Still, this poison was something to consider. It was definitely

some kind of effective toxin, but it didn't actually kill or anything. I wondered

just what the poison was.

If it had paralytic effects it could be a neurotoxin, like the tetrodotoxin from a

pufferfish. However, that toxin definitely didn't take effect immediately.

Tetrodotoxin was one that made you numb over a long period of time, then

killed you.

I hadn't seen any pufferfish in this world, either, so it was hard for me to tell.

A more likely answer was just that I wasn't familiar with the poisons of this

world. Flora really was incredible, since she'd practically made a cure-all

panacea for poison.

That being said, I was sure I could remove the effects with [Recovery] as well.

Better to be safe than sorry, though.

The final stage in the Wishing Grounds rose up.

This one was a bit bigger than the stages used for matches up until now. All

five champions from either tribe stood on either side.

Yae and the girls were wearing the filtration masks like I'd told them to, and

so was the referee. It was kind of funny, seeing everyone in those things.

The finale had begun.

Yae was up first. Her opponent was the lanky, hunched man that I'd seen

earlier. The one with the claws. There was a little opening on the front of his

mask, where something similar to a tube jutted from. That was likely where the

blowgun poked out.

He wore the mask to avoid being poisoned, which must have meant that the

blowgun wasn't attached to his mouth. I wasn't entirely sure how he got the air

through it to shoot out the dart. His mask must have been designed in an

interesting way.

Yae tore her mask off and swallowed the pill. That would render her

completely immune to their toxic trickery. Her masked foe looked at her in a

somewhat confused manner, but he readied his claws all the same. In response,

Yae drew her katana.

"Fight!" Yae thrust toward her foe in a blazing display of speed as soon as the

match begun. The man panicked and attempted to fire the dart from his

blowgun. Yae raised a hand to protect her eyes, staying completely on target.

The dart pierced her hand, but she ignored it and instead tackled her enemy

and landed a single blow in the middle of his stomach.

"Ugahagh!!!" The man coughed and sputtered unintelligibly as he blasted his

way out of bounds.

"The winner is Kokonoe Yae!" It was over in a flash. The entire place fell silent

for a moment, nobody knowing what to say. But then a roaring cheer engulfed

the crowd like a wave.

She must have known the blowgun was coming. Presumably she'd heard

about it from one of the Remna fighters.

"Our poison didn't work...? No way!" Hilde's enemy, a younger man who

looked kind of like a frog, muttered in frustration. He mustn't have been able to

believe what he had just seen during Yae's round, but it was too late for him as

well. The guy looked like he was shaking a bit, too.

Just as Yae had done before her, Hilde charged forward recklessly, completely

tanking the poison dart and sending the froggy fellow to his defeat.

"Gurribitaaagh!" The poison was inert, which completely crushed the enemy

morale. Pam prepared her axe as her enemy, a large trembling man, stood

before her.

He was no match for her. His dart did nothing either, and Pam was completely

victorious. Her axe came down mercilessly on his head.

"...Gh!!!" The last of Rivet's champions fell unconscious.

"The winner is Pam! Thus, the Rauli tribe takes the title! They are the new

Tribe of the Treelord!" It was a consecutive three-person finish. A little boring

for a finale, honestly. But even so, everyone in attendance cheered and

applauded like their lives were on the line. The Pruning had finally concluded.

Pam put on her war face and cried out to the heavens. In response, the entire

Rauli tribe gave their best unified war cry.

That was that. All's well that ends well.

...Or so I thought, but then I felt it.

"Huh...?" The ground was rumbling... Shaking, even. I suddenly saw every tree

outside the Wishing Grounds begin to wither and dry up. Their leaves all

scattered to the ground.

What the hell?!

"Guhahah... We'll be taking it now... The spirit's power, I mean...!" One of the

fallen members of the Rivet tribe muttered that.

The ground began to rock and quake. Shockwaves began rippling everywhere

as more trees died and more leaves fell to the ground.

