The Surprising Elf, And Kou

The Royal Capital in the afternoon.

After defeating drug merchant Medici, I left the cleanup afterward to Sophisia and the Church.

Edgar went off somewhere.

When Liricia and I returned to the shop, Sheryl the elf and Teti were there.

They were supposed to be learning elven customs and combat methods.

Tilting my head, I asked,

“Huh? Is today’s training already over?”

“So, like, we got kicked out of the training grounds.”

“Why? Did you do something bad?”

“No, I didn’t! I didn’t do anything!”

Teti puffed out her cheeks and stuck out her lips. She started grumbling in complaint.

The beautiful elf Sheryl, her large chest swaying, offered an apologetic explanation.

“The archery practice and the basics of spirit magic were fine, but… when it came to applied magic, we ended up freezing the training grounds solid….”

“And since it was ice that wouldn’t melt, apparently it caused a huge mess. They glared at us so hard. Ugh, what a pain.”

“Rather, ice that doesn’t melt sounds impressive.”

At my words, Sheryl took on a serious expression, then nodded, her blonde hair swaying.

“Apparently it maintains its icy state by absorbing magic power from the surroundings. Ordinary fire magic only gets absorbed, so the only way is to burn it away with flames beyond its tolerance limit. Guildmaster-san had to come out and melt it.”

“Magic serious enough for Rubel to step in herself, huh. Then yeah, that’d be a nuisance.”

“Eeh!? Then that means I can’t practice magic anymore! Boo, boo!”

Teti puffed out her already-rounded cheeks even more.

Sheryl, too, had lowered brows and a troubled look.

After thinking a little, I said,

“…Then I guess we’ll have to have you practice around the Forest Mansion.”

“Eh!? Wouldn’t it be bad to teach that to Big Sis Sheryl?”

“It seems there is some kind of secret.”

Sheryl said that with an investigative look.

I returned her gaze and nodded.

“If possible, I don’t want you telling anyone… but once it gets recognized as a sanctuary, things can be handled after that. I’ve already laid the groundwork for that, so I want you to stay quiet just a little longer.”

“Understood. Though you call yourself a former Hero, I shall trust Alec-sama, who has accomplished such great deeds.”

Sheryl looked at me with serious light in her jade-green eyes.

—She seems trustworthy… no, it’s dangerous for me to be the one making that judgment.

I turned back to Liricia and asked,

“Sheryl seems like she can be trusted, right?”

“Yes. I can see that this lady as well is a noble warrior who devotes herself to a great mission. I am sure she will live up to the trust you place in her, Master.”

“A great mission…? Well, whatever. If Liricia says so, then I’m sure it’ll be fine—then come with me.”

“Yes. Alec-sama.”

When I locked the shop, Liricia placed the evil god statue on the counter.

Then we passed through the curtain dividing the middle and entered the kitchen in the back.

I casually opened the wardrobe.

Sheryl, standing beside me, opened her eyes wide.

“T-this is! A dungeon!”

“Keep it secret.”

“Y-yes!”

Liricia and I, along with Sheryl and Teti, entered the dungeon.

We passed through the corridor lit by pale blue light and headed for the mansion.

Sheryl, walking behind us, was amazed.

“This is… what pure air…! It is refreshing beyond belief for something that is supposed to be a dungeon!”

“Isn’t it amazing~? My room’s further in there.”

For some reason Teti spoke proudly.

She explained what the rooms were like, and how the bath worked.

She seemed especially fond of the Retort Box.

Sheryl was surprised at every single thing Teti said.

Or rather, Teti seemed happy that she could finally talk about the secrets she had kept quiet until now.

And while they were talking, we passed by the great hall.

In the hall deeper inside, a white sphere sat in place.

Its surface was glowing pale blue, as though it wanted to say something.

—I’ll talk to it later.

When we entered the mansion, Sheryl was even more astonished.

“A mansion beyond the dungeon!? And it seems to be in the middle of a forest—wait, is that! A Pegasus!?”

Her green eyes were so wide it looked like they might fall out as she stared at the garden spreading out beyond the window.

—Right. I’d gotten used to it, so I hadn’t thought about it, but if someone who didn’t know saw this, of course they’d be shocked by one thing after another.

Edgar hadn’t been that surprised, so I had completely forgotten.

I had to remind myself that I really was living an impossible sort of life, and stay on guard.

I should make sure only people I can trust are told about this.

Looking at her, I firmly reminded her once more.

“Sheryl, keep this confidential.”

“Yes, I absolutely will not tell anyone… though even so, with how strange all this is, people would probably just think I was lying or slandering Alec-sama instead.”

“If there isn’t proof, then yeah, I guess it would come to that.”

“As expected of Alec-sama. To think you had been living like this… was it since your time as a Hero?”

“No, it was after I got fired as a Hero.”

“Hah!? After you quit!? You quit on the very day we first met, didn’t you!? It shouldn’t even have been two weeks yet, should it!? …You are far too incredible, Alec-sama!”

Sheryl stood there with her mouth open in stunned disbelief. She seemed genuinely shocked.

Or rather, two weeks.

Now that I thought about it, I really had been pushing way too hard.

“Yeah, that pace really was a bit abnormal….”

Liricia’s silver hair swayed as she held back a laugh.

“Once Master decides on something, he works at it straight and earnestly. He is a truly wonderful person worthy of admiration.”

“Thanks, Liricia. I’ll keep doing my best.”

