Published at 25th of August 2022 10:45 pm

Volume 15, Chapter 4: A life in the Village (2)

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

There were three people in the room.

The Grand Elder, Raspberry Nabar.

The Male Elder, Peach Orbea.

The Female Elder, Strawberry Pischa.

There was only one topic of discussion. Naturally, it was about the traveler who had just appeared a short while ago, the uncle of Aura—the ranger who possessed outstanding abilities.

And they were all at their wit’s end.

The reason for that was—

“The Sawtooth Oak…what kind of tree is it? The fact that he used that name back there, what in the world could it possibly mean?

At the meeting they immediately held upon their return, Peach asked that question while he grimaced. Raspberry, with a similarly sour expression on his face, answered.

“No idea, but do you really think we could just ask him that right then and there?…If it meant the sacred tree that his tribe uses for ancestor worship or in rituals, wouldn’t he think that he had been insulted if we said we didn’t know what kind of tree it was?”

Heaving a sigh, Strawberry grumbled.

“This is all because we put on the demeanor of ‘obviously we know that’ back there. The words ‘we don’t know’ would never escape our lips, no matter what was said.”

“It would be one thing if we were different races, but we’re all Dark Elves. Considering the direction they came from, it’s very likely that they’re from one of the clans that split off in our parents’ generation. If that is the case, then the differences in language shouldn’t be that big. When you put all of those together, that was probably a formal greeting in the style of his tribe.”

“I couldn’t confirm it since you could only see the area around his eyes, but I caught sight of some features that looked as if he had some Elf blood in him. So, it might be possible that it was the etiquette for greetings that originated with the Elves?”

Beyond that, they also had another basis for his possible connection to the Elves. That was his name.

Dark Elf names went in the order of family name followed by given name, while Elves on the other hand, used the order of given name followed by family name. In light of that, how they were named was similar to the Elven style.

“Naturally, I wouldn't know about the Elven way of doing things nor their etiquette, now would I? Do you two know?”

There was no reply.

First off, it wasn’t as if even they knew all of the Dark Elf traditions. That was because some of the oral traditions had been lost prior to them coming to this forest, so they were in a situation where they didn’t even know what had been lost. That was why they were racking their brains over it.

“For the time being, are we all in agreement that our name was passed down in his tribe as the tribe of Ring-Cupped Oak? It’s either that or something similar. For example, perhaps this Oak splits into two when it grows so we're being called that because we branched off his clan too?”

“If you consider the flow of that conversation, it seems like there is no other way we could interpret it. However, along with the Sawtooth Oak, I wonder what kind of tree a Ring-Cupped Oak is? I wonder if there was a hint that it could be another name for one of the trees we do know of? And on top of that, what significance does the choosing of that tree have?”

On the contrary, if they likened a tree that they knew to the Sawtooth or Ring-Cupped Oak trees, their visitors might question their sanity. Therefore, if they knew what trees they were, they could then grasp the nuances held within. However, even they, within the extent of their knowledge of trees and plants, could not stumble upon anything about the Sawtooth and—in particular—Ring-Cupped Oak trees.

Even when they went so far as to take into account that the common names of trees might differ by clan, no answer was forthcoming.

“Hmmmm. It would be great if we could hear it straight from the source, but…”

“If we could do that then we would…Wouldn’t it be troublesome if he thought we didn’t even know that much? It might leak out to the youngsters from him.”

Even they at least knew that the youngster’s group hated them. Nevertheless, they believed the youngsters would come to respect the wisdom they held when they were older. Traditions—ancient wisdom— seemed meaningless when one only took a glance at them. However, the truth was that there were some reasons as to why they persisted, and it wasn’t something that was okay to just disregard. Even they should agree that knowledge was power.

However, no one here even knew how to give a formal greeting—what would happen if the youngsters were to judge them for having lost that tradition? It might produce a more serious and lethal confrontation than there was right now.

That was why they were racking their brains over it.

“I wonder if it really was just a mere greeting…even when I looked him in the eyes he didn’t seem to be showing a hint of emotion. He was so expressionless that it felt a little unsettling.”

“…So…what do we do? His knowledge concerning Dark Elf traditions is something I’d like to ask him about though…”

“…That’s a little too dangerous. Even if we were to abide our shame and say to him that we wanted to talk with him privately, I don’t know if he would really keep his mouth shut. If that’s the case…you don’t jump into a briar patch if you’re not being chased, huh?

“You’re right. It’s best to keep a certain distance, and not approach him.”

“That being the case…what do we do with his gifts? The souvenirs from a land where races other than Elves or Dark Elves live. There are probably rare items among them.”

If the three elders took responsibility for distributing the souvenirs, there would be some suitable benefits to it.

Of course, there would probably be people who would make their discontent public depending on what was distributed and to whom. The drawback was the possibility of them bearing a grudge over it. However, in most cases, that sort of person would already have a reputation of saying that it was unfair no matter what they received. It was obvious that some of the youngsters would complain just because the elders were the ones who divvied everything up. However, if the elders distributed everything fairly, then everyone else aside from them would probably look coldly upon the ones who would say that it was unfair.

Therefore, even if the elders placed the duty of distribution upon themselves, they did not intend to take anything for themselves.

There should be more value in creating an image of them being selfless elders than there was in pocketing rare goods.

However—

“—As was just said a moment ago, don’t jump into a briar patch. If we decide to distribute his gifts, the necessity of directly signaling our gratitude to him would emerge, whether we like it or not. If that were to happen, we would probably have to convey our gratitude in a form that followed the rules of proper etiquette after all.”

“…That means in the event that the other party placed a lot of importance on etiquette, they might regard us as boorish or they might interpret it as us being dissatisfied with their gifts, correct?”

