All the autumn leaves had fallen.
The forest revealed bare branches.
But that didn't mean it was desolate.
When snow fell, clouds descended and sat on the branches. They were neither green leaves nor colored leaves, but snow flowers bloomed in the forest.
It's a truly beautiful sight. Still, I guess I can't help feeling a little chilly. It's not because I'm lonely. Maybe it's because snow has piled up on my branches.
I shook my branches. My leaves, still green even in winter, shook, and heaps of snow fell.
The stone girl, who had been sleeping while leaning against the root beneath them, was buried in snow.
—Waaah? I'm sorry, are you all right?
No answer came back even after I waited.
When I looked inside the heap of snow, the stone girl was simply continuing to sleep.
Doesn't it matter much because she's a stone? From a stone's position, if snow covers her, she won't be hit by the cold wind, so is it actually warmer?
Still, it seems she wasn't completely unaffected.
Perhaps she had woken up, because a small hand tapped the grass crown on her head. The withering grass crown regained vitality. It was fresh and green as if newly made.
Then the girl slept again.
I guess she really does like quiet. I should respect her taste and not talk to her.
I turned my gaze.
I saw the droplet girl standing on a rock. More precisely, she was frozen solid in a strange posture with both arms and both legs spread wide.
Anyone who didn't know would think she was just an ice statue.
It was bewildering every time I saw it, but there wasn't actually any problem. If I spoke to her, she turned back into normal water and looked over.
I suppose pretending to be an ice statue is fun. It's a rare game one can only play in winter.
There were three intelligent beings here, yet peaceful time passed without any conversation.
However, not every place was peaceful.
"Isn't this too much? What are we supposed to do if they send over a hundred people in this short period of time?"
"They say they'll supplement the village population for the bandit subjugation after winter? Not bad. They say they'll provide food too? Good. It's flour, so it's hard to eat raw, but they didn't know that, so I understand the intent. But why send so many?"
"Exactly! And it just had to be flour, so now it isn't even proper food! They're telling us to either starve to death or get sick and die!"
The village chief's house was crowded with people. It was not a village meeting. It was a meeting of the village's leading figures, only those with authority and importance.
"The village population is roughly two hundred! If they send one hundred, how are we supposed to handle...... do you have something to say?"
The elf who had been raising his voice in anger looked back.
In a corner seat, Termia had one hand raised high. Although she was extremely tense and looked perplexed as to why she was sitting here, it seemed she still wanted to say what she had to say.
When their gazes gathered on her, the girl braced herself and spoke.
"I heard various things on the way when I migrated to this village. They say the lord here will raise a rebellion when the time comes. When that happens, public order might worsen and the rear could become chaotic, so maybe he selected a few villages and is trying to ensure stability?"
Her gesture pointed to Eldrin, who had his eyes closed and arms crossed.
"The village chief once made a name for himself as a mercenary, didn't he? I came to this village after hearing that reputation too."
Perhaps her tension eased while she spoke, because Termia continued calmly.
"Wandering elves have a high chance of turning into bandits, so it could be a plan to gather them in elf villages beforehand and use them in reverse for public security."
Suddenly, the village chief opened his eyes and slowly clapped.
"That is my thought as well. Everyone, calm down and think rationally. How is the warehouse situation?"
"According to the estimates, we must eat the flour to get through winter. However, after trying to eat it raw all day yesterday, it is not fit to eat."
"You ate that raw?"
"We mixed it with water too, but as a daily meal, haha."
Someone slammed the table with his palm.
"Village chief! We all know you intend to push a raw diet across the whole village. But how are we supposed to get through winter eating only flour in cold water? At the very least, we need hot soup."
"That's right! If we're eating anyway, we should grill meat too. I didn't feel much of anything from raw food."
As expected, it seems hard not to eat soup in winter.
Termia, whose nearly finished meal had just had ashes thrown into it, looked a little teary. She tried hard to manage her expression, but it was obvious.
After thinking, Eldrin spoke.
"Those who are in a hurry to die may die first. We will leave that to your freedom. However, at the village level, let us gather as much food as possible."
The leading figures' meeting came to an end for now.
After everyone left, only Termia remained in the yard, sprawled in despair. She stayed that way for a while, then trudged in my direction. Footprints remained in the snow on the forest path.
"I'm here, waaak! What's that! Why are you frozen!"
Termia jumped in shock when she saw the droplet statue.
Mischief flashed across the droplet for an instant.
