Chapter 35

"......Is Ophelia an elf?"

Ignoring the commotion around him, Kurando said.

If it couldn't be helped, at least he should think about the direction he would fall and what would happen after.

"Yes. Some call us forest folk, but I would be happier if you called us forest spirits."

"Does that mean you are well-versed in magic?"

"Yes, we elves have been using spirit magic as naturally as our limbs for ages, long before humans discovered it."

"What about autonomous magic?"

"Well, I think ordinary elves would be unfamiliar with it, but I have lived for quite a long time, so I know it to some extent, enough to dabble in it."

"If so, please teach me autonomous magic until Aka's problem is resolved. ...I'll take action with that."

Ophelia put her hand to her chin, pretending to think.

"Oh? Autonomous magic alone? I can teach you spirit magic and life spirit magic as well, you know? After all, there's not much to do until the tribunal comes."

Kurando was taken aback by the proposal that was so easily accepted.

"Well, but it wouldn't be good to teach everything indiscriminately. How about this: I'll teach you three formulas of autonomous magic. Spirit magic and life spirit magic are only about how to use them, so I'll train you a bit according to your strength."

"......That's fine for me. As for the rest, Yuki will......"

Kurando looked down at Yuki, who was hiding behind him.

"May I?"

Saying that, Ophelia approached Yuki, bent down, and got on the same eye level as Yuki.

Yuki slightly twisted her body but did not threaten and listened to Ophelia's words.

Occasionally, Kurando could hear responses like "guru" and "gauu," but he couldn't hear what Ophelia was saying.

After a while, Ophelia stood up.

"Hehehe, I have Yuki's permission, so it's fine, right?"

Kurando looked at Yuki.

—Gau

Yuki seemed to be in an unusually good mood, as if to say it wasn't something she opposed.

With Yuki's permission, Kurando had no choice but to nod.

Massacre.

That option was always there, but if he could choose such an option, he would have already killed Aka.

He knew he couldn't do that to people who were not clearly his enemies.

If he could be that ruthless, that cold, he could have lived a bit more comfortably in Japan.

Emotion, no matter how dry and cold he acted, could not be discarded.

In other words, it was, after all, the seeds he had sown.

The grown seeds had to be reaped by himself, no matter what method.

Even if it was irrational, emotional, it was something that couldn't be helped.

Because it was his way of reaping.

Thus, the group of 'Attendants of the Moon Goddess' decided to camp near Kurando's cave for a while.

Tents were set up briskly.

The ones moving around were various women.

Among them were not only humans but also beastfolk, giants, dwarves, and races that Kurando couldn't even imagine.

"Is it rare?"

Ophelia sat down next to Kurando, who was sitting on a rock.

"Somewhat. In Salehad, you don't see many non-humans. Not that they don't exist."

"Salehad is located on the outskirts of the western continent, well, in the countryside, so it's naturally difficult for non-humans to enter."

"......Is it discrimination?"

"It exists everywhere, but it's especially strong among humans."

"Are elves the same?"

Kurando asked based on his knowledge of fantasy.

Ophelia smiled wryly.

"Elves are more xenophobic than discriminatory. Towards everything except elves. But only towards those who try to interfere with us. We don't do things like beastfolk hunts like in the old days. We have no interest outside our forests. Well, there are more eccentric elves who go out of the forest, but they are a minority."

Kurando nodded.

Among the women who were only watching Ophelia and Kurando talking, one with a slightly different appearance was slowly approaching Yuki, who was lying at Kurando's feet.

Though her eyes were closed, Yuki, of course, noticed the intruder.

Silently, a cat-type beastfolk tried to pounce on Yuki.

It was thwarted by a hit from Yuki's tail.

"Th, that's it."

The cat-type beastfolk hung her head with a pitiful voice.

"Manya, is it you again?"

Ophelia looked at Manya, the cat-type beastfolk, with a troubled face.