If he were to think that as the village elders they should know the proper etiquette, then how would he react if he was to see their ill-mannered attitude? When falling from a great height, the higher you were, the bigger the damage would be.

Moreover, when one received a magnificent gift from a visitor, one could not respond to it in the same way they would when they were to receive some trivial item. One would have to afford their benefactor every courtesy.

“Then let’s leave it to the youngsters. It was fortunate that they got ahold of the gifts first. We’ll probably hear all the details, so it’s fine to just leave it to them as it is.

“That’s right. That’s a good idea.”

While Raspberry and Strawberry were concluding things, Peach looked sullen.

“I don’t mind that, but should we call out to the youngsters to be careful? That lot are the type to disregard the traditions, and so they might unwittingly insult his tribe.”

“Hmmmm.” The two other elders also looked sullen now.

“This isn't the time to be saying things like, ‘are we at fault for not drilling it into them, even if we had to invoke our power as the Council of Elders, after all?’ now is it? The uncle of Aura-dono, the one who easily repelled the ‘Ursus Lord. I have no doubt that he is reasonably apt. I don’t want to be glared at by a person like that.”

“Be that as it may, do you really think those simpletons would honestly agree with anything we had to say? For now, we’ll just warn them, and if they were to make some blunder, the only thing that could be done then would be for us to…take the blame, wouldn’t it? Frankly, I don’t want to have anything to do with that, but even so, we are the elders, aren’t we…”

“We have to take responsibility…huh. I guess that can’t be helped…”

“However…what should we do? What was the reason that the uncle came to see the members of his own race, did anyone hear?

“…What should we do if the reason he came here was to learn the customs that are passed down in this village? …To put it bluntly, I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole.”

“It would be awkward if we didn’t have the welcome party, right? When Fiora-dono came, she said her uncle was also coming, so we haven’t done it yet. Plus, to the rangers who did that much work in just a few days, not holding the welcome party would be the village’s shame…and finally, our lack of participation in that party would go beyond impoliteness, and would be the same as a provocation.

“…Haaa. We’ll participate in the party, but let’s try to keep our distance from him as much as possible. The uncle-dono looks young, I’m sure the youngsters will keep him company.

“That’s right. I’m grateful to those children who will be making moves to win him over to their own side.”

After that, when they had finished several other items on their agenda, Raspberry turned towards Peach and threw the question at him that he had been wanting to ask for quite a while.

“By the way, what did that whole thing with ‘like allowing ivy to grow…’ mean?”

Strawberry also looked at him. She probably also had that question in mind. They couldn’t ask him right there, naturally, but now there was no problem.

Peach, who had been questioned, stammered in reply.

“…Sorry. I was trying to match the tone of the conversation…so I just…said…something that sounded appropriate.”

“Haaa,” Raspberry breathed a heavy sigh.

“…The uncle’s bafflement at having never heard that expression before was apparent in his voice.”

“What should we do about this… How do you think we should answer if he asks about the meaning the next time we meet?”

“Even if you ask me that… If we were to be asked that question, we would have no other choice than to think of some suitable meaning for it right here, right now. We’ll answer him with what we come up with. We can’t say that we were just showing off appropriately… Moreover, it would be troublesome if the youngsters were to think that the traditions we regularly talk about were also something we say just to show off.”

“Well, that might be the only thing we can do…Don’t say things just to show off anymore, okay?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I won’t do it ever again.”

“Well then… What meaning would the words, ‘like allowing ivy to grow,’ have? Let’s all decide on that so that we are all able to give the same answer to whoever asks, okay?”

The elders, who had thought they were done, once again started exchanging their opinions on the new agenda item that had appeared.

♦ ♦ ♦

It was around the same time, while the elders were at their wits’ end trying to produce a tentative answer, that there were people who were similarly at their own wits’ end.

It was the youngsters who opposed the elders.

The reason they—if you were forced to call them something, it would be the Youth Faction—were rebelling against the elders was because their very own principles opposed those of the elders.

Since they lived in the forest (a dangerous place) they held the opinion that for the sake of the village, they should yield to those who possessed superior abilities. Even if you were long-lived, you should give up your seat to someone else if you were inferior in ability to the younger generation.

It was the elders’ respect for convention and tradition versus the Youth Faction’s belief in ability supremacism, so to speak.

Therefore, if the elders were outstanding in terms of pure capabilities—in this case, that meant things that could be seen with the eye, like magic or fighting strength—the Youth Faction would probably also yield to them. Unfortunately, the elders didn’t have that level of ability. From their point of view, people who were finding one way or another to butt in were just irritating.

And yet, the reason this had not developed into a total conflict between them was because the four people in this village they deeply respected—the Master of the Hunt, Blueberry Egnia, the Chief Pharmacist, and the Rite Master—did not wish to oppose the elders.

However, something had shaken things up here.

It was the existence of Aura.

The magnificent and outstanding ranger. Even bearing in mind that she was a traveler, Aura’s words carried serious weight among them. Her words were equal to, or above, those of the four people in the village who had gained their confidence up till now.

They couldn’t help having Aura’s opinion weigh on their minds.

Incidentally, those who had extreme views, even among the Youth Faction, were the Dark Elf zealots.

“So what do you think will happen?”

One of the youngsters asked everyone without moving his line of sight.

At the edge of his vision were the souvenirs that Aura’s uncle had brought. Since no one had appeared who said that they would distribute them, they had been carried to the Elf Tree that was being used as the village’s communal storehouse for now.

“Somebody’ll probably distribute them, I suppose. The elders?”