Then, perhaps deciding it was not a prank to play on a friend who had lost her parents, she readily turned into water. The droplet girl waved her small hand and giggled.
"Oh, what, you startled me. So you can freeze when it's cold."
Termia stroked her chest in relief.
—Water freezes, melts, boils, and cools.
The relieved girl told me there had been a leading figures' meeting and explained the contents.
"......So I don't think the eating-habit improvement will work properly. People won't just endure eating flour. Even if the village gathers food from now on, there are clear limits to hunting in the winter forest."
The girl grew gloomy.
—This time, the timing was too tight. Wouldn't it be fine if we do well starting next year?
"Right. We can distribute jerky mainly to people in bad condition, and the rest can start again next year."
Waaah? A plan came straight out of her mouth.
"The village chief didn't say it, but I think he thought that far and decided to gather food at the village level. If things don't produce the expected result, there will be a reason and justification to concentrate the jerky on some people in danger even while most damage their own bodies. If he had said to concentrate it right away, the result would have been the same, but the village mood would have been much worse."
She thought through all of that on the way here.
"I just, just don't feel good."
Termia lowered her head.
"I'm sorry for whining."
Her voice was drained.
"I know it takes time. It won't be solved overnight either. But......"
Her fist clenched tight.
Her mother's death flows as the present without becoming the past.
Once winter passes and spring comes, she can try again. But if spring comes and another reason arrives, what will she say then?
The season doesn't show her spring, and the future is trapped inside a long tunnel. The girl can only believe that someday she will see light without being able to escape.
If one calls that impatience and haste a tantrum, then it could be called a tantrum.
The girl was about to say something, then closed her mouth.
"I'm sorry. I'll go now. Instead of doing this, I should try hunting even one more animal."
The snow footprints were stepped on again.
—You know. I think people are allowed to whine.
Her steps stopped.
—Nature isn't so impatient that it shows change over a span of time that wouldn't even alter rivers and mountains. Yet nature still caused part of itself to be born with such an impatient and hasty disposition, so does nature not also bear responsibility?
The girl looked back.
—So I think whining a little is all right. Perhaps nature will feel responsible and answer.
Suddenly, the heap of snow stirred.
The stone girl sat up messily. She looked at Termia with an annoyed expression, then glanced sideways at me, who was continuing to send will.
The stone girl sighed as if she had no choice. A small hand plucked one leaf from her grass crown. The leaf was thrown onto the snowfield.
—Some call nature's answer coincidence.
The snowfield rippled. What would someday happen arrived early. The snow melted, and seeds awoke. Sprouts emerged, made stems, and became flowers.
A yellow flower field bloomed in full.
—Some call it a miracle.
The scent of flowers rode the wind. The girl's golden hair fluttered.
—But I want to say it this way.
The flower field withered, and fruit formed.
—As expected, this world is beautiful.
The girl stared blankly at the sight.
—Isn't it?
Instead of an answer, tears fell.
The sound of crying came.
***
The droplet girl glared at the ground beneath her feet.
Then she stretched out both hands and poured energy into the ground. The soil grew damp. The soil dampened and dampened again, until one sprout popped out.
The droplet's expression brightened clearly.
Soon, with a serious face, she reached both hands toward the sprout. She grimaced with her whole face, twisted her entire body, and poured energy into the sprout.
The sprout trembled.
At last, it grew, blossomed, and produced fruit.
The droplet wiped her forehead, clapped, and rejoiced. She picked the fruit and looked back at her friend with a bright face.
Termia, whose cheeks had turned pink, was half swimming through the field of fruit.
The droplet girl watched the abundant fruit field for a while. Then she alternately looked at the single fruit in her hand. The fruit fidgeted in her grasp.
—What's wrong?
Startled, the droplet made a smiling expression and shook her head as if it was nothing. The fruit was placed down as if hidden beneath a blade of grass.
"After estimating it, shameless as it is, I think we'll have to ask the stone a few more times. Though she's already sleeping."
—She's not the type who likes conversation, so if you speak to her over time, it'll probably work. It'll be difficult, though.
"I'll try to become friends with her."
Termia sank into thought.
"If food is solved like this, a problem the village chief didn't prepare for will arise."
—What kind?
Termia glanced sideways.
She worried and watched my reaction, then approached and stood straight.
"Ahem, Tree."
The girl raised her head and declared proudly,
"Since you're helping anyway, please help more!"
Waaah?
"You won't have to do it again later, and it'll be good for me too."
She quietly added,
"Though it'll be better for me!"
