Chapter 74 74: Raising for Personal Use

— — — — — — With the help of Larentia, Veyron finally began to grasp the power known as the "World Anchor"—a gift from the [Friend of the World (Gold)] trait. It wasn't a perfect understanding, but it was enough to work with. First of all, the World Anchor had a very high priority. Even if the World itself tried to block or restrict him, as long as he had an anchor set, Veyron could still come and go freely—just like when he was in Eirin Yagokoro's pocket dimension and tested that mission glitch in the chat group." Secondly, the World Anchor could pin down both space and time—to a degree. There were two modes: Strong Anchor and Normal Anchor. The Strong Anchor was like the chat group's Space-Time Gap support tool—once it was set, Veyron could return to exactly the moment he left, no matter how long he'd been gone. The normal mode used him as the reference point: if he spent ten minutes away, then ten minutes would pass in the anchored world too. If he didn't anchor mode at all, though... things got weird. He'd tested this "go with the flow of time" setup three times. First time: ten minutes in Eientei, and when he got back, half a month had passed in the Treeborn World. Second time: same ten minutes, but only three seconds had passed. Third time: still ten minutes... but this time, three years had flown by. --- "Thanks for all your help these past few years." Inside the temple at the top of the World Tree, Veyron gave a sincere nod to Larentia. "But... Is something bothering you?" Noticing a faint trace of worry in her expression, Veyron hesitated, then asked, "Is the World Tree not growing properly?" "The world itself is doing fine," Larentia said, conjuring up a projection of the World by calling on the sapling of the World Tree. Compared to three years ago, the world had expanded noticeably. "What's been troubling me... is the population." With a thought, Larentia zoomed in the projection. Veyron could see over seven million glowing dots—each one representing a living being. Ooh, still seven million? "You noticed too, right?" Seeing the flicker of confusion on his face, Larentia explained, "It's been three years since we came to this world, and the total population hasn't changed at all!" "...What was your original plan?" Veyron didn't bother with the obvious 'Well yeah, if they're all women, of course there's no new population' nonsense. He figured if Larentia hadn't been concerned about it back then, she must've had some kind of plan. "I was going to model it after how the elves were born in the old world—and have this world nurture new life on its own." She dismissed the world projection and instead brought up another visual. A massive tree towered in the center. Veyron recognized it—it was the same World Tree that had supported the old World. On one of its branches, a small bud poked out, bathed in sunlight and nurtured by the great tree, slowly grew into a two- to three-meter-wide fruit. Eventually, the fruit split open, and out stepped a pale-skinned elf—likely either Larentia or Celestine—clothed in garments formed from the fruit's skin. "That method doesn't work here?" Veyron frowned. "It's not that it doesn't work—it's just... incomplete." "About half a year ago, a child had a tragic accident—fell from a high place while playing. By the time the adults noticed, it was already too late." She pointed at a fruit. "Not long after her death, something happened—something I hadn't been able to do for over two years was suddenly possible again: the world could give birth to life. But only one. And it turned out to be the reincarnation of that child." "...So if that's the only method," Veyron rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Then the population's permanently capped at seven million... unless we import new life from outside." "Or," Larentia added, "we figure out how to create life within this world." "Yeah, I figured that too... but all the people you brought over from your old world are women, unless—wait a sec." He suddenly froze, his gaze locking with Larentia's. His brow furrowed slowly. "You really were up to something." — — — After some time, in Eientei— Upon hearing Veyron's recounting, Princess Kaguya slammed her hand on the table with righteous fury. "That shameless woman! I've spent years raising you with care, and I haven't even used you yet! And now she dares to try to take you like this?! Thank goodness you didn't fall for her trap!" "...Hold up." Veyron narrowed his eyes. "Say that again. Raising me for years?" "What, did I say something wrong?" "Everything about that sentence is wrong!" Veyron's mouth twitched. "Haven't I been the one taking care of you all this time?!" "Well then, let's look at it this way." Kaguya smiled sweetly and posed a very cutting question: "When people go chopping bamboo in the mountains, do they normally find gold inside?" "...Tch!" Veyron was speechless. So all this time he'd thought he was raising Kaguya like a daughter... But in reality, he'd been the one being raised?! Who's the parent here?! "Alright, let's set that problem aside for now," Veyron took a deep breath and composed himself. "Can I ask something, from the heart? With no one else around, I'm kinda curious—how exactly have you seen me over these years?" Kaguya thought for a moment. "At first? You were just some human from the surface who happened to be in the right place at the right time. I didn't mind your presence. But as we spent more time together, I realized you were actually a good guy." "You were still just an ordinary human back then, but you had that 'cheat' ability of yours that let you keep growing. So I figured... maybe, just maybe, you could become someone who'd stay by my side like Eirin—a true family member." "...So?" Veyron could tell she was trying to build up to something, but her earlier comment about 'raising him for personal use' was still messing with his head. He gestured for her to continue. "So..."Kaguya's tone suddenly turned serious. "If you're messing around with women outside, I might be able to turn a blind eye. But the first taste of 'white cream'—that's mine." She tapped the table for emphasis, staring him down with a deadly calm expression. . . .