Brown cat ears, black at the tips, sprouted from her tousled brown hair. Her round eyes and visible incisors when she opened her mouth, and her small, slender, lively appearance made her seem like a young girl.

"Yuki, I'm sorry. This child is, as you can see, a cat-type beastfolk, and she is very curious, which is troublesome. Manya, at least say hello."

Manya stood up with a "Shut" at Ophelia's voice.

"Manya nyaa."

"Yuki is Yuki, and I am Kurando."

"I want to touch that Ilneek, nyaa."

"Ask Yuki."

When Kurando said that, Manya went around to Yuki's face, crouched down, and started talking to Yuki.

Seeing this, Kurando asked Ophelia.

"......Why can you talk to Yuki normally? Is that normal?"

Kurando knew that Yuki, a demon beast, could communicate with him, having met a parent demon beast, raised Yuki, and been taught by Yuki. But for ordinary people, hunters, demon beasts were something to be hunted, not something to communicate with. Of course, there might be cases where communication was established by chance or recognized as a communicable species, but they should be a minority.

Ophelia smiled faintly.

"That's my fault. Elves communicate with trees and flowers and respect nature. We don't hunt communicable demon beasts and sometimes coexist with them. But not all 'Attendants of the Moon Goddess' are like that. That child is a bit different."

Saying that, Ophelia looked at the women who had finished setting up the tents.

There seemed to be a fear of Ilneek, more so than just Kurando's presence. Small rodent-type beastfolk were trembling, hiding behind large bovine-type beastfolk.

"Hey, I heard. You've been through a lot at the guild, haven't you?"

Maxim, the root of all evil, called out to Kurando. Aka was also there.

"If that's what you call being through a lot, other guilds must be pretty Spartan."

Kurando glared at Maxim.

"What, still angry, you little tight-ass?"

"—Maxim!"

"—You lack sensitivity, as always."

Maxim, scolded by the two, scratched his head and made a face as if to say, "Oh dear."

"Well, sorry for everything. I can't stand up to Ophelia, the old lady."

Kurando sighed.

"It's fine now."

"About the guild, why don't you talk to Ophelia?"

Kurando raised an eyebrow.

Aka, who was standing next to him, explained excitedly.

"The 'Attendants of the Moon Goddess' is the only organization outside the council and central government that has influence over the guild. They don't get involved in politics and prioritize countries that are poor and lack hunters. They supported the chaos at the establishment of the Hunter's Guild and have a history that goes back to the establishment of the predecessor, the Adventurer's Guild. It's said that if they speak, hunters won't gather in that country."

"That's a bit exaggerated."

Ophelia smiled calmly.

In reality, the 'Attendants of the Moon Goddess' did not have explicit audit and punishment powers based on clear laws and regulations. However, they had immense influence over the Hunter's Guilds in various countries and were respected by many hunters, so no guild could deny their voice, and they had influence second only to the governments of various countries.

"The current chief lady, Ophelia, has been the top of the 'Attendants of the Moon Goddess' for over 200 years and is said to be the most influential in history. She is a holy lady who, during the first world war in Ellipsis, did not get involved in the war but solved the demon beast disasters in the neglected border areas and small villages of various countries."

Aka's eyes sparkled strangely.

"Aka is a fan of Ophelia. She's been excited ever since."

Said Maxim, Aka blushed in a hurry.

"Oh, to be a fan of such an old lady, but I'm flattered."

Saying that, Ophelia smiled and looked at Kurando.

"By the way, is there any problem with the Hunter's Guild in Salehad?"

Sometimes things are resolved suddenly in the world.

Kurando didn't think he could get retribution from the branch manager or Zaur.

He might be able to kill them, but one mistake could lead to a wanted notice.

If he could solve it with strategy, he wouldn't be a hunter here and would have already proven Aka's truth and reported Zaur and the branch manager.

There was no way to retaliate, so it couldn't be helped. He wasn't that obsessed with retaliation, after all, since he had an escape route.

Moreover, if Maxim came, Kurando wouldn't need to hide Aka, and he wouldn't need to continue being a hunter in Salehad.

