“Ah, no. I mean, it’s true that you caused me trouble. But please raise your head first. Um…”
“My name is Elioren Sildiel.”
“Ah, Lord Elioren. I’m fine. Truly.”
Who would’ve thought he’d suddenly bow ninety degrees in apology the moment our eyes met?
It was already uncomfortable having someone older than me use polite speech, but an apology this overwhelming was even harder to deal with.
Flustered, I conveyed to Elioren that it was all right.
Seeing me fidgeting helplessly, Elioren finally straightened his back.
He had the impression of someone who was kind when he was kind, but strict when he had to scold. Someone with backbone.
And apparently it wasn’t just his face; his personality was the same, because Elioren said to Iseria,
“Iseria. Did you offer your apology? Don’t tell me you again…”
“No! I apologized earlier…”
“Is that true, Lord Jinwoo?”
“Yes. I received a sincere apology.”
So even your dad doesn’t trust you all that much, huh, Iseria.
Even if she put on an aggrieved expression, she had nothing to say.
It was true that she’d done wrong—and a rather serious wrong at that.
And it was also true that her usual behavior wasn’t exactly polite.
“Please, have a seat. I don’t know if the tea will suit your taste. It’s a tea elves enjoy…”
“Ah, yes. It smells nice.”
Sip—
I sat down and took a sip of the tea.
Mm… the sweet bitterness of black tea, and the cool freshness of a mint-type herb.
It’s pretty good. Should I buy some as a souvenir when I go home?
“Mm, this is really delicious. Is it a species that only grows in Noirdel?”
“Yes. But there should be something similar in Silvaerin as well. It’s called Snow Fragrance Herb.”
Snow Fragrance Herb, Snow Fragrance Herb.
I felt like I’d seen it while passing through town.
But this guy—does he know about the human world?
He mentioned Silvaerin so naturally that for a moment I forgot he was an elf.
Ah, come to think of it, there was something I’d been about to ask Iseria earlier.
“Lord Elioren. May I ask you something?”
“Yes. Please speak freely.”
“If someone is a human from Silvaerin, can they enter Noirdel?”
“Oh, I was just about to tell you about that.”
Huh, what a coincidence.
I looked into Elioren’s eyes and waited for his next words.
“Our country, Noirdel, is hidden within the Kalian Mountains. It is geographically difficult terrain to begin with, and the entirety of our territory is protected by the grace of the World Tree, so ordinary humans cannot find their way here.”
Elioren moistened his lips with tea, then continued.
“However, humans from Silvaerin are an exception. They possess the minimum qualifications necessary to enter Noirdel.”
“What? What are those?”
It’s not like this was a company lobby where you had to scan an employee ID to get in. There were qualifications?
But since he said only people of Silvaerin met those qualifications… I became very curious about what he’d say next.
Perhaps reading my curiosity, Elioren gave a faint smile.
“Haha, it’s nothing special. It’s simply that among human societies, Silvaerin has been the closest to Noirdel, so it happened on occasion. Half-elves, I mean.”
“Gasp.”
No, why are you saying something that sounds like it belongs in imperial history so casually?
When I get back to Silvaerin later, aren’t mysterious assailants going to say, “So you found out…” and drag me into a basement?
“It is not such a grave matter. It was something my father told me, so it would likely be difficult for human civilization to have it left in written records. In any case… because the humans of Silvaerin have at least a little elven blood mixed in, they have a higher possibility of being able to enter Noirdel compared to humans from other regions.”
“Ah, I see. But possibility? It’s not guaranteed?”
“Hoho, you’ve hit the mark precisely.”
Hit what mark? You were the one who ended your sentence in such an obviously meaningful way.
Tch, it’s similar to when GPT says, “Wow! You’ve pinpointed the heart of the issue!”
Iseria’s father, Elioren, was an elf completely different from her.
They were both quite beautiful in appearance, but Elioren had that distinctive intellect of a learned person.
He seemed to know a lot, and when asked, he seemed to enjoy explaining things in an easy-to-understand way…
“Even if one is not a human from Silvaerin, a human with pure mana may be welcomed by the World Tree. Humans from Silvaerin simply have a higher chance of possessing pure mana because elven blood is mixed into their lineage. Not all of them are pure.”
As I silently listened to Elioren’s explanation, a question flashed through my mind.
But I’m… just human, aren’t I?
I’m not exactly a native Silvaerin person, and I don’t even know if my mana is pure.
I was just a human who liked cooking and was pretty decent at it.
Could registering my residency in Silvaerin count?
I did make an ID card when I went to town last time.
Even as I sank into thought, Elioren continued speaking.
“This is certainly not racial discrimination, but I assume Lord Jinwoo was not born in Silvaerin. Am I correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Lord Jinwoo, you were not born in Silvaerin, but you already possess pure mana. Pure, or rather… it is quite a peculiar form.”
Ugh, this guy. He speaks in a suspiciously meaningful way.
If he cuts it off like that, I’ll get curious again…
But for now, there was a conclusion I needed to hear first.
“So, why were you going to tell me this?”
“Ah, right. In conclusion, aside from the process of Lord Jinwoo’s entry into the country and Lord Jinwoo’s own will… there are no issues whatsoever, so you may rest assured.”
“Aha…”
Uh, the two most important parts were excluded. Is that really no issue?
I don’t even know anymore.
Since I was already here, it was better for there to be no problems than to be full of them.
“By the way, there is also something I wish to ask Lord Jinwoo.”
“Yes. Please ask freely.”
“Could you tell me about the things that happened while Iseria was staying at your home?”
“Ah, this might get a bit long… When we first met, Iseria secretly snuck into my kitchen at night. At the time, I thought she was a thief…”
“Eek! Why are you suddenly bringing that up!!”