If it were the usual pattern, that was how it would probably be. At times like this, the ones who would butt in would be the elders. Therefore, if things went the usual way, they would have commented that they would distribute it themselves first, but this time nobody said anything.

On the contrary—

“—I might not mind even if they did.”

It was a set of circumstances where that opinion formed.

As expected, this was related to Aura, who they revered.

When Aura came, she hadn’t shown them the etiquette passed down through her own tribe. Due to that, they got a sense that their ideology was being vindicated, that those sorts of things had been abandoned outside of the forest, or that capable people didn’t worry about such things.

However, at the appearance of Aura’s uncle—Ain Bell Fior— doubts about those ideas arose.

The greetings of the dark elf who was her uncle—who seemed to have a little Elf blood mixed in him—were incomprehensible to them. Since he wouldn’t have said something meaningless in a situation like this, there was no doubt that it was what the elders would call a greeting that obeyed proper etiquette.

The one who came first, Aura, hadn’t displayed that sort of attitude. Yet, the one who came later, the uncle, respected such manners.

Where did this difference come from?

Although they wouldn’t say it out loud, everyone had already deduced the answer.

It was the difference between children and adults.

He, the uncle, had made the request for the children to please look after the two of them. In other words, it meant that he was treating Aura, who possessed that much strength, as a mere child.

It was inconceivable.

Certainly, when living in the forest (a harsh place) the first important thing children should learn wasn’t politeness. There were plenty of other things that were more important than that—it was necessary to drill into them the things related to survival.

Therefore, it was no wonder that the children would be totally unacquainted with the rules of etiquette, even the elders had never shown any signs of trying to relentlessly drill it into the children.

Based on that, what became a problem for them was why Aura’s uncle hadn’t shown a courteous attitude until the elders came.

Was it because Aura’s uncle viewed everyone gathered at that place as children just like her? Not just the ones in the Youth Faction, no one there had shown the proper courtesy to the uncle. What sort of attitude would an adult take toward children who didn’t know about that sort of etiquette?

Certainly, the adult wouldn’t extend a greeting that followed the rules of etiquette. They would look at them in the same way they do children and treat them as such.

That etiquette stuff they had dismissed as meaningless until now suddenly had meaning. It was code used to show respect to the other party, and he had only shown it to the elders.

That was the answer they arrived at.

“If we’re thought of as children with the appearance of adults by the uncle and then we just go ahead and divide up the souvenirs of our own accord, we might be regarded as a village where the children are in control—or worse—a village of savages who don't even know what etiquette is.”

“Even if we couldn’t give a greeting that followed proper etiquette, he might not decide that we’re children just because of that…but he might. In the event that happened, when he returns to the city, it would be spoken of all around that in a village of the Dark Elves who live in the forest, there’s a group of childish people who like to throw their weight around, you know.”

“…I resent that.”

“Yeah, I feel the same way. This village being laughed at by the outside world is a little—no, pretty damn unpleasant.”

“… The reason why he didn’t greet us in a way that followed the rules of etiquette was probably to appraise our worth.”

“Yeah, I think if we had responded with the proper etiquette, then Fior-dono’s attitude would have been different.”

There certainly was some feeling that they had been pigeonholed, but it might not have been done out of malice. Rather than that, what benefit would there be for the other party to be malicious and still make contact with them? Of course, it wasn’t as if there was no possibility that he just had a rotten personality.

“…I can’t really agree with it for one reason or another, but we have no choice but to leave it to the elders, who follow the rules of etiquette, after all.”

Since he seemed to have greeted the elders in a way that conformed to proper etiquette, the elders must have also been courteous to him. In the present condition, the uncle could be considered to have paid respect to the elders but not to them. If the elders were to divide up the souvenirs, then the uncle wouldn’t think of it as strange.

“Yeah, that’s right. If we don’t do anything then the elders will just divide everything up of their own accord. And then…the only other ones we can ask to do it are the Chief Pharmacist and the Rite Master, who weren’t there…but what do you guys think?”

“Those two…especially the Chief Pharmacist, will absolutely hate it.”

The Chief Pharmacist was the type who would find doing this kind of thing bothersome, and if they were turned down by the Rite Master, it would end up being left to the elders.

“…Alright. We’ve come to a conclusion. For the time being, we’ve finished the task we were asked to do. Let’s get outta here.”

“Yeah, let’s do that. And then…should we learn the bare minimum of the rules of etiquette from the elders?”

The youngsters all looked reluctant to do so.

It was because until now they had concluded that etiquette was pointless. They didn’t want to be treated like children ever again.

That was why lowering their heads to the elders at his point was unpleasant.

The youngsters, who had mixed feelings, breathed heavy sighs from the bottom of their hearts.

“Also…there was talk of holding the welcome party after Fior-dono and the younger brother had come…what do we do? Surely there must also be a way to hold a party that conforms to etiquette. Failing to be polite would be an embarrassment, wouldn’t it?”

“We’ll probably be alright with the party…but the village being judged as just a collection of children who don’t know what manners are is troublesome. Let’s leave the arrangements for the party to the elders.”

“That’s fine. If it’s the elders…though it annoys me to admit this, they’ll probably get that part done right.”

♦ ♦ ♦

While the elders and youngsters were each at their wits’ end about what would happen hereafter, there was yet another group who were also at their wits’ end.

It was the six children.

They had gathered around in a circle and among them, the one who was most at his wit’s end was the first child to receive candy from Ainz—in other words, the child who had been asked to play with Aura directly.

It was the truth that the children had a strong curiosity about the girl who came from that unknown, distant place called the city.

Even now they were interested in, wanted to make friends with, and wanted to play with her. In spite of that, there was a reason why they just looked at her from a distance and never approached her.

