Gender-swapped Saintess: A Survival Diary on Hell Difficulty

Upon hearing Ms. Tree's words, Roland felt a chill run down her spine.

Her legs involuntarily came together slightly, creating a small distance between her and Kalil.

When Caryl saw Roland's action, her eyes widened, and she smashed the tree lady's head with her hammer again.

"Nonsense! How dare you slander my mother!"

Ms. Tree cried out "Ouch!" and buried her head in the soil again, continuing to make muffled, angry noises.

"Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, Miss Roland can easily find out with a simple check. Princess Elna was extremely famous for writing breeding books!"

Upon hearing this, Kalil swung her hammer again.

Roland quickly grabbed Caryl and stopped her from continuing to pound on the tree lady.

"Stop hitting her! Stop hitting her! If you break Miss Tree's head, who will help me with the work in the residential area?"

"Besides, Miss Shu is now considered an ally of ours. We should sit down and talk about everything. Peace is the most important thing."

Roland helped Miss Tree up, tidied her muddy clothes, and brushed the dust off her hair.

Looking at the gentle and lovely Roland, and then at the grumpy-faced Caryl, Ms. Tree's eyes revealed a look of emotion.

"Miss Roland is so much better, unlike that savage and perverted succubus!"

"Shu Nana, try saying another word?"

Caryl weighed the hammer in her hand.

"Hey, hey, hey, all of you, stop arguing! Miss Tree, please stop saying things that are asking for trouble."

Roland interrupted their verbal exchange.

Then he reached out and pulled the two of them to sit down at the picnic table under the tree.

Then, she opened her spatial ring and began to place various desserts, fruits, and seasonal drinks on the table.

She sat down next to Caryl, looking directly at Ms. Tree across from her.

"Miss Tree, could you tell me about what happened back then, and...?"

"And why pretend to be the Tree of Life in front of me?"

Ms. Shu's face darkened slightly, but she nodded and began to recount her story in a nostalgic tone.

……

In the distant past, the Harvest Cult was only a second-rate force with very weak combat capabilities, and its only strengths were farming, hunting, and raising pigs.

However, this also gave him a good relationship with various churches, allowing him to thrive as a neutral party.

Unfortunately, during the Abyss invasion, one of the large portals opened directly in the heart of the abyss.

Ms. Tree bought time with the help of the Goddess of Harvest and escaped with a small number of survivors. They were then taken advantage of by the Church of Steel and forced to help with farming.

I only managed to escape recently.

As for disguising himself as the Tree of Life, he was simply gambling on Roland's faction for the sake of better treatment.

Ms. Shu gave a brief and clear account of the whole story, but there were quite a few doubts in her words.

Caryl cast a suspicious glance at the 2.2-meter-tall tree spirit.

"I'm curious, how did you manage to escape from the Iron Church's control?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the Glass Garden is where you're being held, right? That place is only accessible to Elizabeth's confidants. How did you get out?"

As she spoke, Kalil turned to look at Roland and said meaningfully.

"And you just happened to arrive at Roland's church. How can you prove you're not a spy sent by Elizabeth!"

Upon hearing this, Roland's expression immediately changed.

Of course, it wasn't because of spies.

She thought back to the day she agreed to take erotic photos for Head Maid Lywind.

That day, her buttocks were attacked by some unknown magic, which scared her so much that she gave Lywind tons of "benefits".

After that, a sapling of the Tree of Life inexplicably appeared in the garden.

At first she thought she had mistakenly taken Kalil's collection, but now that she sees it...

Good heavens, it's that pervert Ms. Tree who's eyeing my beautiful big butt!

Roland stared wide-eyed at Ms. Tree with an expression that said, "So it was you."

Although the heart-shaped eyes were practically harmless, Ms. Tree's heart was in her throat.

This is terrible.

Not only will Roland's favorability be at risk, but if Kalil finds out about this, she'll probably chop her up on the spot!

Ms. Tree looked pale, her lips pursed, and she looked at Roland with pitiful, pleading eyes.

The contrast between the 2.2-meter-tall mature woman's pose and her appearance is quite striking, yet strangely endearing.

Caryl wasn't blind; seeing the interaction between the two, she frowned, slammed her hand on the table, and stood up.

Then he discarded the punitive cat claw hammer and pulled out a double-headed giant axe that gleamed with a cold light and whose blade was still stained with blood.

"Heh, there was definitely something fishy going on!"

"Little Loran, if you find anything wrong, just say so. This weak tree spirit is no match for me; I can chop her down right here and now!"

As she spoke, her aura surged, and she prepared to walk around the table toward Ms. Tree.

Ms. Shu was so frightened that her face turned pale, her knees buckled, and she was about to kneel down and beg for mercy.

Roland quickly grabbed Caryl.

"No, no, no, Miss Shu isn't a spy. I just thought of her escape method."

"How to escape?"

"Yes." Roland hesitated, glancing at the Tree Lady.

The tree spirit clasped its hands together in a silent pleading gesture, like a little girl who had made a mistake.

Roland sighed, looked into Kalil's eyes, and answered half-truthfully.

"On the day I took Elizabeth's photos, Lywind came to the Hanging Gardens in her maid outfit, and Miss Tree seized the opportunity to take root."

Kalil looked at their expressions with suspicion.

"Is it really that simple? Nothing happened that you can't tell me?"

Roland hesitated for a moment, and Ms. Tree quickly took over the conversation.

"What do you mean 'it's that simple'? I've been preparing for this day for over a century, honing all sorts of stealth techniques. Now even the most skilled thieves have to apprentice under me!"

"Since you were able to escape, why are you still targeting Roland?"

"I..." Ms. Tree stammered, "My escape method requires a large supply of life force, so I set my sights on Miss Roland."

"What?! Life force?"

Caryl was startled and quickly picked up Roland to check her over again.

"Little Loran, did that shameless tree spirit do something to you?"

"No, you've already had a checkup, I'm perfectly healthy."

Roland said awkwardly, now she knew why Miss Tree liked milk and farmyard manure so much.

Under these circumstances, no matter how much Caryl examined the area, she couldn't find anything abnormal.

Ignoring Roland's refusal, Caryl's right hand began to sneak under Roland's skirt.

Before Roland could react, she felt a warm, smooth touch and quickly pushed the succubus away.

"Hey, what are you doing! I already told you, Miss Tree didn't do anything."

Caryl rubbed her fingers together regretfully and pouted.

"How did this tree spirit acquire so much life force and grow to be so big?"

Roland straightened her disheveled clothes, took out a glass bottle containing a milky white liquid, placed it on the picnic table, and pushed it in front of Kalil.

Her cheeks flushed slightly.

"I think that's the reason."