Nido Tensei Shita Shounen wa S-rank Boukensha Toshite Heion ni Sugosu ~ Zense ga Kenja de Eiyūdatta Boku wa Raisede wa Jimi ni Ikiru ~

Episode 67: The Wooden Guardian Deity and the True Storm King

Several days have passed since the wooden golem was placed near the hidden garden.

“They’re here again.”

Once again, a group of monsters headed towards the hidden garden in the forest.
And in the next moment, they were blown away by the Wood Golem.

“Hmm, the fully automated monster repellent device seems to be working fine.”

This Wood Golem is actually built differently from a normal golem.
Normally, golems are made by gathering materials such as stone or wood.

However, a friend from a previous life, who was a bit of an eccentric dedicated to golems, suddenly said one day, “I came up with a revolutionary way to make golems!”

That’s how this regenerative golem was created.
By creating golems as semi-living beings, they succeeded in giving them the ability to regenerate like living creatures.
The revolutionary aspect of this golem is that it has regenerative abilities, so there is no need for maintenance such as repairing damaged parts or replacing worn-out parts.

Well, it’s not a complete regeneration, as it still needs to incorporate defeated prey as materials.
According to the person, something cannot come from nothing.
But since there is no need to process and replace parts, it was still revolutionary.

Well, about a week later, that revolutionary technique received a forbidden curse designation, and the person disappeared immediately.

During that escape, various things happened, and I ended up receiving a part of their research results from the acquaintance.
Yeah, it somehow ended up in my magic bag without me realizing it.

By the way, as someone who has witnessed the actions of various powerful people in past lives, I have a great deal of doubt as to why this research was classified as a forbidden curse.
After all, everyone was doing much more outrageous things.

Anyway, this golem, created against such a background, is both a golem and a tree.
In other words, even if its branches break, new ones will grow.
Its growth rate has also been increased, so the golem quickly repairs any damage by absorbing defeated monsters as nutrients.

So, I gave orders to this golem to protect the village to the west, its residents, and the hidden garden.
But other than that, I instructed it to do as it pleases.
Since it’s half a living being, giving strict orders would decrease its efficiency, or so I’ve been told.

So, while the Wood Golem protects the village and the garden, it occasionally moves to a sunny and well-drained area on its own.

Since we’re at it, I should make some nutrients for the Wood Golem.
If I give the recipe to the villagers, they can also use it for poorly grown plants… Nutrients? I feel like I’m forgetting something.
Oh well.

“Wha-what is thisssss?!”

The next morning, I was awakened by the village chief’s scream and went outside.
The villagers were exclaiming in surprise as they looked at the forest.
I wonder what they’re so surprised about?

When I looked at the forest along with them, there stood a giant tree that must have been about 50 meters tall.

“Huh?”

Was that tree always there?

“Hey, Rex, what is that?”

Huh? Liliera, are you asking me?

“Well, even if you ask me…”

“But yesterday, didn’t you pour some kind of potion on the trees in the forest?”

A potion-like substance?

“…Ah.”

Oh no.
That nutrient was the potion for repelling monsters that I entrusted to the village.
I accidentally poured it on the vegetables that grew so big.

“…It grew, didn’t it?”

“It didn’t just grow! What are we going to do with that?! The villagers are definitely in trouble!”

Come to think of it, the village chief was very surprised, but what about the reactions of the villagers?

I moved my gaze to check the reactions of the villagers who had been surprised just a while ago.
It’s a little scary.

Then, all the villagers prostrated themselves before the Wood Golem.

“Huh?”

What’s going on? What’s the situation?

“The spirit of the tree has grown! Surely this is a sign that it has shown us even greater power to protect us!”

“Ha-ha!”

Ah, so that’s how they interpreted it.
It seems that the villagers have interpreted the Wood Golem’s display of power as it going all out to protect them.

“Well then…”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Is Rex-sama hereeee?!”

