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Pest Control 

Satou here. When things are going well, I automatically get anxious. Maybe it’s a programmer’s self-defense instinct? The fact is, unexpected problems are going to come up whether you’re ready or not. 

“Now, children of Bolenan! Let us commence Operation Curry! Let’s be careful and cautious, and enjoy ourselves a little, too!” 

Aaze’s cute voice echoed through the observatory. 

First, the elves’ light ships, which looked just like the hero’s silver ship, emerged from the void docks underneath the observatory. The curry powder diffusers looked awkwardly tacked on. 

Next, the multi-legged golems set out into the void, equipped with curry powder diffusers and void engines. The golem made from a World Tree branch had already been transported the previous day to its planned position on a light ship. 

The World Phone spell brought us messages from the high elves of the other World Trees. 

“This is Keeze of the Bulainan clan. Hero Nanashi, we pray your operation will be a success.” 

“This is Saaze of the Beliunan clan. We are ready to launch at any time.” 

“This is Tooza of the Zuwakanan clan. We are prepared as well. We await good news from the Bolenan clan.” 

Maybe it was just my imagination, but the Beliunan high elf sounded a little agitated to me. 

Their clan seemed rather competitive with their fellow research lovers the Bulainan clan, so I was a bit worried. 

“Satou, are you ready?” 

Miss Aaze arrived, wearing a special void suit that looked like something straight out of a sci-fi anime. 

It was a wonderful garment that clung to her body. 

“Yes, if you are.” 

I took Aaze’s hand, and the two of us flew into the void. Since we weren’t helping with the curry powder spraying, we drifted up to an altitude where there were no World Tree branches around. 

Anyone with the “Spirit Vision” skill would see that we were surrounded by enormous spirits. 

Normally, there wouldn’t be spirits in the void, but Aaze’s Space Magic and my spirit light on full blast made it possible. 

I’d gathered the spirits on the ground, then Aaze used a teleport gate to bring them to the observatory in advance. 

Once I confirmed on the map that everyone was in position, I gave Aaze the go signal. 

“Begin diffusion!” 

Aaze produced light pseudo-spirits with her Spirit Magic, which unleashed a dazzling brightness. 

This was the signal for the golems and light ships to start spraying the powder. 

The points of light marking the jellyfish on my map turned red for just an instant, then turned white to indicate neutrality. 

“Satou, they’re sending up the signal. The jellyfish are on the move!” 

Aaze grabbed my shoulders and shook me excitedly. 

I could see on the map that she was right. The jellyfish were beginning to follow the diffusers. 

Their role fulfilled, the multi-legged golems began to return to the observatory. 

“Next, please prepare to have the sylphs guide the diffusers.” 

“I’m on it! … ?…? Create Sylph Kaze Seirei Souzou.” 

Aaze cast the spell, and translucent creatures who looked like adult versions of dryads began to appear one after another. 

Since the diffusers’ void engines were disposable, they were designed to float straight up like a balloon, making the sylphs’ guidance essential. 

“Sylphs, please guide the devices you see below toward us. Be careful not to get caught by the jellyfish following them.” 

The sylphs nodded and flew toward the powder diffusers. 

I was afraid to say it out loud and jinx it, but things were going so well that it was making me nervous. 

“… ? Dimension Jail Mugen Rougoku.” 

Once the jellyfish had been lured together, Aaze used Space Magic to trap them in a cage. 

Next, she used Dimension Pile to fix the cage in place. Since its position was set relative to the World Tree, it wouldn’t get left behind by the planet’s rotation or anything like that. 

They were just far enough away from the other jellyfish that they wouldn’t set off a rampage, but since the next wave of jellyfish was coming from farther away, it was the perfect distance from the World Tree. 

Here, the elves’ advanced attack magic should be able to finish them all off in one blast. 

“It worked!” 

“Yes, now we just need to repeat the process.” 

Aaze’s happiness almost elicited a smile from me, but I managed to use my “Poker Face” skill to stay serious. 

The first round had captured 197 jellyfish. 

In order to exterminate all ten thousand jellyfish, we would have to repeat this process more than fifty times. We had a lot of work ahead of us, probably including breaks to recover MP. 

