The Tree of Origin is Nebida's demon god, a tree that inherited the World Tree's essence and contains the demon god's mighty authority. Nebida, an ancient druid and demon god, can control this grand and massive tree at will. Within this tree, Nebida is truly a divine existence.
Like a god, Nebida created my room in just a few seconds. It was a spacious and comfortable room, hard to believe it was made by hollowing out a tree. It was perfect, except that the location was a bit inconvenient, making it impossible to wander outside.
A bed made of soft straw. A table formed from growing wood. The chair made of a tree stump was covered with dry moss like a cushion, and a coat hanger protruded from the ivy growing along the wall.
The room even had a bathroom, a kitchen, and a food storage. From a bamboo pipe passing overhead, the sound of clear water could be heard. If I removed the cork stopper plugging the hole, water would pour out.
In a container shaped like a calyx, flower petals soaked in vegetable oil could be seen. When I lightly tapped the bean pod attached beside it, sparks flew and the oil caught fire. The sight of fire and grass, which would normally be mortal enemies, coexisting reminded me of the mysteries of nature. When I closed the lacquered wooden lid, the suffocated flame returned to its long slumber.
Truly a civilization made from nature. Providing me with a home and even furniture in an instant—if this isn't a god, what is? It's a temporary home that will eventually disappear, but I'm simply grateful.
I brought the armless regressor into my room. The regressor, who barely survived thanks to me, did not express gratitude.
"Just kill me...!"
What is this person saying? I asked back in disbelief.
"What's this all of a sudden? Am I a captured lady knight or something?"
"...Ugh. It's a similar situation anyway."
Even captured lady knights don't usually have their arms pulled out, so they'd receive better treatment than the regressor.
Groaning in pain, the regressor gritted their teeth while looking at the shoulder stumps where nothing remained. Though I had controlled the bleeding with ki manipulation and first aid, the blood seeping through the clothes still showed the state was dire.
"I've already lost my arms and had my weapon taken. The chances of recovery are slim... and Nebida wouldn't just let me be. There's nothing I can do now. If I'm going to die anyway, it's better to die quickly."
Actually, it's not strange to decide on suicide. The only fortunate thing is that the regressor wasn't that despairing. A martial artist who was defeated and had their arms torn off should be despairing and pessimistic, but the emotion felt from the regressor was indignation.
'That's how I can regress with a sound mind. If I die in a devastated state, it's a waste of time... Ugh, maybe it's because I lost too much blood. My head is buzzing and I feel like I'm going to lose it.'
Thanks to that, I also remained fine without being swept up in that emotion. If the regressor had truly desired death, I might have helped with the suicide, so it's a relief.
"Don't be so pessimistic. Otherwise, what does my effort to save you become, Shei? The person who struggled to save you feels awkward."
I spoke with comfort and encouragement, but what came back was the regressor's reaction that seemed to be on guard.
"...What you're after is my body."
"What nonsense!"
What? Even when both your arms were properly attached, I never went after your body! Let alone now that there's a loss and your body is half-defective, what? After it? There are better things to go after!
"You ask for me as soon as you find out I'm a woman..."
"What else! To treat you! Are you really going to die like this!"
"What's the point of treating me. I have no arms and my weapon was taken. Even if I barely survive, I'll just become the Great Witch's experimental subject or Nebida's hostage..."
That's why I created a reasonable excuse for Nebida to keep you alive! So Nebida or the Great Witch can't kill you carelessly! What do you think my effort was worth! How hard I worked even while damaging my image! This won't do. I'll hammer the cold truth into you...!
'Eh? That man is the King of Humans? Why?'
Wait. Let me calm down.
I can read someone's thoughts from outside. My mind clears as if I splashed cold water on my face. I stopped the words I was about to say and focused my telepathy on the thoughts flowing from somewhere.
'Hmm. Right. It does somewhat resemble the one sleeping up there... But appearance isn't a reason. Huh? The King of Dogs found him, and he's using a stolen unique magic? Who said that? That gear brat's unique magic...?'
It's the Great Witch's thoughts. She seems to be having a conversation with Nebida, but Nebida's thoughts remained flat without any highs or lows, so they were read less clearly than the Great Witch's.
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'But it's strange... Even putting aside the fact that the King of Beasts is male, even as a male, the desire for species reproduction is low. Gender is merely a borrowed form, and the essence represents both male and female... The King of Beasts is like a hermaphrodite, a perfect existence in itself, and offspring arise naturally, so there's no worry of the lineage ending.'
Tch. She already noticed something was off. I thought it would take a bit longer.
Nebida is a druid who handles grass and plants. In contrast, the Great Witch handles beasts as familiars and is an authority of the animal kingdom, well-versed in poisons and medicinal herbs. It was a natural result that the two formed a cooperative relationship.
'The King of Humans might be... a bit different. If divided in half, that too would be incomplete. Hmm, I understand.'
