It was two days later that we finally set off.n()o)-v))e/.L))b/.I)/n
We had planned on leaving a day earlier, but because of the ambassador matter, we had no choice but to wait.
We had to give some time to Elsa to pick the ones that would come with her.
Among them were famous blacksmiths of the Dwarven Kingdom who had come from all over to learn from me. They had been in the capital during the banquet and all applied for this ambassador matter.
Of course, it wasn't wrong for them to go as ambassadors.
After all, these were lords of the Dwarven King since they were skilled blacksmiths.
They were equal to the nobles of the human kingdom, so this was a proper group of ambassadors.
They even set off with a carriage filled with gifts to show their sincerity.
So it took a while for them to gather.
But we were still heading off.
We went back the same way with Ivar leading us.
It wasn't the most direct path, but we still had some business in Silver City.
As well as picking up our compatriots who were waiting there for us. We had left them there to take care of business with the Silvermine Family.
So we had some time to get to know the dwarves we were traveling with.
Most of them I already knew because I had been interacting with them on an almost daily basis when I was teaching them about alloys and runes.
The one that I wanted to get to know better was Elsa.
She was the ambassador of the Dwarven Kingdom, so she was someone that I couldn't offend.
Getting to know her better was the best way of making that happen.
So during one of the nights, I spent some time talking to her alone.
When we were alone, she no longer acted as confident as before and returned to the shy way that she acted when I first met her. I couldn't understand why she was acting this way, but it wasn't good for me since I wouldn't be able to get to know her better at all.
As I was about to say something, Elsa suddenly said, "I'm sorry."
I couldn't help being caught off guard when she said this.
I looked at her with a confused look as if I didn't understand what she was saying.
Seeing this, she explained in a hesitant voice, "For my big brother's actions. For him suddenly springing all of this on you."
I revealed a bitter smile when I heard this, but then I said with a sigh and a wave of my hand, "It's fine, it's fine, it's not as if I don't understand where he's coming from. This is an important thing for your kingdom, so I can understand why he did it."
Then after a pause, I added, "Plus, it's not as if this was your idea. You don't have to worry about this.
When she heard this, she suddenly revealed a guilty look that I couldn't understand.
All I knew was that she seemed uncomfortable talking about this, so I changed the topic by asking, "So why did you want to come to our human country?"
After I said this, there was a blush that confused me that appeared on Elsa's face.
It was as if this was something else that she didn't want to talk about, but that didn't seem to make sense either.
After a long silence, she said, "I wanted to go out there and see a new world. I've been trapped in the Dwarven Kingdom my entire life and I want to see what the world outside is like."
I couldn't help being surprised when I heard this.
I looked at her with a complicated look before simply saying, "I understand."
Perhaps the Zwein of this world wouldn't understand, but the Lin Fan of the previous world would...
After giving a sigh, I changed the topic again to something much more light hearted and this time, Elsa was much more responsive.
It seemed that she was quite the talkative person which made me think that it really was all because of Drogath that she acted the way that she was before.
This Elsa in front of me now was the real Elsa, the one that had been suppressed by him over the years.
Though she was still clumsy as shown by her verbal mistakes, she was much more cheerful compared to before.
It really was good to see her like this instead of what she was like before.
I couldn't help even cursing Drogath for what he did to her in the past.
But while we were talking, Elsa suddenly changed the topic by asking, "What kind of things do you like eating?"
One moment, we had been talking about random things and then she suddenly asked what I liked to eat.
I couldn't help being surprised by this, but I still answered honestly, "There's not much that I won't eat, but I can't lie when I say that I like fried things."
Elsa gave a nod before taking out a piece of paper and writing something down.
I was confused why she did this, so I asked, "What are you doing?"
She looked at me with a smile to say, "I'm just making some notes on what humans like. Since I'm the ambassador, I should at least do this much."
I gave a nod before saying, "Hmm, but I don't think that I would be the best example for this."
She tilted her head and said, "But you're a normal human male, aren't you? So wouldn't your tastes reflect the tastes of other human males?"
I opened and closed my mouth a few times as I didn't know what to say.
Her logic didn't seem to have a flaw at all, but it felt like there was something off about her questions...something that I just couldn't put my finger on...
Still, she didn't stop there as she kept asking me more questions.
So all I could do was answer even if I felt that they were strange...