Chapter 364: The gods struggle with the changing of the times

Things don’t always go as one expects.

A certain goddess – Botin, Mother of the Earth and Goddess of Craftsmanship – lamented this very obvious fact, and lamented that her will and power could only do so much.

“Ugh, just what is this world right now…” she groaned.

She had dark skin and the face of someone with a strong will, but her cheeks were wet with tears now, and she was lying on her side, hugging her knees – far from the dignified appearance that one would expect from a goddess.

Although she was in her Divine Realm, where no mortal eyes could see her, she was an honored great god, and the mother-goddess who gave birth to the Dwarf race with Zantark. So why was she looking so pained? Or to put it more clearly, why was she looking so disappointed? The answer to that was related to her worshipers.

Having been freed from her seal by Vandalieu, she had attempted to send news of his accomplishment to her worshipers through Divine Messages. She had done the same when he defeated the Demon King Guduranis.

However, this message failed to reach as many of her worshipers as she expected.

“Well, it’s always been the case that there are far fewer worshipers who can hear Divine Messages than those who can. I do understand that it can’t be helped, since it’s not just a matter of how devoted they are, but a matter of talent as well. But there was still at least one in a hundred who could hear them, and they would take my advice and instructions seriously… and yet…”

Botin sighed, stopped speaking, and took a deep breath.

“Why are the leaders of my Churches not able to hear my Divine Messages at all?! Not only that, but why are they all people who are my worshipers only in name?! Why have none of the high priests and priests been able to notice my Divine Messages at all?! And why are my younger worshipers who were able to hear the Divine Messages being imprisoned?! Are these guys really my worshipers?!” she shouted, flipping around on the floor of her Divine Realm like a fish that had been dropped on a ship’s deck.

Her familiar spirits and heroic spirits stood around her at a respectful distance, watching her with pained expressions.

“In the Amid Empire, even the heads of the Churches have been locked up… I just can’t keep up with the times anymore…” Botin groaned, and with that, she went limp and became motionless.

“We thought the same when we awakened fifty thousand years ago,” said Zuruwarn, the God of Space and Creation.

“Indeed. Your path is one that we have already tread ourselves, sister,” said Ricklent, the Genie of Time and Magic.

Botin looked up to see that the other great gods and a certain self-proclaimed human had appeared in her Divine Realm.

“Really? Things haven’t turned out this way because I’m so pitiful?” Botin asked, with hope in her eyes, but…

“Things have indeed turned out this way because you are pitiful,” Zuruwarn and Ricklent said in unison.

Botin collapsed face-down on the floor once more.

“What they mean is that the blame is on all of us, for having been sealed away by Guduranis or wounded and forced into a slumber. It’s not all your fault,” Peria said gently.

Zantark shouted unintelligibly.

“Zantark is expressing his opinion that those two are picking on you too much, though I’m sure it only sounds like shouting to you now because he’s in shock,” said Vandalieu, translating for Zantark. “Please drink some tea and calm down, Botin. I’ll prepare some for you now.”

“Cheer up, Botin. It’s not just your fault. Everyone here except Vandalieu, and Alda, is to blame. I was really confused too when I was freed a few years ago,” said Vida.

What Botin was wailing about was the difference between the world as she had known it before Guduranis sealed her away and the world that she saw now, after she had been freed from her seal, about a hundred thousand years later.

A hundred thousand years ago, during the Age of the Gods, the gods had been close to the people. There had been some distance between them – one side was worshiped, and the other side worshiped them. One side protected the other, and the other was being protected. But at the same time, the gods were neighbors who lived in the same world as the people.

Thus, Divine Messages had a different meaning back then than they did now. Divine Messages were used for things like warnings of an approaching danger that would otherwise not reach the people in time, or for advice given to specific individuals.

Still, Divine Messages carried words spoken by gods, and even in the Age of the Gods, those who were able to hear them were respected by those around them.

However, the relationship between the gods and the people had changed greatly between the age that Botin knew and the present age.

Gods did not exist in the physical world. Their power had been expended during the battle against the Demon King Guduranis, and they had needed to continue maintaining the world’s existence after that, so they could not spare the necessary power. And because miasma – corrupted Mana – lingered across the world, the gods stayed in their Divine Realms, as they were comfortable spaces for them to exist.

The only ones who remained in the physical world were demigods who possessed physical bodies, such as Elder Dragons, Beast-Kings, and Colossi, and these were not beings who provided direct guidance for the people. During the Age of the Gods, they had not lived in places where people could easily see them.

