Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha Wo Taosu Tameni Maou Ni Shoukansaremashita~ Chapter 10 - The Forest Of The Elves Dwellings

Traveling Merchant, Raus.

「G.o.dd.a.m.n it, for this Raus-sama to meet something like this… And just when I'm about to arrive at Phteah kingdom」

I'm running into the forest when I encountered goblins on the highway during my journey toward Phteah kingdom for trading business.

Now, I want to add another complaint.

「What the h.e.l.l are you doing, Knight of Phteah kingdom?」

Those knights were supposed to be protecting the area outside the castle such as the highway. And those demons appeared since they neglected their duties.

But, there's no way I can get angry over such matters.

「Though I know that I have run quite a distance from the highway, where am I…」

The forest is the territory of the demons.

And I never know when I will be ambushed by another demon like those goblins.

I have to return to the highway right away. Since more demons will appear when night descends.

I must enter the castle rampart by then.

So, I keep walking.

But, I couldn't go back to the highway.

「My throat is quite parched…」

My throat is parched since I'm running away from the goblins as fast as I can.

「Nevertheless, why did they suddenly stop chasing after me?」

Goblin are nimble thanks to their short legs. So, I didn't think that my plump self, who is already over his forties, can get away from them.

Well, I think it's fine that way too. Since my life is spared, now I'm thirsty from all that chase.

「… A song？」

I heard a song when I kept walking.

As I headed toward the direction of the song, there was a huge fountain ahead of me.

And there was a naked girl whose lower half was immersed inside the fountain.

That girl was the one who was singing that song.

She has a beautiful voice. I'm unconsciously fascinated by her voice.

I unintentionally create a noise upon stepping on a wood branch.

「Who is there？」

Maybe because that beauty noticed the crackling sound, she's looking toward my direction.

「M！ ！ My apologies！ ！ I didn't have any intention to peep on you！ ！ I just came since I heard your beautiful singing voice…」

I make an excuse in hurry.

「No, it's my fault for bathing in a place like this. How about you come to take a bath with me？」

That beauty is smiling at me without hiding her bare body.

I lost my ability to think anything as if a mist covered my head upon seeing her smile.

「No way, how can I take a bath with a beauty such as yourself！ ！ But, may I drink the water, I'm quite thirsty…」

So, I approach the fountain.

「I see. This fountain isn't owned by anyone. Feel free to drink the water in it」

「I see. Well then, I hold back」

It feels nice since a beauty is saying "Go ahead" to me, right.

Moreover, I'm just thirsty. So, I won't feel guilty from the bottom of my heart if I want to see her after coming even closer. So I say to myself.

She's showing a friendly smile.

After arriving near the deep fountain, I bend over. But my eyes just won't leave that beauty.

I'm scooping some of the fountain water with both of my hands. The water feels so nice, could it be it's because a beauty is pickled in it？

When I'm about to scoop water again, but at that instant, I feel something strange in my body.

「My body is…」

My body is paralyzed, I can't move my hand. At that instant, I finally look into the fountain.

「WHA…！！ 」

There was a face of a huge demon inside of the fountain. That face is looking at me.

The instant I see that face, the mist that was shrouding my mind is cleared up in an instant.

That's right, why would such a beauty be present in this kind of place. The forest is filled with this kind of demon.

Maybe that's why I didn't notice such an abnormal situation.

I forcibly raise my face to look at the beauty.

The beauty is smiling as if enjoying my plight.

That demon's face is coming out from the fountain. That demon then opens its huge mouth.

「AAAh…」

I couldn't do anything.

The demon face is already coming for me.

And then, I'm swallowed by the darkness.

Dark Knight Kuroki.

「Ha~…. we didn't make it today」

The fourth day after we left Nargol.

And I didn't even come to the city from before.

We were in the middle of journey toward Holy Republic Lenaria where Reiji and the others live.