Because of that, she had a better grasp on beasts, and the King of Beasts. The Great Witch finished the conversation and thought to herself.
'But there might be other ulterior motives. Nebida won't monitor him. That would be disrespectful. But I don't care. Voyeurism is originally a witch's specialty... I can't miss the opportunity to observe the King of Humans' ecology.'
Don't make witches into voyeurism patients on your own! There's already a lot of bad images, and doing such things causes witch hunts!
However, the Great Witch arbitrarily forced nearby bugs to become familiars. Normally, one should go through the process of raising and communicating with them to make familiars, but the Great Witch, who was both a witch and had vampire blood, far transcended such limits.
Twenty bugs that squeezed through the gaps positioned themselves throughout the room. They are the voyeur witch's eyes and ears. No ordinary human could interpret the signals sent simultaneously by twenty bugs, but... The insect familiars, fused with blood manipulation arts and made part of her body, would become the Great Witch's eyes and ears.
Surveillance. I won't even be able to rest with peace of mind. Not that I've ever really been able to relax, though.
It can't be helped. Ugh, it really hurts my pride though.
"No. Shei won't become the Great Witch's experimental subject or Nebida's hostage."
"...How do you know."
"Because Shei has to become my girlfriend."
"W-what?"
"So stop being so stubborn about things that won't happen and let's reattach your arms. Are you going to die?"
'What, suddenly, what is she saying?'
I roughly dragged the flustered regressor and sat them on the chair. The confused regressor moved as I led without any resistance.
Ah, this hurts my pride. I'm someone who's been hit on many times but never hit on anyone.
But you can't always do only what you want in life. If I were to protect the regressor's life under Nebida's or the Great Witch's surveillance net....
No, that's not right.
To protect this world by preserving the regressor's life, there's no other way!
"I also have normal aesthetic senses, so I don't want to be with someone who's bleeding all over and twitching without arms, you know? Look. It smells and it's dirty. It turns my stomach."
"...I can't help it! My arms, ugh. Were torn off...!"
"That's why I'm trying to restore you to how you were, Shei. Now. Give me your shoulder stumps. I'll try to recover you as the Demon God of Tyr, so hold the connected parts firmly with your ki."
I lifted up the pair of arms I had carefully brought. They were exactly the arms the regressor had lost. If they were this devastatingly damaged, rather than reattaching them, one should worry whether the body would die before that, but that also depends on the person.
Even in the worst situation where the arms were severed, the regressor's Cheonban-gyeong blocked the blood flow heading toward the arms and circulated it back into the body to minimize blood loss. It was an accurate response as if having experienced arms being severed before.
"Here. These are Shei's lost left arm and right arm that I brought. Wave your hand and say hello. Oh, Shei doesn't have hands to wave, do you?"
"I'm barely clinging to life and you're making jokes...!"
"Even if I set a heavy mood in a serious situation, it'll only get heavier. Let's think positively."
I held the two arms that were torn off by Nebida with both hands and waved them. The bones were twisted and the severed muscles dangled, but vitality was still circulating. It was all thanks to me circulating blood without resting for a moment.
The regressor saw a moment of hope at the relatively intact arms, but soon shook their head.
"...Even if you reattach them. It'll take months to recover my strength. Even after recovery, I won't be as strong as before."
"Then just recover for a few months. You have more life ahead of you, what's the big deal about recovering for a few months?"
'...That's true. Hughes wouldn't know. That I can regress... It's better to die and start over than to struggle for months to reattach lost arms.'
It's not for you but for me. Things have been oddly going well for me this time around, and I might regain my full strength at this rate, so I can't reset already.
"Let's consider this training too, shall we? If you live for a few months practically without arms, you might pioneer a new realm, right?"
"Does that make sense?"
"Then, 'My arms got cut off so I'll just die~' does that make sense? Especially for someone whose arms can be reattached. You doing that is an insult to armless people all over the world. It's also something you shouldn't do to me."
'But from Hughes's perspective who doesn't know about regression, I must seem strange for wanting to give up on life. Ugh. Fine. There's still a lot to gain this time around. Starting over is also annoying, so let's see it through to the end. ...A-and. What Hughes said also bothers me.'
The regressor equivocated and, leaning back in the chair, nodded their head instead of the vanished hands.
"...There's a spiritual medicine in my pocket. If you process it as I instruct, it'll help reattach the arms. Connecting the muscles one by one requires a lot of vital energy."
"Okay. I have a lot to say, but let's make reattaching your arms the top priority for now."
"Y-yeah."
The regressor's tension wasn't simply because of the impending treatment.
...Hah. I'm feeling that sensation of catering to customers at a host bar for the first time in a while. How is it, Great Witch. Are you satisfied?
'Hmm. So this is what it feels like... It's not bad...'
Reading the thoughts of the audience voyeuristically observing me, I carefully continued my actions.