The five of us walk with Mr. Colontude through the corridors of The Castle of the King's Tree.

　We are going to the audience hall.

　The Elf Queen there is a High Elf who has lived for more than 10,000 years.

(10,000 years.......he's like a god already.)

　I'm kind of nervous.

　Then we arrived at the "Audience Room".

　It was a circular space.

　The center of the room was elevated, and a number of pure white stone pillars were standing around it. The pillars were intertwined with plant vines, and colorful flowers were blooming there.

　Furthermore, there are many elves around.

(Ah ... it's Arbitania-san.)

　He's one of the three great elders, so it's no surprise that he was there, too.

　There's another man beside him, an elf man.

　He's a tall elf with a calm atmosphere.

　He stands in the same position as Arbitania-san, so maybe he's another one of the three great elders.

　And in the center of the 'Audience Room', there was a pond of shimmering blue water.

　There was a large peach-colored flower floating in the water in its bud state.

　It was a bud of about two meds.

　We knelt at a spot in front of the bud.

　And

"It is with great pleasure that I bid you an audience, Queen Titaniaris.

　Mr. Columbudo said.

(Huh?)

　I was a bit surprised by her always sleepy, clear tone of voice.

　And as she spoke, the surrounding elves bowed their heads as well.

　And of course, that Arbitania-san.

　Hulu.........

　In the next moment, the peach-colored buds that had been floating in the blue water slowly unfurled their petals and bloomed.

(.........Ah....)

　One elven woman was sitting there.

　She was a very beautiful elf with translucent golden hair and blue eyes, wearing a white outfit and feathered robes like a heavenly woman.

　On top of her hair, there was a crown on top of her hair.

(This is the Queen of the Elves, Titaniaris-sama.......)

　Her beauty will make you unable to take your eyes off of her, even if you're not an elf lover.

　Her blue eyes slowly catch us.

'The Descendants of Thanatos........?'

　It was a quiet, calm voice, as if it came from deep in the forest.

　And that's the common language of Albac.

　Maybe she knew we were from the Albac continent and she adapted to it.

　Such an elven queen kept her eyes on us.

"Welcome to our holy land of the elves. Children of little men, the descendants of sinners.

　I smiled so fleetingly.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　As soon as the Elf Queen showed herself, the air in the audience room felt like it had changed to something mystical.

(This is the presence that lived 10,000 years........?)

　It's kind of hard to believe it's the same person.

　That queen's gaze turns to her vassal, Mr. Colonchude.

"Are these the 'means' you were referring to, Colonchudo?
Yes, sir.

　Ms. Colontude nodded.

　She stared back at the Queen with an unusually strong gaze.

''The world is now on the verge of another crisis. The 'Divine Spirit Stone', the guardian stone, should be transferred to the humans. In return, these people will defeat the 'evil spirits' who are after the 'Spirit King'.

　After saying that, he bowed his head again.

(Spirit King...?)

　I cocked my head in my mind at the unfamiliar words.

　But right now, I wasn't in the air to ask questions.

　The Elf Queen was quietly listening to Colonchude-san's words.

　And on the contrary, the other elves around her became zany and noisy as soon as she did.

　One of them, in particular.

Please wait!

　Arbitania suddenly shouted loudly.

''The 'Divine Spirit Stone' is the keystone that protects the 'Spirit King'!　It's outrageous to give it to a human!　And moreover, these are the ones who have the 'Devil's Blood' in them!

　zap

　At that statement, the surrounding elves frowned.

(............)

　The way they were looking at us had clearly changed.

　Hostility.

　Disgust.

　Hatred.

　Such negative emotions are swirling around and hurling at us.

　Mrs. Arbitania.

'Beluera!　You'd think so too!

　Yes, he asked the elven man, who seemed to be the other three great elders.

　He was called Beruela, and he tilted his head at an angle.

I don't know.

　I replied vaguely.

　Then he looked at Mr. High Elf, one of the three great elders by our side.

Colonchude, are you sure there isn't another way to do it?
No.

　When asked, Mr. Colontude answered immediately.

　He nodded.

'I see. That's troubling.'

　Such an answer.

　Arbitania looked irritated by Beruela-san's attitude, which was indefinable.

(.........I see, this is the neutral party.)

　I don't agree with either the conservatives or the innovators, but I don't disagree with them either.

　That's the position of one of the three great elders.

　And Mr. Beruela is.

Well, it's all up to Queen Titaniaris. I'll follow it.

　I told him quietly.

　Mr. Arbitania moaned, "Gulp".

