Chapter 242: Souvenir Shop

Although there was an incident where a spirit silver hunting blade shattered just after I held it in my hand, the rest of our art museum tour was still very enjoyable. Or rather, the place was so big that we couldn’t actually finish seeing all the exhibits, and we decided we’d come again later on during the trip.

And so, we came in front of the souvenir shop before returning to the inn. But…

“You actually have a good taste for these things huh.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“I kinda feel bad about this Boss. You sure?”

“I-Is it really fine? They all look so expensive.”

Elma grinned unabashedly, Mimi’s lips curved into a sunny smile, Tina was pretending to act all reserved but couldn’t hide her excitement at all, and Whisker was fidgeting bashfully while looking up at me with an expectant gaze.

“……”

Mei froze up and kept staring at the lacquerware comb I just bought for her as a gift. I wonder if she’s happy about the gift? She just stood completely still as she quietly stared at the comb in her hands.

By the way, the comb I bought for her was a black lacquerware comb with golden lotus patterns drawn on it. Mei manages the Black Lotus, so I thought it fit her perfectly.

“I actually don’t have any confidence regarding my aesthetic sensibilities though?”

“Ara, I think the comb you bought for Mei was perfect, you know? Just choose ones for us like you did for her.”

“Like it’s that simple.”

In the end, I bought accessory cases for Elma and Mimi so they can store the jewelry I bought for them to match with their evening dresses when we went to the capital. As for Tina and Whisker, I bought them a hairpin and string accessory set each. One had decorative red jewels and beads and the other had blue ones. They matched the sisters perfectly.

“Mine has daffodil patterns huh.”

“What are the flowers on mine, Hiro-sama?”

“Those are sunflowers.”

“You matched them with our hair color huh.”

“They’re so pretty……”

I answered Mimi’s question since she wasn’t that familiar with flowers and checked everyone’s reactions to their gifts. It looks like they were all pretty satisfied. Mei was still frozen still though. Was she really okay?

“I kinda get why you’d choose that flower pattern for Mimi, but what’s the reason for choosing mine?”

Elma inquired as she showed me her small lacquered accessory box with white daffodils drawn on it.

“I have no idea regarding ‘flower language’ and stuff like that. I just thought these flowers match my image of you perfectly, Elma. They’re pretty, right?”

“Hmm? So this is actually how you view me huh, Hiro. I see.”

That was kinda vague, but she looks happy anyway, so whatever! By the way, the reason why I bought one with sunflower patterns for Mimi was that it reminded me of her bright and sunny demeanor. It didn’t mean anything more than that.

It seems the mechanic sisters immediately ran up to Lilium and asked her to help them put on their hairpins.

“Oh, so you can actually wear your hair up easily with just this one stick huh.”

“We have to make sure to remember the steps, big sis.”

“There’s a video explaining the use of these accessories step by step available. I can send you the file later if you’d like.”

It looks like they were having fun over there too. Umu, so my aesthetic sense wasn’t as bad as I thought huh? Anyway, everything’s good as long as they were happy.

We had Mimi and Elma’s gifts shipped to Black Lotus and headed back to the inn. The comb I bought for Mei also came with a case, so it seems she put it back inside the case and kept it somewhere on her maid uniform. I guess it was put in a secret pocket or something like that.

By the way, if you talk about maid clothes and hidden pockets, I think it’s a man’s instinct to immediately eye for the chest portion.

“Go ahead, Master.”

Mei noticed my gaze and lifted her well-shaped breasts with her hands. Though they weren’t as large as Mimi’s, Mei’s assets also had quite the volume. Or rather, their size should be the standard for larger than average breasts. Mimi’s chest was simply too out of the norm.

“That’s not it y’know. That’s not my intention.”

“Is that so?”

Fondling Mei’s breasts in public just wasn’t good behavior by any stretch of the imagination, so I absolutely won’t do it here. I’ll do it later instead. In a more suitable and private place that is. Yep.

Well, that wasn’t a bad idea, but I think I’d like to try brushing Mei’s hair with the comb I bought as well. Mei’s hair was long and beautiful, so I think it should be fun.

