Chapter 64
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Seed
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In movies, dramas, or even animations, you often see scenes where the main characters stake their lives in battle against each other. And unless it's just a petty squabble between two people, the fight's aftermath inevitably spills over to the surroundings.
And in those stories, the traces of battle usually vanish cleanly after a day or two...
'Fuck, how do they do it? Do those worlds have janitors like me?'
Having to clean up the aftermath of the battle myself, I could really feel that this wasn't as easy as it seemed. Even I, with the Cleaning Game's system granting me insane cleaning abilities, felt this way.
Wiping away bloodstains, clearing bodies, sorting their loot separately, tending to our wounded, repairing the traps smashed when Fallen and Erzsebet clashed, cleaning up the muddy footprints left by the heroes...
Fuck. Maybe I should put up a sign at the ruin entrance saying "Remove shoes before entering."
"Can't you take it slow? There's no need to rush like that..."
"How can I just leave it when it's bugging me?"
For starters, leaving the bodies nearby felt gross. If I did, bugs would swarm them, and they'd start reeking soon enough. Anyway...
"Looks like you've almost got it all cleaned up."
"Impressive as ever, Master. Those abilities of yours. Maybe they're even more effective for cleaning than fighting?"
They were cleaning abilities from the start... This is my real job.
Of course, seeing how I used them to wipe out the heroes, it was natural to mistake them for combat skills.
"Set aside anything worth selling to the dungeon merchant. Oh, and human money we can use in their cities too."
"Master, no need to dirty your hands further. Leave the rest to us."
As the cleaning wrapped up, the kin recovered thanks to Erzsebet stepped up, insisting they'd handle the rest. Fair enough. To them, it probably looked undignified for their Dungeon Master to be doing menial chores.
No need for my help on the leftovers anyway...
"Alright. Good work. Do as I said, then rest and recover your fatigue."
"We thank you for your mercy, Master."
Mercy my ass. I was exhausted myself, and they'd been at it nonstop without sleep since hearing the heroes were coming—planning, fortifying.
Heading to the garden where I'd roughly built a house, Erzsebet tagged along.
"Now we can finally rest. Nothing urgent for the moment..."
"Hm. Master, you know how in old plays, the guy who says that..."
"Want me to put you to work too?"
"...Sorry, Master."
What flag is she waving? We'd repelled the heroes and had Lilith charm ten of them to send false reports, buying us time. What else was there to do now...
"Daddy!"
"......?"
What? Am I so tired I'm hallucinating? Rio should've put out the fire by now, so whose kid voice is...
-Dudududu...
"Daddy!"
"Gahk!"
"Master?!"
In the split second I tilted my head wondering if it was a hallucination, a tiny figure burst from between the garden trees and hurled itself into my arms like a bullet. A heavy impact slammed my body, pain like my guts were bursting hit me, and I toppled flat on the ground.
And atop my fallen body sat a green-haired little girl in what looked like clothes woven from leaves, grinning happily.
"Daddy!"
Calling me Daddy.
"...Hm. Master, you have a daughter?"
"You think?"
Who the hell is this kid calling me Daddy?
"Nom nom..."
I looked down at the green-haired girl happily devouring food I'd bought from the [Shop].
"...This is Dryad?"
"Hmm. She probably hasn't recovered enough for a full avatar yet, so she shrank it? But why this form..."
The identity of the girl calling me Daddy: the massive tree beside us, Dryad. I'd been a bit flustered at first, but seeing the [Staff Management] window pop up over her head cleared it up.
Sure, I'd heard that once she recovered, the humanoid figure embedded in the tree would move. But I hadn't expected a child form instead of the original. That I could shrug off. The issue was...
"Dryad?"
"Daddy?"
"...Why am I Daddy?"
Dryad suddenly calling me 'Daddy' out of nowhere.
"Food!"
"...She calls whoever feeds her Daddy?"
"Yeah."
And the reason was ridiculously simple. She just calls the person who feeds her Daddy.
"Hmm. Does that make me Mommy then? I was the one who suggested handing that archlich over as a snack..."
"Grrr...!"
-Slap!!
The moment she said that, trying to get the girl to call her Mommy, Dryad snarled viciously and shot a massive tree root from the ground to smack Erzsebet's cheek.
...Definitely Dryad.
"...This brat...!"
"Hey. What're you doing to the kid."
"Kid? She's only kid-shaped—actually an ancient tree...! Probably older than me... No, definitely! Dryads are all decrepit old—Kek!"
-Wham!
Erzsebet, furious from the slap, got launched again—this time by a huge root surging from the ground into her solar plexus.
