CH 269

Seventh Concubine (1)

Translated by AmaLynne

Edited by AmaLynne

「I’m sorry I called you here.」

It was the afternoon of the seventh day since Melfalude began her stay in the Yuri Empire.

In the reception room of the Yuritania Palace, Her Majesty Yuri, whom she hadn’t seen in almost a week, bowed lightly and told Melfalude so.

「I belong to you, so of course, I will always answer your calls.」

「Fufu… as Melfalude said, you belong to me by prior agreement.」

「Yes, we should be faithful to each other’s promises, shouldn’t we?」

Melfalude smiled as she said this.

Needless to say, this implies restraint.

As long as Melfalude is aware of her position as property, Her Majesty cannot treat the High Elf community with disrespect.

It is also a word to confirm the contract once again. In response to Melfalude’s words, Her Majesty Yuri let out a single sigh with a tired expression.

「I don’t have any plans to do anything about the High Elf community, so please don’t provoke me like that… I was working a while ago. I hope you won’t go out of your way to bring me a refill when I’m mentally exhausted.」¹

「Oh… I’ve heard from my entourage that Your Majesty Yuri, has been concentrating on getting her office work done every morning. It’s not easy being an empress, is it?」

「Yes, it’s a position with a lot of hardships and troubles. Now that you have a free hand, why don’t I let you help me with my work?」

Her Majesty smiled as she said this.

Of course, if that’s what she wants, Melfalude has no objection.

In the first place―――she is in no position to refuse.

「I’m just kidding. You don’t have to look so uncomfortable.

The only documents that come my way are the ones that need to be approved by the government. Unfortunately, it’s not a job that can be delegated to someone else in the first place.」

「I’m relieved to hear that… I’m confident that I’m better than anyone else in my village at hunting demons. I’ve never done any office work before.」

Melfalude hurriedly mended his unconsciously raised eyebrows.

She knows she’s in a position where she can’t refuse if Her Majesty tells her to do something. Even so, she honestly wanted to refrain from doing it if she could.

「Oh, Faranda, the village chief, is your mother, isn’t she? I would have thought that you would have at least helped out with some of the office work regularly.」

「My mother has more than twenty children besides me. She doesn’t need to send me, who struggles to read and write, because there are plenty of more suitable children out there.」

「I see.」

Her Majesty Yuri smiles in amusement at Melfalude, who shrugs her shoulders.

It’s no lie, there are plenty of other girls who are good at writing.

Even though she is a good hunter, she does not have the qualities to be a village chief.

It is wise to contribute to the village by hunting demons, which is your forte, rather than making the effort to tackle something you are not good at.

「Oh, by the way, I have one thing to thank Melfalude for.」

「…Thank you? Me?」

「Yes. You taught Ilorina how to use a bow, didn’t you? She said she learned a lot from you, and she was very grateful for it. Thank you.」

「Oh… don’t worry about that. I just wanted to cheer her up a little, so I did my best to emulate her handiwork.」

In fact, she didn’t give her much guidance.

Ilorina seemed to be a rather clever girl for her age.

She probably would have realized the limitations of her current archery style on her own and modified it without any special instruction from Melfalude.

「Hmm? By the way, may I ask what made you want to support her?」

「It’s not a big deal, but… she said she likes bows. When someone likes the same things as you, you want to root for them, don’t you?」

「I see. I think I get it.」

The current Ilorina is said to be using a spear as well as a bow. Once she becomes proficient at shooting on the move and dodging enemy attacks, she’ll be able to handle combat with only one bow.

Although Ilorina’s race is human, her agility and good judgment are more like the race traits of elves and high elves.

That is why many of the combat skills that Melfalude can teach are ones that Ilorina can make use of.

「Ilorina would like to continue to receive instruction in the art of bow combat from you. Do you mind if I ask?」

「Yes, of course, and I was hoping to do so as well.」

For Ilorina, who says she likes bows, she is not reluctant to teach all her skills.

At one time or another, she has been a frequent visitor to the Great Forest and has developed her vocation as a hunter to level 97.

She had developed many combat techniques that would be useful to Ilorina.

「Then, as the owner, I formally request it. I would like you to instruct my Sixth Concubine, Ilorina, Melfalude’s combat techniques.」

「Yes, I’ll certainly do that.」

「Also, as of today, I’m appointing Melfalude as my seventh concubine. ―――Of course, you will not have the right to veto it, so please bear that in mind.」

「………………ha?」

The sudden words of Her Majesty Yuri caused her to make a dumb expression.

Seeing Melfalude, Her Majesty Yuri smiled with amusement.