The guard captain came running.
When he saw Teacher, far from getting angry, he flattered him by saying he had done well and that thanks to him, their work had been reduced, then neatly cleared away the slaver corpses. He did not even ask whether the slaver had been legal or illegal.
Teacher seems to have more authority than I thought.
He probably came to a rural village because of the crown prince, but if this is a demotion, it's a truly extreme demotion.
Or not?
Considering his young age, it connects him to a future power, so perhaps it's actually an extremely good position.
When the crown prince changed his mind and tried to study, in the end, he had to go to Teacher, the only intellectual in the rural village, and ask to be taught.
Rather than a demotion, perhaps it was an arrangement from above for him to play the role of teacher if the poor successor ever changed his mind in an emergency.
It seems the rebellious faction recognizes Teacher as something like a trusted young talent.
If the rebellion succeeds, his future is bright.
Though I can't say there's no feeling that because he happened to be an elf, he was sent partly because it was convenient to hide him in an elf village.
"I will untie you."
Termia freed the elves called slaves by others.
When even the gags were removed, words of gratitude poured out, along with stories of what unjust hardships they had suffered until now.
They had all indeed been kidnapped by slavers waiting for them while they were trying to come to our village.
It seems the rumors spread better than I thought.
Separate from Termia being swept up in their pitiful stories and listening to all of them, Teacher elf cut them off appropriately and organized the situation.
Teacher elf sat on a box with arrows stuck in it and wrote.
"Part of the reason seems to be that since the village's scale grew, they thought migrating would be comfortable, but because the local lord marched on the capital, their immediate reason was larger: fleeing war to a village located in a forest on the outskirts."
—They fled to avoid war, but what they actually encountered was a slaver.
Waaah? Isn't that too much? The more I think about it, the more hateful the slaver becomes.
Even if slave commerce inevitably arises depending on society and culture, that doesn't mean the thing itself deserves respect. Yet they greedily kidnap people to this extent.
—I think we should subjugate the area around the village on a large scale.
Even if they aren't people who'll cause great damage to our village, if they have such wicked intentions, wouldn't it be right to find them all and return them to nature?
"Understood. Then I will receive permission from the person in charge here so that it will be acceptable to operate many village guards within the territory. Since we originally received support from the lord's castle to subjugate bandits, the justification is sufficient."
Ah, because it's someone else's territory, we need permission.
—Is it really all right? This is a territory that rebelled. If we become close enough to receive permission and operate village guards, what will happen to our village if the rebellion fails?
Teacher paused.
So that catches on him after all?
"Tree, you may not know the exact circumstances, but it is not rebellion. It is the exercise of a rightful qualification. Being the second son does not mean one has no right to inherit the throne."
So that was the part that bothered him. Yes.
"And commoners seem to mistake it for war, but that is different from the truth. The king died suddenly, leaving the capital empty, and so before usurpation could occur by someone unqualified, the second son hurried to the capital. He went to protect the kingdom's safety."
Teacher looked around, then quietly added,
"Though I am not someone involved, so I do not know precisely, there is a rumor that there will be responses from within the capital as well, and if luck is good, the kingdom's safety may be protected without battle. Even if luck is bad, the second son can carefully protect the eldest son, who has no private soldiers."
Is that really a rumor? Isn't that a confirmation of facts from someone involved?
"In any case, if we return and prepare in the village before subjugating slavers, it will be around summer. In that case, with the manpower situation, it becomes tied to the raw-food farm plan......"
Teacher revised the plan.
But isn't summer too slow? During that time, prospective villagers who were trying to come to our village will be sold as slaves.
—I'll just deliver it to the village right away.
"What? How?"
—Hm? I'm in the village forest right now. Can't I call the village chief and talk to him? The village can subjugate them right now.
Teacher elf belatedly realized it and took on a shocked expression.
"The distance, the distance, huh? The distance......?"
Teacher suddenly seemed to have tremendously complicated thoughts.
I waited, but when there was no change, I shifted my mind.
In any case, I think the village can solve it now.
The city's walls and the bloody remains of the slavers disappeared from my sight.
A wide grass clearing and forest entered my view.
I suddenly felt as if my heart grew comfortable.
A city full of human smell is nice too, but I think this place suits my taste. I feel like I understand why cities bother to install roadside trees and parks.
When I looked around, the droplet seemed to have gone to play with the crown prince. I'm curious what she's doing, but it's outside my territory, so I can't know. Even when I quietly ask, she only shakes her head as if it's a secret.
For now, I spoke to an elf wandering through the forest and asked him to call the village chief. The elf jumped in surprise, then hurriedly ran away.
"I will bring him right away!"
No, it's not urgent, so he could go slowly.
When I waited, village chief Eldrin also came running.
After arriving while panting, he caught his breath and asked,
"What is the matter?"
How should I put it? He didn't need to come running so urgently.
In any case, good things are good.
I explained the situation.
I could see around Termia through the bow I had given her, and with that we caught bandits, and when they arrived at the city, there was a slaver, and this and that.
—So I think the village should subjugate them now. They're effectively our villagers, so we can't leave them to be sold as slaves.
Eldrin thought deeply.
"Do you truly want this?"
Hm?
—Is it harder than I think?
"Right now is the time when the village must hurriedly replenish the food that fell during winter."
Eldrin explained in detail.
