Of course, I couldn’t just chop down Arlil overnight. The massive tree deeply rooted in the ground would be a major construction project in itself just to cut down.
And above all, most of the elves still hold that tree sacred. Even if the number of elves is significantly lower than that of humans, provoking backlash from all of them wasn’t a smart move. Moreover, if I made it clear from the outset that I was going to cut down the tree, a political faction would surely seize that opportunity as bait for their own agenda.
For instance, someone might come out promising, “I can protect Arlil” in order to win the votes of the elves.
Until now, elves have lived by setting their own rules, but legally, they are all citizens with voting rights. There could easily be those who would try to exploit the uneducated mindset of the elves for their own gain.
So, I laid down some conditions first.
“…Allow other races to enter the elf region?”
“Of course, that should be the first thing to discuss. Since elves belong to human society, they should follow the laws of human society, right?”
“Do you really think one duel can change all of that?”
Krah’s words were sharp, but that day had dulled their edge significantly. After going through the trial last time, his hostility towards me was already lessened. Moreover, with this incident, their pride had taken a hit. The common sense that elves had held onto was beginning to crumble one by one.
To add insult to injury, the one who lost the duel was Ramihi Kihmuhir. As a fellow Kihmuhir, it must have been a shock. Ramihi wasn’t exactly the weakest among elves.
“Do you think I staged this duel to change everything all at once?”
But even I didn’t expect society to change just because of that one duel. Elves had lived their whole lives under strict control of information from outside their region. This duel was just the first shock; there was still a long way to go.
“To be honest, I was planning to make the same demands regardless of the duel’s outcome. If this doesn’t work out, I can think of other methods.”
Well, Jian had come along as backup, but fortunately, there wasn’t anything for him to do.
“Ha, haha…”
Krah let out a dry laugh, as if he was feeling exasperated.
“…Even if an elf has mixed blood with another race, they should be treated the same.”
“That’s something I didn’t even need to demand; it was something that should’ve been upheld from the start. It’s just fixing something abnormal to a normal state.”
Now, excuses like “they are not useful to the village due to their physical abilities” wouldn’t work anymore. After all, Satsuki herself, who had been banished with her family during her childhood, had come back to prove it.
“…Teach the same curriculum adopted in human society.”
“While the central government allows local autonomy for each region, they still have a set educational policy. It seems that the elves need a systematic curriculum like other regions. If we maintain the current situation, it could lead to significant damage for visiting other races.”
Krah rubbed his nose with his finger and let out a deep sigh.
“…If there are elves who want to go to other regions, the elders have no right to stop them.”
“That has the same meaning as what I initially said. I thought if I didn’t emphasize it once more, someone might argue that it wasn’t included in the demands.”
When I glanced at Elder Rechmir, he frowned as if he found it distasteful. However, he didn’t show any further reaction; he merely remained silent, as if to indicate he wouldn’t agree.
But even so, Rechmir couldn’t do anything.
The elder council or whatever was just an institution created by the elves, but the law that truly applied was that of human society.
Legally speaking, except for Krah, who was the regional representative, the rest were practically unemployed.
In other words, if Krah just signs this document, then that would be the end of the matter.
“What happens if I refuse here?”
“Then you’d be picked apart and sent to trial again. This time, it would be a trial by the central government, not the Central Church.”
If that happens, there would be a backlash even from the central government that had previously been turning a blind eye to the elf region’s ways. And to completely distance themselves from the situation, they would surely come down hard on it.
“…”
After hearing my words, Krah paused for a long while, staring at the demands with a penetrating gaze before letting out a sigh.
“…I agree.”
And in the end, he stiffly lifted his pen and signed.
*
“How much impact do you think this will have on the elves?”
As we exited the elder council, Aurora asked. I shrugged my shoulders.
“Looking at the stagnant state of the elves until now, I suppose it will eventually have tremendous influence. Of course, I don’t want to come back.”
For now, there wouldn’t be many coming here. The elven society would remain closed for a while, not wanting to fully accept outsiders.
However, among those visiting, there might be people like Satsuki’s mother.
The more such people visit, the more elven society would gradually open up. And if proper education were to be given, they would understand how absurd Arlil is.
“It’s going to take a long time.”
Linea muttered, looking up at Arlil.
“There’s no helping that. It’s much better than immediately descending into civil war.”
Honestly, getting to this point was incredibly tough. I let out a sigh. The request form that Krah and I signed was in an envelope in my hand. It was much thinner than the report I had written, only a few pages long, but the significance of this document was substantial. It had been signed by the head of the Central Church and the representative of the elven region.
Thanks to that, the document, weighing less than a hundred grams, felt strangely heavy. …I need to hand this over to the church and forget about it.
Returning to the 21st District would be tomorrow. I still had another night to spend here, so there was plenty of time left.
“…It’s hard to tell whether it’s day or night here.”
Due to the constant light emitted by Arlil, the elven village was always bright. You could tell if it was day or night by looking at the sky between the branches. But if I hadn’t looked up at the sky, I would have probably lost track of time.