"Wh-What is that?!" I heard someone screaming out, and I turned to look. I

saw... trees. Enormous trees, moving. Walking in our direction. As it turned out,

whatever was happening hadn't even begun yet.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Wood Golems... But they're way too big! Did they end up becoming

Behemoths or something? But why are there so many...?!" Several wooden

Golems covered in bark were stomping this way, destroying anything beneath

their feet. They were each over twenty meters tall. Shape-wise, they were the

same as a Mithril Golem, size-wise they were not.

One... Two... Three... Yup, there's at least ten. Did they sap the life out of the

local plant life or something? The closest Golem attempted to enter the Wishing

Grounds, but found itself repelled by a green barrier.

A small, glowing green sphere around the size of a baseball appeared before

my eyes.

"Lord Touya!"

"Forest spirit? That you?"

"It is. I've currently focused most of my power on erecting a barrier, so please

forgive my appearance. Could you use your power to evacuate the local tribes

from the area? Their target is me, so please get the innocent bystanders out of

here! They want to absorb the Wishing Tree, to infuse a Wood Golem with my

spiritual power!" If a Wood Golem consumed the Wishing Tree it would

probably be able to control the power of a forest spirit. It was likely that they'd

made preparations for this to happen for a while.

The people behind this were obviously the Rivet tribe. If they'd won the

Pruning, they were going to poison the Wishing Tree and then assimilate it into

one of their Golems after it was weakened... Or perhaps they planned to turn

the Wishing Tree itself into a Golem. There was no point in pondering, either

way.

But then, the Rauli tribe snatched away their victory, so they had to resort to

another plan. And that was what resulted in the current situation... They didn't

know when to give up. Or rather, they were too stupid to know.

...Moroha suddenly decided to dump all that information on me. I couldn't

believe it. I'd seen the Rivet tribe the night before, so they must have been

making preparations for this. I should've just defeated them all there and then.

I used [Fly] to swoop down and paralyze two members of the Rivet tribe. The

spirit's power was focused on maintaining the barrier, so my magic worked just

fine.

"Tell me now, what are they?"

"W-Wood Golems. Our tribe raised them from saplings... We had them feed

on the life of nearby trees so they would become behemoths, thanks to the

adjustments we made to them..."

"Adjustments?"

"We mixed various poisons and remedies together, soaked them into their

bark... It was a long process to transform them. They should be able to drain the

Wishing Tree, as well... Use the spirit's power, and with that power, the Rivet

tribe will reign supreme over the Sea of Trees... Kuhuhu..." Well, it was exactly

as Moroha had said.

Don't think you've won yet, asshole! It's time for us to put the hurt on you!

"[Gate]." I opened a portal in the sky, allowing a Frame Gear to fall out.

The Knight Baron fell from about one meter up in the air, but still managed to

make a heavy crash as it landed in the Wishing Grounds. It held a sword in one

hand, and the Fragarach equipment was fitted to it as well.

"Wh-What is that?!"

"Shut up. It's time to test out the new weapon. I'll shatter your stupid

Golems, and your tribe's pride along with it!" The Rivet tribesman looked

absolutely stupefied as I walked over to my Frame Gear. But suddenly, Yumina

and Linze yelled out to me.

"Touya, let one of us do it."

"Huh? You wanna ride the Knight Baron?"

"Yes... Neither of us were able to do a thing. Not during the Yulong incident,

or during the Pruning..."

Oh, that is true, isn't it...? We didn't need magic during the Yulong incident,

and it was banned for the Pruning rounds...

Well, we will need to fight against the Phrase again at some point, and the

Fragarach will allow people like Yumina and Linze to channel their magical

power into a physical piece of weaponry... I wonder if they're prepared for it,

though.

"Well, alright then. Please be careful, though! You can rely on me for

support." I opened up another [Gate] and brought forth another Frame Gear.

Though, this one was painted blue... It was equipped with a mace. It was

actually Vice-Commander Norn's specialized Frame Gear, but having Linze or

Yumina ride it wouldn't be a big deal.

Yumina climbed into the black one, while Linze took the blue. They started

them up and synchronized their magical patterns with the equipment.

"...Start the magic tuning. Activate the primary slot."

"Got it! Primary slot engaged! Charging the Fragarach! Tuning's complete. No

complications."

