“Haah, somehow it worked out.”
“Good work, Ed. Here, drink this.”
I stepped away from the bustling crowd and relaxed under the snapped branch of a large tree. Tia approached me with a smile, holding a cup in each hand. I accepted one of the cups she offered and tasted its contents. The chilled fruit water seeped into my tired body.
“Oh, thank you… Ah, this is delicious! You went out of your way to chill it?”
“Fufu, you did a great job, so it’s the least I can do!”
“Great job, huh…”
I made an indescribable face as I said this to Tia, who was also drinking from her cup. Sure, I had put my abilities to use, but all I had done was stand still, receive magic, and stab a branch at the end. If one wanted to talk about who really worked hard, it would be the casters who had kept using magic until their limit.
As I was thinking about this, Tia tapped my forehead with her finger.
“Hey, don’t worry about it! Everyone here did a great job!”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Among the 603 gathered here, there wasn’t a single person who hadn’t contributed. Even those who hadn’t participated in the ceremony had their turn coming up. In front of us, the dwarves were loudly celebrating the success of the ritual.
“Hey, you all! We’ve witnessed a miracle; if any of you do a half-hearted job, I’ll pummel you until your heads cave in!”
“Heh, don’t talk nonsense! This is the establishment of the first base in the sacred land! We won’t slack off just because we’ve been asked!”
“Right! The only things that can stop us now are our mothers and good liquor!”
“They sure are pumped.”
“Of course, they are. The little bearded ones love their work, honor, alcohol, and wives more than anything else.”
“They have a lot of important things… but it seems fun.”
If the land’s restoration was successful, a proper base would be established here. We planned to stay for at least a month to check if the Winged would come or not. This place would have significant meaning as the first land resurrected by human hands, becoming a sacred place.
“The first phase was a success.”
“Oh, Black Knight. Are you finished?”
As I was watching the scene, cup in hand, the Black Knight, who had stepped out of the crowd, came over. I offered my cup, but the Black Knight lightly brushed it away.
“I don’t need it. I can’t remove my helmet here anyway.”
“Some Demon Kings can change their faces, can’t you do that, Black Knight?”
“It’s not impossible, but not right now… Anyway, let’s confirm what comes next.”
“Yes, yes. The second phase starts from here, right?”
“That’s right. With the land revived, it will officially become our base. The dwarves we brought will handle the building of houses, and we’ve already sent a caravan for regular supplies. Once they receive our success report, aid will regularly come from various countries.”
“Aid, huh… it all went well, didn’t it?”
At the Black Knight’s words, I looked somewhat distant. The world was steadily deteriorating due to the Winged’s attacks, and no country had much to spare. Yet, instead of being reluctant to give aid, everyone was eager, especially the Blau Holy Kingdom, who clearly offered more assistance than they could afford.
“With the empire’s fall, this is now an unclaimed territory. To gain land through only material aid, and a place that symbolizes humanity’s first victory over the Winged… It’s a very appealing offer for those in power.”
“But didn’t they get greedy, and it ended up being aid from all countries? Were the big shots okay with that?”
“It’s fine, girl. Even for someone as great as myself, winning or losing too much is not good in a contest. This is probably what most had anticipated… though I must admit, I did pity the Holy Kingdom’s desperation a bit.”
“Ah, well, the Holy Kingdom is…”
It might be entirely irrelevant, but it was too coincidental that the world’s first Winged appeared in the cathedral of a religious nation that worshiped God. The Blau Holy Kingdom, which suffered damage to its reputation every time the Winged went on a rampage, was desperately trying to recover its standing. However, their efforts were slightly overzealous and obviously strained, even to an amateur’s eyes.
Though it’s complicated to understand the circumstances and feelings that one can’t just do nothing… well, state administration is completely irrelevant to someone like me, so I’ll just faintly cheer from a distance.
“The conversation has strayed. Anyway, from now on we’ll enter the second stage… verifying whether this place will be attacked by the Winged or not. For now, it’ll be a one-month stay.”
“If we’re not attacked within a month, what will we do?”
The Black Knight answered, raising his hand to Tia’s question.
“We won’t do anything. In that case, we’ll temporarily retreat to Kiskil. Then, we’ll try to rejuvenate the earth in a different location. If we’re not attacked there either… that will be a great success.”
“Eh, why?”
“Because the likelihood that ‘Once attacked by the Winged, a place will never be attacked again’ becomes extremely high. If further verification confirms this, the tide will shift towards Humanity’s stronghold. Well, that stronghold will become the territory of the Demon King I govern! Kukuku, those foolish humans will never dream that the land of refuge they’ve found is under my control!”
