She chuckled. “You jumped a bit too high for that, don’t you think?”
Yeah, guess so. I do feel sky-high right now.
“You did it! That’s a big win for you!”
I saw the body of a goblin on the ground below, its torso completely gone.
“The tree—your mom—looks so small from up here! That’s amazing!”
Yeah, I’m super OP.
I glanced down again and saw the woman sitting on the ground as the two goblins ran off. Thank goodness. I’m glad I was able to save her. All I have to do is land now.
I then heard God’s voice. “I apologize for the wait. I just returned from— Furutsu-san?!”
Oh, welcome back, God.
“What’s going on? Why are you in the air? Were you plucked away by a bird?!”
Nah, I just saved someone. Y’know, it’s one of those classic situations that happen when you reincarnate.
“You say such odd things sometimes.”
Whoops, give me a sec, God. I have to stick the landing. If I don’t, I might break into a million little pieces. I need to use...not my legs. I’ll increase the number of cells in my outer layer and thicken my skin. When I’m about to land, I’ll just use my willpower and force my way through.
The Tree laughed. “You didn’t really think about that last bit, did you?”
Yup! Sometimes, you just gotta do it! All right, I’m gonna land! Raaaaah!
Boom!
Ugh...ow, I guess I jumped a little too high. Uh, I don’t feel any cracks! Woohoo! I did it! See? Told you I could!
The Tree replied, “You’re right! That was amazing!”
Yup! Ha ha ha! Uh, anyways, is that woman okay?
“Furutsu-san, who in the world is that woman? And what is that corpse?” God asked.
Oh, that’s the goblin. He was chasing that woman around.
“Did you save her? How? You’re an apple!”
The woman seems to be fine, just knocked out. I mean, a green dude exploded right in front of her eyes. I’d be surprised if I were her too. I should wait here until she regains consciousness. The goblins might come back too.
“Furutsu-san! Furutsu-san!” God yelled.
Heh, am I being gentlemanly here or what? I’m even standing guard for her. Oh, sorry, what was that, God?
“Jeez! What’s going on?! Tell me what happened!”
Okay. Well, thanks to the World Tree, I’m able to see my surroundings and move around. I can also hear sounds now.
“You learned that much while I was gone? That’s impossible...”
Look! See me roll! I demonstrated.
“What?! Gross!” God shrieked.
Huh? What was that? Did you say something?
“Uh, nothing! H-How did you learn how to move in such a short amount of time?! You even managed to defeat monsters.”
Aren’t I the best? I may be the strongest apple ever.
“Is that really a contest?”
In any case, it was good I had the power card on me. I would’ve been toast without it!
“Furutsu-san, since you don’t have any muscles, I don’t think the power card would apply to you.”
Huh? But I heard this dinging sound, and then I got stronger. I even got a bonus for discovering a new ability.
God chuckled. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous. I’ve never heard of the Cards of Fate applying any bonuses.”
Wait, really? Guess I misheard it then.
“Oh, also, about the World Tree, Gridarvol...”
“What about me?” Gridarvol asked.
What is it? Is something wrong with the World Tree?
“Um, I can’t hear her voice, but she can hear me, correct?” God asked.
“Yup! I can hear her!” Gridarvol said.
She said she can hear you.
“Excellent. Then I want you both to listen carefully,” God said.
“Okaaaay!”
What’s wrong?
“For every world out there, there is a single World Tree that supports it. Each World Tree is necessary in maintaining its own world,” she explained.
“I see,” Gridarvol said.
I didn’t know that. Wait... Don’t tell me that the world Gridarvol is from is crumbling because she’s been uprooted.
“No, the entity we call ‘Gridarvol’ is merely a branch of the World Tree. She’s like a fractional spirit that was divided from the main soul. The actual tree is still present in that world. But...”
“But?”
But what?
“It is apparently quite dangerous for multiple World Trees to exist in one world. It might affect the integrity of the world itself,” said God.
“Wow, I didn’t know that!”
I guess it’s like having two drivers for a single car. That’s super dangerous! I wouldn’t want to go through that again!
“I’m going to ignore that comment,” God replied after a small pause. “As I was saying, it would not pose a problem if Gridarvol were used as a staff in her own world. She’s part of the same World Tree, after all. Multiple branches from the same tree can exist.”
I see.
“The problem arises when there are multiple distinct World Trees in one world. So long as she stays in the storage card, all will be well. However, if by some chance, she comes out and spreads her roots here...”
“What happens then?” Gridarvol asked.
The suspense is killing me. Wh-What comes next?
“This world will implode and disappear without a trace. Everything will return to zero. It might even affect other neighboring worlds as well.”
That’s awful! That’s absolutely terrifying!
“Th-The world might get destroyed because of me?” Gridarvol muttered.
“As such, the higher ranks have suggested destroying Gridarvol...” God said.
Gridarvol shrieked.
Hold up! God, isn’t that going a bit too far?! This girl was made into a staff and kept inside this cramped—well, actually, it’s not that bad, right?
“There’s unlimited space here,” she replied happily.
Correction! She was shoved into this limitless storage, which must’ve been lonely for her, and was then taken to a different world! She was treated unfairly, and now you’re ordering me to destroy her because she seems dangerous? Is that what a god does?!
“Furutsu...” Gridarvol murmured.
“Furutsu-san, you are truly a kind person,” God said.
Come on, please! I don’t care what happens to me, but just save her! Please! I’m begging you! I’d prostrate myself if I could!
“Furutsu...” Gridarvol whimpered.
How about this? Can we return her back to her world? She can spread her roots there, right?
“Furutsu-san, the only way for items to go to different worlds is for a reincarnator such as yourself to choose the storage card in their world. Even if someone does happen to select the card, we won’t even know if they’re going to Gridarvol’s home world. The probability of that occurring is astronomically low.”
Come on! Then what’ll happen to her?
“You don’t need to worry about it. Thank you, Furutsu,” Gridarvol said.
Don’t say that! Don’t give up! This is so...so...