Book 4: Chapter 5

「Well… I kinda expected this.」

Kimidori Gorn-san’s parents’ house was huge.

It was a mansion located in the center of Dragonewt City.

The three-story stone structure, roof painted with a glossy red paint, was incredibly conspicuous. When the sun set, the mansion glowed slightly in the dark.

「No matter how drunk Papa is, he can always find our house from a distance, nu.」the auntie said, all smiles.

「Welcome home, young master!」

A line of brawny dragonewts of both genders, bowed their heads. I was surprised to see so many bodybuilder-like dragonewts.

All the employees looked macho. The auntie doesn’t look macho, but she did kill a 1-meter rabbit with a low-kick in an instant. This is a whole new world!

「Hyaha!」

A wild mohican appeared!

The man had no hair, so it was just his cockscomb spiking up ridiculously.

「Madam, I see you caught a pretty good-looking one-horned rabbit today, nura!」

「Kimi-chan came back, so I gave it my all, nura!」

「Hyaha!」

The dragonewt man, who seemed like a cleaner, merrily left to the kitchen after receiving the rabbit. Of course, he was also macho.

Which reminds me, I think I heard a “Hyaha” from one of the escorts in the Kruvan Holy Kingdom. Perhaps that person is a distant relative.

Asha and I were shown to the guest room. Since the majority of the dragonewts were gathered in the Dragonewt City, there was almost no traffic between towns, and it seems that there are fewer hotels and houses with guest rooms outside the city.

「I am so sorry. Since our house is also small, we only have one guest room, nu.」the auntie said. ”It must be nice to be young,” she then muttered, her eyes gleaming. She seems to have terribly misunderstood our relationship. Asha, please don’t start blushing. It will make me self-conscious too…

「–Shall we exchange information about what we noticed?」

Anyway, after calming down, I broached the subject with Asha.

「I’ll start first… The architectural style and other things haven’t really changed much. The language being the same is also a very important point.」I said.

「The writings in the city are also the same as ours, but I did see some older writings.」

「A world that is “exactly the same” in terms of component, but differs in terms of history…」

「But I’ve never heard of a way to connect two worlds even in the High Elf royalty.」

「Hmm… Asha, have you ever heard the words “Covenant” or “Old Covenant”?」

I unexpectedly recalled the Covenant from that time.

Until now, I have tried to not get too deeply involved in matters of the Covenant, but when talking about the two worlds, the Covenant is inseparable.

「”Covenant”… If you mean the articles passed down in the Elven Forest, then I know it.」

I tilted my head. What does that mean? Are there many types of Covenant?

I urged Asha to explain further.

「The High Elves manage the “Skill Orb Covenant”. The articles are very simple–」

★ Do not take too many skill orbs.

★ The skill orbs make up the world.

「I heard that it consists of these two articles.」Asha said.

This new information about the Covenant felt kind of strange.

Don’t take too many skill orbs…huh. Did the dragon in the “Sixth Mine” detect the hoarding of skill orbs and so tried to destroy them?

「It’s very simple, isn’t it? So much so that it doesn’t feel like a Covenant…」

「Yes. I was wondering the same thing when I first heard it. It seems that this is only passed down to the High Elf royal family.」

「Well, what was it again? The first article was–」

「Don’t take too many skill orbs…」

「Ah, yes yes…」

Wait! Why did I forget that?

When I tried to recall information about the Covenant, my memory became vague and hazy.

But that is extremely strange. I can’t forget anything because of【World Ruler】.

Although I have a faint image of it in my head, I can’t remember it word for word.

「Is something wrong, Reiji-san?」

「Ah, no. It just… doesn’t remain in my head…」

「Speaking of which, there is something like that. Only the High Elf royal family knows about the “Skill Orb Covenant”. Even High Elves outside the royal family can’t keep it in mind, let alone the elves.」

「Do you know what is the purpose of the ”Covenant”?」

「I have only heard that the Covenant is necessary to manage the “Third Forest” in the Elven Forest. They might have told me more if I wasn’t born like this……」Asha cast down her eyes, dejectedly.

Asha is probably referring to her peculiar constitution that activates【Fire Magic】, which is taboo for elves.

「Asha. But thanks to that I was able to meet you. And being able to meet you is a very wonderful thing to me… so don’t be sad about that.」

「Ah…」

Asha’s lovely thin lips parted, and then she turned her gaze to the side.

「Not fair… If you say it in that way… I too… am very happy…」

I couldn’t really hear what she said towards the end even with【Hearing Enhancement】, but I heard the “Not fair” at the start perfectly.

Not fair…huh. That’s true. She can’t say “I am not really happy to have met you” when I say it in the way I did…

Thinking normally, no one would say “I’m very happy” after being thrown into the “Back World”.

「I am sorry!」

「EH!?」

Asha was surprised as I suddenly bowed down as much as I could.

「I got too ahead of myself! I didn’t mean to take advantage of Asha’s kindness! And I had no ill intention! I just tried to cheer you up!」

「Eh? Eh?」

「I will go see how people in the mansion are doing… Please rest up, Asha.」

「Ah, n-no–」

I reflected on getting cocky, and decided to leave Asha alone to rest. Asha is kind, so she wouldn’t tell me to leave even if she wants to rest.

I have to be a tactful man, instead.

「Reiji-san~~~ !?」

I heard Asha’s voice coming from behind the closed door, but I said, “It’s okay. Take your time!” and walked down the hallway.

Asha was in a bad mood when I met her again during mealtime……Why?