She seemed stronger than before? She'd occasionally whack Erzsebet with roots, but not with that power and speed... So it wasn't just a form change?
-Tap tap.
"Here."
"Hm?"
While watching the slapstick between Dryad and Erzsebet, I'd been feeding Dryad—who kept her mouth open like a baby bird. She tapped me and handed something over.
"Fruit?"
A red fruit about tangerine-sized—smaller than an apple but similar. Dryad tapped my hand again and opened her mouth wide.
Everything's fine, Dryad, but this'll be your fifth serving... How much does she eat?
"Yummy."
"......"
Sometimes when I ate leaning against Dryad's trunk, she'd seem to whine for some too... No way she shrank to humanoid form just to eat, right?
Unable to resist her sparkling eyes, I bought another [Meal] and fed her while examining the fruit. Erzsebet returned from afar.
"Urgh... Now even Dryad treats me like..."
"Erzsebet. Any idea what fruit Dryad gave me?"
"Hm? Fruit? No way..."
Erzsebet, debating whether to smack Dryad, froze with wide eyes at the red fruit.
"A dryad's fruit... Incredibly rare, and she gave it to you."
"Dryad's fruit... You mean the fruit she bore?"
"Dryads who consume enough nutrients occasionally bear fruit. Extremely rare, only one at a time, and they give it only to those they've personally acknowledged..."
Erzsebet eyed the fruit greedily. Seeing her—who usually only craved blood—act this way was novel.
"What, you want some too?"
"I've never tasted dryad fruit either. Blood's my only interest, but dryad fruit..."
-Slap! Slap!
"No! Daddy's!"
"......."
As Erzsebet reached absentmindedly, Dryad—who'd been eating quietly—swatted her hands away.
"...Tch. Just curiosity, wasn't coveting Master's stuff."
"Anyway... Dryad gave it for me to eat?"
It felt iffy since it came from Dryad, now in girl form. But as I hesitated, Dryad—who'd been eagerly eating—stared right into my eyes.
Like, eat it already.
"Dryad fruit starts rotting after a day. Best eat it now."
"No poison or anything?"
"None. Quite good for the body."
"Good for the body?"
"You'll feel it."
Her reluctance to explain outright was suspicious, but with the [Blood Contract], Dryad wouldn't suggest harm. I slowly brought the fruit to my mouth and took a bite.
-Crunch!
Tart, rich juice flooded my mouth instantly, followed by a fresh fruit scent unlike any I'd tasted—filling every corner.
'...Delicious!'
I'd been wary, but hooked by the taste, I devoured the rest mindlessly.
"Whew... That was good. Thanks, Dryad."
"Food!"
"...Yeah, have more."
I thanked her, but she ignored it, demanding more food. Already her sixth serving... How does that tiny body hold it all? Does the main tree absorb it?
"So... what's the effect?"
"Like a spirit tonic. Can't you feel it yet? Master uses magic, so you have mana inside. Pure, high-grade mana circulating in your body."
".....?"
What?
'I don't know magic and have no mana.'
Couldn't say that, so I nodded ambiguously. Unsatisfied by my dull reaction, Erzsebet frowned.
"Why the lukewarm response, Master? Any mage would kill for this treasure..."
"Uh... yeah. Good. It's good... Any other effects?"
"Hm. Minor compared to mana boost... Body gets sturdier, stamina improves. Just side benefits though."
Stamina, huh... I sat up a bit. No immediate change, but I felt oddly more energetic than before.
Not superhuman like the heroes, but like a day laborer toughened by thirty years of grind.
'Nice.'
Unlike playing Cleaning Game in my room, actually moving around to clean had wrecked me. With this stamina, I could clean all day without tiring.
Holding the [High-Pressure Cleaner] used to make my arms feel like falling off after an hour. Might not happen as much now.
"But... what about this?"
Feeling the changes and thanking Dryad left a small seed in my hand.
"This... Dryad's seed? Planting it grows a dryad?"
The seed from the fruit Dryad gave. I didn't know dryad ecology, but if they reproduce like normal trees... Wait, does this make it Dryad's kid?
"No. Dryads don't reproduce that way. For a dryad to breed, first a male has to insert into the dryad's knothole..."
"No, stop. Then what is it?"
"Hm... Never eaten dryad fruit myself, so I don't know."
I'd hoped Dryad would answer, but she showed zero interest in the seed from her own fruit. She just started on her seventh meal, ignoring it completely.
'For now... I'll just keep it.'
Planting it rashly felt risky—not knowing what'd sprout. Would be nice if it regrew that fruit endlessly.
I casually pocketed the seed, unaware of just how precious it was.