335 – The Base of the Great Tree

I stretch out my neck to bathe in the sunlight.
Glancing to the side, I see a bubble of snot expanding from my partner’s nose as she sleeps, a peaceful expression on her face.
Her mouth is closed, but she continues to move it, slowly chewing value A- flowers that were the crystallisation of a hundred years of the adam’s effort.

“……”

Well, I suppose it’s fine.
No matter how society values them, to us they’re just slightly pretty, sweet-tasting flowers.
It’s not like humans would come here anyway.
Eat away, eat away.

Though… It’s morning.

Yesterday, I flew for ages and then was attacked by a naked headless man, so I was mentally exhausted and decided to get some sleep.
I placed my tail under my chin to make a ring as I slept, and had Aro and the other get in the middle.
As a result they’re unlikely to get attacked from outside.
To be as safe as possible, the plan was to take shifts with my partner, but…

“Gaaaaa…… GaaaaaAA……” 

…She became like this.
I guess she thought that since she had free time, she might as well eat some reigrua, but lost to its soporific effect.

I stretch my neck out further and peer into the ring.
I find everyone safe, Aro sprawled over some rainbow-coloured flowers, the petit nightmare having drawn some thread across my body, and the treant resting with its roots in the ground.

After waking everyone up, we start to head towards the giant tree to this island’s west.
That area is by far the most suspicious place on this island.
Put another way, if the monsters there aren’t very powerful, I could then assume this island is generally safe.

Besides… I want to secure food.
After all that moving around, the only nutrition I’ve taken in is that adam’s body.
I can be fine with not eating anything for a few days, but that’s not to say I don’t need food at all.
If I get hungry, my natural recovery of HP and MP will go down, and I’ll get fatigued.

I held myself back while I was around the Lithovar village, since if I were to hunt in earnest it would have affected their livelihood.
My body is so big that, were I to eat until satisfied, it’d be a minor calamity.
But it should be fine if the ecosystem here is thrown into chaos a bit.
I want to finally eat until I’m full and get in peak physical condition.

As I get near the giant tree, the land gives way to cliffs.
The elevation change is extreme.
But that tree… Just how tall is it? It’s making even me feel small.
It must be three hundred… No, four hundred metres tall.
The closer I get, the more overwhelming it feels.
If it were to suddenly fall towards me, I’d have to choice but to brace myself for death.

Perhaps having some thoughts as a fellow tree, the treant stops from time to time and stretches out its trunk… No, trying to compete is a bad idea, it’s not even slightly comparable, you know?

But I don’t see much in the way of monsters.
The area is so devoid that I wonder if the adam didn’t kill them all.
There seemed to be something near the big tree, but because of the elevation difference, I can’t see its base any more.

Looking towards the coast, I see a flock of birds flapping in the air.
I wonder if I can eat them… Is what I think, but then I see that attached to the birds’ necks are the heads of women.

【[Siren]: B rank monster】
【A monster with the head of a human woman and the body of a bird.】
【The [Siren’s] song causes other creatures to relax, luring them to their death.】
【It often lives in seas near coasts, and has a preference for human flesh.】
【It mesmerises sailors with its song and curses them to death, then picks at their corpses.】
【If you find a mountain of human bones on a beach, then you have found a [Siren] hunting ground.】

Ah, they’re no good.
This island… Is it all going to be like this? All B rank, the same rank as the manticore and mother? Hidden in each of the tiny bodies of those bird-women is as much power as the manticore? With them gathered together, they might be a bit difficult to take on.

I look around, but don’t see anything that looks like a pile of human bones.
Well, I guess humans hardly ever come here…

For that matter, why human-faced birds, why a headless human? Why is there nothing but unappetising creatures? Hopefully the huge tree will have some proper (mainly in terms of appearance) monsters… As I look up at the tree, I spot a round pink head peeking out from a hole high up, looking down at us.
Excited, it pants fiercely through its nose.
It seems to be immensely curious about its new visitors.

Is it a snake…? A lizard…? No, it doesn’t have wings, but a dragon? I guess I could eat it, but… I’m a dragon too.
Wouldn’t that be cannibalism? It doesn’t look very big.
It’s three metres long at most.

For the time being, its status… If I can see the strength of a monster I come across like this, I should be able to get a sense for the strength of this island’s monsters.

【[Giva]: B- rank monster】
【A dragon with a slender pink body.】

【It crawls across the ground and walls with nimble movements, and specialises in using ice magic to toy with its enemies.】

…As I thought, this island’s weakest might be B- rank.
Even a monster like this would be among the strongest outside the island.

【In addition, the [Giva] is hermaphroditic, and can mate with other species of dragon to produce offspring as a male or female.】
【Its mating season lasts almost an entire year, and if it sees a dragon it takes a liking too, it will approach and try to bring the dragon back to its nest.】

I reflexively look back up at it.
As before, it’s breathing through its nose fiercely, waving its tail to either side, banging it against the floor of its nesting hole… I look away quietly.

S-somehow, I’m starting to not want to get close to the tree any more… Why can’t this island have some decent monsters? I don’t mind if they’re a bit strong, but are there no safe monsters?

As I think about various things, I crest a small hill.
Now that I’ve gotten close, I can see the base of the tree.

The ground before me is cracked by roots, leaving the roots exposed.
Hidden in the base of the tree, there’s what looks like a stone entrance.
It seems there’s a building constructed right under the giant tree for some reason.
It’s clearly artificial.
It looks pretty old, but… I guess people lived here long ago.
Some might still be hiding there.
Though I guess it’s not impossible that the adam could have made it…