A dawn lit by bright sunlight.
—This seems like a number. It's used repeatedly, and its shape is different too.
I examined the numbers I had made from solid mana. I was trying to make the characters written on the gravestones one by one.
—If I gather them together, this is a number, and this is a letter. Given the circumstances of a gravestone, they're likely dates and names.
The droplet sitting on my leaves, still green even in autumn, bobbed its horned helmet in agreement. Then it trembled its surface as if stretching and fluttered off on an outing.
It seems letters aren't interesting to spirits.
But they were important to me.
Thanks to Divinity, I understood language. When the girl muttered to herself, I sensed concepts and meaning. Conversation was possible too.
By contrast, writing was just writing, so even when I looked closely at gravestones, I could only wonder what it meant.
Since I now had an elf neighbor, studying letters would be very convenient.
I didn't know the meaning of the written characters, but I was trying to become familiar with their shapes by making them. With unfamiliar letters, one must first learn to recognize differences in shape.
Days passed.
·Influence Radius
26,650cm → 33,050cm (Max)
·Production
79,950/d → 99,150/d
My roots finished growing, and fruit began to form in the neighboring flower field. They were the first fruits made after the flowers withered.
The small droplet girl inspected an unripe fruit and plucked it off.
—Fruit is eaten after it ripens. You could eat it in that state, but the seeds won't have finished growing, and it won't taste good.
The droplet tilted its head, then put the fruit in its mouth. As if copying the elf girl, it pretended to chew.
The fruit that entered its body slowly sank through the transparent liquid mana. Then it passed straight through and dropped with a tap.
—Waaah, it passed through.
The water-colored girl, who had frozen awkwardly in surprise, heard my reaction and smiled brightly.
Looking at me as if telling me to watch again, it picked up the fruit and swallowed it once more. The fruit sank with bubbles.
—Waaah, unlike an elf, you're a special droplet who can eat the same fruit again and again. Wonderful.
The droplet girl clapped and giggled.
While the droplet and I spent our days enjoying fruit, there was a change on the elf girl's side too.
The elf girl, her expression somehow darkened, spent the morning hitting the target board, then took a book from her small bag. It was a book with drawings of flowers and grass, along with writing.
Is it a medicinal herb book?
Then another book came out. It was a picture book densely filled with one word per drawing.
Huh? Is that a picture vocabulary dictionary?
The girl read the medicinal herb book. Whenever she flipped through the picture book to find matching words, no matter how I looked at it, it was a picture vocabulary dictionary.
Waaah, it's like Complete Basic Vocabulary in 100 Days. I really want to read that.
Contrary to my wish, the girl read for a suitable amount of time, then rose. Rather than deep reading, she was busy comparing the book to the forest and gathering plants.
How can I read that vocabulary book? It'd be nice if I could talk to her and borrow it.
I glanced at the droplet.
The droplet only watched while sitting on autumn leaves. Perhaps thinking it would be embarrassing to be discovered now after loitering around, it was on a distant leaf.
Yeah, asking it seems a little much. Let me solve this alone.
I thought it might be possible if I stepped slightly beyond the limits of a human mind. I did it every time I worked on my roots, so it didn't seem difficult. I only had to break free of fixed ideas.
I focused my mind on the small bag at the girl's side.
I examined its interior as if looking underground. The picture book, mixed with the grass roots she had gathered, became clearly visible beyond visual obstacles.
I focused deeper. Each page was recognized separately. The drawings and letters came clearly into view even without light.
Yes, I can see it. Memorizing it all at once would be difficult, so shall I copy one page at a time?
I processed solid mana and copied the pages. For the drawings, as long as I understood the meaning, a rough engraving was enough. For the letters, I used the results of my practice so far and engraved them clearly without error.
After the elf girl brought the picture book for several days and focused on gathering medicinal herbs rather than practice, I was able to copy every page.
I made holes in a line along the pages. I wove them together with a mana coil and bound them like a notebook.
The vocabulary notebook danced on a leaf.
Woohoo. I made Complete Basic Vocabulary in 100 Days.
Now I can become the sma-artest sapling in the world.