It was because they were living in different worlds.

Even if the girl who had abilities that surpassed those of the number one hunter in the village was close to them in terms of age, the difference in their standing was on the order of that between heaven and earth. They couldn’t just approach and start a conversation with that kind of person.

Even if you saw a super famous person that you yourself respected, it was normal to hesitate to even talk to them.

However, from this moment on, they had to do that.

“What’re we gonna do? …What kinda games should we play with them? …What even is playing if a contest of athletic ability isn’t on the table?… So basically it would mean things other than tree climbing, which uses your body, or something…? There’s no playing like that…”

You could say that the reason the Dark Elf children were optimistic about inviting Aura to play with them was because of the candy they had received just a bit ago, but you could also say it was because they wanted to try playing with her even more than that too. In a sense, you could say that Ain’s proposition had been a godsend for them.

“How about ‘What’s in the Leaves?’”

What’s in the Leaves was what the other races would call Hide and Seek.

“I don’t know about the boy who came today, but that girl is a super amazing ranger, you know? She’d find us all instantly. We couldn’t do the same for her.”

“Who cares if we get found? That’s not what playing’s all about, is it?”

“You moron. Getting her to play with us is different from playing together with us.”

The other children who heard that whistled in admiration.

“You’re so cool Ku-chan!”

“That’s our Ku-chan!”

“Whoa! Don’t say something so obvious!”

Ku-chan—Orange Kunas.

While the child who had received the candy from Ain had a conceited smile on his face, he calmed everyone down and got them back under control.

“Well, putting aside the fact that I am pretty cool, did you guys think of something to play that’s not a con, a contest of athletic ability?”

“Tree cli…is a contest, isn’t it.”

Among the children who were hmmming deep in thought, one of the older girls asked.

“Well, if that’s how it is, can’t we just have them teach us the games they play in the city?”

“Haa.” After Kunas had let out an exaggerated sigh, he answered her point blank.

“You moron.”

“What do you mean, ‘moron?’”

“—What, you mad? If you remember what he said, calling you a moron’d be appropriate. He said to let them play something that can’t be played in the city, something that can only be played in this village, didn’t he? Don’t tell me you forgot already?”

“…Did he say that?”

“Yes, he did. So something we can play that couldn’t be…played in the city, would be what, exactly? I mean just what the heck kinda games do they even play in the city? Should we start off by asking them about that?”

“Something unique to the village…going into the forest, then?”

“Knock it off!” Upon hearing one person’s suggestion, Kunas had a stern expression on his face. “It’s not as if you guys don’t know what happened to Ar-kun, right!?”

Everyone fell silent. Among them, the child who had made the proposal, had gone pale.

It was relatively safe inside the village, but the areas around it were different. If the children went into the forest to play by themselves, danger would descend upon them. Certainly, they might be okay if it were just once or twice. However, that luck wouldn’t hold out forever. Children who never come back existed, and the adults didn’t do anything about it.

They did not even do the simplest of things like keeping an eye on the gatherings of children, or tying a long string onto the children.

Even if there were those who never came back, it was regarded as a necessary sacrifice for violating the directions of the adults and exposing themselves to danger as a result.

If they could teach the other children about the dangerousness of the forest through the death of one child, it wouldn’t be thought of as a substantial loss.

On the contrary, the idea of them growing up without knowing the dangers of the forests was more frightening.

In fact, there wasn’t a single adult in this village who didn’t have a friend in their childhood who became a victim of the forest. For this reason, they were plenty afraid of the forest. Being vigilant, they were able to live out their lives in this village. This was what it meant to live in this forest.

“I know you’re thinking ‘that girl is a ranger with remarkable skills, so it’s safer to go into the forest with her than with the adults.’ But, it’s too dangerous for us. Take Iris and—” Kunas pointed at the smallest boy. “—me, our physical strength and other stuff is totally different, right? At the very least, you have to be able to climb a tree immediately.”

“So what do we do then?”

That was where they had ultimately ended up.

“So I guess we have to ask those two about what they do to have fun in the city.”

“I mean, what kinda place is a city? Are there more trees than there are here, you think? Is it so full of wild game that the girl could become an amazing ranger?”

After the children exchanged glances, they naturally stared at Kunas.

With a look of triumph on his face, Kunas answered.

“I heard the whole story from the adults that went hunting with her.”

“That’s our Ku-chan. You’re amazing!”

“You really are amazing, Ku-chan.”

“Heh, Heh, Heh…It seems like a city is a place where it’s not just Elves or Dark Elves, but also a lot of guys from various other races are there. It sounds like there aren’t any trees at all. Instead, they say that a lot of houses are made of bricks, mortar, or some other kinda dirt there.”

“From dirt… So it’s something like the Garicus do?”

(Note: The original is 茸蟻人(Furigana: ｸﾞﾘｴｲｸ ), seems to be a reference to Termite Mushroom + “man” so garicus (agaricus) would be my guess for the intended name.)

The name of one of the races that live in this forest came up.

The Garici were also omnivorous, but since they didn’t go so far as to eat intelligent life, even if they ran into a Dark Elf in the forest, they would both keep their distance and silently pass by each other. It seemed like their dwellings were shaped like boxes of hardened dirt.

The children imagined a meadow with a lot of those boxes, they tilted their heads in puzzlement because they simply couldn’t understand it.

“Whoa. They came from a place that’s kinda amazing…”

“I kinda feel like I want to hear more about the city…”

“Look. Even if we asked them about it, it could turn out to be something they’ve played even in the city, then the number of games we’ve prepared would just go down, wouldn’t they? In other words, we’ll have to prepare several games to play, won’t we?”

“Argh!”

