When LeFania had reached the top of the ladder, Cyril released my sight and body.
Then I, Satsuki, Mee, and Cyril climbed up the ladder and reached the mansion in front of the tree.
Incidentally, when we reached the top and I told her that her underwear would be in full view, LeFania said,
'Yes, I know, but ......? It's not like you're being watched naked. Do people really care about that?
She was rather puzzled.
Then, Satsuki said,
Then, Satsuki asked, 'Aren't you ashamed to lift up your skirt?
I don't know why you do it,
'I don't know what you mean by that, but ...... is this what you mean?
Satsuki and Mee rushed to stop her, and Cyril blocked my view again.
Anyway, it was time to visit the dwelling of an elven village.
I followed Lefania into a dwelling built on the thick branches of a particularly large tree in the village - a house that was said to house the eldest Elf in the village.
After entering the wooden dwelling, they proceeded for a while and were led to a large hall.
'Oh, so you are the human warriors who saved Lefania and the others. As I've heard, it seems that some of you are from the Myar. Well, thank you for coming.
As I entered the hall, an old Elven man at the far end sent me words of welcome.
He was an Elf with a long white beard, and looked, to put it bluntly, like a wizened old man.
I wondered if he was the oldest elf in this village.
In addition to the old man, there were about a dozen other elves gathered in the hall, sitting in a large circle.
Some of them were the elven warriors I had met in the Orc cave.
There were no tables or chairs, and they were all sitting on rugs made of woven grass.
The five seats in front of the entrance to the hall were empty.
I guessed that these seats were reserved for us.
'Everyone, let me introduce you. From here, William, Satsuki, Mee, and Cyril. All excellent warriors, no less. I'll introduce you to William and the others. The one in the back is the oldest of the village. The others are all elves, the leaders of this village.
LeFania will act as an intermediary and introduce each other.
Then we were invited to sit down and we sat down in the empty seats.
I've never had the habit of sitting on the ground without a chair before, so even with the rug, it was a bit of a struggle.
I'm a stiff person and I'm not very good at sitting on the ground.
On the other hand, I was surprised to see Satsuki, whose trademark is her crassness, sitting in the most beautiful way I have ever seen.
She was sitting with her legs folded straight and parallel to each other, her back straight and straight.
'...... I'm surprised. Is that the traditional way of sitting in Satsuki's hometown?'
'Hmm? ...... Ah. It's called 'seiza'. In my hometown, all samurai are trained to sit like this.'
'I see. Satsuki looks even more beautiful when she's doing that.
Satsuki's cheeks flushed as I said this,
'Oh, ......? ...... It's kind of embarrassing. ....... I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one.
He asked with a squirm.
'Is that what I like? ...... I don't know. I've never thought about it as a criterion, or rather, I've never really thought about what kind of opposite s*x I prefer. I've never really thought about what kind of opposite s*x I prefer, but when it comes to Satsuki, I think she's more beautiful that way.
'Oh, ......, I see. ......Seriously, am I not good enough in normal life?
'No, I'm not saying that the normal Satsuki is not good. I think that Satsuki's cheerful, energetic and pleasant personality is attractive enough. However, her current gestures are more beautiful and attractive. ...... Or is this also my subjective opinion? I'm sure you're right.
'Oh, ...... well, Will is coming to kill me again. ....... I know, I know, I know. You're not conscious of it and you don't mean it, do you?
'......? No, I thought I was making an assessment of Satsuki's charms.
'That's right! But I'm still happy to hear that. ...... Oh my god, Will's an idiot! You're a natural skeleton!
Satsuki said, and turned away abruptly.
'............'
I think about it for a moment.
From what Satsuki just said, it must have sounded to her like I was making a romantic approach to her.
Up until now, I've been trying to ignore the fact that something similar has happened...
But here I was, remembering what Cyril had said to me earlier.
"You're playing with Satsuki too."
That's what she said, even though it was just a conversation.
I didn't mean it like that, but if it was true that it looked like that, I had to think of something.
'Satsuki.
'What the hell?'
Satsuki was still pouting.
She sat next to me with a beautiful posture and turned away with tears in her eyes.
'There's something I want to talk to you about later. I need to be alone with you. Can you take some time?'
'......!
I could see the tension in Satsuki's body.
And after a long moment of silence,
'...... Okay. See you later.
Satsuki turned her head away and replied.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
I'll have to explain my thoughts to her once and for all.
It was fortuitous that I had the opportunity to do so.
After that, we were treated to an elven banquet.
In the center of the room, there were many platters of colorful dishes and fruit wine, and we tasted them.
The Elves' dishes were more vegetarian, with less meat, and many of them had a peculiar taste, but many of them were quite tasty and unlike anything I had ever tasted before, and the wine went down well.
The elves, on the other hand, seemed to be quite surprised at the amount of food we ate.
I knew from my own knowledge that elves were small eaters, but to see them actually filling up on half the amount of food we were eating was quite moving.
By the way, Satsuki's heartbroken look was gone, and when the party was in full swing, she sat down next to LeFania and put her arm around her shoulders,
Eat more meat, meat.
He then put a portion of meat on the plate of the bewildered LeFania and pushed it to her.
According to Satsuki's statement, eating meat would increase the amount of aura, but as far as I know, there is no such research or observation results, so she was probably just speaking out of her mouth.
As LeFania was about to believe it, I chopped Satsuki on the head and told her that there was no basis for her words.
On the other hand, Mee and Cyril were also talking to the elves, and they seemed to be having a good time in the welcoming mood.
In the meantime, when I went to greet the elders of the elves,
'William, is it? I've heard from LeFania that you are quite skilled in magic. If you don't mind, I'd like to know what level of spells you use.
When I answered one of the highest spells I could use, he was quite surprised.
'What ......! Is it true? Is it true that Sephiroth, the great hero of the elves, has finally reached the realm of ......? It's hard to believe that someone as young as you ...... can do that.'
'No, I can't handle a sword or a bow and arrow as well as the hero Sephiroth, and I don't have the superhuman physical ability of using aura like him. It's still not comparable.''
'Hoho ......, the way you talk, it seems like you're still aiming for the top, right?'
'Yes, of course. I don't think I'm at the stage where I can set my own limits yet, and I've seen new signs of growth since I started being an adventurer. I think I have plenty of potential.
'Ho ho ho, this is the one from LeFania, you've met an extraordinary talent.
The eldest of the elves laughed with genuine amusement.
And so we had a good time, and the party came to an end.
The four of us were invited to stay at the eldest's house that day.
At the end of the party, I called out to Satsuki.
'What I said earlier. Do you want to go outside?
'......! ...... Oh, yeah, okay.'
I took Satsuki, who looked tense all over, and left the elder's house.