Chapter 60

“I’m off then. Take care of the World Tree while I’m gone.”

“See you later, Demiurge-sama. Please be careful. If you’re in danger, use the man as a shield!”

“Hey!”

“I await your safe return!”

“Ignoring me?”

I made a small comment at Phoenix’s words, who had come to see us off.

But she ignored me as if she didn’t care about me at all.

It’s been almost a month since I’ve known her, but I still don’t feel like we’ve gotten any closer.

“Leave it to me, Mother. I will not let even a single person, no matter how many, touch the World Tree. And please be careful on the way.”

“Umu. You’re the calmest of the bunch. I’m counting on you.”

“Oh, such a waste of words, this dragon god is going to do its best!”

Dragon God, who had come with Phoenix to see us off, looked thrilled at the encouragement from Demiurge.

She folded her hands in front of her large, outstretched chest and her eyes moistened. It’s a little over the top, but it seems to have motivated her, so there’s nothing to say.

“I’ll see you later… Souvenirs, please…”

“If only I could keep up with you. You are a little too easy-going. You must work together with Dragon God to protect the World Tree. Understood?”

“Yes… I have listened to the Lord’s orders… I will protect the world tree moderately…”

“Not moderately, but to the death!”

“Oh~…”

“Are we all right…?”

Demiurge holds her forehead and looks anxious as Behemoth reacts with a sleepy gaze that makes it difficult to determine whether she is motivated or not.

However, she has mastered the art of close combat, which is outstanding among the members of the stay-at-home team.

With Dragon God as rear support, Phoenix in the middle who can handle multiple types of magic as well as close combat, and Behemoth as a vanguard, there would be no problem even if they were mimicking human (or beast) form.

If they have returned to their true form, their majesty alone should be enough to drive away an opponent of the same caliber.

“Demiurge, it’s time for us to leave.”

“Umu. All right, everyone, let’s go.”

“I’m off!”

“See you.”

Following Demiurge, Yggdrasil and Titan greeted each other and departed.

It takes about half a day to walk from the forest to the town of Cid.

However, since Yggdrasil is small, it will probably take a little longer if we take into account her walking pace.

However, this trip is not that urgent, and as long as the ring that Yggdrasil made for me functions properly, I will be able to take shortcuts between the town of Cid and the Elven Forest.

Once we arrive in town, I can get the furniture we need for our current home and then go back.

The first thing I plan to do when I get to town is to get some new furniture.

I’m currently sleeping directly on the floor, which is not a very comfortable living situation.

This will be a good opportunity for me to start thinking about improving my quality of life in earnest.

Fortunately, my pockets are currently quite ample.

I’ve been able to make more money than I thought I would by selling medicinal herbs and other items I’ve collected in the forest to Cid’s commercial guild.

I can buy furniture for everyone living in the house and still have enough money to pay for it.

“Going out, going out, so enjoy~able~♪”

“Don’t get too excited, Yggdrasil, or you’ll fall over.”

“I’m not that much of a child~… Aah!”

Yggdrasil stumbled over a pebble and dived face-first into the ground.

Waa~, that looks painful…

“Come on, I don’t have to tell you, can you get up…”

“Ouch~, that hurts~… doesn’t bother me! I’ve got healing magic, after all!”

“It’s just a little scrape on the forehead… You’re exaggerating.”

“A scratch on a girl’s face is a big deal.”

“You’re not old enough to be a maiden…”

“Ah! How can you say that?! I’m still innocent?! I’m a maiden! I don’t have sores like Dee-chan!”

“What?! Husband and I only love each other. I’m not sore!”

“You’ve been moaning all night, echoing through the house.”

“Wha～～～～～～―――?!”

Yggdrasil’s brusque comment caused Demiurge to turn red from her face to behind her ears and even down her neck.

And in the aftermath, even I felt heat on my face.

No, to begin with! You heard it? It’s more than embarrassing!

“Ah, …also, the day before yesterday and yesterday, I heard my sister’s amazing voice…”

““Ugh… sorry.””

The muttered words from Titan made Demiurge and me turn our heads.

We both turned red and felt like we couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m not saying don’t do it, but you should lower your voice more in the future, okay?”

““Yes(Umu)…””

As expected, I’ll have to reflect on this one.

Both me and Demiurge.

So much for messing around with the two of them…

Yggdrasil cast a recovery spell on the wound on her forehead.

With a pale green luminescence, the wound closed up in the blink of an eye.

“All goo~d. I’m not good at offensive magic, but I can use some recovery and support magic, so I’ll be your backup during the battle!”

“Oh, yes. Please take care of me then.”

“Left it to me!!

Yggdrasil slapped her small chest and smiled.

I was relieved that the topic had changed, and I decided to join in the conversation.

“How’s Demiurge? I think you have a good amount of mana at your disposal compared to before?”

“Umu. The current me can use what humans call basic attack magic. However, I can’t use it that many times. Don’t expect too much from me.”

“But you can use it at least. Then you won’t hesitate to use it in case of emergency or for self-defense.”

“Yes, I suppose so. My safety is also the safety of my husband. Of course, the opposite is also true. Do not take each other’s lives for granted.”

“Of course.”

Demiurge and I share a single life.

If one of us loses its life, the other one will also die.

In other words, we are in a relationship where we need to protect each other.

However, it is not all disadvantages.

By sharing life, I can use some of the power of Demiurge.

The ability to collect anima crystals from demons is the best example. The only people who can use this power are me and the four demons that were created by her by sharing her mana directly.

Yggdrasil may be able to do the same, but I’ll ask her about that later.

However, I’m still concerned about the fact that Yggdrasil told me last time not to use the power of Demiurge too much, but I guess I can’t hesitate when the time comes.

Now, let’s have a quick look at our current strengths. With Titan in the front, me in the middle, and Demiurge and Yggdrasil in the back, I think we’ve got a pretty well-balanced party.

The reason I brought Titan was because I was going to focus on supporting the rear and leave the front line to Titan, but this way, I might be able to step up to the plate.

By the way, if you want a frontline specialist, Behemoth is also a candidate, but you can guess why I left it behind. My chastity is limited to Demiurge.

“I think we can handle this, even if we have to deal with demons on the way. We’ll be able to collect the Anima Crystals, so let’s actively hunt them down when we encounter them.”

“Roger that.”

“Hoo~ray!”

“I got it.”

After confirming the strength of our forces, we proceeded to walk towards Cid.

And then Titan shouted as if he remembered something.

“Ah, yes. If we’re going to collect the Anima, there were a lot of iced golems at the place where my master and I fought before, right? We’ll see them along the way, and we’ll collect from them.”

“Ah, you’re right. The golems that I put on ice in the『Zero Field』, the ones that iced, the whole area, are…”

Eh, what? Think of it, after the battle with Titan, I canceled the magic Zero Field…

“Wow~ I didn’t expect him to use that method to block my movement~ He froze my body with the entire ground and finally knocked me out! I know it was a while ago, but it feels like a lot of time has passed.”

“Hou, you can handle a variety of magic, can’t you, Husband? Well, in the past, I could use all the magic in the world as much as I wanted.”

“But, Dee-chan, you’re not so good with support magic, are you?”

“W-Wasn’t that so?”

“Oh, she looked away. You’re so uncool!”

“You’re so annoying!”

I couldn’t stop a waterfall of sweat from pouring down my forehead in front of the people who were happily conversing with me.

Oh, no…

I haven’t removed the magic Zero Field since the battle with Titan ended!!

Remembering the fact that I had done something terrible, I groaned and held my head in my hands, “Nooo～～～～!!”