Ch.205NPC and Spirit Contractor (2)

I was worried that the pointy-eared bastards might stage a violent protest about having a hole blown in their home. I had that thought, but surprisingly, nothing much happened.

“I-I’m terribly sorry. We did explain the situation properly to those who remained in the village…”

The one who rushed out and bowed as soon as we entered through the newly made door was Kanp, a familiar face. He was the elven knight who had previously visited Chikuyo’s house and taught me that status windows don’t consider dialogue (physical) as actual dialogue.

“You don’t need to grovel before me. Just tell everyone not to interfere with what we’re doing, clear out all the Kanp bastards around here, and make sure no one gives Green Stone or Salt Non any trouble.”

“Th-thank you for your mercy! Everyone disperse!! Guards, quickly repair the barrier!! Bring in those two from outside!! Change the guards!!!”

Perhaps getting hit by me taught him a lesson. He began bowing excessively while commanding the other elves, quickly making the Kanps who were watching us retreat into their homes. Hmm…

“Hostility 6, fear 3, curiosity 1?”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“The looks from the elves just now?”

“…From what I saw, it was more like hostility 1, fear 9.”

Come on, that’s not right. I chuckled at Chikuyo’s incredulous response, and as the elves watching me gradually cleared a path under the knights’ control, I started walking toward our destination.

“Sigh. I understand that you were angry about the insults directed at the Elder and me. But this way, it will be difficult for elves to let go of their hatred for humans.”

“Well, that’s up to them. If they’re going to judge all humans based on one incident without understanding the situation, they might as well stay buried in their forest and never come out.”

“…Did you know what you were doing? Turn right at the next alley.”

“Well, I’m aware of how thuggish my actions must seem from their perspective.”

“…I don’t think so.”

“Me neither. I actually thought it was cool.”

As I conversed with him while carrying him on my back, the sisters began defending my actions, causing Salt Non to sigh and continue.

“…You two are already infatuated with this human, but we could have handled that quietly. Besides, I don’t want to see this human who saved Siltra being looked down upon by our elves.”

“Huh?”

“Oh… I suppose that makes sense.”

Oh, that’s actually touching?

Salt Non was worried that this incident might perpetuate the elves’ hatred toward humans, thinking they’re dangerous, but at the same time, he didn’t want me to be treated with such contempt.

Haha. I really do have good luck with people, don’t I?

I thanked Salt Non for his words, but he replied that he hadn’t done anything deserving of thanks and fell silent, focusing only on guiding us.

The elven village looked exactly like what I’d seen in the game. Houses made entirely of wood, and some fairy tale-like homes carved into massive tree trunks. The only difference was that there wasn’t a single person on the streets.

Well, the early morning hour probably contributed to that…

“After barging in like that, what elf would dare to stand proudly before you…”

-Thwack.

“There’s one. Quite bold.”

As Salt Non was responding to my muttered comment about the lack of people, a small stone flew toward me. I casually deflected it and spoke, causing Salt Non to sigh deeply again.

“H-h-human… g-get out!”

“…Even young elves are like this?”

“I’m so deeply grateful at this moment that I’m a demi-human.”

As Miho and Chikuyo commented on the small elven child glaring at me with hostility, Salt Non raised his voice toward the child instead of responding to them.

“Volle Ru. The knights must have told everyone to stay inside, so why are you out here?”

“Ugh…”

What’s this? Does Salt Non know this kid? I turned my head to look at Salt Non, and he quickly noticed my curiosity and spoke.

“He’s a young elf born after 1100 years. When I left for duty, he was even younger…”

Salt Non told the child to go back home, but the child maintained his hostility toward me and refused to move aside. Well, it wouldn’t be difficult to just jump over him and continue on our way.

“Miho.”

“Hm? Oh, yes.”

“W-wait?! Surely you’re not going to…!!”

After handing Salt Non over to Miho, I slowly approached the child, who began throwing more stones at me. His hesitant retreat showed that despite being clearly afraid, he was squeezing out every bit of courage he had.

“Kid. What’s your name?”

“…H-human get out!”

“Is your name ‘Human Get Out’?”

“N-no, it’s not!”

Having approached right in front of him, the child could no longer think of throwing stones and just looked up at me. I met his gaze, sat down, and reached into my pocket.

Hmm, I wonder if he’ll eat it.

“Do you like snacks?”

“…I-I don’t!”

When I pulled out a preserved cookie from my travel supplies and showed it to him, he swallowed hard while shouting that he didn’t like it. Heh, as a current big brother, I know exactly how to handle children.

“Really? That’s too bad then.”

I took out a cookie from my pocket and put it straight into my mouth. The kid’s eyes widened as if he’d seen something strange.

“Gulp. What? You said you didn’t want any.”

“…I-I don’t dislike cookies!”

