Chapter 52

"What's the matter, Satou?"

I and the engineer-looking elf collapsed when we arrived at our destination. Even Satou was out of breath after moving so fast. Satou must really like Aialize to have rushed here so fast, but she doesn't look like she was in trouble. In fact, she looks more worried about Satou than herself. But despite Satou nearly killing me with his death run, I was in for an incredible sight when I looked up.

We were in a place known as the observatory. It was a park covered in a transparent dome about three hundred feet in diameter. Beyond the dome stretched a vast starry sky. I had never seen stars shine so brightly before. Several thick branches reached into the dark outside the dome, looking more like tree roots than branches. We must be very high up. I can see the earth's curve, and the ground below looks so far away. Are we in outer space?

"I heard that you asked for me, Lady Aialize, so I came running, but…"

"No need to look so worried. I'll be better soon,"

"Please rest a little longer, Lady Aaze. I'll explain things to Mr. Satou and Miss Hero," As Lua explained the situation, Satou gave Aialize a nutritional supplement and magic recovery potions from his pocket. "I apologize for bringing you out all this way. You see… and electrical discharge from the World Tree has left many elves stranded in the void."

From what I know of that electrical discharge, it isn't something to take lightly. I heard it can drive off dragons, and I can't help but feel that the elves hit by it were lucky to still be alive. It was no surprise when I heard many of them were injured.

"Are there any extra void suits?"

"No, none ready to be re-dispatched right now,"

"All right. I'll go rescue them,"

"D… don't be ridiculous, Mr. Satou. We called you here to ask for help repairing the magic tools for use in the void, not to send you on a reckless suicide mission!"

For some reason, Satou had one of those void suits, and seeing this, Lua, the shrine maiden, hurried to stop him. But despite Satou's unexpected actions, he is right. If people are stranded out there, and some are injured, we must help them as soon as possible. Since the 'Void' appears to be outer space, it is even more essential to help those people before they freeze, run out of air, or suffer any terrible fate space can bestow upon them.

"We can't save lives by sitting around repairing things,"

"But it's too dangerous… We don't even have any light ships that are functioning properly,"

Did something happen to them? Hayato's dimensional submarine, the Jules Verne, was meant to be a light ship. I can remember it only took a day to recover from the damage a dragon inflicted. Whatever damaged those ships must be a force to be reckoned with.

"It's all right. I'm feeling much better. Satou of the Shiga Kingdom, though the journey will be a dangerous one, will you accompany me?"

"Yes, of course,"

It was Aialize who gave Satou permission to conduct his rescue operation. Silencing Lua with a gentle hand on her shoulder, she offered that hand to Satou as she stepped forward. Aialize was looking a little guilty as Satou took her hand.

"I'm a little low on spirits, though. Could I ask you to unleash your spirit light, Satou?"

"As you wish, milady,"

"Goodness, spirits are gathering from the atmosphere and the World Tree at an incredible rate… Thank you, Satou. These spirits will be more than enough,"

How could Satou say such a line without looking embarrassed? Aialize doesn't seem bothered by such a corny line, either. She murmured a word or two, and a glowing green wind rose around her, carrying Satou and herself into the air.

"We're going out there. Be careful not to leave my side,"

Aialize's hand touched the dome, and it shifted around her. It was more like a mucous membrane than glass, about seven feet thick. It only took them a few seconds to pass through the membrane and into the void. Then, it seals itself behind them, and we watch them get to work.

Evil Jellies? But as I watch Satou and Aialize float away, I notice something else. If it was just one of them, I wouldn't be worried, but there are almost too many to count clinging to the branches of the World Tree. They come in different colours, ranging from bright green to dark brown, but they all look the same. A large umbrella-shaped bell the size of a small car and multiple long tentacles hang from the underside and wrap around the branches, four, maybe five times the height of Satou in length.

I am starting to worry that Satou won't be able to handle them by himself. They aren't that strong, averaging level thirty, but the Evil Jellies number in the thousands, possibly more, but there are too many to count. There are a few exceptions that I can see. But they all have a few abilities in common. Absorb, Resistance: Ice, Resistance: Darkness, Resistance: Sleep, and Resistance: Paralyze. One-on-one, they shouldn't be too bad, by their numbers will be a real problem.

"Is there anything I can do to help, or did Satou just take care of everything?"

I turn to Lua as Satou and Aialize disappear into one of the massive branches of the world tree. They probably only wanted me to provide spirit light while Satou repaired those magic tools for them. But it is probably for the best things turned out this way for the people stranded out there.

"No, Mr. Satou has taken care of everything, but could you stay here just in case something happens?"

And so I sat there waiting for Satou to get back. I did help the elves with some simple tasks, such as fetching items, but most of the time, I spent staring out into the star field abyss. But when the elves came back, I was a lot busier. Satou and Aialize treated their injuries, but plenty was exhausted, so I helped carry them into a nearby restroom where some makeshift beds were set up.

<0>

"Satou of the Shiga Kingdom. We appreciate your assistance,"

"Satou of the Shiga Kingdom. We admire your dedication,"

"Satou of the Shiga Kingdom. We…"

The day after the rescue in the void, we were in the meeting room at the base of the World Tree, and Satou was receiving the thanks of the elders. They even offered Satou the rank of an honorary elder, but he politely declined. Instead, Satou received countless rewards, including special materials and textiles that could be found only in the elf village, as well as other valuable resources. The only reason I am here is because Aialize promised to explain the situation with the Evil Jellies to us.

"As you've probably realized already, we're trying to combat the parasitic Evil Jellies that have latched on to the World Tree,"

If the only problem was the World Tree's electric discharge, we only need to make an insulator suit. With those suits, it should be easy to defeat the Evil Jellies as long as we are careful not to attack too many at once. But when Satou offered to make void suits like that, the elves quickly shot the idea down.

"If it were that simple, we wouldn't be struggling so much," Lua said.

"The electric shocks also hurt the branches of the World Tree itself," The engineer-looking elf, which I have learned is called Jia, explained. "The thick ones closest to the trunk are all right, but the thinner emerald branches can break very easily."

From what I was told in the observatory, the emerald branches of the World Tree were important branches that collected magic from the aether that flowed through the void. The World Tree then turns that aether into mana and spreads it throughout the world.

"So, Mr Satou," Lua concluded. "What we'd like to ask you to do is help repair the multi-legged golems that have been damaged in the incident and produce more void suits."

"And if either of you two have any suggestions for exterminating the jellies, we'd love to hear them," Jia added.

That first task seems manageable. Making void suits is simple enough with the right supplies, and I'm sure Satou could repair the golems in no time at all. But I had to ask something.

"Why exactly are the Evil Jellies attacking the World Tree in the first place?"

