sorry no second chapter today.

I will still try to release all chapters before the year ends

When Nyuju finally settled down the sun was already going down to the west.

It wasn’t sunset yet but the sunrays were already dimmer than during daytime.

「 . . . fumu, what is dirty, I can’t understand it at all. Since I was born I only ate Yggdrasil’s sap. And the elixir created from Yggdrasil’s sap couldn’t be dirty.」

「. . . About that, it’s fine already . . . . because it saved my life . . .」

Though she said that but the girl still was somehow dissatisfied. Despite being a child, a woman’s heart was difficult.

「Then, should I finally lead to my home?」

「Home? Return to the world tree?」

「No, the hollow of Yggdrasil is a temporary home. Currently I’m making a new home.」

Nyuju and I bid farewell to Geeko. Geeko cried 「Geeko」 as goodbye.

「See you later! . . . or so」

Geeko was waving his hand and Nyuju greatly waved her hand back.

In front of the gate of the nest the two giants were standing like guards.

Two large men with a height comparable to me. It might be her first time seeing the giant race. Nyuju exclaimed in surprise 「Those are so huge men!」 from the sky.

The two giants also noticed us immediately.

「Oh ryuu-sama, we were waiting.」

「H-he-hello, r-ry-ryuu-sama. . . . o-oh? T-th-that little girl is who?」

I introduced the girl to Fafner and Fasolt.

The giants 「She looks like a baby, menkoi, menkoi!」 and laughed heartily.

「What is menkoi?」 the girl asked my quietly. 「It means cute」 I told her. She then hid her face while looking down.

「By the way you two, do you have some business today?」

They had been waiting so they might have some business.

Fafner and Fasolt 「Ah, It is so」 said so and took out a huge square box.

「It’s a housewarming gift.」

「R-ry-ryuu-sama can put in his treasure, i-isn’t it just right?」

The thing that the two carried had a height that reached my shoulder and was certainly a huge chest.

How big was the tree that it was carved from? The countless annual rings drew a complicated design and it has unique smell while having a bright luster.

Moreover, not only was the outside beautiful I was also very functional.

Attached to it were also about 20 drawers and it could be used to separate treasures accordingly.

An exquisite bronze work was made on the metal fitting of the handle.

「This . . . , it’s wonderful! This chest is perfect for my treasures! Fasolt, Fafner! Thank you! Thank you!」

Though I wasn’t interested in the treasures the preceding dragon left behind but when I thought about putting treasures into this chest I was somehow WakuWaku excited. No one could make such an excellent article besides them.

「That?! Was made? By the giants?」

Nyuju was surprised, how many times had it been already today? When I looked at the chest I sighed in admiration.

「Can I look inside it?」

And of course the two giants nodded.

I opened all the drawers of the chest one by one and slowly and carefully looked at every corner of it.

Nyuju saw my state 「Are you looking for something?」 asked me and I answered 「I’m just confirming that there is nothing」.

Umu. Foreign matter (Lizardmen) wasn’t inside it.And then I once again thanked the two.

「By the way ryuu-sama, how is the progress on the totem pole?」

「Ah, I had been a little busy these past days. I made only a little progress. If you are fine with it, want to take a look?」

「I-it’s our pleasure.」

The image of Fasolt and Fafner were the foundation of the totem pole and I advanced under the guidance of the two.

Nyuju’s blue eyes were staring at us while be advanced with our work.

「Do you want to try? Nyuju」

Nyuju hesitated a little but then nodded.

「Fumu . . . there is plenty of excess wood from my work . . .」

「Ryu-sama, the little girl can’t carve the wood with her nails.」

I didn’t use a chisel for sculpting. The nails of a dragon were sharper than any chisel, that’s why a tool wasn’t necessary. As for the work tools that hanged at the waist of the giants, each of them was the size of Nyuju’s body, so it was impossible for her to use them.

While I was worrying about it Fafner began to speak.

「E-e-even the little girl c-can make something with clay.」

The two giants began to dig up the soil on the spot.

When the hole was at knee depth of the giants 「This. Here」 they said and scooped up a gray matter with their hands.

The lumps of clay was bigger than Nyuju’s body and it was put in front of her in large quantities.

「Even the hands of the little girl can make something out of this.」

「Y-y-you should make whatever you want.」

Nyuju seemed to see clay for the first time, she timidly touched it with her forefinger and was surprised by its elasticity and softness.

However, after that she didn’t move in front of the clay at all.

「What’s wrong? Is there any problem?」

The girl looked up at me with eyes of a lost child.