The girl giggled.
True. It's better for you.
After laughing for a moment, I asked,
—What is it?
Apart from her mischief, the girl spoke seriously.
"Around a hundred people have come in so far, and people are still being sent, so the number will only keep increasing. Then many migrants will challenge the village's authority, right?"
An important matter popped out.
"The village chief may be a mercenary who made a name for himself, but there hasn't been enough time for his wisdom to be recognized too. Think about it. If a former mercenary suddenly demands that you eat raw food, who would obey? In this cold winter, he is saying not to eat soup."
She was right.
"That doesn't mean we can treat migrants separately. They won't be assimilated, they'll form factions, and the conflict will only grow. Do we want to split the village in two in the long run?"
—You're right.
"Originally, a village leader is more comfortable when the wisdom role and the force role are divided. Because they aren't divided, an additional assimilation process is needed."
Somehow, it was persuasive.
"That's why."
Termia pointed at me with both hands.
"I would like you, Tree, to play the role of a sacred tree. As the village's spiritual pillar."
—The role of a sacred tree......?
What's that?
"I know well that you take pride in being a sapling from the local hill. I can say you're only a mysterious sapling from the local hill too."
Her words continued.
"But sometimes lies are necessary, aren't they? When a migrant argues back, asking why they must eat raw food, if we smooth it over by saying our village's sacred tree told us to do so, we won't need much persuasion."
Is that so......?
"The elves coming here were sent by order of the lord's castle. Then they'll be wondering inwardly why it had to be this village. At that moment."
Termia pointed at me again.
"We don't know what the higher-ups were thinking, but perhaps the lord sent them despite knowing the sacred tree is here. That tree said to eat raw food, so do not argue and do it. How would that be?"
It seems much better than the village chief simply forcing people to eat raw.
"There should be no elf who sees the sacred tree and still doesn't accept it, but even if there's such an elf, they'll think that the lord's castle probably didn't send them here for no reason and that they should obey."
—You want to borrow the lord's authority subtly.
"Exactly!"
Waaah, it's a good plan.
—Then I just have to act as a sacred tree?
"You just have to be a sacred tree. I'll handle the rest!"
So it's a play. It sounds fun.
It was deceiving them, but once the migrants assimilated into the village, they would come to know the truth anyway, so it wasn't a bad deed.
—I'll do it. Is there anything I should prepare?
"I'll prepare that. You only have to follow along!"
The girl, who talked about this and that and looked at the stone as well, took the fruits for evidence and returned to the village.
After the village chief came to confirm the fruit field, asked after my well-being at length, and went down, a village meeting was held quickly. It did not take long to reach a conclusion.
Termia came with a female elf I did not know.
"We decided to gather the migrants and present you, Tree. But if you're too natural, you don't seem like the center of the village. You seem to need decoration, so I brought an older girl I know."
Her hand pointed to the elf.
The elf politely lowered her head in greeting.
"It is nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Termia. I mainly sew, but I also hunt from time to time. My name is Velesa. I wove the insulating cloth for you. Was it wearable?"
Ah, so this is that person.
—Thanks to you, I'm staying warm.
Although it was midwinter, thanks to the insulating cloth wrapped around my trunk, I only felt a little chilly. If I had been alone, I might have suffered from frostbite.
Termia approached and whispered.
"In my opinion, Big Sister Velesa makes the best clothes in the world. And now someone like that is going to decorate your branches, Tree."
Velesa, who heard everything, became embarrassed.
"What is this child saying? I'm not that good, just the best in the village. I'll measure you, so please wait."
The sizes of my trunk and branches were slowly checked.
"But there's something more important than this."
—What is it?
Termia's gesture pointed at me.
"The most important person's way of speaking isn't dignified!"
Waaah?
"It's tree-like if you call it tree-like, but right now you're just a tree. You're not a dignified tree."
Is that so?
A piece of paper was taken out from her clothes.
"I stayed up all night and wrote down a few lines. I'll read them, so please repeat after me."
Waaah, she stayed up all night. My heart flutters because she even made me proper lines for the play.
How wonderful will the lines be?
Termia cleared her throat.
She made a solemn expression and swept her hand through the air.
"O two-legged insignificant beings, how trifling you are~."
Waaah?
"Now, now, repeat after me."
The girl's gesture swept through the air.
"Pitiful insignificant beings, how trifling you are~."
Is thaaat right......?
In my opinion, Termia doesn't seem to have talent as a playwright.