«Master, have a safe trip.»
On the day we planned to leave for the Great Forest of the Elves, Baretta performed a bow alongside the other mechanoid maids.
"You don't need to see us off with such fanfare, really. We're just going out for a while to learn about how to deal with the thieves."
"We'll bring souvenirs~"
Teto and I waved our hands in farewell, and under the gazes of Baretta and the others, I released my «Teleportation Magic». The destination was a town in the southeast of the Gard Beastkin Nation. In the past, we used to fly over the Gard Beastkin Nation while completing requests, so I had already memorized the teleportation points. And thus, I teleported away with Teto.
"......Ah, «Teleportation Magic» sure takes a lot of mana, I'm tired."
I sat down on the plains, which was the teleportation destination, as Teto peered into my face with a worried look.
"Are you alright, Majou-sama?"
"I'll be fine with a bit of rest."
This teleportation cost me 300,000 units of mana to teleport here with Teto.
I had consumed the same amount of mana with the one-way teleportation from the «Empty Wilderness» to the capital city of the Iska Kingdom before, so I guess the distance I had teleported to must be the same given the mana consumed just now.
However, I only managed to do that by using the mana stored in the «Mana Crystal» last time, but today, I did it at the expense of my mana only. I guess this could be called personal growth, or so I thought.
"Majou-sama, you can use Teto as support."
"Thank you, I will be relying on you a bit then."
Teto circled her arm behind my back and pulled me into her embrace, as I was tired from the instant consumption of mana, and stared at the scenery with a vacant look.
Once the tiredness was mostly gone, I stood up.
"You don't need to rest anymore, Majou-sama?"
"No, I am fine. Anyway, let's head out to meet with the elves of the Great Forest."
The elves of the Great Forest were often mentioned as an uncivilized race, however, there was a full-fledged kingdom built with them around as the center.
Their country, led by the superior species of elves called High-Elves who were serving as the royal family, was apparently somewhere in this great forest.
Though that being said, they didn't build their nation by cutting the trees and clearing the land and since the elves themselves were quite isolated, their true state was surrounded by mystery.
And so, we were now heading to a shop pointed out by Duke Gyunton where we would be meeting the elf who would guide us to their place.
"It should be here, I guess."
"It doesn't look like a shop."
Perhaps it was remodeled after an old inn, it was a building with multiple rooms, without the banner hanging.
Apparently, it was built to serve as a safe, resting place for the elves who were working outside of their nation, as there were only elves inside it seemed.
"Teto is already excited to see the Great Forest!"
"Indeed. Let's quickly request for the guide."
As soon as we entered the building, the smell of fine-quality lumber, medicine, and herbs deeply pervading the interior assailed our noses. Maybe someone did compounding here.
And by the entrance of the building, a tanned silver-haired beauty wearing male attire was waiting.
The woman, whose peculiarity reminded me of a dark elf, seemed to have noticed us as she flashed a welcoming smile.
"Nice to see you, «Creation Witch» Chise-sama. I'm Altair, you can consider me as a diplomat of the elven nation of sorts. We, the Eldar forest nation, welcome you."
"I'm Teto, partner of Majou Chise. And likewise, nice to meet you."
Just how much do they know about me? I returned the handshake with a strained smile while thinking about it.
Then, when the dark elf woman, Altair, guided us to the reception room, I swiftly passed to her the letter of introduction I received from Duke Gyunton.
"Then I'll check the contents."
With those words, she opened the letter and nodded to herself a few times as she read.
"I have confirmed that there's no discrepancy with the information we have."
"Excuse me, what do you mean by the information you have?"
When I asked gingerly, Altair-san spoke with a wry smile.
"We received the news from Duke Gyunton, or to be more precise, the Gard Beastkin Nation, how they wanted to introduce Chise-sama. Hence, I'm here to welcome you."
I sensed some kind of implication from Altair-san's words who flashed a vague smile.
In this world where the speed at which news traveled was quite slow, I teleported here immediately after receiving the word, and typically the other party wouldn't have received the information in advance.
However, the elves of the Great Forest had already deployed Altair-san to greet us even before we arrived here.
"As expected of the «Flying Carpet», I have always admired your conduct as adventurers for a long time. A swift decision maker, indeed, you really headed out as soon as you received word, like the agile wind."
So complimented Altair-san, in an attempt to put up a smokescreen, but it was obvious they had already investigated us and made preparations even before Duke Gyunton told them about us.
