And so it began.

　Aileron vs. Mr. Edward in a craft showdown.

　Is it Elon's claim to natural beauty or Mr. Edward's superb craftsmanship?
　A showdown between the ultimate and the supreme to see who deserves true beauty.

　The venue continues to be the exposition site.
　It is held in the ceramics pavilion led by Aileron.

　Plates, vessels, and several ceramic pieces from the Elf side of the exhibit are lined up.
　On the dwarven side, there are elaborately crafted precious metal objects such as crowns, crowns, honorary deeds and swords.

　They were lined up as if they clashed with each other head-on.

　Spectators passed through while looking at these pieces and voted for their favorites at the exit.

　Voting cards were handed out one by one at the entrance, and in order to prevent organized voting, dwarf elves were banned and only demons and other races were eligible to vote.

　Also, to prevent one person from voting more than once, the ballot is said to have a special spell applied to it.
　Once a person touches one of the bills, a trail is left behind, and if they pick up a new one, an alarm will sound.
　Cooperation, system configuration Verena.

''Too authentic........?

　At any rate, I could see the genuineness of his enthusiasm for the game.

"You want to go to such lengths to prove your point is correct...?

　Elron's pottery and Edward's goldsmithing.

　Both are in the realm of master craftsmanship, but that's why you want to prove which one is better?

　The game was not limited to the category of two wills, but had begun to take on the aspect of a match between the races of elves versus dwarves.

''Hey!　There's an elf and a dwarf fighting over there!
What?　I don't believe we have that kind of event planned.　Isn't this a great fair?

　The rumors started to spread and the air was filled with people visiting at least once.

　To begin with, both elves and dwarves are sub-species, unfamiliar to the demon race.
　It is said that elves in particular are a solitary race that does not have any interaction with anyone other than their own race, so they are even more mysterious and intriguing.

　It's not just the peculiarities of elves and dwarves that attracts attention.

　The exhibits also grabbed the visitors' attention.

"This is it!　This is the best of the dwarves!
The golden gems the dwarves mined themselves are used sparingly and decorated with centuries-old techniques.　Look at this intricate openworked carving...?
How many hundreds of years will it take for a demonologist to come up with something like this...?
Whoa!　Such a huge emerald, without sparing a second thought!　The cutting is great!

　It was a great success.

　I was watching the competition from the side, but I wondered how this game would turn out.
　From my layman's point of view, it seems too one-sided.

　Because while the dwarves' exhibit is a huge haul of gold and silver treasure, the elven works are just plain pottery, right?

　It's just something made from kneaded clay.
　There's no way they could match the gold and silver gems in terms of value in the first place.

　Why did Elon get into such a reckless game?　I was even baffled....

　Surprisingly, a lot of votes were cast for the aileron pottery as well.

''The farm has come up with another ambitious new piece!
''........this color!　...the shape!　It's like a piece of nature cut out of the ground!
You can see the world in the vessels.
The potters on the farm are breaking new ground in the art world!

　Huh?　Oh, no?
　The ballot box on Elon's side of the ballot is also filled with bills.

''A lump of clay is competing with gold and silver...?
''Elron-san's work is now a big boom in the Demon City...!

　The person standing next to me explaining, "I'm not sure.
　Who's that?　I thought.
　It was Shax-san, the demon trader.

'Mr. Aileron, who has added personality to his tableware and built a unique worldview, is truly an alchemist who adds more than pure gold to a mere lump of clay!　For some things, a single bowl of Mr. Aileron's firing is worth a castle.
One castle?

　Where in the Warring States period of Japanese history was that from?

　I was surprised and amazed, but the passage of people flowed like a river, never ceasing to flow.

　At that moment, I hear another noisy, moving voice coming from the crowd.
　Screaming?

Why?　How can such a wonderful thing be made by human hands?
"Master Babegitto?　We don't want to disturb other people.

　A young apprentice-like man struggles to keep the old man from clinging to the glass case (by Poel) that surrounds the exhibit.

