CH 15

Here’s the chapter, enjoy~

“Good morning.”

I immediately greeted Sylphy in the morning when she suddenly woke up. I’m not sure if she’s still sleep-deprived, but she stares at me blankly for a while, then suddenly turns red.

“Forget it.”

“Forget what?”

“Just forget it.”

Sylphy pressed her face against my chest to hide her red face. I thought it would have the opposite effect, but it was cute, so I left it at that.

“It’s fine. Sylphy and I are like a married couple now, ouch ouch ouch!”

Stop biting me! No, not there! I don’t have any use for it, but it’ll tear off.

“Forget it.”

“Okay, okay, I will forget. But I have a suggestion.”

“What?”

“When the sun is up, I’ll forget it, but when it’s down, I’ll remember. And when the sun goes down, Sylphy will indulge me to my heart’s content, and ouch, ouch, it hurts!”

Ouch! You’re tearing me up! No, really, seriously!

“I will think about it.”

“Please do so.”

It was allowed.

So we cleaned ourselves up as we had done yesterday and had breakfast while discussing our plans for the day. Today’s breakfast consisted of leftovers from last night’s keema curry-like dish, heated up and wrapped in a kind of kebab dough with chopped vegetables. There is no particular name for the dish. If I had to guess, I’d say leftover burrito.

“So, what do you want to do today?”

“Well, we’re running low on vegetables, so we’ll go to the pantry and get some rations. I also want some mead, so I’ll trade for some Yakki. If there’s anything else you want, we can use the gemstones Kosuke pulled out of the rocks.”

“Gems. Are there any demands for gems?”

I didn’t take a close look at the elves in this village, but I don’t think any of them conspicuously wore ornaments. The elders wore some ornaments, although not all of them were jewels.

“Sure, they do. Gems can be used as catalysts for magic, and when processed, they can be used to make magical tools and spirit stones.”

“Oh, that sounds like a fantasy. What exactly are those three things?”

The only magic I’ve seen that seems to be real magic is the recovery magic that Sylphy cast on me using the spirit of life and the wind magic that blew me away from the mob. I’d like to expand my knowledge in that area since this is a world with magic.

“Gemstones are imbued with magic power that corresponds to their color. Red gems have the power of fire; blue gems have the power of water and ice, green gems have the power of wind, yellow gems have the power of earth, transparent gems have the power of light, dark gems have the power of darkness, and so on. By using these gems as catalysts for magic, the power of magic is increased.”

Then she showed me her bracelet. Sylphy’s bracelet had a blue gem, a green gem, and a shiny transparent gem on it.

“My bracelet serves as a catalyst for wind, water, and light magic. I can still use magic without it, but I can use more powerful magic with less mana if I have it.”

“Hmm, it’s like an amplifier.”

I’m sure it has the effect of making certain magical powers stronger. I like magic. It could be interesting if I can use it.

“The ability as a catalyst can be directly applied to magic tools. I’m not a craftsman, so I don’t know much about it, but I’ve heard that gems are an absolutely necessary part of making magic tools.”

“I see. So, what are spirit stones?”

“It is a gemstone that contains a spirit along with magic power. It’s like a temporary home for the spirits. Spirits are omnipresent in the natural world, but depending on the location, the power of a particular spirit may be weak, or it may not be there at all. There is no wind or light spirit in a dark, windless cave, and no spirit of water in a desolate wilderness. Of course, if that happens, you can’t use the corresponding spirit magic.”

“I see, so if you have wind and light spirit stones, you can use wind and light spirit magic in the cave.”

“That’s right. It’s also possible to use powerful spirit magic at the cost of spirit stones.”

“That’s very interesting.”

It’s the kind of specification that makes it a man’s dream to unleash a powerful blow for the price of an item that can be continuously used. You see, I’m excited about this kind of romantic artillery, like the fatality strikes in famous free-scenario RPGs.

“In other words, for elves, gems are like strategic supplies.”

“That’s right. If you use up five spirit stones, you can kick out an army of a hundred humans.”

“That’s amazing.”

It’s a bit of a tactical weapon. It’s worth it. It’s hard to imagine that five of them can destroy 100 people. Even with Earth’s weapons, a weapon that can fight off 100 people with five shots is not at the level of a handheld weapon. Even a tank would not be able to kill 100 people with five shots. It’s already at the level of artillery fire or aerial bombardment.

“By the way, what kind of effect does this have…?”

“If it’s a fire spirit stone, a higher level of fire spirit will appear and rampage through the enemy camp. The whole area will be a sea of fire. If it’s a wind spirit stone, the higher spirits of wind will bring in tornadoes and lightning strikes. Do you want to hear about the other spirits?”

“No, thank you.”

I could see that this was exactly the kind of disaster-grade event that would occur. I’m sure that the other spirit stones of the other attributes will also have terrible effects.

“The Great Omit Wilderness outside the Black Forest.”

“Hmm?”

I couldn’t help but tilt my head at Sylphy’s abrupt talk.

“I heard that there used to be a country called the Kingdom of Omit in that land. The land is now a vast wasteland, though. The reason why the land is so desolate is because there is something wrong with the spirit power, you know?”