　Then, in Arbitania-san's eyes looking at us, it seemed like there was even a killing intent in them.

(Why did you end up here........)

　We hadn't done anything.

　So I didn't know why we had to be directed so much harm.

　But Illtimina-san, Kilt-san and Solstice were unmoved.

　Their expressions were hard and unmoving.

　The girls know.

　They know that they have been forced to experience this kind of unreasonableness over and over again, and that no matter what they plead, they will not be listened to.

　They just have no choice but to endure it.

　...

　Geez.

　I can't help but clench my fists.

　Then.

Stand down, Arbitania.

　The serene Elf Queen's voice echoed in the audience room.

　Bick.

　Mr. Arbitania shuddered.

　Then she said, "Haha," and lowered her head.

　I was surprised.

　And then the Elf Queen looked at us and said

Please forgive me.

　That's how I uttered my apology.

　We stare back at her, and she looks at us, her eyes filled with the light of sorrow.

And please understand, the events of 400 years ago are far in the past for humans. But for us elves, it is a tragedy that happened just a few days ago.

　Oh.

We lost our loved ones, our families to the demons. The wounds have not healed. And the fear of these demons still haunts us today.
..........

　I looked around.

　There was a strong hatred in the eyes of the elves there.

　It seemed to be the most caustic light of discrimination I had ever seen.

(.........I see.)

　I finally realized that discrimination against elves is not the same as discrimination against humans.

　The discrimination of the elves was not the same as the discrimination of the humans.

　The discrimination of humans was the discrimination of people who were not even born in the time of the Divine and Demonic War.

　But the discrimination of the elves was the discrimination done by people who lived in that time period and were hurt in that time period, at the end of their emotional suffering.

　Its meaning was as different as heaven and earth.

　Mr. Arbitania was staring at us as if he was trying to kill us with his gaze.

　I thought I could hear the voice of her mind.

''I shall not forget........''

"The things the devil has done to the people they care about...

"It was never meant to be.

''Such a being with the blood of a demon in him is no longer a person. It's the very embodiment of the devil's sin!

"All such beings must be eradicated from the world!

　That hatred burns my heart.

(Huh.)

　Arbitania-san and the other elves had their loved ones killed in the Divine Demon War.

　It was the humans who started that divine Demon War.

　And it was the demons who killed their loved ones.

　I felt like I understood why the elven nation was closed off, and why they harbored strong hostility towards us 'humans' and 'demon blood people'.

　............

　I guess it's no longer a matter of logic.

(But..........)

　Still, I want the sins a person has to bear to be the result of his or her own life.

　So discrimination against the elves is wrong, I thought.

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

　With that intent, I looked at the Elf Queen.

　In response, she sadly

It's 'God's righteousness,' not 'man's righteousness.'

　I said.

(.........what?)

'People live not for the world, but only for themselves and for those they love. To put it bluntly, we can cut off the rest of the people from our hearts. Even if they are wrong, it is a weak creature called 'man'.

　The sound of a deep, heavy voice.

　Maybe those words were the truth found by a high elf who had lived ten thousand years.

　And I couldn't say anything.

　I wanted to say that this is not true, but I couldn't find enough persuasive power in there to calm the hatred of the elves.

　.............

　I bite my lip in frustration.

　The Elf Queen smiled sadly at me and looked at me like that.

　Eventually, she lowers her eyes.

　The blue eyes, which opened again, had regained their dignity as a serene queen.

　Then, she says.

''Regarding the destruction of the 'Evil Spirit', let's leave it up to the Colontude. However, as for the transfer of the 'Divine Spirit Stone', we will consider it depending on the outcome.
"Haha.

　Mr. Columbudo bowed his head deeply.

　Ms. Arbitania clicked her tongue, "Tsk," she said.

　Ms. Beruela and the other elves dutifully bowed their heads to the Queen's order.

　And Mr. Colontude.

"These people are very good demon hunters. I'm sure that with their power, they will be able to defeat the Evil Spirits.

　Then he bowed his head again.

　The five of us also bowed our heads, following the lead of Mr. Colontude.

　Lady Titaniaris, Queen of the Elves, nodded her head.

'The rest is history.

　He told her that and then kept his eyes down.

　It was as if she had fallen asleep.

　Then the peach-colored petals moved as if to envelop her, and she returned to the same state of buds as when she first saw them.

　When she disappeared, it was as if the light had gone out of the audience room.

　That's how the audience between us and the Elven Queen, where we clashed with each other's values, ended.