Once again, the children pondered.

It really was difficult.

“Hold on, what about Playing House?”

The smallest girl murmured.

The three oldest boys looked a little reluctant.

As you would expect, they probably wanted to say that they had already outgrown that kind of game. However—only Kunas looked like he thought it might not be that bad of an idea.

“Certainly, if it was Playing House, it wouldn’t be a contest of athletic ability or anything, would it? No, anything but that!”

“But it’s not something that can only be played in the forest, is it? It’s something you can do anywhere!”

“All we have to do is play a version of House that’s unique to the village.”

A version of House that was unique to the village…

What kind of House would it be? Excluding Kunas, the speaker, nobody gave an indication that they knew.

“Also, that boy who came later. He doesn’t look like he’s very good at physical activities, so Playing House might not be a bad idea. At that age they probably still play House, right?”

“I do not!”

One of the boys, who was around the same age as Aura, said. The children around him countered with, “wha?”

“You were Playing House by yourself.”

“That wasn’t Playing House! I was playing Dark Elf Heroes!”

The children’s conversation shifted to a discussion of what the difference between Playing House and playing Dark Elf Heroes was.

♦ ♦ ♦

Accepting Blueberry’s guidance, Ainz arrived at an Elf Tree. Of course, Ainz knew where Aura was staying. Therefore, being led here was unnecessary. But, seeing as today was supposed to be the first time Ainz had come here, he couldn’t act as if he did.

Since he didn’t see them outside, it seemed like they had gone inside the house first.

“Thank you very much for showing me the way here.”

Was there something he was curious about? Blueberry, who was acting as if he was examining the Elf Tree, said in a disappointed-sounding voice.

“I am glad that it seems I was able to be of service to you. Should anything else arise, please do tell me. Shall I carry your luggage inside?”

“N-no, I would hate to have you go to all that trouble. Please pay it no mind.”

“Is that so? You may ask anything of me, if you wish?”

Ainz didn’t know why, but Blueberry was coming closer to him without any hesitation.

Humans had a concept called personal space. Maybe for Dark Elves, that personal space was closer than for ordinary humans?

When he thought about it, living in a dangerous place where monsters could appear in the surrounding areas like this village also meant that you had to cooperate with others to survive. Perhaps that was even being expressed in a situation like this. Be that as it may, there really wasn’t a single thing he wanted to ask him to do.

“No, there really is nothing. Just guiding me all the way here was more than enough.”

“Is that so…Well then, Fi…P-please give my regards to Aura-san.”

{…Why only Aura? …Ah! So that’s what it is!} Ainz had arrived at the answer. {…Crap. I forgot to introduce Mare, didn’t I? Aura called out his name, but that was it.}

However, the merits of introducing Mare to the adults weren’t that big. Since he just needed to have the children know who Mare was, he could just let Aura take care of that.

“Understood. I shall pass it along to her.”

Seeing off Blueberry, who kept looking back at him, Ainz went inside the Elf Tree and, just as he had expected, the two of them were waiting for him there.

“Good wo…” Ainz suddenly hesitated and corrected his form of address. “No, I kept you guys waiting, didn’t I?”

“I know this is abrupt, but what shall we be doing from here on—“

“—Wait. Let’s quit it with the excessive honorifics. I understand very well that if we have Aura the ranger’s ears, then no matter what Dark Elf in this village tried to creep up on us she wouldn’t fail to hear their footsteps. In other words, right now, this place is safe, which means there’s no problem as to the kind of language we use. However, acting is something where if you’re not always on point, the slightest thing could reveal the faults in your performance—While we are in this village, I am Aura’s uncle. There’s no need for you to use honorifics with me.”

“Uu,” Aura groaned. When she cast a quick glance at Mare, who was next to her, she dropped her gaze just a little bit. Then, while looking at Ainz with upturned eyes, she asked.

“Err, uncle. What’re we gonna do now?”

Mare nodded his head in agreement beside her.

“Good. Attagirl…No, this way of speaking is also awkward for me as Aura’s uncle. With the same kind of feeling as just a moment ago…that’s fine, Aura. Something like this?”

(Note: Ainz literally uses the word グッド (good) here)

Aura showed an expression that you could say was either, a forced smile, troubled, or even that she was embarrassed. Confirming that it wasn’t an attitude of “no good”—even if she said it was no good, he had intended for them to take on a more affectionate attitude than usual—Ainz announced to the two of them.

“—Now then, no, maybe something like, let’s see? For the time being, as we had planned at the start, our plan to stay in this village for a week at the longest, has not changed…hasn’t changed, would that be better? Because we don't know how the situation might change—or is changing—I can't say anything with certainty, but I'm planning to take it easy and gather some information for now.”

“Oh, uh, well, uncle. When you say information, what kind of information is it?”

“Good, Mare. That’s got a nice ring to it!”

Ainz also had a feeling that this wasn’t much different from Mare’s normal way of talking, but for the time being, he would praise him. After glancing at Mare’s bashful expression, he started his explanation. Mare had even asked him about it on the way here, but he said that he would explain everything once Aura was with them to buy himself some time.

Thanks to that, he had time to properly prepare an excuse for why they were staying here.

“It’s everything! Everything about this Dark Elf village. Because hereafter, there may come a time when I’ll have the two of you act like ordinary Dark Elves, you know? No, that time may never come. However, if that time does come, you would be considered suspicious if you acted without knowing what the customs among the Dark Elves is. Therefore, we’ll think about the future while we still can, so I have been thinking, what if we are able to experience the customs of the Dark Elves even just for a little bit in this village?”

Wasn’t that a pretty good excuse? And the important part was about to come up.

