From what the Chief tells me, there’s a camp of svers not too far off from here that’s been trying to attack and steal away the townspeople since before I was even born! Before mom’s people ended up finding their way here, the svers would come to raid this pce at least once a month, and would always take about two or three people away with them each time. Thankfully, once mom’s people joined, they were able to fend off the small raiding parties and were joyfully integrated into the town, so everyone was happy for a little while.

  But then, you know, there was that whole incident that happened with Oren getting kidnapped!

  Apparently the guys from that time really were ‘bandits’ like I was told, but they were still working under the sver’s orders, so like, who cares if they were contracted out or whatever? They still count as the sver’s ckeys to me! From what I’m told, their pn was to use Oren, the Chief’s grandson, as bait/ransom so that they could get some new merchandise to offer up to the svers and make a bunch of cash. The Chief would have been put in a totally awful position by it all, if a certain pnt (me!) hadn’t decided to step in and have a snack about it!

  Please please, hold your appuse~!

  I was just doing my job, really~!

  No need to thank me~!

  Well, maybe thank me a little~!

  But yeah, it’s svers again, huh? It’s been a lil while since I st encountered them, but it still feels like it’s been much too often, you know? The other svers… They were lizardmen, right? Will these svers also be lizardmen too, then?

  …Do I have to feel bad about eating lizardmen?

  Well, maybe not, since they're invading my territory and all.

  But if it turns out they’re humans, though…?

  Do I have to feel bad about it then?

  I mean, they’re doing bad things and messing with Oren and the Chief’s people, so no one would bme me if I turned a few into my snacks, right? Making that bleeding heart bush to protect these guys really took a lot out of me you know, more than I was expecting it to. I actually feel a bit weird and empty, like a part of me left along with that bush… So maybe eating a good meal will help fill in that gap? I think it's at least worth a bit of a try, isn't it? And besides, I was already getting a bit peckish and missing food before that even happened, right? It’s so rare to find a guilt free feast these days, so it would be a shame if I didn’t take up this chance, riiiight???

  Right!!!

  =Okay then! You guys should be safe with that new bush protecting you, but how about I go ahead and take care of those mean old svers for you too while I’m at it?=

  “Woah, would you really do that for us Miss Mellily?!”

  The way Oren looked at me with his cute little sparkling eyes made me feel like some kind of superhero or something! Ahhh, this isn’t good~! I wanted to keep up the image of a magnanimous and righteous pnt, but if this kid keeps infting my (let’s face it, already quite rge!) ego some more, my face is gonna fall off from how smug of a smile I’m gonna make!

  “...Is it true? You'd really be willing to do all that? You’ve already done so much to help us, though; I feel that asking you to do any more for us would be too greedy, Miss.”

  Awww, Chief~! Really, you two are too good at making me want to help you guys~! How could I possibly say I wouldn’t do it when the Chief is being all humble like this~?

  =Yup! I’ll take care of it on my way to the Fire Territory! Don’t worry, I’ll wipe ‘em all out in a jiffy since I’m veeeery strong, I'll have you know! If you saw what I really looked like, you’d all faint from how awesome I am!=

  Or, you know, pee your pants and faint from fear.

  Same thing, really!

  “Oh my… Then our town will be even further indebted to you. We’ll have to make some kind of an offering to the Spirit of the Forest in thanks for this… Hmmm, but what would the Spirit like from us, even?”

  Huh? Yeah, you know, that’s a very good point, isn’t it? Hey, Spirit! What is it that you’d like from these guys?

  [To tell the truth, there isn’t really very much that they could do for me besides becoming my followers, and that’s quite a gradual process, and not something that happens overnight. They do seem to be on track for it, however, so with time it will most likely occur.]

  Oh, neat! So that means that they’ll become just like mom’s people one day, green eyes and all, right? I can’t wait to come back here and see that~! But for now, uh… If they can’t give you anything in thanks, then what the heck am I supposed to give him as an answer, then? Because judging from the look on the Chief’s face, he’s not gonna be willing to accept a ‘no’ from me on this.

  [Usually my followers would just give me an offering that showed off how prosperous they’ve been in my nds. However, it’s not truly me that they wish to thank here, child, but you. Why don’t you take the offering in my stead?]