It seems there's quite a distance from Nargol till Holy Republic Lenaria but, since the me in this world is capable of moving even faster than a horse, I've already covered two-thirds of the distance in these four days of journey.

Though I've not measured my movement speed, it might be more than 200 km/hr.

I became a superman in this world.

Since I'm doing a superhuman feat like those in the movies, I might be comparable to a superman for the people of this world.

I'm observing what kind of people live in this world during my journey.

I'm not using the humans of this world living in the surface as the standard.

There were countless cities closely resembling ancient Greece.

And then, outside the city walls where the demon were running rampant isn't the world of humans.

The humans who live on the outskirts and within the city built a rampart.

And then there are highways which connect one city with another.

Since there's a city-state resembling a village, a big city-state possessing their own satellite city also exist.

The form of governance also varied between republic and kingdom and such.

In short, the difference in the mayors of the city was in whether they were chosen by voting or by heredity.

There were countries where the n.o.bility, whether the positions of mayor, vice-mayor, or section chief, were inherited, there were countries which only the position of mayor was inherited. Naturally, n.o.bility also exist in republic countries.

The religion was naturally based on the G.o.ds of Elios.

According to Nut, even the people who live in the frontiers have faith in the G.o.ds of Elios, but it seems they were a savage tribe.

By the way, the population of the city-state called Phteah kingdom, which I'm stopping by for a short visit, is around 20 thousand people.

In the first place, those 20 thousand included only those who have citizens.h.i.+p, the population will increase even further if I have to include the ones who don't have citizens.h.i.+p.

The ones who have citizens.h.i.+p are the people of this city-state, and the ones who don't have it are considered foreigners.

That's why, it won't be that easy for someone without citizens.h.i.+p to enter the rampart.

Well then, it brings us to circulation of the money. Due to the treaty between the countries, those with citizens.h.i.+p can easily enter the countries that have signed it. The human traffic will have more freedom by making several such treaties.

Naturally, a self-sufficient country with closed economic policy and completely isolating themselves without forming any treaty at all does exist.

By the way, for the me who didn't possess any citizens.h.i.+p, I couldn't enter any city by official means.

In that case, if one were to ask "Then what about your food and drinks along the journey until now?"

First, food is available in abundance in the forest, I can take things like pomegranate as much as I want.

There's also a wide variety of fruits. Normal humans couldn't live in this place, even if demons don't exist here.

But as expected, I have no choice but to enter the rampart in case I want to eat something cooked with fire.

Entering quietly by flight magic and then stealing one meat skewer while apologizing to the shopkeeper.

Though I don't need to do that if I have money, Modes didn't have currency that was circulating in the world of humans.

I received gems to be exchanged for money when I leave Nargol, but since I[including Nut] didn't know what I have to do with it since I don't know the method to exchange it, it remained unused.

「Well then, what shall we do for today, Nut？」

So I asked Nut, my fellow traveler.

「How about secretly entering the city by using the shadow mantle？」

Though I can't enter the city by formal means from the front, I can enter the city as long as I use the shadow mantle I received from Modes.

The mantle [with a hood attached on it] which I called as "this shadow mantle", can act just like when I'm using invisibility magic and will also hide my face once I wear the hood.

The invisibility magic is a magic to erase one's presence, the one using this magic will disappear from the perception of others.

But then, the invisibility magic won't work on someone using detection magic or possessing detection skill; furthermore. once discovered, the invisibility magic will lose its effect.

And that was the same even with shadow mantle.

「No, let's not touch that topic for now, the information about Reiji and the others was generally same as before」

Since our purpose is to collect information about Reiji and the others, we should go for a short visit to Holy Republic Lenaria where Reiji and the others are.

It was the same for the stories about Reiji and the others.

It seems that many people have been saved by Reiji and the others since they defeated a lot of demons.

Naturally, they received the grat.i.tude of many people, too.

But, it seems there are also the people who feared them.

A fear toward someone who can wield that kind of power unbefitting of a human.

