Chapter 101
Playing with the snow amoebas, playing with the river amoebas...
Playing with Core and the others, playing with Chai and the others, and letting the children play with me.
Being soothed by the squirrels, playing with Ai and the others... and getting startled by Karen.
Strange... what happened to my memories from the past ten or so days?
...Have I been playing this whole time?
No, I've been working hard on dinner.
Yes, cooking. There's too much to make for me alone, so I can't manage it.
The one-eyed ones and I are working hard at it.
I'm the one mainly responsible.
Well, I don't dislike it, so that's fine... No, yeah, no problem.
Everyone is happy, and I'm happy too.
I got a little worried that the one-eyed ones might end up doing all the work.
But apparently, they have no sense of taste, so they can't tell.
They seem to remember the quantities after seeing them once, but adjusting them while tasting is difficult.
Especially since the ingredients in this world don't have very consistent flavors.
The flavor needs to be adjusted each time.
Salt and pepper are fine, at least.
I was relieved, though that's a secret.
Bread skillfully baked by the one-eyed ones.
I wasn't jealous or anything, but I tried making filled bread.
Bread mixed with fruit was hugely popular with the wolf and dog children.
I initially baked it as a trial, but it was the first time I'd seen the children fight over something.
Unlike their parents, the children showed some restraint... No, their parents hadn't shown any restraint either.
Yeah, it was incredible because there were so many of them.
After that, I prepared it in large quantities.
I'm in charge of the filled bread.
...
I was playing as usual... No, let me put that another way.
Maybe I should call it making my rounds.
Yeah, making my rounds... That sounds better.
Every time I check the snow and river conditions, I end up soaked from head to toe.
A three-eyed one saw me while I was drying myself with magic.
It looked at me with an incredibly sad expression.
The next day, once my morning play... I mean, rounds, was over, I was handed dry clothes.
Thank you.
The design and color of the clothes are different every time.
The sheer number of clothes is frightening.
Time for fruit water on the spacious wooden deck.
I want to go back into the forest soon and look for some tea.
...Who might you be?
There's a tree right in front of me.
There's a tree standing there.
I know what this is. It's a stick insect.
It's about ten times bigger than the ones I'm familiar with, though.
No mistake, it's a stick insect.
Um, could it be a monster?
I look at Karen, who brought the stick insect here.
Um, why does Karen look so proud?
Lately, whenever anyone wants praise, they all puff out their chests the same way.
They seem to have realized it's a gesture I can easily understand.
...Sorry.
I don't know what I'm supposed to praise you for... Don't look at me like that.
Good job. Thank you.
Now, what should I do?
The stick insect looks like a tree no matter how I look at it... No, is it an insect?
Apparently, calling it a tree is fine.
It has six legs.
It skillfully uses two of them to stand upright.
Can it actually walk normally?
I feel strangely moved.
The stick insect moves one of its front legs to indicate a direction.
Does it want me to come that way?
Since Karen brought it here, I suppose it's safe.
...
Led by the stick insect, I head into the forest.
The squirrels are following us.
There are also some young spiders, Core and the others, and Shuri.
It's a rather lively group.
We arrive at... a huge tree, thicker than any tree I've seen before.
But the whole thing looks sick and withered.
I touch it, but it leaves me feeling melancholy.
When I look at the stick insect... it seems to have two companions.
The three of them are looking at me.
Apparently, they're asking something of me.
I'm at a loss. What should I do?
With both hands against the tree, I can feel magic power naturally flowing into it.
Will it be all right like this?
I look at the stick insects, but they don't seem concerned and make no attempt to stop me.
Then I continue channeling magic power into the tree.
Huh?!
All the leaves on the tree fall off, and it withers.
...!
No way... I actually made it wither.
The stick insects are surprised, too, and approach the tree.
Yeah, apparently this wasn't what they expected.