Guildmaster's room.

　There, me and Yui were sitting in a visitor's chair waiting for us.

''You're late!''

　Riff is still sitting in his toddler chair, propped up against his desk and complaining.

'You've come a long way, haven't you?　Well, then, I don't blame you.

That's not what I'm saying. It's a pretty serious problem.

Is this bad?

　He picked up the disturbing words and returned them.

　But Riff didn't change his appearance and continued.

'I'll tell you when we're all here.

Then you can talk now.

　I say, and there's a knock at the door.

　Riff gets up and turns his head to the door, saying, "That's what I'm talking about .......

'You're going in,'

'Excuse me. I apologize for the delay.

　I'm Phil.

　I think I'm alone.

It looks like Thoria wasn't going to make it, after all.

Yeah, he's extremely busy. He'll be here late.

　The story seems to have gone through between Riff and Phil.

　This request was received by the Charisma Party. Nature asks.

'What's going on?'

"Soria has transferred to the true Astaire faith. So I've been making the rounds and doing missionary work to impress them.

Hmm, what's up with the Astaire faith?

'It's almost disbanded. That's to be expected after something like that.

You guys are in a tough spot.

　So Sufi has been busy, too.

　In the meantime, Sheila's recruited him to join Kuena and my party, but he hasn't shown his face.

　It seems that they are communicating with each other somehow, but with the expansion of the True Astaire religion like this, it can't be helped.

Then let's talk about it in a reasonable way.

　Riff takes out a square magic item with a depression in the center. It's about the size of a fist, translucent and light blue.

　He placed it on the desk where Riff was prostrated.

''This is a transfer magic item. You will use this to go directly to the elven branch.

Are we going in person?

Hmm. The Elves refuse to let the outside world interfere with them. The roads are not only not well paved, they are far from perfect.

...... refusing to interfere with the outside world, is that okay for us to go there?

That's where I was going with this whole mess.

　I think this is where the conversation connected.

　Riff's expression darkens.

'Right now, the only organization of other races in the elven village is the Guild.

Oh, man, that means only humans?

I'm keeping it all to myself.

I don't know how you do it all by yourself.

He's good at his job. He is persistent because he has an elf wife to marry. Even so, he is slowly being hunted down.

　That's one of the circumstances.

　I have researched about the elves beforehand, as I was going to receive the request.

　It was said that due to the success of the previous generation of brave men, the village of the elves had begun to accept other races.

　However.

''It's not working?''

　Phil asks.

'Hmm. Although there were signs of trouble more than ten years ago, most of them have withdrawn from the organization in the last few years. And now the guild is in a bad situation.

It's kind of scary how shy people can be when they're this shy.

　The guild would have dealt with this as well.

　A- and S-ranked parties were asked to go to the elven village and failed.

　That's why they called us.

"It's not like we are the last trump card. We won't take another step back.

That's a lot of pressure.

It's ironic that it doesn't seem to budge an inch.

'We don't know the level of difficulty, so there's no way to frighten them.

　I've never been to an elf village.

　Furthermore, I've never seen a race of elves.

　If I knew the average of strength, I would have been able to react the way Riff imagined.

　But it would be foolish to fear them for nothing. Too much cowardice and you will die without being able to change.

'So let's have you come to us. Touch the magic item.

　All of them, except Riff, put their hands on it.

　Phil, there is no fear on Yui's face at all.

　Riff nods with satisfaction at that.

I have no doubt that you guys will do it. You will be greeted by a member of the chapter when you arrive, and you will receive an explanation from him.

　The vision is brightening.

　It's a sign of transition.

　Then the place shifts from the guildmaster's office.

　If I had to describe it in one word, it would be silence.

　The small size of the reception area is incomparable to the headquarters. The room is also only enough space for ten people to be able to say that it's the limit.

　But even so, it's well-cleaned and has an ornamental flower pot on the floor. -- you can tell at a glance that the man waiting for you in this room is doing a meticulous job.

'Welcome, Charisma Party!　Oh, that was a tentative name. Let's see. Jide-sama, Phil-sama, and Yui-sama, right? It seems that Soria-sama isn't here, but we've already heard from her.

　A man in his thirties or so greets us and bows his head deeply.

''I'm Rook. I am the head of the branch here at the Elf Branch. We have been expecting you all.

I've heard so much about you. I'll need a written request and a letter of request as soon as possible.

　Phil will respond.　

　When he was told, Luc handed me three request forms and a pen from the receptionist.

　I look at the contents of the request.

'Nearby, the divine tree enshrined by the elves is about to bloom. We need to secure a large amount of sap at that time, so I would like you to be in charge of guarding the distribution of it. That's what I'm asking.

　From what I've heard, it sounds pretty easy.

　Well, it's not going to be easy, that's why I'm here.

Distribution guard. What do you do exactly?

　Cut deeper.

　We won't be frightened or afraid, but let's not let our guard down and proceed with caution.

'I think the hardest part will be the timing of distributing the sap to the demons.

'You're going to give it to the demons?　Not just the elves?

''Yes. The divine tree is an existence that benefits all of this forest. It is said that there is an ancient law that it must not be monopolized by the elves alone.

I see. So the demons won't go easy on you?

　Sharing the sap is a law set by the elves.

　Of course, demons don't understand this law. Apparently, sap is something valuable.

''- There are not a few demons who try to rob me. The sap of the divine tree will strengthen your magical power and make your body healthy.

'An increase in magic power? That's amazing.

''Yes. Moreover, influenced by the magic power that flows from the divine tree, the magic stones that are unearthed can be used to power magic items with high purity energy.

　Magic stone. It's a word I've seen in the library.

　With this, you can handle magic items without using magic power, so they are very useful.

　Ordinary stones on the ground, for example, are inspired by magic and have magic power on their bodies.

　It can be produced normally, but unless you have a large amount of magic power or someone who has mastered a high level of magic manipulation, it will take time to create a high purity magic stone.

''No wonder.''

　I'm convinced that I'm alone.

　In fact, I spread my detection magic from the moment I entered the elven village.

　Countless magic stones on the ground. The surrounding trees are also inhabited by magic power and grow their own magic power like living creatures.

　And in the center of the village, there is a huge single tree. Without a doubt, we can be sure that it is a divine tree. I could sense that much life force and grandeur through the magic power.

''Well then, I will first take you to the rental house where you will be staying.

　The magic items of transference make it easy to go back and forth between the kingdom of Kuzela and the elven village.

　So there's no need to stay there.

　However, since the flowering time of the divine tree is unknown, it's perfect to be in the elven village, so they were going to have a rental house prepared for us this time.

　I walked out of the elven branch of the guild.