"They use their tentacles to eat the mana that flows through the branches,"

Aialize explained. Lua contributed some additional information.

"Some of them lay eggs on the branches, too. Worse yet, the viscous substance that protects the eggs pollutes the sap and weakens the World Tree,"

So they are just hear to feast and reproduce.

"So why doesn't the World Tree's electrical shock system get rid of the jellyfish?"

"The jellyfish seem to have some way of making the World Tree think they are a part of it, not a foreign object,"

Lua added that they'd already attempted to correct this or put the World Tree to sleep to prevent the tree's defences from activating, but so far, nothing has worked.

"And since the area around the jellyfish creates a magic vacuum, we can't use spells to put them to sleep or restrain them,"

To make things worse, it was impossible to manoeuvre in the void without magic. Void suits or airtight golems were the only way someone could get close to the Evil Jellies. But regular magic, magic tools, and devices that used Holytree Stone still worked near the Evil Jellies but burnt through magic at nearly three times the standard rate.

"We have been using magic potions to put the jellies to sleep, then using golems to cut off and restrain the tentacles that are attached to the World Tree's branches,"

Aialize and others who could use Spirit Magic had gathered all the restrained Evil Jellies in one place. According to Aialize, a pseudo-spirit created by a master could exist near the Evil Jellies, at least for a while.

"We planned to use that method to slowly but surely eliminate the jellyfish, but…"

"We didn't know that some of them had eggs,"

Lua and Jia sighed in unison. If an Evil Jellies bearing eggs was eliminated, the nearby jellyfish would send the World Tree into high-alert mode. The incident yesterday was caused by such a situation. And if more than a certain amount of Evil Jellies were destroyed or isolated, the rest would consume large amounts of the World Tree's branches to multiply at an explosive rate. The Evil Jellies also multiplied in a wide-range chain reaction, so if they weren't all eliminated at once, they would birth even more Evil Jellies than the destroyed amount.

"Other World Trees have also been infected with Evil Jellies," Lua responded. These other trees were taking even more damage than the one in the Bolenan Forest. "According to the records, the Evil Jellies have always appeared once every thousand years or so on the flow of the aether, but it was only ever a handful of them at a time."

I can only think of two ideas as to why a situation like this has occurred. It is clear something has forced a mass migration of Evil Jellies. Either a preditor has chased them away from their natural habitat, or there was a food shortage. But since this is space and Evil Jellies are aliens from outer space, there could be another reason I hadn't considered. Still, at least now, my goal is clear. Eliminate the Evil Jellies from the World Tree. But there were some important things that I will need to consider going forward with any plan.

Number one: Hurting the Evil Jellies would result in an electric shock from the World Tree. Evil Jellies with eggs were especially susceptible.

Number two: If a certain number of Evil Jellies were eliminated, they would reproduce at a massive rate and harm the World Tree in the process.

Number three: There was a magic vacuum around the Evil Jellies, so spells wouldn't work in their immediate vicinity.

An annoying opponent to face and something that will be a real pain to deal with. But I am sure there is something I can… no, we can do. I have Satou and the elf's help, after all.

<0>

"Miss Aaze, please approach the jellyfish at the end of that thin branch there,"

"This one?"

To help us devise a plan, Satou, Aialize, and I put on void suits and were scouting out the Evil Jellies, probing them for weaknesses. We found some isolated Evil Jellies that should cause a chain reaction no matter what we do to them.

This area where we were conducting our tests was in the middle of a branch that was easily six miles long but only about three feet thick. Emerald-like crystal growths and thinner branches protruded from the brown branch. We were in the area where the emerald branches grow, and I was a little worried we might break them.

"Let's start with lesser magic,"

Satou started off by firing a Short Stun shot. It hit one of the Evil Jellies. The shot nearly dissolved before reaching the jellyfish, but it hit its target.

"You actually hit it," But Aialize still looked surprised.

Watching Satou, I can conclude that intermediate magic would be enough to defeat the Evil Jellies.

"Next, let's try one of your pseudo-spirits, Miss Aaze,"

"Hmm. What should I use, I wonder?"

"Whatever your best is, if you please,"

"My best? All right!"

"Don't get carried away,"

I quietly warned Satou before he did something crazy and dragged Aialize into it. With how excited Aialize looks to show off her best, it wouldn't be hard for Satou to convince her to take dangerous action.

Light Magic circles formed around Aialize, multiplying over and over. It looks nothing like the times Mia, her mother, or I used spirit magic. The Evil Jellies noticed Aialize too. It reached a tentacle towards her. An enormous magic circle appeared directly before Aialize, and a pseudo-spirit emerged that looked like a cross between an elephant and a hippopotamus.

"Create Behemoth Majuu Ou Souzou!"

Despite being in the vacuum of the void, its roar echoed powerfully. It looked powerful, being a destroyer-like giant over level fifty. But the behemoth had no wings, so it couldn't fly. Its legs scrabbled in the air like a cartoon character, and then a look of terror passed over its face as gravity pulled it down. The elves told us that pseudo-spirits didn't feel fear or pain, but I couldn't help but feel they were wrong at that moment.

We shared a moment of silence for the behemoth as it disappeared, leaving only a trace of red light in its wake. The Evil Jellies lost interest in us when the behemoth disappeared, returning to doing whatever it was doing before Aialize summoned it.

"Um, redo! That one didn't count! This one's for real, okay?"

Aialize blushed red and avoided eye contact as she started to summon another spirit. She summoned a wisp, a little four-inch floating ball of light this time. Satou had her move the wisp over to the Evil Jellies. Once it came within a certain distance, one of the Evil Jellies noticed it and reached out its tentacles. The wisp didn't last long, being crushed and having its magic absorbed by the Evil Jellies.

Next, Aialize summoned a sylph, a wind spirit greater than the wisp and able to endure the Evil Jellies tentacles. But the resulting visual brought back memories of a certain hentai manga I caught one of the boys in my class reading when I was still a high school student back in Japan. Satou had Aialize dispel her sylph as soon as it wasn't needed anymore. Despite being happy to show off her skills, Aialize is cutely blushing after what just happened.

Next, we tried out some physical attacks. The Evil Jellies seemed to be just as weak as they looked. My holy swords, Satou's fairy sword and even ordinary weapons could cut through the Evil Jellies with little effort. When Satou tossed a magic-charged bronze spear near the Evil Jellies, it caught and carried it to its mouth. Finally, I tried using items. Holy Stones, which fended off monsters, and Holy Water, which was used against the undead, had no effect at all.

"Are you done experimenting already?"