"...Nothing wrong here, either." I took a radio out of [Storage] and

communicated with them both. Everything seemed fine for the time being.

"Yumina, you take the enemies on the right. Linze, you can handle the left. If

you feel your magic weakening, remember that your engagement rings have

surplus magical power stored in them."

"Got it."

"R-Roger!" The Black Knight and Blue Knight made a running start, turning

toward their respective Golems with weapons in hand.

"Strike true, Lightning! Hundredspear Thunderclap: [Lightning Javelin]!"

"Pierce, o Ice! Frozen Point: [Ice Needle]!" The Black Knight fired lightning

from its sword, and the Blue Knight's mace became imbued with spines of ice.

Then, they unleashed attacks upon the Golems.

Yumina was using a wind spell, which made sense, but Linze was clearly being

mindful. Her best element was fire, but she probably didn't want the trees to

ignite. Lightning was dangerous and could cause fires ordinarily, but magically

created lightning didn't have any such side effects.

Two Golems fell beneath their assault, and the two rushed out from the

Wishing Grounds.

"Don't overdo it, but I'd like you two to test out the Fragarach's capabilities.

Just be wary." The two of them fanned out to meet more of the oncoming

Wood Golems, but Yumina made her move first.

"Fragarach, activate!"

Four crystal blades began floating around the back of the Black Knight. Then,

they moved forward, deploying out and orbiting the Frame Gear.

"Go!" As if responding to Yumina's cry, the crystal blades smashed into a

Wood Golem at supersonic speed. It was splintered apart in seconds. The

Fragarach was designed to be tough enough to smash the Phrase, so wood was

nothing.

The blades shredded the Wood Golem's core and returned to orbit the Black

Knight, floating freely in a circular pattern. They worked as a defensive system

too, since they were based on the Satellite Orbs of Babylon.

"Hm... Is it difficult to target more than one enemy at the same time?"

"It is! I don't think it's impossible, but it's hard to focus quickly enough. I think

with experience it'll become easier to handle." That made sense. Rosetta had

spoken to me about rhythm and tempo, and how important it was to get

accustomed to the beat of battle. It could definitely be compared to learning

how to play an instrument. It was similar in effect, too. Like when you played

the piano and made your left and right hands do different things.

I could actually manipulate all four Fragarach swords with ease, but I probably

had my parents to thank for that. They made me play piano as a child. I never

thought it would make me a more efficient combatant.

That reminded me that I hadn't seen a single piano in this world. I made a

mental note to make one later, as it could help with learning how to control

weapon systems like this. Also, I wanted to play the piano, since it had been too

long.

"Fragarach, launch..."

Linze's Fragarach fired up and began tearing up her opposition. Unlike

Yumina, however, two of her blades were moving at once.

Linze was able to attack two targets at the same time. Still, her movements

were far less precise than they would have been if she just attacked with all

four at once on the same target. It would surely improve with practice.

"Th-This is impossible... How...?!" A member of the Rivet tribe stared on in

horror as his beautiful Golems were turned into hunks of bark.

I actually totally forgot about those guys. I targeted every member of the

Rivet tribe on my map app, and hit the good old fashioned [Paralyze] switch. It

was pretty easy to locate them, since they looked so distinct and all.

Most of the Golems were dead at this point. If they were made from mithril

or orichalcum, we would've made serious money today. Regardless of whether

or not they were selectively refined, wood was just wood at the end of the day.

There wasn't any value to them in terms of raw material. Well, maybe they

were good for fire kindling or something.

"There, all done." Linze took out the last remaining one. Every Golem had

fallen. All the tribes in the Wishing Grounds cheered and celebrated upon

seeing that victory had come. Well, all the tribes except the Rivet tribe, anyway.

But the trees in the vicinity had taken considerable damage. They were all

extremely ancient trees too, judging from the sizes.

The spherical spirit came close to me once more. She probably used up a lot

of her energy on the barrier, so it'd be a bit before she could take human form

again.

"Thank you, Lord Touya... How can I ever repay you?"

