The ghost of Citri has come with great enthusiasm to take the princess with her attendants.
You don't have time to strengthen them. Training is a process of accumulation. No matter how versatile the Citrine Ghost is, it will not be able to strengthen her to such an extent, but in terms of protection, it is better to leave her to them than to leave Her Imperial Highness by the side of Crus and me (and the Killnites).

The princess's attendants (guards and servants) protested my decision to throw her aside, but when I told them that they could go with me, they agreed. It's a perfect plan, because Liz and the others won't do anything rash if they have eyes.

I'm afraid I'm too bright. Maybe it's the power of the phone.

As Citri left, he asked me with an expression as if he was peeking at me.

'Mr. Cry, ...... this is Princess Murina, ...... how far do you want me to go?

'As soon as the meeting is over, I'll send you home, in moderation.

'...... Can I at least have a blood test?'

What does the blood test have to do with training? I have no idea, but judging from the twinkle in Citry's eyes, I'm sure she'll do just fine. Well, even if she doesn't get stronger at worst, she won't complain too much if the escort is successful. Her Imperial Highness seems to have rather bad luck, and it's possible that her talent is as empty as mine.

When the ghosts were gone and I had thrown everything away, the only one left, Crus, held his mouth and said.

'Yowaningen, you're really unbelievable.

'It's the right person in the right place. I'm still the leader, you know.

'Then what are you doing as such, Yowaningen?

Krus' powers of righteous argumentation are among the best I've ever encountered. I avert my gaze and change the subject while pulling out the latest smartphone from my pocket.

'Speaking of which, what are we going to talk about in this meeting?'

'...... You don't know anything about that, do you? It's hard to say, but it's ...... a lot of things between nations.'

I see,......, a lot of things between nations.
This is a very general term, but the expression on his face does not show any sign of deception. I'm a bit of a know-it-all myself, but ...... now you ...... know exactly what we're going to talk about in this meeting, don't you?

Apparently, even though he is a spirit man, he knows more about the common sense of human society than I do. Even if I'm suddenly asked to talk about the meeting, I can safely ask Kryss. I snapped my fingers.

'Okay, we've done all we can do. Now we have free time. Dismissed!

'What are you going to do if we disband?

'What ......?

What are you going to do? ...... Sightseeing and playing with your phone. You might as well take a ride on a carpet and fly.
We stare at each other. Even though he hadn't said a word, Cruse's expression tightened.

'Get to work, sir! The meeting hasn't even started yet, sir!

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure it's a good idea.

I'm not going to give you any excuses, sir! I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it. I'm not sure what I'm going to say when I report to Lapidus.

Kryss is very serious. And apparently, you have a duty to report to Lapidus. Perhaps I was being measured for my qualifications as a hunter?

I recall what I did this time. I was comfortable the whole time, and all I remembered was playing with the rug. I hadn't acted properly when I was attacked by the Chill Dragon, when Therum and Kecakka betrayed me, or even when I faced the phantom at the Lost Inn. This is ...... If this is reported, the Starlight might leave the clan.

''............ I covered for you at least once, didn't I?''

I'm afraid to say something so shameless, and Kryss says with trembling lips.

I'm not going to be able to do that. We're even.

'............'

'And you, you've been the one to break the ladder every time, sir.

I don't remember any of this, but if Crus says so, then it must be true. It's not as if you're parting with your life now that the Starlight is out of the way, which is fine, but you're seriously scratching your head.
You'll be able to find a lot more than just a few of them in the market.

'Oh, yeah, I helped with the tree planting.

'Tree planting ......? In this country? Yes, sir. There's no way a tree planting can succeed in Toaizant, sir. It's a project that many spirit mages have visited and failed at. Maybe no one thinks it will succeed.

I'm not sure what to say. Apparently, it was not to her liking. Well, I just pushed my sister fox on her, and it didn't pay off.
But he crosses his arms, sighs a little, and says hard-boiled.

