By the time about 10 days had passed since Nebula had appeared as the Spirit of the World Tree, she had become fully accustomed to being a member of Kaito's household.
Although she never sleeps, she basically sits on the branch of the World Tree in the middle of the night while Kaito and the others sleep, and starts her activities when the sun starts to rise early in the morning.
First, she checks the landscape of the World Tree, which can be called her main body, and adjusts it if the branches are sticking out too much or the leaves aren't balanced.
After that, she checks the other trees and plants in the garden and adjusts them to fit with the landscape, and then picks up the fallen leaves and cleans up around the fountain.
As she was tending to the garden of Lilia's mansion, which was connected to Kaito's home, as if to say that it's also her territory, she saw some people coming out of Lilia's mansion.
(……Fumu, they wake up early. The people coming out are…… Aoi-san and Hina-san, seemingly getting ready for departure……)
Approaching Aoi and Hina who seemed to be going out early, Nebula greeted them with a bright smile.
[Aoi-san, Hina-san, good morning.]
[Ahh, Nebula-chan! Good morning~~!]
[Good morning, Nebula-chan.]
Hearing Nebula's words, Hina cheerfully greeted her while Aoi greeted Nebula back with a smile. In the past ten days, they have talked to Nebula many times and have already become good friends.
[It's still quite early, are you two going out already?]
[Yes, we're departing for a Quest today. We'll be back in the evening though.]
[I see…… Hmmm.]
When Nebula heard Aoi's explanation, she nodded once before she began thinking of something.
[……Wait a minute, okay?]
[ [ Unnn? ] ]
Leaving Aoi and Hina tilting their heads, Nebula moved to the World Tree and took two leaves before coming back to them.
Each of those leaves having peculiarly different colors on its front and back, she handed them to the two girls.
[Please take this with you. Simple it may be, but I've imbued it with the "Rain Protection Magic". If it's just a day or two, it should be able to keep you from getting wet from the rain.]
[……Eh? Nebula-chan…… Is it going to rain today?]
When Hina asked back in surprise, Nebula looked up at the sky once and nodded.
[The air is a bit damp and judging by the size and movements of the clouds…… I think it's going to start raining around noon.]
[I- Is that so…… Thank you, Nebula-chan. That really helps us.]
[No, no, I don't think it's going to be that strong…… but it might get muddy where you're going, so you might want to get back to the city a little early.]
[Nebula-chan, thank you! Well then, Aoi-senpai, shall we hurry it up a bit?]
[I suppose so. However, let's not be too hasty and accidentally make a mistake, okay?]
[Both of you, have a good day. Take care!]
[ [ We're off! ] ]
As Nebula cheerfully waved to them as they departed, Aoi and Hina waved back with smiles on their faces. After seeing them off until their backs were out of sight, Nebula resumed her work in the garden.
Just as she was finishing up some of the work in the garden, Illness came out of the mansion carrying a large basket, so Nebula moved over to her and called out.
[Illness-san, good morning! Laundry?]
[Good morniiiiing. It seemed liiiiike the weather would change in the afternoooon, so I'm going to hang the clothes earlyyyyy and take them in before noooon.]
[I see.]
Probably because their personalities were compatible with each other, but Nebula and Illness get along quite well. They were both very attentive to each other, so they could talk about anything.
[Now that I've finished with the garden, I will help you.]
[That would be greaaaaat. This is quite a lot thouuuuugh, would that be alriiiiight?]
[Of course! I am Absolute, so this is no problem for me!]
[Kuhihi, you're quite reliableeeee~~]
Seeing Nebula smiling as she floated next to her, Illness also smiled. The two of them then continued to chat as they hung out the laundry together.
[Come to think of it, Illness-san. Since I've received permission from Milord, I'm thinking of making a small field behind the mansion.]
[Oya~~ That sounds very interestiiiiiing. Are you going to grow vegetableeees?]
[No, I'm thinking of growing tea leaves. That's why, I was thinking about what to plant.]
[I see~~ If Nebula grows iiiiiit, I think it will be very good thouuuugh.]
[Fufufu, I am Absolute after all! Of course, I'll grow something amazing…… Well, I'm actually just bored, so I thought I'd start doing what I can in my spare time……]
While talking in a calm atmosphere, their hands were moving without a hitch, and the large amount of laundry was hung in a blink of an eye.
One of the reasons why they get along so well is because they both have excellent abilities in various things.
After that, Nebula continued to help Illness with her work while happily chatting with her until Kaito woke up.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [The fact that it doesn't have "Intermission" or "Extra Chapter" on it means that it's part of the normal main story, but the fact that it has "morning" on it means that unlike those chapters with ① and numbers like that, it would be something like morning, noon, and night, right?]