"No need... Actually, I should say sorry for trashing the trees around here. I

could've done better."

"Not at all... I will focus my energy later on and restore them to how they

were."

Oh? You can do that? Well, I guess you are a forest spirit after all...

The spirit suddenly whooshed over to the Judgment Tribe's spokesman, and

looked to be communicating with him.

After a while, the man raised his voice.

"These malignant men schemed to make the Wishing Tree their own, but

their ambitions have since been trampled! Envoys of Brunhild, a far-off nation,

have protected us and our dear home! We, the tribes of the Sea of Trees, now

offer unto them our deepest gratitude! May the spirit's blessing be with them,

always!"

"May the spirit's blessing be with them, always!" As everyone clapped and

cheered, I sent the two Frame Gears back home. Yumina and Linze were

formally recognized as the saviors from Brunhild, and thus acted as our

representatives to the Sea of Trees. That was fine by me, though. They were the

ones that killed the Wood Golems anyway.

The members of the Jaja tribe rounded up all of the Rivet tribesmen, then

took them away somewhere. I also asked them to round up the other Rivet

tribesmen all over the Sea of Trees, since my mass paralysis should've affected

everyone in the forest related to them.

Thus, the Rauli tribe was formally declared the Tribe of the Treelord, and their

new law of separating the Pruning by gender was accepted.

The rule caused some confusion and chatter amongst most of the other

tribes, but it was accepted by the forest spirit and put into effect.

The rule wasn't all that bad once I really thought about it, and the other tribes

seemed to feel the same as well. It benefited everyone, as it was just another

opportunity for victory. Though nothing would change for the Balm tribe. They

didn't have women.

Still, they seemed to accept the ruling, saying that they were happy they'd

never have to face off against the irritating Rauli tribe ever again.

Thus ended our foray into the Sea of Trees, and our very turbulent Pruning

experience.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Guh... It's cold! When did it get so cold?!" We were away for only three days,

but Brunhild was colder than ever. It was hard to even get up in the morning.

The Sea of Trees was directly to our south, but it wasn't cold there in the

winter. I couldn't tell if I was cold because I was used to the climate there, or if

it had just actually gotten colder.

The climate of this world didn't operate on conventional logic. Seasons didn't

exist everywhere, and where they did exist, they were often extreme. What

seasons happened in which places also had nothing to do with geographical

placement. There were small differences between east and west climates,

however. That reminded me that I had no idea if the world was even spherical...

It could've been flat. Hell, there might've even been a giant elephant or snake

holding this world up.

Apparently spirits controlled the climate, but I didn't really know the details. I

had no idea if it was related to magic, where magic even came from, or what. A

country with four functional yearly seasons could be right next to a country

where winter never ended. There was no rhyme or reason to it at all.

I didn't know if it was due to luck or what, but Brunhild had four distinct

seasons. The environment was generally pretty similar to how it was where I

grew up.

"I could really use a heater right about now..." It wouldn't even be that hard

to make one using [Program], but it wasn't like the cold was unbearable or

anything. Plus, we had a fireplace. My grandad used to say that "inconvenience

itself is a form of energy," but I was digressing a bit. A hot water bottle would

be fine. The Pruning was officially over, and Pam had given up on making a baby

with me. She looked a bit sad, though.

I wanted her to prove herself as a member of the Rauli tribe, or rather, a

member of the Tribe of the Treelord.

Brunhild had been formally recognized as a savior of the Sea of Trees, and

they pledged to support us if anything ever happened. All the tribes agreed to

lend their strength to me, should I ever need it.

I didn't get the full story about what happened to the Rivet tribe after that.

Pam just told me that "the Sea of Trees passed judgment on them" and left it at

that. I decided I probably didn't want to ask anything else about it.

I went out to the cold air of the balcony, only to see someone practicing in the

training grounds. I couldn't see them too well though, since the air was heavy in

the morning.

I used [Long Sense] to peek on them, and I saw Moroha sparring with

someone. It was Lu.

"Man, so early, too..." It was probably because of her loss. Lu was angry that

she was defeated by Rengetsu. She put on a brave face, but I knew better. My

fiancees hated to lose.