“…Just hearing that line makes me feel like we have to subjugate you, but seeing your actual actions makes me think it’s fine. Somehow, it feels odd.”
“Ahahaha…”
To Tia’s words, furrowing her brow, I returned a dry laugh. Even in this strategy, without the Black Knight’s power, it wouldn’t have been realized, so opposing his claim to rule this place would be difficult.
No, this guy, really, what should we do with him? I think it’s okay to consider him an ally as long as there’s a common enemy in the Winged, but before that, they were just fighting a normal war…
“Well, we’ll think about that later. Hey, Tia, is this grassland, or rather the revived part of the world, always going to stay this size?”
I avert my eyes from the problem at hand and put it off, posing the question to Tia. She makes a difficult face and looks towards the large tree.
“Hmm, it’s tricky. That tree has become a Spirit Tree, so if things stay as they are, healthy land will gradually expand. But the mana accumulated here will probably be consumed quickly, so what happens after depends on the surrounding environment then. Also… right. If we create several similar places at regular intervals, the world’s recovery should speed up.”
“I see. So either way, we need to do the same thing in other places.”
“That’s right. If the Winged don’t attack, we simply increase the restoration bases, and if they do, we defend. Knowing for sure that we’ll be attacked makes defense easier. And if we find a perfect way to defeat the Winged…”
“The world can be saved… or at least, it won’t get any worse. Ha, excellent.”
If the external factors ravaging the world are gone, the rest is the problem of this world’s inhabitants. It’s not something I need to get involved in, and by then we will… Oh, right!
“Ah, the hero… what should we do…?”
“Speaking of which, we have that problem too…”
Again, even trying to use the [Akashic Compass] the needle showing the hero’s presence just keeps spinning. This is another problem we have to deal with, but I have no idea what to do, even more than the Winged.
“…Haa, let’s put this off too. For now, let’s take care of what’s in front of us one by one.”
“Yes, let’s take our time.”
In front of me is Tia. As long as that fact is unshakable, a slight detour is no problem. I’ve had enough of rushing and missing out on important things, so let’s proceed cautiously.
“Haah, somehow it worked out.”
“Good work, Ed. Here, drink this.”
I stepped away from the bustling crowd and relaxed under the snapped branch of a large tree. Tia approached me with a smile, holding a cup in each hand. I accepted one of the cups she offered and tasted its contents. The chilled fruit water seeped into my tired body.
“Oh, thank you… Ah, this is delicious! You went out of your way to chill it?”
“Fufu, you did a great job, so it’s the least I can do!”
“Great job, huh…”
I made an indescribable face as I said this to Tia, who was also drinking from her cup. Sure, I had put my abilities to use, but all I had done was stand still, receive magic, and stab a branch at the end. If one wanted to talk about who really worked hard, it would be the casters who had kept using magic until their limit.
As I was thinking about this, Tia tapped my forehead with her finger.
“Hey, don’t worry about it! Everyone here did a great job!”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Among the 603 gathered here, there wasn’t a single person who hadn’t contributed. Even those who hadn’t participated in the ceremony had their turn coming up. In front of us, the dwarves were loudly celebrating the success of the ritual.
“Hey, you all! We’ve witnessed a miracle; if any of you do a half-hearted job, I’ll pummel you until your heads cave in!”
“Heh, don’t talk nonsense! This is the establishment of the first base in the sacred land! We won’t slack off just because we’ve been asked!”
“Right! The only things that can stop us now are our mothers and good liquor!”
“They sure are pumped.”
“Of course, they are. The little bearded ones love their work, honor, alcohol, and wives more than anything else.”
“They have a lot of important things… but it seems fun.”
If the land’s restoration was successful, a proper base would be established here. We planned to stay for at least a month to check if the Winged would come or not. This place would have significant meaning as the first land resurrected by human hands, becoming a sacred place.
“The first phase was a success.”
“Oh, Black Knight. Are you finished?”
As I was watching the scene, cup in hand, the Black Knight, who had stepped out of the crowd, came over. I offered my cup, but the Black Knight lightly brushed it away.
“I don’t need it. I can’t remove my helmet here anyway.”
“Some Demon Kings can change their faces, can’t you do that, Black Knight?”
“It’s not impossible, but not right now… Anyway, let’s confirm what comes next.”
“Yes, yes. The second phase starts from here, right?”