"No, I think I'll test their stamina next,"

Satou and I started cutting off the Evil Jellies tentacles next. We removed them carefully, one by one, with one of us acting as bait while the other struck. But the Evil Jellies have regenerative abilities, as the first tentacle had already started growing back. It didn't grow back fast, but it was still growing. Satou and I quickly cut off the remaining tentacles and had Aialize summon a sylph again to throw the Evil Jellies away from the tree.

When it got a few hundred feet away, the light inside the Evil Jellies started blinking furiously. Then, the light turned red, outlining the Evil Jellies in crimson. Aialize explained that this was a characteristic of the rampage state initiating, and it would cause the World Tree to go into alert mode before spreading to other nearby Evil Jellies.

Even as Aialize explained this, the World Tree branches began discharging electricity in all directions. Since we were with Aialize, it didn't approach us, but the severed tentacles still attached to the World Tree were burned to a crisp, and an emerald branch nearby was snapped off by the shocks and started to fall. I spotted Satou catching the branches with 'Magic Hand' and putting them away in his 'Storage'. I can't blame him since it might make good material for a magic wand or staff.

Once the Evil Jellies umbrella was far enough away, Aialize's sylph let go of it. Satou attacked it with the 'Fire Ball' spell, as it started to fall. The Fire Ball flew without interruption from the electricity, landed a direct hit on the jellyfish, and exploded, burning up its target. Even with its reduced power, the spell looks like it is doing a lot of damage. This didn't cause any rampages from the other Evil Jellies or additional electricity from the World Tree. I can only guess that nothing happened because Satou killed it with a single blow.

"I… incredible... Was that Blast Ball? Or perhaps Flare Ball?" I wanted to smack that smug look off Satou's face as we moved close to the nest Evil Jellies left behind. "Satou, Kura, you mustn't break the eggs, remember?"

"Yes, I know,"

"I'll be careful,"

Evil Jellies with eggs were extra-sensitive, so we observed this nest of eggs from a few hundred feet away. About ten transparent basketball-sized eggs were lined up on the branch. The broken shells of thirty or so other eggs lay scattered around them. Parts of the World Tree branch tainted with liquid from the eggs were now discoloured. Looking around, I saw the hatchlings clinging to their mother's tentacles. But something seemed off. There weren't nearly as many larvae as there were broken eggs.

"Hmm, what was it again? I'll ask Jia,"

When we questioned Aialize about it, she didn't know. She cast the Space Magic spell 'World Phone,' connecting all of us to the call to Jia back in the observatory. Considering we were over six miles from the observatory, it was an impressive spell.

"The number of eggs and larvae?"

"Yes, I thought the number of larvae seemed small compared to the amount of broken eggs,"

"Many jellyfish eggs are unfertilized. You see, with the research data we got from other elf families, like the Bulainan and Beliunan clans..."

Jia explained that the liquid from the broken eggs contaminated the sap, summoning the antibodies of the World Tree and then taking in the dense magic power from those antibodies as nutrients for the few larvae to hatch.

"However, none of them has witnessed the moment when the larvae hatch. We've tried observing the jellyfish eggs, too, but the mother covers the egg with her body when it hatches..."

While we were at it, we asked more about the sap pollution.

"Does that have a negative effect on the World Tree?"

"Of course it does. Aside from the antibodies I mentioned, it can alter or clog the sap, decreasing the amount of mana that reaches the trunk,"

The Beliunan clan had already helped develop a chemical to melt hardened sap in areas with the most severe clogging. However, getting rid of the clogged sap in the range of an Evil Jellies would cause the same rampage state as destroying an egg, so they could use it only if no Evil Jellies were too close by.

"Satou, where shall we go next?"

Something doesn't seem right about what I just heard, but before I can think more about it, Aialize spoke up. Aialize seems to have forgotten I was here together and got right up close to Satou's face, making him look flustered. It's hard to believe he has young ladies crawling all over him most days with how he acts around Aialize. But at least they didn't start awkwardly flirting with each other, leaving me feeling like I was a third wheel on their date.

"Hmm. Let me see..."

We had already investigated everything I needed to about the Evil Jellies, so Satou and I used Magic Hand to collect samples of the polluted sap and the broken eggs. Then we return to the world tree with Aialize leading the way.

The sun was at our backs as we flew toward the World Tree. But as we flew through the void, something caught my eye. Glittering in the sunlight and almost hidden within a dent in the tree was a light ship, which looked just like Hayato's ship, the Jules Verne. But part of its silver hull had turned black.

"It looks as if it's been burned pretty severely,"

"Yes. I'm told it was protecting a golem from an electric discharge attack,"

Like Aialize and the other high elves, the light ships were considered part of the World Tree, so it usually would never take an attack like that.

"It's only damaged on the surface, though, so it'll fix itself soon enough now that it's back in the World Tree,"

The self-repair systems look entirely different to how the Jules Verne works. When I looked more closely, I saw that the light ship's hull was covered in a transparent gel.

"Are there light ships that go into those other hollows, too?"

Satou must have found more light ships thanks to his OP map skill.

"There are only four in Bolenan, all told. Ordinarily, all World Trees come with eight light ships, but..."

As we discussed this, we passed through the dome of the observatory. When we landed, Lua and Jia came running up to greet us. We continued our conversation once we moved into a little side room in the observatory.

"Did the other four deteriorate over time?"

"No, no. You see, a goblin demon lord was wreaking havoc some hundreds of thousands of years ago. The world was nearly destroyed, so we provided our light ships at Lady Parion's request, but..."

"Many of them sank,"

"Yes. We sent out eight, but only half returned,"

Aialize looked depressed, so Jia took over. She was over two thousand years old and seemed to know more about it than Lua. It turned out the Saga Empire didn't exist yet at the time, so they couldn't do a hero summoning.

"In the end, all we could do was hunt the demon lord's army down to the edge of the continent. Then Lady Parion had the dragon god teach her the art of hero summoning, and the rest was up to the first hero, or so I'm told,"

"Yes, I remember it somewhat. That little hero managed to defeat the goblin with those two Holy Swords from Lady Parion and the dragon god,"

So the first hero used two swords like me and must have been pretty strong… or maybe not. I could deflect the attack from a light beam; at the time, I was at a lower level than Hayato. Parion had the dragon god might have given the first hero unique skills that were super effective against the goblin demon lord. From what the elves told us, the timetable between being summoned and defeating the demon lord was too short for them to have gained a lot of level.

"And heroes have been truly bizarre beings ever since,"

I wish people didn't look at me when they said that. I'm not weird at all!

"That hero was a sneaky one, too. Repairing and appropriating one of Bolenan's lost light ships!"

"Oh? We didn't give that as a reward for defeating the demon lord? I think I remember saying something about passing it down through the generations..."

So that's how the Saga Empire came to own the Jules Verne. But something is odd here. If the light ships had been lost thousands of years ago, why hadn't they rebuilt them?