Iseria, who had been zoning out beside us, freaked out as soon as her story came up.
No, he asked me to tell him how his daughter had been living. How could I not tell him?
Ignoring Iseria as she made a fuss, I continued my story.
How she trespassed into my house, stole food, and was chased out.
How she acted rudely toward Kailan, a duke of Silvaerin.
How she mixed sleeping powder into my water cup, put me to sleep, and then kidnapped me to the elven country…
As he listened, Elioren’s expression stiffened in real time,
and by the end, his face had turned into a deadpan glare like something from a super-deformed drawing.
Elioren opened his mouth in a low voice.
“Lord Jinwoo. I apologize, but may I hear the rest of the story another time? Right now… more than that, my daughter’s education seems urgent.”
“Yes. I’m fine with that.”
“Thank you. I will have a member of the household accompany you, so please take a look around the city.”
“J-Jinwoo!! Save me!!!”
“Stay still, Iseria.”
Sensing murderous intent, Iseria tried to follow me out.
However, she was blocked by the elves guarding the door and left all alone in the room.
“Karma… You have to pay it off, right?”
You reap what you sow, Iseria.
I hope today becomes the turning point for you to mature mentally as an adult as well.
“No!!!!”
“Iseria. I was willing to overlook your running away from home as you pleased, but the stories I just heard…”
With her single scream and Elioren’s lecture beginning, the reception room door closed.
Once it was confirmed that there were no problems, I entered “enjoyer” mode.
Both my time and my heart suddenly felt abundant.
I sat in a chair in the mansion lobby and waited for my companion.
It was more comfortable to wander around alone, but this was a foreign country.
If I pointlessly got lost, things would become exhausting.
Had about three minutes passed like that?
I turned my head at the sound of someone approaching.
And there stood,
“Beila, you wretch!!!!”
“Hiiik! I’m sorry!!”
Beila, the accomplice in the “Kang Jinwoo kidnapping incident.”
So you were my companion. All right, perfect timing.
Maybe this was Elioren’s gift, telling me to keep her by my side and smack her around all day.
I’d felt it from his first greeting, but as expected, educated people really were different.
Not only was he likable, but even his follow-up handling was perfect.
I spoke in an icy voice.
“Beila. Attention.”
“Yes, sir!”
“What did you do wrong?”
“I confined Lord Kang Jinwoo, and blinded by a momentary gluttony, I drugged and kidnapped him! Ack!”
“Hearing it like this makes it impossible to forgive you.”
You guys were seriously vicious.
Is this the average elf?
“Gasp, what Beila is saying… is it true?”
“I think so. From what Lord Elioren was saying earlier…”
“Hieek, really?”
The other elves walking around the mansion heard Beila’s confession and began whispering among themselves.
Apparently, Beila was not the average elf, and instead seemed to be the main culprit dragging down the elven average.
“I’m sorry, ack!”
“Yeah, yeah. Do better.”
“Yes, sir!”
After giving her an appropriate scolding, I went outside.
I didn’t know how long I’d be staying in Noirdel, but it probably wouldn’t be just a day or two.
Since I was here, I should check what elves ate and what their local specialties were.
“Let’s go, Beila.”
“Huh? Where to?”
“To the biggest market in this city.”
Whether it was traveling or moving, the fastest way to adapt to a new region.
Throwing yourself into the place where the people of that region interacted most actively.
That was a truth that applied regardless of situation or era.
I’d looked around a market with Iseria earlier, but it had been too small.
If we went deeper in, there should be a busier market.
“Hm! Leave it to me. I may not look it, but I’ve been a Noirdel native for over eighty years!”
Wow, an elf really is an elf.
She just looked about the age of a pretty college student, but she was eighty?
Since she’d lived that long, I could trust her as a guide.
Following Beila’s lead, I started walking.
After about ten minutes, the buildings around us gradually increased.
Along with that, the liveliness of the residents also rose.
“Whoa, over there… is that a human?”
“It’s my first time seeing a human.”
But more gazes gathered on me than I’d expected.
I was human, and with black hair that was rare in this other world, I’d thought I would attract some attention.
If Beila, who wore a sword at her waist, hadn’t been beside me, I think I would’ve been bombarded with countless questions.
“Lord Jinwoo. Are you all right? Shall I get you a robe?”
“I’m fine. Even if I wear one, it’ll be obvious anyway…”
I put on a thick skin and took in every corner of the city with my eyes.
Unlike the empire, where bricks were the main building material, Noirdel had many buildings made of wood.
Of course, in the empire too, the frames and crossbeams of buildings were made of wood, but this place had a different feeling.
Log cabins, sturdily built wooden plank houses,
and even treehouses made from the trees themselves could be seen here and there.
Wow, this is fun to look at.
With brown and green in every direction, even my eyes felt like they were turning fresh and verdant.
As I rolled my eyes this way and that,
something red caught my sight.
I headed toward the red, round things piled on a stall in the distance.
At first, I was only interested because of their intense color, but the closer I got, the more my heart pounded.
“No way… No way?”
I’d never had a proper romantic relationship, but…
If someone finally met a lover they hadn’t been able to see for a long time, would it feel like this?
I reached the front of that stall with quick steps.
Red fruits, smooth and dazzling as they shone under the clear sunlight.
Even without pressing my nose close to smell them, there wafted over me
a rich sweetness and the freshness of vegetables.
“Beila, th-this is?”
“Ah, they’re tomatoes!”
The strongest summer vegetable, used widely across East and West alike.
A legendary ingredient among legendary ingredients, one without which many Western dishes couldn’t even exist.
The GOAT of umami and pure ingredient power—
it was the tomato.