I always wonder, how did things end up like this?
When I returned to the Shamcats royal castle, for some reason, I was welcomed with open arms.
"Oh, Awaited One! You have saved our country, and I don’t even know what to say... Thank you so much!"
"Oh! Rosarin-sama, who is even greater than a goddess! We are truly grateful!"
Everyone was excessively humble towards me, but why?? The king of Shamcats readily approved my proposal without hesitation. Apparently, he had been deeply troubled by the plight of the poor. When I heard about his hardships, I couldn't help but sympathize. This king had a human mother, which made him adept at intellectual work... but for that very reason, his sensitivity to magic remained low. On top of that, he also suffered at the hands of idiots who valued pure bloodlines above all else.
In a beastman society dominated by muscleheads, working was tough, and having been worn down by a desperate situation, he had turned rebellious.
Since I was the one who suggested the orphanage, I said I would help fund it, and the king thanked me profusely with tears in his eyes.
The subsequent discussions went almost too smoothly. For the time being, the orphans would be temporarily housed in our estate and the orphanages of various countries, with the agreement that they would return home once the new orphanage was complete.
I wish I could do something more for them... Now that I think about it, weren’t the trees here looking rather withered...?
"Niisama, don't you think the plants here are unusually dry?"
"... Yeah. It seems like there's no Yggdrasil magic flowing in this area...? Rather than just withering, I think they’ve gone dormant due to a lack of magic power..."
As expected of my brother. He can immediately assess anything plant-related!
Since Dirk wouldn’t be of much help with Yggdrasil-related matters, he said he'd take care of the orphans instead. As expected of my capable and considerate husband!!
Mary and the others also left the Yggdrasil issue to us and went with Dirk to the orphans.
"Sui~"
I called for Sui, figuring she would know a lot about Yggdrasil.
"Did you need something?"
"Yggdrasil’s magic power around here is unusually low. Do you know anything about it? Also, could you ask Yggdrasil directly?"
"Hmm... I'll ask."
Sui returned quickly.
"The Yggdrasil in this country went dormant because the land became filled with magic. If it stayed active, the magic would spread to the other Yggdrasils."
"Oh wow... Guess we need to go wake up this sleepyhead."
And so, we arrived at Yggdrasil, but now I had to figure out how to wake it up. Pouring magic into it would be dangerous since this isn’t an emergency.
"Niisama, do you have any good ideas?"
"Let’s see..."
As we were thinking, a song reached our ears. It was the famous "Hey Hey Ho" tree-cutting song from Japan.
“".........”"
Feeling an ominous premonition, we checked the source of the sound.
There stood a burly, muscle-bound lumberjack... Rinka.
Or rather, “Lumberjack Rinka”, swinging an axe in practice swings.
Huh?
"WHAAAT!?"
"What the heck are you doing!?"
"Are you an idiot!???"
"Wait! You guys are being too mean! I thought if it was in danger, it would wake up!"
"If someone saw that without context, they’d think you were actually trying to chop it down! That scared me half to death! Don't start with a high-risk method like that, stupid Rinka!!"
Seriously, that freaked me out! At least try talking to it first…… wait?
"... Well, it was a risky method, but..."
"Looks like it was super effective. Kaasan’s a heavy sleeper, so Rinka’s approach might’ve actually been the right call."
Yggdrasil was trembling violently. It may have been effective, but I felt bad for it... It was shaking so much, too scared to even manifest a spirit form.
"... For now, let’s just deliver some Yggdrasil magic power and grow a bunch of vegetables. What would thrive in this soil? Are there any crops that aren’t found in Christia?"
Oh no. Brother's plant-enthusiast switch has been flipped! His eyes are sparkling.
"Uhh..."
"The local specialty here is... I think it's Konyaku imo. When processed, it turns into a jiggly—"
"Konjac potatoes!?"
No way! That’s the ingredient I was looking for!! Konjac jelly, konjac noodles... These will sell! They’ll be a hit as diet foods, and I want to eat them myself! Simmered konjac balls… no, miso dengaku is tempting too!!
No, no, I can't be consumed by greed. I have a noble goal to achieve!!
"So, what is Konyaku imo used for?"
"I think it's processed into konjac. It can be used as a gelatin substitute, so it’s perfect for diet foods! But... it’s unnecessary for the starving fluffies… Not now... No, now is the perfect time to showcase Niisama’s research results!!"
At that moment, I was so excited about the konjac discovery that I accidentally broke the brakes on Brother’s runaway express.
The result.
"AAAAHHHH!?"
"EEEEEHHHH!?"
"Oops, I overdid it."
Brother ended up growing an overwhelming amount of *huge* vegetables.
What do we do!? Seriously, what do we do!?? What now!!
I racked my brain desperately, but no answers came to mind.
What do you think about this chapter?
