Egru greeted the morning with vigor. His days of living with Gilbert in the World Tree had officially begun.

He neatly arranged the leaves he had slept on, under, and used as a pillow the previous night. Then, clenching his fist firmly, he steeled his resolve.

‘I absolutely must make Gilbert my ally!’

To do that, he needed to win his favor and steadily increase his affection level.

‘But how?’

Egru decided to first hover around Gilbert. Perhaps by staying close, he could find some way to be helpful.

As it happened, Gilbert was setting new traps in the flower garden. Egru approached carefully, taking care not to step on any flowers.

“Good morning, Gilbert.”

“…”

“Is there anything I can help with? I’ll work hard at whatever you ask me to do!”

Gilbert ignored Egru as if he weren’t even there.

Clank, clank—! He merely continued spreading rusty traps beneath the vibrant flower petals. Each time he gripped the steel and exerted force, the thick muscles in his arms rippled in succession.

Egru glanced down at the traps stacked like fluffy pancakes. Every single one showed signs of heavy use. Though he wished to believe otherwise, the teeth with what appeared to be flesh stuck to them looked terribly gruesome.

Having been bitten by those teeth before, his shoulders trembled involuntarily. Even so, he continued pondering ways to engage Gilbert in conversation. Winning someone’s heart was completely new territory for him, so his methods were essentially uncharted.

“Have you, have you been living here alone all this time, Gilbert? Haven’t you felt lonely?”

“…”

“Did you build this fortress yourself? Your craftsmanship is really impressive!”

“You…”

You talk too much, Gilbert muttered just barely audibly. He didn’t even spare Egru a glance.

“Don’t chatter in front of me.”

Bang, he dropped the trap as if disgusted, and its sharp teeth snapped together violently.

Startled, Egru covered his mouth with both hands. Though the trap had only bitten through air, he somehow felt as if his own tongue had been severed.

“I’ll, I’ll be quiet. I’m sorry…”

Only then did Gilbert withdraw his gaze and move away. Toward the next spot for a trap.

Egru returned to the World Tree. Only after entering the dimly lit interior did he release the breath he’d been holding.

“Haah…”

Gilbert seemed to be in a low-pressure mood. Perhaps he was always like this. Egru, who had been holding his breath for fear of disturbing him, looked crestfallen.

‘How, how can I please him? I need to raise his affection level…’

Ngh, he was furrowing his brow in deep contemplation when—

“Want to get on the giant’s good side?”

A crisp voice rang out from above his head. He looked up quickly, but there was no one there.

Egru glanced around. There wasn’t a human form in sight. It was the same situation as when he had first emerged from the Well of Origin.

“He’s not a giant, he’s a wolf.”

“No, he’s a magical beast. A succubus.”

“I’m telling you, he’s a giant.”

Yet their bickering conversation continued incessantly.

“He’s all mixed up.”

“Then he’s basically nothing.”

“Um, are you perhaps talking about Gilbert?”

A moment of silence followed Egru’s question. Snicker, snicker, soon the sound of unified laughter circled around the surroundings.

“That’s right, the one who waters the flowers with blood outside.”

“The one who lives uninvited on the god’s grave.”

“He’s crazy about something—want to hear about it?”

“Really?”

Egru nodded promptly, his eyes sparkling. One of the voices from the empty air began speaking with an air of importance.

“To impress someone, you should give them a gift.”

“A gift?”

Egru pondered deeply. Was there a gift in the World Tree that could make Gilbert happy? But if he touched something carelessly, Gilbert might get angry…

“At the entrance of the World Tree…”

“If you go around the back of the World Tree entrance, there’s a luscious beehive!”

Before the explanation could finish, another voice impatiently interjected and prattled on. Anger infused the voice that had been explaining first.

“I was going to say that!”

“Did you call dibs? Anyone can say it and it’s just as good!”

“Anyway, if you collect honey from there, he’ll be incredibly pleased! Who in the world would refuse sweet honey?”

Yet another voice intercepted again. Whatever had it so excited, it sounded absolutely thrilled.

“Now hurry and go wrestle with the bees!”

“Hey! How could you say that!”

“What’s the big deal? He’s going one way or another, right?”

“Yes, yes! Thank you!”

Egru was already gathering large leaves to hold the honeycomb. The voices in the air laughed amongst themselves, saying, “See that! What an idiot!”