'This color!　That distortion!　I don't care what I have to do, I can't serve it in my own d*mn kiln!　I'm going to apprentice myself to the master craftsman who created this masterpiece.
"I don't think I can do that!　You're the master craftsman who controls the biggest workshop in the Demon City!
No!　You have to drop everything and start from scratch!
If we did, we'd be on the street!

　And then he was dragged away in a single agony.
　What is this?

　Well, it seems to be someone in the same business as you, perhaps, but is Aileron's skill enough to make even those people delirious?

　　　　* * *

　Well.
　In the meantime, today's business is over, and at the same time, the voting has closed.

　The votes will be opened immediately from now on to find out how many votes were cast for either side.


I can't help but look forward to the thought of that spare surface being distorted with humiliation when the vote is over!

　Mr. Edward and Elon are already sending sparks of bee gaze flying at each other.
　Which master craftsman will the artisan goddess smile at?

　Whether you cry or laugh, the lid is about to be opened without any resentment, just before........

''Wait!''

　With a sharp restraint, everyone stopped moving.
　Even the people in charge of counting the votes have stopped, so naturally the counting of votes doesn't proceed.

Can't we just leave this game open?

　Eh?
　Now?
　To begin with. Who is the kid who is calling for the cancellation at this time?

'It's me!　I'm Eltrigger from the Elf Pottery Team!

　Aileron leads the pottery team, one of the farm's elf teams, but of course, Aileron is not the only one making pottery.

　There are a little over ten members of the team who split up to work efficiently on the pottery.
　You will find that Eltrigger is one of them.

'The work of Squad Leader Aileron, Master Edward!　They're both great, and that's fine!　It's impure to try to force a superiority complex!
What are you talking about, Eltrigger?

　Squad Leader Aileron is puzzled by the squad members' sudden rebellion.

''Haha, you scared the shit out of me when you came here!

　Mr. Edward laughed even harder at that.

Most likely, he's not confident of winning, so he's going to say it's not a good idea. That's a wise decision for an elf. There is no way that an elf's sudden training can defeat the superb skills of the dwarves!
No, Master, I agree with her.
What?

　Further out was a young dwarf.
　It was one of the dwarf craftsmen that Edward had brought in with him.

'Bodwan!　What the hell are you doing?
'Master!　You have lost sight of what a craftsman is!　It doesn't really matter which one is better!

　What's the phase where both the elf side and the dwarf side are trying to convince their superiors with admonitions from below?

Well, I guess I'm forgetting something important.
It's not natural to be concerned with superiority. I never could have produced anything good with that kind of attitude.

　And did you succeed in convincing him?
　Easy.

'Master Edward. Looks like we were wrong.
Hmm, each artist has a different way of devoting himself to his work. It's the various forms of beauty that make them shine.

　Those who were concerned with each other's path shook hands firmly.
　A reconciliation after a violent clash of claims. It was truly the plot of a great circle.

''It's not....

　What's this?
　I was too abrupt to follow it, though.
　In the midst of all this, the people who created this sudden flow of events were out of the crowd.......

''Fui~, we managed to get it over with.
So we're all good.

　Huh?
　Did you two conspire together in some way?

'Of course!　If the odds are stacked against you, just try to find out who's better!　Whoever loses loses loses a lot of money!
I don't care if you win!　But what if we lose?　What if we lose?　The brand image we've built up will be destroyed and we'll lose a lot of orders!　It could be an existential crisis!
'And all you get from winning is satisfaction, which is too high risk and low reward!　It's best not to play this kind of game!
It's best to fake it out by saying it's not true!

　It's like a good job by both forces, the calm number two on the side of the hot top.

Now, let's bury the results of the disasterous vote in the dark, the whole ballot box!
"Burn, burn, burn!　Burn every last speck of ashes so as to leave no evil behind!

　　　　* * * *

　And so the Elf vs. Dwarf craftsman showdown came to an end.
　The winner is still unknown due to two capable confidants.
　However, since the match itself took place, it created a buzz, and new orders have been pouring in from both sides since it ended.

　Those two capable confidants.
　You've calculated this far and put a stop to them at the last minute?