Everyone in the castle was pretty surprised when I came home with Moroha.

But that was only natural, since I'd never mentioned having another sister

before.

Kousaka asked me how many siblings I had, and I gave him an ambiguous kind

of answer... But I think he misunderstood me, because he gave me this kind of

knowing nod as if to say "That many, huh...?" Thus, the idea that the Mochizuki

lineage was a bloodline of womanizers became accepted.

That's not it, damn it! We aren't a bunch of siblings from different mothers!

They aren't even my siblings!

What surprised them even more was Moroha's martial prowess. We

showcased her skills by letting her duke it out with the knight order. It was a

battle of her versus eighty. She won easily. Didn't get a scratch on her.

She also pointed out every soldier's individual weaknesses and gave them

pointers to focus on. She was nothing if not meticulous.

"...Yep, you're the grand duke's sister alright." I asked Moroha to spar with

the knight order whenever she had the free time. If they trained with her, then

they'd likely become stronger over time. That was certainly a benefit, overall.

"Morning!"

"Good morning, Touya." I got changed and headed into the dining room.

Yumina, Linze, Elze, Yae, Hilde, and Karen were sitting and waiting for me. I was

feeling a bit drowsy, so Renne brought me a cup of herbal tea.

I said thanks to Renne and gave her a little pat on the head, when suddenly

the door opened. It was Moroha and Lu, returning from their training.

We ate breakfast at seven in the morning, every morning. Though we didn't

all have to be present to start eating. Still, if it was possible, we did enjoy eating

together. Due to that, we usually ended up not actually starting to eat until

after seven. Everyone was here today, even Karen, who usually liked to sleep in

late.

Sue came to join us for breakfast now and then, but it seemed she was busy

today.

Her room in the Ortlinde household was connected to my gateway room, so

she could come and go as she pleased. Naturally only Sue was capable of

accessing that particular portal, and it was set to record whenever she passed

on through.

I was engaged to her, so she was allowed to come to Brunhild castle at her

own discretion. Though, I did tell her to try and eat with her parents at home as

much as she could.

It was better for parents to eat meals with their children. I didn't want Duke

Ortlinde to feel lonely or sad.

After breakfast, we all set about our various businesses. Yae, Hilde, and

Moroha all joined the knights to train. Yumina and Lu went to speak with old

man Naito about the urban planning. Elze went to train, and Linze went to

investigate the selectively bred crops. Karen, on the other hand, stayed in her

room and did weird Love God stuff. Basically, we did what we wanted or

needed to do.

I didn't ever force my fiancees to do anything official, but it seemed that they

liked helping with my affairs.

My plan for the day involved meeting with anyone that requested an

audience. If nobody did, then I'd have some free time. I listened to Kousaka

prattle on about domestic issues here and there, dividing them between urgent,

non-urgent, and unimportant matters.

Kousaka constantly tried to solve issues using the citizens, even though I could

solve those issues in seconds flat, but he was right to do so. If I handled

everything, the country would just rely on me forever. If the country couldn't

stand on its own, then it couldn't really be called a country. I wasn't going to be

around forever.

So whenever I offered to help out, Kousaka saw me as more of a hindrance

than a help. Still, it was comfy not having any responsibilities.

"How much colder will it get, I wonder..."

"Hm... I don't believe we'll get any colder this year, sir. Even if it does, the Hot

Carpet you created is a mighty boon to us all in the cold season." Laim, my

butler, spoke up as he brought me my black tea. There were a lot of big rooms

in the castle, so keeping the whole place warm was a pain. That was why I

enchanted various carpets with the fire spell [Warming] and placed them all

over the castle.

I also gave Laim a specially tailored suit enchanted with the spell. It was a

great suit because it regulated its own temperature. Laim was very stiff, so I

didn't think he'd take the gift if I just offered him it. That was why I used his

upcoming birthday as a convenient excuse to force it upon him.

I didn't want our butler to get sick, after all.

I had plenty of free time, since nobody wanted to see me. Well, I wasn't

completely free. I had decided to spend my time finishing off the piano I'd

started to make after coming back from the Sea of Trees.

