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“If you do not immediately lower your bow aimed at the noble visitors, I won’t forgive you!”

At Friel’s low words, the elves in the trees began glancing around nervously.

An elf positioned next to Diene nodded at what Friel said.

With a swift glance over their shoulders and a gesture to lower their hands, the tension of the elves’ arrows aimed at us eased.

The sharp hostility that had been prickling at my skin vanished.

Finally, Diolia relaxed her posture a bit and eased her grip on the hilt of her drawn sword. It seemed she too had remained wary of the elves as a knight sworn to protect her princess.

‘Diolia must have a rough idea about the elves’ true nature from Ainel.’

It was a wise assessment.

Like watching a human who’s wandered too deep into the woods, the elves gathered on the trees were merely observing us from above. In fact, some of the pointy-eared ones had been poised, subtly aiming their bows at us from inconspicuous spots.

‘Well, since Friel arrived a little late, she would definitely sort this out.’

Given the considerable weight of Friel’s words, she would surely handle this situation quickly and allow us to return to our interrupted lunch or send the carriage rolling again.

Friel swept her gaze over the trees, much like Diolia did, before speaking up.

“If Diene is here, it’s probably for organizing things. If the area is somewhat sorted out, could we ask for your help with escorting the carriage?”

“Um… since we are just about to return to switch with another team, I would be glad to assist you from now on, Friel…”

Diene shifted her gaze to the humans behind Friel.

Her pupils scrutinized me and Cotton Puff closely, and soon after, the figure of Shione Shianella appeared in her eyes. Diene observed Shione’s bow and short sword at her waist with quite the discerning look. Shione met the elves’ gaze with an unexpectedly haughty expression.

“…I will escort the distinguished visitors who have come from the Count’s House.”

“Alright. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Diene nodded, borrowing the power of magic to ascend into the trees. She began explaining something to the soldiers who appeared to be her subordinates.

“There are quite a few things to tidy up from the commotion just now… So, shall we slowly begin to head back?”

In the meantime, Friel Arielte spoke to us with a small smile.

As she said, we couldn’t remain standing here forever. We made our way back to where we had spread out our lunch.

Some of the containers holding soup were already toppled over, soaking the ground. Tools ruined by the commotion easily caught the eye.

“It’s going to take ages to clean all this up. It’ll be tough to resume lunch and set off again, won’t it?”

Shione couldn’t hide her disappointment seeing that all the soup we had prepared had spilled.

I took out the snack pouch I always carried with me from my pocket. I had filled it to the brim before we set out for lunch from the carriage. It was stuffed with various sweet treats.

“Care for some cookies?”

“Hmm… soup is for lunch, and cookies are a snack. It feels odd to solve lunch with cookies.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. The cookies will have to wait—”

Thud!

Just as I was about to put the snack pouch back into my pocket, Shione grabbed my wrist.

“Still, I can at least satisfy my hunger a bit. Just a little.”

“……”

Instead of taking out a reasonable amount, I handed her the entire pouch. It wasn’t that big, and Shione would probably restrain herself while eating.

In exchange, I hurriedly finished up the cleanup with the other servants. It was a bit annoying, but this time the knights were taking the initiative to help out, so it didn’t take long.

Midway, I helped Shione into the carriage first, and just as I was about to climb in myself after tidying up,

“Ray.”

Friel, who had come up behind me without me noticing, called my name. She crossed her arms, looking quite serious and devoid of her usual smile.

“You must have had plenty of time to think now that our city is right ahead.”

Perhaps she was referring to her past words when she wanted to closely ally the Arielte family with us after we just escaped the Count’s House.

It seemed she was seeking a response to her previous statement. Instead of readily answering, I gazed into her dark green eyes that held no emotion.

Eyes, the mirrors of the soul. However, her feelings were perfectly restrained now, with no trace of any emotional fragments to be found in those irises. Only the presence of someone seriously demanding an answer could be felt.

“The family that will be most favorable towards you, of course, is our Arielte family. The Ianette family is unlikely to receive you warmly, and… the other family, Chelness, also won’t show as much favor until you prove your capabilities.”

