Chapter 1275: A Farm Inside A Tree?

"I will find out who they are and return with a report as soon as possible, Mistress," Katsuki bowed before disappearing.

Now I was alone with Minnera and we were still standing outside the temple dedicated to Drebann.

"Well... What now?" I asked, looking at Minnera.

Without hesitation, she linked her arms with mine and smiled at me, "Obviously it’s a date, right? I realised that I haven’t really been spending time privately with you, Aster~ So how about it?"

"I’m pretty sure we have... Especially back in Keminomi Capital City where you girls made me have public sex with you privately..."

"That’s different, Aster and you know it~ I’m talking about a proper date like lovers would. We would go around and explore the city, have dinner over a candlelight... And then we’ll kiss under the moonlight on top of a lake~ Ahhh~ Such a romantic scene it will make! I can’t wait to paint that!"

Of course that would be her goal...

Oh well, blame me for being so accommodating to my lovers because let’s go, Minnera~

With our arms linked, we went ahead to explore the upper district of the Trasif’s capital city, soaking in the atmosphere and looking for anything interesting that we could find.

It certainly had a different feel as compared to all the other cities we’ve been to. I was used to walking through streets with businesses and homes on either side of the street which gave off a distinct urban feel.

Even in the Nekinumi Kingdom where they built their cities within the forest, they were still using manmade buildings to house their citizens so there was a distinction between the forest and the city.

But in the Trasif city itself, the forest is the city so it still feels like you were wandering through a forest instead of a city.

I guess this gives another meaning to the words ’urban jungle’ since this one is literally one.

As beautiful and interesting it was to walk through the trees knowing it was actually a city... I realised there was one very obvious problem...

While in the other cities, we could just wander around without a specific goal in mind and stop at a store that looked interesting to browse... It was a little more difficult to do so here since all the businesses were located within the large trees themselves.

It’s akin to walking through a modern city filled with skyscrapers but there are no shopfronts on the ground floor and you have to enter each building and ascend to each floor just to see what stores they had.

It was definitely not convenient but if you think about it... This city was not designed with the intention of welcoming outsiders to begin with since this was the Trasifs’ first sanctuary to hide from everyone else.

So for the locals, they would already know where everything was and would just head directly to the tree with what they needed instead of just walking around aimlessly.

Although... I guess going into each tree to explore what they had was an adventure by itself.

Thus, without any idea of what any of the trees was housing, we picked a random tree and went inside it.

And yes, I had already shed the cloak that covered me so I was now wearing that really revealing dress that showed off my cleavage and legs. Which actually made me fit in with the rest of the people that were walking around instead of making me stand out.

Or at least that should have been the case but I don’t know why people are still looking at me like I’m wearing something weird.

Oh well... Probably it’s because I’m not a Trasif.

When we entered the tree, we were greeted with the smell of fruits and flowers, making it feel like we’ve just entered some kind of orchard or a garden.

Looking around, it seems like this was exactly the case as I spotted several smaller trees being grown and what looked like hydroponic shelves stacked on top of each other on different floors of the tree.

Right... Trees being grown inside of a tree... I definitely never saw that before...

Also, I’m surprised they even have hydroponics here, or at least I think it’s hydroponics since the contraption does look like one.

"What is this place? A farm?" I asked no one in particular.

"Looks like it. I guess this makes sense since I don’t think they just gather their vegetables in the wild," Minnera responded, also looking around in wonder. "Instead of building their farms outside, they built them inside the trees as well. I wonder how they manage to make the plants grow?"

"If I had to guess... Magic?"

Minnera hummed, "I guess that would make sense. Do you want to look around?"

"Since we’re here anyway, might as well, right? I’m kind of interested in what they’re growing here as well."

Minnera still had her arm wrapped around mine as we moved further into the tree building, my sights set on one of those ’orchards’ where several trees were grown in a pattern.

There were a few Trasifs there that were managing the orchards and we watched them from a distance as they moved amongst the trees.

That was when I noticed that there were a few of them that looked a little... Different?

They had the body of a Trasif but somehow I was getting the feeling that they weren’t exactly Trasifs from them.

It’s like they were something else that took the form of Trasifs.

I decided to get closer to take a look since they might be people who infiltrated into the city and masqueraded as a Trasif to try and destroy the Tree of Life.

As I got close, one of them noticed me and her face brightened up before rushing towards me.

It took me a moment to realise that she wasn’t running but actually floating above the ground.

"Apostle! Apostle, apostle, apostle!" She squealed, flying around me.

That seemed to get the attention of the other Trasifs and those that I had that weird feeling about them also started flying towards me.

All of them started chanting the same thing as they floated around me.

"Apostle! Apostle! Apostle!"

I looked to Minnera for help, "Umm... What’s going on?"

Her only response was to shrug at me.

I looked around at the Trasifs that were floating around me, "Umm... Sorry but... What’s going on?"

One of them floated close to me, looking even more excited, "Apostle! Goddess Drebann’s apostle!!"

Erm... I’m guessing that they somehow managed to sense Drebann’s divinity on me or something? But how?

As if to answer my question, a pair of fairy wings suddenly sprouted from one of their backs and she fluttered in front of me. She then glowed before her body suddenly shrunk to the size of my palm, which seemed to set off the other ’Trasifs’ floating around me also changed their sizes and had wings sprout from their backs.

Err... Are they Rizzies? Been a while since I saw one after I left home.

I tried to use [Screened] on one of them just to see what they were.

[Name: Herb

Title: Emmeflero Orchard Spirit

Race: Plant Spirit]

Oh... They are plant spirits, not Rizzies. Maybe they are distantly related or something?

All of them then settled on top of me, some of them resting on my shoulders, a few holding onto my arm and one even dove in the valley of my boobs so only her head was sticking out.

"Apostle~ Comfy~"

"Apostle~ Warm~"

"Apostle~ Fluffy~"

I was still confused by why they were even acting like this before another woman approached me, this one I know was definitely a Trasif and not a plant spirit.

"Hello? Umm... May I ask who you are?" She asked.

I waved my hand at her, "Just a passer-by, no need to worry. Do you know why they are acting like this?"

"Umm... I’m not sure... They usually only act like that when the Head Priestess visits... This is the first time I’ve seen them act like that to an outsider... Could you perhaps... Be related to her?"

Things immediately clicked for me, "Could these plant spirits be created by goddess Drebann?"

"They are linked to her in a way I suppose? They are the residents of the Tree of Life and came to us by Goddess Drebann’s grace to live amongst us and help us thrive."

"Oh, so they live in the Tree of Life?"

"They are born from it, actually. They are spirits of the tree and the entire forest is filled with them, though they usually do not show themselves in their true forms and adapt a form to hide themselves... That’s why it’s weird that they would do this with you... Who are you?"

Well... I can’t exactly tell her that I probably have this effect on them because I’m intimate with their goddess so I just came up with an excuse.

"I think... Maybe it’s because I just recently met with your Head Priestess before I came here so maybe they smelt her on me or something?"

The Trasif nodded, "Ah, I see. That might explain everything. Well then, a friend of our Head Priestess is also a friend of ours and I just so happen to be the one in charge of introducing this particular orchard. Would you like me to give you a tour, misses?"

Well since we’re here... Might as well, right?

This place looks interesting at least~