Building the piano wasn't too hard. It was basically just a huge outward fake

thing. I'd gone and used [Program] to jury rig the aspects I didn't quite

understand. The only issue was tuning it. I had to manually determine the tone

using a piano app on my smartphone.

Even so, I got pretty excited and wound up making an eighty-eight key grand

piano. It might have been better if I'd made a sixty-five key studio upright

piano, but it was too late.

I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but I'd finished tuning it for the time

being. I sat down on the chair and ran my finger along the keys. Do, re, mi, fa,

sol, la, ti, do. I played them in order, and then backward. Do, ti, la, sol, fa, mi, re,

do.

How long has it been since I last played... When I was a little kid, I couldn't get

to fa using my thumb. I don't remember how I practiced... but I remember

struggling to hit mi with my middle finger... My fingers were pretty short back

then, huh.

I began to play the nostalgic tune of do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do, followed by

do, ti, la, sol, fa, mi, re, do. I repeated it a few times for good measure.

After getting into the flow, I began to play Der Flohwalzer. I got a little excited

about it and ended up doing a few different arrangements. I ended up playing a

jazzier version, too.

After I was finished playing, I heard someone clapping. I turned around to see

Sakura. She was standing alongside Kougyoku.

"Is that... an instrument?"

"Yeah, it is. It's called a piano. It's a keyboard instrument... but it could be

classed as a percussion or string instrument too."

"I'd like to hear more. Another tune..."

Hm... Let's see. I'll go with another easy one. It's been a while since I've played

this one, but here goes nothing... I can't think of a better song for this season.

I began to play, a slow tempo guiding me. It was a traditional Christmas tune.

Still, I didn't know if the month of December existed in this world.

The song was Jingle Bells.

Something told me that the American man who came up with this song over a

hundred and fifty years ago would never have dreamed it'd be played in

another world.

Sakura bobbed her head gently from left to right. She seemed to enjoy it.

Kougyoku closed her eyes too, as if appreciating the melody. They both started

humming along to the tune of the song.

When I was finished, she clapped softly again. I felt a little bashful.

"The song... Teach me. I'd like to sing it." Sakura asked me, glimmering puppy

dog eyes trained on my face. It was pretty unusual of her to be acting like this.

She was normally so emotionally withdrawn.

Still, I answered her request and played the song once more, this time singing

the lyrics along with the melody. Sakura hummed along as I sang. Once I was

finished, I told her I'd do it again, but she told me that she'd already memorized

all the lyrics. That was weird.

I started to play the tune again, and this time Sakura was the one singing. WWhoa... What the heck?! She was... amazing. Her voice was clear, unwavering,

and beautiful. I had no idea she had this kind of talent in her. When she

finished, she smiled broadly and seemed very happy.

"Incredible... Do you think you might've been a singer?"

"I'm not sure about that, but I may have liked to sing. Could you show me

more?" I wondered if it might help her memories return, so I started lining up

all the songs I could think of. Pop, rock, folk, nursery rhymes. Western or

Japanese, that didn't matter too much.

Incredibly, she memorized song lyrics despite only hearing them once. Her

memory was astounding. Ironic, given the fact that she had amnesia.

Still, that voice of hers could be a formidable weapon through which to make

a living. I could probably become an idol producer for her or something... Or at

least, if she wasn't such a naturally withdrawn person.

The piano I had right now wasn't built for accompanying singers, so I figured I

should make a better one. To be honest, I was a little concerned about teaching

Yumina and the others how to play, since I wasn't even sure if this would help

them manipulate the Fragarach.

It didn't take long for others to hear Sakura's incredible notes echoing

throughout the castle. Before I knew it, we'd gathered quite an audience.

A torrent of applause came down upon us once she was finished. Sakura

looked at the ground out of embarrassment, but she smiled gently when Linze

gave her a few words of encouragement.

After that, we continued on with the mini-concert. She was a shy and

reserved girl in many ways, but singing brought out another side of her that I

hadn't seen before.

I continued to play for her, while making a mental note to download some

songs to my smartphone for her to listen to.