It was no longer an age where anyone could meet gods and speak with them when they wanted to. It was no longer possible for gods to oversee not only the people’s beliefs, but their daily lives… their hunting, farming, tool-making, and art.

The world had changed into one where humans ruled other humans during the period when Botin, Ricklent, Zuruwarn, and Peria slumbered.

In today’s world, only a limited handful of individuals – those who served as representatives for the world – could meet with the gods. Some people praised the gods and took leadership, but there were cases where these people were worshipers only in name and did not possess the devotion to match their titles.

And Divine Messages were seen as ‘the words and the will of the gods,’ something more sacred than they really were from Botin and the others’ perspective. At the same time, there were some people who used Divine Messages as a method of deceiving the public.

There had been heads of Churches in the past who proclaimed that they could hear Divine Messages when they were in fact incapable of hearing them. Not only that, but there had been incidents where they pushed their own opinions on other worshipers, claiming that they were Divine Messages.

“Ugh, I never sent a Divine Message telling them that they should work with the Church of Alda to maintain order, and I don’t recall ever sending a Divine Message telling them that they should ally themselves with the first emperor of the Amid Empire,” Botin said, more tears welling up in her eyes.

“There’s no way for people who can’t hear Divine Messages to tell whether someone has really heard one or not. While I was pretending to be asleep, I suddenly realized that and almost jumped onto my feet,” said Peria, sharing her own experience with this struggle.

There was no clear way to distinguish someone who had truly heard a Divine Message and someone who was lying that they had heard one. There was no pillar of light from the sky shining on the recipient when a Divine Message was sent, nor was there an official document sent by the god to certify that someone had received a Divine Message.

Of course, because someone pretending to have received a Divine Message was lying, it was possible to see through that lie. But the kind of people who told such lies were those who spoke well, and even if there was someone who saw through their lies, whether the other worshipers believed the truth was another matter.

There was a Magic Item in the Amid Empire that could verify whether someone had really received a Divine Message or not. But it was kept under the strict management of the Great Church of Alda in the Amid Empire. And those who wished to use the Magic Item had to report their intention to use it themselves.

To give a comparison to Earth, using this Magic Item would be like performing a lie detection test on a religious leader. This Magic Item was never used unless the contents of the Divine Message in question were extremely suspicious.

For example, given that Alda was the only great god who still had his full strength, important people in human society would never question a supposed Divine Message instructing the people to accept Alda as the leader of the gods.

But what if there were people in the Church of Botin in the Amid Empire who had recently received Divine Messages instructing them to ally themselves with Vida’s faction? Nobody would consider it necessary to use such a precious Magic Item to verify that this was completely nonsense.

“And with the bigger Churches, there are several families who effectively inherit cardinal and high priest positions over generations, and the top positions are determined by political exchanges,” said Zuruwarn. “Well, this is only really happening with the Churches of Alda and the Churches of Bellwood, which were independent until recently.”

“The Churches Zuruwarn speaks of are extreme examples, but it cannot be helped. Those who possess the talent to hear Divine Messages do not always also possess a talent for organizational management,” said Ricklent. “It is often better to have a priest who is able to hear Divine Messages and appoint someone who is skilled at organizational management as head.”

“Ricklent, the fact that you’re saying Churches need organizational management is a shock to me,” said Botin.

To Botin… To the gods during the Age of the Gods, Churches were not organizations in the ordinary sense. Gods, not priests, would preach the gods’ teachings to the people; Churches were a place for the people to gain a deeper understanding of the doctrines taught by the gods and a place for them to train in skills and magic that were taught there.

Skilled craftsmen would gather at the Church of Botin, while warriors would improve their combat skills at the Church of Zantark. During the Age of the Gods, the Churches played the role of Guilds.

However, in modern-day Churches, only those walking the path of religious devotion were permanent members, and craftsmen and warriors visited only to offer their prayers.

“That is also something that cannot be helped. Alda holds Vida in contempt, and Alda himself is no longer able to dwell in the physical world. Given that humans must rule one another now, it is only natural that society has changed shape,” said Ricklent.

“And there are plenty of good people who can’t hear Divine Messages. Don’t lose hope,” said Vida.

Even among priests, high priests, and Church leaders who were not blessed with the talent to hear Divine Messages, many were devout worshipers. As Vida was pointing out, it was not appropriate for a god to lament the fact that these devout worshipers were unable to hear their Divine Messages.

Having realized this, Botin finally got off the floor of her Divine Realm and stood up.