And it seems some amongst them also received damage from Reiji and the others.

Thus, I think that the stories about Reiji and the others won't be that different even in Phteah kingdom. Since I don't have money, I can't enter Phteah kingdom and rest in the inn.

「Nut, Let's camp in this area for today」

「Well then, shall I look for food and meal?」

「That's right」

We should get some rest since the day will turn dark soon.

Fortunately, the forest around this vicinity is rich in natural resources, so there's no way we'll be troubled for food.

The demons also won't approach me as long as I use barrier magic.

I keep walking into the forest, looking for food and water.

It was a while after I walked away from the camping ground.

I can hear a song coming from the deep forest.

「………… A song」

I tilt my head in confusion.

This place is inside of the forest where the demons are running rampant, so it was considered an abnormal situation when someone was singing in this kind of place.

「It's a nice voice, isn't it…」

Nut is saying so with an entranced voice. He couldn't think of anything.

「Don't you want to go there, Diehart-sama？」

Nut is saying so while heading toward the direction of the voice.

Nut's condition seems to be strange judging by his voice.

Somehow, he became like this after hearing this song.

「Understood, let's go」

I wanted to see the owner of this voice too.

After walking for a while, we arrived at a vacant plot of land with a huge fountain.

There was a naked woman immersing herself in the fountain with her lower half inside the fountain; it seems this woman-like thing is the one singing this song.

「Who's there？」

Maybe because she noticed our presence, the woman is looking at our direction.

「Ah, no… My apologies for disturbing your singing session. We were wondering who was singing with this wonderful voice」

I apologize. In fact, I am thinking, "Thank G.o.d my curiosity won over me, I got to see a rare thing."

「It's nothing, please don't worry about it. How about you come to take a bath too？ 」

「No, we'll refuse that offer. Well, we'll excuse ourself then. Please continue your singing session」

When I'm about to leave.

「Diehart-sama. The water is so pretty. How about spending our night here？ 」

Nut, who remained on his place, is saying so.

「Nut, you can't drink this water, you know. There's poison mixed in the water」

「EEH, POISON！！ 」

Nut shouts with a surprised expression.

There's poison, made of magic, mixed in the water of this fountain. It seems to be the type that will paralyze your body.

「Why that kind of poison is… Let's rest for a while」

The woman's saying so.

I could feel a bit of agitation in her words.

This woman is looking at myself like some kind of predator.

I became sensitive toward the gaze that neither had malice or hostile ever since I came to this world.

Even if, for example, we were separated by dozens metres, I can feel the malice as long as it's being directed at me. According to Ruugas, it's seems like enemy perception ability, but I don't feel good at all on being exposed to such an unpleasant gaze.

Moreover, this woman is using charm magic upon us since a while ago.

That's also the cause of such unpleasant feeling. Maybe, Nut becoming strange is also thanks to the song a while ago.

This woman might be a demon as I can't feel anything on seeing her body[naked].

She was a demon that preyed on the charmed living beings that approached her because of her female-like human body and her song.

Naturally, I have no intention to be eaten by her.

But, I couldn't get into the mood to fight this demon.

So, I'm thinking of leaving it alone. That's why I want to leave this place immediately.

For that reason, I activate my intimidation so that she won't be hostile toward us. Though we were frequently become targets for demons along with our journey, most of the demons will run away as long as I send my intimidation toward them.

But my prediction is way off, this woman shaped demon has turned even more hostile toward me.

「You b.a.s.t.a.r.d！！ 」

The woman's expression twists into anger and a gigantic head of a beast suddenly comes out from the fountain. There are six beast heads that are rus.h.i.+ng to attack me by stretching their long necks.

My prediction is way off, that beast didn't have any intention to let me go. Moreover, its agility didn't match its appearance.

「HA！！ 」

I'm avoiding one of the heads that come to attack me first and then kill it while drawing my sword.