“There may also come a time when I will need to have you two in particular act like ordinary Dark Elf children. So how about you two try playing with the other children? Of course! This isn’t an order or anything like that. I don’t mind if you go about it in a better, different way.”

From the perspective of the plan to have the two of them make friends, these instructions were probably a little last minute. If he stepped into it a little more, it would have become an order, but if he didn’t, there was a good chance that they wouldn’t associate with the children.

However, the two of them having curious looks on their faces was something he had not foreseen.

{What? Why? …I thought it would be perfect because I refined my simulations of how they would respond over and over again. Did I leave something out?}

“Are you sure it is alright…err…it’s okay to not gather information on the Theocracy?”

This time it was Ainz who had a curious look on his face at Aura’s question. Be that as it may, not even the slightest movement would show on an illusory face.

Why would they even be talking about information on the Theocracy? Mentally, Ainz was tilting his head in confusion.

It should have been the case that he had told them this was a paid vacation back in Nazarick. He had a memory of saying that this could simultaneously serve as a test of whether or not Nazarick could function without any problems even with three of its top brass—Ainz, Aura, and Mare—missing. However—

{I never talked about getting information on the Theocracy, did I? Because unlike Albedo or Demiurge, their karma values aren’t that low.}

Let’s just ignore what the two of them did in the Kingdom, for now.

On the whole, whatever feelings of kinship these two might have might only extend to the Elves and Dark Elves, or they might simply just hate humans.

“Ooh, that’s right. If we can obtain information on the Theocracy as well, I’d like you to do that too.”

“Yes! Understood!—Huh? Yeah. Gotcha…?”

Smiling at Aura, who didn’t appear used to speaking in this manner yet, Ainz loosened the strings on their luggage.

“Okay. We’re living here for a week at most. Let’s organize the merchandise.”

Ainz’s group had brought Dwarven-made tableware and various other things with them, they had become quite the burden. These were things that were meant to draw the Dark Elves’ interest, same as those souvenirs from just a while ago. It was also for that reason that they had to be arranged in a way that would be overflowing with appeal and not just carelessly placed randomly.

In other words, they were making a showroom.

While Ainz, who had absolutely zero confidence in his aesthetic sense, was collaborating with the twins to decorate the Elf Tree, Aura stopped moving.

“Uncle. The sounds of six sets of footsteps are heading this way in a straight line. There’s no indication that they’re erasing their presence and they’re approaching us. Judging from the lightness of the footsteps, they’re children, I guess?”

{Oh.} Ainz also stopped decorating and turned his gaze toward the entrance. He truly hadn’t imagined that they would come today. As Ainz was feeling thankful toward the children, the face of the boy he had given the candy to peeked through the entrance.

Ordinarily, you would call the act of peeking into other people’s homes nothing else but rude, but it seemed to be normal in this village.

“Hi there, did you perhaps come to invite Aura and Mare to play, I wonder?”

“Yea, uh, yes. That’s right.”

Was he a little surprised by the appearance of the room? Ainz gave a broad smile to the boy who answered nervously.

“I see. I see. We’ve been waiting for you. Alright you two, go on and play with the other children.”

“Eh? Uh, umm, un-uncle. It’s just, you know. The room’s not cleaned up yet…”

“Oh, that’s alright, Mare. Your uncle will take care of the rest. Just leave it all to me! Uh-oh, your uncle doesn’t have much confidence in his aesthetic sense though. If you say later that it should be arranged another way, we’ll go with that! Ha-ha-ha.”

Aura and Mare looked shocked at the laughing Ainz.

Certainly, if it had been the usual Ainz, he wouldn’t have laughed with a “ha-ha-ha” or even at all, so it wasn’t as if he didn’t understand their feelings. Although he thought his persona as an uncle was a little unnatural, if he were questioned about it later, he would insist he was just acting.

“—If that is what uncle says… I got it! I’m coming, just gimme a sec. Well then, let’s go Mare.”

“Y- yeah.”

The twins went out, and a smile of satisfaction that came from the bottom of his heart showed on Ainz’s face.

{This makes me want to give even more candy to the children who came to invite Aura and Mare to play with them as a token of my gratitude! No, wait a minute…? How would those two react if they found out the children had come to invite them out of their desire for candy? They might be shocked.}

Honestly, he didn’t think those two were that delicate, but—

{It’s because I’m not Chagama-san. It’s not as if I know everything about those two. That being the case, I should probably act based on the assumption they will be shocked, after all. If this became some kind of trauma and they said they couldn’t make any friends, I would never be able to face Chagama-san. That said, I wonder what kind of game they’re going to play?}

Ainz narrowed his eyes and yearned for the old days.

Suzuki Satoru’s glory days. He remembered the figures of those forty people—and one more person—who gathered together in a game called YGGDRASIL.

The friends gathered together there—each lived in their own different worlds.

Those who lived in Mega Corp arcologies, those who lived in the inferior Dome Cities, those like Satoru who lived in a harsh environment, and those who endured even more deteriorated environments.

The same game united those total strangers that would have had no contact with one another otherwise.

“…Games can overcome borders. It does overcome borders. No, I wonder if it’s correct to say that only through games can one overcome them? And finally…you can become friends even if you live in different worlds, just like I…just like we did…”

The overwhelmingly powerful Guardians and the frail children. When they leave his place their connection would probably also be lost. And yet—

“—I would be overjoyed if they learned that the existence of friends was this wonderful thing.”

It was only natural, but the figures of those two weren’t at the end of his line of sight.

And yet, it was as if he could see the figures of the twins.

If they played with the children and found out they couldn’t get along, then it couldn’t be helped.