“Yes… You’re completely right. Thanks,” she said, taking the cup of tea offered to her by Vandalieu and remaining her composure. “But more than half of those good people… They’re in the Amid Empire, worshiping a version of me that isn’t me… Why? Though I guess it isn’t so different that my whole nature has changed. Is this because of people ruling each other as well?” she asked, her doubt still lingering.

“Indeed, indeed. It is because the people rule each other,” says Zuruwarn.

“It has happened for us, too, in powerful religious nations like the Amid Empire where Alda worshipers hold much power,” said Ricklent. “The people claim that we acknowledged Alda as the leader of us gods and declared him to be so.”

In ancient times, during the Age of the Gods, there had been no hierarchy among the gods. As Ricklent often said, they were brothers and sisters. There had also been no differences between them in the total power they possessed.

Thus, they had run the world and made decisions using a parliamentary system, centered around the great gods but also involving the newly-ascended subordinate gods.

However, in the present age… especially in nations where the worship of Alda was prevalent, the people were told that Alda had always served as a leader of the gods since ancient times.

This came as a shock not only to Botin, but also to Zuruwarn and Ricklent who had awakened fifty thousand years ago, and even to Peria, who had awakened tens of thousands of years ago as well.

“Consolidating the chain of command is―!” Zantark managed to say, before his agitation caused his voice to become wordless roars once more.

“‘Consolidating the chain of command is only natural,’” said Vandalieu, interpreting for him.

Zantark continued to roar.

“‘I understand why Alda did that, being the only one remaining. It was necessary to do that in order to lead the surviving humans… but it was not something that was acceptable to do after rejecting Vida!’ That’s what Zantark is saying,” said Vandalieu, providing simultaneous interpretation.

Hearing this, the other great gods began thinking with a new perspective.

“Now that you mention it, I suppose that’s true. Leading the humans was a part of it, but given the reduced population, he focused their worship onto him and his subordinates, the gods who were still capable of acting, and secured enough power to maintain the world’s existence and stay prepared to deal with the remnants of the Demon King’s army,” said Botin. “I was sealed away and Zantark was in a state of madness, so we weren’t affected, but it did cause Ricklent and Zuruwarn’s recovery to take longer…”

“I’m sure he took that into account. Alda wanted us to recover as soon as possible as well, but even if he didn’t direct the people’s worship, it would have only sped up our recovery by a few thousand years, maybe ten thousand years at most. Given that, it was better to stockpile strength for himself and his subordinates, even at the cost of delaying our recovery. I don’t disagree with that decision,” said Peria.

Back then, many of the remnants of the Demon King’s army had still been present in the world, and many of them possessed significant power, such as Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life. Thus, Alda had likely decided it to be more necessary to maintain his current level of strength than to hasten the future recovery of his allies.

“But one of the reasons it was necessary for him to do that was because he attacked Vida and the others just a century after Guduranis was sealed away,” Botin pointed out.

“It was a one-sided surprise attack, so he had a big advantage, but even so, I’m sure he spent a considerable amount of strength to do that… And thanks to that, a number of Pure-blood Vampires like Birkyne ended up serving remnants of the Demon King’s army. So many members of Vida’s races, whose population had been growing at the time, and so many of the gods and monsters that were a part of the Demon King’s army but joined our side, were lost. The ones that lived were forced to flee to a limited number of regions like the inside of the Boundary Mountain Range, the Demon Continent, and Gartland… Yeah, there’s no need for us to rethink our opinions on him,” said Peria.

They could not agree with Alda’s attack on Vida.

“Well, no matter what I say about Alda, he’s not even here, and I know that I can’t go back to the time before I was sealed away,” said Botin. “I’ll just have to manage to find the right way to do things in this era… though I have to apologize; I’m not of much use.”

“I think that can’t be helped. There is some distance between Churches and politics in human society, after all,” said Vandalieu.

In order to reward Vandalieu for freeing her and Vida, Botin had sent Divine Messages to her worshipers, telling them to support him, but the results had been far smaller than she had expected.

That was, as she had been lamenting loudly just moments earlier, because of the difference between the Age of the Gods and an age where humans ruled one another – and because of her absence of over a hundred thousand years.

And although this fact had almost been forgotten in the countries of Vida’s faction, such as those in the Boundary Mountain Range, it was more common in nations of human societies for politics and religion to be separate. Separation of church and state wasn’t as explicitly mandatory as in modern-day Japan on Earth, but governments kept a certain distance from every Church.