Anyway, we still had a little time before the banquet starts, so I decided to take a quick bath earlier and just finished up. Mimi and the others were taking their sweet time in the bath, so Mei and I were currently the only ones relaxing inside the room.

By the way, Mei didn’t take a bath together with us. She was a maidroid, so she basically didn’t need to take a bath. Of course, we do take baths together sometimes just after doing the deed, but usually, she just cleans her body up during her regular maintenance sessions inside her maintenance pod. Her clothes often got dirty due to the nature of her work, so she does change frequently. And since I really liked stroking her pretty hair, she also didn’t slack when it comes to hair care.

“By the way, are you actually investigating the details regarding the various elf clans, Mei?”

“Yes. Should I tell you about my findings?”

“Yeah, just a bit. There aren’t any dangerous matters mixed in, right?”

“At least, not at the moment. To summarize, the elf clans can be divided into three factions.”

One faction was headed by the Rose clan. It was a faction that aims to actively seek out and expand into space. Specifically, they want to spread out more within the Graccan empire’s territories and raise more awareness regarding the elves as a major race within the empire. Elma’s family, the Willrose house, and another branch, the Wisrose house, were part of this faction.

Another faction was headed by the Grado clan. They were a so-called conservative faction whose main ideal was for elves to continue living with the spirits and the sacred tree on Theta. They greatly valued their race’s connection with the spirits and the forests and were perfectly happy to continue the traditions of the elves by preserving their native culture before the advent of the Graccan empire on Theta, or rather, the Refill system.

And the last faction was headed by the Minfa clan. Basically, they were centrists. They acknowledge that the culture and traditions of the elves should be preserved and respected, but they also believe that the elves should enjoy the various benefits brought about by the Graccan empire more and incorporate various new things from outside their mother system in order to improve the lives of the elves.

The differences between the three factions were also evident when you look at where each of them chose to reside on. The people of the Rose faction frequently go back and forth between Theta and space, and their houses on Theta were built using a modern style and the latest building materials and technology. They also used magic, or rather, spirit arts, but they didn’t place as much importance on it compared to the other factions. Elma certainly was like that.

She was kinda like a trendy city elf if she lived in a typical fantasy setting, I guess.

In contrast, the faction headed by the Grado clan seems to live deep within the forests by building old-fashioned tree houses. They used almost no technology and actively relied on magic in order to live.

They were the orthodox elves or something like that.

What about the centrists led by the Minfa clan? They basically have the best of both worlds. For example, they placed the latest appliances inside traditionally built elven tree houses and used modern gadgets and equipment for hunting. They were living quite an ideal lifestyle. They were on the middle ground with regard to their stance on magic as well, with some of their people placing great importance on it while some others don’t.

“I see. I imagine the Grado clan and the Rose clan don’t exactly get along too well huh.”

“That’s correct. It’s because their stances are each other’s antithesis.”

Yeah, of course, that would be the case. Un? But if that’s what’s going on, then……?

“If I remember correctly, the incident we got caught up in this time began with pirates attacking a marriage ceremony between the Grado clan and the Minfa clan, right?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“If that’s the situation, then one viable theory could be the Rose clan, wanting to avoid the strengthening of ties between the Grado clan and Minfa, resorted to employing space pirates in order to mess up the marriage ceremony.”

“Yes. Both the Grado clan and the Minfa clan strongly suspect that to be the case as well. Many of the system garrison members are from the Rose clan after all. Leaking the info to the pirates. Failing to prevent the attack. It seems both clans are very suspicious toward the Rose clan because of those factors.”

“Oh boy…… Well, it doesn’t really have anything to do with us. Yep.”

We rescued the members of the Grado and Minfa clans, including their clan leader’s children, and managed to wipe the behind of the Rose clan in the process, so all three of them should not be holding a grudge toward us. We plan on leaving the system right away anyway, so it’s not likely that we’ll get involved in another troublesome mess.

Uh, but maybe there’s a chance we will if we go and pay a visit to the Rose clan for Elma?

“Well, whatever happens, happens. Let’s just go with the flow.”

“That’s for the best. If it comes to it, we can always choose to leave the system in case of an emergency.”

“Right.”

We’re mercenaries living a free and unfettered life after all. If something really does happen, we can just drop everything and run away. Yep.