“That’s right. With the land revived, it will officially become our base. The dwarves we brought will handle the building of houses, and we’ve already sent a caravan for regular supplies. Once they receive our success report, aid will regularly come from various countries.”
“Aid, huh… it all went well, didn’t it?”
At the Black Knight’s words, I looked somewhat distant. The world was steadily deteriorating due to the Winged’s attacks, and no country had much to spare. Yet, instead of being reluctant to give aid, everyone was eager, especially the Blau Holy Kingdom, who clearly offered more assistance than they could afford.
“With the empire’s fall, this is now an unclaimed territory. To gain land through only material aid, and a place that symbolizes humanity’s first victory over the Winged… It’s a very appealing offer for those in power.”
“But didn’t they get greedy, and it ended up being aid from all countries? Were the big shots okay with that?”
“It’s fine, girl. Even for someone as great as myself, winning or losing too much is not good in a contest. This is probably what most had anticipated… though I must admit, I did pity the Holy Kingdom’s desperation a bit.”
“Ah, well, the Holy Kingdom is…”
It might be entirely irrelevant, but it was too coincidental that the world’s first Winged appeared in the cathedral of a religious nation that worshiped God. The Blau Holy Kingdom, which suffered damage to its reputation every time the Winged went on a rampage, was desperately trying to recover its standing. However, their efforts were slightly overzealous and obviously strained, even to an amateur’s eyes.
Though it’s complicated to understand the circumstances and feelings that one can’t just do nothing… well, state administration is completely irrelevant to someone like me, so I’ll just faintly cheer from a distance.
“The conversation has strayed. Anyway, from now on we’ll enter the second stage… verifying whether this place will be attacked by the Winged or not. For now, it’ll be a one-month stay.”
“If we’re not attacked within a month, what will we do?”
The Black Knight answered, raising his hand to Tia’s question.
“We won’t do anything. In that case, we’ll temporarily retreat to Kiskil. Then, we’ll try to rejuvenate the earth in a different location. If we’re not attacked there either… that will be a great success.”
“Eh, why?”
“Because the likelihood that ‘Once attacked by the Winged, a place will never be attacked again’ becomes extremely high. If further verification confirms this, the tide will shift towards Humanity’s stronghold. Well, that stronghold will become the territory of the Demon King I govern! Kukuku, those foolish humans will never dream that the land of refuge they’ve found is under my control!”
“…Just hearing that line makes me feel like we have to subjugate you, but seeing your actual actions makes me think it’s fine. Somehow, it feels odd.”
“Ahahaha…”
To Tia’s words, furrowing her brow, I returned a dry laugh. Even in this strategy, without the Black Knight’s power, it wouldn’t have been realized, so opposing his claim to rule this place would be difficult.
No, this guy, really, what should we do with him? I think it’s okay to consider him an ally as long as there’s a common enemy in the Winged, but before that, they were just fighting a normal war…
“Well, we’ll think about that later. Hey, Tia, is this grassland, or rather the revived part of the world, always going to stay this size?”
I avert my eyes from the problem at hand and put it off, posing the question to Tia. She makes a difficult face and looks towards the large tree.
“Hmm, it’s tricky. That tree has become a Spirit Tree, so if things stay as they are, healthy land will gradually expand. But the mana accumulated here will probably be consumed quickly, so what happens after depends on the surrounding environment then. Also… right. If we create several similar places at regular intervals, the world’s recovery should speed up.”
“I see. So either way, we need to do the same thing in other places.”
“That’s right. If the Winged don’t attack, we simply increase the restoration bases, and if they do, we defend. Knowing for sure that we’ll be attacked makes defense easier. And if we find a perfect way to defeat the Winged…”
“The world can be saved… or at least, it won’t get any worse. Ha, excellent.”
If the external factors ravaging the world are gone, the rest is the problem of this world’s inhabitants. It’s not something I need to get involved in, and by then we will… Oh, right!
“Ah, the hero… what should we do…?”
“Speaking of which, we have that problem too…”
Again, even trying to use the [Akashic Compass] the needle showing the hero’s presence just keeps spinning. This is another problem we have to deal with, but I have no idea what to do, even more than the Winged.
“…Haa, let’s put this off too. For now, let’s take care of what’s in front of us one by one.”
“Yes, let’s take our time.”
In front of me is Tia. As long as that fact is unshakable, a slight detour is no problem. I’ve had enough of rushing and missing out on important things, so let’s proceed cautiously.