Kurando thought so.

However, an opportunity came suddenly.

And, as if prompted, he recalled the harassment, the branch manager, the staff, and Zaur, and without any resistance, he naturally told Ophelia what would happen after Maxim left.

Arbitrary interpretation of guild rules.

Misuse of guild rules.

Abuse of the mandatory request system.

After listening to Kurando, Ophelia, who had always been a gentle old lady with a smile, had turned into a strict chief lady without a flaw.

"I see. I don't doubt you, but do you have any evidence? Without it, it's all something that can be easily denied. I guess that's how you did it, though."

Kurando stood up and headed for the cave.

He returned soon and handed a stack of papers to Ophelia.

"This is... I see. Did you know this would happen? Not many people know about or ask for copies of request forms yet."

Ophelia said as she looked through the stack of papers, copies of request forms, that Kurando had given her.

"......Well, a lot has happened."

He couldn't say it was the ironclad rule of modern Japanese contract employees.

After finishing reading the copies of the request forms, Ophelia stood up smoothly.

"Dianthea, Ali, over here."

Responding to Ophelia's call, two women in deep green robes with leather armor rushed over. They were the hunters who had fought the giant thorned spider.

"These two are my chief lady assistants. Dianthea of the crystal-type earth folk and Ali of the white-type folk. Dianthea, Ali, this is Mr. Kurando."

After the introductions, they got to the point.

"Please look at this."

Dianthea and Ali looked through the stack of papers Ophelia had given them.

"There are employees who do such blatant things."

The clear, bell-like voice came from Dianthea.

"In that case, we should start with the reading, right?"

The relaxed tone was Ali's.

"Yes, we should confirm that. Mr. Kurando, can I borrow your tag?"

Ophelia took the tag from Kurando, said "Excuse me," and pulled out a necklace from inside her robe.

She overlapped the tag and the ring and began to chant solemnly and rhythmically.

<Reveal the footprints etched as proof of truth and trust before me>

The magic power stirred, indicating that the autonomous magic had been activated.

However, nothing particularly unusual happened.

"......This only records the Trabock hunt."

Ophelia said in a disappointed voice, looking at the blank space.

Dianthea explained in a whisper.

"That autonomous magic is the original of the tag reading magic device in the guild."

Dianthea's voice was so pleasant it tickled Kurando's ears. He wanted to hear it again.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear that."

So, Kurando said that.

"Therefore, that autonomous magic is the original of the tag reading magic device in the guild. It can read the information that the guild has entered as a record of the request."

The voice was like a wind chime, yet soft.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear—"

Kurando was brought back to his senses by Aka's whisper and physical punishment.

Embarrassed, Kurando bowed his head slightly to Dianthea.

Dianthea, who had her head bowed, seemed to be confused about what had happened, but the Ali next to her was giggling.

"There are no records of anything other than the first Trabock hunt."

Ophelia said to Kurando, who had come to his senses.

"......There are no records of working with Irida?"

"Oh, Irida Bargain is here too?"

"I've been helped a lot. It should have been recorded as a joint effort."

"There are no records at all. But if that's the case, we can get a testimony from Irida Bargain."

Ophelia, Dianthea, and Ali nodded at each other.

Ophelia straightened her posture and looked at Kurando.

"It can't be done immediately. We need to arrange for the handover of duties and so on."

But, Ophelia continued,

"But I will definitely make them pay for defiling the goddess of hunting. —The fool who touched the goddess's breasts will be frozen to the core by the icy breath and shattered into pieces."

She smiled.

At that moment, a chill ran down the spines of everyone present.

The only exception was one person and one creature who didn't even consider the atmosphere of the place.

Manya had been trying to communicate with Yuki ever since, but for some reason, Yuki's tail had been playing with her, and she couldn't even touch it, so she was lying on the ground, exhausted.

"Unya, tomorrow for sure."

Still, Manya's insatiable curiosity was not defeated.