「GUUUUUUUUUUUUU！ ！ HOW DARE A MERE HUMAN！ ！ ！ 」

The woman is showing an anguished expression. That face already lost all of its grace from a while back.

「EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE MERELY FOOD！！ ！ 」

The water of the fountain then rises in the air to form a gigantic lump of water.

「Bubble Shot（Water Splash）！！ ！ ！ ！ 」

As the demon shouted, the gigantic lump of water is descending upon me.

「Magic s.h.i.+eld（Magic s.h.i.+eld）！！ 」

A circular s.h.i.+eld of light engulfed my entire body as I shouted that name. 'Water splash' is thwarted by my magic s.h.i.+eld.

As I stopped the water shot, the demon came out of the water.

The lower half of its body hidden within the fountain became exposed in bright daylight. Several tentacles and six gigantic beast heads were its lower body parts and woman-like upper body parts respectively.

That was an ugly figure.

The demon is trying to come toward me.

It's not that agile, so it might not be able to move quickly on the land. あ

「Are you safe, Nut？」

「Yesh… Somehow it become quite hectic」

It seems Nut couldn't follow such a rapid development.

「Get down, Nut」

After Nut landed on the ground, he immediately retreated behind me.

「H-HOW DARE YOU TO DO THAT TO ONE OF MY HEADS！！ 」

The demon is looking at me with eyes that are filled with rage. Black blood that spilled on the ground from the head that I cut is decimating the land. White smoke is rising from the path where the black blood is flowing at. The vegetation in the surroundings where the blood spilled is withering. Maybe there's poison in this demon blood.

Though I noticed it doesn't have quick movements, I'll be safe as long as I run away, but the condition of the demon made it clear that it'll chase me till the end.

That was a bit troublesome. Moreover, I might be able to win if I fight.

「A MERE HUMA~~N！！ 」

The demon is heading toward me. Its movements are slow.

Its beast heads and tentacles are attacking me.

I twist my body and retreat after cutting off it's tentacles and the second beast head.

「NO WAY！！ 」

The demon is surprised by such a scene.

I jumped behind the demon and just like that, I killed it with a slash from my sword to it's woman-like upper body.

「N…. NO WAY…..！！ 」

Just like that, the demon had fallen.

The demon is bending its neck to look at me.

「I… I see… Y… You're a divine being huh… To think that I took you as a mere human… Such… Such a disgrace…」

After saying so, the demon crumbles down.

「… I'm not a divine being though」

But I'm sure that it won't be able to refute my remark.

The demon eventually disappeared along with the arising white smoke. It seems I just defeated it.

「Diehart-sama~. Are you alright？ 」

Nut is making a detour while pa.s.sing the place where the demon had died and ran toward me.

「I had never seen that kind of a demon until now, quite a formidable foe huh」

I only saw goblins or ogres along our journey, thus I never saw this kind of demon.

「Yup… It's also my first time seeing this kind of demon」

I was surprised by the fact that Nut had also never seen it before. It seems that it was quite a rare demon huh.

Well, it should be okay to ask about this demon from someone else, right.

I'm looking into the forest.

Someone was looking at us, but I can't feel any hostility from that person's gaze. It seems that one isn't a goblin or an ogre. I wonder what kind of being it is.

「May I ask who's there？」

I'm raising the question first.

When I ask that person, a girl then showed up from the shadow of the tree.

Her age might be slightly below me. She was a blue-haired beauty with white skin.

Why this kind of girl is in this place, she might be a demon of the same kind as the previous one.

But I don't feel any hostility from her, and her gaze isn't unpleasant like the demon from before.

「Diehart-sama. That's an elf」

「An elf」

Surely, upon looking at her ears, I realized that it was long like the ones in the description of elf race's features.

I'm sure that Ruugas told me before about the elven race being composed nothing but woman and having an extremely long life span compared to a human's. In addition, every elf is far more powerful in using spirit magic than the average human, that's why they can live inside the forest where demons are running rampant without relying on the rampart.

