Chapter 27 -
A month had passed since the activation of the large-scale teleportation magic, and the «Empty Wilderness» was slowly regaining its former tranquility.
Also, since we now had an increased number of residents, I built a church with my «Creation Magic» to support the believers.
In it, I put the idols I created following the images of the goddesses I had seen in my dream oracles, and the management of them was left to the Sheal, who has taken on the title of the 'kin of gods', since she asked for it herself.
"Witch! Leave this church to me! I will properly manage it!"
There was no such thing as holy scriptures on the floating island, though the church eventually became a place where the residents revered the idols, offered their harvests, and found solace.
Incidentally, there was also a small shrine erected beside the church to give offerings to Dragon Grandpa, and both of them were visited by the residents daily.
It was just the Heaven Goddess Leriel and Netherworld Goddess Loriel whom I haven't seen yet that had poorly replicated statues similar to those found in typical churches since the times they appeared throughout history were very low, which was rather endearing.
At night——I realized both Teto and I were standing in the black space of a dream oracle that we hadn't been in for a while.
"This is, Liliel's space, huh?"
"Are we going to meet them again!? Teto is happy!"
«Good evening, Chise, Teto. Thank you for your help regarding the floating island matter.»
I looked up to see Liliel descending with Lariel and Luriel flanking her sides.
«Thank you very much, Chise-chan~. I was also worried about it, but I couldn't use my resources as a goddess on the island on my own, so I had to maintain the status quo up until today.»
As Liliel expressed her thanks, Luriel stepped out from her side and stretched out her hand to take us in a hug.
I immediately straightened up and took a step back, though Lariel grabbed ahold of Luriel's clothes and stopped her from advancing.
«Seriously, you never skip out on chances for skinship. Isn't that why Leriel and Loriel distance themselves from you?»
«Hmm~ but it's natural to be drawn to cute things, isn't it?»
«I believe we have something more important to discuss.»
As the serious-faced Liliel looked at her sisters with a reproachful stare, I prepared myself for whatever they were going to talk about.
Hearing Liliel's words, Luriel, who was exuding a friendly, amicable, and big-sister-like aura, instantly adopted a serious attitude.
«Once again, you have reduced the burden on our shoulders by lifting the barrier of the gods on the floating island. Not only that, but you also protected and helped the mythical beasts and the island's residents to move to a new place. Thank you very much for your help.»
"I didn't particularly do it out of a chivalrous heart, it was the birthplace of Kuro so I decided to help them out."
"This time's matter was too difficult for Teto to understand, so she couldn't be of any help."
Being thanked so straightforwardly caused me to be a bit embarrassed so I hid my face under my triangular hat, while Teto was dejected since she couldn't help out this time, unlike Beretta.
«That, and there is something we must tell you.»
"Something you must tell me?"
As I lifted my hat to look at Luriel's face again, Lariel spoke without any hesitation in place of Liliel, who seemed stumped on how to pass on the next information.
«Originally, that floating island came under the jurisdiction of the Sea Goddess Luriel and Heaven Goddess Leriel. In short, Leriel, too, should be here to convey her gratitude but as you can see, she's not here.»
«I'm really sorry. Leri-chan is really busy right now.»
"Busy? Ah, has something happened in the place she is supervising like what happened at the «Empty Wilderness» or the floating island?"
I was thinking that I didn't mind settling this problem, just like when I took down the monster deep inside the abandoned mine at Lariel's request or Luriel's floating island request, but Luriel, who seemed to have read my thoughts, gently reprimanded me.
«Due to Chise's hard work, the «Empty Wilderness» restoration is on the right track. Besides, the barrier will also be lifted from there just like with the floating island in the near future. Your hard work has brought in so many changes, from the forest to the plains to the swamps and many more. The ground surface is gradually gaining its former look, so you can live as you like, Chise.»
"Live as I like, but that’s what I’m doing right now, no?"
"Majou-sama is always having fun~"
In my defense, I'm living quite carefreely, but it didn't seem so from the godessesses' perspective, apparently. My shoulders dropped in dejection mentally.
In fact, I visited the Lovile Kingdom, where we were supposed to be wanted, on our occasional day off, buying paintings from young—... now grown-up artists, checking out new works of famous tableware studios, and many more...... However, what surprised me even more was that their King was confined in just one year since we left the Lovile Kingdom and their monarchy system had changed to a parliamentary system.
Though they might have shifted to a parliamentary system, the governing body of the parliament was mostly composed of nobles due to the influence they had, and while few in numbers, there were also members from non-state organizations like the grandmasters of the Adventurer and Merchant's guild that joined in.
Well, leaving that aside,
«Leri-chan's territory is fine. But you see, Leri-chan is the Heaven Goddess. She governs the sky and wind so she also has similarly equal authority over space.»
"Is that space something like another dimension or a subspace?"
I have heard that spiritual lifeforms like angels, devils, spirits, fairies, ghosts, and many more existed in these other spaces.
Aside from that, the legends of phenomenons like being spirited away or disappearing houses also occur due to this where they get moved to such different spaces and then reappear in some random location.
«Yes, Leri-chan has sensed some kind of strangeness in a new, different dimension and so, she is apparently busy monitoring it.»
Such different dimensions usually vanish by themselves under the corrective force of the world's rules, but, depending on the situation, there were also times they took a definite shape and turn into something like a dungeon.
«Though it would be nice if it's some groundless worry.»
In contrast to Luriel who heaved a sigh, I conveyed my willingness to help within my capabilities.
"Well, let me know if something happens. I will help out if there's something I can do."
"Teto will also help out!"
«Alright, and thank you, Chise-chan, Teto-chan. If we really need help, I will inform you.»
«Well, we have said everything we needed to say so now I would like to hear about the recent changes in the «Empty Wilderness».»
Lariel chimed in once Luriel was done with conveying the important matters.
Furthermore, Liliel made a table, chairs, and a tea set appear out of thin air and also joined in on our conversation.
«Let's sit, we are done with the important talk, so it's time for a tea party to commemorate Chise's hard work. I would also like to hear about the recent events in the «Empty Wilderness».»
"Alright. Let's see, there are a lot of things like......"
—How cute the newborn babies of the mythical beasts were.
—Baretta making us wear all sorts of clothes.
—The interesting book I bought from my outing.
—How I'm currently in the middle of trying to come up with a spell to transform into an adult appearance with Yuishia by taking inspiration from the racial skills of the beastkin's «Beastification» and the dragonkin's «Dragonification».
—Visiting Dragon Grandpa to talk to him and listen to his old tales.
All of them were just commonplace stories, though Liliel and others listened to them with keen interest.
Now, there was a village consisting of several hundred people in the once barren and unpopulated «Empty Wilderness», and, as someone looking after them, I thought that I may indeed be unconsciously forcing myself to work hard.
Just like Liliel said, maybe it was time to take a break from things for a while. After that, I guess I would leave for another journey with Teto as a whimsical adventurer.