 

“Ohhh, Satou… Please be gentle…” 

Aaze’s sensual voice threatened to rob me of my senses, but I forced myself to keep it together as I used the Practical Magic spell Mana Drain to assist with her MP recovery. 

It was all I could do not to lose myself in the high of the experience. 

Silently counting prime numbers in my mind, I managed to fulfill my role as a supply ship. 

This was the seventh time we’d stopped to recover magic in the observatory. 

Sadly, this moment of bliss was interrupted when Lua appeared. 

“Mr. Satou, please refrain from toying with Lady Aaze.” 

“My apologies, Miss Lua.” 

Lua seemed relatively angry, so I decided to stop messing around with the strength of my power supply to Aaze, at least for the time being. 

“How are the golem team’s preparations going?” 

“They just finished. Something was causing a problem with a few of the golems’ movements, but they were able to fix them by replacing the leg units in question. The operation can proceed on schedule.” 

This little round of maintenance had been my suggestion. 

It cost a bit of extra production time, but as a result, the parts could be replaced smoothly even without an experienced technician around. 

Just as I was standing up to get back to work, Goya came running over to us. I hadn’t seen his face in a while. 

“I’ll help!” 

“You can’t. It’s too dangerous.” Miss Aaze frowned and shook her head. 

“I’ll help!” 

“Couldn’t we let him help a little?” 

Goya was unfazed, so I decided to throw him a bone. 

“Satou?” 

“Of course, since he hasn’t been trained on the procedures, we can’t put him on the front lines. But he should be able to help Miss Lua and the others with logistical support.” 

Goya looked surprised, so I explained my thinking. 

“Fight!” 

“Sorry, but you aren’t trained enough.” 

It would be too dangerous to bring someone who was only level 13 out into the void. 

He looked a little frustrated, but I couldn’t put the other elves in danger just to win his favor. 

“Besides, the front lines can’t do this alone, you know. Without the help of the support teams, they wouldn’t get anywhere, right?” 

“Mrrr.” 

I was sure a young gun like him would’ve preferred a job that earned him more attention, but I wasn’t going to let him turn up his nose at the jobs behind the scenes. 

Even companies like the one I worked at couldn’t just have a development department. It was departments like sales, accounting, and general affairs that made the business world go round. 

“…Okay.” 

Goya hesitated at first, but at last he nodded and accepted my proposal. He might have been a little reckless, but he wasn’t completely stupid. 

“Well then, Goya, follow me. We need more communication officers to help sort things out.” 

Miss Lua pulled Goya along by the arm, and they disappeared behind the piled-up materials in the observatory. 

With that, we could get back to work, too. 

“Shall we?” 

“Of course, Satou.” 

I offered Aaze a hand to help her up, checking the distribution of the rest of the jellyfish on my map. 

There were only about 30 percent of them left. Another fourteen or fifteen rounds of guidance should do it. 

This was the part of the process where mistakes or accidents tended to happen most, so I had Aaze and Lua warn the elves to metaphorically tighten their helmets. 

“You can do it, sylphs!” 

When Aaze called out to them, the sylphs shot off to guide the diffuser devices. 

“My, this is going well,” she remarked, leaning against my back. 

As I savored that pleasant sensation, a glint of red suddenly caught my eye. 

…Hmm? 

“What’s this? We’ve got a call through World Phone…” 

Absentmindedly ignoring Aaze’s statement, I opened my map with a feeling of dread. 

The dots that marked the jellyfish were flickering red and white. When I expanded the view, it looked like a wave of red was flowing through them. 

Uh-oh. This can’t be good. 

“Everyone! Emergency evacuation now!” 

After I contacted Lua back at headquarters with Telephone, I unleashed three red Fireworks spells to indicate a halt on the operation. 

The branches of the World Tree crackled with electricity. 

I didn’t know what had gone wrong, but first we had to evacuate everyone. 

The golems had shock resistance, so they should be able to stand up to the World Tree’s electrical shock, at least for a while. 

“Satou! The Beliunan clan failed! They were carrying out the operation at the same time as us!” 

They what?! 

Didn’t they hear us say that the Bolenan clan was going to act alone first in case of any unexpected issues, since all the jellyfish seemed to be linked? 

