In the early morning hours, standing on the roof of Kaito’s mansion so as not to be seen by others, Alice looks at the Fruit of the World Tree that was given to her by Kaito.

  (……Something unusual is going on here.)

  With a slightly troubled expression on her face, Alice turned her attention to the garden of Kaito’s house where Nebula could be seen, materializing scissors with her magic power and tending to the World Tree, which was technically her own body.

  Looking at her as she repeated the process of cutting the branches and leaves that had grown unnecessarily long, before stepping back a bit to check the whole thing, one wouldn’t have found anything particularly strange at all.

  (No matter how many times I look at her, she really looks like a normal spirit. However, a being with the same name as the Ultimate God that Makina told me about appears from a World Tree that had mutated into an unprecedented form…… There are too many unusual factors to think that they coincidentally just had the same name.)

  The change in the World Tree in Kaito’s garden was such an irregularity that even Alice couldn’t help but wonder what was happening along with Kaito. She did conduct some research, but there were no cases of similar changes in the past.

  Moreover, despite the fact that Lillywood and Kuromueina, who were experts on Spirits, also investigated this matter, their conclusion was also “unknown, probably a mutation”. In the end, they understood nothing about her.

  (But as it stands, only her origin is strange…… Other than that, there’s nothing else strange about her. It’s not like she’s acting weird or anything, she’s also friendly to everyone around her…… Hmmm.)

  As Alice pondered, Nebula seems to have finished tending to the World Tree and continued to tend the flower beds and the fountain in the garden.

  After she finished tending to the garden, Nebula nodded her head in satisfaction as she confirmed that the sun had completely risen.

  (Umu, I did great. This garden where the World Tree takes root is like my land. With that being the case, it is the duty of the Absolute me to keep it beautiful.)

  Nebula’s ability to take care of the garden was actually superb, and even though she hadn’t made any major changes, she had managed to make the entire garden look more beautiful than before.

  (Even so, the person who had been in charge of it before was also very good. As I had expected, she wasn’t as good as this Absolute me, but still, she seemed to have thought about the landscape and tended to it frequently. She must be a very good gardener.)

  [Oyaaa? Could it beeee that you tended the gardeeeeeen?]

  (……Mhmm? She should be……)

  Although she is proud and confident that she is Absolute, it isn’t that Nebula is looking down on others. Even though she thinks of herself as the Absolute, placing herself on a different level than those beneath her, she rightfully appreciates and praises those with superior abilities.

  As Nebula was admiring who she considers as the gardener, she turned around and faced the person that called out to her. There, she found Illness, who was waiting with her pruning scissors and other such gardening tools.

  [Good morning, Illness-san!]

  [Good morniiiiiing.]

  [My apologies. Have I done something I shouldn’t have?]

  Seeing the tools in Illness-san’s hand, Nebula guessed that she had come to tend to the garden, so she apologized.

  [No, nooooo~~ That isn’t the caaaaase. In faaaaact~~ I was just astonished at how muuuuuch more beautiful it was than I couuuuuuld. In particulaaaaar~~ I was amaaaaazed at how well you took care of the plants and the flower beeeeeds.]

  [Thank you. However, since Illness-san originally took such good care of the plants, there was hardly any area that I had altered. However, being a Spirit, I can confidently say that when it comes to caring for plants and such, I’m second to none.]

  [I see~~ If you have any tips or triiiiicks, I’d like to hear theeeeem.]

  Just as how Nebula calls her Absolute, each of her abilities excels above the others. The garden she prepared is so well-arranged that even from Illness’ point of view, it looks magnificent.

  When she heard that Illness was asking her for tips, Nebula thought about it.

  (Fumu, she’s asking me to teach her huh…… Alright. It’s the duty of the Absolute me to teach and guide those who are inferior.)

  Thereupon, after quickly collecting her thoughts, she told Illness with a bright smile.

  [Yes! If there’s anything I can teach you, I’ll help you!]

  [Thank youuuu.]

  Nebula happily complied with Illness’ request and taught her various tips on tending the garden. However, Illness’ skills are excellent to begin with, so she doesn’t have much to teach her and her lesson is over in a few minutes.

  After responding with a smile to Illness’ words of gratitude, Nebula looked like she suddenly thought of something and spoke.

  [……Come to think of it, Illness-san. I have a suggestion.]

  [Yeeees~~?]

  [It’s about Milord’s garden. It seems like it currently has the same setup as Lilia-san’s mansion, but if you adjust the position of the trees and plants to expand the lawn space, wouldn’t it be easier for Bellfreed and Lindwurm to play in?]

  [I see~~ That is indeed a very good ideaaaaa.]

  Unlike Lilia, Kaito isn’t a noble, so he had no need to be concerned with having that so-called noble-style garden. Currently though, since he didn’t have any particular request, they made the garden similar to the one in Lilia’s mansion…… but just as Nebula said, the more space it would be for Bellfreed and Lindwurm to move around, the more pleasant it would be for Kaito.

  [I’ll consult Kaito-sama about this first, okaaaaay? If we receive Kaito-sama’s permissiooooon, let’s make some changeeeees.]

  [Yes!]

  [When we’re able to remodel the gardeeeeen, it would be greeeeeat if Nebula could help ouuuuut.]

  [Of course! I’m Absolute after all, so you can rely on me!]

  [I’ll be counting on you theeeeen.]

  Seeing Nebula, who was puffing out her chest with her small body, Illness smiled and continued.

  [If you’re able to consume food or driiiink, would you like me to prepare a cup of tea for youuuuu?]

  [Thank you! I’ll be helping myself to it then.]

  It was unknown whether it’s because of their mutual attentiveness to each other’s needs or not, but Illness and Nebula’s personalities mesh well with each other, and afterwards, happily talking about how they would groom the garden and what they would do when they got permission to renovate it, they went back into the mansion.

  **********