“‘Human Get Out’ doesn’t dislike cookies?”

“I-I’m not ‘Human Get Out’!!”

“Is that so?”

I held out my pocket again, and he slowly reached out his hand with eyes still full of hostility.

-Swish!

“?!”

“I don’t feel like giving it away, but if you’re not ‘Human Get Out,’ what’s your name? Tell me and I’ll give you one.”

“…V-Volle Ru.”

“Okay. You told me your name, so here, have one.”

After using the trick of offering and withdrawing the snack to get him to tell me his name, he finally reached into my pocket and took a cookie. Then he started sniffing it… As if you could tell what’s in it by smell? I just ate one myself.

-Munch munch.

Of course, there was nothing but the pleasant aroma of cookies, and he began eating like a squirrel while keeping his eyes fixed on me. I continued holding out the pocket for him to take another, and he hesitantly reached out again. And then.

-Grab!

“Got you, Volle Ru!”

“Eek?!!”

I caught his outstretched arm with my other hand and pulled him toward me, embracing him. He screamed in terror, but I gently covered his mouth and continued speaking.

“Hey. Is it okay to throw stones at people, or not?”

-Shake shake.

“Right, it’s not okay. So why did you throw them?”

“…B-because humans are bad people.”

After slowly removing my hand from his mouth, I placed him lightly on my lap as if holding Ira, and he answered as if stating the obvious.

“Is that so? But why am I a bad person?”

“W-well, that’s…”

“From my perspective, Volle Ru, who threw stones at me when I was just standing there, seems like the bad person.”

“Ugh!!”

The kid was at a loss for words and looked like he might cry at any moment. I took another cookie and put it directly into his mouth. Children always eat what you give them, even when they’re on the verge of tears.

“Volle Ru. If I were truly a bad person, you would have been hurt the moment you threw that stone at me, right?”

“Munch, munch. Gulp. …Yes.”

“So, are you in pain right now?”

“…No. It’s delicious.”

Not in pain but delicious, huh? Yes, that’s the answer I was hoping for.

I smiled contentedly at his response, placed the cookie pouch in his hand, picked him up again to set him on his feet, and patted his head.

“Volle Ru. The world is vast, and there are countless people in it. There might be humans who give you snacks even when you throw stones at them, and there might be elves who hurt you even when you offer them snacks. And that’s not because of race, whether human or elf, but because of individual differences.”

“Huh? B-but my mom…”

“There are bad elves too, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Then, do I seem like a bad person?”

“…No.”

“Pfft. Good, that’s all you need to know for now.”

I don’t expect this young child to understand everything I said, but I was satisfied that his hostility toward me had diminished. I patted his shoulder and told him to go home. He ran off without looking back, stopped in front of a nearby tree house.

-Bow.

Unlike before, the child gave a small bow before slipping into the house, and I saw an elven woman quickly disappearing with her child. I then hoisted Salt Non onto my back again.

“…You’re skilled with children.”

“I’m a practicing big brother. My younger sibling is 12 years old.”

“…How old are you?”

“I’m twenty now, turning twenty-one this year. My birthday hasn’t passed yet.”

As I carried Salt Non in the direction he indicated, making casual conversation, he suddenly let out a chuckle.

“Hmm? What’s funny?”

“Ha, nothing. I just felt that humans and elves are truly very different.”

“Really? Besides the poor ideological education, I don’t see much difference.”

“No, not that part. That kid from earlier. He’s probably in his mid-thirties this year.”

“Oh, shit.”

So he was a man over 10 years older than me. Well, if I count my previous life, I’ve actually lived longer. Still, it’s a bit overwhelming. He looked about 7-8 years old on the outside.

As I started feeling dizzy from the red pill Salt Non had just fed me, he lightly patted my shoulder and continued.

“I hope you’ll continue to act as you just did. It would definitely be better for elves to accept humans if they saw more of that.”

“I’ll try to be considerate, but I’m a human who knows all too well how difficult it is to change the mindset of old fogies.”

If words could fix things, dialogue would be the way to go, but I don’t want to waste words on idiots like those guards from earlier. I’ve seen too many times in my previous life that the only answer to old people turning away from reality and causing trouble is to shut them down.

“So I promise to act like I just did with children who are still young enough to change their thinking, and with elves like Salt Non.”

“…Haha! Well, I’d be grateful even for that much.”

Oh, I think this is the first time I’ve seen Salt Non laugh heartily. I walked toward our destination in a good mood thanks to the lightened atmosphere.

“Sister, don’t you think we could have more children than we planned?”

“Hmm, I was thinking one boy and one girl, but maybe three of each would be fine. If Jack’s the father, he’ll take good care of them all. Let’s talk seriously with the other women later.”

Pretending not to hear the creepy whispers coming from behind, we arrived at the building where the Grand Elder had lived.