"The other clans all used their Holytree Stone reserves to replenish their light ship fleets back to eight,"

We waited a moment, but Jia didn't explain why the Bolenan clan alone didn't rebuild theirs. When pressed, she said that making a light ship required about a ton of Holytree Stone. Since the stones had a lot of other essential uses, it could take up to a hundred thousand years to save up enough for a single ship.

"But Bolenan has a shortage of Holytree Stones," Aialize explained, sounding a little guilty.

Once, when the Flue Empire began to prosper, they sent royal ambassadors to the elves with game equipment. Two high elves became addicted to the game.

"There was nothing you could have done, Lady Aaze. Of the three high elves at the time, two of them were completely addicted, and instead of scolding them, most of us elves got into it along with them..."

Utterly addicted to those games, the elves and high elves ended up paying for it with the Holytree Stones they'd been saving to rebuild the light ships. It looks like the Flue Empire royalty took advantage of the elves' natural lack of business sense. But the elves need to learn some self-control. I remember how Satou was swarmed by elves frantically determined to play him in shogi. If they are not careful, they will fall victim to the same scam again.

"Eventually, all the gaming devices broke, and now none remain,"

"I understand getting depressed, but I wish they hadn't gone to sulk in the sleep tanks..."

"Same for the elder elves... So many of them retired abruptly that there weren't enough successors to fill their places,"

Didn't someone tell me that the elves in the sleep tanks were there because they wanted to preserve special memories? That must have been some game to drive the elves into the sleep tanks. I was curious about the game now, but unfortunately none remained. Jia said that the games broke precisely a thousand years after they had been purchased. It really was a scam. The Flue Empire was probably planning on waiting for the elves' stores of Holy Stones to build up again before selling them more of those games.

"So what did the Flue Empire do with all those Holytree Stones?"

"They became a magic empire that dominated all the continents within three hundred years. It's said that the bluecoins they made from the Holytree Stones made up a core part of their high-performance magic devices, as well as serving as the activation key for them. They were proof of nobility in that empire, too,"

Bluecoins… could they mean these?

"Are these the bluecoins you mentioned?"

I take out fifty coins I found when I acquired the sword Pearl now uses. To be honest, I almost forgot about them and the coins had been just collecting dust in my 'Storage'. At the time, I thought those coins were from some foreign nation, but it looks like they were even more valuable than that.

"Yes! That's them!" Aialize excitedly exclaimed as she saw the coins.

"I have plenty as well,"

Satou doesn't need to get so jealous. It isn't like I am trying to steal Aialize away from him. But Satou really does have a lot of those coins. He pulls out over twenty thousand Flue Empire bluecoins. I have no idea how he could have gained so many of them.

"I see. In that case, please use them for those purposes,"

"A… are these all bluecoins?"

"Yes, please help yourself,"

"Satou, we're short on Holytree Stones and all, so this is wonderful, but... You really don't need to do all that for us when you're not even from Bolenan, you know?"

Unlike Jia, who had dollar signs in her eyes as she leapt for the bag, Aialize tried to be reserved.

"Please, there's no need to hold back. Just think of me as an honorary citizen of Bolenan, if you don't mind," Satou nodded and took Aaze's hands gently.

"Satou..."

Her eyes trembled as she gazed at him. Please don't start kissing in front of us.

"Mr. Satou?"

Lua cleared her throat to remind the love birds that I, Jia and herself were still in the room. The two of them quickly jumped apart, blushing and shly glancing at each other. Changing the subject, Aialize told us why Satou had so many bluecoins. After Satou mentioned he got the coins from the Vally of the Dragons, she told us how they came to be there.

"As I recall, many bluecoins were given to the dragon god as a tribute in the Flue Empire's twilight years. They were seeking a weapon to use against the demon lord known as the Golden Boar Lord, from what I heard,"

"A weapon?"

"Yes. I don't know the details, but I know the vast desert in the middle of the continent was created as a result of the final battle between the Flue Empire and the Golden Boar Lord. Whatever happened, it was so intense that there were earthquakes all the way here in Bolenan,"

It must have been a powerful weapon to create a desert. But I had to blow up the Golden Boar Lord back when I fought him. If I hadn't sealed the area with barriers, I'm sure the old capital would have suffered damage despite how far underground we were. I hope I don't have to do anything that dangerous the next time I face off against a demon lord.

"Did you have to do something that destructive when fighting the Golden Boar Lord?"

Satou looks pale as he asks me that. But his question caused the elves to panic.

"The Golden Boar Lord is back?!" Aialize jumped to her feet, looking extremely worried. "We should contact the other clans and have all available light ships ready to launch. If he causes enough damage again, it will only be a matter of time before the gods ask us to dispatch them."

"Wait a minute, Lady Aaze," Lua was the only one to remain calm as Jia looked like she was about to faint. "Mr Satou said, "Did you have to do something that destructive when fighting the Golden Boar Lord?" And since Miss Hero is still alive, that means the Golden Boar Lord has already been defeated."

"But demon lords like him take years to defeat, and we would have heard of kingdoms being destroyed before he was defeated," Aialize still looks worried as she turns to me. "Did you really defeat him?"

"Yes," I nodded. "I happened to find him as soon as some cultists summoned the Golden Boar Lord. Ultimately, the demon Lord only killed the cultists before I defeated it."

"Really?"

"Lady Aaze. You can see for yourself that Miss Hero has both the 'True Hero' and 'Demon Lord Slayer: Golden Boar Lord' titles,"

"So the demon lord has been defeated until the next cycle," Aialize collapses in relief.

I keep it to myself that this was just one of seven demon lords meant to appear this cycle. Aialize will only worry herself to death if she learns that.

<0>

"So basically, I'm looking for ideas to get rid of harmful pests and animals who are damaging a very important garden,"

When we returned to the others, we had the group gather, and Satou asked them that question. Satou and I had discussed a few ideas but couldn't agree on a method that wouldn't cause a chain rampage. So now we are asking the others for ideas that could help out.

"Pest control, huh? If they're animals, maybe a good zap; cockroaches, you want boric acid dumplings; poisoned food for termites, of course…"

"I'm afraid we've already tried those. As far as poison, we're still doing research with the other clans."

Lua, the shrine maiden, was here to convey what had been tried so far. Several other ideas came up, but all of them had already been tested by the elves. I guess when you have a meeting of the minds where all the minds are hundreds or thousands of years old, you get a wealth of ideas and experience.

"Hmm, seems like you've tried just about everything...," Arisa murmured.

"If pushing doesn't work, you just gotta pull, sir!" Pochi said brightly.

"What does that mean, specifically?"