Friel spoke with certainty. It was evident she was exceptionally knowledgeable about the Ianette and Chelness families.

Especially when she brought up the Chelness family, she finally broke her deadpan expression, showing the slightest change in demeanor. Remembering even the smallest hints of her reactions could be important.

“Ray, I eagerly await what choice you and the Young Lady will make.”

With that, Friel offered a rare, warm smile before returning to her carriage.

Before long, the carriage started rolling forward, propelled by the horses. The elves that had joined for escort accompanied us.

*

“Diene, the atmosphere feels considerably heavier than usual.”

The woman who was always beside Diene observed her complexion. Indeed, Diene was exuding a rather solemn aura as she watched the carriage pass through the forest path.

“Is it because of those humans from earlier?”

“Exactly, Jenna.”

Diene nodded at Jenna’s words.

“Surely the Grand Elder mentioned that it was the Young Lady of Shianella and her servant.”

Her voice grew low and profound.

She recalled the impressions of the two figures she had momentarily observed.

The woman had hair as beautiful as moonlight. Moreover, the Shianella family had a history of being a noble family of knights who fought against demons in the past. She had a fleeting memory of the family who still followed the path of the sword.

‘That Young Lady was holding a bow, right?’

She had tightly gripped her own longbow. The sword seemed more of a secondary weapon than that of a knight, making it clear she was more of an archer. Given her clear and determined gaze, she appeared to be a woman of considerable interest.

‘And the man next to her.’

The man, standing confidently beside her, was even more fascinating.

Despite being human, a deep aura of spirits surrounded him, and spirits also seemed to follow him. The man exuded an innate scarcity of mana, which was also true for elves.

Thus, binding a spirit that requires a high amount of mana is nearly impossible for any male, even with the exceptional affinity of the elf race. They could only communicate with them.

However, this man appeared to have completely succeeded in binding to a spirit, making him someone worth observing closely.

“I guess I must surely pass on information about them to our Chelness family.”

With her influence, the Chelness family would surely keep a closer eye on the two guests who appeared in the Great Forest.

*

The carriage finally entered the heart of the Great Forest. As we got closer to the massive World Tree, the city began to come into view from a distance.

Beyond the long castle walls that hugged the outskirts of the city, I spotted wooden structures clustered together. The spirits occasionally flew freely in the air, accepted as part of everyday life by the elves. The residents showed interest in our carriage.

‘Finally entering the city.’

In the midst of a city filled with elves, I couldn’t help but feel a sigh escaping me about what kind of events awaited us.

I simply watched Shione, who seemed unable to tear her eyes away from the sights outside, finding the elf city quite fascinating.

“Wow….”

I heard Shione’s quiet gasp.

It was true that while the elven structures were not particularly tall, they held an elegance and were built to harmonize with the surroundings. Therefore, it would definitely be a pleasant experience to take in the sights. The real issue lay with the hearts of the elves residing within those houses.

The kind elves and the pointy-eared ones. Unfortunately, the troublesome pointy-eared ones outnumbered the good elves, making it clear I couldn’t just enjoy the scenery.

Only after we reached deep within the city did we finally get to set foot on the ground and look around. Before the high walls where the roofs of grand mansions peeked over, Shione and I dismounted from the carriage, and Friel approached us with urgency.

The first to speak was Shione.

“U-Um… where is this?”

“This is the main residence of our Arielte family. For a while, you will be staying at the estate of the Arielte family.”

“Arielte family’s mansion? I’m looking forward to it.”

Friel chuckled softly at Shione’s words.

“Then I will have the servants see to your luggage… Young Lady and Ray, please change into the outfits I’ll introduce you to.”

“Outfits?”

“Yes, I request something as formal as possible. The first thing you must do after entering the Great Forest is to meet our family head—”

Friel’s smile deepened, filled with earnest anticipation.

“—who happens to be the Grand Elder, a High Elf.”

It seemed that not only would Shione and I meet the head of a family, but we’d also encounter the Grand Elder, a High Elf.

With the sun high in the sky today, I already sensed the ruckus that would unfold in the remaining half-day ahead.

 

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