Well, there would be time to pitch a fit later. 

Reining in my frustrated thoughts, I pulled away from the safety of Aaze’s side to become a decoy. 

“Satou!” 

Once I left her wind barrier, my voice couldn’t reach her, so we connected with the Telephone spell. 

“Miss Aaze, retreat to one of the light ships! I’ll distract the jellyfish and the World Tree.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous! Everyone will be fine as long as we don’t make sudden moves!” 

I didn’t want to worry Aaze, but it was better than letting anyone get injured or worse. 

“Hey, you useless weed! Are these branches or roots? Pick one already!” 

I steeled myself and used the “Taunt” skill to attract the attention of the World Tree. 

Without any air, the sound of my voice shouldn’t have been able to travel, but it seemed like the idea got through to the tree anyway. 

A huge bolt of lightning shot up toward me from the World Tree below. 

“Watch out!” 

On my radar, the distance between Aaze and me shrank rapidly. 

No! Is she trying to protect me?! 

Unlike last time, the electric shock had only just fired off. 

At this rate, Aaze would get hit by the blast. 

As my sheer panic seemed to slow down time, I reached out a Magic Hand to the lightning bolt. 

Since it didn’t have a physical form, the hand was able to catch the lightning bolt without being shocked. 

In the next moment… 

“Satou, am I dreaming…? The World Tree’s lightning disappeared…” 

Miss Aaze’s voice sounded astonished through the Telephone spell. 

Thank goodness. I made it in time. 

Now the gigawatt-class electric shock was sitting safely in Storage. 

Since it could preserve oxygen molecules perfectly, there was no reason Storage couldn’t hold the electrons and charged ions that made up the bolt as well. 

I’d failed to store flame once before, but that was a different case because I didn’t understand the nature of the flame well enough. 

“I have all kinds of anti-shock measures, so don’t worry about me. Just meet up with the light ships and help them retrieve all the elves. I’ll come back once I’ve served as a decoy and destroyed the jellyfish.” 

The wind barrier wrapped around me, and Aaze’s voice and warmth reached me from behind. 

“You can’t do this alone! Let me—” 

I took Aaze’s hands and gazed into her earnestly worried eyes. 

A light ship arrived from the interval between dimensions to pick her up. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll come back safely.” 

“…You promise?” 

“Yes, I promise.” 

I exchanged a pinkie promise with Aaze, just as I once did with Mia in the collapsing Cradle. 

Since she still looked worried, I leaned in and kissed her through our void suits. 

The gentle clink of our helmets bumping together was a little bit tragic. 

“S-Satou…” 

“Please just wait for me. Trust me.” 

Aaze’s eyes were wide and her face red as I pushed her toward the light ship, propelling myself back into the void. 

Now then, time to be a hero. 

 

In total, seventy-six of the ten thousand jellyfish had turned red. The number seemed to be increasing, but it was still a pretty tiny percentage. 

Besides, over 70 percent of the jellyfish were already trapped in Aaze’s Dimension Jails. There were only 2,765 jellyfish that could still move freely. 

A few dozen of them were trying to attack the multi-legged golems and their riders, so I used Remote Stun to knock them out from a distance. 

Among the loose jellyfish, I could only shoot 933 of them. 

Since most of the jellyfish were clinging tightly to the tree with their tentacles, I couldn’t use Remote Stun to knock them off the branches. 

That was why I’d planned this roundabout Operation Curry in the first place… 

But that was only because I was trying to make a plan in which the elves could dispose of the jellyfish entirely on their own. 

The elves lived far longer than I would, so if they were to encounter a similar situation in the distant future, they might not have an irregularity like me to help them deal with it. I wanted to make sure they’d be all right. 

But maybe that was a little too overcautious of me. 

“Well then, guess I’ll get started…” 

I took out a void golem from the large Fairy Pack. 

It was a simple golem that could carry out actions like jet propulsion and biaxial rotation as directed by my Signal spell. 

As a result, it was sturdy and had a low production cost. This time, I’d covered most of it with rubber for extra protection. 

“There you go.” 

In order to give the golem some initial acceleration through the void, I threw it by hand with the help of a “Skyrunning” foothold. This was faster than its regular acceleration system. 