'You have to take a long view on planting trees, Crus. You're not going to see results yesterday, are you? Besides, it's a horrible thing to say that you don't think they'll succeed, they've been working really hard in this harsh environment. I need to see them for ten years.

I mean, when the hell did you do that? Call me, sir! Yowaninggeng! I'm a woodsman, sir!

You're right. But the planting was just an added bonus.
I'm sure you're right. It's a shame that you can't smile more since you were born into a beautiful race of spirit people.


''Is there a man here called 'Thousand Transformations'?

Then I heard a loud voice shouting at me. It was outside the room. I quickly looked down from the window and saw that there was a large crowd of men in front of the inn.

Brown skin, turban. At their waists hung curved swords, and their clothes, though not crude, were rough.
Definitely not a hard man. It is still broad daylight, and this inn is supposed to be a high-class inn where guests from other countries stay, but he doesn't seem to care at all. I wondered what the security situation was like in Toaizant. And what have I done this time?

I have to run. I hurriedly checked my left and right. If the voices are coming from the corridor, then the inside of the inn must already be under control. The only way to escape is outside. I'm on the second floor, jumping down will reduce the warding fingers, but I need a carpet.



Don't underestimate my escape abilities. I smiled and whistled.
I have a contract with the carpet. If I whistle, he promises to come.

'............'

............ not coming. No, not yet. It's possible he didn't hear you.
The rug is staying in the next room. It's impossible that he didn't hear my signal, but there's no possibility that he didn't hear me.

'What are you doing, Yowaninggeng?

I whistled again and again, but there was no sign of a carpet coming. So you're flirting with a female rug. He's a real freeloader.

Meanwhile, the commotion downstairs is getting louder.

What do you want me to do?

Crucis frowns and says.

'Yoaningen, those are Toisant deserters, the regular Toisant army. Did you do something again, sir?

'What? We have to go.

What?

If you look closely, you can see the Toaizant's emblem on the soldiers' clothing.
They looked like bandits or something, but they seemed to be regular soldiers. It makes sense that they would appear so brazenly in the city. But there was no doubt that we had to escape.

I don't know about you, but I've never had a good experience with another country's military.
Since you cannot fly, you cannot escape from the window. The inn is surrounded. So should we disguise ourselves and go out into the hallway?

They don't intend to subdue us by force. If their goal is to subdue you, they won't make such an obvious show. If you do well, you can escape. ......?

You'll be able to see the beautiful eyes looking at you.

......?

I took a step back to try, but there was no sign of letting go of my arm.

'......What's wrong?'

'I'm holding on to you so I don't miss you, sir.'

'What? What?

It was a betrayal.
It's a good idea to take a look at the actual information on the web, as well as the information on the internet. He doesn't seem to be putting much effort into it, but he can't escape. The weakness of his warding finger is being exploited.

'Yowaningen, you should work a little harder. There's no reason to run away from the regular army when you're throwing an important mission to Citrie.

Oh, no. Crus is serious. It seems his incompetence has gotten the best of him.
Maybe he wanted to be in charge of training the princess.

'Don't worry, sir. I'll help you if you need anything.

That's ...... very reassuring.

While I was trying to figure out how to persuade him, the door to the room kept banging. It's the regular army, they work fast. They know my room. I guess I'll just have to give up.

I gave a small smile and prepared to force the job on Krus.

'All right, I've lost. But I'm going to need all the help I can get from Krus.'

'Yeah, I know, sir. So, show me something cool, sir.'

Krus answers for me and opens the door.

The men who came in were strong soldiers, just like the ones surrounding the inn out front. In particular, the first man who entered the room was dressed much more splendidly than the others, with a number of plainly colored ornaments hanging from his chest.

Although most of his skin was hidden, the flesh that could be glimpsed through the white cloth was well-developed and reminded me of well-trained steel.
The sharpness of his eyes was also incomparable to the people of the Imperial City. When the man who seemed to be the commander saw me, he stepped in front of me and said in a faintly trembling voice.

'Are you the One Thousand Transformations?

'No, sir.