“Yes, please do your best slowly.”

Liricia said that with a radiant smile.

After that, we left the mansion.

As we walked through the garden, I said to Sheryl,

“We’re growing fields here too. Practice your magic outside the mansion, please. Sacred beasts are around the mansion and the surrounding area, so be careful.”

“Y-yes. Understood…. The grass and trees, the fruit trees, even the medicinal herbs are overflowing with pure power. This place is already a sanctuary. Even the spirits are delighted.”

Sheryl said that while looking around and smiling at empty space.

The spirits were probably there.

“I see. That’s good, then.”

Nodding, I had Liricia place the evil god statue at the edge of the field.

After that, I introduced Sheryl to the Pegasus parent and child, Spica the almiraj, and Rāna the Sacred White Dragon.

When she learned there was even a Sacred White Dragon here, Sheryl’s mind seemed to drift somewhere far away.

Then, continuing on, we had Teti practice magic.

I returned to the dungeon with Liricia.

We came to the great hall where Kou was.

“Welcome back, Masta, Missus. Has it been a while since we talked face-to-face?”

“I suppose so… perhaps because we can talk through the sub-device.”

“Yeah. Well, I figured it might be nice to meet and talk in person once in a while.”

At my words, pale blue light ran across the sphere’s surface.

“During calls, we can’t see faces. Eighty percent of communication is facial expression!”

“That may be a correct saying, but why is it hard to accept when a sphere says it?”

“A square dungeon settles things nice and roooound, it does!”

“More nonsense I don’t understand…. So, Kou, does it look like you can figure out where the evil god statue was communicating with?”

“Yes indeed~! Or rather, I already finished calculating the coordinates.”

“That was fast!” “As expected of Kou-chan.”

“Because I am Tier 6~, ufufu~”

Kou’s surface flashed brightly in delight.

Shrugging, I said,

“Even though you’re a dungeon that barely has any subordinate monsters.”

“Not at all? Right now I’ve got about 10.37777 billion power, you know?”

“Huh? Weren’t you at 8 billion before?”

“Last night, for some reason, Masta passed 10 billion. Missus was at 55 million, but just last night she increased by about 130 million? She’s at 183 million power now.”

“Last night? …Ah.”

When I looked at Liricia, her face had turned bright red.

Biting her lip in embarrassment, she said,

“Uuu… it was to undo the curse, after all.”

“That, huh… I compressed the Serâge and poured it into you. I see, so you got that much stronger.”

“If that is the case, then for a while now…”

“We’ll have to keep doing it, won’t we.”

“Fweee….”

Liricia lowered her head with her face bright red. Even her ears were red.

Gently pulling her close, I said,

“Of course I won’t if you hate it… but if Liricia gets stronger, it lets me feel at ease. I don’t want you going through something like yesterday again.”

“Hauu… Mastaaa… understood, I’ll do my best again today.”

“I’m sorry. Even though I was by your side, you still got cursed.”

Then, in my arms, Liricia shook her head from side to side. Her silver hair swayed smoothly.

“No, I do not think that is correct. Since I am a fallen angel, I believe I have become more sensitive to curses—or perhaps it is the opposite. Perhaps I fell because I became weak to curses.”

“I see. Ah, right. When Sophisia cursed herself too, the curse spread through her that quickly.”

“That is correct. Which is precisely why I needed to remain by the side of a Hero with Serâge and be purified.”

“Leave it to me, I’ll purify you.”

“Mastaa—”

I hugged Liricia tightly in both arms.

And over her shoulder, I asked Kou,

“So then, Kou. Where is the other party connected to the evil god statue that cursed us?”

“In the Star Dragon Realm~”

“So it would be another world… can you connect it like you did the Demon Realm?”

“Yeees, I can. But humans might not be able to survive there?”

As Kou spoke, many pale blue lines ran across the surface of the sphere.

Tilting my head, I asked,

“Huh, why? Is it too evil or something?”

“Because there is no air there. It is just like outer space.”

“Space… the starry sky doesn’t have air?”

“In a place like that, only a god, a Demon King, a Dragon King, or maybe an Eternal Seven-Crown could survive?”

“I don’t really understand that last part, but in other words, if you’re not extremely strong, you die there… hm? Then the other side isn’t human, but really some kind of evil-god-class existence…?”

“That would be the case.”

“But Heroes went there in the past, right?”

“Did they?”

In my arms, Liricia suddenly lifted her face.

She looked up at me with her violet eyes.

“It’s Rāna-chan! The Sacred White Dragon-sama was said to carry the Hero on her back and take them anywhere!”

“I see… but can the current Rāna do that?”

The Sacred White Dragon originally would only appear as an adult dragon if all six jewel orbs were offered and it was revived.

Since that had not been done, she had ended up in the form of a young girl.

I had a hard time believing she could carry someone on her back and fly….

Liricia, too, answered with deep wrinkles between her brows.

“…Let us ask her directly.”

“Yeah, let’s do that. Maybe she can return to dragon form.”

When I moved to separate from Liricia and head out of the hall, Kou spoke while glowing.

“Then shall I call her?”

“You can call her?”

“She is treated as a subordinate monster, after all.”

“Right, because you revived her. Please do.”

“Okaaay, please wait just a little~”

Kou said that while making little blinking lights across the surface of the sphere.

As Liricia and I waited in the hall, light footsteps pattered toward us, and a small figure came running in.