As I repeated this process, more of the golems disappeared into the void, the reflective pane on their backs glittering by a few flashes of the World Tree’s lightning. 

I stored these lightning bolts in Storage, too. 

It’d be nice if it would learn soon that its electric attacks wouldn’t work, though maybe that was too much to expect of a tree. 

I activated the Light Magic spell Condense several times from the magic menu. 

Next, I prepared the Laser spell, using the 3-D map display to figure out its trajectory. 

This was a similar combo to the one I’d used to defeat the seven giant monster fish Tobkezerra when they appeared in the sky above the old capital. 

However, I wasn’t going to be firing a focused Laser this time. 

Even an ordinary laser could cause the World Tree’s branches to break just by passing near them, so a focused one was out of the question. 

Putting that thought aside, I turned to the map again. 

Two circles appeared around one of the dots, indicating a jellyfish on my map. 

Beside the circles were the words Locked On. More of these indicators appeared one after another until nearly half the jellyfish on my map had been marked. 

However, the majority of them were sheltered behind branches. 

> Reflector One, placement completed. 

> Reflector Four, placement completed. 

> Reflector Twelve, placement completed. 

The Signal spell from the void golems informed me that they’d arrived at their positions. 

As each golem reached its place, target marks appeared on more and more of the jellyfish on my map that hadn’t been locked on before. 

Just to be safe, I checked that there weren’t any elves nearby who might get hurt. 

“All right. Checkmate.” 

In my mind, I pulled the trigger. 

A flood of light filled the empty void. 

The hundred Lasers I’d fired were scattered by the Condense spell, increasing their number. 

All of them were doubled over and over until eventually 3,200 bright lines were bouncing around the void. 

That was a little more than necessary, but it shouldn’t be a problem. 

Tiny glimmers danced across the branches of the World Tree. 

It was the Lasers piercing the jellyfish, bouncing off their transparent remains and creating a diffused reflection. 

However, the jellyfish I couldn’t directly target were still intact. 

At this rate, they would go into rampage mode and multiply—but I already had a countermeasure for that. 

Some of the thin little Lasers reached certain points and bounced at an angle. 

Reflected off the void golems, they changed direction a few times until they hit the jellyfish hidden behind the World Tree’s branches. 

That’s right: I was imitating the anime technique Arisa had used back at the mountain stream. 

I hadn’t managed to find a material that could reflect my focused Lasers, but if I used Condense to scatter them into weaker Lasers, most reflective surfaces would work. 

Thus, the stubborn red lights above the World Tree disappeared as if they’d been wiped away with a cloth. 

“Satou! The cages!” 

Aaze cried out from the light ship. 

Looking up and over my shoulder, I saw that the jellyfish were on the verge of breaking out of the Dimension Jails. 

Their eyes were burning red, having watched so many of their fellows be destroyed. 

There were several times more of them than the number I’d just destroyed. 

“Run, Satou!” 

Aaze’s desperate voice pained my heart. 

It’s all right. 

I already declared checkmate, remember? 

A merciless flower began to bloom in the void… 

Explosion. 

The most powerful attack spell of all the intermediate Explosion Magic spells. 

The vibrations shook the aether in the otherwise soundless space. 

Since we were out here in the void, I didn’t have to hold back out of fear of destroying the surrounding environment. 

A few jellyfish survived, but I burned them away with another round of Lasers. 

“Well, that wraps up this operation.” 

With a sigh, I used Magic Hand to start cleaning up the jellyfish debris. 

Then my “Sense Danger” skill reacted to something. 

A terrible premonition ran through the back of my mind as I cleaned. 

It was coming from the World Tree. 

“Wh-what’s this?” 

The trunk beneath the observatory had been ripped open by a huge jellyfish tentacle bursting forth. 

“One of them got into the World Tree?!” 

The tentacle reached toward the observatory. 

Crap! 

There were a lot of elves in the observatory who weren’t wearing void suits. 

I definitely couldn’t fire Laser, never mind Explosion. 

Besides, I was too far away. No ordinary magic would reach. 

I used “Warp” and “Skyrunning” to move as fast as I could, but I would never make it in time. 