「What I like, what should I make?」

. . . fumu. That question hit me like lightning.

I couldn’t give Nyuju an answer to that question.

The dragon was the creature with the most knowledge in the world. However that wasn’t all.

If you said part of wisdom was wit then I was inexperienced like a child.

However, I thought it was fine now. Because those parts I’m missing, my experienced friends will fill in for me.

「F-f-first p-late and c-cup, t-they are easy and g-good.」

「Cup? Cups can be made with this? . . . This?」

Nyuju looked at the lump of gray clay with an expression that didn’t believe it.

Hou, she didn’t know those were made of clay?

「This soil. It becomes hard if you bake it and changes into the cups and plates that you know of. Isn’t that so? Fasolt, Fafner.」

The two giants nodded with a smile.

I tore two lumps of clay of the size of Nyuju’s fist and gave it to her. She was then seriously trying to make something.

The giants 「You should knead it more」 said such and instructed her at the basic things and let Nyuju made whatever she liked.

As epected, Nyuju had made two cups.

Though the cup was malformed and distorted, it had a certain flavor.

「Two, I made them.」

The girl answered with blushing cheeks.

「That . . ., one for Harpy-san as thanks. The clothes, I borrowed.」「 . . . Indeed, she surely will be pleased too.」

So that the shape of the two cups Nyuju wasn’t destroyed I slowly put them on a board and took them home. After it dried it needs to be baked in a kiln.

After telling them that we would come and color the cups the two giants heartily laughed as always and returned to their atelier.

After the figures of the two people was out of sight and we were alone Nyuju said.

「Friends . . ., there are a lot.」

Nyuju seemed lonely and I answered in a dignified manner.

「Fumu, the number of friends you have isn’t much less than mine.」

Did she understand the meaning of my words? Nyuju looked up at me with blank eyes.

「Didn’t you notice? My friends you have met, they are already your friends too.」

「Ah . . .」

「And you Nyuju. I also think of you as my friend」

Tear were shed PoroPoro from the girl’s eyes.

She really a child that cried a lot. She cried while looking down.

The pleasant long day was over and dusk ruled the world.

It gets cold at night despite summer. It might be somewhat cold for humans.

I cut some waste from making the totem pole and decided to collect some branches to make a fire.

A line of smoke rose into the purple sky. In the sky the stars were already glittering.

「Prophecy . . ., was it wrong . . . 「

While sitting and staring at the flames Nyuju suddenly said that.

「What prophecy?」

My question, I was worried whether she would answer or not, but though I worried for a while she then slowly began to speak.

「It has been ten years already. The miko of clairvoyance prophesied it. An evil dragon that would appear and it would destroy the world.」

「Fumu? I don’t want to destroy the world, there wouldn’t be any sap then.」

「That, yes, I understood that. . . . Therefore, was the prophecy wrong . . . . Everyone . . ., makes some mistakes . . . . Also . . ., there is a continuation of the prophecy.」

「Hou? What is the continuation?」

After a long silence Nyuju finally squeezed it out.

「 . . . instead of the ruin of the world, the world tree would be destroyed. With the dragon.」

「WHAT?!」

I didn’t mishear Nyuju’s words.

What did she say? Yggdrasil would die?

「Ah, but, it’s different! The dragon hadn’t been decided yet. There was also a part of the prophecy where I didn’t understand its meaning.」

「Nyuju! Tell me! What was the prophecy!?」

Whether I died or not wasn’t important.

Yggdrasil would die.

Those words cause fear in my mind.

Nyuju said many times 「Prophecies don’t come true all the time」 and then began to recite the prophecy left behind by the miko of clairvoyance.

「A calamity will arrive from beyond the world, the shell will break and all the stars will be devoured. The Holy tree reverses fate. The blood that flows from the star becomes the blood of the Holy Tree and the death of the start changes to the death of the Holy Tree. And humans will receive eternal prosperity from the fertilizer from the remains of the Holy Tree.」

Those had a strong impact on me. I couldn’t move and forgot to breathe.

「Ah, but I didn’t understand what beyond the world meant! The miko of clairvoyance also didn’t understand its meaning! Because the time of the prediction matched with the life span of the dragon! A new dragon will be born, that became the story . . . . But as I said a while ago, the prophecy isn’t absolute.」

Nyuju became desperate while finding excuses. 『Prophecies aren’t absolute』Nyuju had said so, but I understood that the prophecy was true.

「It’s correct. Nyuju, that . . . the disaster . . .」

What came from beyond the world, one might not understand the meaning of the words except someone that knew that different worlds existed.

「 . . . the disaster, it’s me.」