The mountain elves and Teteto held a domino competition under the name of a technical exchange event.
The enormous domino setup they spent about three days building delighted the village residents.
「The final grand mechanism was amazing」
「I never expected Village Chief’s statue to fly into the sky」
「That was completely unexpected」
It was unexpected for me too.
Partway through the domino chain, a giant statue of me was assembled, and at the very end it launched into the sky with a tremendous explosion.
Since nobody had told me about it beforehand, it gave me quite a scare.
The mountain elves proudly declared that it was meant to express my greatness.
That is fine and all, but did they not see the giant statue of me break apart upon landing?
Hmm?
Well, it did not look much like me, so I am not bothered by it.
-0-
Teteto returned to the city where Ursa is based.
Since Beezel knew the location, she was able to go directly there.
However, the large amount of gifts and supplies will be transported by airship from Village Five, so they will arrive a little later.
I entrusted Teteto with a letter explaining the situation, so Asa and Earth should understand.
I also gave her a letter from Ursa addressed to Asa and Earth.
Personally, I think Ursa could have teleported with Teteto and then immediately returned.
Ah, Zabuton is objecting to that idea.
She insists that Ursa absolutely would not come right back.
Hakuren is nodding vigorously as well, so that is probably true.
I will not argue.
-0-
When Ursa is not with Hakuren or Zabuton during her stay in the village, she spends her time with the village children.
She seems to be making a real effort to interact with them.
That is good to see.
At dinner, Ursa brought up the subject of Nutt, Gutt’s daughter.
She asked what was going to happen regarding Nutt’s husband.
Hmm?
Isn’t that something her father, Gutt, should decide?
Why are you asking me?
You are not thinking about one of my sons, are you?
No, no.
If one of my sons came to me for advice, I would consider it, but I am not going to take the initiative myself.
As far as I am concerned, people should choose their own marriage partners.
That may be my approach, but the mothers of my sons might be thinking differently.
I should confirm it with them.
After all, the matter of Alfred and Ursa was arranged by Loo and Hakuren.
The only thing I insisted on was that it could not happen without the consent of the people involved.
Still, Nutt’s marriage partner, huh?
She is old enough for that now.
Ah, perhaps I should discreetly ask Gutt about it as well.
-0-
I asked Gutt about it.
「I think it is still too early to decide on a partner」
Yeah.
I understand.
It is still too early for her to get married.
Though Gutt’s wife, Nashii, is looking this way.
Um, has Nutt been consulting you about anything, Nashii?
She has not consulted me directly, but it seems she has someone she is interested in?
Really?
It is probably better not to ask who.
I would not want to make things awkward or accidentally get in the way.
Gutt clearly wants to know who it is, but… I will leave that to Nashii.
This is a matter between husband and wife, after all.
Yep.
-0-
Afternoon.
Gulf stood with a wooden sword resting on his shoulder, gazing up at the sky.
「I guess I was weaker than I thought」
He was saying something rather profound, but from what I saw, did he not just defeat Ursa in their sparring match?
Ursa seems incredibly frustrated about it.
「Village Chief… Ah, my fighting style is basically about neutralizing an opponent’s strengths and exploiting their weaknesses」
Hmm?
I do not really understand that sort of thing, but is that not normal?
You mean attacking an opponent’s weak points, right?
「That is true, but Ursa-chan tries to let her opponent fight at full strength before crushing them. This time, I only won because Ursa-chan could not fully withstand my full power」
Ah, well, I think that simply means Ursa is still inexperienced.
「It is just that her body has not fully caught up with her swordsmanship yet. If she were a little taller, I would have lost」
So this sparring match made that clear.
「Yes. I need to work harder」
I see.
Having that kind of drive for self-improvement is a good thing.
By the way, Zabuton is over there warming up, apparently intending to avenge Ursa.
Are you about to fight her next?
「Do you think I can get away?」
Nope.
Gulf did his best.
You are amazing.
And now Hakuren is next?
Ah, he ran away.
-0-
Ursa occasionally goes to Village Five.
When she does, I leave her protection to Reginleif.
They are both women, after all.
Apparently, when Ursa visits Village Five, she mainly observes the village council.
Perhaps she is using it as a reference for managing the city where she is based.
She also had meals with Youko and spoke with Youko’s secretary.
And Youko was absolutely delighted.
「Indeed, indeed. I believe it is only proper to first learn from what is close at hand before looking to foreign nations」
She probably had some thoughts about Alfred and Tiselle going off to the human countries.
Sorry about that.
Still, I heard you gave Ursa some work to do?
「Only something simple. Ursa can handle it without any trouble」
But I heard it was an adventurer’s job that required leaving Village Five?
Reginleif seemed troubled about it.
「M-Mu, it is not as though I forced her. Ursa said she wanted to do it」
It would be nice if Hakuren and Zabuton were willing to listen to that excuse.
They are waiting over there.
「…………………………」
Youko turned into a smaller version of herself and somehow managed to smooth things over with Hakuren and Zabuton.
Impressive.
「Y-You could have helped me, you know?」
Sorry about that.
-0-
Ursa played baseball in Village Five.
She played on the Demon King’s team.
She was the cleanup hitter and played second base.
Apparently, she performed well both offensively and defensively.
I wish I could have seen it.
Still, was the competition for a regular position on the Demon King’s team not supposed to be fierce?
How did Ursa manage to get into the lineup?
「Recently, Gol, Sil, Bron, Ojess, Haifrigta, and Kihatroy have all been busy」
I see.
So the only one with free time was the Demon King.
Is it really okay for the Demon King to be that idle?
「A country whose king does not even have time to play deserves to perish」
Hahaha.
Since Beezel is watching, I have no comment.
-0-
Beezel brought letters from Asa and Earth.
Calling them letters feels a bit inaccurate given the quantity.
Some are not even on paper, but are messages carved into wooden boards.
Well then, I will start with the letter that seems to be the most important.
It contained explanations of the methods Ursa had used to escape in the past.
It warned us to be careful because this is the sort of thing she does to shake off her escorts.
I-I see.
The text carved into the wooden boards turned out to be a set of rules agreed upon between Asa, Earth, and Ursa regarding things she is not allowed to do.
So, she ran away often enough for there to be a formal set of rules.
One of the major examples is pretending to be dead.
It is prohibited because it causes worry and creates all kinds of trouble for others.
Naturally.
The boards contain a whole list of such things.
Apparently, in the city where Ursa is based, these rules have been carved into a giant boulder.
Ah…
For now, I suppose I should show these letters and rules to Reginleif.
-0-
After reading them, Reginleif requested additional escorts.
Around twenty of them.
And from a variety of races.
According to her, if they are all from the same race, Ursa will find a way to outsmart them.
Male escorts are necessary too?
Because Ursa might use places that women cannot easily enter.
……
We will provide the escorts.
And I will also ask Hakuren and Zabuton to tell Ursa not to shake off her guards.
I should give her a warning as well.
The escorts are not enemies, so she should not cause them trouble.
Though, to be fair, I sometimes forget about my own escorts too.
Yes, that is something I need to reflect on as well.
Let us both reflect on it together.
-0-
The Broken Village Chief Statue
Elf A: 「Wouldn’t that be disrespectful?」
Elf B: 「But if we judge it that way, wouldn’t that mean we are acknowledging that the statue actually resembles Village Chief?」
Elf C: 「Calling that Village Chief is… a bit much」
Elf D: 「Grrr… They managed to make a statue that walks such a perfect line」
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