Neighbors, from now on, please call me Mr. Bright and Wise Sapling.
***
Time passed.
·Maximum Height
2,560cm → 3,200cm (Max)
·Capture Amount
Average 160/d → Average 200/d
My height grew to the limit, and my vocabulary studies advanced a great deal.
—This is the number 9, and this is the number 10. We can tell it is a decimal system. People have ten fingers, so a decimal system is obvious, yes, I see this isn't fun for you......
One day, after I tried teaching letters to the droplet spirit as part of my studies and gave up when I saw it nodding off.
An incredible incident occurred.
Don't tell me she stole that?
The elf girl, after checking her surroundings, unwrapped a cloth with a tense face.
A sharp iron arrowhead was revealed. A clean arrow shaft, impossible for clumsy hands to make, supported the arrowhead.
It looks incredibly dangerous.
Its danger was in a completely different dimension from the handmade wooden arrows that didn't matter if she shot them wrong.
From what I could see, she had definitely stolen it.
The elf girl looked around aimlessly like a child who had done something bad. Her hands were trembling too, revealing all the signs of a novice thief.
Once she confirmed no adult had followed her, the girl grew excited, and her cheeks flushed red. The iron arrow was lifted in both hands. Her gaze as she examined it was entranced.
Yes, a novice thief moved by her first harvest.
The elf girl picked up her bow. She nocked the iron arrow and drew the bowstring. Holding that posture, she acted out a dignified expression.
The wind brushed her golden hair.
Perhaps satisfied with her own appearance, the corners of the elf girl's mouth kept twitching upward. At some point, her dignified expression loosened, and she grinned foolishly. Her cheeks were red.
She definitely looks like a wonderful elf archer when she uses a real arrow. Adorable.
......Though it's a stolen arrow.
The elf girl aimed at the target board. Then, perhaps thinking the situation didn't suit a real battle, she abruptly hid behind a tree and aimed at a rock.
She pretended to shoot a few times and made arrow sounds with her mouth. Then she sprang out quickly, rolled stylishly across the ground, and aimed at the thicket in a cool pose. A pew came from the girl's mouth.
Pew, pew.
Waaah, wonderful. I think you could start rabbit hunting right away.
The elf girl seemed to judge the same.
The next dawn, she came to the practice grounds fully prepared. After hitting the target board a few times with the iron arrow, the girl wandered through the forest with a tense face.
However, unlike her archery skill, her searching was clumsy, and she spent ages just finding animals.
She barely found a rabbit familiar even to me, but before she could even aim her bow, she stepped on a branch and lost it.
The elf girl collapsed in despair.
I think it's fortunate the rabbit I knew escaped well, but this looks very difficult.
I had discussed this with the droplet because I thought this might happen.
The droplet had a career spanning one hundred rounds of startling innocent passing birds. It possessed enough excellent wicked talent to drive birds into the elf's search path.
Waaah, wicked talent.
It's embarrassing to brag about anywhere, but right now, it's helpful experience.
The droplet began driving birds. A few birds flew off into the sky, but some birds that didn't yield to a tiny droplet's teasing only moved positions.
After several times when she missed them or grew tense and made a mistake.
The bowstring was quietly drawn. The arrowhead aimed at a small blue bird. The elf girl slowly held her breath. The trembling of her hands gradually stopped.
You can do it.
The bowstring was released. The arrow split the air. It pierced the bird, and only belatedly did the wings flap. The small flying creature staggered, then fell. Fallen leaves made a sound.
Waaah.
The elf girl inhaled. Her eyes gradually widened, and then she cheered as if screaming and raised both arms. The girl jumped around.
Excellent. At this level, you should be able to pull your weight with hunting.
Suddenly, the elf girl's foot caught on a tree root. The girl waved both arms, trying to regain her balance, but ultimately fell flat.
Oh dear.
***
The dead bird was prepared.
The elf girl wiped away the blood with grass blades and neatly arranged the feathers. Her hands were painstaking, as if trying to make it look as it had before death.
Is she commemorating it because it's her first prey? Maybe she is going to make it into a specimen.