Even in the Amid Empire, during the rule of the former emperor, Marshukzarl, the nation had respected the Great Church of Alda on the surface but it had never allowed the Church to do whatever it wanted. That was precisely why the new pope Eileek and the forces behind him had removed Marshukzarl.

In the Orbaume Kingdom, the distance between the government and the Churches was even greater. No matter how much the Church of Botin praised Vandalieu as a hero, the rulers still needed to make decisions based on political and economical factors.

Vandalieu possessed memories from Earth, even though they felt very distant now, and he felt that this was the right thing to do… though he felt that his own nation put him on a pedestal too often.

However, he realized that the reason the ruling of the nations of Vida’s faction were doing well with religion and government unified was because it was possible to directly meet with the gods and exchange words with them, even if it was only during certain times and by specific, qualified people… though he remained unaware of the fact that the Demon Empire of Vidal was a nation where religion and government were unified because he, the emperor, was the one his people worshiped.

“More importantly, I believe I have been summoned here today because of something about the circle of transmigration system?” said Vandalieu.

“Ah, yes, that’s right. Botin was all depressed, so we ended up talking about her problems, but that was the main topic we wanted to discuss, wasn’t it?” said Peria.

Zuruwarn and the others were about to tell Vandalieu about the circle of transmigration system, whose workings only the gods knew of, and whose secrets were deemed necessary to be kept from the people.

They had decided that it was necessary to tell him in order to avoid catastrophic damage to Rodcorte’s circle of transmigration system through Vandalieu breaking too many enemy souls during the upcoming battle with Alda that seemed all but inevitable.

… The system had not collapsed yet, and there was no guarantee that it would, and it was likely that Vandalieu would agree to avoid breaking too many souls even if the gods kept the details of why he should a secret, but they believed that it would be safest to explain things properly.

“Well then, these secrets about the circle of transmigration system that only gods should know… I’m a human, so I don’t need to know. So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be heading back,” said Vandalieu.

He didn’t want to know.

“W-why?!” Zuruwarn shouted in surprise.

“This is very important, so I’ll say it as many times as I need to, but I’m a human. So I am not worthy of any knowledge that is reserved only for gods,” Vandalieu said.

“You’re still insisting that you’re a human, with a soul like that?!” exclaimed Botin, staring at Vandalieu’s soul.

She was looking at an enormous black… something. A vaguely humanoid object made of viscous mud, shiny boulders, enormous bones belonging to some unknown creature, a pulsating brain, twisted and winding entrails, with enormous eyeballs and a countless number of tentacles, and mouths lined with sharp teeth all over. From time to time, a part of his soul tore itself and went flying off somewhere – likely having been summoned by ‘Familiar Spirit Demonfall.’

That was the current state of Vandalieu’s soul. After he devoured Guduranis’s soul, even if it was only a part of it, his soul had mutated even further. Even so, he seemed to have tried to make it as humanoid in shape as possible, and he had less than half the number of heads and arms compared to the first time he appeared in Botin’s Divine Realm.

“There’s nothing to insist. I’m a human,” Vandalieu said simply.

He was completely under the belief that this was the truth. There were no signs of lying or deceit in his countless dull, empty eyes.

They were filled with a madness that could be changed by no-one.

“Y-YES, YOU are A huMAN,” Botin muttered.

“Oh no, Botin’s been hit!” shouted Zuruwarn.

“Get a hold of yourself, Botin!” yelled Zantark, followed by another wordless roar as he hastily slapped Botin to bring her back to her senses.

Botin shouted in pain. “You… You’ve got some nerve, punching me all of a sudden like that!” she screamed, under the mistaken belief that Zantark had punched her.

She retaliated with an uppercut that sent Zantark onto the floor.

“Oh no, Zantark’s been hit!” shouted Zuruwarn.

“What’s the matter? Let’s calm down, everyone,” said Vandalieu, who had inadvertently clouded Botin’s consciousness.

“Wow, the one who caused the mess isn’t even aware of it…” whispered Peria.

It was Vida who put an end to the chaos.

“Vandalieu, listen,” she said. “Knowledge regarding reincarnation is normally something that mustn’t be revealed to humans, but you’re special in a lot of ways… We want you to know. Can we request that of you?”

“Very well,” said Vandalieu, his attitude changing immediately.

The great gods were shocked to see this.

“It’s true that it has been publicly declared that Vandalieu is a worshiper of Vida, but is this not too flagrant?” said Ricklent.

“Maybe it’s because he sees her and Darcia as the same person?” said Botin.

