Neutral City (Asropolis), which I hadn't visited in a while, was much more bustling than it was on my last visit.

　It looks like a different city from the days when daylight was lost.

　A wide variety of demon and human adventurers come and go, all with lively expressions on their faces as they go about their daily lives.

The adventurers seem to have become quite familiar with it.

　Travis nodded emotionally at the murmur I let out.

'It's a mutual effort. You can only create trouble if you pile on top of each other's living areas without thinking about it, but thanks to the successful mediation of local representatives on both sides, both sides have been able to continue to coexist in a way that is acceptable to them.
When you say "representative," do you mean, by any chance, Mr. Travis?

　As if she hadn't forgotten her advice the other day, Layla didn't interrupt me and directly addressed Travis.

　Although Leila was confused and anxious about the streets full of demons, she didn't seem to have gone so far as to feel fearful, perhaps because of the sense of security that Travis was so close by.

''Haha. It's because I and Roy of the same rank frequently leave the base for exploration. It's a good thing that you have a lot of experience in this field. That's why I've left that kind of work to a B-ranked person who is more appropriate.
I see you've been thinking about a lot of things: ......
'I would have really liked to have thrown the whole thing to Luke,'
That would be a real overworked death.

　As we walked down the main street, exchanging joking conversation, a young tree man (dryad) stood in front of us.

　His green hair had a long, plant-like texture.
　Petals adorned his entire body like a trinket.
　The thin ivy that twisted around the ends of the human-like limbs.

　This is the young tree of a tree man (dryad) that I have seen many times before.

It's been a long time since I've seen you, Master Luke White Wolf. I've heard from Master Travis about your errand.
Since you're here, perhaps you're being summoned by Fraxinus the administrator?

　After replying to that, he briefly explains the position of the demon race in front of him to Leila, who is surprised and confused to see the jujin (dryad) for the first time.

It's a Populus, an emissary of Fraxinus. I taught you about Fraxinus before we left, didn't I?
Yes, sir. I'm told they are the ancient trees of the dryads who manage this town.

　Populus tried to put a smile on his well-formed, doll-like face and then - this is simply not used to a human-like expression - he said his business again.

'As you may have guessed, Fraxinus-sama wishes to see Luke-sama. I would appreciate it if you would be willing to visit me at a time that is convenient for you.
Okay, do you mind if we start now?

　Rather than stopping at the place where we were staying once we had made our plans for the future, it would be more efficient to continue on to the Great Capitol, where Flaxinus was located.

　Populus nodded his head and agreed, so I decided to turn to Travis and press on with the immediate future.

'So, I'm going to go for a bit. I'll take Garnett with me, and I'll leave the rest of the guys in charge for a while.
The others?　Even the knights?
'Just show me where we're staying and that's fine. The rest of the time you'll have to explain what not to do over here, and where the human-run redemption center is located, and the off-limits area: .......
"Too many demands. Totally: ...... All right, go ahead and go. I figured I'd be the one to do that part anyway.

　Travis sent me off with a dumbfounded look on his face, and I accompanied Garnett as we switched our destination to the Great Capitol Building.

　In the midst of the tree-integrated buildings of Athropolis, there was one large tree that stood out above the rest.

　This is the political center of Asropolis, and it is the one and only tree that was transformed by the ancient arborealist (dryad) Fraxinus.

　Populus led us through the corridors of the Great Tree and we arrived at the Great Council Hall without being blocked by anyone.

　It seemed that it was just about the time of day when the meeting wasn't taking place, so the Great Capitol was unmanned except for a minimal amount of security.

　The light that dwells inside the innermost wall - the glow of Flaxinus' core magical power - slowly flickers and a strange sounding voice, different from a fleshly voice, comes out.

''I've been waiting for you. It's been a long time since we've met like this with you.
I'm sorry I didn't get to see much of you, too. I'm glad to see that the burned areas are all back to normal.

　Once, an infiltration unit of Agart Ram disguised themselves as people who had wandered in from the ground, hiding in the city and launching a massive attack with the intention of assassinating Fraxinus, who was in their way.

　At that time, we cooperated with them and managed to thwart their attempts, but this great tree, or Fraxinus' body, had been burned to a large extent.

　Of course, I restored it as much as possible with my 【Restoration】, but due to its scale, it couldn't be perfect, and there were still parts that were left to be left to the original resilience of the body.

　But from what I've seen so far, the damage done to Fraxinus seems to have largely disappeared.

'So, ...... do you need to explain again what has happened so far outside the second level ......?'
'No, we are also aware of the agreement between the earthly kingdoms and Gandalf. We are neutral, and as a governing body, we cannot agree with or criticize them, but ...... I am personally pleased to see them.

　One could not sense the lie in Fraxinus' voice.

　He or she - the demon race, whether it had no animal gender or not - seemed to sincerely welcome the cooperation this time.

''Whatever the reason, Gandalf has once again joined hands with the humans in a friendly manner. That fact alone might have made it worthwhile to continue living up to this point.''