And, it seems that they repeatedly kidnap the human males with whom they fall in love with.

I'm looking at her. I don't think it's a bad thing for a young man even if he's kidnapped by her. Well, that has nothing to do with me.

I wonder what business this elf has with me.

「Uhm… Are you a G.o.d？」

The elf girl is asking timidly.

「Nope, just a human？」

I reply as a rhetoric.

In fact, I feel a bit anxious. Is it really okay to take the people of the human race in this world as the same with the human race in my world?

Why because, irrespective of whether it was me, Reiji, or the others, we have superhuman powers far surpa.s.sing the realm of humans in this world. The only thing that didn't have much difference is just our outward appearance.

「No way, how can a human beat that Scylla when even us, the elf race, aren't a match against it. Are you really not a G.o.d？」

It seems the demon from before is called Scylla.

「Nope, I'm definitely not a G.o.d…」

I'm not that much of an important character to be called as a G.o.d.

「I see」

The girl is approaching me. And after she came right in front of me, she's taking a good look at me from head to toe.

「Hum, by the way, what kind of a person are you？….Why are you in this kind of place？ 」

The girl's face keeps approaching me.

I am reflected in her eyes. I unintentionally avert my gaze. My heart is beating loudly since no girl but s.h.i.+rone had ever approached me back in j.a.pan.

「N… No, I'm just a traveler. And I'm looking for a place to rest for a while」

I reply with a fl.u.s.tered tone.

「Eh, you're not going to the residence of the humans？」

"The residence of the humans" might be referring to the rampart. I'm nodding to answer the elf girl's question.

「Yes… I am caught in a special circ.u.mstance….」

「Hu~m, then I take that you have nowhere to go. Hey, how about coming to my house？ 」

「EH! ？ 」

I'm perplexed. I hear that despite the fact of elven race falling in love with a young human, they're not that friendly with the humans.

When looking at her, I can't feel any hostility at all. Her gaze is neither unpleasant nor creepy.

After pondering for a while.

「Well then, please allow me to receive your good will」

I lost to my curiousity. I was curious in what one called as the dwelling place of the elves.

「Yup, it's okay」

The elf girl starts guiding me into the forest with a light smile.

「It seems she likes you」

Nut is saying so in a joking tone.

Certainly, I can feel something like goodwill from the elf girl.

The girl keeps walking ahead.

A while later, an unusual phenomenon happened in front of our eyes.

Though it's still like a normal forest, I can feel that something is different.

「You noticed that barrier just now, it's amazing right?」

「Barrier？」

「Yes, it's a magic that will make those who enter the boundary to lose their way. That's why, you must follow me」

The girl continues to walk ahead just like that.

And then, we arrived at the base of a big tree.

That was an extremely big tree. There are several houses on a branch of the tree.

I was unintentionally dazed as I looked at that. That was a tree house which I had only seen in the TV.

In fact, I have a bit for yearning for this kind of house, since it felt more like a secret base.

「This place is my house.」

So she says.

「Tess！！ ！ 」

A voice is calling from above. When I look at that direction, a woman comes out from one of the tree houses.

The woman looks like she's just a few years older than the elf girl. That woman is getting down from the tree.

「Ah, mama！ ！ I'm back！ ！ 」

I'm surprised when the elf girl called that woman "Mama". And, here I thought that she might be the elf girl's elder sister.

「Tess！！ It's not 'I'm back'. Where did you run away！！ Moreover…」

The mother of the girl is looking at us.

「Who is this gentleman？」

The mother of the girl is staring at us.

She was a beauty just like her daughter. I just couldn't keep my calm when I see her.

「Mama！ ！ He's an amazing person you see！ ！ I mean, he's the one who defeated that Scylla！ ！ 」

The girl introduces me to her mother while clinging onto my arm.

I can feel the softness of the girl's body sticking on my body.

「Scylla…Is it the Scylla of that fountain?」

The mother is scanning me from head to toe.