"That's for you or master to think of, sir! I just put the plans into action, sir,"

So, she didn't have a specific plan.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Arisa groaned and dropped her face onto the table. Her hair spread out on its surface, spilling over the sides. But Pochi might be a genius. Tama, who'd grown bored of the meeting and was rolling around on the lawn-like floor, started swatting at Arisa's hair from under the table. Every time Arisa groaned, her hair shifted, much to Tama's entertainment. Satou must have had the same idea because he started using Arisa's hair to guide Tama's actions.

"Mr. Satou, if you can't focus any longer, perhaps we should wrap things up for today?"

"Sorry about that. I got an idea, so I was working out the details," Satou informed Lua. "How about some fake bait?"

"Like the kind used for fishing?" Satou nodded and explained further.

"So instead of removing the jellyfish through sheer force, we would convince them to move away of their own accord?"

"Yes, that's right," Satou nodded again.

"The sun?"

"Tama's right, sir! Master's like the sun in the North Wind and the Sun story, sir!"

Tama and Pochi raised their hands excitedly. Arisa must have told them that fable.

"Hasn't anyone tested that yet?" Lua looked reluctant to answer Arisa's question.

"We knew they were drawn to magic, but when we tried to fish them out with it, it just led them to go into a rampage state and multiply..."

After that, no one had suggested anything along those lines. But it is still worth looking into.

<0>

Aialize managed to get permission for the bait plan at a gathering of all the high elves called the Holytree Council. Satou and I were only there as observers, so we didn't say or do much during the meeting. But it was a surprising sight to see how advanced the elves were compared to the rest of the world.

The other high elves didn't leave their World Trees. Instead, they appeared in a communication room, using a magic 3D projector tool. It was just like holograms from a few movies I watched, only more realistic. If Aialize didn't explain the tool to us, I would have thought they teleported into the room.

But approval wasn't that quick since there were a few problems as rivals between the elf clans arose during the meeting. Still, somehow, Satou got selected to make the bait and managed to make Aialize jealous of another high elf simultaneously. I have no idea how he managed to get into that situation, but the meeting ended with everyone agreeing on the bait plan.

<0>

Mia's mother led us to her father's laboratory the next day, offering to let Satou do his research there and me to help Nana. The lab was located in an underground cave nearly half a mile beneath the house where the entrance was. I can't see any doors or windows, so the fairy ring in the house must be the only way to enter.

"Allow me to turn on the lights,"

Gillil, the brownie man in charge of the lab, pressed a button on the wall, lighting up the room. The light revealed several building-like structures. Those must be Trazayuya's laboratory, experiment sites, and so on.

"This is the main laboratory,"

The floors and walls inside were made from a linoleum-like resin, resembling the research lab I'd seen in the Cradle. The lab included a reference room, a library, and even bigger transmutation equipment than the stuff at the magic tool workshop. A hangar in the back of the transmutation room contained several glass tubes standing along the wall, big enough for a human to enter.

"Those are cultivation tanks for creating and repairing homunculi. The sage mainly used them to produce body parts,"

"Hero Kura. Let's start right away, I insist,"

"Wait! Nana!"

I only just barely stopped her in time. I few seconds later, her dress would have been on the floor. Since hearing of those tanks, Nana has been excited to use them. I can hardly blame her because those tanks were like the kind of power-up area you'd find in certain games. But Nana must learn not to strip off her clothes so quickly and willingly.

"Miss Nana, we must ensure the tanks are still in working order first. It will be bad if you go in right now, so please wait. Gillil, please fetch us the record of enhancements that are available and perform checks on the cultivation tanks, please,"

Mia's mother rapidly shot Nana down and issued orders to Gillil, barely stopping for breath. It helped Nana stop trying to strip, but I feel bad for Gillil as he starts to rush around the room looking for the records Mia's mother requested. I should start making her clothing that is difficult to remove. One of these days, I will be too slow to stop her and Nana's stripping will get us into trouble.

"Here are the documents you requested," It only took Gillil a minute or two to find the documents requested. It was only a few sheets of paper, but the writer filled them with information. "It will take a few days to complete the requested checks on the cultivation tanks."

As soon as he handed the documents to Mia's mother, Gillil got straight to work on the cultivation tanks. What a hard worker. I hope he doesn't work himself too hard for our shake. Mia's mother handed Nana the pieces of paper while I watched Gillil expertly examine the cultivation tanks, but there was a problem.

"Hero Kura, please read this for me, I request,"

The documents were all written in elvish; some were old enough that the text started to fade in places. But it was not impossible to read. So, while Mia's mother helped Satou get settled with the lab equipment, Nana and I took a seat, and I began translating the text for her.

<0>

Day 1:

I have started working on making equipment for our group while assisting Satou when he needs help. As a result of this, I started taking notes to help me improve my crafting skills. I'm no Satou. I doubt I will ever reach his level, but with the help of the people of Bolenan Forest, I am confident I can make something on the level that Satou can. The people here were kind enough to lend me whatever materials I needed, so there was no way I would make something so bad it was unusable.

To start things off, I decided to work on armour. Sara's new battle outfit was the easiest, and with her input and a lot of help from the elves, I could finish it by the end of the first day. Satou and I both worked late that night and got a lecture about staying out and working so late when we returned to the tree house.

Still, Sara's outfit turned out quite well, and she was happy with it. It maintained the look of her priestess habit but was made from materials good at defending against magic and physical attacks. It was a flawless defence but was as strong as a knight's plate armour while staying pretty light. A staff specialist even made Sara a staff made from the wood of the world tree, which made Arisa jealous, but the staff will take a few more days to complete.

The elves have the best equipment and experts, making work like this a lot easier than I expected.

Day 2:

I worked on Nana's and Pearl's armour on the second day. Pearl didn't really mind as long as the armour did its job, but Nana made a lot of requests about the design. I'm not sure I can meet them all, but I promised to do what I can.

For Pearl's armour, I used hides and scales from a sizeable crocodile-like monster that lives in a swamp not far from the northern edges of Bolenan Forest. It is strong against physical attacks but weak against magical ones. I added an inner layer of giant monster fish hides to counter that weakness. It should keep Pearl safe, and even though it weighed more than Sara's new armour, it should slow Pearl down in combat.

Nana's armour was the heaviest one yet since she was our tank. I used the same materials as I did with Pearl's armour; each layer was thicker and offered more protection. I was worried I made it too heavy, but Nana could move just fine when she tried it on. Nana was delighted when she saw I put little chick designs and her armour's upper arms and stomach.

Their armour will still take some time to finish because of the last feature. I left some space for a magic bag-like pocket, and the magic bag workshop agreed to install a storage space there for me. It would only be a small space big enough for only two or three potions, but it would be helpful in an emergency. In the meantime, they got to pick the colours for their armour. Pearl went with a simple grey design, while Nana wanted hers to be pure white with a gold trim and chicks.

