Team Sophie had gone to the desert west of the Confederacy.
A different type of Pagan Worshippers and monsters were clinging to the tall walls of a city in the desert.
Once they had killed all the Pagan Worshippers and monsters, they were told that the city was the Dark Elf Village Fabraze.
"My apologies, we didn't realize the elf princess had come."
Because they had waited outside the walls for a long time, Sophie had put her hood on.
That made it harder for the dark elf soldier, who had tanned skin and ashen hair, to realize just who he was talking to.
"Hello, I'm Sophiarone. May I request an audience with Lord Arbus, the Dark Elf King?"
"P-please wait a moment! Wait no, follow me."
Pale skin that looked almost transparent, white long hair, and golden pupils, those were the features of high elves, their royalty.
She also had long ears, but they were concealed under her hood.
Just seeing those golden pupils threw the dark elf soldier's thoughts to disarray.
He had thought they were a mysterious group that used a strange golem and insects that looked no different from monsters to rescue them, only to see Rosenheim's princess when he went out.
The desert sun blazed down on them, so the soldier thought it was a bad idea to keep them waiting outside the gates for longer.
He led the team through the small door next to the main gates.
Formar followed first, with Sophie and Merle behind him. They were told to stay in a waiting room inside the thick walls.
"Ohh, the air feels more fresh here."
Unlike Sophie who had to put on her hood for some shade, Merle had been enduring the desert sun without cover.
The Bird A summon rode on Merle's head as she sat on a couch inside the waiting room.
"I know. Baukis was quite hot as well, but it wasn't as bad as here."
Sophie also agreed with that as she sat next to Merle.
Only Formar remained standing up next to the entrance.
"Still, the Dark Elf Village, huh. I think you said this is your first time here?"
The dark elf soldier had told them to wait there before running off somewhere. Merle was getting tired of waiting all the time, so she began talking to Sophie.
"Yes, I've never visited before. I only heard stories about it from the Queen and elders. They've always been wary of outsiders, but I guess that kept them safe this time."
Merle began asking Sophie what she knew about the Dark Elf Village.
More than a thousand years ago, there had been an internal conflict in Rosenheim, the dark elves lost, so they ran off to hide in the desert and lived there since then.
The Dark Elf Village Fabraze was not part of the Confederation, and they had no ties with any nearby country.
Rosenheim and Fabraze only had the bare minimum diplomatic contact with each other.
Put bluntly, both sides were still in conflict with each other, and such diplomatic interaction was also meant to keep each other in check.
There were no embassies or similar institutions, just a couple annual meetings between the elders of both sides.
"I see. That explains why you looked a bit surprised when we were assigned this side of the continent."
"Oh, was my reaction obvious too?"
"Yeah, hehehe."
Since Sophie's team had no members who could summon entities, they had already guessed they would end up going either east or west.
The Insect A summons would catch up with them faster that way, while only the south side would have a longer travel time for them.
After Merus told the party about the failed Eight Heroes Plan, Merle had looked depressed and without energy, which Sophie had noticed right away. Now Merle showed she had also been looking at Sophie.
"I asked for an audience with King Arbus, I feel like that might cause a pretty big uproar."
Sophie warned Merle so she would not get shocked by the response.
"We might see the king then... Wait King? It's not a Queen here?"
"Dark elves are ruled by a king, yes."
Merle had thought the dark elves also served a queen like the elves of Rosenheim.
Sophie did not know how long they would have to wait, so she decided to explain a bit more about the dark elves' lifestyle to Merle.
First, they were ruled by a king.
Only men could inherit that title, and the requisites to become king were to either be the son of a king or an elder.
"Hehh... So even someone who's not a prince can become king."
"That's actually the same as Rosenheim. The daughters of elders can also become queens. We're all considered equal under the World Tree after all."
There were no serfs or slaves in Rosenheim.
Their country also had no fancy title like kingdom or empire.
The land under the World Tree was simply known as Rosenheim.
Elven societies had rather low birth rates, and that was the reason why the sons and daughters of elders could inherit the throne as well.
If they limited themselves to just those with royal ancestry, and just males or females depending on which type of elf, it was likely a ruler would have no successor.
Because of that, the families of elders had the ability to take the throne as well.
"Huh, elves and dark elves are more similar than I thought. Do dark elves also have something like a Spirit God?"
Merle's brash 'something like' made Sophie and Formar flinch.
"Well, yes. The Spirit King Fabre has kindly granted its blessing to this village."