「He… Doesn't seem to be that strong, isn't he?」

And then says those words.

「Mama！ ！ You're being rude to him！ ！ 」

The girl is reb.u.t.ting her mother.

「Ah, you're right, my apologies. It's my pleasure to meet a human gentleman such as you. I'm Davia of Hardy forest and the mother of that Tess beside you」

Davia offers her greeting. It seems the name of the elf girl is Tess.

「Yes, My name is… Kuro. I'm in the middle of a journey」

I pause for a moment and then introduce myself with an alias. Though it would okay even if I use my real name, there's a possibility that my name will somehow reach s.h.i.+rone and co.'s ears. So, the usage of my name is extremely restricted.

「Mama, Kuro is in the middle of a journey, so can he come to our house?」

Tess is trying to allow me to enter into her house even without her mother's permission.

「Uhm, Tess-san…」

When I'm about to say whether it's really okay to go without the permission of her mother.

「It can't be helped then. Welcome to our home then, Kuro-dono」

But, she easily let me into the house.

Honestly, is it really okay for her to let an unfamiliar man into her house? Or rather, is it a part of their culture？

According to Ruugas, the elven race was not that friendly to humans. There's no way for Ruugas' knowledge to be incorrect.

Tess' house is located high in the giant tree. There's no ladder or stairs to ascend to her house.

How are we going to climb it? When I'm thinking about the problem at hand, Tess gently floats upward and reaches her house. Somehow, this height isn't a problem for the elven race who are excellent in spirit magic.

「Come over here, Kuro！！ You should be able to fly, right? 」

Tess is showing a nonchalant smile.

Certainly, this height isn't that much of a problem to me.

Since I'm interested in this tree house and her mother has also given her permission, let's enter the house.

I arrive at the tree house while controlling my excitement.

And then, "Oops" is what I think upon seeing the tree house.

This tree house isn't built on top of a tree. The tree house is growing on the tree; the tree has swelled to form a house. It was an extremely mysterious house.

It seems to be growing properly. When I look inside, the light that was illuminating the house doesn't seem to be made of fire, but it was using light spirit. Upon looking at this, I remembered that in the world of humans, they were using a torch or an oil lamp as the source of illumination. From this, I came to a conclusion that the livelihood of the elves might be more dependent on magic.

The furnis.h.i.+ngs that I see inside the house is also splendid. It's completely different from the world of humans. It seems that they have reached the point of using magic in their daily lives.

Though the houses of the elven race seem primitive at glance, the interiors seem to be far more comfortable than the dwelling place of the humans in this world.

This world is more developed in a certain way than my own world due to the existence of magic.

Maybe my world will also develop just like this one if it's a world where one can use magic.

「Please sit down over there, Kuro-dono. I'm going to make tea right away. Come and help me, Tess」

「O~K」

After returning to the tree house, Tess and Davia are walking toward the place that might be a kitchen.

From the sign, it seems that the two of them are the only ones who live in this house.

The two of them come back a while later. They brought tea and snacks on a wooden tray.

The two place the wooden tray on the table in front of me.

A fragrant aroma is drifting from the red colored tea. The food is one big and flat bread, soup that boiled together in cabbage-like vegetable and round, sliced carrot-like vegetable, and the last one is a cake with dried fruit in it.

「Go ahead, Kuro-dono」

I'm sipping the tea. It was the first time I tried this taste, but it's delicious.

And then I try the vegetable soup. To be honest, it's a bit too mild, but I am still satisfied with it since I never had a satisfactory meal recently.

「How is it?」

Davia's asking me.

「Well, I have never had a satisfactory meal until now. Even so, this meal is delicious」

The elven style meal is more satisfying to me than the human world's. The gatekeeper in charge of the security for entering the Phteah city from before drove me out of the city as if I'm a suspicious person. In fact, though I might look like a suspicious person in this world, I don't want to be treated that way.

