Chapter 476 - She Was Once Her Comrade

After chatting with Lilia-san and the others for a bit, I decided to head to where I would meet up with Dr. Vier and Neun-san. If I headed there now, I would arrive 20 minutes before our meeting time, which should be just the right time to arrive.

As I was leisurely enjoying the scenery, together with Bell and Lynn, I suddenly spotted something no, someone strange.

Holding a large wooden staff in hand, they slowly doddered, looking as if they were about to fall. Its hard to tell if theyre male or female because of the dark green robe theyre clad in.

Anyway, they were behaving in a way that didnt seem right, so feeling worried, I approached them and called out.

[Ummm, is something the matter?]

[Youve come at just the right time, young man. You have a virtuous heart. Splendid, I commend you. If its possible, I would appreciate it if you could help out this foolish me.]

[Eh? Ah, yes. If its something I could do]

When they turned towards me after I called out to them, I saw the persons face. She was a girl with orange hair, though I couldnt tell because it was hidden under her robe, and green eyes.

She is very short, only about 130cm tall, but in this world, I couldnt tell a persons age based on their appearance. The fact that she calls me young man also indicates that she must be quite old.

[Well, living beings are born unequal with each other. Some species dont need to orally a.s.similate other beings, while others will collapse after a mere 10 days of fasting. Well, Im talking about what happened to me.]

[H- Huhh]

[Ahh, please dont misunderstand. Its not like Im a weird wors.h.i.+pper of a religion, nor am I a pervert who likes hurting oneself. No, all scholars and researchers are perverts of some sort, so I guess that makes me a pervert too? Well, whether or not Im a pervert is an interesting topic, but its not relevant today.]

[E- Errr, what do you mean?]

[Ive been so absorbed in my research that I havent eaten anything for a while now. I tried to find a stall to eat something, but this place was too big and I got lost. Id appreciate it if you could show mercy on this poor me and give me some food.]

What a convoluted way to talk. Ahh, unnn. Why is it that theres always something strange with the people I know?

Anyway, to sum it all up, it seems like shes saying shes hungry, so feed her something, so I take some food out of my magic box and handed it to her.

Thereupon, the woman took off her hood and began eating with great gusto. The face that appeared from beneath the hood was definitely that of a beautiful girl. Her deep orange hair is short, but her bangs are long and droop down her eyes, giving her a slightly gloomy look.

She has their distinctive long ears, so I guess shes probably an elf.

The woman finished eating the food I gave her in no time, and after drinking the tea I gave her, she smiled.

[Well~~ You really help me out here. I give you my thanks, Miyama Kaito-kun. You are indeed, a very nice young man.]

[Eh? H- How did you know my name]

[The food you gave me tasted great, and this tea is also delicious. Fumu, I wonder if the quality of a foods taste is affected by ones personality? I cant say for sure because I dont have many examples, but dont you think that people with good taste often have good characters?]

[N- No, rather than that]

[Ahh, yes, yes, youre asking why I knew your name? Well, it would be more strange that I wouldnt know about you, dont you think? Youre quite famous after all. Well, in my case though, I heard about you from my people and my friends, so what I heard might be a little different from the rumors circulating around you within the general public.]

[H- Huhh]

She sure talks a lot its as if shes a machine gun. I cant keep up with what shes saying at all.

[Errr, who were you talking about?]

[Unnn, unnn, I knew you would wonder about that. Dont worry, Ill courteously explain to you. First of all, the people that I call my people are the Elves of Rigfores.h.i.+a. Despite my appearance, Im actually the Elven Elder. Well, I prefer secluding myself, so weve never met. Ive only heard rumors about you.]

[H- Huh I see.]

[Even so, dont you think its ridiculous to appoint a social recluse like me as the Elder? Im better suited to hiding myself in a dark room and doing my research Well, I guess its something I can speak well since this happened because of my research.]

[]

Amazing, what an amazing person Her conversation skill is through the roof! For every word I say, shes saying three times more. I cant keep up with the conversation at all.

[And then, theres my friends. Hikari had Oh, right, didnt she say shes calling herself Neun now? Anyway, Neun and Laguna told me about you.]

[Wha!?]

[Listen, the reason Im here today is because of Laguna. She arranged my invitation, forcing me to come. Good gracious, what a troubling woman she is. As for me, I just wanted to hasten the development of magic that makes monsters fur grow longer that Im currently working on but they had to rub the fact theyre my old friends on my face. I couldnt ignore them, so I came out, beneath the annoying sun, like this.]

[P- Please stop for a moment!]

[Even so, the sun just has to s.h.i.+ne its light too much huh? I feel like melting Unnn? What is it?]

It feels like she would talk on and on if I let her, so I interrupted her and decided to ask about the most shocking thing that I had just heard.

Also, that weird magic is the reason why you have to fast for 10 days!?

[You are acquainted with Neun-san and Laguna-san?]

[Unnn? Ah, right, how rude of me. I forgot that I still havent introduced myself. Please dont think Im intentionally being rude. Im still trying to be polite, and Im certainly thankful for your help. Ah, this wont do. Im getting off subject again.]

[.]

[My name is Fors I also have the unworthy nickname Sage of the Forest, but lets put that aside for now. As you may have guessed, I was part of the journey of the First Hero Well, Im just a third-rate magician you can find anywhere.]

Hearing the words she said with a slack grin on her face, my mind went completely blank.

Dear Mom, Dad- What the heck is going on with my encounter rate towards strange people? Im even starting to wonder if Im actually cursed. Anyway, the person I happened to meet was once Neun-sans comrade.

Ground-type Serious-senpai : [Unnn? Arehh? What is this? Ground-type? Doesnt it feel like I got weaker? You didnt take a screw out over there, right? This isnt some regression or anything like that, right?]

? ? ? : [Ahh? Hey, if you make fun of Ground-types, youll crash down before their beam rifles, you know?]

Ground-type Serious-senpai : [H- Hyyiiiiihh!? I- Im sorry. I- I guess youre right. I definitely got stronger now]

Ground-type Serious-senpai : [Oiiiiiii! I really did get weaker!!! Or rather, if my Serious Power decreases by 4, wouldnt that bring my stat down to the negatives!!!? My dignity as the incarnation of seriousness is disappearing, you know!?]

T/N: 47/271