“Muu, nilurauzu… olto, fauna ulzeitosu?” (Nn, he hasn’t arrived yet… Did he wander off again?)

After I connected my consciousness with the World Tree for a while, I tried to find the location of the Seed of the World Tree via the leylines spread over the whole capital city.

(Looks like my worries were unfounded…)

As I felt the warm magic that contained both Earth and Holy attribute magic gradually get nearer, I checked my appearance in the full-length mirror and sipped some tea from my teacup in preparation for my visitor who was approaching in a few seconds.

I was feeling a little down because of the rebellion a few days ago and the matter with the Philland Republic was ongoing, so I wanted to complain to him a little. Now that I think of it, there was also the time when I fell asleep and failed to disconnect my sensory perception from the World Tree Aion (eternity) when he climbed on it, so I felt like I was being groped all over albeit indirectly…

“Deluagiriis, kyaro riedilto uldismolfa?” (Hmm, should I imitate the little Werecat and exact my revenge by ruffling his fur?) 

I was actually a little jealous of how Lilia, the young Werecat girl who was captured by the Slave traders along with me, used to ruffle the Kobolds’ fur without reserve. Also, around this time, they should have already shed their summer fur and their coat should have changed into their soft and warm winter fur, so it’s bound to be even fluffier by now!

As the Queen of the “Guardian’s Forest” secretly schemed, there was a light knock on the door of her private chambers…

“Lord Aristia, alvis diktorea.” (Lady Aristia, I have accompanied Sir Archer.)

“… Ludi, reklatous.” (… Come in.)

“Estorias.” (Pardon my intrusion.)

After Aristia responded, Lenaide opened the door and stood by it, and urged me to enter the room.

“Gauruaaan.” [Sorry for the intrusion.]

“Then, I shall take my leave.”

The Chamberlain Knight quickly left the room after a brief bow, leaving Aristia and me alone in the room. At first, I thought we had gone to one of the many multi-purpose rooms in the castle, but from the looks of the plain but elegant furnishings and interior and the door to what looks like a bedroom, it seems I was brought to Aristia’s private chambers…

“I’m glad you came, Archer.”

“Kuruaon, gurua voruouu.” [It’s fine, I did have something to talk to you about anyway.]  

As we exchanged greetings, I moved to sit on the chair directly across the round table from Aristia, but she silently patted the chair near her and gestured for me to sit beside her.

(?… Oh, alright.)

I don’t know what she’s up to, but when I sat on the chair she directed me to…

“Ei, this is payback for the other day♪”

“Uwoh!?” [Huh!?]

For some reason, she suddenly embraced me and ruffled my fur to her heart’s content.

“Hnn, this must be the scent of the bath soap that Eliza bought from the Bronze Elves. I’m told that it has been infused with iris essential oils.”

(With our sense of smell, we would appreciate it if they just gave us regular bath soaps, but… I’ll just keep that to myself.) 

Of course, when it came to choosing good products, the blonde, curly-haired daughter of the prime minister would instantly come to mind, but… rather than voicing my discontent with the soap, my main concern was to confirm the whereabouts of my companions.

“Gau, guruou oofaaaaan?” [Anyway, do you know where my packmates went?]

“Well, a lot of things happened. By the way, I heard that after you fought off the Goblins in the northeastern part of the forest, a female with beautiful fur invited you to her pack just as you were leaving…”

When I was about to leave the Kobold coalition, Silva did indeed invite me to her pack thinking I was a stray Kobold, but I politely declined and told her I was leading a pack in Easteria Forest, but…

Aristia got a useless piece of information this time… Was it Lenaide?

“Well, that issue aside…”

Aristia, who had been petting the fur around my neck, moved away all of a sudden, adjusted her seat, and sat back down, so I remained seated as I righted myself and looked directly at her beautiful jade eyes.

“Actually, I would like to give you my heartfelt thanks for saving my people from the Goblins.”

“Guruukuou waourua, varuau gaoruoou.” [It was merely a coincidence that I saved them while giving assistance to my brethren.]

In response to my tight-lipped answer to her small talk, she lowered her head and started talking about my packmates whom I had asked about.

“About the others… They should be arriving at the city of Elwind around this time.”

“Uruuanvu?” […Elwind?]

Apparently, while I was away, a military division from the Philland Republic which was near the borders of the Ancient Forest had marched into the city after they took advantage of the cracks in the barrier caused by the attack on the Parliament by the Reformist Extremists.

“Haah… We knew that there were Half-Elves in the Philland Republic, but we didn’t expect them to hold key positions. If they lead the Humans, which comprise more than half of the army, then they will be able to break through the Forest of Wandering.”

“Gaorufoan.” [That’s a troublesome situation.]

In the end, there was no immediate battle, but the Republican envoy who visited Elwind made unilateral demands, so Eliza went to the city as a negotiator.

“But before she left, she paid a visit to your packmates and they offered to help her…”

Ah, I’m starting to get the gist of the story.

Even with Half-Elves in the mix, the Philland Republic is a sovereign state of the Human race and the main constituents of the army are Humans. If that’s the case, then that ability Ax inherited from the white-masked entity would come in handy… so, depending on how it’s used, it was possible to disable the intruder’s troops and use that to their advantage in the negotiations.

“I hope we can somehow work things out…”

Aristia released a deep sigh while wearing a melancholy look on her face.

“This unnecessary turmoil tends to create unforeseen situations. Some people with radical beliefs are still roaming the streets as we speak, and they sincerely think that disrupting the current political situation is a good thing.”

If a person misses seeing the big picture when they are motivated by ideals and discontent, they will end up doing something reckless and backing themselves in a corner after all…

“And to think that I was the same as them before… I was such a fool then.”

“Varuau, kuruoaan garufaooon.” [Well, to be fair, it is hard to make rational decisions when you’re stuck in a chaotic situation.]

I got up from my chair and patted the depressed girl’s head with my paw.

For now, I just hope that Ax and Eliza will do well over there while I busy myself learning all about raising a World Tree before they come back… After all, I did come to the Ancient Forest to make Porcelain Mead.

(We made such an extreme detour that I almost forgot what we originally came here for…)

Four days later, I received some Porcelain Mead from the castle storage and headed home together with my packmates and the Elves who were going to live with us to watch over the growth of the new World Tree.

Meanwhile, during the time we were absent from the pack…