And yet, Tess and her mother were giving a warm welcome to me which almost made me cry.

「Is that so, then please enjoy your meal」

Davia's encouraging me to eat my food.

To be honest, it's been a while since I had a decent meal.

Tess was looking at me with a friendly smile on her face.

Dark Knight Kuroki.

「It's finally a bed after a while」

As the night lingers on, I'm guided to a bedroom.

「This is a bit too strange, right…………」

Nut is saying so with a puzzled tone.

「Though I don't know much about the elven race, why are they going as far as this to welcome us？ This is just incomprehensible」

I also shared the same doubt as Nut.

They just met us today. Everyone is extremely cold-hearted toward me when we made short stops at a few cities of the human race. Why the elves, basically not of my race, are so kind toward me?

Moreover, it seems that there's a rare case of an elf falling in love with the youth of human race, but they were fundamentally not so friendly toward humans.

「But, you see Nut, I can't feel any hostile intent from her」

I couldn't feel any unpleasant feelings from the girl called Tess, rather it was only good intentions directed toward me.

「Are they not using spirit magic？」

「………..Nope, I can't feel that sign」

It's normal for Nut to ask that. Honestly, I can even say that my magical power is far superior when compared to Nut.

If they were using magic, Nut's condition might become strange like the time with that Scylla from a while ago.

It will be a completely different case if the magic is only used on me, but Tess has seen me talking to Nut. So, I can take that it's just common sense for her to notice that. Even if she's scheming something, why would the magic be used only on me?

「But, maybe we can expect something…. Like something that she wishes from me」

I don't know what is that something. Even so, I should return this favor of one night's lodging and meal as much as I can.

「Maybe she has some kind of wish？」

「She has seen me defeating that Scylla. Maybe she's going to ask me to exterminate another demon」

「…I see, that's plausible」

Nut is nodding in agreement.

Then, he enters the bed after giving his agreement. I was surprised by the softness of the bed when I tried it.

「Amazing, even my world didn't have a bed as soft as this one」

It's just my imagination since I have never sleep on a high quality quilt, but this bed may be beyond that.

Tess even politely prepared a bed for Nut.

「Good night, Nut….」

「Good night」

It's a proper bed after a long time. The feeling of a bed after such a long time smells good.

To be honest, I couldn't sleep well along the journey. That's why I'm extremely drowsy even though I'm just a bit tired.

I felt that my consciousness is slowly sinking into the darkness.

Elf Girl, Tess.

「Tess, it seems Kuro-dono is already asleep」

Mother is telling me that.

「Have you reported this to dear father？」

This is the bedroom of father and mother.

I told my father about Kuro just a while ago.

My father is sleeping on the bed where I'm sitting on. My father is always sleeping ever since I was born.

I think that he's handsome since mother has fallen in love with him. Naturally, Kuro also won't lose in that matter.

I have never see him wake up even once.

My father is a human. In the case that a female is born from an elf mother, her race is elf, and when a male is born, his race is the same as his father.

Because majority of us don't want to copulate with ugly races like goblin or orc, it left us with just humans.

To be honest, I heard that my older brother and little brother were sent immediately to the dwelling place of the humans to get used to their customs.

Even now, my siblings were living in the dwelling place of humans.

And, since the elf who fell in love will kidnap the male human, the quarrel with the female humans never died out.

Even mother had a serious dispute with the humans when she kidnapped father. But then, mother, who defeated a female human without even using magic, is the best proof that father is mother's possession.

But, seeing that father is a human with a short life-span, it's just normal for him to die a short while later.

Even though the lifespan of the humans can be extended to become the same as the elves by using magic that is only usable by the queen of elves, the queen won't use that magic on the person if they have no qualifications to become the knight of elves.

Thus, prolonging their life with everlasting magic along with sleeping magic becomes the most commonly used method.

Father, who received this magic, is always sleeping, even now on the bed.

