'Wow....'

　As I stepped out of the crack, I screamed at the sight in front of me.

　It was a green world.

　Huge trees, more than 100 meters tall, were growing everywhere.

　I looked up and saw that the trees were covered with leaves and branches, and the soft rays of the sun were streaming down through the gaps in the branches to the ground.

　Even smaller plants and mosses grew on the trunks of the thick trees, which were also stained green.

　And the branches and large leaves of the huge tree were connected to other trees in the air as a pathway.

　There were many elves walking around there.

(-- It's a city.)

　This is an elf city in the midst of huge trees.

　The ground is paved with beautiful white stones and the houses are built in the thick trunks of the trees. In such a city full of nature, waterways of blue water flowed here and there, and the shoulders of the streets were lined with lights like white lily pads.

　I looked back.

　There was a scene of a single huge tree growing and the cracks that had formed in it slowly closing.

(I see.)

　It was the space inside of this huge tree that we were transferred to, wasn't it?

'Wow... this is the land of the elves, huh?

　Solstice seemed surprised to see the world of elves for the first time.

　Iltimina and Kilt were also looking at their surroundings with interest.

　Po-chan just looked at her mother-in-law and followed behind her.

''..........''

　The city's elves were also watching us.

　They all looked like they would be in their 20s or 30s if they were human. Of course, their real age is different....

　The elves wore thin, silky outfits.

　They are all beautiful.

　The way these elves were looking at us, there were all sorts of things like interest, distrust, and caution.

　But none of them spoke to us.

　

　When we noticed the five elves walking ahead of us, Mr. Colonchude at the head of them, the elves in our path would give way.

　He is one of the three great elders.

　I had heard about Mr. Colontude's position in Elf country from a traveling elf I met in Vega country before.

(Maybe that's why?)

　The way the other elves were looking at her, there was a proper respect in their gazes, unlike the ones directed at us.

　And so we walked through the land of the elves.

　A blue stream ran through the huge trees that surrounded us, and here and there were bridges made of plant branches and leaves.

　We crossed them.

(Ah....)

　From there we could see the view ahead.

　At the end of the path was a very large lake.

　And from the center of that blue water, a huge tree, more than three times the size of the surrounding trees, rose up to the heavens.

　We were stunned by the enormity of it.

　How in the world could the tree be thousands ... or even tens of thousands of years old?

　There was a sense of holiness to the giant tree that appeared in the green world, bathed in a halo of sunshine, that was incomparable to the rest of the trees.

　We stopped dead in our tracks.

...that's the Castle of the King's Tree, Carol Inn. A castle in the land of the elves.

　That's what Mr. Colontude told me.　


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　We walked to the Castle Carol Inn, the King's Tree Castle.

　Ahead of the lake, there was a long, wide bridge that led to the castle tree.

(Hmm?)

　In front of the bridge, there are about 20 elves in front of it.

　One of them, a man in the center of the group, who is dressed in slightly better clothes than the others, shoots us a stern look.

　Mr. Colon-Tude, who noticed, frowned.

''........It's Arvita.

　Huh?

　As we approached, puzzled by the meaning of the word, the elf, who seemed to be named Arvita, suddenly shouted at us.

''Colontude!　Roca, Manis!

　It's a terrific sword fight.

　To our surprise, Mr. Columcude held his long elf ears with both hands.

　He pointed at us.

'Fenakakka!　Al, bo, soro!

　I yelled out.

(Uh...?)

　What does he say?

　We, who don't understand Elvish, can only be confused.

　And.

'Coloncude!　What are these people?　Don't tell me that the 'means' you were talking about were these filthy humans!　I say.

　Suddenly, Poe said that.

(What?)

　The four of us couldn't help but stare at the little girl.

"Do you understand elvish, Poe?
I know.

　Poe nodded.

　In fact, during the month period before she crossed over to the Dark Continent, she had been taught Elvish by her mother-in-law, Ms. Colontude.

''Because........you'll probably need it.''

　My mother-in-law said.

　Maybe it was because Mr. Colontude had predicted the possibility of visiting the Elf Country as it was now, at that time.

　As expected of the 'Golden Seal Demonologist'.

　But the words that Po-chan interpreted for me were somewhat disturbing.

(.........no matter how I hear it, isn't it welcome?)

　Our visit seems to have been at the sole discretion of Mr. Colontude, and it seems that the other elves and this Arvita had not been told about it.

　And what's the 'means'?

　I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that Mr. Columbudo was asking us to 'help'?

　Even as she was thinking, Arvita-san was shouting angrily at the High Elf in front of her.

　.............

　It's a pity for me, because the race of elves had a more elegant image.

(........There are people like this.

　That's because there are good people and bad people, too.

　The same would be true for Elf-san.

　Even though I knew that, it was a bit of a discouraging feeling to see the illusion in my mind crumble....

　And Arvita-san makes a face as she realizes something.

(?)

　He stares at us.

　No, to be more precise, Iltimina-san, Kilt-san, and Solstice.

　His eyes sparkled bewitchingly, and then his expression was strained.

'Fabuna, ag, Begenasca!

　I shouted that.

　At that moment, even the expressions of the other 20 or so elves who were watching quietly froze.

　No, the four people who were with Mr. Colontude were also surprised.

　What's there is fear and disgust.

　.........eh?

　In my bewildered ears, I heard Poe's translated voice.

''These guys have the blood of a demon in their veins!　I say.

　I said.

　We felt like we had been poured cold water on that meaning.

　It was a word born of a clear sense of discrimination against the 'demon blood people'.

　And then I remembered.

　It reminded me of the fact that the elves hate demon blood, and if a baby was born with demon blood in it, they would immediately kill it on the spot.

　That's how discriminatory they are towards "demon blood".

　The air around them was filled with fear, disgust and feelings of rejection at the presence of an abominable being in this place.

''.........''
..........
..........

　My three most important people were silent.

　They had experienced discrimination so many times before.

　So they knew that nothing they could say would get through to them, and all they could do was stay silent in the face of the malice being directed at them.

　I tried to talk back.

　But Illtimina's white hand held my shoulder.

'This is the land of the elves. This country has its own way of thinking, and we can't impose our way of thinking on it.

(But... but...)

　She says in a calm voice to me, which is filled with frustration.

''We can't fight with the Elven Nation right now,''
..........
'But thank you for being angry for us, Merle.

　I smiled at him and his white hand gently stroked my hair.

　I bite my lip.

　I was happy that they were being discriminated against, but at the same time, it was painful to see their kindness in caring for me.

　And then I told Arvita that she was.

"Everything is for the queen to decide... Now it doesn't matter what Arvita said.

　Mr. Colonteau dared to tell us in the common language of Albac.

Well let's go.

　Ignoring him, she called out to us and started walking towards the 'Castle of the King Tree'.

　........There, I felt her strong will.

　Arvita-san is taken aback.

　We walked past such an elven man and started walking after Colonchudo-san.

''Fa, fagan!''

　Immediately he said that and tried to reach out to us.

　But

　bathtub

Gua!

　His hand was played by a strong 'wind' and he slumped backwards.

　When he looked, he saw a small staff with a magic stone shining in Mr. Colontude's hand.

　Wind magic.

　Mr. Arbita was sitting on his buttocks.

　The sight of her made me feel a little nasty, but I felt refreshed.

'La, Arbitannian!
Bae, Berta?
Fell, Fentus!

　The 20 or so elves who were with him hurriedly tried to wake him up.

　Leaving them behind, we proceeded along the long and wide bridge over the lake.

　We were headed for the "Carol Inn", the royal castle of the elven kingdom, which is a huge tree castle towering in front of us.