As I was observing the newly grown Wood Golem to see if it was functioning properly, knights arrived from outside the village.
But they weren’t the knights who stayed with us in the western village, they were knights from outside the village, probably from the Sky Castle.

When the knights spotted me, they headed straight towards me.

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s urgent! A new Bahamut has appeared!”

“What?!”

A new Bahamut!? To think that another one would appear here after we defeated the previous one.

“And this Bahamut is nearly twice the size of the previous one!”

“Twice the size!?”

Wait, that means…

“Hey, Rex, if it’s twice the size…”

Liliera seems to have figured it out too.

“Yes, I believe it’s the adult form of the Bahamut.”

After defeating the smaller Bahamut, an adult Bahamut appeared… Wait, does that mean…

“Could it be that the previous Bahamut was its parent?”

“What?!”

The knights and Liliera were wide-eyed with surprise.

“Well, considering that the previous Bahamut was unnaturally small and that the adult Bahamut appeared a few days later, it seems likely, don’t you think?”

If it had come to reclaim its territory, it would have done so forcefully long before.
Thinking about it that way, it makes more sense to consider them as a family.

“Could it be that they have come to seek revenge on us…?”

Well, I’m not so sure about that.
Basically, once animals are raised to a certain point, they leave on their own, right? I wonder if it’s the same for monsters like Bahamut.
I know how they fight, but I’m not very familiar with their ecology as living creatures.

“And also…”

The knight was about to say something else.

“The Bahamut had something in its hand that I’ve never seen before.”

“Something I’ve never seen before?”

“Yes, it seemed like an artifact.
It’s probably something made on the ground.”

Hmm, a Bahamut holding some kind of artifact.

“So, the knight commander would like Rex-sama to join us in the reconnaissance.”

Ah, it’s from Calm.
Well, it would be unbearable if a new Bahamut appeared just when the previous one was gone.
And if it’s clearly stronger than before, it’s even more concerning.

“Understood.
I’ll join you.”

If the reason a new Bahamut appeared is because we defeated the previous one, then I also bear some responsibility.

“Oh, thank you!”

The knight expressed his gratitude and bowed his head.

“By the way…”

Huh? Is there something else?

“What is that giant tree over there? I don’t remember it being there before.”

Oh, that’s right!

“…It seems to have grown.”

“Grown…?”

Alright, I’ve explained enough.
Let’s quickly join Calm and head to Forest Island!

And so, we joined Calm and arrived near the outer perimeter of Forest Island for reconnaissance.
We didn’t enter the island to avoid provoking the rumored Bahamut.

“Please look, that thing that looks like a black mountain is the new Bahamut that suddenly appeared.”

Even without Calm’s explanation, it was easy to see the appearance of the new Bahamut that had taken up residence on Forest Island.
After all, it towered over the forest.

“However, what is that thing the Bahamut is holding? Does that mean Bahamut uses tools like humans? I’ve never seen a monster like that before.”

While listening to Calm’s words, I stared at the object held in the Bahamut’s hand.
Yes, there’s no mistake.
That is…

“That’s a ship.”

“A ship? What is that?”

It seems that Calm and the Sky people, who are residents of the Sky Island, don’t know what a ship is.

“A ship is a vehicle used to travel on rivers or seas, to catch fish, and so on.”

“Travel on rivers? But if you float it on a river, wouldn’t it be carried away and fall to the ground?”

Ah, right.
Rivers on the Sky Island eventually fall to the ground like waterfalls.
It’s a difference in culture.

“On the ground, rivers don’t fall any further.”

“What!?”

The knights were surprised by my explanation.
Well, there are rivers with waterfalls and such, too.

By the way, that ship… It feels like I’ve seen it before.
No, not just seen it…

“Hey, that ship, could it be…”

Just as Liliera was about to speak to me, the Bahamut turned its head and looked in our direction.

“Oh no, it noticed us!”

I thought we were quite far away, but its eyesight is surprisingly good.