  Ooooh, so I get to choose?! Wow! My very own offerings!!!

  Uhhh, but what is it that I’d even want from them…?

  I mean, the only thing they could really possibly give me is flowers, and I can already make my own at will, you know?

  If it’s something that I don’t have but they do, then maybe-

  =Mmmm, maybe you guys could make me a house?=

  After all, I don’t have a single clue how to make a house of my own, right? And the houses that they have in this town are actually quite cute in an old-country kinda way, you know? They especially look cute all covered in flowers and garnds and stuff like they’ve started decorating them with~!

  This town is pretty darn nice after all, filled with nice people and mom’s ex-vilgers, so why shouldn’t I settle down here and look after them when all of this is finished?

  And like, if I have a cozy little house to retire to somewhere, then I’ll have a proper pce to bring Til back to one day, won’t I? Can’t really invite him over when there’s no pce to invite him to, right? And if I can maybe convince him to come live there with me one day, then-

  “Hmmm… A house, you say?”

  The skeptical look on the Chief’s face made me snap out of my daydreams and realize just how odd of a random request I’d just made, considering how this whole talk started in the first pce.

  =Ummm, all the For- the Spirit of the Forest wants from you guys right now is to stay healthy and protected! Sooo, uhhh, it said that having me come back here one day to watch over you guys would be a good idea! And if I’m gonna be living here in the future then I’m gonna need a house, so-!=

  “Ah, yes, I see. That would indeed be quite a good development for the town, having the Spirit of the Forest’s representative residing here. Yes, yes… Perhaps we could make it overlooking the shrine. It could even serve as a mecca for worship amongst any of the other followers who hear about it, no? The tourism would be quite a good stimulus for the town. And if we could somehow notify the elves about this as well, then-”

  Mmmm, you know Chief, maybe you’re plotting a little bit too far there? All I wanted was a pce to live, not to become some kind of tourist attraction!

  Eh, but if my presence means that this town might flourish, then screw it; Let the people come into this cute little town of mine and gawk all they’d like!

  Come one, come all, and look at the town that my beautiful flowers have built!!!

  ~~~

  After getting a few vague directions from the Chief, I set off to continue on with my journey!

  It’d be a lie if I said I didn’t feel a little bit sad leaving the town, though. There’s the fact that everyone there was really nice to me, and also how teary Oren looked when he saw me off. Really, I never thought I was so weak to kids before, but after all the ones I kept meeting left right and center, I’m beginning to realize how big of a soft spot I have for them!

  I wonder if maybe… If maybe one day… Maybe Til and I could, idunno… Maybe we could have some kids of our own…?

  There’s magic in the world, so it’s not impossible, right?

  I could grow all the right parts to do it if I really really wanted to, right???

  [Well, perhaps there’s a chance you could figure something out; Even I’m not sure of what you’re capable of should you get any stronger than you are right now. …But still, I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much, considering you’re both from completely different species.]

  Hmph… Yeah, I guess you’re right. I should really just calm down and worry about this another time. I mean, Til and I aren’t even dating yet or anything! It’s too soon to be thinking about things like this! Calm down, Mellily~! You don’t even have any hormones or anything~!!!

  Hmm, but even if it’s not driven by hormones or the like, I do wanna settle down with Til one day. …Am I just being sentimental right now because I had a tearful little goodbye again? Or maybe I’m just feeling lonely? When this all started I never would have thought it was possible for me to even feel lonely, you know? But now I keep finding these little reminders of how lonely I am all over the pce tely…

  I wonder if Til is going to like this town like I do? Does he even like humans at all? I don’t think I ever asked… Would he feel bad living in a town with them? But it’s such a pretty and nice town, though…

  Even if he didn’t want to live here with me, I would still want to show such a pretty little flower-filled town to Til, at least once.

  [I’m quite surprised you didn’t bring him along with you, actually. I realize that Cythia might have gotten in the way a bit, but with all the fuss you made about leaving him behind when you had to go to the Water’s nds, I was surprised that you didn’t immediately retrieve him when you could aftwerwards. After all, he can enter other territories just fine, can't he? Especially the Fire’s nds.]

  WHAT?!

  H-he can???

  …Why didn’t I think of this?!