618 – Rest Before the Battle

Sprawled out on the ground of the Ngai Forest, we decide to take a proper rest.

Aro and treant have levelled up.
So after this, we’ll head straight to the origin matter.

We’re in a hurry, but all of us have also reached the point where any further levelling will inevitably be slow.
We won’t get much stronger just by spending a little more time hunting now.
Moreover, the monsters here strong enough that it’s possible we could step on a landmine and lose someone if we rush too much.

We’re not in a situation where we can avoid all risk.
I know that.
But, the return for the risk isn’t worth it now.
We should fight the origin matter at our current levels.

With Aro and the treant’s assistance, it’s possible that we could win smoothly.
Besides, even though the origin matter has a lot of one-hit-kill skills, I’ve already seen its status.
I’ve also seen a lot of the skills in action, so I know the ranges and attack patterns.
We might be able to plan our approach better than last time.

But, even though time is precious, the origin matter isn’t an opponent I can face while exhausted.
Before the battle, I need to completely rest up.

I have [Presence Perception], and, treant aside, Aro is sharp.
Even if we were all sleeping, one of us might be able to notice an approaching monster.
But the monsters here are all dangerous – they’ll all former divine skill holders and their subordinates.
It’s probably a good idea to always have one of us on watch duty.

The sky is unchanging here, so we’ll need to estimate our shifts, waking each other up in turns until my HP and MP have fully recovered.

As an oneiros, I can recover from exhaustion and health just by staying motionless, so we might not strictly need anyone else to keep watch.
But, time is of the essence.
I want my rest to be as efficient as possible.

Until now, Aro has been unable to sleep, but as a walpurgis, it seems she can now.
After all, she doesn’t seem to technically be an undead any longer.

“I’m fine without sleep.
I’ll stay on watch the entire time…”

『I can’t force you to take all the burden.
Besides, aren’t you tired after all the battles here? You haven’t been able to sleep until now, so please properly rest.
If anything, your sleep is a priority here.』

“But…”

『Besides… I’ll need both of you to help me in the battle with the origin matter.
Even if things go smoothly, I’ll probably not be able to do everthing by myself.
The opponent is a maximum level Legendary, after all… I can’t plan out for all of how it may go.
We’ll need to be able to think on our feet, or one of us could die.
Rest well, Aro.
It’s not just for your sake.
It’s so that we can defeat the origin matter, and get out of this world and back to our own.』

『That’s right, Aro-dono! It would be terrible if you were to make a mistake from a lack of sleep at a critical moment!』

“…I understand.”

As treant chimes in to support me, Aro nods her head.

『Mu? What’s wrong, master-dono? You look concerned.』

Treant asks, and I hurriedly smooth my expression over as the two examine me… Ah, if I stay quiet here, that’d just make them worry more.

『I-it’s nothing, it was just that when you said that, I thought it sounded like a flag.』

『M-master-dono! What is it that you think of me!?』

『Sorry… No, it really was just a passing thought.
Anyway, rest up properly, okay?』

『The details aside, I will take master-dono’s advice to heart…』

The lookout order will be me, then Aro, then treant.
When Aro switches out, she’ll wake me up briefly so that I can check how the recovery is going.

My watch passes by uneventfully, and I wake up Aro to switch.
Later, I watch as Aro switches out with treant.

I don’t know how much time then passes, but I awake of my own accord.
I had quite a lot of exhaustion built up, so it seems I slept surprisingly deeply.
Setting up a watch was a good idea.

To start with, I check Aro’s status, who is leaning against my face as she sleeps.
It seems she’s fully recovered.

Next, I check the status of the treant, who is sprawled out on the ground.
He’s also fully recovered.
Great, we can go fight the origin matter now.

『Wait a second.』

Why were all of us sleeping!? Treant was supposed to be the last watch! Treant, why weren’t you on watch?!

Treant stirs and looks up at me.

『Good morning, mater-dono! Is it time for our rematch against the origin matter? I have rested fully! With my power as a world treant, I will fight as well as I can!』

He strikes a pose with his wings, then tilts his head to the side.

『Huh…? Was it strange that I was sleeping…?』

…It seems he took my advice of getting well rested to heart too much.
I clutch my face with my forefoot.
W-well, we weren’t attacked in the end, so it’s fine, yeah.

『Ah! I apologise deeply, master-dono! I’ll, I’ll make up for this blunder through my efforts in battle!』

“Treant-san…”

Rubbing her eyes, Aro looks up at treant.
He bows down to her repeatedly.

…W-well, I also slept more deeply than I was expecting.
He was probably tired too.
I suppose it’s good that he’s now fully recovered from his tiredness.