I ate the breakfast Tina had made for me until I was full.

　Happy.

　I woke up even though it wasn't God's call, and I was worried at first.

　But now that I can eat Tina's homemade food like this, I'm glad Hurt woke me up. I thanked Tina and left Hurt's mansion.


　─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

　As an after-dinner exercise, I went for a walk in the Steel Forest near the Ifrus Magic Academy.

　This is my daily routine.

　The Harts were concerned about me, but there were no many monsters that could harm me as a divine beast, so I usually came for a walk by myself.

　The demons in this forest have a rather high level of intelligence.

　That's why they seemed to sense my power, and no one attacked me.

　When I entered my forest, many of the demons would flee from my path.

　Therefore, I am walking comfortably in the forest.
　By the way, I'm still in my small form.

　Normally it would be a much cooler figure, but perhaps because I've been in this form for so long in Hurt's house, I've gotten used to it.

　It's because this appearance is more pampered by Tina and Rifa.


　We came to the center of the Steel Forest.

　There's only a part of the dimly lit forest where the sunlight shines. In the sunlight, a large stone lies like a pedestal.

　I lay down on the pedestal.

　It's not quite as comfortable as the soft sofas in Harut's house, but it's quite comfortable here.

　The light of the sun was soft and warmed me slightly.

　Originally, this place was the territory of a huge bear-shaped magical beast called King Bear, the master of this forest.


　─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

　I stumbled upon this place about three days ago while taking a walk.

'Oh, I didn't know this place existed,'

..........

　King Bear, lying on a stone pedestal, initially looked at me and said, "What is this thing?　I gave him a look that said.

　I released my aura for a bit.

　Then, for some reason, King Bear gave me the place.

　It wasn't because he was trying to scare me away from this place.

　King Bear realized the preciousness of me and offered me this place for myself.

　Since then, I have been coming here every day and sleeping until noon.

　For some time now, King Bear and various other demons have come to me, bringing me fruits and nuts from this forest.

　Normally I eat them, but today I ate a lot of Tina's food, so I'm already full.

We are already full. You can eat yourselves.

　King Bear and the others became impatient, as if they didn't like my offering.

'Oh, no, we're already full today. It's not that they didn't like our offerings, rest assured.

　I said that, but King Bear and the demonic beasts around me seemed anxious.

　King Bear spoke to me.

''....What?　They're not going to eat you, are they?　Hmmm, hahahaha. You guys are lucky. I've discovered something that tastes better than you hexenbiests. I won't take you guys for granted.

　With those words, the demonic beasts seemed to be reassured.

　The monsters disappeared deep into the forest with the fruits they had gathered themselves.

　I decided to sleep for a while.


　─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ I'm going to sleep.

Haha!　Shh, shh, I overslept!

　When I woke up, it was past noon. I could have eaten Tina's food for lunch today.

　What the hell.....

　Hmm?

　On top of my sleeping stone pedestal was a basket made of wood.

It was filled with three rice balls and some sausages.

　In the basket were three rice balls and a couple of browned sausages.

　It smelled so good.

White, you awake?

　As I was fishing in my basket, I heard Hurt's voice from behind me.

　Hurt is coming towards me from deep in the forest.

'Is this Halt?'

'Oh, that's the rice Tina made for you. White didn't come back, so I brought it to you. I think it's still warm.

　Oh, I knew it was Tina's cooking!
　I'll be grateful for the food.


　The rice Tina made for me was delicious.
　It would have been better if there was a little more of it........

　Speaking of which, Hurt came from deep in the forest, what did he want?

'Halt, what were you doing deep in the woods?

Yeah, my magic burned part of this forest down a while back. I just wanted to see if it's coming back up.

　I overheard the conversation between the hexenbiest, and I knew that part of the forest had burned a few months ago.

　So it was Hurt's work.

　He also said that many monsters were hunted and some high-ranking monsters living deep in the forest were killed.

　Well, I'm not on the side of the monster beasts, and I don't care how many of them are defeated.

　But I don't want to destroy nature.

　I am a God-Beast. I am a god-beast. I created this world and I am the creator of this world and I am responsible for protecting his creations.

　And of course, nature is its protector.

"Has the forest been restored?　In the meantime, I too have the power to speed up the growth of trees, so shall we go and see?

That's okay. He helped me.

　Hurt shifted his body, and there was a little old man with a white beard.

'My lord ... a gnome?'

"Master Left. It looks like you're the Divine Beast Fenrir. Oh, look at you, you're so adorable.

　Harut brought a gnome, the spirit king of the soil, with him.

　I had met the gnome a long time ago.
　Apparently, he had completed a summoning contract with Halt.

　And if the gnome gets serious, it will be easy for him to grow the trees and revive the forest in an instant.

　Halt, you finally managed to complete the Spirit King.

　Incidentally, our divine beasts and the Spirit Kings are almost equal in this world.

　This makes me feel a bit uneasy.

''I'm the senior one.
Hmm?

I'm the senior member of the team because I was the first one to join Hurt's team. I'm the senior, so I'm the one who should be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to food and other things, and you should be more considerate of me. Also, Halt should pay more attention to me!

What are you talking about?

　Harte is pouting.
　But it's a matter of life and death for me.

　Harut has made a contract with three spirit kings so far.

　In contrast, I'm the only divine beast, so I'm not as strong as I should be.

　Right now, the spirit kings who signed up earlier are scattered around the country, and they only come to Hurt when the call is made.

　But Undine, Sylph and others insisted on staying by Hurt's side for a long time.

　If that happens, I'm a newcomer and Harto may not be able to care for me.

　I don't want that.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

　That's why I feel comfortable on Hurt's side.

　I don't want to increase the number of rivals aiming for this position, so I will keep the gnomes in check.

'Ho-ho-ho. "Ho-ho-ho-ho, Fenrir, don't worry. It's true that Hurt's magic is very powerful, but I also have a job to do. I can't be around Halt at all times.

　The gnome seems to have found out what was on my mind.
　He's a pretty good guy, isn't he?

Well, then, I'll always be with Halt to protect him.

Will you do that, sir?

Mm, all right.

　After that, he talked to Hurt for a bit, and then the gnome left deeper into the forest.