If you look into the dew on a leaf, the sky is reflected there.
It wasn't a sky that was only endlessly blue. White, fluffy clouds drifted by, each showing off its own shape.
—Waaah, it's a pigeon cloud.
The droplet girl examined the sky. It seemed she found it, because she giggled and pointed with a finger. Since her range didn't reach, she couldn't see the sky, but from the angle, I think she found it well.
【Divinity Lv.2】
My Divinity had risen, but my daily life didn't immediately change.
I could spread my will more strongly, but I still didn't know whether I could do anything else. Good things are good, I suppose.
When I looked at the forest, Termia was coming with a mana shovel. Whenever a new elf migrated in, she stopped by to greet me together with them, but perhaps today she had other business.
"Hello. Hello to the droplet too!"
—Yes, hello.
Termia peered around the surrounding heaps of snow.
"I've been bringing the migrants to greet you until now, but those people have to wash every time, right?"
—Procedurally, yes?
"You didn't know this, Tree, but actually, there were a few times when those people didn't wash properly on the greeting day, so the date had to be delayed."
—It's quite troublesome.
"So I was thinking of making a lake nearby where they can wash simply. Once they have met you, they can no longer have the arrogant thought of why they have to wash, but I think expecting too much courtesy from migrants is greedy."
Termia poked the heaps of snow one by one with the mana shovel. Suddenly, there was a clang, and the shovel trembled after hitting something.
"There you are!"
Termia giggled and stirred the shovel around. The heap of snow was cleared away. The peacefully sleeping stone girl appeared. Her grass crown was still fresh and green.
"Did you go so far as to hide because I look for you so often?"
The stone girl was lifted in her hands. The stone made the extremely annoyed expression of someone woken from sleep.
Termia is truly amazing for speaking to her when her reaction is like that every time.
Since the stone doesn't actually resist, perhaps apart from her expression, she likes spending time together.
The stone girl sagged in her palm like laundry. Her appearance contained the thoughts that everything in the world was bothersome, why was she being held here, and so on and so forth.
Or not? Did she simply give up......?
"Droplet, you come too! I'll be back."
—Yes.
Termia checked the path she came on, then dug the ground. It was the practiced technique she had trained while trying to catch a wolf.
"After being put in charge of responsible work, you know, I feel like I don't know much. This time, I investigated the migrants' pasts together with the elf who supposedly studied in the city."
The two spirits sat on a rock and watched.
"But that elf talked as if knowledge I didn't know was common sense, so I asked because I didn't know. And then he explained it with an arrogant look, like he knew I wouldn't know?"
Her lips pouted.
"It was really frustrating, and he acted like I was some fool. Anyway, I think I need to study. Because I only read the books Father and Mother left behind, they're mainly about hunting, so I lack a lot of knowledge."
Her eyes burned with academic enthusiasm.
Waaah, I think that's a good mindset.
Considering how she attends the village's leading-figures meetings too, I feel the village is pushing Termia forward at the village level. If she builds substance from now on, it'll help a lot.
"So, you know."
Termia glanced sideways at the droplet girl. Her eyes shone mischievously.
"Do you want to go steal from the village chief's study?"
Waaah?
"Until now, I've only read the tree-care book the village chief allowed, but if we take something else and put it back, no one will know."
Excuse meee? Isn't that the sort of proposal one shouldn't make to a friend?
The droplet giggled happily. Her head nodded quickly.
"Then let's make this and go steal!"
They seem to be getting along in a bad way.
After scooping the soil thinly and marking the lake area, Termia asked the stone for help.
The stone girl waved her hand roughly. A pit was dug, and rock filled the bottom.
The watching droplet stretched out her hand as if it was her turn.
But faster than that, the stone girl continued and waved her hand. Groundwater burst from the earth. It was hot spring water containing warm heat.
"Wow!"
Termia exclaimed. Her cheeks colored as she chattered away.
"I was only thinking of a lake! You made it while considering a bath before visiting Tree! Thank you so much!"
She was hugged tightly. The stone pushed her away in annoyance.
The droplet, who still had her hand stretched out, quietly lowered it. She smiled to match the mood, clapped for her, then sat on the rock again.
Her gaze watched the chattering Termia and the annoyed stone girl.
How should I put it?
