Chapter 202 – Consul Mayer
“He was a very bright yellow guy.”
As I muttered that as I left the security guard, Dorothea, who was walking with me, nodded in agreement.
“I didn’t know there would be a twist of being an only child.”
From what I’ve heard, he’s a regular customer of this security guard, so it seems that he’s a person of special interest.
Anyway, with this, the implementation of justice was over, so we decided to finish the night market tour, which we hadn’t done before.
“Now! It’s cheap! It’s cheap! Come in and have a look!”
“A delicious skewer of Lazy Bore’s pork belly is only 30 coppers!”
“We sell cold drinks! Bring a glass with you!”
Basically, the weather in Elven Wood is hot.
This was influenced by the great forest surrounding the city, so I don’t know if that’s the case, but I felt like I was in a tropical country like Southeast Asia or South America.
“Kaldrasch, blow me a little harder.”
“Yes.”
Dorothea, who is always hot, may be because of this natural environment, but she clung to me, the human air conditioner, and did not think about falling.
No, if you think about it, other people are not more than 1m away from me.
Certainly, the sticky air unique to the tropics is a rat poison to people living in countries with distinct seasons.
I was walking some distance away from Hildman’s group, the only local, and I belatedly realized one blind spot.
“But why doesn’t Master use magic?”
Then, Master, who had only been rustling with a fan from earlier, tilted his head and said,
“Even if I’m still, you write, do I have to write too?”
It was not wrong.
The air conditioning magic that makes the surrounding cool is manipulating the circulation of the air, so it doesn’t make it cooler just because two people use it.
Still, I felt unfair because I used poison, so when I asked them to take turns using it, Master unexpectedly said yes.
“Ah.”
And Dorothea, who is the most sensitive to the heat among the party, looked at me and quietly moved to a place near Master.
It was the same with Camilla and Sophia, who were quietly following behind.
“…”
All of a sudden, the women in my house surrounded Master.
Naturally, I was left alone, and while thinking ‘this isn’t it’, I chased Hild’s heels.
***
The signature menu of the store Heald took us to was ‘Churrasco’, a dish of pork, lamb, and chicken skewered on long skewers and grilled in an oven.
Certainly, it was an unfamiliar food that I had never eaten in Oz or Doom Land, so it was popular with everyone in the party.
Unless you’re a vegetarian in the first place, meat is a food that you don’t like or dislike.
“Eat a lot. Hild-nim.”
“Thank you, Woodworth.”
The owner of this shop was a large bear beast, who originally lived in a beast tribe village and immigrated to Elven Wood with his family.
Since he is a familiar face, he gave a lot of service, so even though we ordered food according to the number of people, the quantity of food was not lacking.
After such a delicious dinner, we decided to walk the streets a little more because it was a waste to go back to the inn right away.
“I thought Elven Wood was a more closed country, so I thought it would be a more rigid atmosphere, but surprisingly, there are no wrinkles on people’s faces.”
Elves, beastmen, and various sub-races lived in harmony.
It is a world apart from Oz, where there are still people who show open hostility towards the demons.
“It’s because it’s already been hundreds of years since the Elven Woods started accepting immigrants as a policy to fill the shortage of labor. For elves, it’s only time to replace one generation, but for other races, at least two or three generations will be replaced. It’s been a while since it wouldn’t be strange, so it must have been natural.”
Indeed, some problems can be solved with time.
In a way, the country Oz should consider as a role model might be Elven Wood.
“And, as for the pure-blooded aristocratic elves who live in the inner city, most of the people living in the outer city are not as severely discriminated against as half or common elves.
“But.”
In any group, there are more normal people than extreme people.
Just because there was a secret society that advocated pure blood in this country, not all elves regarded other races as inferior.
If you look at Glinda, who must have been a very high-ranking person in Elven Wood right away, you can clearly see that fact.
Everything has always been a relative law.
