Gaokerena laughed. “Hah, you truly are an odd one. My Tree Spirit will not be eliminated; I cannot ask for anything more. You should worry about that human’s life more than mine.” He pointed his branches toward Gruszka.
Ugh, we’re out of time!
“Now then... Erase my memories. You may combine me immediately after that.”
“Acceptance confirmed. [Gaokerena-sama], all memories regarding confidential information will now be erased.”
Gaokerena!
“You are truly mysterious, Fruit of Knowledge. Perhaps it would be interesting to see where your journey ends.” The area was enveloped in light, as Gruszka’s and Gaokerena’s shadows floated in the air. The two silhouettes slowly started to overlap in the sky.
“Gah! So bright!” Datil said, squinting up at the sky.
“Amazing! Is this how combining works?!” Fresa said, narrowing her eyes as well.
As the two silhouettes turned into one, the bright light grew smaller and the ball of light slowly fell to the ground. One man emerged.
“This feels weird,” Gruszka said, staring at his hands.
“Gruszka!” Datil said.
“Are you okay?” Fresa called.
Gruszka looked up. “Yes. As you can see, I feel good as new! Look!” He raised his right hand, then his left, and smiled. “It seems like I’m both Gruszka and Gaokerena. Yet this somehow feels right, mysteriously enough. What an odd sensation... Ah, please do call me Gruszka, as you did before.” He closed his eyes and bowed slightly.
“I mean, you certainly do look like Gruszka,” Datil said.
“Yeah, the only thing that changed might be the color of your hair,” Fresa observed. Gruszka’s hair was now brown with green highlights, but there didn’t seem to be any other notable differences.
How about memories? I’m especially curious about what happened to Gaokerena’s.
“Most of my memories are Gruszka’s,” he said.
Looks like Gaokerena was right. Most of his memories seem to be gone.
“But the Tree Spirit is most definitely within me. Both Gaokerena and I are grateful to you,” he continued, bowing deeply.
I feel like he’s gotten more calm and polite since they combined...
Clink! Something fell from Gruszka’s head onto the floor.
What was that? This place is too dark.
“You dropped something. Uh...here it is! Found it!” Datil said, picking up a hair decoration that was burnt completely black. “Huh, isn’t this...?”
“Hey! That’s mine!” Fresa yelled. Fresa’s hair decoration from the Hoard Lottery—the Fire Dragon’s Hair Decoration, to be specific—had fallen from Gruszka’s head.
That accessory gave slight fire resistance, right? Ah, that’s why you were still alive after getting hit by that fire magic!
“Huh? Why was that on my head?” Gruszka said, feigning innocence.
Oh boy, that amnesia thing’s coming in real handy right now, isn’t it? Nice try, you already said that you kept Gruszka’s memories.
“Gruszka! You stole this from me, didn’t you?!” Fresa accused.
He laughed. “I’m so terribly sorry. Please forgive what the bandit did.”
You kinda sounded like Gaokerena there, but you seem a bit too high and mighty considering you’re still the one who stole it.
“Ughhh! I don’t know if I can trust you in the future!”
“Don’t worry. My path is currently connected with Furutsu-sama’s, so I can’t do anything nefarious toward you. You’re above me.”
This I kinda get. The path I connected with Gruszka is a bit different from the ones I connected with Fresa and Datil. Our paths are upper-class, while Gruszka’s is lower-class.
“Furutsu, your string goes through Gruszka-san and is connected to the other villagers,” Grida said.
Really? I still can’t see anything myself, but that’s pretty interesting. Oh, also, I’m sorry, Fresa and Datil! It seems like I absorbed dayquril—some sort of life force energy—from you guys.
“Really?” Fresa said.
“Are you serious?” Datil said.
That makes me no different from Gaokerena, huh?
The two looked at each other and laughed.
“Ha ha ha, don’t worry about it too much!”
“He’s right, you know? Absorb as much as you like!”
What?! You guys can’t be serious! I don’t know what this does to you! I might even be shortening your life span!
“Apple-san, I’m alive here today because you saved me,” Fresa said.
“Same goes for me. If I can give anything to you, I’d do it, even if it meant my life.”
You guys... Thank you so much. I might be taking some dayquril from you too, Grida.
She giggled. “You haven’t!”
Wait, what?
“Thank you for your patience. Post-battle arrangements shall recommence.”
The word “Nursery” once again popped up on the ground near me. Right, we’re still in the middle of this.
“What do they mean by Nursery?” Datil asked.
I’m not too sure, but it seems like Rhuvae Village is also a Nursery.
“Oooh! So does that mean this village is yours now?” Fresa said.
I guess, but the whole “enhanced birth rate” thing creeps me out. Quite honestly, I don’t need it.
“The current Nursery will be dismantled and rebuilt. Please note that all creatures will be safely stocked away,” the unit said.
Dismantled? Stocked?! Just what do you think these villagers are?! Hey, wait!
Ding! “Successfully dismantled.”
Wait, seriously?! Don’t go too far with this, management system-thing!
“Would you like to create a new Nursery here?”
You’re not even listening to me! I’m not about to casually look around for the perfect spot while those villagers are “stocked” somewhere! Make one right now!
Ding! “Understood. A Nursery will be created in this area. If you would like to change its type, please select from the following.”
You’re just listening to me when it suits you! Wait, whoa. Letters are popping up beneath me.
{Prison (current)}
{City}
{Labyrinth}
{Tower (cannot be selected)}
{Island (cannot be selected)}
Okay, so I feel like I understand some stuff here. So these are the kinds of Nurseries I can make? It looks like I can’t choose all of them though.