The sky visible through the branches was stained a deep red. Had I been in the elder council for that long?
“Shall we go rest soon?”
I said with a somewhat refreshed expression, and then—
“Hmm, Selena must be anxiously waiting.”
That comment brought my refreshment down by about 50 percent.
*
When I returned to the room, studying was already in full swing.
It seemed that Lina was still a bit bitter about me bringing her here without considering her nature, as she hadn’t followed me into the elder council. To be honest, it was both about sentiment and because the elder council was indeed very close to Arlil. From Lina’s perspective, even if it wasn’t life-threatening, it was definitely a hot and annoying place she would rather avoid.
So, it turned out that among those who had skipped class, only Lina was waiting in this room. Jian couldn’t come into this room being a boy… I felt a bit bad saying that. Still, it seemed like he had gotten a bit closer with Uncle Paul, so maybe it was alright?
At first, I thought Selena had started studying only with Lina. But sitting next to Lina was already another person.
“Rene?”
I asked in surprise, and Rene, who had been listening intently to Selena’s explanation, turned and smiled brightly at me.
“Oh, Saintess, you’re here?”
“I came.”
Unlike Lina, who had a clear ‘I don’t want to do this’ expression, Rene was bubbling with excitement. Far more than me, who needed the class desperately.
“Were you studying together?”
When I asked that, Selena nodded.
“Yep. While I was organizing what you all needed to study, Rene showed interest. There was no reason to refuse, so I started to explain.”
“…I don’t think there was any need to force me into this as well.”
“Why not? It’s not bad to study while you have the time, right?”
Selena countered in a straightforward manner, and Lina just frowned, not replying. Her expression indicated that she at least knew that Selena wasn’t wrong.
“Is studying going well?”
Rene had been my guide previously, but we weren’t particularly close to the elders. Every time I ruthlessly ignored the elders, her face would turn pale, so she definitely was closer to a commoner.
She probably lived a life very distant from systematic schooling. Within the elven village, she had most likely never received education beyond the abilities needed for her assigned role.
“Yes, we can’t use magic, so we don’t know much about that. But physics and chemistry are fun!”
Wait, how can you say that after just a few hours of study? How can you assert that physics and chemistry are fun?
No way, is it really because you’ve only studied them for a few hours that they seem fun?
Did Selena read my expression correctly? With her eyes half-closed, she rested her chin in her hand and looked at me.
“Physics and chemistry are the most definitive and fundamental studies of the laws of the world, right? It’s only natural they become more interesting the more you delve into them!”
No, it can’t be that only a tiny fraction of people hold that mindset, and that’s why someone with a Ph.D. in physics or chemistry is considered smart!
“Anyway, sit here. It’s a topic that’s almost the same as what you’ll be learning. Since we’re at it, why not study together until you leave?”
“I’m in!”
Rene nodded enthusiastically.
No, I’m not really into that… Of course, if I didn’t do this, my grades might tank so hard that I’d end up in the same year as everyone else below me.
I imagined Lina looking at me and saying, “Then you can call me senior now.”
…Yeah, I guess I have to do it.
Well, I know this is a very positive sign.
The more elves show interest in what’s happening outside their region, the less shocking it will be when they mingle with outsiders.
That’s a good thing. A good thing. It can be seen as a sign that the problems in elven society might be resolved much more quickly than I expected.
However, the reason I felt so gloomy is probably because Rene, who was seeing the textbook for the first time, seemed to understand things far better than I did.
As expected, they are a race that can effortlessly speak a very complicated language, I thought to myself.
*
The injury on my hand had healed cleanly.
Satsuki looked at her left hand. The wound where Ramihi’s blade had pierced was now gone without a trace. It was only natural, given that the healing provided by the Saintess was something that previous saints had never achieved.
Even if she moved her hand, she no longer felt any pain. In fact, even right after the stab, she hadn’t felt much pain. Perhaps it was because she was focused on attacking Ramihi with all her might that she hadn’t noticed. They say that when a person is overly excited, they don’t feel pain well.
“Maybe it was thanks to the holy power radiating from Arlil.”
As if reading her thoughts, a voice came, and Satsuki flinched.
“…Was it?”
“I just arrived moments ago, though.”
Ramihi naturally sat next to Satsuki, in a spot where Arlil was clearly visible. It was such a high tree that if she fell, she would certainly sustain serious injuries, yet to see Arlil, she had to tilt her head back far.
“Elves are extremely sensitive to holy power. Even if Clara hadn’t healed you at that time, your wound would have healed. I’m not sure if it would have healed that nicely, though.”
“But I’m not a pure elf.”
“Still, you’re half-elf.”
Ramihi said succinctly.
“…”
“…”
And the two fell silent for a while.
Although they had pointed their swords at each other and fought, it wasn’t out of malice. They weren’t particularly familiar but there was no awkwardness between them either. Satsuki had felt uneasy around Ramihi, who was a pure elf, but Ramihi spoke to Satsuki as if it were completely normal.
