I was enjoying a sweet sleep while curled up on the soft sofa when I heard the sound of flurried footsteps coming from outside the room. I listened in on them while barely conscious.
"Erneah-sama! Why in the world are you in this guest room!? Please rest in your room if you're going to sleep!"
"Don't be so rigid. After all, guests rarely come to this isolated elven kingdom from the outside world. There are so many rooms that can be used even if they do come. But more importantly, you look quite tired, and this child here is even crying, what's the matter?"
At the vaguely familiar voice, I turned my focus to the source of that voice with my sleep consciousness.
It seemed like Erneah-san was talking in front of the door. I also heard a girl's sobbing voice blended with their discussion from outside the opened door. I sat up from the sofa while rubbing my eyes.
"Something big has happened! Creation Witch-sama has gone missing while we were on our way here!"
"What did you say!?"
"She disappeared three days ago! Spirits sneakily created an illusion of her and kidnapped her quietly! We've requested a search from the castle's knight order!"
"What a travesty against an important guest...... I will help in the search with the spirits!"
Feeling relatively well and with my magical power restored halfway, I grab my wand and walk towards the door.
"What's wrong, Erneah-san?"
"Ah, child, did you wake up? It seems like someone has gone missing in the forest, so I might need to take over this matter. You should wait here in this room for a while."
I turned to look at the speaker outside the door with whom Erneah-san was speaking, and our eyes met.
" "......Ah" "
They were Altia-san, whose eyes went wide in surprise, and Teto, who was crying while repeatedly mumbling 'Majou-sama~, Majou-sama~'.
"Good morning, Teto, Altia-san."
"M, Majou-sama~!"
Teto tackled my waist while still crying, causing me to plop down on the floor of the guest room from the momentum.
It seemed like she had been crying all this time, as her face had become dry and cracked due to losing the water that composed her body.
'How long has she been crying until she found me?' I felt a pang of guilt in the fact that I was sleeping soundly on the sofa while they were rushing here worried about me.
"Calm down, Teto. Drink to replenish your water."
"Teto's glad you're fine! Teto's glad that you're safe, Majou-sama!"
I couldn't pinpoint the reason but, aside from Teto who was exuding an air of relief finding me safe, Altair-san was giving Erneah-san a stern look.
"Although I don't want to entertain this idea but—— the one who abducted Chise-sama was Erneah-sama herself!?"
"That's a misunderstanding, alright? I merely protected the child who was captured by fairies and brought her here! I would never do such a thing!"
As Erneah-san shifted her gaze to me in search of help, I explained the situation to Altair-san.
Like how I was unknowingly kidnapped by fairies, who forced me to sleep in their closed space and absorbed my mana. And that the flow of the time in that space was different, as only three days had passed in the real world.
Then Erneah-san appeared, rebuked the fairies that had been promoted to intermediate class for taking my mana, and even looked after me and brought me here.
"Erneah-sama didn't do anything rude to you, did she?"
"No, she has taken great care of me. It's just, I have been treated as a child due to how I look."
I answered Altair-san while calming down Teto who had been crying nonstop and making her drink the water I took out from the magic bag.
"I apologize on behalf of Erneah-sama who treated someone of your esteemed position so casually......"
"I guess an apology is due, but I didn't know her real identity so it was kind of inevitable. Besides, the root cause of all this is the fairies who abducted her due to their greed. However, I heard that Creation Witch-dono is over 70 years old, I never heard someone saying she had become immortal with a childish figure."
"The appearance of the «Flying Carpet» Chise-sama is quite famous."
"I've been living for over 2000 years you know, so I don't bother remembering such trivial details. To begin with, one can generally grasp someone's character upon meeting them."
'Besides, since the spirits allowed her to come this far, there shouldn't be any problems......' In contrast to Erneah-san who said so while waving her hand casually, Altair-san had a frustrated look on her face.
In a way, Altair-san seemed like someone who regularly had to endure hardship.
"Anyway, let me introduce myself to you, child—-- I mean, the leader of the «Empty Wilderness». I am the queen of the Eldar Forest Kingdom, Erneah. And she is——"
"I am Altair, serving as Her Majesty Erneah-sama's assistant"
I had kind of guessed it already, but she was indeed the queen of the elves, huh? Furthermore, Altair-san seemed to have a higher position than I had initially assumed.
"Likewise, I am Witch Chise. I came from the «Empty Wilderness»."
"......Thank you for finding Majou-sama. I am Teto-nanodesu."
As Teto and I bowed our heads, Erneah-san nodded with satisfaction.
"Umu. Chise and Teto, those are good names. It would be rude to call you child after hearing your name, but it also feels awkward to call you Chise-dono...... Besides, we'll have a long-standing friendship as fellow immortals. Is it alright if I call you Chise?"
"I don't mind, Your Majesty Erneah."
When I said so, she adorably pouted as if sulking.
"You may address me without honorifics....... That being said, it might be difficult given your personality. So just add -san, that's fine as well."
"Is that fine?"
"No problem. I am not fond of formalities. And I have a soft spot for cute people."
"......Ahem, Your Majesty."
Altair-san cleared her throat and murmured in a low voice as Elnea-san reached out to pat our heads after saying her piece.
Perhaps she didn't like being called 'Your Majesty' as Erneah-san wrinkled her face in disgust while withdrawing her hand.
"Geez, you used to be so cute when you were just a child. Where did I go wrong that you grew up to be such a boorish adult?"
"Kuh, it's embarrassing to talk about my childhood so please stop talking about it!"
Facing Erneah-san who faked her tears, Altair-san's face turned red and her voice became rough.
After having a look at Altair-san's expression which we didn’t get to see during our journey, I felt like I had gotten a glimpse of her relationship with Erneah-san.
"Anyway, you two can continue to use this room. We will have the discussions later when preparations are done."
After saying all that, the Elf Queen left the room leaving behind Teto who still clung onto me tightly.
"Majou-sama, Teto hopes you don't disappear anymore."
"I will not. But more importantly, I'm glad that you're safe."
"Um, Teto did her best."
Hearing their side of the story, they ran continuously for three days and nights to come all the way here.
"Teto really wanted to find Majou-sama right away. But Teto thought about what Majou-sama would have done in that case, and so I came here first."
"Yes, you did your best. You made an intelligent decision."
Receiving my praise, Teto finally broke her crying expression as a smile bloomed on her face, and we went to sleep while she clung to me.
Considering how Teto might have gotten lost as well, I couldn't help but praise Teto for choosing a reliable method this time and also felt grateful to Altair-san for keeping Teto with her.
If it weren't for Erneah-san, I might not have been able to reunite with Teto so early in the morning.
I was feeling grateful as Teto slept while holding onto me. I gently combed her hair and waited for her to wake up.
Editor's note: Halfway through the chapter, Translator suddenly corrected Altair's name to Altia. I kept it Altair instead since a) it's been so many chapters since this lady appeared and I'm too lazy to backtrack just to edit her name and b) I find the image of the grandmaster assassin being reincarnated into a dark elf diplomat and confidant really funny ?
T/N: Ugh, side effect of playing too much atelier game, it get mixed in between. ~~Don't ask me which one though~~. Also, scroll up a bit up to see the announcement in notes.
