Chapter 436: Elf Village 2
「Well then, let’s go!」(Maevis)
「「「Ooh!」」」(Rena’s Trio)
Rena’s Trio responded to Maevis’ calls and the elves nodded.
In the town near the village, everyone left the carriage and horses to the hired coach and asked him to wait in this town.
…Wages are paid properly even while waiting, so this is a delicious job. Well, most of the wages will be spent in bars though.
And from here, everyone must walk.
All the elves know about Mile’s storage magic… which is supposed to be the Item Box…
Since there are the only people who know about it, the elves asked Mile to store all the luggage and souvenirs bought by the elves in large quantities without any consideration of weight, volume, and fragility.
Originally, elves who live with nature in the forest don’t have much cash income and when they come to the human town once in a while, they only bring medicinal herbs and furs that sell at good prices for cash.
Therefore, it seems that the people who live in the Elf Village are looking forward to the souvenirs the Elves in the human city will bring home when they return.
But because they can’t use the horse-drawn carriage in the last step, so they can’t bring back so many souvenirs…
「Fufufu, everyone will be surprised this time…」(Kulereia)
「That’s right.
I bought a lot of human liquor and iron products that were heavy and could not be taken home so much.
Everyone will be happy」(Shararil)
Shararil responded to Dr. Kulereia in a good mood.
Homecoming isn’t always a troublesome and unpleasant thing,
it will be fun as it is.
And they want to take this opportunity to use Mile’s storage magic, cut off a part of the reserve and bought a lot of souvenirs.
Beyond the common sense of souvenirs that ordinary people bring when returning home,
In large amounts…
Of course, if they brought back such a thing, Mile’s storage magic would become anomalous but no one was concerned about it anymore.
Immediately after entering the forest, the road became narrow to an animal trail level,
And even without it, everyone would proceed along the literal road “which can’t be called a road”.
The Elves didn’t actually try to hide the way to their village, but they intentionally obscured the way to prevent the unwelcome and the like from coming in.
It makes people think that they are spinning around the same place.
There are meaningless turning points, and sometimes they are disguised as dead-end roads.
((((No, this is how people normally call “Hiding their village”…)))) (Red Oath)
So Red Oath thought but the Elf group insisted that they weren’t “hidden”.
They said that if they wanted to hide it seriously, they would set up a dazzling barrier and set up bamboo spears or pitfall traps.
「Of course, the bamboo spear that pops out will be poisoned and planted at the bottom of the pit.」(Elf)
「「「「…Scary!!」」」」(Red Oath)
It would be a big problem if human beings set it up and hurt the neighboring villagers or hunters who got lost, but in the case of Elves, there seemed to be no problem.
This area is said to be part of a human nation, but it’s actually an Elf-controlled area, and its autonomy is recognized.
So it seems how to deal with the intruders is the freedom of the elves.
Because they are friendly with humans and have various treaties, It’s just that they are self-restrained.
It’s just “shouldn’t do it”, it’s not “can’t do it”.
「So unless we have a lot of things to do with you, we will never take anyone other than Elves to our village.
Well, we’re together, so this time there’s no problem.
I also got permission from the letter in advance…」(Elf)
Of course, the letters are kept in the guild, and it seems that sometimes, someone from the village goes to check.
It’s like a “bureaucracy” in Japan.
「…Eh?」
And Mile was dumbfounded.
「Does that mean you usually don’t take escorts?」(Mile)
「「「「「「…………」」」」」」(Rena’s Trio + 3 Elves)
The Elf group was *acha* as they realized they let it slip while Rena’s Trio was suprised that Mile didn’t realize it until now.
Yes, it would be too much of a burden to use sp many gold coins for escorts and carriage on the way home each time.
So, it was normal for the Elves to return to the nearest town by a normal carriage, and then they walked by themselves.
The escort to the town is hired by the owner of the carriage.
Of course, the cost is reflected in the fare, but it is much cheaper than having to prepare a carriage or escort by themselves.
…In other words, the Elves usually don’t hire a carriage or hire escorts by themselves.
「Eh? What does this mean…」(Mile)
Mile had a suspicious face, but Shararil explained it immediately.
「Even we requested escorts, we actually wanted to invite Mile-chan’s group to the Elf Village!
During the academic research on the forest, you have helped us a lot!」(Shararil)
「Yes Yes! At that time, you seemed to be interested in the Elf village, so as a thank-you…」(Etoul)
「I was also rescued by you from the beastkins!
I’m going to introduce you to my father…」(Kulereia)
Then Etoul and Dr. Kulereia followed.
「Eh…」(Mile)
Upon hearing that, Mile shined with a smile on her face.
「Is… is that true? Thank you very much!
Actually, I really wanted to see “Elf Village”!」(Mile)
((((((I knew it…)))))) (Rena’s Trio + 3 Elves)
Thus, with the exception of Mile, everyone knew about the true “plan” and headed for the elf village.
「Then, how many people… “Elf people” is the “Elf population” of the Elf Village?」(Mile)
「What strange words you used!
Both Elves and Dwarves are “human species”, so using “population” is all right!
The unit for counting is still “people”! 3 Elves, 4 Elves, etc.
Don’t count in the wrong units!」(Kulereia)
Dr. Kulereia is complaining while Etoul and Shararil just smile.
「Excuse me…
Then, your population is…」(Mile)
「It’s prohibited!」(Kulereia)
「Eh?」(Mile)
Mile was stunned with the unpleasant response from Dr. Kulereia then Etoul explained…
「The number of people is the most important factor for safety.
Humans can’t hide because they live in open spaces, but we, the Elves live both in villages as well as the surrounding forest.
It is better to keep the exact number down to counter invaders and raiders.」(Etoul)
「Ah, I see…」(Mile)
Far from bandits, not even lords dare to kill the elves…
After all, many elves are good at magic, know a lot about the forest, and can live on less food, probably because their metabolism isn’t active.
…And their pride is high, they cherish the forest and their sense of fellowship is strong.
If you dare to turn these people into enemies, you will be wiped out as soon as you enter the forest.
Moreover, information is quickly transmitted to all the Elves and the said hostile human organization will be seen as an enemy by the Elves of all nations.
In addition, Elves are respected by humans. And because of their wisdom and beauty, there are many royalties, aristocratic and other powers that admire them. Some of them try to build a friendship or getting related to the Elves and it goes both ways.
…Cautious Elves: The Elves are Overpower but Overly Cautious.
(T.N: should I tell what refer is this?)
(Well, when a human dies, they will lose decades of life. But if an Elf dies, they will lose hundreds of years.
Maybe because they will lose too many years so they become cautious…) (Mile)
Although Mile thinks about such a thing, it was natural for the elder to be more cautious than the youngster.
From the perspective of an elf, a person aged 40 to 50 is a child, not even a young man yet.
Unless there’s something, Elderly Elves are kind and gentle to humans.
Is it like the kindness of agrandfather’s response to a person about the age of his grandchild?
「As expected, the achievement of the year…」
So Mile was muttering…