And then, the Bahamut let out a loud roar, spread its wings towards us, and threatened us.
No, it’s not a threat.
It’s a declaration that it’s going to hunt us.

“Everyone, retreat!”

Calm gives the command, but it’s too late.
Bahamut lifts up the ship he had in his hand and throws it towards us.
The form is a mess, but the ship is huge, so if it hits, it’ll be a big problem.
And if there are people inside the ship, they’ll be in trouble too.

“Physical Boost!”

I enhance my physical abilities and activate the wind magic.
But it’s not an offensive magic that I activate.

“Guide Stream!”

The magic I activated becomes a current that surrounds me.

“Let’s go!”

I leap towards the front of the incoming ship.

“Rex-san!?”

“Lord Rex!?”

Liliera-san’s and Calm-san’s voices overlap.
But I’ll explain later!

Utilizing my enhanced vision and reflexes from the physical enhancement magic, I adjust the speed of the ship and my own speed while retreating and gradually getting closer to the ship.

As I get closer to the point of contact, I synchronize my speed completely with the ship.
And when I touch the ship, I slowly decrease the speed, making it slower than the ship.

Of course, the ship tries to crush me with its weight, but I don’t try to stop it abruptly.
If I were to receive it like this, the people inside would be slammed against the wall due to the impact.

I slowly decrease my own speed while reducing the speed of the ship.
Furthermore, the current from the activated Guide Stream magic blows slowly but forcefully from the opposite direction of the ship.

This Guide Stream magic is used when guiding large flying magic items to the ports of the floating continent, and it is also used when catching uncontrollable flying magic items.

In other words, it’s an effective magic in situations like this.
With my enhanced physical abilities and the deceleration from the magic, the ship stops safely without colliding with the knights or crashing to the ground.

“Alright, we managed to catch it gently.
Now let’s retreat in order to safely land this ship in a secure place on the Sky Island.”

While still holding the ship up, I propose to Calm-san.

“…”

However, Calm-san and the others are staring at me with wide eyes, frozen in place.
Oh, Liliera-san is frozen too.

“Um, everyone, should we retreat for now?”

” ” “Huh!?” ” ” ”

When I speak up, everyone finally snaps out of it and starts moving.

” ” “W-We caught it!?” ” ” ”

Huh? Why are they so surprised about that? Even Liliera-san is joining in.

I am a tree.
Originally, I was a seed from a tree on the ground, but I was carried by a bird to the sky island that humans call the Sky Island.
And there, I grew up as one of the trees in a certain forest.

One day, humans started tending to small siblings near me, carefully taking care of us.
Humans are so convenient.

I thought that way, but then monsters came.
Hey, don’t attack the small siblings.
And don’t attack me either.
Absolutely not!

Huh? My branches are tingling for some reason.
…Oh no! My branches! They’re growing! And they’re attacking the monsters on their own?! My body is moving on its own!

It’s so scary!! I can’t control my body with my own will! …Or so I thought, but I couldn’t move from the beginning because I’m a tree.

I don’t know why, but humans started worshiping me.
And they poured water on me.
Mmm~! It’s delicious!

Well, occasionally, this kind of life is nice too.
That’s what I thought, but then humans started manipulating my body.
My roots and branches moved and attacked the monsters.
What’s going on? How did this happen?!

Humans told me to protect the village, humans, and the fields.
Huh? Why do I have to obey such orders… Oh, my body is moving on its own again.
Um, can I do whatever I want when I’m not doing that?

Oh, I see.
I can move when I’m not fighting.
If I try to fight with my own will, I can move freely.
I see, as long as I don’t defy orders, I can move freely.

Okay, let’s just accept that I can now hunt for my own food.
And when I defeat monsters, humans worship me and give me various things.

Hmm, maybe this kind of life is not so bad.
Oh, that water with color is delicious.
Super delicious.

The next day, I grew a lot.