18-5 Lewd Elf Town

Just as I had expected, that bastard Doran had whipped the nobles into action and splendidly gathered up the elves.

He was quite a capable man.

Elves were being sent to the embassy one after another.

But you are naive, Doran.

I have a million golems.

And every single one of them can use teleportation magic.

The elves were a little frightened by their first teleportation magic, but without caring about such trivial matters in the slightest, I ordered the golems to shuttle them back and forth to the town I had made for the elves.

And by evening, I somehow managed to finish safely transporting all the many elves who had been gathered one after another at the embassy to the new town.

For the time being, the golem soldiers would take care of them.

There were houses, beds, and dining halls for them to live in for the moment.

There were no blind spots for the golems who had learned the craftsmanship of our cooks through motion capture.

At any rate, as soon as the elves arrived, I assigned them work harshly and mercilessly, like a demon.

If I held back and spoiled them just because they were pitiful, I would end up creating a great mass of useless people who only crouched there and wasted food.

That would not be dignified guests or anything like that. They would just be shut-in freeloaders.

And they were people who would live extremely long lives too.

The beginning was important.

For now, all of them would live here.

If they wanted to go elsewhere, that was fine too, but in their current state, they probably did not have that kind of energy.

Well, I would take care of them, but from here on, they would have to do their best to handle their own affairs themselves.

And when evening came, I went to Emperor Doran’s place and showed him my smug face.

“Yo. Are you out of elves already?”

“You did well taking away that many elves in such a short time. I do not feel like I could win even if I went to war with you.”

“No, you people basically lost without even fighting much, didn’t you?”

“At the very least, I did not fight you!”

That was true.

You were splendidly imprisoned throughout the war, after all.

That sounded just like the Chinese Communist Party.

After all, the ones who fought Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War were the Nationalists who governed China at the time.

Well, apparently there was something called the united front between the Nationalists and Communists for several years, but the main force was the Nationalists.

The Chinese Communist Party had lost to the Nationalists and been driven into a corner on the verge of destruction, but then revived because the Nationalists were beaten up by the Japanese army and forced to retreat, so the big shots in China at the time apparently said things like, “No, no, thanks to Japan, we were saved. So please do not worry about it,” when Japanese politicians came and apologized about the war.

From the current hostile state between both countries, it was an old story that was hard to imagine.

That bastard Doran was in exactly that kind of position right now.

“Well, that’s fine. Anyway, I definitely received the lewd elves!”

“That is fine, but what do you intend to do using them?”

“I haven’t thought about that yet!”

I declared that to him flatly.

I mean, come on.

Fantasy people like that seemed like they could do all kinds of things, right?

Mainly in a direction where they would support me, since I was clumsy with my hands!

I had made a town near my own home expecting those sorts of benefits.

When he heard that, even that bastard Doran seemed dumbfounded.

After that, I returned to the elf town and tried giving various instructions.

Well, only casually.

I had started this on momentum, but somehow, it was already becoming troublesome.

After all, every one of them had a face like they were dead.

Just looking at those expressions made me feel drained.

For now, if I did not make these people work, their food expenses would become a problem.

They were a species that looked like they would live for quite a long time too.

I had to cut off future worries.

Tomorrow, I would interview them.

For now, I went home and made it beer time.

Then the children came over and ate my snacks.

Yamamoto-san’s fish cakes were delicious, after all.

After that, I casually fluffed the children and put them to bed.

The next morning, I went to the elves’ town to hear their story.

Remi and Fal wanted to come along, so I let them hang from both my hands.

Since the little ones were there, I had Mari come with us too.

The little ones became incredibly excited, squealing happily at the beautiful elves they were seeing for the first time.

Then one elf immediately noticed.

That Fal was a being known as Sacred Elion.

When one of them knelt and offered a prayer, that spread one after another, and in the blink of an eye, all of them knelt before Fal and prayed with devout expressions.

Seeing that extraordinary sight, the little ones stared blankly, but perhaps she was swallowed up by that solemn atmosphere, because Fal suddenly began singing that song of blessing.

The elves who heard it shed tears, and sobs leaked from their mouths.

I did not really understand it, but perhaps there were various circumstances behind it.

“Well, how should I put it? If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear a little of your story.”

Since anyone was fine, I asked the person I had provisionally appointed as magistrate for now.