“When we fought earlier…”
The first to break the silence was Satsuki.
“Did you let me win?”
“Let you win?”
Ramihi furrowed her brow and asked back.
“No, just… It doesn’t seem real that I won.”
Seeing Ramihi’s displeasure, Satsuki mumbled a little.
“It doesn’t feel real that I won?”
“Sort of.”
“…”
Ramihi momentarily sealed her lips.
“Well, until the last moment, I thought I would win. I always won during practice at the academy. I never let anyone win. I just misjudged in that moment. Who knows? If I had blocked your sword with my hand, I might have won.”
Satsuki firmly believed that Ramihi would have won in that situation.
“If I had continued living here, the story might have been different. Here, even if you got hurt, you’d heal quickly, and you’d feel much less pain, wouldn’t you? But you see…”
Ramihi shrugged her shoulders as if to make a joke.
“When I got hit a few times at the academy, it really hurt. I realized for the first time that I had to endure that kind of pain outside of the holy power’s range. It really hit me. Ah, humans feel pain like this while fighting.”
“…”
“Why, is that strange? My grandfather lived outside and didn’t have those thoughts?”
Satsuki didn’t feel the need to respond.
“Well, thinking is different for everyone. Perhaps they thought they had to keep protecting this land. Elves shouldn’t have to feel such pain. Maybe they’ve never lost in fights against humans either.”
“…Clara once said that Arlil needs to be eliminated someday.”
Satsuki spoke carefully to Ramihi.
“Do you think that’s okay?”
“Not sure.”
Looking up at Arlil, Ramihi tilted her head. That enormous tree looked far too sacred to be simply labeled as a parasitic tree.
It wasn’t that she disbelieved Clara’s words. She just thought, if someone had been tricked by that tree, then that might be understandable.
“I still don’t know. I am an elf. No matter how long I live in a different area and meet unusual people, I cannot change the fact that I am an elf. I probably would cry if the day came when Arlil vanished.”
However, Satsuki couldn’t imagine Ramihi crying.
“Then why did you help Clara?”
“Without Clara, Arlil would have also perished. It’s well known that Arlil grew to this size thanks to Clara, right? Arlil feeds on holy power. If the amount of holy power provided falls below a certain level, that massive body couldn’t sustain itself. The larger Arlil becomes, the more holy power it will demand at once.”
Ramihi’s gaze slightly lowered.
“If no one provides holy power, it would eventually wither away anyway. We have no means to produce the holy power ourselves.”
“…”
Satsuki couldn’t come up with a plausible reply to that.
“It’s strange that I didn’t know such facts until it got this far.”
It had supposedly been information known only to the elder council until Clara revealed it. Ramihi was an important figure, but that didn’t mean she had access to such information.
“But aside from all of that, I do think it’s right that things should change.”
Ramihi turned her head slightly to look at Satsuki.
“And I am an elf, and elves believe most in what they see.”
“Yeah…”
Satsuki simply responded like that.
The two looked up once again. Even now, Arlil was shining with holy power—
No, through that golden light filled with holy power, something foreign could be seen.
““Huh?””
The two girls simultaneously exclaimed at the sight of something strange.
*
“Today, let’s call it a day…”
As I groaned and held my head from information overload, Selena looked at me in disbelief.
“You said you could do this all day.”
“That’s physical stuff.”
No, when did I ever say that?
“Isn’t mental work easier and better than physical work?”
“There’s a limit to that! Who attempts to cram an entire textbook worth of knowledge in their head in one day? Especially when it’s not even part of the curriculum!”
“Anyway, you’ll be missing out on a lot going forward, so wouldn’t it be helpful to do some prep work?”
No, um.
Well…
Ugh.
It’s a valid argument; it’s hard to refute.
Sure, I’ve traveled a lot, but I haven’t been that busy that I couldn’t do anything for a full 24 hours.
I simply hadn’t thought about studying.
“Oh, are we really stopping?”
Just when I was arguing that it was time to end the class, someone cautiously asked that.
I turned my head to see Rene looking at me with wide, eager eyes. Knowledge thirst overflowed from those eyes.
“See, Rene wants to continue.”
“…”
Rene is an elf. An elf living in the elven region. If she doesn’t learn here, who knows when she’ll have the opportunity to do so again?
Someday, a school will open in the elven village with staff, but that won’t happen overnight.
“…Then, just a little bit more—”
Just as I was about to respond, the door to the dormitory burst open with a bang, so hard that the doorknob left a dent in the wall.
The one who entered through the door was Grace, the vice-captain of the Saintess Knights.
She blurted out, almost startling us:
“Saintess, Arlil is on fire!”
It was a big enough deal to momentarily freeze everyone’s thoughts.
“…”
Therefore, it wasn’t so embarrassing for me to lose my words instantly.
“…What?”
It wasn’t embarrassing to let out a voice that broke in pitch.
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