“What, what! Tyreal! Did you really prepare those lines all this time?!”
After the meeting with the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on our way back to our original spot.
Seril, who was sticking by my side, was circling around me with a “Heeheehee!” and a big smile.
She didn’t call me a fool like before.
She was just calling me by my name.
But for some reason, her laughter felt like she was seriously treating me like a fool, which made me a little annoyed.
“It just came out naturally while we were talking. How could I have prepared for something like this in advance?”
“But you spoke so well! I was really surprised. ‘Elves should be water, not lakes’?!”
I couldn’t tell if she was genuinely impressed or just teasing me.
Given Seril’s past behavior toward me, I couldn’t take her words at face value.
Especially since she called me a fool so much when we were kids that I started wondering, “Am I really a fool?”
But then again, when I think about it, it’s unfair because I was actually better when we were younger.
Sure, I was terrible at spirit magic back then too, but I was at least somewhat decent at basic magic!
They say you can’t judge a frog by its tadpole days, but this is exactly that! Ugh!
“So, what do you think? Will the humans listen to us?”
“They will. Like I said before, from the Empire’s perspective, there’s a lot in this situation that benefits them too.”
What I learned from this meeting is that the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs is mainly concerned about two things.
First, they’re worried that the elves might cause incidents that they can’t handle.
Even though only a small number of elves have entered the Empire, the incidents caused by those elves have been well-documented.
Given that, what if dozens, or even more, elves enter the Empire on a large scale?
If they remain calm in the face of that, it would be an even bigger problem.
Second, they’re concerned that the elves in front of them might be a group that caused some major incident in their own society and fled to the Empire.
The first scenario is something the Empire could handle on its own, to some extent.
But the second possibility is on a completely different level.
It could lead to hostile relations with the elves.
“I tried to give the impression that we would do our best to address those concerns. I said we wouldn’t act recklessly like before. And if something like that were to happen, we elves would step up first.”
“Hmm…”
“I also mentioned the Bow of the Mother Forest and said that we weren’t exiled, but rather became pioneers for the sake of the elven race.”
“Will that be enough? Last time I checked, the elders and the older folks in the village still didn’t seem too happy about it.”
It’s not an unfounded concern. Unlike the elves my age who are supportive of me, the older elves don’t hide their disapproval.
Especially the elder—it’s concerning because he’s the central figure in the village.
Originally, the plan was to win over the elder by handling the Bow of the Mother Forest, but things didn’t go as planned.
But it’s okay.
Instead, I’ve gained strong support from the younger elves.
From their perspective, what I’ve done must seem like a huge deal.
Normally, you’d have to wait until the coming-of-age ceremony.
Normally, you’d have to use magic and spirit magic to handle the Bow of the Mother Forest.
But here I am, an elf who hasn’t even reached adulthood, handling a divine artifact—even if it was broken and destroyed.
“When you gain something, you also lose something. While the elder and other older elves oppose us, we have the support of many elves our age. In fact, most of them followed us out.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“And over time, the elves caught in the middle will also change.”
“What do you mean, Tyreal?”
“There are children who leave their parents, but there are no parents who leave their children.”
Unexpectedly, I’ve gained the support of the younger elves.
And that means their parents, the older elves, might also change their minds someday because of their children.
Of course, that depends on how well we present ourselves and how positively we’re perceived.
From the parents’ perspective, they’d want to see their children being praised as noble beings in another world, not being cursed as troublemakers.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
“How’s the investigation I asked for yesterday going?”
“You mean the survey about who wants to go to the Academy?”
I already finished that! Seril quickly brought something over to me.
At a glance, there were well over ten elves who wanted to go to the Academy.
“That’s quite a lot. I thought we’d barely scrape together ten.”
“Hehehe. I think they were inspired by you, Tyreal.”
“By me?”
The only inspiration they could’ve gotten from me was how to talk back to adults, right?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Seril giggled and answered.
“You’re not great at magic. You’re not great at spirit magic. You ran away before your coming-of-age ceremony. Then you came back and begged to handle the Bow of the Mother Forest.”
“…”
“But the important thing is, you actually did it. The adults are focused on the fact that you destroyed a divine artifact, but the younger elves are different. They’re focused on where you went in the human world, what you saw, heard, and learned that allowed you to do something no one else has ever done.”
I did something no one else has ever done. The younger elves are thrilled by that fact.
As Seril said, I’m not great at magic or spirit magic, which are supposed to be basics for elves.
Yet, I’ve accomplished something no other elf has ever done.
“They’re probably hoping they can get that kind of knowledge from the human educational institutions.”
“If their expectations are too high, the disappointment will be just as big. If they don’t get what they’re hoping for, there’s a risk they might become disillusioned.”
“Hmm. That’s possible, but maybe they’ll find something else instead? Like how you, Tyreal, were supposed to wait for your coming-of-age ceremony but suddenly changed your mind and did something drastic!”
Using me as an example just makes things weirder.
“And among the rest… well, some of them want to travel the human world on their own.”
“Yeah.”
Whether they cause trouble or get caught up in it, this group is the most dangerous.
They’re not like Seril, who I’ve known since we were kids, so I have no idea what their tendencies are.
They might say they can get along with humans now, but there’s a chance they could suddenly change.
From the Empire’s perspective, it might seem like I’m responsible for these elves.
But from the elves’ perspective, I’m just a guide.
They can follow me on this path, but they won’t be forced to.
If the elves maintain that position, there’s not much I can do for now.
“We’ll have to gather those friends and give them a more serious warning.”
From the perspective of the “Kanph,” of course.
“What are you planning to do? You’re not going to try to subdue them like last time, are you?”
“I thought about it at first.”
“No! You might be able to handle one or two, but if there are too many, there’ll be backlash. If that happens, the elder and the older elves will gain more influence. They’ll say you’re trying to control the elves as you please!”
Seril urgently grabbed my hand as she shouted.
She was already shocked when I used my fists last time.
She absolutely, absolutely insisted that I shouldn’t do that again.
She said if the adults heard about it, it would give them a perfect excuse to oppose me.
“Seril.”
But listen, I’m not a fool. I’m not going to keep doing that.
I used my honed strength when handling the Bow of the Mother Forest.
I used force to subdue the Kanph when they were spouting nonsense.
“I never said I’d solve it that way this time.”
I clenched my fist and shook it, which only made Seril look more confused.
She thought my so-called “serious warning” meant using force.
To that, I slowly shook my head and explained what I had in mind.
“I’m just going to warn them with words.”
“Really?”
“I’ll subtly remind them. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the previous generation and harm our current generation. The first mistake is just a mistake, but after that, it’s just foolish behavior.”
“…And then?”
“I’ll appeal to their pride. They might want to speak carelessly or act lightly toward humans, but they won’t want other elves to badmouth them for it.”
It’s harder to hold individuals accountable.
But if you form a group and clarify each person’s responsibility within that group?
They might be careful not to harm others, but elves, in particular, have a strong sense of self-love.
And because of that, they can’t stand the thought of other elves talking badly about them.
I am an elf.
That’s certain.
But at the same time, I was once human.
Because of that, I know exactly what elves are weak to and what they care about.
And I also know what humans are good at and what they can exploit.
If I use these two things properly, things might turn out easier than expected.