The thick tentacle smashed the dome of the observatory, and several elves were sucked into the void along with the crushed mucous wall. 

I recognized those faces—it was Mia’s parents and Goya. 

I jumped forward with enough force to shatter the “Skyrunning” foothold. 

HURRYYYYYYYYY! 

My heart burned so fiercely that I could almost feel time slowing down. 

It was a similar feeling to when I’d tried to save Sara from becoming a sacrifice for the demon lord. 

Right. That time… 

> Skill Acquired: “Flashrunning” 

Just as I felt a sensation in my mind like a puzzle piece falling into place, I arrived directly in front of the tentacle. 

The instant I realized it was about to strike the dome again, I pulled back as hard as I could to unleash a powerful punch against the building-size tentacle. 

Then, as the broken tentacle plummeted toward the trunk of the World Tree, I quickly used Magic Hand to return Mia’s parents and Goya to the observatory. 

“You’ve got some nerve, avoiding my map search,” I muttered at the jellyfish tentacle as I activated my new “Flashrunning” skill. 

It seemed to be an advanced combination of “Skyrunning” and “Warp.” 

More jellyfish tentacles emerged from other parts of the tree. 

How in the world did my map search miss them? 

A series of images flashed across my mind… 

The broken eggs and the mismatched amount of larvae. 

The mysteriously polluted sap. 

Removing the clogged sap near the jellyfish made them react the same way as if you’d destroyed an egg. 

I already had the answer. 

As the images fell into place, I turned them into words. 

The jellyfish that had hatched from the eggs hid in the sap, going through a pupa state in the guise of crystallized, polluted sap, and then transformed into actual jellyfish. 

And since we’d removed all the jellyfish at once, the ones that were hiding inside the World Tree as polluted sap all grew at once and merged to form a giant one. 

I could even see that the sap flowing through the trunk was turning into small jellyfish. 

Now that I understood the situation, it was time to get rid of the infection. 

I had no mercy for pests. 

Evading the lightning of the World Tree and the tentacle attacks of the jellyfish, I put Spellblade on the ends of my fingertips and beyond, using it to slash up the jellyfish and put them away in Storage. 

Sap from the World Tree began to leak from the huge hole that had been opened in its trunk. 

I temporarily put the leaking sap away in Storage and used Liquid Control to stop the leakage. 

Finally, I entered the World Tree through the hole and used the intermediate Water Magic spell Healing: Water to close it up. 

Now I was trapped inside, but that worked out just fine for me: I could follow the flow of the sap through the tubes and destroy the rogue jellyfish from the inside. 

While I did this, I also collected the polluted sap that hadn’t transformed yet into Storage along with the corpses. 

I picked up the sap immediately surrounding the contaminated areas, too, just to be safe. 

Infectious diseases like this one tend to hide in strange places, after all. 

 

“Satou’s signal is gone…” 

Aaze was lying on the floor of the observatory, despondent. 

“Well, that’s a shame,” I responded wryly as I approached. 

“Lua! How can you be so cruel?! Satou saved the World Tree, you know! Why would you say a thing like that?!” 

Mistaking my reply for Lua’s, Aaze cried out in a rare moment of anger. 

Even angry, she was as beautiful as ever. 

I stepped in front of Aaze to show her that I was safe. I’d already put my void suit away in Storage, of course. No need to be wearing unnecessary equipment during our emotional reunion. 

“I’m back, Miss Aaze.” 

Her blankly confused expression was pretty good, too. 

Since I’d been deep inside the trunk of the World Tree, returning the normal way would have been a pain, so I just used Return to teleport back. 

That must have cut off Aaze’s tracking signal, worrying her. 

I’d felt like I was being watched for a while, so she must have been watching me with Clairvoyance, too. 

“You’re back…” 

Aaze stared at me in a daze. 

“You’re back.” 

Why did she say that twice? 

“Welcome back, Satou.” 

Aaze wrapped her arms around my neck, so I returned the embrace. If Arisa or Mia had been there, they’d probably be saying “Guilty” right about then. 

“Thanks, Miss Aaze.” 

I lovingly stroked the high elf’s hair as she sobbed with relief. 





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