“I didn’t want to hear about it.”

How many days’ walk is it to get through the Omit Wilderness? I’m not sure how much spirit stone was used to turn such a vast area into a wasteland. I think elves are actually very dangerous people.

“Um… We’re out of topic. And what are you going to do when you’ve finished rationing and bartering?”

“I will introduce you to the refugees of the Merinard Kingdom. I’ve revealed to the elders that you are a marebito. There’s no need to hide in the dark anymore, I’ll explain the situation, including your abilities, and we’ll talk about building a wall.”

“I see.”

I’ll give it some thought. I’ve been restricting the disclosure of my abilities to Sylphy. I’m not sure why, but I didn’t know why she was approaching me. Even I, a peace-loving Japanese, had a sense of danger that I was wary of someone who was approaching me without revealing her purpose.

But now, Sylphi has disclosed her purpose to me. I can say that the question of why she was trying to seduce me by rapidly approaching me and having physical relations with me has been answered. And I’m not afraid to lend my support to Sylphy.

I’m talking about the fact that I want to reward her for her determination to give up her manipulations for my own purposes. No, if I’m being honest, I think I’m getting attached to her. I guess I can’t help that. She’s beautiful, and she’s exactly my type. She is also cute, and I want to support her despite her circumstances. Besides, it’s always good to have a big goal in life.

“In the meantime, I don’t think it’s a good idea to disclose all of my abilities to the refugees from a security standpoint.”

“What do you mean?”

Sylphy, who was drinking tea after dinner, looked discouraged. Perhaps you want to say that the Merinard Kingdom refugees will bring damage to me based on that information?

“I don’t think the refugees will do anything directly to me. But in the future, Sylphy is going to regain the Merinard Kingdom, right? In that case, you’re not only dealing with monsters but also humans. I’m almost certain that I’ll be helping Sylphy in many of her endeavors in the future. I’m not trying to be smug, but I think I’m going to contribute to what Sylphy wants to do to the point where it won’t be possible without me.”

“You mean that… Kosuke will be my weakness?”

With a serious look, she turned over and stroked her thin chin. After a few moments of thought, she looked up and stared straight into my eyes.

“No problem. I just have to stay by Kosuke’s side all the time. I know Kosuke will be safer next to me than anywhere else.”

“Oh no, that was a super ikemen thing to say.”

In response to this, I am the weakest link in the chain. If I had a hole, I would go in it.

“I don’t know what an ikemen is, but I know it’s a compliment. Come on, let’s get moving. We have a busy day ahead of us.”

“Aye aye, ma’am.”

After we finished our after-dinner tea, we left Sylphy’s house. I didn’t make lunch today. Sylphy said that we would be eating outside today.

“This is the village storehouse.”

“It’s huge.”

The storehouse was located in the corner of the artisan district. I don’t know how many elves live in the village, but it seems overly large.

“It seems to be a remnant of the time when they had to deal with humans. I don’t know much about it myself.”

“I see.”

This village may have been even bigger when they were fighting to turn the Great Wilderness of Omit into a literal wilderness. Thinking about that, I followed Sylphy and saw some armed elves who were probably the guards of the storehouse. I wondered if they were taking measures against refugees.

“Good morning, Sylphiel. And are you the slave I’ve heard so much about?”

The man who greeted us as we approached the storehouse was an expressionless male elf. He glanced at me as well as at Sylphy, but unlike the elf soldier who had thrown me out into the square, he showed no hostility.

“Yeah, I was hoping to get some supplies in exchange. We’re running low on vegetables, so we’re going to need all the vegetables we can get, except for Dikon.”

“Yes, I’ll have them prepared. What do you want in exchange?”

“Eight barrels of mead, eight bags of grain flour, and four jars of salt.”

“That’s a lot of salt.”

“For the people. Put out the Yakki and stones.”

When Sylphy gave me a look, I took the Yakki corpse out of my inventory and placed it on the floor of the storehouse, where it had just been cooled in the river. The fur was still wet, and it made a sticky sound. I took it and a wooden plate and put the mined gems on it in pieces. The man-elf’s eyes widened when he saw the gemstone.

“Wow, that’s a lot of gemstones… No, I mean, what kind of magic did you use to get those Yakkis and gems out of nowhere, Sylphiel?”

“Fufu, this guy is a useful one. So, is this enough to pay for the exchange?”

Sylphiel bends her chest and makes a smug face. No, Master is cute, and I’m proud of being her slave.

“That’s too much. These days, there are not many good quality stones in the market. The artisans will be looking for it all the time.”

“I see. Then give me Onil, Garike, and Pepal. Take as many as you can.”

“All right.”

The elves go into the storehouse and bring sacks of grain and barrels that can hold up to a hundred pounds. I hurriedly put them into my inventory. Perhaps Sylphy is planning to serve them to the refugees.

“All right, let’s go, Kosuke. See you later.”

“Yeah.”

The elves who guarded the warehouse saw us off as we headed towards the refugees’ living quarters. I have nothing but bitter or even scary memories of it… Well, I wonder what will happen.