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“So, you’re saying you abandoned Araya and ran away.”

“That’s a loaded way of putting it. It’s not that we abandoned her and ran. Rather, Araya’s two giant disciples left the battlefield at her behest to deliver a message, just in case something happened. Thanks to them, we were able to get information about the current situation.”

“Or were you just scared and ran, and now you’re making excuses?”

“The two giants were severely injured when they arrived. That’s proof they did their best. Besides, if Araya was facing an opponent that dangerous, their strength wouldn’t have been of much help anyway. Araya knew that. Someone like you must already know that, don’t you?”

“…Tch.”

Pallas clicked his tongue, unable to refute the succubus Aliya, who, despite not being human, was the chancellor at the heart of the human world.

The Harmony Sword Masters flinched at Pallas’s rude attitude toward Aliya, but they didn’t act rashly as they might have in the past, during the long wars and their hot-blooded days.

They couldn’t be sure they were superior to the monstrous trio similar to their sister Aliya, or the Elves called Forest Keepers behind them.

As the air around them grew slightly colder, a voice rang out, breaking the tension.

“Now, now, Pallas, keep your bad attitude in the forest. Don’t go around picking fights everywhere outside.”

“Shut up.”

Saraswati, who had been watching Pallas lose the argument with Aliya with a gloating look, examined the statues around the space with interest, unconcerned about the atmosphere.

“Hmm. Calling you ‘you’ is a bit much. What should I call you? Aliya? …Or step-sister?”

“Call me whatever you’re comfortable with. Araya actually just calls me Aliya.”

“Then I’ll call you sister. Amazing. I was surprised when I saw it from outside the wall, but seeing the core formula directly is even more astonishing. Did you make this, sister?”

“It would have been impossible without Araya’s help.”

“Even so, thinking of making something this interesting… dangerous, you’re not normal either. Is it even possible to complete this?”

“…It seems impossible at the moment, but someday.”

“Well, you seem similar to us, so you’ll have plenty of time. Maybe it’ll be possible someday. But sister, did you hear about it from Araya?”

Saraswati’s green eyes turned fierce.

“We Elves value harmony and are born with the mission to eliminate anything that disrupts balance. Araya is insensitive to danger and has a bit of a ditsy side, but she’s curious and wants attention, so I don’t know if she allowed something like this, but I and my other siblings are a bit different from the foolishly generous Araya. There’s something more urgent than this right now, and this is ultimately something Araya did, so I’ll let it slide…”

A colorless, transparent aura began to swirl around Saraswati.

“But if you play any strange tricks with this, I guarantee… we will destroy everything you’ve built.”

The tension escalated as the Harmony Sword Masters’ hands went to their sword hilts, the air even more frozen than during the conversation with Pallas.

Only Pallas and Aliya remained calm amidst it all.

The hair-trigger tension that filled the world’s room was broken by the sound of applause.

“That’s what I think, but you don’t seem that foolish, sister. Can I trust you?”

“Even if I guarantee it with words that are easy to say, you wouldn’t easily believe me. But the control of this Deus Ex Machina is not only in my hands but also in Araya’s.”

“But right now, Araya is missing?”

“Are you and the other Elves planning to stay in Pohellen a little longer?”

“Hmm, I’d like to if possible.”

“Then how about staying in this Great Temple where Araya lived during that time, and you can examine it yourself, Saraswati?”

“Oh! Really?”

“…Saras…”

Anat called out to Saraswati, who was delighted, as if embarrassed.

Realizing her mistake, Saraswati cleared her throat and continued.

“Indeed, um, yes, that seems like a good idea. I need to confirm for myself whether this is dangerous or not. Not a bad suggestion.”

“How long do you think you’ll be staying?”

“I told sister I’d be back by spring before I left.”

“That’s right. You promised me before you left.”

“Then can I stay until spring? I want to see Araya return with my own eyes.”

“There’s no problem as long as you abide by the laws and rules of this place during your stay.”

“Of course. We can also lend a hand with simple tasks while we’re here. But we can’t help with the expedition you’re planning after spring. Araya is scattering things around without thinking and can’t be trusted, but in principle, we shouldn’t interfere in the natural struggles of species.”

“That’s actually what we’d like to ask of you. Thanks to Araya, the authority of the Immigration Church and the Elves has become excessively large among humans. If more intervention occurs, the balance of power within the human side will collapse.”

“It’s a mutually beneficial proposal. I look forward to working with you until spring.”

“Please tell me if you need anything at any time.”

“We Elves aren’t a race that consumes a lot to survive, so we won’t be much of a burden.”

Saraswati and Aliya smiled at each other, having concluded a satisfactory negotiation.

◈ ◈ ◈

“Was that enough with that earlier?”

“Anya, try this. It’s delicious.”

“Ugh… okay.”

“It seems to be dried fruit that’s the same as the fruit that opened from Mother’s incarnation earlier. I wonder if this can be grown in the forest?”

“Saraswati.”

The three High Elves were guided to the room Araya originally used.

Pallas growled at Saraswati, who was forcibly sharing dried dates with Anat.