That night, I was the only one to return to the tree house. Satou apparently received a lot of information yesterday and pulled an all-nighter. It was a shame because Lulu and the cooking-loving elves made an excellent dinner for us. Satou really missed out, and we all over ate at dinner because of how good it was.

Day 3:

Day three started off with training. I had been putting off my 'Spirit Magic' training for a while and needed some practice. I got the skill up to level five through repeated use, but my spirit dog still won't listen to me. I even had to chase it through the tree house village after it decided to chase after one of the fairies. Luckily, Nana managed to find the fairy and put it in a safe place I was lacking while using her shield to keep my dog at bay. I swear that fairy looked like it was in heaven as it rested between Nana's breasts.

That afternoon, I got to work on Nana's shield. It didn't need any improvements, but I did add a chick design to it, too, that made her happy.

Day 4:

I spent day four training with everyone today. My group practised team attack, which was more complicated than I expected. We are not bad fighters and can't work together, but we are too used to splitting up when fighting bandits and weak monsters. It took us most of the day to get our attacks coordinated.

Day 5:

Day five was much like day four. I trained with my group in the morning, but Goya challenged me to a shogi match over lunch. It ended with him running away, crying he wouldn't lose next time. I wasn't the best shogi player, but Goya wasn't that good either. Ultimately, it was more down to luck than skill that I won. After that, I went back to training with my group, and it won't be long until we are a well-oiled machine.

Day 6:

The magic workshop finished with Nana and Pearl's armour quicker than I expected, and I spent the day putting the finishing touches on their armour. It wasn't difficult or complex work, but it needed to be done, and tomorrow, they could start training in their new armour.

Day 8:

Nothing happened on day seven apart from Nana and Pearl trying their new armour during training. The only thing that stood out was that Mia was also asking for new equipment. I wasn't planning on taking her with us when we left, but I could make her something as a going-away gift.

I spent day eight working on Mia's equipment. I didn't make her armour as strong as the others, but it will still protect her. The main feature was the ability to draw in spirits. With Aialize's help, she happened to pay Satou a visit. I found materials that could help attract spirits. It wouldn't be powerful, but it should help Mia with her 'Spirit Magic' training.

Day 9:

On day nine, I returned to training. I practised sword fighting and spell casting in the morning against sprits one of the elves summoned, and in the afternoon, I worked on my spirit magic.

That night, I got invited to a drinking party that became a small feast when more people than expected showed up. Unfortunately, Nana and Liza got drunk during the party, and while Liza simply passed out, Nana tried to kidnap the fairies. I had to rescue too many of those from Nana's oversized prison that night.

But she wasn't even the worst drunk. Goya kept trying to pick fights with me that night even though he could barely stand. It was a blessing when he finally passed out and stopped causing a scene every few minutes.

Day 10:

Day ten was a rest day. I spent the morning helping Lulu and the cooking-loving elves prepare food before going flower-picking with Mia, Pochi and Tama. In the afternoon, we all visited a play put on by the brownies and spent the evening playing board games in the treehouse.

I can't help but worry about Satou. He didn't come out of the lab once today despite everyone insisting he takes a break. I hope this is a sign he has made a breakthrough and not that he is working himself to death.

Day 11:

It turned out Satou was an idiot. It wasn't that he was working hard yesterday that he missed the day off but because he did something stupid. I entered the lab on the morning of day eleven, only to find Satou coughing up blood. It wasn't a lot of blood, but even coughing up a little blood can't be good. For some stupid reason, he ate one of the tentacles for the monsters attacking the world tree.

Satou ended up being fine. I forced him to take the day off, dragged him back to the tree house, and Sara, Arisa and Lulu looked after him. Aialize even made an appearance wearing a nurse's outfit that she claimed gave her a plus one to all healing skills and spells. Needless to say, this was just another joke that the former hero, Daisaku, played. Aialize turned bright red and quickly changed once Arisa pointed out Daisaku was only joking.

Day 11:

I had someone keep an eye on Satou all day. One of the lab rats in the laboratory he let eat a piece of that tentacle died today after throwing up blood. Throughout the day, Satou started to show strange growths on his stomach, but they disappeared not long after they appeared. We forced Satout to take another day off to be safe, and Arisa made Satou swear never to eat strange things again. Hopefully, he learned his lesson.

Day 12:

Sara's staff is finally finished, and it works amazingly, making Arisa even more jealous. Since Satou was still resting after that stupid mistake, we all took it easy with only light training in the morning. After lunch, we went fishing again and had another drinking party later that night. This time, I made sure Nana and Goya didn't get drunk.

<0>

"Did something good happen, master? You're not cheating, are you?"

"No, it's nothing like that. They've finally found turmeric and cumin!"

Satou smiled as we ate breakfast in the treehouse that morning, reading a letter. Taking a peak at the letter, I learned that it said that the leprechaun expedition party had located turmeric, while the spriggans had located cumin. They'd already found spices like coriander and cardamom, but these two had been the final hurdle.

"Does that mean we can make some real curry?"

Arisa excitedly stared at Satou, and I could understand her feelings. My heart soared like hers, knowing I might finally taste curry again after so long.

"Isn't curry is a legendary dish from the hero's home kingdom? I inquire,"

"That's right. I got a letter saying they've found all the necessary ingredients,"

"Master, can you teach me how to make it?"

"Sure,"

Lulu looked just as excited as Arisa. Those two are so different yet so similar at the same time. Nana even looked happy despite her usually blank expression. I think one of her sisters liked cooking and told her about curry before. I can't remember which one of the sisters it was, though. Lulu, Nea, and the others could make it alone, but Satou looked eager to help.

"I'm going to take a few days off,"

Satou declared, and no one complained. He needs some time off after spending nearly two weeks working nonstop and then nearly dying. I can't believe Satou would do something so stupid.

<0>

"Something smells good,"

After 'Spirit Magic' training, I returned to the tree house to find Satou, Sara, Lulu and the cooking-loving elves working hard in the kitchen. The scent of spices filled the air as the group worked hard to perfect the recipe.

"Hero Kura, is the upgrade pack ready for installation yet? I inquire,"

"Not yet," I checked on that on my way back because Nana asked about it during dinner last night. "The tank is ready, but installing the package will take a few more days."

As soon as I responded, Nana slumped down glumly. There was little change in her expression, but her disappointment would be evident to anyone.

"Just wait a little bit longer, and it will be ready before you know it,"

"...Hero Kura's instructions registered, I report,"

"It's not all bad news," I at least picked up something today that will cheer her up. "There are more options for functions than before now, and I have the list right here. How about you pick out what you like with the others?"

