As the Guardian of the World Tree

On a rare holiday, Riel Ignis had a gathering with her friends after a very long time.

Her close friend Emilia Silbright, and Aria Owen and Feris Baltreia who had been her friends since the first year.

It had been quite a while since these members, who had been together for over a year, had gathered in one place.

They were now upperclassmen, and in the second semester at that.

Moreover, as they had moved up to become upperclassmen, their majors had slightly diverged, making their educational curricula different, so it was also difficult to study together.

“Ugh, it’s so tough.”

Aria Owen muttered with her head down on the restaurant table.

As she became an upperclassman and clearly decided on her career path, Aria had moved up to the commerce department.

She had hoped to enter the commerce department wanting to help her merchant father, but was struggling with the education curriculum that was more difficult than expected.

“Come to think of it, Miss Riel, you’re not with Sirr today?”

Feris Baltreia looked at Riel with a questioning expression.

The girl with red hair that had grown much longer since the first year was not with the young child she always carried around.

“No. Lilu is taking care of her right now.”

The young baby, Sirr, had been very attached to Riel since birth.

Even such a baby, after a year had passed, had become able to spend time somewhat apart from Riel.

Well, it’s only to some extent, and if she doesn’t see Riel for too long, she gets tremendously sulky.

“Ugh, I was hoping to heal by seeing Sirr~”

Aria muttered with a regretful expression.

Feris gave a wry smile and massaged her friend Aria’s shoulders.

“The commerce department has a lot of theoretical classes, so I guess it’s mentally exhausting.”

The gray-haired girl spoke, watching Aria make pleasant sounds at Feris’s touch as she remained slumped over.

The gray-haired girl, Emilia Silbright, had moved up to the magic department along with her close friend Riel.

In the second-year magic department, Riel and Emilia were achieving excellent grades, ranking at the top of their class.

If one were to point out the biggest difference in her compared to a year ago, it would be that she no longer wears a hat.

She was proudly displaying her wolf ears, and apart from occasional sidelong glances from some people, there was little reaction.

The kingdom had banned discrimination against demi-humans, and it had been a year since the church withdrew from the kingdom.

Although some hardliners among World Tree Church believers still showed discriminatory behavior toward demi-humans, the trend of discrimination had diminished considerably over the year.

Riding this wave, after mustering the courage to come out to her friends as a demi-human, Emilia had been proudly displaying her ears and tail.

“Sigh… I might have chosen my major too hastily. How about you, Feris?”

“Me? Well… the martial arts department is always the same.”

Feris was flustered as the target shifted to her.

She too was achieving fairly good grades in the martial arts department, but she was not even able to compare with the top-tier talents.

If one were to mention someone particularly excellent in the martial arts department… that person’s associate was sitting right in front of them.

“More importantly, are you okay, Riel?”

Riel looked up at Feris’s words.

“Hm? About what?”

“No, I mean about Kyo. There’s a junior girl who’s been following him around a lot.”

Feris thought of Riel’s fiancé, her friend right in front of her.

Kyo Wentos.

The heir to the Wentos Count family, a fairly high-ranking noble family with immense wealth and military power.

A boy with a fairly good-looking face who currently holds the top position in the upperclassman martial arts department.

Naturally, he would be popular among girls for, well, worldly reasons, but there were hardly any female students approaching him.

That’s because he already had a fiancée with formidable power as the second daughter of a kingdom’s duke family.

Even Feris, the fiancée’s friend, rarely has long conversations with him, so what about other female students?

But after becoming an upperclassman, a junior who frequently follows him had appeared.

Gransen Academy first-year, Chloe Elleire.

A female junior who follows Kyo Wentos to an eye-catching extent.

Well, even though she follows him, all they do is sword sparring, but still, isn’t it a bit much to cling so closely to a man who has a fiancée…?

Thinking that, she had mentioned it to Riel, but Riel answered as if it were nothing.

“Are you talking about Miss Chloe?”

“Huh? You knew?”

“Yes. Kyo told me about it. I’ve already met her myself.”

Well, given Kyo Wentos’s personality, she had thought he might have already mentioned her.

But she didn’t expect they had met directly.

So does that mean Chloe Elleire knows he has a fiancée, and even after meeting her directly, she still acts like that?

No, more importantly, is Riel really okay with this?

“Is… Riel really okay with this?”

“With what?”

Feris was more confused by Riel’s seemingly unconcerned attitude.

“Well… Miss Chloe. I’m wondering if she’s following him too closely…”

“Ah~”

Riel nodded as if understanding.

“Well, it’s fine. When I talked to her directly, it didn’t seem like she had any other intentions.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. And I trust Kyo.”

Looking at Riel who said this, Feris couldn’t say anything.

Well, actually, it doesn’t seem likely that Kyo Wentos would abandon Riel and have an affair with another woman.

And from a third-party perspective, it doesn’t seem like Chloe Elleire is particularly flirting with Kyo Wentos either.

…Yes, well, it should be fine.

Feris decided to think that way.

“Oh my?”

Another voice came to the four people who were having this conversation.

Riel, who was sitting facing the owner of that voice, said her name.

“Carlena? And that’s your younger sister, Vaniella, right?”

“Ah, Senior Riel.”

The sisters Carlena Grace and Vaniella Grace were standing there.

Riel, who was acquainted with them, greeted them normally, but the other three people awkwardly gave proper greetings.

No matter how little status matters within the academy, maintaining minimal courtesy avoids discomfort between people, unless they’re close.