'Yes, I am. You've lost your nerve, sir.'

Immediately, Crus crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. ...... You're starting to look a little like Lucia. I wonder if he's been told something.

But what does the Toisanto's regular army look like? This is the first time I've been to this country. There should be no connection.
The Toaizant soldier stared at me in silence, fearful without expressing it, and then knelt down vigorously on the spot.

In front of my stunned face, he says in a stifled voice.

'On behalf of all the people of the vast Toaizant, I thank you for your kindness, Thousand Transformations. I am well ...... pleased that you have brought greenery back to this land.'

'......?

What's he talking about? .......


What are you talking about?


The picture he handed me was of a forest.
The trees were lush and green, and there was a very large tree growing a little further back. It was just a plain forest.
The only thing that seemed out of place was a group of men nearby, dressed in familiar clothes.

They were deserters. They wore turbans to protect themselves from the sun, and their skin was tanned. But their faces seemed to be stunned.
After Toisant's messenger had disappeared, Chrysus, who had remained silent for a long time, said in a low voice

'...... Yowaningen, what did you do?

That's what I want to hear.

The picture was the current state of the plantation village where I had left my sister fox yesterday.
Just yesterday, things were clearly not going well, but what could have caused this to happen in just one day?
Probably no one would think it was the same place if they were only shown yesterday's scene and today's scene.



'The sand in this land is not suitable for trees,' he said. Even if there is plenty of water, it will not be like that.

The forest people say with a serious expression.

It hasn't even rained in the first place, but it seems that my sister fox has done something.
It was no longer a matter of begging for rain. To create a forest in the desert in just one day, is this indeed the phantom of an ultra-high level treasure house?

Fortunately, Toisant was not angry, but grateful. I told them that I didn't know them, but I had introduced myself to them when I brought my sister fox to the village, and that had been my fault.
Apparently, greenery was a real boon to this place, because they came right over just to thank me. I wonder how they would look at me if they knew that the main reason for my action was to abandon the dangerous fox.

Only Citri and I know the truth about this matter. I'll have to take this to my grave.
I gave a hard-boiled smile and cowered.

'There must be some mistake. I don't know. It's all a result of their hard work. They must have been doing something right.

All is well. No need to thank me. No honor. I didn't do it out of the goodness of my heart.
Krus stared at me, then sighed deeply.

'I'll keep Franz and the others in the dark,' he said. They'll probably find out, though.

For a moment, I didn't understand what Crus was saying.
But if you think about it calmly, from the outside looking in, this case is that the guards brought by Zebuldiah did as they pleased.
The Toaizant side is happy, but they did not ask for permission in advance. For the sake of the relationship between the two countries, it would be better to pretend it never happened. And that's what we want.

Perhaps it's because the situation is changing so rapidly from one day to the next, but I feel exhausted all at once.
At any rate, I'm glad that I'm not being asked to do anything new. Now I just hope that this case won't lead to any new troubles. .......

Then, unexpectedly, Crus clenched his fist and said.

I'm going to have a drink. We're going out for a drink.

I rolled my eyes at the sudden declaration. I've asked Krus out for a drink before, but he's never asked me out. In the first place, it's still early in the day, and we're Zebrudia's guards. This was a statement unbecoming of an honor student like Crus.

'What? Why?'

When I asked him without thinking, he said firmly without changing his color.


'Because I worked hard, sir. I've got a souvenir for Lapis, and I'll give you a special reward.












That day was a special day for Toaizant in the Land of Sand.
It was a celebration of such a magnitude that even the meeting of the heads of state scheduled to be held in the Sand Country was no longer important. The success of the reforestation project, which had been thought to be hopeless, was a historic achievement and gave hope to the people of the desert.

However, few people know that there was a high-level hunter behind it.









A vast desert region stretching beyond the horizon. In front of the unnaturally thick forest in a part of it, the desert people muttered.


'It's definitely ............ more spread out than yesterday. They're not supposed to be planting any more trees, but ...... it's not even raining, so ...... how far can it spread?'