Furthermore, Altair-san called me «Creation Witch» earlier during her greeting.
«Creation Magic», there were only a handful of people who knew about this peculiar magic of mine.
When I tried to ask how they obtained the information or if they learned of it from someone, Altair-san replied with a vague smile still on her face.
"It's something we got from a few of our sources. How much do you know about us, dark elves?"
"As far as I know, if the origin of the elves can be traced back to the light, wind, and water spirits, then the origin of the dark elves is dark, fire, and earth spirits."
The elves and dark elves of this world weren't in conflict unlike in fiction, they just seemed to have different attributes based on their origin spirit. Other than that, they lived in harmony together.
Though it looked like there was some kind of rivalry due to the difference in skin color in small-scale elven settlements, that rivalry was non-existent in the Great Forest of the Elves it seemed.
I may be digressing here but it seemed like the appearance of dwarves, whose origin could be traced back to fire, earth, and dark spirits just like dark elves, was such that they could adapt to mountains and caves.
"That's right. And we, dark elves, are highly skilled in manipulating spirit magic, especially when it comes to information."
After saying that, a lizard-like spirit appeared from the shadow beneath her, holding a letter in its mouth.
"It should be shadow movement, I guess. It's quite convenient."
Since they borrowed the power of dark spirits who can traverse space using the shadows as a medium, it was said to be much more efficient than a human's teleportation magic.
"Lizard-san is really cute~"
The dark spirit even had enough intelligence to get on Teto's hand when she reached out to it. And given the fact that I could see its appearance even without circulating mana in my eyes meant it was an intermediate-level spirit that could materialize itself.
"Is this an intermediate-level skill?"
"Yes, it is. It's with me since it was a lower-grade spirit. It's been 150 years, I think."
Spiritual existences like spirits had their own statuses and classes.
It has been said that newborn spirits didn't have any ego and just lived on instinct. From there, as time passed and they absorbed more mana, they could develop the ability to physically materialize, and that was when they were called intermediate-class spirits.
Furthermore, there were also higher-grade spirits that had strong influences and were revered as local spirit deities.
There were also great spirits and spirit kings said to exist above them, however, those existences were more like mythical entities.
"We borrow the power of spirits like this to collect information, parse through them, and discern the true identity of the target. I have also looked through the information on your activities as well as the rumors about you two. However, we have another reason. We received an oracle about Chise-sama from our priestess, the apostle of Heaven Goddess Leriel.»
"I learned something new. It's no wonder you know that much."
It seemed like my information had been passed down by Leriel, whom we have yet to meet, through the intermediation of Lariel. So I won't say it was cheating or cowardice.
Even I learned about the things I want to know from Liliel and the others in the dream oracle mixed in the casual chats occasionally.
"Of course, we are aware that Chise-sama is the apostle of Liliel-sama and a reincarnated individual who descended into this world bearing a divine mission."
I could only chuckle bitterly in extreme confusion when she glorified my apostle status to that level.
Teto, who was sitting beside me and had the dark spirit lizard perched on her palm, wore a smile as if saying 'I know, Majou-sama is amazing'.
"Her Majesty also has a great interest in you two, and wanted to invite you to our elven nation someday, so Duke Gyunton's request was just the perfect chance. After discussing your schedule and the purpose of your visit in detail, I will personally guide you to the Eldar Forest Kingdom."
"Then we'll be counting on you."
"Thank you-nanodesu!"
As the conversation progressed smoothly, I asked Altair-san to teach me about how to deal with my problem, or more like the problem of the «Empty Wilderness», on how to deal with thieves and poachers.
"«Empty Wilderness» is currently receiving the blessing of the Goddess Liliel through the barrier, however even that is bound to disappear with time. I would like to strengthen our countermeasures against intruders before then."
"Understood. Normally, it isn't something we can disclose to anyone, but I would like to discuss it with Her Majesty the Queen and decide then. Until then, I suggest you stay in the Eldar Forest Kingdom."
Well, I knew we wouldn't get the information right away so we borrowed a room in the branch office of the elves that day, and temporarily stayed there. It seemed like Altair-san will be guiding us to their forest kingdom tomorrow.
With the time still a bit before nighttime, Teto and I went out for a stroll in the town and enjoyed the transformation of the town we had only once visited decades before.
Editor's note: Oh no! The grandmaster assassin got gender-bent :P
