CH 126

A few days have passed since we left the capital.

We moved unhurriedly towards the border.

The sun shining on the meadows was warm and welcoming.

Frau and Panda were flying across the meadow.

"This Is the kind of weather that makes you want to take a nap."

"Yeah..."

I gushed at those words.

Kaede was also wagging her fluffy white tail and smiling at me.

The behemoths following me from behind also looked a bit distracted.

《Notice: Magic Saving has been restored.》

《Notice: Skill Experience Saving has been restored.》

I let out a sigh at the words appearing in my vision.

Please don't break again.

I don't want to get more power-ups than I already have.

By the way, our current stats are as follows:

Skills:

*

Skills

*

Skills

My stats have increased too much.

I miss the days when I was happy with 300.

"Master, um..."

"What's wrong?"

Kaede shyly looks at me with lowered eyes.

She is strangely restless and uneasy.

And she was constantly making sure Frau was away from us.

"Would you mind stroking my ears?"

"That's a simple enough request."

Come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever petted her fox ears.

I usually stroke her head a lot, but I've never touched her ears.

But how am I supposed to do it?

Like this?

Or like this?

"Hmm, that tickles. Oh, it's no good inside."

"How complicated... Then I'm going to go around the base.

"Oh yeah, that feels really good."

The expression on her face immediately changed to a more relaxed one.

She seemed to like it.

Her tail was waving a lot, which helped me understand that she was happy.

"Ah! Kaede, you're up to one of your tricks again!"

"Kyui!"

Frau and Panda angrily rush back.

However, Kaede doesn't seem to hear them. She is too busy feeling happy.

She seems to feel really good... I wish I had beast ears.

"Hey, I'm curious about something... Is it me or are these beasts getting bigger?"

At Frau's words, I looked at the behemoths.

She's right, I feel like they've grown about two sizes. It's probably due to the fact that we defeated the dragon together.

This may be the limit of what can be said to be a big cow. 　 Monica told me that behemoths are as feared by people as dragons.

They were rather cute at their former size, but now that they're this big, they could alarm anyone who sees them.

I don't think we can keep fooling people for long.

"We'll take it on foot from here."

"""Garu!?"""

The three beasts rush around me and lick my face.

They seem to be begging me not to leave them.

That's clearly not my intention. I don't want to abandon them or leave them to their fate.

I just want them to go back to the forest of death where the research team is.

And I'm also concerned about Luvue and the others. It could be beneficial if the behemoths return to the forest and protect the research team.

"We will meet again soon, but I need you to return to the forest and protect the others for now."

"Gur" "Kyun" "Kun".

I patted their heads and we said our goodbyes.

The next time we see them, I'll feed them a full barrel of meat.

"Do it."

Frau sprinkled fairy dust on them, and the three animals began to float off in the direction of the forest.

We crossed the border and entered the neighboring country of Jonern.

According to what I heard beforehand, there is a race called dark elves living there.

I am very excited because we didn't have them back on the island.

I wonder what kind of race dark elves are.

By the way, Petardaus and Jornen have a thriving trade and maintain good relations.

One of the reasons may be that they are close to each other in terms of race.

Upon entering the frontier city, we were surprised because of what our eyes witnessed.

"All the inhabitants of the city are wearing eye masks..."

They looked just like the elves with their characteristic long ears, but with brown skin.

In addition, they wore eye masks on their foreheads.

And if that wasn't enough, every dark elf had a black sphere-like object floating in the air with them.

What is that, some kind of pet?

"Master, look at that."

"What the heck..."

There were dark elves sleeping on the ceilings.

They wore eye masks and even had pillows under their heads.

Many of the tents in the streets were related to sleeping.

How many hours a day do the elves sleep in this place?

"I wonder if they're not worried about having their things stolen while they sleep."

"Kyui."

While mounted on Panda, Frau circled around to observe the city.

The spheres accompanying the sleeping dark elves seemed to threaten the surroundings as one opened its mouth, revealing sharp fangs. Is it a creature protecting it's sleeping master?

Let's say they are beasts similar to Panda or Rosuke.

"Dark elves seem to be friendly towards humans."

"I entered the city without being stopped. Maybe the only discriminating ones are the other elves."

"What if maybe they aren't friendly? Maybe they just don't care about us."

"Kyui."

Frau and Panda fly right in front of the dark elf, but are lightly batted aside with a hand, as if shooing away a fly.

Maybe they are.

Maybe they simply aren't interested in other races.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Everyone in here is sleeping too."

We went to the adventurers' guild, and noticed that everyone in the place was napping.

The staff is partially awake, but they are so groggy they look like they are about to fall asleep.

What is going on in this country?

Still, I turned towards a staff member.

"Do you have any high-paying jobs around here?"

"Yes, I'd like to have a pillow for my nap～"

"I'm serious. I want a good paying job."

"Oh, I see, so you're a foreigner."

The clerk was staring at the sheet with one of his eyes as if trying not to fall asleep.

Looking at the dark elf makes me sleepy too.

"Well, there's a job of... Guh."

"Geez, he's fallen asleep."

You're not supposed to fall asleep on the job, let alone when there's someone in front of you.

I started to hear a chuckle around the place.

"It's not a good time to come. Most dark elves are nocturnal rather than diurnal."

A woman came down the stairs from the second floor.

She wore a daring outfit, her large breasts jutted out, and her abdomen was exposed. Her gray hair was semi-long, and it shook with every step she took.

From her equipment, I could deduce that her weapon of choice was an axe.

"I am Ultina. I am a greatly recognized adventurer who works solo among the dark elves..."

She placed one foot on the floor and suddenly fell through it.

A few seconds later, the sleeping employee wakes up.

"Please be careful because the floor is being repaired."

"Someone just fell in."

"It's probably Ultina. She falls in that spot a lot. Don't worry, she's pretty sturdy, so she's not dead."

A crying sound came from the bottom of the hole.