It was the same for Ainz too. He didn’t know exactly how many Players he had interacted with in YGGDRASIL, but it was probably a considerable amount. And yet, there existed only forty-one people who he could call friends.

It wasn’t as if he could build a friendship with every person he encountered.

All the two of them needed was the chance to meet a person they thought they could be friends with. If they learned that making friends wasn’t so bad after all, then he would consider everything that happened here to be a success.

Ainz dropped his gaze toward the ring finger of his right hand, where he wore no ring, and smiled just a bit—

{I’ve also thought about this before, but shouldn’t I be striving so that Demiurge, Albedo, or even Shalltear could make friends? …Well, maybe not.}

He decided not to think about that matter too much, because just thinking about it a little bit had ruined his good mood.

{At any rate, why hasn’t anybody come by to see me? From what I picked up when I was eavesdropping with [Perfect Unknowable], they should be holding the welcome party any time now, right? Are they coming to get me when it’s time? Don’t tell me they’re planning to make it a surprise?}

He also had his own circumstances, so being suddenly invited would be troublesome.

Above all was the fact that Ainz couldn’t eat food. He didn’t know what kind of party they were holding, but if it was the usual, then even among a gathering of powerful and influential people of the village, food would also be laid out in front of him. In a situation where he absolutely could not touch that food, how would the other parties react?

There was no doubt they wouldn’t think well of him.

If they were totally different races, they would probably think that this kind of thing was normal and a host who provided food that wasn’t palatable to their guest should be reproached. However, Ainz had transformed into a Dark Elf with illusion magic. So while there might be some foods that he could say he couldn’t eat due to allergies, he couldn’t just say he couldn’t eat any of the food. That would be impossible to gloss over with his usual excuses.

For this reason, it was necessary for him to take the initiative and prepare a reason ahead of time.

{Or are they being thoughtful, thinking that I’m probably tired, so they don’t intend to come and get me right away? In that case, I wouldn’t mind if they postponed the party itself, but it would still be a problem even if they came to get me after they’ve finished the preparations…Should I go see them?} Ainz pondered for a bit, then shook his head from side to side. {No, let’s give up on that idea. Then…if somebody does come, should I ask that Dark Elf if they would deliver a message for me?}

Ainz recalled the sights he had seen when he was lurking in the village in his [Perfect Unknowable] state.

{Morning and evening meals were usually brought together, but time-wise it should be any time now, right? Then how about I try asking the person who will bring the food? Or maybe regardless of whether I’m a traveler or not, food is distributed based on one’s contribution to the village? If that’s the case, then they won’t bring food to us, who don’t work? No, that shouldn’t be the case, Aura has been working hard and I brought many souvenirs. They’ll probably feed us for a week even if we don’t work.

Of course, even Ainz had no intention of not working. He had called himself an arcane-type magic caster. If it were limited up to the Fourth Tier, he even intended to use magic should a time come when it was necessary. He was even ready to go hunting in place of Aura.

Since he didn’t know how their relationship would progress from now on, he had no intention of accepting any charity.

{It might still be just a little early time-wise. If they come, I’ll just tell them. If they don’t come, then I can just go to them. Moreover…there’s also information I want to go and get.}

♦ ♦ ♦

After she had been sent out by her master, Aura had been at her wit’s end the whole time.

Her master’s proposal was to “play with the children in order to learn the Dark Elves’ customs.” However, doubts about that proposal had emerged in her mind.

It wasn’t as if children didn’t know what the customs were, or that they were a people that lacked customs, she had a feeling that it would be absurd to think that she could grasp the customs of the Dark Elves from the things she could learn from the children. Wouldn’t the things she learned from the adults be the customs of the Dark Elves living in this Sea of Trees? She felt that it was dangerous to learn from children, even though they didn’t know what the correct customs were for a proper comparison.

{Harboring a misguided view of customs might itself be typical for children, but I wonder if that was the objective I was sent out for? In that sense, it would be more child-like.}

She might just be overthinking it. However, “always use your head,” the words she had been told by Albedo prior to their departure, flashed into her head.

Right now, she and Mare were the only ones serving their master. Since that was the case, as a representative of the Guardians she should show no shame and use her head to think about all kinds of things.

She grasped her Golden Acorn Necklace, invoked its power, and addressed Mare. She then received an immediate response.

『—Yeah. I think so too.』

Mare, who answered, wasn’t grasping his necklace. That was because when the sender invoked it first—the activation of the item— it was a necessary action, but it wasn’t necessary for the receiver to do so, even to continue the conversation.

『 If that’s how it is then…there’s probably some objective beyond us just playing together to learn their customs after all? Just what on earth do you think it could be? Since Ainz-sama said the word “friendly,” when he came to this village, could it be a part of that? Because us playing with the children will become our appeal to the idea that we’re friendly? 』

『That might also be part of it, but…hmmm… Oh, maybe we’re going to take in the children?』

『What? If that’s what it is, wouldn’t it be better to win over the adults? I thought they were just a nuisance, but there were guys who looked like they could easily be won over.』

They were starting to understand the meaning behind them playing with the children less and less.

『If that’s the case, I wonder then if Ainz-sama is thinking about using the children to do something? 』

Aura said to Mare as she stared at the backs of the six children walking in front of them.

They were weak, fragile beings, and they weren’t of high social status either. It was a mystery where their utility value lie.

『What kind of use do they have? Hostages?』

『I can’t completely deny that possibility, but I don’t really think that’s it.』

『Children… Children… Using children to gather information?』

『Hmmm, but I wonder just what information would children know?』

『That’s right, isn’t it…』

It was a little difficult to imagine that information only the children held would be important. Or could it be that he also wanted the children’s information because it had already been analyzed from multiple angles?