Still, Vida never actually said that Vandalieu is a human… the great gods all thought silently.

But since Vandalieu had decided to listen, they decided not to point that out.

As for the explanation regarding the circle of transmigration system, this was carried out by Vida, the one who had actually copied Rodcorte’s system to build her own. With that said, it should have been impossible to comprehend for someone without the necessary divinity… in other words, someone who did not possess the necessary specialized knowledge.

Thus, initially, the plan had been to explain the basic outline and then have Vandalieu be careful when breaking people’s souls. But Vandalieu was able to comprehend the detailed explanation of the circle of transmigration system.

“In other words, it’s set up to erase the memories and Statuses of the souls of the dead and then send them to random destinations to be reincarnated. It could sure use improvement in a variety of ways,” Vandalieu remarked.

“Yes, and mine is a copy of the Demon King Guduranis’s system, which is a copy of Rodcorte’s so there are a lot of problems with it,” said Vida. “My initial plan when I created the system was to manage it carefully and take the time needed to steadily improve it into a system that was suitable for this world, but… I fell dormant about a hundred years later, that’s why it has been untouched for about a hundred thousand years.”

“I see. Given that the original system, Rodcorte’s is a system that governs over the reincarnation of multiple worlds, there might have been a lot of wasted capacity when similar systems were used to govern reincarnation for just a single world,” said Vandalieu.

To give an example from Earth, it was like a machine designed after a production machine in a large-scale factory that was built to operate 24 hours a day, but used in a small, privately-owned factory. There were many parts that didn’t fit.

And as Vida and Vandalieu slightly suspected, Rodcorte’s circle of transmigration system was one that had been built in pursuit of a system that could process many souls from many different worlds efficiently and stably without requiring troublesome work on Rodcorte’s end.

That was why humans, animals, and plants were all reincarnated randomly without being separated into categories – without any afterlife or anything.

That was a necessary function for Rodcorte, who had never had any familiar spirits, heroic spirits, or subordinate gods to assist him until very recently. But it was excessive for governing the reincarnation of just a single world.

And Vandalieu personally didn’t like the fact that there was no afterlife… no judgment for the deeds one committed during their life.

He knew of the idea that even an evil person becomes a hotoke-sama* when they die, but there was a hell even in Buddhism.

But this was something that was spoken of in religions that people believed in. When one was reborn into their next life, none of their memories or experiences from their previous life remained. With that being the case, then perhaps it was unnecessary to judge people after their deaths and punish them based on their deeds in life.

Perhaps teaching people that they would be punished for bad deeds or go to hell after they died was nothing more than a means of creating a sense of morals in them.

But it was possible that problems would occur due to the fact that there was no afterlife. Rodcorte had simply ignored them because they were of no concern to him.

“Well, for now, a collapse of the system would put the entire world of Lambda in danger, so I suppose I just need to avoid breaking people’s souls as much as possible. But I will definitely break the souls of Heinz and Delizah of the Five-colored Blades, you know?” Vandalieu said.

“That won’t matter. I’ve made a request for them to be secretly removed from the circle of transmigration system, even though Alda hasn’t requested it,” said Zuruwarn.

“You’ve requested that of Machida, Shimada, and Endou, you mean?”

It was something of a surprise to Vandalieu that those three were cooperating with Zuruwarn, but at the same time, he didn’t think it was out of the question. Knowing how Rodcorte was, he could imagine that they’d given up on him after he went and did something that he shouldn’t have. And this was indeed correct.

“It may be unpleasant for you, but it isn’t just this world… The existence of other worlds, including Origin and Earth, depends on it. I hope you understand,” Zuruwarn said.

“I don’t mind. It isn’t like I have any particular grudge against them, anyway,” Vandalieu said.

Immediately after being reincarnated in this would… In other words, immediately after being killed in Origin, he had resented Rodcorte with such a fierce hatred that it felt like his blood was boiling, but that hatred had faded as he lived his life with Darcia.

And he had already made peace with Amemiya Hiroto, the leader of the Bravers. He didn’t have any intentions of attempting to harm Aran and the others now.

… From what he had heard from Zuruwarn, they were extremely busy even at this very moment, so he was already quite satisfied with the outcome.

“I understand, but I’m not going to stop guiding people,” Vandalieu continued. “It will be necessary to have the duchies of the Orbaume Kingdom allied with us… and there’s nothing I can do about Origin at this point.”

Although the effect on Rodcorte’s system wasn’t as terrible as destroying souls, the souls of those guided by Vandalieu were transferred to Vida’s system, affecting the maintenance of Rodcorte’s system.