“Um, by the way…”

Egru asked while neatly folding green leaves to substitute for plates.

“May I ask who you are? How is it that I can only hear your voices…?”

“And what exactly are you?”

A voice from the void asked in return. Egru answered with a bright smile.

“My race was originally orc, but now I seem to be an elf. My name is Egru.”

“Egru? That’s such a fitting name! Whoever named you has good sense!”

“R-really?”

“Of course! It means ‘dregs’!”

“That’s what I’m saying! It’s perfect!”

The voices in the air laughed so hard they could barely breathe. The amber eyes widened into perfect circles.

“Does it really mean ‘dregs’?”

“That’s what we said! Are you going to cry?”

“Want us to comfort you, baby?”

“Kik-kik-kik!”

“…I’m fine.”

In response to the contemptuous, mocking comments, Egru smiled gently. Deep within his amber eyes, a brilliant hope rippled.

“Then I’ll become the world’s greatest dregs! The most amazing and excellent dregs ever!”

“Haha, um…”

When he proudly declared his resolution with his chest out, the cackling voices awkwardly fell silent.

“Th-thank you for telling me where the beehive is.”

Egru stepped outside the World Tree with a vacant smile. He strode bravely into the world beneath the blue sky.

“…Tch, no fun.”

The voices in the air—the spirits—pushed out their lips in pouts.

“But I kinda like him.”

“You really have no principles.”

“What about you?”

“Well, it’s amusing how he pretends to be alive when he’s just a corpse.”

“Me too.”

The sounds of their happy whispering echoed through the empty World Tree.

***

Buzz, buzzzzz—!

Egru stood before the enormous beehive and gulped. The sight of golden liquid flowing between layers of wax was truly awe-inspiring.

His amber eyes watched the tiny honeybees diligently coming and going. Using acrid smoke, he could knock the bees unconscious.

‘B-but if I do that, the honeybees will get hurt…’

They might even die in severe cases.

Since he only needed a small amount of honey, he didn’t want to do such a thing.

‘Alright! I can do this…!’

Egru trembled in place as he took a deep breath to steel himself. He imagined breaking off a piece of honeycomb, quickly wrapping it in leaves, and running away.

Fifteen minutes later.

“I’m s-sorry—!”

A tearful cry spread in all directions like the branches of the World Tree.

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”

Egru clutched the honey to his chest as he cut across the flower garden. He ran precariously, leaping over the traps visible here and there.

Woooooom—! The fierce buzzing of the bee swarm clung close to his ears. All he could do was flee as far as possible. Hoping the enraged bees would somehow forgive the honey thief.

“It hurts! It s-stings!”

Egru’s face had already swollen like a bumpy balloon. The areas stung by bee stings throbbed and smarted.

As his eyelids puffed up like sausages, his field of vision gradually narrowed.

The transition from a precarious escape to a dangerous accident happened in an instant.

Before he knew it, his outstretched right foot was sucked into a trap.

Clank—!

The next moment, the fearsome teeth of the trap snapped together. Yet the flower garden, which should have been splattered with blood, remained clean.

Egru’s foot hovered just above the trap. Gilbert, who had approached without notice, had instantly grabbed Egru by the nape and lifted him.

“What are you doing making such a commotion?”

Gilbert scolded with his thick eyebrows furrowed.

“Ah…”

Egru barely opened his eyes, which refused to open properly, and looked up at Gilbert.

“I, I…”

With swollen, stinging hands, he hurriedly spread the flat leaf. He lifted it high so Gilbert could see what was inside.

In the center of the concave leaf sat a piece of honeycomb, its hexagonal cells filled with honey.

“A gift, it’s a gift for you, Gilbert.”

“…”

Egru’s eyes were so swollen that he couldn’t properly see Gilbert’s expression. But he could guess.

“Ugh!”

He must not have liked it.

Gilbert, who had flung Egru onto a part of the flower garden without traps, quietly moved away in the opposite direction. It seemed he had no intention of accepting the gift at all.

Egru wiped his moist eye rims with his forearm. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t disappointed by the fruitless outcome.

<system>

[Gilbert Kuel]’s affection level +1

Only after the swelling in his eyes subsided the next day could Egru discover the text floating in the air, and jump up and down with joy.