Countless spears were aimed at my throat.
As the settling dust cleared, the figures of around eight dark elves emerged.
Each and every one had a fierce face that brought to mind a veteran warrior who had survived countless battles.
And among them, the man standing in the very center—who looked like their leader, with a large diagonal scar across his entire face—was radiating a dense killing intent.
If she had been here, I would have shoved my face toward her without hesitation and said:
Kalinia, did you trick me?
No, didn’t you say I’d be welcomed anywhere I went!
Even if they didn’t welcome me, shouldn’t normal passage at least be possible?
But what is this?
Why am I in mortal danger again?
Ugh, I can’t stand this.
Kalinia, get over here right now and explain yourself, explain yourself!
But there was no way my silent scream would reach them.
With no other choice, I raised both hands and forced a smile.
“Wh-why are you doing this? We only just got here, so I don’t think we’ve done anything wrong…”
“You… That clothing. Where did you get it?”
“Clothing? Ah, this?”
What I was wearing right now was the uniform Kalinia had given me.
Only then did I realize why they were showing hostility toward me.
“That is the clothing of our valiant sentinels. So why is a human wearing it?”
They probably thought I had killed one of their kin and stolen the clothes, but to think I’d run into this misunderstanding here.
Since no such problem had come up with the defense unit or the supply unit, it hadn’t even crossed my mind.
In that case, there was only one way to prove my innocence.
Miss Kalinia, I’ll trust you one last time.
“Could you take a look at this for a moment?”
When I brought my hand to my neck, the dark elves’ spears pressed against us roughly, but I barely managed to pull out the necklace Kalinia had given me.
The dark elves glared at the necklace for a moment, then their eyes widened.
“Th-this is…!”
“H-how does a human have that?”
“Shouldn’t we report this first?”
The dark elves were flustered.
Thanks to that, it was nice that the spears moved away from my throat, but… just what was this necklace that made them react like that?
While Veronica and I were wrapped in doubt, the scarred man put away his spear and said,
“Please follow me for a moment.”
No, what’s with the sudden change in treatment?
But we couldn’t exactly nitpick his altered attitude.
The sensation of the spear tips poking at our throats was still vivid.
Veronica and I shrugged and followed after the man.
***
Tedumaya.
The home of the dark elves, and a great city located at the heart of the great forest, Limbahitam.
After entering the city, Ian and Veronica could not take their eyes off the scenery unfolding before them.
Was this what it felt like when nature and civilization coexisted?
A variety of flowers and trees, and green stone buildings harmonizing among them.
It felt just like they had arrived in a fairy kingdom from a storybook.
However, the two of them could not leisurely sightsee around Tedumaya.
“Where are we going, anyway?”
Because they had been busy following the scarred man who had guided them from the city gate.
Without even a simple explanation, he led the two of them onward.
The place Ian and Veronica arrived at was the most splendid building they had seen so far.
Perhaps an important person resided there, because the security was tight, and only then did the man look at Ian.
“Please enter.”
“Here?”
“Yes. The person beside you, please wait here for a moment.”
“Huh? I can’t go?”
“Yes. You must wait.”
Veronica, who had been about to argue, shut her mouth at the man’s fierce face.
She puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, but naturally, it had no effect at all.
Ian smiled bitterly as she looked at Veronica.
“Then I’ll be back.”
“You have to tell me who you meet.”
After hesitating for a moment, Ian nodded.
Judging from the Veronica she had seen so far, if Ian ran off without telling her, it was obvious she would chase her to the ends of the universe and launch a confession attack.
Wiping that horrifying image from her mind, Ian followed the man into the building.
Inside, dark elves who looked like attendants were bustling about busily.
They stared at Ian, a human, with startled eyes, but perhaps because of the man walking beside her, no one spoke to her.
Of course, that did nothing to stop her from feeling like an animal in a zoo.
Receiving those pouring gazes, she arrived at a room that looked like a reception room.
Ian went inside.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
With those words, the door closed, and the man left.
After staring fixedly at the closed door for a moment, Ian tilted her head.
“What on earth is going on?”
At this point, she was curious.
Just what was the necklace Kalinia had given her that something like this was happening?
Ian checked the necklace’s information.
[Kalinia’s Necklace]
A keepsake from the mother of Kalinia, search captain of Durigarda. The crest of Darmahitam is engraved on it.
(Maximum contribution reward for Zone 3.)
“Ma-maximum contribution reward?”
Since no separate window had appeared this time, Ian had assumed someone else must have taken it.
But this necklace, with no abilities whatsoever, was the reward?
Dumbfounded, Ian let out a hollow laugh.
“Anyway, a keepsake…”
Should she go back now and return it?
Ian felt uneasy about it, but at the same time, she was secretly glad that Kalinia trusted her enough to entrust something like this to her.
“But what is Darmahitam, anyway?”
Judging by the name, it seemed related to this rainforest, Limbahitam, but she had no idea what it actually was.
And what was this eye that was supposedly the crest?
Just as Ian’s eyes narrowed at the mystery brought on by the wave of information—
Creak.
The door opened, and a woman wearing a navy dress, with an elegant air like a noble, entered the room.