"Th… that is a wonderful proposal, hero Kura, I commend!"

"Guilty,"

Nana embraced me, shoving my face into her chest. It was a good thing Mia got between us because it was pretty hard to breathe in there. But her complaint didn't affect the excited homunculus as Nana stared excitedly at the list. Arisa came over with Pochi and Tama and started to talk over the list with her.

"Master, welcome back,"

"Welcome back,"

Liza and Pearl were on guard duty, standing by the kitchen door and keeping the fairies out.

"Let me gooo!"

"It smells so good in there!"

"Graaah!"

Whenever the fairies got too close to the source of the smell, they lost their cool and started attacking. But no matter how much they tried, the fairies couldn't get past Liza and Pearl.

"Mr. Satou, we've gathered all the spices from the recipe. We're following the preparatory steps now,"

Nea was crushing spices in a handmill. Since everyone was so busy, I returned to the other room to play games with the younger kids.

<0>

The day flew by, and we had more interest in the curry than expected, leading us to set up the plaza for a large event. I helped Pochi, Tama and the brownies set up large tables for seating and serving. Aialize even showed up to help, saying she had the day off.

"Nana, help the brownies peel the vegetables, please,"

"Yes, Master Satou,"

"Liza, can you carve up these birds?"

"Right away, sir,"

"Mia, we could use more poultry. Is there someone we could ask?"

"Mm. Hiya,"

She probably meant that we could ask Hishirotoya, the hunter. Mia pounded her little chest to show she would take care of it. With all the work that needed to be done, it was all hands on deck. I sent Nana and Pearl to help with the cooking while I switched between keeping an eye on the stuff cooking and helping out in the plaza. It was pretty easy to do both with the 'Clairvoyance' and 'Magic Hand' spells.

"Mr. Satou, the cooking implements are ready," Nea called as things got busier in the kitchen.

In addition to the six stove-type magic tools, there were ten cauldrons around the size of large drums. They were magic devices that could heat up and cook entirely by themselves. Even with all that equipment, it was barely enough to cook a meal on the scale we needed. I had to borrow portable magic stove-type magic tools and more cauldrons to meet demand.

"Hand out this candy to the fairies so they don't get in the way, please,"

When I returned with the equipment, Satou sent Arisa and Aialize to distract the fairies. Judging by the mess in the kitchen, I can imagine those two tried to help with the cooking only to have an accident. At least there was only a tiny amount of food that spilled onto the floor.

"Master, I volunteer to take charge of the skimming, I declare,"

Nana's eyes sparkled as Satou handed her a ladle. Everything seems to be under control in the kitchen, so I head back out front to help set the tables.

"Prey?"

"It's a huge catch, sir!"

"Look,"

Tama, Pochi, and Mia ran up, stopping just outside the plaza as they were covered in dirt. Behind them were Satou's teacher, Hishirotoya, and some of the other elf teachers who were skilled in hunting. Goya was there, too, acting smug. From the looks of it, he'd brought down a mountain bird. One of the elf teachers who hadn't gone with them used Practical Magic to clean up the hunting group. Pochi and Mia smelled strange, so I used deodorizing magic on them.

"Good work, guys,"

I proceeded to help butcher the prey and hand it over to the kitchen. The hunting party caught a good amount of mountain birds and a few other avion monsters. Still, there were plenty of us butchering the monsters, so it didn't take long.

"Kura, ah,"

Mia came over just as we cleaned up, offering me a potato chip. I think I saw Arisa handing them out to the fairies earlier, and Satou was the one who made them. Since my hands still had blood on them, I took Mia up on her offer to hand-feed me. The potato chip wasn't that bad. It's not as good as the ones I ate back in Japan, but still tasty.

The scent of curry started drawing more and more people in. Even the plaza will be too small to host everyone at this rate. I wonder if we made enough food? As a result of all this interest, we ended up starting the feast a little earlier than planned. There was no dramatic opening. We just worked together to start doling out curry rice and bringing it to the tables. The last time I served so many people was when I was forced to work in my high school's cafeteria after getting into trouble.

"Wow, look at all these different kinds!" Arisa marvelled.

The meal turned out pretty good. For the rice, we used ordinary long-grain rice, the standard in the Ougoch Duchy. We had naan made with both plain and with raisins. There were four different varieties of curry: green, red, yellow, and brown.

The green curry was the vegetarian option, made using a leafy green that resembled spinach. The red curry contained cubed rocket wolf meat and plenty of red pepper, making it spicy. Nea and Lulu got teary-eyed when they taste-tested it, so I decided to leave that one alone. The yellow curry wasn't nearly as spicy as the last and was made with tandoori chicken. Finally, the brown curry. This was a standard Japanese curry made with beef. This curry was made with two different spice levels, with one being average and the other sweet.

There were plenty of fried toppings for people to add as they liked. There was fukujinzuke and sweet pickled leeks, fresh vegetable salad, boiled cabbage, mashed potatoes, chopped vegetables, and so on for side dishes. It didn't take long before everyone had found something they liked. Once everyone had food in front of them, the feast began.

"Mm, spicyyy?"

"It's spicy but yummy, sir,"

"Spicy yet delicious,"

Tama and Pochi tried the sweet one. Despite being made as mild as possible, it was still a little spicy for them. It was hard to tell what curry Liza picked. She piled up so much fried whale that the curry got lost entirely underneath it. It wasn't until she was halfway through eating it that I learned she chose the chicken curry.

"This curry is cuter, I declare,"

"Nana, you shouldn't play with your food,"

Nana seemed pleased with her spicy red curry, topped with a soft-boiled egg and apple slices cut into rabbit shapes. Sara was sat next to her, eating a green curry while trying to stop Nana from rubbing the rabbit shapes against her cheek.

"Ngh, it's good, but it's so spicy I can hardly eat it..."

"Hang in there, Aaze," Mia encouraged Aialize.

Mia was eating green curry herself. Aialize ate with tears in her eyes, gulping down a glass of water after each bite. She should stop eating the super spicy red curry and switch to a milder one instead of torturing herself.

"Miss Aaze, try this instead,"

In the end, Satou replaced her plate of red curry with the sweet brown one. The staff was happy to eat her first plate of curry.

"Ah, this one isn't spicy! I can eat it just fine,"

"Glad to hear it,"

Others seemed to be struggling with the spiciness, too, so brownies went around to tell them about the sweet curry.

"If your mouth still stings, try this drink, too. It should help with the spiciness a little,"

"Th… thank you... Oh, it's delicious! So nice and sweet,"

Aialize was still making a face, so Satou offered her a matcha latte. The way he stared at her as Aialize cutely held it with both hands and gulped it down caused Arisa to get jealous and storm over. Arisa called, "Guilty!" before sitting beside him.

