“I acknowledge… Seiichi-dono and the others’… strength.”
“Okay.”
We hadn’t even moved from where we stood, and within seconds, we’d already caught Tsukikage.
In terms of results, we’d proven our ability, but the outcome was so absurdly one-sided that Tsukikage wore an indescribable expression on her face, while the guardian deity looked utterly baffled.
Don’t worry. I’m confused too.
Just then, Al—who’d been all fired up and ready to head into the forest to search—let out an exasperated sigh.
“Well, considering you’ve had the sea personally escorting you around before, I guess it’s a bit late to be surprised now, but still…” She glanced at me sidelong. “Seiichi.”
“Y-Yes?”
“You don’t even use magic anymore.”
“Huh?”
Now that she said it, it was true… But come on! What was I supposed to do? If I asked and it moved on its own, of course, I’d rely on it!
I had no idea how much magical power I actually possessed at this point, but at the very least, it wasn’t something that would run dry easily.
Still, if I could get by without using magic, wasn’t that better?
While I wallowed in my despair, Al continued, sounding oddly sentimental.
“You know, you were good enough that Barbodel Magic Academy scouted you and had you teaching as an instructor…”
“Stop! That’s more than my heart can take!”
“For someone saying that, you look pretty lively to me?”
Well, this kind of banter was just business as usual for us.
Even when it’s rough, stay cheerful. That’s important.
As Al and I went back and forth, Tsukikage, still wearing that hard-to-read expression, turned to Yaiba.
“Are all people from the outer lands nothing but monsters like this?”
“I-I couldn’t say…” Yaiba replied hesitantly. “Seiichi-dono and his companions are the first people from the outer lands I met…”
“Sorry, but he’s an exception among exceptions,” Al cut in flatly. “No one else can copy what Seiichi does. You can rest easy.”
“I-Is that so?”
“If what Altria-dono says is true,” Tsukikage murmured, “then there could hardly be anything more reassuring.”
Seeing that Tsukikage still hadn’t quite processed everything, Saria stepped in with a bright smile.
“It’s fine! Seiichi will take care of it somehow!”
“I-I mean, Saria, I appreciate the trust, but there are limits to what I can actually handle…”
“Relax. If it’s something even you can’t handle, then it would all be over anyway.”
“That far already?!”
I seriously doubted that was true. There were plenty of things in this world that were beyond my ability to deal with.
“W-Well, fine. Putting that aside, what do we do next?” I asked. “That mastermind you mentioned… They’re after Muu-sama, right?”
As I spoke, I turned my gaze toward Lady Muu. Just like when we first met, she stared vacantly into the empty space, her expression hollow and unfocused.
“Um… Guardian Deity? Is she always, you know, like this?”
“I understand what you’re trying to say, Seiichi-dono…” Yaiba replied quietly. “But this is Muu-sama’s usual state. No, rather, it would be more accurate to say this is what she has become.”
“Huh?”
At Yaiba’s words, I tilted my head in confusion. His expression darkened, and Tsukikage beside him wore the same sorrowful look.
“Muu-sama’s current state is the result of sealing away her own power.”
“Her… power?”
“That is correct. Tell me, Seiichi-dono, do you know what gave birth to this land? Not just this country, but the very land itself.”
“Gave birth to this land?”
One strange statement after another left not only me, but Al and the others as well, staring in bewilderment.
“This place, known as the Eastlands, was created by Muu-sama’s power.”
“Wha—?!”
The words hit us like a thunderclap, and we were struck speechless.
A land created by one person? What does that even—
“What exactly does that mean?”
“It means exactly what it sounds like,” Yaiba said. “The land where we now live did not exist before.”
“And no, I do not mean it was once an uninhabited island,” Tsukikage added quietly. “It truly did not exist at all.”
“Didn’t exist…? So, are you saying it was just the ocean?”
“That would be the correct interpretation,” Yaiba answered.
“So she’s in the same category as Seiichi, huh…”
“Could you not summarize it like that?!”
At Al’s weary remark, I couldn’t help snapping back. I hadn’t gone around creating land, okay?! I was just asking for certain things to cooperate with me. That was all!
“Wait… hold on,” I said, suddenly catching on. “If I remember right, Guardian Deity, you’re the tenth-generation head, or maybe even later, right? Doesn’t that mean those generations were passed down somewhere outside this land?”
“No,” Yaiba replied evenly. “They were passed down here, in this country, on this very land.”
“T-Then…” My voice faltered. “Muu-sama is… Just how ol—”
I stopped myself before the words slipped out. Asking someone important their age was bad enough, but asking a woman? Absolutely not.
Still, one thing was clear: she had lived for a span of time far, far longer than we ever had.
And yet, no matter how you looked at her, she appeared to be nothing more than a young girl. She didn’t give off the impression of an elf like Barney, either.
“Returning to the matter at hand,” Yaiba continued, “it is no exaggeration to say that this continent was born by Muu-sama’s power. Truly, it was power befitting a god.”
“However,” Tsukikage added quietly, “there arose those who worshiped that power, those who sought to eliminate it… and those who wished to exploit it.”
“That’s…” I trailed off.