The droplet is trying hard to hide it, but she seems to feel complicated emotions toward her younger sibling. Should I say she's in a state where her friend has been stolen by a talented younger sibling?
It can't be helped. Solids have a greater influence on human life than liquids.
Since she's hiding it herself, it'd be too much to dig it out by questioning her. I have no choice but to wait and support her heart as it grows.
"It's finished, so let's go steal books!"
Please don't say that so refreshingly.
After returning the stone girl, the two of them headed to the village chief's house. They peered around the window, then secretly slipped into the study.
I think the village chief told her to find and read the tree-care book in the study because he meant she could read any book from the beginning.
Even if village chief Eldrin, who was currently talking in another room, discovered them, there'd probably be no problem.
"Thanks to your help, the backed-up migrant investigations finished without delay."
"I only helped because there is no way a remote place like this would have many literate people. It is fortunate that I came at the proper time. If someone as competent as I had not been here, it would have been very chaotic."
The male elf praised himself.
His personality is a little arrogant, but personally, I'm grateful to him.
Because in the bewildering situation where everyone knelt after I spoke one sentence, he was the only one who asked a question and helped change the atmosphere.
The question was also the standard question, who are you, so it was good. Thanks to him, I was able to introduce myself smoothly.
Though when I actually answered, he also knelt, so my feelings became complicated, but in any case, he was a great help.
Suddenly, the male elf looked down at his cup.
Only dried tea leaves floated in cold water that had not been boiled.
"Village chief, do you truly think a raw diet will be effective? That absurd statement that one might avoid short life simply by changing food?"
Village chief Eldrin looked down at his own cup. He watched the floating tea leaves, then drank it all at once. The empty cup was placed down.
"We are practicing instead of questioning."
The male elf continued looking down at the plain water with only leaves floating in it.
"And what has the result been?"
Village chief Eldrin smiled softly.
"You have practiced it for a few days. How is your body?"
"My stomach has felt comfortable."
"It is the same for everyone."
The male elf laughed emptily.
He drank the tea water and set it down roughly.
"It seems I will be staying in this village for the time being."
Their gazes met.
"I do not need fools who constantly say stupid things in the place where I stay, so I will teach the village people letters. I will not ask for support, but do not interfere."
Village chief Eldrin thought for a moment.
"If that is what you intend, I will raise the matter at the village meeting. There is an empty house, so if you wish, the village can support you."
"......You understand me?"
"What reason would there be to refuse the service of a learned person?"
Perhaps embarrassed, the male elf quietly looked away.
Then he slowly rose from his seat.
"Well, know it as such. I am a busy person, so I will be going."
"Yes."
Waaah, everyone will be busy studying during winter when there's no work. I think it's a good phenomenon.
Although a certain blond girl with the greatest academic enthusiasm is running away excitedly after succeeding at book theft.
The cheeks of the girl running with books in her arms were pink.
"This was so tense and fun! Let's do it again!"
The droplet girl agreed and giggled.
The village's future is dark......
***
Midwinter passed.
The snow melted, and sprouts emerged in the forest.
The weather was still too cold to call it spring, but wintering was over.
【Lightning-Struck Sapling Lv.7】
Exp: 0/7,000,000
[Influence Radius]
39,450cm → 45,850cm
Woohoo, my soul grew.
I hadn't particularly thought about it until now, but maybe the strong will I spread is thanks to the growth of this soul. Divinity is Divinity, but this side feels more fundamental.
I looked over my widened field of vision.
Behind the village chief's house, several houses entered my sight.
Woohoo, even though it's still the edge, I can see the village.
Inside one house, I saw a very familiar existence.
"Do you think Tree might scold me?"
Termia, dressed in light indoor clothes, spoke while sewing a torn garment.
Hm? For what?
"Who knows."
Velesa stepped on the loom and wove cloth.
"I don't think that tree would get angry, but I don't think Tree would be pleased either."
For what?
Termia hurriedly made excuses.
"But it's an important event to lower the village illiteracy rate. We're holding a writing contest, and the only topic the original villagers and migrants can sympathize with and participate in equally was Tree."
Ah, I see. The village-level support for literacy study during the workless winter must have produced quite a result.