"Ahhh, this is paradise. It's just as good as that old curry chain," Arisa sighed, leaning against Satou.

"Arisa, look! Hamburg curry, sir!"

"So delish?"

Nea had apparently cooked up hamburg steaks with the leftover meat. Gazing around the room as I ate a small plate of each curry apart from the red one, I could see several elves trying to find the right drink to go with the meal with Pearl while one lady was crying tears of joy. They are all so good. I wish I had a full plate of each.

"Goya, you need some of that sweet curry or what?"

"Mrrr. No,"

A drunken elf teased Goya, who was teary-eyed as he ate his spicy curry. He looked ecstatic when Mia offered him a matcha latte. They seemed to get along pretty well. Even if their relationship has turned into one of a doting older brother and a rebellious little sister.

Before the sunset, the thousand-odd servings of curry had disappeared, along with all the toppings. Some spinoff dishes had been developed, too, like Liza's patented "whale cutlets with curry," Despite all the food they'd eaten, everyone still went for the fruit jelly Satou had made for dessert. I accepted the stomach medicine Satou started handing out after overeating like that.

The curry feast ended, but there were complaints from the elves who couldn't join in. This led to a festival of curry that seemed like it was set to continue for a while.

<0>

"...You were attacked by a jellyfish?!"

"I… it wasn't me who got attacked,"

"Mr. Satou, you're a bit too close,"

"E… excuse me,"

I had to pull Satou away from Aialize when she came to visit along with Lua. Apparently, there was an attack, but Satou should have been able to tell that Aialize was okay from how she looked. He really needs to stop panicking and think before he acts around Aialize.

"Two-spirit users were attacked this morning as soon as they went out into the void,"

Lua's explanation left a lot of questions. From what she said, other spirit users and some pseudo-spirits were in the same place. These two spirit users were the only ones directly attacked by jellyfish. It was strange. Until now, the jellyfish had always ignored people unless they were attacked first or if magic was used near them.

"Were they drunk, by any chance?"

"No, those planning to go into the void are forbidden from drinking a drop of alcohol for the span of a day before their trip,"

"Those two are very serious, so I can't imagine they would violate the rules,"

Satou's theory was quickly shot down by Aialize and Lua.

"Besides, they ate so much curry the day before that they could barely move..."

It can't be…

"Were those two the only ones who ate curry?"

I ask, and it looks like the idea has crossed Satou's mind, too.

"Yes. I can remember the others being jealous that they got to eat the curry last night,"

"They curry might have caused this attack then," It is starting to seem more likely. "You should not let anyone who ate curry enter the void for a few days."

"Yes. I agree," Lua nods, backing me up.

"I'd like to test something out in the void if you don't mind,"

When we arrived at the observatory, I used the Practical Magic spell Deodorant on myself. Satou, who was coming too, did the same. We put on void suits and went out to see the jellyfish alone.

"This is Satou. No reaction from the jellyfish yet,"

I let Satou handle the communication since he would have done it anyway, considering that Aialize is the one we are reporting to. Meanwhile, I floated on a bit ahead and produced a tiny amount of curry powder in the palm of my void suit.

The jellyfish shot out their tentacles faster than I was expecting. I didn't know how they even detected the smell since there was no air in the void. This was a far more intense reaction than I was expecting. I pulled back for now. I didn't want to send them into berserk mode. We returned to the observatory with the cause of the attack now known.

"I'm back,"

I explained the results of my experiment to Aialize and Lua, and Satou came up with the idea of using curry as bait instead of alcohol. Aialize and Lua quickly arranged to inform the other clans of the discovery of a new bait.

While we waited, Kiya, an elf from the magic tool shop and Aea from the transmutation workshop worked with Satou and me to make a magic device to produce curry-scented mist. The void still had gravity, and not even balloons could float there. We tested a prototype device called a "void engine" that Satou found in Trazayuya's research. When I saw it ascending through the void, I couldn't understand how it moved the way it did. There were no signs of propulsion, but later on, I learned that it used a similar mechanism to my "Skyrunning" skill to move. The device created a small floating foothold inside itself with Practical Magic, then ran a gear along it to climb upward. While we were developing this device further, the golem maniac Kiya and Satou got a little carried away and wound up making a living doll using a World Tree branch for use in the void.

"Satou, it worked! The World Tree's lightning isn't attacking the doll!"

"Perfect. Now we can put the living dolls in charge of working in the void instead of sending people out into danger,"

With a bit of experimenting and Aialize joining us, we got even better results than we'd expected. Aialize told us that another elf had thought of a similar thing once. This time, though, we used a Treespirit Pearl from a treant to transform a sprout on the World Tree and use it as a base for the doll. The engine that made the doll move was a separately prepared magic device, but we had to get a little clever to make that work, too.

"Seems awfully heavy... Don't you think the lead layer is a little too thick?"

"If we make it any thinner, the jellyfish will react to the doll,"

To keep the jellyfish from noticing the magic power, we sectioned off the engine with lead, which didn't conduct magic. When we were done, we offered samples and blueprints to the other clans as Satou explained the device. Few of them had Treespirit Pearls, but they all had some Forest Magic experts, so that wasn't a problem.

After a few days, the Beliunan clan's experiments confirmed that the curry scent attracted jellyfish and didn't cause them to go into a rampage state. Then, we were invited to the Holytree Council again.

"Very well. In accordance with the vote, we have decided to proceed with Kura the Hero and her follower Nanashi's proposed strategy, Operation Curry,"

The name of the operation was Satou's idea. There was some pushback on it, but in the end, the name stuck. According to Satou, names should be easy to understand.

"As the Bolenan clan has contributed the most to the development of this strategy, I propose that they spearhead the operation."

Aaze made a little fist pump of triumph. Spearheading must be considered an honour. Satou really needs to be careful. It is hard to miss how much he is staring at her. He is lucky Arisa isn't here.

"B… but we, the Beliunan clan, also…"

"But of course. I would like the Beliunan clan to be second to enact the plan,"

"Hmm. V… very well, then,"

The high elf of the Zuwakanan clan, who was acting as the chairman, expertly dealt with the protests of the Beliunan clan, who had also contributed to the research. It was then decided that the clans undertake the operation in succession instead of all simultaneously in case of unexpected situations.

"The operation shall commence ten days from now when all clans have completed the repellent potion application as a preliminary step,"

This repellent potion was to be applied to the branches of the World Tree to keep the jellyfish in check and ensure they would follow the curry powder spray.

"Any clans who may be falling behind are to report in at once. The Holytree Council wishes you all the very best of luck,"

With that, the council meeting came to an end. I hope everything goes well.