CH 249

“If you say that the drake we hunted was from your country and the people on it were also from your country, then… I guess the fault is completely on our side.

But can I at least have a chance to explain myself?”

“Yes, I'd like to hear it.”

We fought and defeated the armies of the Kingdom of Eldard some eighty years ago when they attacked and tried to conquer this settlement. At that time, we received a promise of “mutual non-aggression” from the kingdom as a condition of peace…

This promise includes the right to freely kill the soldiers and people of the Kingdom of Eldard if they come close to our settlement, as long as they are within range of our arrows from the forest. So―――”

“So you've decided that our drake and its rider, who are flying very close to the forest, are ‘OK to kill' based on that promise?”

“That's right. It never occurred to me that they belonged to a third country.”

I listened to Melfalude's story in detail. Apparently, the High Elf settlement thought that this was an act of provocation from the Kingdom of Eldard, since there was a drake that had recently been flying near the forest, always at the same time, and that drake was riding a man, who was a tamer.

The promise of “mutual non-aggression” is known only to the royal family and senior ministers of the Kingdom of Eldard, not to the general public.

Therefore, Melfalude and others saw Drake flying provocatively near the forest and assumed that『 the kingdom of Eldard will try to invade again pretending to be a victim by making the High Elves attack Drake first. 』

After thinking that much―――apparently, she dared to take advantage of the kingdom's provocation.

“It's very brave of you to have planned to fight against the kingdom, isn't it?”

“I was confident in my skills, and I was proud to say that no one could beat me in a fight in the forest. But now that I've been shown the difference in power between you guys, I feel like my confidence and pride have been shattered.”

Melfalude then smiled as she lowered her eyebrows.

Then she kneeled on the ground and bowed deeply to Yuri.

“I surrender. I don't think I can win against you guys.

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you're going to have to settle for my head.”

“I don't want your head… There's no point in giving it to me. I'm sorry, but I don't have the freaky taste to display a girl's head in my room.”

“Oh, really? If so, why don't I pay for it with one of my body parts instead of my head? I'm sure I'm not bad looking… and your country isn't all women soldiers, is it? I think you'll be pleased to know that you can give them to your subjects.”

“I'd rather take it than give it to a man.”

“…Are you into that kind of thing? I don't really care how you treat me, as long as you take care not to harm the village.”

“Hmm…”

In the Yuri Empire, the children of the <Yellow Rose> will all be of the forest species Elfair. The children of the <Blue Rose> are the forest elves of the branded species Darhadda, and they have the appearance of so-called “dark elves”.

In addition, her concubine, Yubel, is also an elf. So, apart from that, if you are an elf, Yuri’s main wife and concubine are enough for her…

However, Yuri knows very little about the High Elves of this world, so it would not be a bad idea to keep one on hand.

In addition to that, it would be a shame to let go of a girl who has gone out of her way to say that she wouldn't mind becoming Yuri's. Yuri is the kind of person who appreciates what's set before her.

“Yes. In exchange for one of your bodies, you will not be questioned for the harm you have done to our property, Loftsdrake, and one of our subjects. Is that okay with you?

However, I will have to make a separate request for this settlement to come under our control.”

“That would be a natural request, I suppose. But please leave that discussion to the mayor of the village.”

“……? Aren't you the representative of this village”

The first time I asked for a representative, she answered my call and came out, so of course, Yuri knew that Melfalude was the representative of this village.

When Yuri tilted her head, Melfalude looked a little uncomfortable.

“The High Elves are a meritocracy, and since I am the most skilled hunter in this village, I am definitely the one who represents the will of the village. But I'm still too young to be the head of the village. There is another head of the village.

If you feel cheated, I'm sorry. I hope you'll feel better after you rough me up.”

“I see… I see that Melfalude has identified herself as a representative, but she has never said that she is the head of this village. It's not the right thing to blame you if we were just too quick to guess.”

“I'm glad you said that.”

Melfalude patted her chest in relief when she heard Yuri's words.

Apparently, she had been more than a little aware that she was deceiving Yuri.

“So, let me introduce you. This is the head of this village.”

“My name is Faranda. I'm the mother of Melfalude, and I'm the village chief.”

The woman standing next to Melfalude bowed her head to Yuri.

In contrast to the youthful Melfalude, Yuri's sense of age was that of a woman in her late forties, with a slightly older appearance. Of course, as a High Elf, her actual age is probably much higher than that.

As you can see from the fact that she is carrying a bow in one hand and an arrow casing on her back. Faranda also seems to be one of the archers who attacked Yuri and the others.

“I've already told you my name, but… it's Yuri. I'm the Empress of a nation called the Yuri Empire.”

Yuri walked up to her and held out one hand. The woman, who called herself Faranda, stared at the hand Yuri held out, somewhat mystified.

There was a pause of about ten seconds. Faranda hurriedly clasped Yuri's hand with both hands, as if in a state of shock.

“I'm sorry… It's been hundreds of years since I last shook hands with a stranger. I've completely lost track of the custom itself.”

“My…… It seems that this village has no connection with the outside world?”

In the first place, it's easy to imagine the closed nature of this village when you think that the Kingdom of Eldard still exists.

“I am ashamed to admit it, but you are right. As long as you don't go too deep into the Demon Forest, it's a safe place with an abundant supply of forest products. We had plenty of food and fiber, so we didn't need to socialize much with the outside world.

In addition, the Kingdom of Eldard, although ostensibly forbidden, does not mind buying and selling slaves. If we are not careful, the residents of the village who have not been trained in battle may be kidnapped by the slavers over there…”

“I see. I'm sorry to say this, but elves can be very expensive.”

“It's a problem.”

The appearance of High Elves is completely indistinguishable from that of Elves. And elves, both male and female, are often superior in appearance to other races.

Even the slightly older Faranda in front of Yuri's eyes would have attracted many men with her good looks.

If she were to be sold as a slave, she would surely fetch a high price.

“I'm sorry, but as long as you're going to be a part of our Yuri Empire, we'd like to have some sort of friendship with this village. Can we talk about that a little bit?”

“All right. I don't have any objection, because I don't intend to stick to living in a closed environment. Let's talk about it in detail at my place.”

“Thank you, Faranda. I'm sorry to bother you.

Oh… by the way, as the owner of my country, I can assure you that there is a total ban on slavery in my country and that there is not a single slaver in the country. I also promise that it is a safe country even for the elves. In the first place, I have a total of 53 elves in my main and concubine. I will not let you treat them roughly.”

Yuri smiled as she said this.

Strictly speaking, of the number of people Yuri has just mentioned, her wife's―――that is, the children of the Yuri Empire―――are not『 elf 』 but 『 forest elf 』. There is no difference in the features of their appearance, and it would be acceptable to list them as identical.

“I was surprised… Do you have that many wives and concubines?”

“Yes, I do. I have 359 wives and 6 concubines. In case you haven't noticed, I love you all them very much.”

Yuri answered Melfalude’s question immediately.

She had a very complicated expression on her face, a mixture of surprise and disbelief. “Th-That's too much…”, Melferude said in a small voice.

Seeing the expressive Melfalude, Yuri's expression unconsciously faltered.

She thought that the number of her concubine might soon increase to seven. As she gazed at Melfalude, Yuri secretly wondered about this.