I have absolutely no intention of getting angry about being made the writing topic. It's for the village's harmony. If they selected a topic the migrants couldn't sympathize with, that'd be a bigger problem.
But Velesa did not seem to agree. She glanced at the girl with a subtle smile.
"Even so, making the topic specifically about how beautiful and wonderful the sacred tree is seems a little too mixed with personal interest, doesn't it? No one opposed it, but everyone probably laughed inwardly."
Waaah? Waaah?
Termia flinched.
"Nooo, that is. I felt like I had lost an objective perspective recently, so I wanted to hear other people's impressions......"
Velesa silently snorted.
Perhaps feeling that the more she made excuses, the more shabby it became, Termia simply focused silently on sewing with a sullen expression.
That feels like an extremely levelheaded worry.
It's trouble even when people are smart. An orphan without parents leaning her mind on those around her isn't wrong, after all.
After finishing the sewing, Termia washed and changed clothes.
I had been curious where she was living, and it seemed she was staying at Velesa's house. If she was an unmarried older girl she knew, it'd be perfect to live together.
Termia crossed the forest and came to where I was.
"I'm here."
—Yes.
The girl sat on a rock.
"It's nice that the weather is gradually warming. Though it's still cold."
—I think we can unwrap the insulating cloth after a little while.
Termia readily nodded.
Her gaze looked over the grass where the snow had melted.
"This time, the village held a writing contest with natural scenery as the topic."
I'm natural scenery.
The girl took on an expression that was itching to brag.
"I participated too. Guess what place I got?"
What place could it be?
—Ninth?
"Why specifically ninth?"
—Because pigeons go coo, coo, coo?
The girl laughed, ahaha.
"Much higher than that."
Her index finger rose.
"First place! I got first place in writing!"
Waaah?
Are you saying you got first place in a writing contest about how beautiful and wonderful Tree is?
I seeee. I seeeee.
Termia looked triumphant.
"The main winning point was that I usually come out here and leisurely watch the natural scenery. Should I say I wrote details other people don't know?"
She's the person who has seen me the most.
Termia went on at length with her impressions of winning, then paused.
"Ah, but that's not what I meant to talk about. Have you ever seen a tree nearby that would be useful for making a bow?"
—For making a bow?
"The weather is gradually warming, isn't it? The village chief said the village population keeps increasing too, so he's going to recruit more village guards now. There will be a test, but we have to bring our own bows."
Termia looked around at the nearby trees.
"When I fought last time, I did use Mother's keepsake. But it'd be a shame if it broke, and I need to know how to make and use one myself anyway."
A tree good for making a bow.
I don't know.
—Would a good-quality bow help with the village guard test?
"It would, right? Making your own bow well is also a skill."
—Then should I break off one of my branches for you?
"What?"
Termia panicked.
—My branch.
I don't know how it'd be processed into a bow, but if I gave her an elastic, supple branch, perhaps it would be useful.
—Wait and see.
I gathered nutrients into one branch.
To make a branch different from usual and satisfying, I gathered my mind as much as possible. My mind sank deeply, and I immersed myself in the work.
Will gathered, and the wind blew. Leaves shook and sang, and branches swayed and danced.
If a tree branch is broken and processed, people call it a bow.
But that's merely an arrogant thought of people.
Even if its form changes, its outer appearance changes, and its figure changes, a tree branch is nothing but a tree branch. It is the same tree branch that returns to soil, is washed by rainwater, flows into the sea, and becomes a cloud.
If so, one could ask nature for a little understanding and call a tree branch a bow. Since a tree branch and a bow are the same thing.
Will made a path, and Divinity exercised mystery.
A gust of wind blew, and light gathered on the tree branch.
The branch grew on its own and took the form of a bow. A thick branch bent and made the bowstave, and a thin branch curved and made the bowstring. Leaves grew and enjoyed the wind.
The light stopped, and the bow-shaped tree branch received the sunlight.
My mind, which had been in a trance, gradually woke.
Waaah?
A wooden bow had grown on my branch.
Waaah?
Because I got immersed, since I was making it anyway, I ended up simply making a bow.
It wasn't planned, but good things are good.
—Anyway, I made it.
I presented the bow together with the tree branch.
A gentle breeze blew as if wrapping the bow.
The girl's mouth fell open without a word.