We won the first day in order and were able to get three wins without difficulty. I mean, I didn't fight anyone other than the spearhead, the second spearhead, and the middleman, Lou, Else, and Yae. I won all three matches with three wins. They won all three matches in straight sets.
　As far as I can see, I was blessed with good opponents. In general, he was not a great opponent.

''I hope we can continue like this tomorrow.

　I murmur to myself as I watch the sun set. We are in the forest by the river, far from the divine tree area. All the games are over, and everyone has begun to prepare their meals.
　Even the tribesmen who had lost their matches had not left and were preparing their own meals. Since we've come this far, I guess we'll watch it to the end.
　We would have gone back to the castle and finished our meal, but we joined them because Lauri tribe had come to catch their fish.
　I took out the barbecue set from the storage, lit the coals and prepared to cook. I took out salt and pepper, seasonings and sauces.
　Soon the Lauri arrived with a number of prey such as rabbits and pigeons. They say that only the "Tribes of Judgment" hunt around here, except during the "Pruning Ceremony", so they have a lot of prey. Of course, a lot of them will be hunted in the next three days, but they will be back to their original numbers by the next pruning ritual.

It's nice to have this kind of wild food from time to time.
''That's right. Ah, Fuyao-san, it's burning over here.

　Youmina has been taking care of me with great reluctance. I hope it doesn't look like a strange relationship since they're both women.
　Since all meat is unbalanced in terms of nutrition, I pulled out some vegetables from the 'storage', including squash, onions and peppers. We cut them up easily and then put them on metal skewers with the meat and ate them with homemade barbecue sauce. Delicious.

'I've never done anything like this before, but it's kind of fun.

　Lou laughs as she takes a piece of meat to her saucer. It must be unusual for her to have lived as a Regulus princess. I'm glad she's enjoying herself.
　But as for me, I'm still uncomfortable as always because it's all women around me. The level is a little too high for me to enjoy. If it was His Majesty the First King of Restia, he would have jumped in with glee.
　I heard some noise behind me. You can find strong men beating each other up. It's a fight. It's so depressing, could we have it over there?

There are so many tribes here, a fight or two is an everyday occurrence.

　With that, Pam takes a bite of the spit-roasted meat. Incidentally, it's a rule that the contestants in the 'pruning ceremony' mustn't let anything happen to them, so it's a rule that those kinds of disputes are taken care of by the surrounding tribe members. So it wasn't the contestants who were beating each other up over there, was it? Well, I don't care.

"What's up with the weirdos, I thought they were Lauri.

　Another group of strong men came over here, past the brawling guys. A muscular, well-trained, inverted triangle of a body. The scars and tattoos that run over them create an even more intimidating feeling. On top of that, their heads are skinheaded and look like mohawks, which is not only bad, but also very bad.

''What do you want, Barum tribe?

　Pam turns her sharp eyes on me as she chews on the meat. So these are the Barum tribe?
　Surely they're all looking down at us. One of them is grinning and smiling. I've made up my mind not to get into this kind of trouble as a man.

I didn't expect him to participate in the Pruning Ceremony. I heard that the village's main warrior was killed by a magical beast. It's a shameful thing, isn't it?
You ... insult the fallen warriors?

　Everyone else in the Lauri tribe, under Pam, sinks their bodies down a bit. They are ready to move into a fighting stance at any time. Sensing this, the Barum tribe also lightly braced themselves. A tentative atmosphere is created between the two sides.

I don't have any intention of doing that. It's just that the Barum tribe would not have been delayed by a magical beast.
Ha. You are a fool for not knowing. Even if you Balmites are united, you're still no match for that crystal beast. You'll be annihilated.
What?

　Buying words to sell. Guns are fought over each other. It's just like dogs and monkeys.

"Screw you! If you can beat the Lauri, there's no way you can't beat us, the Barum!
"Unfortunately, it wasn't us who killed the crystal beast. Touya is right there.
Ah!

　Hey, hey, don't wave it at me. The Barum tribe's gaze turned at once to me.

"This woman?

　A man from the Barum tribe came over to us, a man who looked like he was at least 190 centimeters tall, and gave us a rude look with a scowl. Then he smiled a disgusting smile.

You're a pretty good-looking woman. I like her.
I don't like it!
What?

　I couldn't help but say it out loud. Because you do! If a strong man in my position said that to me! I'm scared all over!

You b*tc*!

　An angry man reaches out to me and tries to grab my arm.

'Don't touch me!'
What?

　I took a kick to the man's throat and blew him off a few meters. There was no way I could add to it. I'm afraid for my life! In another way!

It's him!
Get it done!

　He dodges the Barum men who attack him all at once and kicks them away one by one. I'm not going to hit them with my hands, because I don't want to touch them. I don't want to touch them.
　I don't know what it is, but being attacked by so many giggly machos is scary, no matter if it's a man or a woman! In the s*xual sense.

'You b*tc* you all get on!
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

　A tsunami of muscle is coming. Ew!

Shield!
"Guffaw!

　The invisible shield prevented the men from jumping on me and dropping me straight to the ground. Ah, that was disgusting.

''The Barum tribe isn't much better. One Touya has this much trouble.
Shh....

