35 – The Blessing of the Goddess
“Ugh!”
The natural mana that was shaking began to sink heavily and press down on the air.
It was a magic that I had experienced once before, and felt quite familiar.
It was the goddess of nature.
Trias was interfering with Pii’s magic, there was no doubt about it.
I instinctively realized that fact and shouted at Pii.
“Pii! Are you okay?!”
[I, I’m okay! Are you okay?!]
“I don’t know! What the hell is going on?”
[Trias took over my magic!]
Pii was whining as he resisted the goddess’s magic.
But it was impossible to resist Trias with natural magic.
All the natural magic in this world belonged to the goddess of nature, Trias.
Pii, who had been resisting, also realized that and let go of his strength and collapsed on the floor.
Pii, who had an angry expression on his face, looked up at the sky and threw a tantrum.
[Damn it! I messed up! I was trying to make fun of him by making him look ridiculous!]
“Huh?”
Who were you trying to make fun of and how?
I asked Pii as I resisted the spirit wood that was wrapping around my body.
“What are you talking about? How did you try to make the armor that the goddess intervened?!”
[I, I was just trying to make it cute!]
“What? Cutely? You think I’m going to wear cute equipment?”
[I was going to use the wish ticket I got earlier….]
“Wow! You’re unbelievable!”
You’re going to make me wear ridiculous equipment and then force me to put it on with the wish ticket.
I felt a chill down my spine as I heard Pii’s plan.
You’re going to get back at me for teasing you with the sap like this.
I gave up resisting and entrusted my body to Trias’s magic.
“Trias, please take good care of me!”
[Hey! I said I would make it for you!]
“Don’t mind Pii and make me something cool!”
[Eek! You’ll see later!]
From Noble mtl dot com
Right now, I trusted Trias more than Pii.
If the goddess who hated me intervened like this, it meant that the armor Pii was going to make was more serious than I imagined.
I didn’t want to walk around like a clown, even if it was Pii’s request.
Trias wouldn’t be able to watch his druid candidate become a laughingstock either.
So if I left it to Trias, I would get armor that suited a druid candidate.
“Okay! I’m ready!”
I ignored Pii’s scream and entrusted my body to Trias’s magic.
At that moment, the wood around me shattered and started to cover my body.
– Clack clack!!
“Krrrgh!!”
Sharp wooden splinters scraped my body and tore my skin, and the wood that was taking shape twisted my joints grotesquely.
It was a rough magic that had no regard for me.
It was really a typical Trias-like prickly magic.
[Wow!]
But I didn’t feel any resentment because of the armor that was covering my body.
The armor that I looked down at was flaunting a splendid design even at a glance.
It was indeed a right choice to entrust Trias instead of Pii.
I endured the pain and waited for the armor to be completed.
– Thud. Clack. Tap.
How long did I wait?
When the armor production was all finished, my body felt lighter and all the armors started to line up in front of me.
The armor that piled up from the greaves to each part looked like it was displayed on a mannequin and faced me.
It looked like it was asking me, ‘Is this enough for you?’
Who would have thought that the elves’ goddess was such a tsundere?
I looked at the armor in front of me while bleeding profusely from my whole body.
[Wow, it’s cool….]
“Ugh. Indeed….”
The completed elemental armor was a sight that made me admire involuntarily.
The full-body armor that used all the leaves had boots and gloves perfectly equipped.
It looked like a wooden giant that had been carved and shrunk down with style.
I couldn’t help but close my mouth at the mysterious and somewhat scary aura.
[It even has horns!]
The most noticeable part of it was none other than the helmet.
The helmet that completely covered the face had deer antlers made of branches attached to it.
They were majestic and sturdy-looking antlers, just like the ones that hung over Trias’s head.
It would be a perfect design if one didn’t care about practicality.
I realized one thing.
‘This doesn’t seem like an improvised design.’
The armor in front of me was definitely not something that came to mind in a flash.
It was a masterpiece that had been carefully planned and refined over a long time.
An image that depicted dignity and terror. And the deer antler decoration that reminded me of the goddess of nature.
As I looked closely at the armor, I felt like I knew what Trias expected of a druid.
This was proof that Trias had acknowledged and watched over me.
I smirked and muttered softly.
“The goddess was a tsundere too.”
At that moment, the armor that was standing still rushed at me with a fist.
Trias had heard my muttering and tried to use the armor to inflict violence on me.
“Ouch!”
[Oh, geez! That scared me!]
“Ow! Why are you doing this again!”
I crouched down to avoid the fierce wooden fist.
Stop spitting out useless words. Stop trying to crawl up. The fist that contained such willpower hit the back of my head several times and then quieted down.
The sharp mana of Trias that had been piercing me suddenly stopped being felt at some point.
I opened my eyes slightly and looked at my body, and the spirit armor was neatly equipped on my body.
Seeing that I had no complaints, he put the armor back on me and left without hesitation.
[He must have beaten you up and left. Why are you so annoying?]
“It’s my way of expressing affection.”
[Do you like getting hit?]
“Depends on the situation.”
[Eek!]
Despite the sudden intrusion of Trias, I was able to make a splendid armor using the branches of Pi.
An electric saw blessed by the wild and a spirit armor blessed by nature.
With this, I had two pieces of equipment blessed by the gods.
Pi’s plan to tease me brought the blessing of the goddess.
“Pi caught a mouse while backing away.”
I smiled brightly as I put Pi in the chest and put him in.
Surprisingly, the new chest had a separate place for Pi.
Also, the helmet that covered my face did not block my vision, and the whole body armor was very comfortable to wear.
I felt like I could sleep in the armor.
It was a scene that showed how much Trias cared for me.
“If Trias hadn’t helped me, I would have been in big trouble.”
[Hmph! I didn’t use the wish, so I still have a chance for revenge!]
“Yeah. It’s your first and last wish, so use it wisely.”
[But, if you say that, I’ll feel too reluctant to use it!]
I breathed mana and treated the minor scratches with first aid.
Then I turned my body and walked toward the exit.
The armor that the goddess of nature made for me was something that even the elves had never seen before.
It was the perfect opportunity to raise my status as a druid candidate and show off my cool equipment.
“We’re out.”
I kicked the door open with a confident stride.
All the high elves’ eyes were on me and I heard them gasp.
“Wow, candidate! What is that armor!?”
“Of course… Was that mana from Trias earlier?”
“The druid candidate received the blessing of the goddess!!”
The high elves rushed toward me as if they were going to cheer for me.
Even the grumpy Sizjo looked at my elemental armor with envy.
It wasn’t a bad attention.
I smiled broadly and accepted their interest.
“How is it? Cool?”
“It’s amazing!”
I felt like my life in the western branch tribe would be much easier.
* * *
As expected, I was able to live a fairly comfortable life in the western branch tribe.
Sizu didn’t like to leave the druid candidate alone, so I had to go around with her, but she seemed to care for me, as I never had to face the humans at the front line.
I drank the sap of Pii once a day to purify my mana, and honed my combat skills by hunting small monsters.
It was a peaceful life without any hardship or boredom for a while.
Then one day, a faint echo came from the mountain range that looked a little higher than the world tree.
It sounded like the wind at first, but it was a definite animal cry.
“Finally, the mad dragon Hista is crying.”
Sizu, who heard the echo, lit up her eyes and said so.
When I asked her what was going on, she answered with a fierce ambition.
“Get ready to go back to Eldenore.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yes. The hunting season has begun.”
The hunting season began with the cry of the mad dragon Hista.
“Monsters will swarm in.”
Fall was coming to the continent of Sdiya.