Kamisama Shop de Cheat no Kaori

Chapter 216. The Freeman And The Reunion In The Forest

I fell asleep quickly, but due to the ingrained habit of four hours of sleep, I woke up at a time that couldn’t be called either late night or early morning.

Thinking I’d work up a light sweat, I left the fantastical elf house and heard a rhythmic clanging sound.

“What’s this?”

Guided by the sound, I headed to the edge of the village and found Hagg, surrounded by several elves, hammering on red-hot iron.

“Hey. You’re up early.”

“You’re the one who’s early, aren’t you?”

“I just woke up.”

“I see.”

“So, what are you doing, Hagg?”

“Hmm? Just fixing some chips in their gear.”

“What? Are elves careless with their weapons?”

“What!? We’re warriors, you know!?”

“We do maintain them properly. It’s just some physical damage.”

“I see.”

“Hmph.”

But aren’t elves and dwarves supposed to be on bad terms?

“Fixing it for free? You’re being pretty kind.”

“Who said it’s free? I’m getting paid properly.”

Hagg pointed his thumb toward a row of glass bottles. Apparently, it was wine.

“Hmph. Elves might be clueless about iron, but they sure know how to make good wine.”

“Ha! Dwarves can’t do anything except work with iron, can they!?”

An elf warrior crossed his arms and looked down at Hagg.

“But… you’re truly skilled with iron. My rapier feels like new… no, even better than when I bought it.”

Hagg took a swig from the wine bottle and let out a satisfied sigh.

“Hmph. The wine you elves make is top-notch. Can’t stop drinking it.”

……

You guys actually get along, don’t you?

“Hey! Can you take a look at our pot too? I’ll give you some of our prized mead!”

“No wine or brandy instead of sweet liquor?”

“Only villages with distillers make brandy. Come on, please!”

A slender, beautiful elf who looked like an office lady was pestering Hagg with a motherly tone.

“Alright, alright. Just leave it there.”

“Yay! Thank you! You should be more honest with your gratitude!”

“Well… but…”

“Honestly. Only a few elves go on about ‘dwarves this, dwarves that’.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, you’re one of Yaralai’s human companions, right? Those self-proclaimed warriors are just outdated.”

“Outdated…”

One of the warriors slumped his shoulders sadly.

“Compared to that, Lalaila is amazing! She became a big shot at a human magic school! She’s the best kid in the Green Garden Forest!”

“W-well…”

“You should stop calling yourself a warrior and find a job that pays!”

“W-we do what we can and support each other…”

“This is the edge of the forest, not the center! You can’t survive without money! Stop talking nonsense!”

“But…”

“I know we need warriors. But there’s such a thing as balance!”

“Ugh…”

What’s this? I couldn’t help but chuckle at the oddly cozy atmosphere.

Kueh. The griffin, Kukkel, came over curiously.

I see. You’re baffled too, huh?

I patted its head, and it narrowed its eyes contentedly.

But still, mothers are strong, aren’t they? They see reality clearly.

If anything, the male elves seem like a bunch of deadbeats.

I felt a strange mix of disappointment, shattered dreams, and relief at the reality of the elves.

“Well, that’s life.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

The rhythmic clanging of the hammer echoed through the elf village. Yeah, not bad.

◆

“Shall we head out now?”

“Hahahaha! The elf breakfast was delicious! Thanks for the feast!”

“The road gets narrower from here, so be careful.”

“Worst case, we’ll walk.”

“If that happens, you can leave it at a nearby village. The path is wide enough for carriages, though.”

“Yeah.”

When the old man isn’t looking, I’ll just stash it in the container.

“Hehe, elf food is tasty.”

“Ehehe.”

Gururu…

Kukkel nuzzled Cherina.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go, Kukkel.”

Cherina hopped on, and Kukkel happily took off, circling around before following the camper.

“See you later.”

“Yeah, stop by on your way back.”

“Once we’re done, we’ll help with the pest control.”

“Sure, but don’t push yourselves. Trust us warriors.”

“Understood.”

As we drove off, the elves waved us goodbye.

“They were nice folks.”

“Elves are all like that.”

“I see.”

Before coming here, I had some fantastical image of elves, but seeing them as down-to-earth people was reassuring.

“Alright, Lalaila. Lead the way.”

“Okay! Leave it to me!”

And so, we became travelers once again.

◆

“……”

I looked up at it.

It was a giant tree.

No, calling it a giant tree doesn’t do it justice. It pierced the clouds, and its top was invisible.

“Pretty damn fantastical, huh?”

“Huh? What, Akira?”

“Oh, I thought it was a mountain from a distance.”

“Yeah. It’s not as tall as the Midar Mountains, but it’s about the same height.”

Is that the so-called World Tree?

“You know about it? Elves have called it the World Tree since ancient times.”

“Ah.”

I had no choice but to accept it.

“Hey, is it just me, or are some of the branches glowing?”

“Yeah. The leaves above the clouds capture sunlight and scatter it below. That’s why the forest stays lit.”

“I see.”

With something that massive, you’d think there’d be no sunlight, but it seems this fantastical plant has it covered.

“Akira, if we head toward that big tree, we’ll reach the village where we were born.”

“Oh, okay.”

After days of struggling through narrow paths, we finally reached our destination.

It was incredibly fantastical.

“Well, I’ll be.”

The old man let out a surprised voice. I get it. Something glowing was floating in the air. I feel like I’ve seen it before.

“That’s a light spirit. Around here, you can see them even without using spirit magic.”

“I see.”

Ah, right. The light spirit Lalaila summoned in front of the kids before.

Lalaila, surrounded by glowing light points, looked ethereal and beautiful.

“We can leave the car here. Elves won’t steal or damage it.”

“Right.”

It was hard to tell if it was a forest or a village, but with houses blending into the trees here and there, we were probably already inside the village.

“Hehe. The air’s so fresh. Cars are convenient, but the smell is a bit much.”

“Hmph. I’ll agree with that. But even I can see the spirits here. This place is amazing.”

“There’s a forest of graves nearby, so that might have something to do with it.”

“Hmm?”

“Should we head straight to Lalaila’s house? Do we need to greet the elders first?”

“We can greet them later. Let’s ask about the pests then too.”

“Got it. So, where’s your house?”

“Over there, at the very edge.”

Lalaila pointed to where laundry was fluttering in the wind.

A beautiful elf’s back.

“Ah…”

“Hmm.”

Lalaila and Yaralai reacted at the same time.

“Mom!!”

The apron-clad elf turned around at her voice, her emerald-green hair flowing.

“Lalaila? …Oh.”

The slightly droopy-eyed elf was also an incredible beauty.

“D-dad.”

“…I’m home.”

And so.

Lalaila’s entire family was reunited for the first time in a while.