Chapter 1078 - Thank You
"Four months... old?"
"A baby...?"
Nia interpreted for us. The Second Generation Green Connect's self-introduction began with a very polite thank you, but it was brief.
Or rather, it had to be brief because it had so little history. Sora and I were left staring in disbelief.
"...So you guys knew about this?"
"Indeed. That is why we celebrated the birth so grandly."
"Building a city... was a celebratory ritual?"
Tora-kichi looked ready to snap, while Ashe sighed as if she was too tired to think anymore. The fact that caught us all off guard was exactly that.
"Grie-sama... Green Connect, Jehatreglie... is the name given to the form that becomes the planet after the green lives are connected. And because it is the only Pillar that grows... it has a childhood name."
"The Key Tree, right?"
Yeah, okay.
So that's how it is... whatever that means.
"...In other words, the new Key Tree that sprouted is the sprout. And the thing we thought was the main body of Green Connect, that we attacked in the subspace, was the seed?"
I couldn't stop the internal monologue about what kind of seed that was. I recalled that massive, unclassifiable body... was it a turtle, a hippo, or a dragon?
"So Green Connect is actually the planet itself... the garden?"
Tora-kichi asked for clarification, sounding completely fed up.
"Apparently. It's quite a surprise, isn't it?"
Nia nodded casually, still holding the core projection terminal... or whatever fancy name she didn't care about... of the Second Generation Green Connect in her palm.
She poked the warm, glowing crystal with her finger. I wondered if that was okay. She was acting like she was playing with a pet or a close friend, rather than a being that would be called a divine messenger.
"Um, Nia-san? Is it okay to... do that?"
Sora voiced the concern that Ashe, Tora-kichi, and I all shared. We didn't know what kind of connection Nia and the Second Generation had formed.
Good job representing all of us.
However, despite our internal thumbs-up, Nia just gave a vague, awkward smile.
"Well, I guess in terms of world-building, it's a being to be respected, but..."
"Ha ha, it cannot be helped."
Kendy-dono's cheerful voice took over. "Those selected as the Miko share each other's memories and emotions. It would be difficult to show formal respect to someone you feel is essentially the same as yourself."
Wait, what?
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Mh."
He had just said something terrifyingly nonchalantly. Sora, Ashe, and I all turned our eyes to the former temporary goddess.
"Oh, um, it's fine! It wasn't that much..."
Nia-chan, who had apparently gone through an incredible experience without us knowing, gave an embarrassed smile to reassure us.
How could that be reassuring?
"Hey, that's incredibly dangerous. Was it when you screamed before the battle started? Wait, are you really okay with that kind of load?"
Sharing consciousness with a god-like entity. If it was just hearing a voice in her head, I could have dismissed it as a game mechanic. but if it was the kind of event that usually ends in disaster in fiction, I had to worry. That was only natural.
No matter how used we were to the environment, Arcadia was built on mysterious super-technology. Mental fatigue and other issues could reflect in the real world. We trusted the developers' guarantee of absolute safety, but this was different.
I stepped toward her, thinking she was an idiot for not worrying. Nia gave me a flick on the forehead.
"I said I'm fine! Calm down. Do you love me that much or something?"
"Ouch."
The flick had zero power, but the words were enough to stop me. Nia calmed herself, though she couldn't hide a bit of a blush.
"I did share things, but the memories were only for four months. And it wasn't like your gift where everything is perfectly reproduced. It was more like... a fast-forwarded blur? It was surprising, but it didn't hurt. Really."
"...I see."
"And about my memories... this little one said, 'It's a matter of privacy,' and closed its eyes for me. I can tell it's not lying, so it's not embarrassing at all."
"That's one considerate four-month-old..."
She told us she was fine as if it were nothing. Despite my lingering unease, I couldn't doubt Nia's nature of not lying. I had no choice but to believe her.
"Hehe."
"...What? It wasn't just me worrying."
I also knew she valued my trust. So, for now, I pulled back my excessive concern. Sora and Ashe, who had also shown immediate worry, seemed to feel the same.
And so...
"And so... that's how it was. Even if it was fast-forwarded, some parts left a strong impression. And because of that, I shared the emotions it had."
Nia said that the amount of information wasn't actually that huge. It had been handled carefully to avoid any unnecessary burden. But the fact that their hearts had connected had removed the barrier between species. Nia stroked the green crystal with her fingertip.
"That's the main reason I got fired up about the black thing being the enemy. I couldn't help but feel that it was unforgivable."
The temporary goddess was about to tell us why she had ordered us to destroy the evil.
"...A villain who would heartlessly tear apart a love story... well, you know."