“It’s been a while, Riel. This is almost the first time since becoming upperclassmen, right?”

“I entered the magic department, and Carlena entered the politics department… so we rarely had a chance to meet, right?”

The two greeted each other happily.

“Are you here for a meal with your sister today?”

“Yes, something like that. Vaniella said she had something she wanted to consult about.”

“Hmm…”

Riel was a bit curious about what problem Vaniella wanted to consult about.

But looking at Vaniella’s expression, she thought it was a very delicate issue, so she quickly dropped the thought.

“Well, along with that, we also wanted to spend some time as sisters. It’s a rare day off, after all.”

“Yes, then I’m sorry for keeping you any longer.”

“Not at all, it was nice to talk after such a long time. Well then.”

Saying that, Carlena left, and Vaniella, who bowed her head in greeting, followed her sister.

After they left, Aria exhaled deeply.

“Phew, I was nervous. As expected, a duke’s daughter has a different aura.”

“Huh? I’m also a duke’s daughter though…?”

Riel murmured blankly at Aria’s words.

Am I perhaps not very duke-daughter-like…? she thought.

After finishing light training with Chloe, I returned to the dormitory, showered, and was half-lying on the bed taking a rest.

The training had ended with my complete victory.

‘Senior~ Aren’t you too strong? What kind of training do you do to become like that?’

That was the question Chloe asked with a tearful face after losing the sparring match.

Well, honestly, it’s a bit uncomfortable to say it’s 100% the result of training and effort.

After Allen left the academy, what Riel and I did from the second semester at the academy was none other than exploring the secret rooms.

Starting from the secret rooms that appeared in the original work, to secret rooms that didn’t even appear in the original work.

In those places, there were various books and magical tools.

However, some of the secret rooms from the original work already had traces of someone having visited them.

Well, there’s no need to ponder who it was, it must have been Allen.

Among them, the valuable “Life Brooch,” one of the magical tools that appeared in the original work, was already gone.

Allen probably took it first.

But there were still many magical tools that Allen hadn’t touched, and most of the secret rooms that didn’t appear in the original work were preserved intact.

Among them, what was the biggest gain for me was the underground training room located beneath the training ground.

A secret room standing alone without magical tools or books.

But the room had numerous facilities optimized for training, whether martial arts training or magic training.

According to the writing on the wall of the room, it was a training ground used by a mercenary group hundreds of years ago… well, that doesn’t matter now.

I was worried because it was such an old room, but Lilu, who inspected the room, smiled and said there was no problem.

So… I’m using that room when training.

Since it only has functions that assist with training and requires personal effort, it’s still a very good place that maximizes training efficiency.

It’s enough to make me a little curious about what kind of mercenary group built and used this room.

Well anyway, although it’s a bit uncomfortable, I couldn’t tell Chloe about this room yet.

I understood that she had no ulterior motives, but I think the bigger reason is that I still don’t trust her enough.

While lying down lost in thought, I heard a knock on the door.

“Young Master, Lady Sirr and Lady Lilu have arrived.”

Along with Phyllis’s voice, the door opened and Lilu entered.

In her arms was a small girl with neatly tied-back green hair.

Having passed a year, Sirr, who had grown a bit, was in Lilu’s arms, and when she saw me, she reached out her hands toward me.

“Baa, baa…”

“Ah, yes. Good girl…”

I took Sirr whom Lilu was offering.

Feeling the weight that had become slightly heavier than a year ago, I looked at Sirr’s face.

It had only been a year, but it was a face that definitely resembled Riel.

…Really, at this rate, won’t she be suspected of being Riel’s daughter?

Well, she is similar to a daughter, and I do plan to formally register her in the family registry after we get married.

“Baa!”

“Ow! Sirr, don’t pull my hair.”

“Mmng?”

Sirr, smiling, grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled.

Just like when she was a complete baby, her grip is very strong.

It’s enough to make me worry that my hair might all fall out and I’ll be bald by the time she grows up.

“Phew, I’m grateful that she likes me, but we should correct this habit of pulling at everything…”

“Mmng…”

As I lifted my head to prevent her from pulling my hair, Sirr made a slightly pouting expression.

That expression seemed to relax a bit, and then she fell asleep right away.

“Phew, are you okay, Lilu…?”

After confirming that Sirr was asleep, I looked at Lilu.

…Seeing her usually neat blonde hair sticking out here and there, she’s not okay.

“No problem.”

But Lilu answers calmly without changing her expression.

…Indeed, the guardian of the World Tree. Her loyalty is truly remarkable.

“More importantly, I came because I have something to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“I think I’ll be away from the royal capital for a while.”

I looked at her, surprised by what she said.

Since she was a person who never left Sirr’s side, it was a bit unexpected.

“We don’t mind, but is something happening?”

“It’s about this magical tool you discovered before…”

Saying that, what Lilu brought out was a pendant with a small magic stone embedded in it.

No, I should say it was a magic stone. The magic stone embedded in the middle has long since lost its magical power and become just a stone.

It was an item we found in one of the secret rooms, specifically the one connecting the school cafeteria and a candy store in the royal capital.

Since it had already lost its power, we had set it aside and left it alone.

“After investigating, I know for certain that this belongs to an old friend of mine.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So I’m thinking of being away for a few days to meet her.”

I nodded at her words.

“I understand. But if you’re just returning it, couldn’t you have someone else…”

“No, I’m not going to return it.”

Lilu raised the pendant to eye level and stared at it intently.

“As the guardian of the World Tree, I’m going to get it fixed for Lady Sirr.”