She rubbed long grass blades in her palms. Once twisted strings were made, she wrapped them around the bird corpse and tied them into a ribbon shape. When the ribbon shape did not seem good, she untied it and tied it again.
Ah, I see. It must be a gift.
The elf girl examined the gift with satisfaction. After hugging it dearly, she kissed it, then spat at the taste of blood and hugged it again.
I don't know who she'll give it to, but it really is a good gift. If they discover the suspicious arrow wound, she'll be scolded, but in the end, they'll surely hug her warmly.
The elf girl hummed and turned back.
She picked up her bag at the practice grounds, crossed the forest path, and reached the grave area.
The grave area was bustling. A new pit was being dug, and a date and name were hurriedly carved into a white stone marker.
Elves more gaunt than usual discussed something. Although they had finished digging the pit, for now they laid a female elf corpse neatly on a board. It seemed they were waiting for family.
An adult elf chosen as a representative was walking in the girl's direction when he noticed her and ran over.
The elf girl, who had been puzzled, flinched and hurriedly hid the gift behind her back. Her expression said she had done something wrong, but was trying hard not to get caught.
A conversation followed.
The shadows of autumn leaves colored her face. The blood drained from her skin, and she grew paler and paler. The sound of running followed.
Elves were pushed aside. A trembling gaze stared at the corpse.
"Mom......?"
The ribbon-tied bird fell from her strengthless hand.
Silence flowed.
"I can, I can hunt now too."
The hammer and chisel quietly carved the date.
"Now you don't have to go out while you're sick anymore, so why, why......"
Hands carefully pulled the girl back. The elves in quarantine clothing placed the corpse into the pit.
Soil was scattered over the corpse. It covered the body, then the face, filling the pit. The ground was tamped down, and the white stone marker was set in place.
The grave work ended before the sun set.
The elves who had comforted her gradually left. After a hand picked up the bird, placed it in the girl's hands, and disappeared, the girl remained alone before the grave.
Her blank gaze looked at the gravestone. The bird fell from her hand again. The corpse touched her feet.
Her gaze slowly lowered to the ribbon-tied bird. The grass-blade ribbon had been crushed and lost its shape.
Her hand picked up the bird. Trembling fingers fixed the ribbon and brushed off the dirt. Her steps approached the stone marker, and the ribboned bird was placed on top of it.
The wind blew cold.
The girl shivered, then sat leaning against the stone marker. A cold warmth filled her back. Her legs drew together, and both arms embraced herself.
***
The sun set, and night came.
Darkness covered the forest, then the moonlight withdrew, and dawn dew formed.
Termia suddenly lifted her head at an unfamiliar presence. Small fruits were gathered at her feet. She belatedly heard her own stomach growl.
When she raised her gaze, a mass of water was floating there. It was a mysterious existence drifting in the air in the form of a small girl.
Sunlight shone transparently through the water-colored girl.
The water-colored girl watched her worriedly, then demonstrated picking up a fruit and eating it.
A small fruit entered the mouth made of water. It sank with bubbles, passed through her body, and fell to the ground.
The water-colored girl looked proud. Her sparkling eyes watched, expecting a reaction.
What was this existence? What did it want?
She was curious, and yet not curious.
Termia silently gave it only a look.
The water-colored girl gradually grew flustered. She repeated the act of eating fruit several times, and when there was still no reaction, she became extremely flustered and looked somewhere.
Then, after thinking alone, she suddenly reached out.
Termia's hand was caught and pulled.
"Ah?"
Her body was half-raised. The dew-wet gravestone left her back, and sunlight warmly covered her body. She belatedly felt the cold.
Their eyes met. The water-colored girl sighed in relief and giggled. Then she turned and began leading the way as she pleased.
Termia was dragged along. She walked a familiar path while holding an unfamiliar hand. They pushed through thickets, crossed autumn leaves, and ran toward the end of the world.
When they reached an unknown territory, a wide space filled her vision. Beneath the blue sky, a grassland bearing fruit spread out.
Sunlight shone down dazzlingly.
There was an enormous tree.