But Vandalieu could not simply stop guiding people.

“Apparently, they can manage that for a few more years, so it’s alright… I think,” said Zuruwarn, sounding confident up until the end of his sentence.

And after a little more exchanging of information, Vandalieu left the Divine Realm.

“… Vandalieu was able to understand reincarnation. I’m very surprised,” said Zuruwarn.

“Even I, a goddess of knowledge, couldn’t understand it,” said Peria, looking shocked.

“It is likely the effect of having repeatedly carried out pseudo-reincarnation,” said Ricklent, speculating. “It is common knowledge in the Demon Empire of Vidal that Vandalieu has carried out pseudo-reincarnation on the souls of the dead, beginning with Pauvina. And Vandalieu is worshiped as a god in the Demon Empire of Vidal. I suspect that due to these things, Vandalieu has long since possessed divinity as a god of reincarnation.”

“… But Vandalieu himself didn’t seem to be aware of that, you know?” said Zantark, who had managed to stand up but was still unsteady on his feet, not having fully recovered from Botin’s uppercut.

“It was something that Vandalieu possessed from the moment he became a god. It is no different from a baby not knowing what organs are inside its own body when it is born,” Ricklent explained. “I would expect nothing less from Vandalieu.”

“Ricklent, I think you’re over-perceiving Vandalieu to be the same person as Ark,” said Botin.

“Yes, yes. As expected of my child,” Vida said proudly.

“Vida, you’re being pulled in by Darcia too much,” Botin said.

“Indeed, indeed,” said Ricklent.

Vandalieu’s soul had been dividing more and more lately, making him question what a main body really was. Still, with Vandalieu’s soul returned to the Vandalieu that he considered his main body, he bowed in front of the statues of Vida and the others once more.

He was in a simple chapel built inside one of Silkie Zakkart Mansion’s rooms.

From the stained glass windows that Vandalieu had made using ‘Golem Creation,’ sunlight was… not streaming in as it should have been.

“Oh? It was sunny until just a while ago,” he said to himself.

He thought this to be strange, but through the vision of a Demon King Familiar, he soon learned that something troublesome had occurred.

He left the chapel and leapt out into the garden from a window to see everyone was standing outside, staring in a dumbfounded state at an enormous tree.

“Eisen, you’ve become bigger than a castle,” Vandalieu said.

This enormous tree, which was larger than a castle, was Eisen’s new form after her latest Rank increase. Its branches bore the same fruit that Eisen had always grown.

“Have sooome,” Eisen said, her voice echoing from her thick trunk.

“Could it be… a Yggdrasil, a World-Tree spoken of in legends… No, in mythology!” exclaimed Luciliano. “Impossible! If the records are correct, it is the ancestor of all plants, having existed since before the appearance of the Demon King Guduranis. They are not gods, but they should not exist as monsters! And it was recorded that they went extinct during the battle against the Demon King’s army, unable to withstand the corruption of the miasma… No, could it be that by increasing her Rank, Eisen has become a mutated form of Yggdrasil that has adapted to miasma?!”

Luciliano’s expression was changing with each passing moment as he continued analyzing Eisen, which he couldn’t help but to do. According to his analysis, Eisen had become something similar to a Yggdrasil.

“Eisen suddenly stood in the middle of the garden and her branches and roots grew as she took this form right before our eyes,” said Eleanora.

“I am sure she instinctively felt that her Rank would increase and sought out a wide space,” said Sam. “But… What will she do now? Will she still be able to move around like before…?”

As Eleanora and Sam stared at Eisen, a part of her trunk made a creaking noise as it changed shape… and an Eisen who was identical to her former self, other than being twice her original size, appeared.

“It’s alriiight. Look, I can even change my size baaack,” Eisen said.

Her body, which was over three meters tall, returned back to its previous size.

“Hmm, there don’t seem to be any problems. Congratulations on your Rank increase, Eisen,” said Vandalieu.

“Thanks, have soome,” Eisen said, offering him her fruit.

“Danna-sama, it is wonderful that Eisen is able to move about as before, but… I believe we will need to explain this to our neighbors, as well as King Corbitt and his subjects,” said Bellmond.

“You’re right. Knochen, Pete, and Luvesfol were surprised to see this enormous tree grow all of a sudden, and Randolf-sensei will probably be here in less than a minute,” said Vandalieu.

It was an occasion to be celebrated… but it was impossible to avoid a commotion, given that a tree taller than the royal castle had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

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