『I mean, c’mon, isn’t all you’ve been doing is just shooting down of all my ideas? Don’t you have any guesses that would make you go ‘this is it!’ or something? 』

『Hmmm…』After a short time had passed, Mare’s voice once again echoed in her head.『Oh! Could he be thinking of taking these children to E-Rantel?』

『I see… That might be it, but if that’s the case wouldn’t it be better to take the adults after all?』

『Children who don’t really know much about things are easier to win over, or something… Hmmm. Maybe he’s thinking of taking not just the children, but everyone in the village?』

『Oooh, is that it? …But you know, if the target is the all Dark Elves in the village, I don’t think he would tell us to play with the children to get closer to them.』

If it were just as Mare had said, they would be working to win over the adults too. It might be different if the opinions of the children carried a lot of weight, but in the three days that Aura had stayed in the village, she hadn’t caught sight of any indication of that at all.

However much she thought about it, she couldn’t believe that the children had any special value.

『Then, I wonder if it really is just to cultivate friendly relations and gather information from the children after all?』

『I guess that’s all it is… But when you think about it, it certainly might be just that. I mean, it’s frustrating, but nothing else comes to mind except that…Well, adults might be tight-lipped, but because they’re children, they would just let information slip out. Yeah! If I was Ainz-sama, who really valued information, that would be an idea I would have! Then we have to bring up all sorts of subjects don’t we?』

『Do your best sis.』

『Good luck to you, too. If it’s just the two of us, we can speak normally, so we have to practice, you know.』

『That’s only because we’re using the necklace…』

The children walking in front of them stopped.

In a corner of the village, there was no playground equipment to be found, nor did it appear that there was anything in particular there at all. Of course, Aura knew that sort of equipment wasn’t anywhere in the village from her usual walks around it.

No, Aura recognized that her own ideas were wrong.

It was entirely possible that one of the children here could use magic to produce playground equipment.

In her sensory range as a ranger, she detected that an adult was watching them—one person.

『Oh, it’s that guy. He’s watching me again.』

『Who is he?』

『Don’t look at him. The best ranger in this village is at our 10 o’clock. That guy, ever since I came to this village, he’d be looking at me sometimes, right? But he wouldn’t come near me.』

『Like maybe they’re feeling suspicious, but because they don’t have any concrete evidence, they’re keeping you under surveillance. Something like that?』

『Something like that. Be careful not to do anything that would make them suspicious of you too, Mare. We have to inform Ainz-sama about this later.』

Aura tried to ignore the man.

He probably thought that an excellent ranger like himself wouldn’t be noticed, or maybe his objective was to let himself be noticed—perhaps he intended to silently keep them in check by letting them know that “I’m keeping my eye on you.”

It was annoying, but she couldn’t kill him. If she were to kill him, it would be with the permission of her master, and she would have to create a set of circumstances where it looked like he had been killed by the Ankyloursus or some other magical beast. She would then have to come up with a simple alibi.

Well, it could be easily done if you were Aura the Beast Tamer.

“…So what are we doing in a place like this?”

“Okay! Let’s Play House!”

The biggest boy said in a loud voice. It was like he was trying to get them to agree through the sheer energy with which he said it.

{—Play House?}

Of course, Aura knew what kind of game that was.

{It’s a type of role-playing, right? If I remember correctly… Bukubukuchagama-sama regretted it when Peroroncino-sama said that, “I want to be the baby and have mommy rub my head and tell me everything’s going to be okay.”…Is that what we’re going to do?}

Aura pictured herself rubbing Shalltear’s head and saying “there, there. You’ll be okay.”

{Ah, so something like that…But will I be doing that, or will I be the one it’s being done to?…}

It would still be fine if she had to take on the mommy role, but having the role of the baby was embarrassing. Or rather than it being just some role-play, wouldn’t it be an insult to Bukubukuchagama-sama if she, who had been created as a Floor Guardian by the Supreme Beings, were to play the role of a baby?

{Though Yamaiko-sama and Ankoro Mocchi Mochi-sama did laugh when they heard about Peroroncino-sama’s actions…Bukubukuchagama-sama might get angry with me…}

It was simple enough to say she didn’t want to play that game. However, in order to gather information and to also loosen their lips, it might be necessary for her to agree to it. Everyone was the same in this regard. Say there was someone who accepted your proposal versus someone who rejected it.Who would you like better? Plus, those who played the same games together could usually become friends.

On the other hand, what would happen if she said she didn’t want to play that game?

If that were the case, Aura didn’t have the confidence that she could make a good suggestion if she were asked what game they were going to play then.

Aura could suggest a few games to play. For example, foot races, tree climbing, “sword fighting”, and so on. However, those kinds of games were clearly decided by differences in how good you were at playing them and more. Also, there shouldn’t be any child who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Aura and Mare—especially Mare—in terms of pure physical abilities.

If that were the case, they would be boring games that had a foregone conclusion. In order to cheer them up, they could just let themselves barely lose. But, it was common knowledge that Aura was supposed to have—had driven away the Ankyloursus Lord. If a person as strong as that started saying, “oh no, I lost!” in a foot race or something, then even a child should realize that she was losing just to butter them up. If their relationship could be deepened though something like that, then those children would have to be people of great character.

So, if you were to ask her if there was an option of not playing, that would be impossible.

Because her absolute master had told her to “go play.”

If that were the case—

“Si-sis… c-could you be…”

In the place where she was looking at, Mare had a frightened expression on his face. He had probably remembered the same things as she did and had arrived at the same answer.

Aura used all the strength in her body to give the frightened Mare her best smile.

“This is just like an ‘extremely high-level mission,’ Mare!"

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