“Yes. We elves originally lived in a country only for elves. It existed in the place where the country now called the Bernstein Empire stands. Long ago, there was no such thing as a border between this country, Albatross, and what is now called the Bernstein Empire. Though it was a little distant from the Spirit Forest, we have long lifespans, so we never paid it much mind. Our hearts are with the Spirit Forest.”

He was speaking passionately, but unfortunately, the Sacred Elion-sama in question had entered snack time.

From the middle of the elves’ sobbing earlier, her demands had already become intense.

I served some to Remi too, so both of them had cream all around their mouths.

Since Yamamoto-san had recently come to us, our snacks were often Japanese sweets, so I had made it cake today, but perhaps that had been a slight mistake.

While I was at it, I took out cake and coffee for myself too.

I actually wanted beer, but as expected, I restrained myself.

I spread mats and sheets on the floor, took out a low table, and relaxed on a cushion.

The elf looked a little troubled at how utterly relaxed we were, so I told him.

“Ah, continue, continue.”

“Yes. However, during the dark age one thousand years ago, the age without Fals—that is, without Sacred Elion—continued. The world continued to decline, and our elven faith also weakened, causing us to abandon our villages and scatter in all directions. Then, with the birth of Rainbow Fals, the world began to regain peace. However, the faith we elves had lost did not easily return. Unlike humans, elves live long lives, and there were parts of us that could not switch our feelings so easily. Amid that, that country took the name of Empire and spent many long years annexing the surrounding small countries one after another. In that process, we elves remained scattered, were captured, and suffered humiliation as prisoners. Ironically, when we were captured and lost our freedom, we realized for the first time the importance of the faith we had lost. And that brings us to the present.”

Hah.

Not good. I had gotten too relaxed and fallen asleep midway.

It had basically turned into sleep-learning.

Ah, the little ones had too.

The elf magistrate gave a wry smile when he saw that.

I was the one who had asked him to tell me the story, and yet here I was.

And it had been an awfully serious topic too.

“Ah, I heard the gist of it. So what happened to the elven village? Are there other elf companions of yours?”

“The villages still exist, but out of fear of persecution by the Empire, they are hidden. They seem to have moved from their original locations, so even we do not know where the villages are. I believe they are located somewhere within the Empire’s current territory.”

“Do you want to somehow search for the villages and return?”

“No…”

The magistrate made a somewhat pained expression and pleaded.

“Various things happened with those who remained in the villages, so we cannot return there now. If you would allow us to remain here as we are, that is what we would ask.”

“Hmm. What are you people good at? Unless you do business or something, you won’t be able to eat. Fortunately, the Empire is quiet right now, and this place is near the great nation’s Royal Capital Alba. It’s in a good location where customers can come quickly if they ride horses, so you won’t lack for them.”

“Yes. We are especially good at crafts and the like. Please allow us to consult among ourselves a little about that matter.”

“Understood. If anything comes up, I’ll consult with you anytime. I won’t spare support. You are already free. This town is a town I made, and I, a duke, am its lord, so I will no longer let anyone lay a hand on you. That’s right, please hold on to this.”

I gave him a smartphone and taught him how to use it.

For now, I decided to leave this place to the golems and go home for the moment.

The golems had large quantities of food and other things I had created with my copy ability, so their food supply for the time being would probably be fine.

Well, please think about it patiently.

While I am alive, I will take care of them myself.

I, too, had spent a long time living as a recluse.

That was why I could not see that Lowry’s situation as someone else’s problem.

Long ago, during a terrible recession, I was shocked to see a young man, still probably in his twenties, rummaging for empty cans at the empty-can collection area of my apartment building.

Even though he was somewhat dirty, he was polite and spoke clearly, and he even bowed with a smile and greeted me.

Just by looking at his bright-looking eyes and face, I could tell at a glance, having seen many such kids at a large company, that he had probably been someone equivalent to a leader-class young man at a temp agency.

Because the economy had been terribly bad, he was probably not allowed to renew his contract even though he was excellent, since he was a non-regular worker.

“To think such a fine young man is living homeless in this relatively wealthy West Mikawa district, which was once praised as Japan’s Detroit!”

I had felt gloomy about it, but as an unemployed, shut-in recluse, there had been nothing I could do.

But now, I could do something for someone.

Even so, unless you worked hard yourself, there was nothing to be done about the world.

And besides, the other party was not a young man, but extremely elderly people who merely looked young.

Elves.

Like this old man, do your best somehow with only the experience points befitting your years!