Published: August 25, 2025
Today, five chapters are posted simultaneously.
This is the third chapter of the story.
"So, this is what it means."
After Lady Meltrise’s brutally straightforward words, I asked for a more detailed explanation. Apparently, there’s a troublesome magical beast currently in the Tree Sea. What's worse, it’s located at the ruins of Korumi Village, which is my destination within the Tree Sea.
It seems that this magical beast, though still very young, has undergone rapid growth close to evolution due to the mana produced by the Tree Sea. As a result, it has gained a power that the gods cannot ignore. If left unchecked, there’s a high possibility it will disrupt the balance of the world in the future, so something must be done.
In such cases, the gods usually take one of two approaches. One is to have the “divine beasts” — placed by the gods to protect and manage the land — eliminate the threat. The other is for the gods themselves to directly wield divine power to deal with it.
However... Shurus Great Tree Sea, where the magical beast lives, seems to be a “testing ground” where Lady Felnoberia is exploring methods of land management without using divine beasts, so the first method cannot be used here.
Moreover, Shurus Great Tree Sea is one of the “sacred grounds” crucial for generating the mana that fills the world. Because Lady Felnoberia’s experiments had been progressing well until now, the amount of mana produced is among the highest of all sacred grounds... but if the gods use the second method, the sacred ground will be reduced to wasteland, which is regrettable.
According to Gain and the others, divine power is so immense that no matter how much it’s restrained (.....), it causes great damage to the surroundings. In the past, when powers called divine punishment or divine judgment were used, entire countries were wiped out in one strike, and small continents even sank.
Just from hearing that much, it’s clear it’s not a power to be used lightly, and the gods probably want to avoid it as much as possible. But, as I’ve said before, leaving it alone is not an option.
“So, the arrow just happened to point to me since I’m already scheduled to go to the Tree Sea.”
As they explained, I was going to head there anyway, so I might as well accept the request. What I have to do isn’t much different from an adventurer’s job, and as the client, the gods are probably the most trustworthy beings in existence.
Besides, my current happy life exists because the gods reincarnated this world. Even if it’s for their own convenience, I intend to be grateful. If I can be of any help or repay that favor even a little, I want to do so.
So, without hesitation, I conveyed my willingness to cooperate. The gods were pleased but at the same time showed a complicated expression, as if troubled again.
“What exactly could you be so worried about, more than the matter of the Demon King’s Fragment?”
“Well, there are various circumstances... There’s a disagreement about whether it’s appropriate to entrust our work to Ryoma, or rather, to a human.”
“We can’t decide without hearing the involved party’s opinion. We planned to talk with Ryoma, who is close to neutral, when he came next... but since we thought he would probably refuse if we asked, it might end up feeling like an order once heard.”
I understand the gods have their own situations and perspectives, but personally, I don’t care about that at all...
“If anything, I’m more curious whether this is a magical beast I can handle. I’m aware of the dangers since I decided to go to the Tree Sea, and just being warned in advance like this is already a blessing, but it must be quite the troublesome magical beast if the gods call it that, right?”
“...I’m opposed to it, but I admit the chances of success are high. If you’re asked to deal with this matter, there’s no one more suitable than Ryoma.”
“Exactly. You have an advantageous matchup in battle against this magical beast. This doesn’t mean there’s no one else to ask, but this judgment is based on evaluating your abilities relative to the magical beast’s. If, hypothetically, this matter was assigned to your kingdom’s knights or army, no matter if they send thousands or tens of thousands of soldiers, it’s predicted they’d almost certainly be wiped out.”