That Spirit God had lived for more millenia than Rosen as well.
But Sophie also warned Merle to address the Spirit King Fabre with more respect.
After that Sophie told Merle the reason why she came to visit the village, and what she wanted to talk with the king about.
"Well well, what a special occasion it is, being visited by the Elf Princess."
While Sophie and Merle were still talking, the dark elf soldier came back with an elderly dark elf, who wore long robes.
"Elder Giamnil, what an honor to be received by an elder."
Sophie seemed to recognize that dark elf.
Elder Giamnil was in charge of foreign policies, and had visited Rosenheim many times in the past.
"Being received you said... You do realize we can't let you just waltz into our village just because you're royalty..."
In other words, even someone of importance like Sophie could not enter the village without prior arrangements.
"I know I'm asking for a lot, but I have something important to discuss with Lord Arbus."
Sophie refused to back down, smiling brightly as she spoke.
"I heard you helped defend our walls with some mysterious power. We'll make sure to send a handwritten letter of gratitude to Rosenheim."
The elder continued trying to find a bureaucratic way out.
Dark elves preferred to send people off on their way rather than letting them inside their village, even if those people had helped defend their home.
Interactions like that were common between elves and dark elves.
Still, Sophie did not relent.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I'm still trying to convince them to let us in, but I'll prepare your meal soon, okay?"
Saying that, Sophie pulled back the hood she was still wearing even though they were indoors, away from direct sunlight.
She gently carried the Spirit God that was hiding behind it, making sure the elder could have a good look at him.
Rosen looked sleepy, and she softly rubbed his back while apologizing for keeping him in a dark place for so long.
"Wha-?! Ghah!!"
"Elder Giamnil!"
The dark elf soldier rushed to the elder's side as his body leant back in shock.
'Hahah. I think Allen's habits have rubbed off on you.'
"Don't say such things. This was necessary, please understand."
Sophie rubbed the Spirit God's chin as she said that.
""...""
The two dark elves in the room watched that dumbfounded.
"So, for how long do you intend to keep the Spirit God Rosen waiting in this room?"
Sophie said in an allusive tone.
"Let me guide you. And you, go announce the arrival of Princess Sophiarone and the Spirit God Rosen right away!!"
"Yessir!!"
Giamnil basically shouted at the dark elf soldier.
The presence of a Spirit God changed things completely.
The dark elf soldier ran off as fast as he could to herald their arrival ahead of them.
Giamnil signaled the three to follow him, and let them step out of the waiting room and into Fabraze, the Dark Elf Village.
"Ohh!! There's so much greenery even though we're in a desert."
"Hoh hoh hoh, this is all thanks to our venerable Spirit King Fabre."
Merle had already gotten a peek at the many plants growing inside the walls while she was inside of Tam-Tam.
The Dark Elf Village was quite large for a village, having an area of around a hundred square kilometers, with trees growing everywhere and creating shade from the sun. The tree canopies seemed to join at a certain height, letting only specks of light shine down.
It was far more refreshing than the desert outside.
The dark elves also wore airy clothes, which let them escape the heat that managed to pass through the tree leaves. And all of them looked at Sophie and Merle in shock.
It was strange to foreigners inside the village walls.
"That's a magnificent tree."
Merle looked up at a giant tree that rose tall above all other trees, more than ten times their size.
It was located right in the center of the village, visible from every corner of it.
While she was in Tam-Tam Mode Eagle, looking at the village from afar, the many trees scattered all over the village looked like grass or moss around a single tree.
"Mhm. It's almost there, not much longer and this tree will become a World Tree."
Giamnil answered in a low voice, a hopeful mutter as he looked at the gigantic tree.
"That's wondrous."
Sophie accidentally voiced her true impression of it.
"..."
Giamnil looked at her silently, a longing look in his eyes.
"Oh I'm sorry. That was careless of me."
"It's fine. Blaming you won't change anything, Princess Sophiarone. Just please refrain from making such comments inside the village, everyone's already on edge seeing you. Please get in here, we're still pretty far away so this will make things easier."
He was taking them to the center of the village, where King Arbus resided.
But they were still many kilometers away from there, and no one would dare make a princess walk such a distance.
A soldier came from a nearby gate together with a pair of small dragons that walked on two feet.
Small was just a relative term though, as the beasts were at least two meters long.
The two dragons were equipped like horses, pulling a carriage behind them which was used for transport.
They were invited to board, and the team of three got inside.
That way they were taken to meet King Arbus, the dark elf ruler of Fabraze.
