After we get home, Luna comes by to play.
Tiltue takes Snow, and they go off to play somewhere, probably so she can forget the troubles lying ahead.
I watch them go, and when I tell Reina what happened…
“…My master is that worked up?”
She looks dejected, like she’s remembering her training.
“Still, I used to never know what she was thinking, but that changed a little.”
“She’s pretty expressive. Well, there’s still a lot of times when she doesn’t say enough.”
Like what just happened with Tiltue.
“Ah, she also mumbled something about training the seven great mages.”
“…!?”
It looks like she really doesn’t like that idea.
“I’m not that interested in being strong…”
“Hahaha…”
That’s her way of saying she’s definitely not going along with that.
Well, she won her duel with Edinburgh, so surely there’s no reason to force herself.
I figure Zephir will do it if it makes her happy, and Xelos and Seti because they covet power.
I don’t know about Merlin, but Reina probably doesn’t care that much about getting stronger at this point. And Cara… She’ll probably get dragged into it with tears in her eyes.
I think Cara is the one Edinburgh pays the most attention to, and since she doesn’t seem to mind, it’s probably going to stay like that.
“Ah, Arata. Can you come with me to the high elves’ village? There’s something I want.”
“Sure. We should probably take Snow too, but…”
Reina shakes her head.
“It’s a secret for her.”
She smiles like a mischievous kid, and my heart skips a beat.
◇ ◇ ◇
When Snow comes back, she’ll cry when she sees we’re not home. And so, it’s decided that they’ll spend the night in the divine beast people’s village.
“Later!”
Snow packs her favorite backpack with toys and sweets as always, and waves as we see her off.
“It’s our turn.”
“Yes.”
We leave straight to the southern forest.
Once there, we get through the barrier and into the high elves’ village.
Brynhildr comes out to see what it is, and leaves after only a greeting when she sees it’s us.
“She’s probably being considerate.”
She had a smile on her face, so she probably thought it was a date.
This is a beautiful place, and it would probably be featured as a dating spot if it was in Japan, so I guess she’s not wrong.
The forests on this island have a beautiful nature feeling to them, but this place feels mystical. Each is good in its own way.
Reina runs around and looks at flowers with a serious expression.
“Any good flowers?”
“They’re all beautiful so…”
She’s looking at blue ones, but by looking around a bit, we can see black and pale blue ones too.
At this point, I ask her what she’s after, and she says it’s a family herbarium.
“Why so suddenly?”
“Remember when we went to see your mother? I thought about it then. She probably wishes she could be with us.”
By mother, Reina is referring to the personification of Yggdrasil.
She can’t move from the tree or speak to us directly, so Reina has been talking to people to see if there’s anything she can do.
“To preserve leaves and branches detached from Yggdrasil, you need a liquid with special magic energy.”
“Special magic energy?”
“Yes, magic energy from a being that never decays.”
She says as she takes out an orange feather that almost looks like it’s burning, from her Storage Magic.
“The magic energy of the immortal Phoenix, Suzaku, should do.”
“She gifted it to you as a thank you a long time ago, right?”
“We wanted the whole family to match, so I’ve been thinking about how to use it… And I finally know.”
Reina finds a pale silver flower and plucks it.
Then a purple one, which she shows to me.
“This is Snow’s, this is Tiltue’s.”
“So this dignified beautiful crimson one is you?”
“…”
I take it and compare it to Reina, and she looks both embarrassed and happy.
“…What about you?”
“Black like my hair?”
Picking my own flower is embarrassing.
But when I leave it to Reina, she picks a black one with a nice luster and firm core.
“You’re the one who supports our family.”
It’s not just the color, she’s picking based on how we are too.
Reina is picking the herbarium with many meanings in mind.
Luna is bright like the sun, so it’s a bright yellow and orange for her.
Katima is free, so a flower that’s brown in its body like Katima, and wide and silver.
As I walk with Reina, we talk about the personalities and ways of life of our friends on the island.
By talking about what happened, we get a strong image of the flowers and shapes that match them.
Along the way, the great spirits come over, and we tell them what’s going on.
“That’s a great idea! Miss Yggdrasil will be happy for sure!
“Nice going!”
“Each branch and leaf contains soul. I’m sure she will be at ease with family by her side.”
With their approval, they give us branches and leaves of Yggdrasil, casually hand us many flowers that match their image, and tell us they’re looking forward to seeing it.
It’s nice that they’re happy, but Reina is smiling a little awkwardly.
“Those expectations are a little heavy…”
“Maybe we shouldn’t have told them before it was done.”
Then again, Reina always matches those expectations.
I’m sure everyone will smile, I say as we go home to start working on the herbarium right away.
In the end, collecting materials of everyone is quite the quantity.
It probably doesn’t take that long to do each of them, but it will take days to do all of them.
There’s no rush, she just wants to see Snow and the others happy right away.
She gets to work as soon as we get back.
“I don’t think I can help…”
I can use my strength to make something like a house, but not this minute work.
I’ll at least make coffee so she can take a break.
“Hn?”
When I enter the kitchen, I see a big pot with liquid.
Suzaku’s feather is in it, like when people make broth with kelp.
“Let’s just pretend I didn’t see that…”
The immortal Phoenix. Using her feather to make a mystical magic energy liquid in this manner feels too mundane, like it robs it of its fantasy feeling a little.
I pour coffee next to it, and Reina enters.
“Ah, good, you’re here.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about the magic energy liquid. Can you move it to a different container in an hour and make more?”
“Sure… But why not make it all in a big container?”
“No, it has to be in precise quantities and time.”
I see, I think as I look at the pot.
Yes… This is the right amount of this kelp broth. Okay then.
“It’s simple. First you fill it with water, and once it’s lightly boiling, infuse Suzaku’s feather with magic energy and insert it.”
“Okay. And what container should I use?”
“Hum… Ah, this.”
Reina gives me a bucket I use for fishing.
I guess it’s going to be a lot, but still…
“It’s dirty. Are you sure?”
“Yes. The liquid with Suzaku’s magic energy will clean any impurities.”
“…Okay.”
That’s the power of a divine beast person. It’s convincing.
And it’s efficient. If just putting it somewhere cleans it, it’s a disinfectant on par with bath cleaner.
Reina leaves as I think about this nonsense, so it’s time to take the magic energy liquid to the bucket.
I fill the pot with water and heat it up again, and place Suzaku’s feather in it.
“Please keep doing it.”
“Yes. Ah, here, coffee.”
“Thank you. I’ll keep at it.”
Reina takes the hot coffee, and goes back looking happy.
As I watch her leave, something pops into my mind.
“This island has infected Reina too.”
If someone from outside this island heard about this, they’d react like Reina would when she first got here.
I think about that as I empty the pot into the bucket again, and prepare more.
Thanks for the treat. 👍