Though he's always asleep, father will be alive without dying, and since his physical body is still okay even when asleep, he can still make a child even when asleep.

In case we want to talk to him, we will enter into father's dream with Mind Dive magic. I also talked to father in his dreams about Kuro just now.

「It seems he has a good sleep when I saw his sleeping face. I peeked a bit into his heart and seems like a kind person, since you have an excellent intuition just like me」

I nod upon hearing mother's words.

「Of course he is, I mean he is the man that I chose. It felt like a fate when I saw Kuro for the first time」

I felt my heart beat when I saw Kuro for the first time. I felt the urge to make him into my spouse.

Mother said that intuition is important, since it's just normal for us. Because it was also like this when father met mother, though mother forcibly abducted him by using magic. [TL : Did she tell her "When I Met Your Father"?]

Mother said that she had no problem, since he was pretty and it was better than bringing back an ugly human.

She said the same thing for Kuro. That's why, I was happy since I can be together forever with Kuro in this place. Since he didn't seem to show any signs of dissatisfaction toward me.

That's just natural since I'm far more beautiful than the average human female.

「Well, mother, I'm going to Kuro's room then」

I leave the bedroom of my parents and change places with mother.

I'm thinking about the conversation inside my dream with Kuro.

He is basically defenseless inside the dream. There are so many things that I want to hear from Kuro.

Thus, I head toward my bedroom where Kuro is sleeping.

Dark Knight Kuroki.

「My deepest grat.i.tude for your kindness」

Nut and I express our grat.i.tudes to Davia and Tess.

Tess is looking at me with sad face.

I can't see her entire face. Last night, Tess became my sweet lover inside my dreams. That dream strangely felt real to me. I feel extremely embarra.s.sed since it's inside my dreams.

「Be careful on the way」

Davia is also making a sad face.

「My apologies, I'm in a hurry since there's a place that I have to visit….」

Tess and Davia didn't even say their requests in the end.

It seems it was an act out of pure kindness.

But, something is worrying me in the morning. Tess was already awake when I woke up in the morning. She is acting a bit strange compared to yesterday. That's making me worry about her.

But, I still have to go.

「Thank you very much. I definitely will return my grat.i.tude for the kindness that you displayed yesterday」

I say so before I'm about to leave the tree house.

「Kuroki！！ 」

Tess is calling me.

「Tess？」

「Kuroki… We will meet again… right?」

Tess's eyes are already br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears.

「Yeah, we definitely will meet again, Tess」

I'm brus.h.i.+ng Tess' cheeks. I definitely will die from the shame for this kind of action which didn't suit me, but it's still better compared to what happened inside my dream.

Then, I left Tess while turning around to wave my hand so many times to them.

And then, I noticed a fact a little while after I left her hometown.

「Come to think of it, why does Tess know my real name？」

Elf Girl, Tess.

「Are you okay, Tess？」

I'm shaking my head upon hearing mother's question.

「….I mean, it can't be helped you know. I never expected that he's a man of a different world… I'm sure that Kuroki has some kind of role in this world. There's no way I can keep him for myself….」

The night that I enjoyed inside the dream with Kuroki will become the most important memory of my life.

I came to realize Kuroki's true ident.i.ty inside his dream.

Kuroki's power was as amazing as those divine beings. I can make him mine forever with magic if he is a normal person, but my magic doesn't work on Kuroki.

I didn't even know what I have to do upon seeing that Kuroki is leaving.

I'm looking at Kuroki's back.

Kuroki turned around so many times. At least he doesn't hate me.

Maybe we can meet again.

「See you again, my kind dark knight」

Dark Knight Kuroki.

「Diehart-sama. That is the Holy Republic Lenaria」

I'm looking at a big city from on top of the hill.

This country was located on the intersecting estuaries of the river and the holy sea that originates from Elios mountain.

Two days after separating with Tess, I finally arrived at my destination.

「Well, shall we go then, Nut?」

The elves of this world have many similarities with a nymph.