The wind Sylph had produced when she’d caught up with us felt like it was caressing my cheek. It had all the warmth of a spring breeze along with all the refreshment of a cool wind at the height of summer. It was wonderfully comforting, and it was almost frustrating that I couldn’t find a single thing to complain about!
“Me and Sylph used to spend a lotta time with human kids,” Undine said.
“Unfortunately, they gradually forgot about us, so we encountered fewer and fewer of them as well,” Sylph lamented.
“It hurt, especially ’cause we had so much fun with them.”
“It wasn’t just the children we missed either. There was a quarrel among us spirits too, resulting in some of our friends distancing themselves from us.”
There was a heavy mood in the air as they recalled those distant memories. I hadn’t realized quite how much spirits adored humans, and for whatever reason, the thought filled me with a strange restlessness. I was also learning that spirits had their disagreements too. I supposed relationships were complicated no matter what kind of being you were.
“That’s why I’m thrilled you summoned us, Fran!” Undine said. “Drinking tea and eating snacks with you reminds me of the good old days! Thanks. I really mean it.”
Sylph agreed. “I never thought I would find myself in pleasant company with other spirits again, given the vestiges of discord between some of us. And we have you to thank for that, Fran.”
Picture, if you can, how it felt to receive the full brunt of a refined bird’s grace and a gorgeous water spirit’s beaming smile up close. My heart felt like it would explode—and if I had a second one in my chest, that one could’ve burst too!
Either way, it was nice to hear that they were both enjoying themselves. It’d be okay to revel in that fact even though all of this was a team effort, right?
Salamander popped up to share his feelings too. “Hey! I’m not gonna take this lyin’ down! I’m havin’ tons o’ fun too, y’know!”
“As am I. I have been walking this world for a long time, but never had I imagined an experience such as this in my future,” Gnome agreed.
I couldn’t have been happier to hear those words. They warmed my heart!
Being so full of emotion, I couldn’t help expressing it myself. “I’m so glad that I was able to come to this island. There are so many fun things that I’m looking forward to experiencing with you all!”
My words were greeted with smiles. Everyone’s kindness was just blowing me away. I was on the verge of tears, even as I told myself I needed to maintain my composure! My vision was beginning to blur a bit too.
But it seemed this wasn’t even the end of it—in one corner of the fuzzy world before me, I could see something moving.
“I think that’s the treant from earlier,” Alk said, pointing at the largeish tree with its restless foliage.
“The visage in its trunk certainly looks to be of the same pattern...” I said.
It seemed we were right because the tree then spread out its branches and leaves in a show of gratitude.
“You really are the sapling from earlier, aren’t you?” I asked.
“It must have come seeking the mana from this environment,” Alk commented. “Would you be opposed to it settling down here, Fran?”
“You mentioned that they wander in search of a comfortable place to live, didn’t you? Does that mean this field satisfies its needs?”
I then glanced at the sapling. It practically felt like I could see it fluttering its eyelashes pleadingly...if it had eyelashes, that is.
Seeing as it came to find a place to settle, I would’ve felt a little guilty sending it away. However, if it was here for the mana, that meant it would be competing for it with the crops we’d plant, and I was curious to see how the mana was going to affect our harvest... Perhaps there was a way we could find some middle ground!
“Sapling, I am going to be doing some gardening here,” I said. “May I have your word that you won’t absorb too much mana or stretch out your roots too far? Or do anything else that would get in the way of the crops?”
The sapling shook the tips of its branches enthusiastically.
“I suppose I can take that as a yes?”
The sapling’s entire body shuddered that time, from its trunk to its branches and beyond. I could only assume that I had its full agreement.
“Are you honestly going to address it as ‘Sapling,’ Fran?” Alk asked. His eyes were filled with a strong sense of pity.
“Hm? It makes sense, doesn’t it? That is what it is...”
Was it really such a poor choice? I wasn’t sure. And as for the sapling, it was still rustling its branches. It didn’t seem put out in the least.
Alk turned his gaze to the treant. “Have you any objections?”
The sapling now had its branches and leaves stretched out as far as possible, seemingly responding to him.
“Well, I suppose if you’re content with it...”
Had they come to an agreement? Alk was grasping at his head as if he had a migraine...
“What would you have called it, Alk?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t have to think twice. It is clearly an ash sapling. Therefore, I would dub it ‘Ash.’”
“Um... How is that any different from naming a cat ‘Cat,’ or a dog ‘Dog’?”
Gnome kindly interjected before sparks could truly fly between Alk and me. “If you ask me, your choice of name didn’t depart from that philosophy either, Fran.”
The tension in the air loosened somewhat with his words. Sapling had been shaking its branches nervously, but now, its movements slowed a little.
“What are walkin’ trees called in this other world of yours?” Salamander asked from his usual spot atop my shoulder.
“Hmm... Unfortunately, there were no such organisms in Teiren’s world.” And that meant there was no name for them. “Oh, but there was a legend about a large world tree called Yggdrasil!”
“‘Yggdrasil’? That’s some name,” he replied.
“Indeed. Well, why don’t we take some inspiration from it and name the sapling ‘Iggy’?”
It would probably grow into an enormous tree eventually, so I thought it rather fitting to name the sapling after Yggdrasil. I glanced at the sapling—or rather, Iggy—who was stretching out its branches in delight. I could only assume that it liked its new name!
“For goodness’ sake!” Alk grunted. “I can already foresee the problems that the lack of a shared language is bound to cause.”
“That may be so, but Sapling—Iggy—is a tree. We should count ourselves lucky that it can communicate through gestures,” I said.
“Well, we shouldn’t have to content ourselves with just that.” Alk gave a self-important snort before holding up a hand in Iggy’s direction. Light spilled out from his palm and enveloped the sapling.
“I say!” cried a brand-new voice. “Dear me! What has just transpired? I sense sorcery!”
A cry escaped me. “Iggy! You’re talking!”
“Ah! You can comprehend me? What an extraordinary stroke of luck!”
Iggy’s voice held a weighty dignity and was very pleasant on the ears...but he did have a rather old-fashioned way of speaking! However, I supposed he would have been alive for far longer than me, so it wasn’t strange in the least. Having said that, Alk was even older than Iggy, and he wasn’t quite so pompous in his speech, so... Perhaps that came down to a difference between dragons and trees.
“I am so profoundly indebted to you! Not only have you granted me permission to take root in this place, but you even bestowed upon me a name!”
“O-Oh. Am I to take it that you are pleased with it?” I asked.