　Pam sneers at the remaining Balm men as if to provoke them. Hey! Don't stir things up.
　The rest of the guys were also red-faced and had angry expressions on their faces. It's a good thing that the tribe of the male chauvinist tribe can't help but be chagrined when it comes to being beaten by a (seemingly) single woman.

Take them home! We don't want any of those stinking men around here.

　I agree with Pam on that. I think I'm going to get macho-phobic at this point.

'd*mn, remember that!

　The Balms pulled up, dragging the fallen ones with them.
　Ugh, that was disgusting. The eyes of a rude man can be so uncomfortable like that. I'll be careful not to do that to myself.

'That's the Barum tribe? It doesn't sound like a big deal.
I don't see anyone in the contest. They're the lowest of the Barum clan. They're little kids who haven't even come of age yet.

　I couldn't believe my ears at Pam's words in return to Else. I thought the tribes of the Great Tree Sea were treated like adults at about 15 or so! Oh, they're younger than me with those things! He was an incredibly burly old man!
　No way..... It's impossible to be a junior high schooler with those things........ What kind of education is this? I've lost my appetite....




　After finishing the barbecue, we set up a few guards to take turns going to bed.
　This was partly to guard against the beasts of the forest, but also to prevent the other tribes from taking revenge in the dark. Of course, not all of the tribes do this, but I heard that there are those who do it without a care in the world.
　If it was just us, we could have gone back to the castle at the "gate," but after hearing that, ignoring it would have been a bad aftertaste.
　We decided to set up a shield around the area and a few of us took turns sleeping. And the "shield" is only a temporary measure of survival. We don't want the five contestants to be exhausted tomorrow, so they are exempted from guarding the battlefield. They will rest until morning. Oh, and Suu also had to sleep since there was no way to stay awake.
　Right now, besides me, a few other Lauri people were paying attention to their surroundings around the crackling and exploding campfire.
　Beside her, Linse and Yumina, who had been on guard earlier, were wrapped in blankets and breathing quietly in their sleep.
　Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation. This presence.........
　I stand up and turn my feet towards the depths of the forest. The Lauri people who were on guard with me looked at me for a moment, but they seemed to think it was a toilet, so they didn't say anything in particular.
　As we walked deeper and deeper into the forest in the dark night, I could feel the presence of it getting stronger and stronger. There's no doubt about it, this is Ramish's time........
　I stop in an open area deep in the forest.
　There. Here. In here.

Can you hear me?

　The moonlight shines on me in the darkness. The rustling of the trees filled the area.
　A vague green light floats in the moonlight.

"Who are you?

　The green light gradually changed shape. Eventually it transformed into the figure of a girl with emerald hair. Her entire body, including the dress-like outfit she was wearing, was emitting a green phosphorescence. Her twin eyes that opened were also shining like jade.

''Spirit........right?''
''Yes. I am the great tree spirit that controls this great tree and sea. I am also the incarnation of the Great God Tree.''
'I knew it. I thought the signs were similar to the dark spirits I fought in Lamish. Well, that one was a lot more sluggish and stagnant.

　I had felt a hint of it from the Great Divine Tree as well, albeit a little, but I could feel it more clearly now. Would it be impossible to feel that much if it didn't manifest like this?

''You fought? The dark spirits and...? So you're the one who set him free?
I mean, I've liberated it. I've cleansed it up.
''Spirits are immortal beings. In time, the dark spirits will also return to this world. But more importantly who are you? That's a sham, isn't it? And what is that power that slightly leaks out of your body...?''

　Hmm? Oh, are you seeing some kind of divine power by any chance? They used some kind of magic, like S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe that's when the divine power leaked out. Unlock the Mirage and reveal your original form.

My name is Fuyuya Mochizuki. I'm the king of the Duchy of Brunhild, which is just north of here. It's a bit complicated and I have a strange constitution, but I'm human.
What is the meaning of...?

　The spirit of the great tree gives me a puzzled look. Hmmm, what to do. It's too much trouble to explain. I don't know if people will believe me when I tell them about God.
　 I'm a little worried though.
　I open the "gate" and drop the person who was probably asleep in the bed onto this spot.

'There it is! What the hell? That's you, Fuyao?

　Hanakoi's sister, who has fallen, looks around in her sleepy eyes. What do you think of pajamas full of pink heart marks?
　If you think about it, even though he's a lower level god, you're treating him pretty roughly, me. I don't feel that great when I look at this guy (God), you know? He's lazy, prankster, picky eater, and selfish.
　But I can't hate her because she treats me like a little brother, so maybe that's why I feel like she's family to me.

"Hanakoi sis, can you do a god-like pikar?
Huh? Peek-a-boo? You mean the divine liberation?
Maybe it's that one.

　Like this? And my sister unleashes a dazzling light from her entire body. I'm not as good as God, but it's still amazing. Ah, I can feel that even a person like this is one of the gods after all.

''.........You're thinking of something rude?''
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Gomina hai.

　I've been pinched in the hopper. Ouch.
　As I rubbed my freed cheek, beside him was a great tree spirit kneeling on the ground, on its knees, on its knees.
　I knew it would work on the spirit as well. God's majesty is still alive and well. Even Hanakoi sister.

''You're thinking of something rude again, aren't you?
What's the matter with you? Can you understand me?

　God, it's hard to underestimate.