“You must be the human Sankaka mentioned.”
At the voice reaching her ears, Ian turned her head and confirmed the woman’s appearance.
And when she saw her face, her eyes widened.
“Ka-Kalinia?”
“Hoho… So that is how I look to your eyes.”
Because that face looked exactly as if Kalinia, whom she had parted with yesterday, had been placed there.
Startled, Ian could not close her mouth.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, human.”
The woman placed a hand on her chest and lightly bowed her head.
“I am Maharani Darmahitam. Queen of Limbahitam, who leads the dark elves, and…”
At that moment, Ian’s time stopped.
“Kalinia’s older sister.”
***
“Now, please have some. It is tea brewed from leaves blessed by the wind.”
By the time I finally came to my senses, I was already sitting in the reception room, having tea with Maharani… in other words, Kalinia’s older sister and the queen of this country.
“Th-thank you.”
It wasn’t as if food would go down easily in a situation like this, but this was tea personally brewed by none other than the queen of this country.
And unfortunately, I wasn’t someone with enough guts to refuse it.
So what could I do? I just had to drink it.
Recalling, as best I could, the tea ceremony scenes I had only ever seen in movies, I carefully drank the tea.
“…It’s delicious.”
“Isn’t it? I quite like this tea as well. Try this too.”
“……!”
Even for me, someone completely ignorant about tea, it was delicious enough that if not for the atmosphere, I could have enjoyed it without restraint.
On top of that, the sweets, with their perfectly balanced sweetness, gently wrapped around the tip of my tongue.
The fantastic flavor, like something I had only tasted in the real world, almost made me forget I was in front of the queen and let out a cry of happiness.
Yes, I had to admit it.
This was definitely the top contribution reward.
Food like this, and tea like this.
Once you’ve tasted them, you can never go back!
Just as I had forgotten whose presence I was in, melting into a puddle while diligently moving my mouth—
“So, your name was… Ian, was it?”
Maharani’s voice brought me back to reality.
“Ah, yes, yes. Um… well… Your, Your Majesty?”
“Pfft! Ah, excuse me. Don’t mind it too much and call me comfortably.”
Did my tense appearance look that ridiculous?
The queen had quite a hard time holding back her laughter for a while.
But I was originally a citizen of twenty-first-century South Korea.
I had no experience dealing with people like royalty.
Of course I’d be nervous!
Whether she knew how I felt or not, the queen suddenly leaned her face in close before my eyes.
“But how did you become close with our Kalinia? To be honest, she is my younger sister, but her personality is probably not very good, is it?”
“Um… sh-she wasn’t… that bad. Haha…”
In truth, I wanted to nod.
Even now, when I thought back to how she had ordered me to capture an Alraune when we first met, I regretted not giving her a knuckle to the head before coming here.
But how could I badmouth someone together in front of her family?
There was a reason people said only I get to beat up my younger sibling.
Of course, whether she knew how I felt or not, the queen continued speaking.
“Oh, it’s fine. When it’s just us, you can be honest. I know her personality best. I don’t know who she takes after, but she’s terribly stubborn and only snaps at people. Goodness… that girl. I worry whether she’ll ever find a good husband like that.”
In that sense, the dark elves here felt no different from humans.
Though their appearances and races were different, they were more human than humans.
Our conversation continued after that as well.
Of course, naturally, most of the conversation was about Kalinia.
However, unable to resist the temptation of the constantly refilled refreshments, I had to tell her some of my own stories out of courtesy as well.
Well, it wasn’t much.
I couldn’t bring up stories of reality in the first place, so the only things I could talk about were the three zones I had traveled through until now.
Even so, the queen listened to my stories with interest.
Was it because she had only ever been here? What was trivial to me seemed to be as special as a fairy tale to her.
Among them, the story she listened to most attentively was, naturally, what had happened in Zone 3.
“I see. The corrupted World Tree has finally returned to Mother’s embrace…”
Like Kalinia when she had heard news of the subjugation, she too sank into sentiment for a while.
She needed time to collect the emotions welling up inside her.
“I’m sorry. I showed you something unsightly for a moment.”
“Not at all. We only did what we had to do.”
“Hoho… Miss Ian, you truly are a good person.”
A good person.
At that voice that gave me a sense of déjà vu, I smiled bitterly.
“Still, I cannot simply remain still. Are you outside?”
When the queen’s voice rang out, the door opened as if someone had been waiting, and a man entered.
“Hm?”
At that moment, I could not take my eyes off the man.
Even as he approached the queen’s side and bent at the waist.
“Did you call, Your Majesty?”
“They say the World Tree has been subjugated. Did you know?”
“We are in the process of confirming the truth, but that is what I understand.”
“Then the time has come.”
Even as the queen made some important declaration.
“Prepare the ceremony.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
And as she rose from her seat and gave me a smile.
“Well then, Miss Ian, it was a pleasant time. I will see you again.”
Even until she left, my gaze remained fixed on the man.
I had no choice but to stare at the closed door for a long while.
Because.
He was.
“Why… is the boss here?”
Because he was the boss of this Zone 4.