"When the seeds exchanged for flour in the city arrive, if we want to mobilize manpower for building a large farm, we must stockpile more food than usual. That is because many of the people who hunt will be pulled into farming, which will not produce anything for a while. And we must prepare sufficiently in case farming fails."
Village chief Eldrin smiled bitterly.
"I too very much want to save the elves who are effectively our villagers, but those people are not truly our villagers."
A position of responsibility seems truly difficult.
—What about supplementing food by sending the rescued elves hunting?
"In theory, it is possible. But it is dangerous to trust outsiders who have not adapted to the village without limit. It does not seem like a matter for the village chief to decide."
I see. It's not a matter for the village chief to decide.
—Then I'll make them our people.
That's what being a holy tree means.
—When Termia returns, we'll gather them and talk. About how good this village is and how good a life they can live.
That's what the holy tree exists for, right?
"Will that be all right?"
—Village chief, it's good that you're considerate of me, but with things like this, cutely asking for understanding like Termia does actually makes my heart more comfortable.
I think I understand why Termia comes as the representative.
—And I enjoyed the play itself last time. Though the reactions bothered me a liiittle.
Village chief Eldrin smiled faintly.
"There is nothing to be done about the part that bothers you. I will ask for your understanding there."
—You ask for understanding immediately. You adapt quickly, don't you?
I let out a laugh.
"Then I will operate a subjugation force as you wish."
—Thank you.
"The village population, which I thought had gradually stabilized, will increase again, so I must revise the village plan as well. I will be busy for a while."
Eldrin left while looking slightly troubled.
The position of village chief seems truly tricky.
It's a responsible seat where a sapling from the local hill like me, who simply likes basking in sunlight, should not sit.
I stretched out my branches and enjoyed the sunlight.
The sunlight warmed my leaves.
Woohoo, warm sunlight again today. Thank you.
***
Until now, I had never seen the stone voluntarily not sleep.
If I ask her to do work or something, she tends to wake up and do it, but she likes sleeping so much by nature.
But today was different.
I saw the stone girl sitting and sunk in thought.
Waaah? She's not sleeping?
When I looked closely, the stone girl was thinking while holding the grass crown she always wore on her head.
Her usual sleepy expression was nowhere to be seen.
What is it? I can't imagine what topic would make a stone who only slept sink into deep thought. Did she have a nightmare?
Perhaps feeling my gaze, the stone girl looked back. It was the perfect timing to talk to her.
—Do you have some worry? Did you have a nightmare?
After thinking, the stone girl bent down and picked up soil.
She kneaded it and made clay letters one by one. I thought I might be mistaken, but they really were letters.
Waaah? You know how to write?
Since she's a solid mana spirit, perhaps she memorized the vocabulary dictionary made of solid mana. What frightening talent.
The letters were placed on the ground one by one and made a sentence.
【I think the droplet goes out too much. Does she dislike me?】
A question that wasn't light arrived.
Even now, the droplet had gone to watch the crown prince. She returned at night, but it was true that her time outside had become considerable.
Still, her expression had become very bright, so there was less to worry about than last time. I don't yet know what, but it seems she found her own path.
But the stone seems anxious.
The stone girl looked up and waited for an answer. Her expression was calm and composed. But I could feel anxiety in the small fingers fiddling with the grass crown.
I carefully refined my words.
—That's not it. Because she likes you so much, she's trying to like you even more. If you trust her and wait, the droplet will surely come to like you even more.
I quietly added, as if joking,
—Just like I'm always waiting for you to speak to me.
Perhaps understanding intuitively, the stone's expression brightened.
Only then did she relax, put on her grass crown, and lie down as usual.
When I waited, the small girl fell asleep just like that.
I'm glad she understood.
But personally, I felt a little regretful that I had comforted the anxious stone with only words.
It'd be much better if I could hug her tightly and reassure her. Like how the droplet often hugs my branches.
Is there no way to do it?
Moving branches has limits because I'm a tree.
And if I control solid mana or liquid mana to hug her, I can only operate them on the surface of my body, so it's limited in the same way.
Hm? Wait, can I really operate them only on the surface of my body?
Until now, that was certainly true.
「Mana Lv.2」
When it was Level 1, mana moved only inside my body. After I grew into a sapling and my mana level rose, I could move it up to my surface.
But this doesn't precisely fit the principle of Natural Circulation Method.
Nature circulates.
Plants grow from soil, are eaten and become part of people, and people die and return to soil. Only the form changes; soil, plants, and people are the same.
Then is there a need to strictly distinguish me from nature?
People live while possessing muddied mana. Their personal muddiness may be distance from nature and a person-specific individuality.
For such an existence to try to live without distinction from nature might instead be a reckless act of losing oneself.
But through the method, I've accumulated pure mana closest to nature. There's no need to clearly distinguish me from nature.
I moved mana.
The freedom to move as I wished.
The freedom to pat a small anxious girl.
What is the freest nature?
The wind blew.
A vast amount of mana scattered and wandered freely through the air.
When I moved, blades of grass leaned as if touched by wind.
I carefully moved the mana.
The mana patted the sleeping girl like wind.
The girl slowly opened her eyes.
She looked at me, smiled faintly, then closed her eyes again.
The small girl fell asleep within the pats.
It was a warm sleep.
[You have acquired 【Gaseous Mana】.]
【Gaseous Mana】
Manifests mana in the material world in gaseous form. Mana's autonomy increases, and physical action becomes possible.
「Mana Lv.3」