“Then, shall we go back to the inn soon?”
After eating, I wandered the streets of the outer castle for quite some time.
Since we had to get up early in the morning to meet the archon of Elven Wood, which is the purpose of our coming here, we decided to give up our regrets and go back to the inn to rest.
***
The next morning.
After meditating, I took a shower in the bathroom attached to the inn room and met the other party with a clean appearance.
“Here!”
Dorothea, who had already been sitting at the table on the first floor before I came down, greeted her by waving her hand.
As I approached, everyone was seated around the table with a clear face.
It was because they had been through the great forest for the past few days and hadn’t washed properly, so everyone was in a messy state.
“What about breakfast?”
“Already ordered. Simple cereal and oatmeal.”
“Well, good job.”
After living together for about 2 years, they know each other’s tastes very quickly.
I stroked Dorothea’s hair and sat down in the chair Camilla had pulled out for her.
“Where is Hild?”
It was Sophia who answered that.
“If it’s Hild-sama, you went up to check if there were any soldiers who didn’t return to the lodgings last night. You’ll probably come back down after the personnel check is over.”
Hmmm, you’re a thorough personality as well.
If it were me, I would have skipped it because it was annoying.
Recognizing the reason why Hild is close friends with Ozma, I ate the freshly prepared cereal with milk.
“Then, just eat breakfast and go straight to the castle?”
“Yes. You said that it would probably happen if nothing special happened. The interview with Archon has already been talked about for a long time.”
“That’s fortunate.”
I don’t have to wait in front of the castle gate, I can go to meet you with peace of mind.
***
The fortress of Elven Wood was surrounded by tall walls.
Strictly speaking, it was not a castle wall, but rather a large fence surrounding the World Tree.
Surprisingly, the nobles of the elves built their homes under the roots of a world tree taller than any mountain and lived in huddles.
Compared to the outer wall, which is closer to a modern planned city, the inner wall feels more outdated in terms of the times.
Well, it’s a famous story that elves live long, so there was a high probability that it was the taste of the high-ranking people in this town.
Our Demonic delegation was guided by the Equites, who are said to be the knight class of the elves, and headed for the building in the deepest part of the castle.
“Wow.”
At the majestic appearance in front of my eyes, my mouth naturally opens and exclamation comes out.
It is said that the place where Archon currently stays and conducts government affairs is the place where the high elves, the royal family of the elves, lived in the past.
Along the hallway lined with tall pillars, as I slowly moved forward, a door that was decorated much more luxuriously than anywhere else appeared in front of my eyes.
“Only the representatives of the delegation can enter inside.”
Hearing the words of Equites, who guided us to this place, I nodded.
“Wait outside.”
After saying that to the other party, I went inside the door Equites had opened.
The inside of the room, which was carefully entered, gave a surprisingly bleak feeling for a place where the most powerful person in a country lives.
At most, there is only one wooden desk, three or four bookshelves, and a table and sofa for interviews.
“…Are you finally here?”
And sitting in the middle of such a bleak room was a long-haired elf with gray-white hair neatly combed back.
It is generally said that the elves have many handsome and beautiful women.
As I just entered the room and our eyes met, the man slowly got up from his seat and said.
“Welcome. Representative of the Demonic Delegation, I am Mayer Griffith, the archon of this generation.”
“It is called Patrasche who came on behalf of the Demon King.”
“Ho-oh, that’s a name I’ve heard before.”
Hearing my name, he stared at my face with his eyes shining in interest.
“Looks like a very famous wizard, what rank is he?”
“It’s the 7th level.”
“7th rank is amazing. Even among elves with high mana affinity, wizards of that level are very rare.”
Mayer Griffith rubbing her chin as if she was thinking something while saying that.
And then he told me right away.
“Do not misunderstand and listen. Do you have any intention of coming under me?”
“…Yes?”
I unknowingly gave out a dazed voice at the rather unexpected Scout suggestion.