“What’s bothering you again, grumpy pants?”

“…Don’t you need to ask more about Araya?”

“That’s enough.”

Pallas crossed his arms and gestured with his chin as if to ask for a reason.

“Being rude to your sister.”

Saraswati grumbled but sighed at Pallas’s firm attitude.

Isn’t he just worried about the youngest?

Even if his expression is different from mine, his heart is the same.

“Actually, what’s there to say more or less? Araya is alive, and she told the two scarred giants she took as disciples that she would return.”

“But Araya hasn’t returned yet.”

“Well, there are several reasons, but rather, for Araya’s sake, not going to find Araya might be more helpful to her.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Can you win if you fight Mother with all your might?”

“I would never fight Mother.”

“Don’t change the subject when you know what I’m talking about.”

“…It would be difficult to win.”

“You still have your pride. Difficult to win? You’d be dusted off like dew from a leaf.”

Saraswati chuckled and said, looking at Pallas, who was a little upset.

Saraswati put a dried date in her mouth and mumbled.

“Mumble, not just you, but mumble, even if we all ganged up, mumble, it would be the same.”

“…Chew before you talk. You dirty thing.”

“Gulp. Always with the way you talk.”

Saraswati crossed her arms and continued her explanation.

“Combining Mother’s story and the story of the giant disciples, and what Aliya said, it’s certain that Araya encountered someone at least on par with Mother. Aliya called them Elder Loa? We only had Mother, but if there are definitely such beings all over the world, we need to be careful when moving outside the forest.”

“If Araya incurred the wrath of such a being, shouldn’t we move even more?”

“That’s a bit ambiguous.”

Saraswati raised a slender finger and scratched her head slightly.

“Even if we don’t know Araya’s exact whereabouts, we know she’s alive. I don’t know how much stronger Araya has become in the meantime, but according to the giants, it wasn’t a one-sided match. She may have fled, or she may have been captured… but we can’t know for sure right now.”

“But remember the message Araya left for the giants. ‘Don’t come back north.’ That’s not just a story for the giants and the humans here, but for us too.”

“It means we’d be killed for nothing, so don’t come until she’s resolved it. You were with her when she first pioneered the forest, so you know her personality, right? She craves attention from others and pathologically hates the death of someone she’s given affection to.”

Pallas’s brow furrowed fiercely as he listened to Saraswati’s words.

“Are you saying that even though you don’t know what situation Araya is in, you shouldn’t go to help her because Araya doesn’t want you to?”

“Haha, unlike you, you unlikable thing, Araya is my sister who I truly love.”

Saraswati smiled lightly and spoke with a blank face.

“Currently, Araya is missing. The exact strength of the enemy is unknown. We have three High Elves and 80 Forest Keeper Elves. If the Elves, who haven’t even fully blossomed as a race, were to lose all of these human resources, the damage would be absolutely significant. And I am the person Demis entrusted with you and the Elves.”

“…Are you going to abandon Araya?”

“What did you just hear? Araya is my precious sister. I just thought that since we have a pretty good means until the spring Araya promised, there’s no need to move urgently. Honestly, my unfilial younger sister is making this older sister worry and suffer, so shouldn’t she suffer a little too?”

“A good means?”

“…Are you perhaps… talking about that thing in that strange room earlier?”

“You’re right. Anya! Unlike the stupid Pallas, you’re really smart.”

“Ugh-.”

Anat said to Saraswati, who was sticking to her and rubbing her cheeks, with a worried voice.

“…It looked dangerous… Can we really use that?”

“It might be difficult to control perfectly, but I think it’s worth a try. Araya was originally amazing, but… the woman named Aliya who thought of that is no joke either. Synchronizing the spirit into a single ideology to eliminate mental immunity to external forces and receiving power. It’s an interesting idea.”

“…The energies swirling inside seemed to be screaming.”

“Wild Gods… or Loa here, I guess? Humans looked weak, but they killed as many dragons as they did. But if humans don’t use it, it’s a power suitable for Elves. Unlike humans who naturally arise here and there, we originally came from a single root, the Mother World Tree El-Prigion.”

“…Is that really a safe power? I and the Forest Keepers are not your experimental subjects.”

“Even if it’s not the usage method that Aliya and Araya thought of, it’s a great power centered on the core of the Elder Loa, Ul’kanadiel, and the cores of 72 Loa combined. There are endless ways to use it.”

“…Would Aliya allow something like that?”

“I’ll try to ask as much as possible at first. And… if not.”

Saraswati’s green eyes turned dark.

Pallas glared at Saraswati and then sighed and stepped back.

“Don’t worry too much. She might be doing surprisingly well, right? She’s been trapped in a place like this for seven years, so she might be feeling a sense of liberation for the first time in a while and deliberately not coming back.”

“…Demis entrusted you with this task, so I will follow you for now. But if something happens to Araya.”

“I know.”

Serasvati’s voice was low.

Then, she reached out and gently stroked Anat’s hair.

“If anything happens to my precious little sister, I’ll kill that Elder Loa, or Gal Dragon, or whatever kind of lizard he is, no matter what it takes.”