††† (Viewpoint of Ferret, Queen of the Elves)

　Ferrette, Queen of the Elves, finishes putting down her brush and lets out a sigh of relief.
　Seeing her, the maidservant's daughter gave me a word of thanks for my efforts.

Thank you.

　Ferrette thanks her handmaiden for her warm words, and receives a cup of herb tea, a specialty of the elven village.

　Ferrette savored the aroma for a moment and then tapped her on the shoulder.
　Would you like me to rub your shoulder, maid?　He asks me if I want to know what's going on, but I decline.

'Thank you for taking care of me. But I'm not that tired. It's just that I haven't written in a long time and I'm nervous. It's just the nature of the letter, you know. I'm too busy writing.

　Hearing these words, the maidservant asks.

'After all, it's a disgrace to be writing a letter to the dwarves asking for help...............................I'm sorry for your pain.

　The maidservant asks her that, but Ferrette smiles back.
　'I didn't want to worry this faithful handmaid,' she says.

'It's true that it would be irksome to write a letter to Lord Günther after all this time. But I'm not concerned about that.''

　--It is also a lie.

　The truth is, I'm very uncomfortable asking a dwarf tribe I don't get along with to act as a go-between, but even so, there are circumstances that prevent me from saying such a thing.

　The League of Lords has been watching us.
　We are faced with two choices: give in to the League of Lords and provide them with troops and tribute, or die.
　It's the worst possible choice.

　Personally, I don't want to choose either. I'd like to just ignore it, but I can't do that either.
　If I made a mistake in answering the question, or if I delayed, this forest would be engulfed in warfare.

　That's what I wanted to avoid.
　It's not only my duty as the Elf Queen, but also Ferrette's personal wish.

'So what did the letter say in the end?'

　The maid of honor asks fearfully.
　The contents of this letter are confidential (Tzpsieclet), but it shouldn't be a problem to talk to her about it.
　Or perhaps she really wants to talk about it with someone else.

''I'm going to explain the contents roughly, I thought I wrote that I want to get help from the Demon King's army in a roundabout way, but...''

　I wonder if they really got the message.

　After all, his self-esteem as an elf race got in the way and he could only write euphemistically, or rather far-fetchedly.

　--and while Ferret didn't trust humans, he didn't trust the Demon King's army either.

　Her sister often teases her that her sister's head is like a flower garden, but Ferrette is not that stupid.

　It's possible that she is so afraid of humans that she relies on the demon king's army and pushes the elves into the worst possible situation.

''--But I'm still interested in the Demon King's army.

　A genuine feeling leaks out.
　The maidservant, hearing those words, nods slowly.
　Seeing this, Ferrette asks the maidservant.

''To be precise, I'm interested in the person called Ike, who is in the Demon King's army.

You're the brigade commander of the 7th Legion of the Demon King's Army, aren't you?

　Ferret shook his head.

''No, to be precise, it looks like he's been promoted to the commander of the Eighth Legion.
'Have you already become a legion leader?　I was told that you were the brigade commander until the other day.

I'm not sure, but my sister says so. I don't know, but according to my sister, it's true. He took over the humans and dwarves, won a great victory in the last battle, and rose through the ranks.

''It's an unusually large rise. And I've never heard of a legion leader who gets the cooperation of humans and dwarves.

'Yes, I'm one of the longer-lived ones, but I've never heard of a demon race like that. If the stories are true, they might treat us as equal allies instead of trying to use us as humans do.

That's why Master Ferrette is planning to hang his hat on the Demon King's army, isn't it?

Well....

　Ferrette blurted out.

　He let it slip out so as not to worry his handmaiden, but in truth, Ferret was a little worried.

　Although he had heard rumors about this person called Ike, yet never in the history of the elves had he ever made friends with the Demon King's army.

　But even so, from what I've heard about Ike, he seems to be a much wiser choice than giving in to the humans.

　So I want to take up my pen and see if this Ike guy is really trustworthy.

　Even after finishing the letter, Ferrette's worries persist.

　Will Ike be the savior of the elves, or is he a more fearsome opponent than the humans, he wanted to find out.

　Anyway, everything would be decided when he met Ike, the strongest magician in the Demon King's army.
　It could change the future of the elven race, or even the fate of this world.

　Ferret had been watching this world go for hundreds of years, but never before had he felt the swell of history as he did now.

　History is about to move in a big way when a demonic sorcerer named Ike appears on the scene.

　All Ferret could do was pray and strive to make the conclusion of that history a happy one for the elven race.

　The forest goddess Charis, please may Lord Ike be a hero who brings salvation to the elves.

　With that prayer, he instructed his maidservant to send a letter to him.