Yuri Empire

TN: After a lot of hit-or-miss updates (mostly miss), I decided to change the update schedule from 1 ch/day to 4 ch/week.

「My name is Ilorina, daughter of Fleur Ketchat, Governor of the Republic of Aneka. It is my pleasure to meet you.」

Today is the sixth day since Melfalude started her stay in the Yuri Empire.

The『sixth concubine』who greeted Melfalude in the room she visited in the Yuritania Palace is a very young girl with the brown skin typical of desert people.

Sofia, whom she met on the second day, also seemed to be a very young girl. The girl in front of Melfalude now, Ilorina, looks even younger than that.

She is probably around 25 years old. She may have reached adulthood, but she did not yet have the body to be attractive in a feminine way.

On the other hand, the polite and natural way of speaking and the crisp manner in which Ilorina speaks do not make her seem too young.

For someone so young―――she seems to be a very intelligent girl.

She was a girl that she could immediately understand just by receiving her greeting.

「I’m Melfalude, and I'm looking forward to meeting you today.」

「Yes, I've heard about you. There are many things I would like to hear from you, Melfalude-san, so I have been looking forward to the day when you would come to me like this.」

「Is that so? Is there anything I can tell you?」

「A few days ago, I had the opportunity to dine with Her Majesty Yuri. At that time, Her Majesty Yuri praised Melferude-san's handling of the bow, saying that it was『quite good』.」

「Eh―――really?」

「Yes. She praised that such sharp and accurate shots could only be achieved with a great deal of practice.」

「I-I see…」

When they met at the High Elf village, Melfalude shot four arrows between Yuri's eyes.

All four arrows were deflected by the barriers, and Melfalude felt ashamed of her inexperience.

Despite this, she had no idea that the arrow he had shot at that moment would be appreciated by Her Majesty Yuri, who was much more skilled than her.

Ilorina's words came as a great surprise to Melfalude, but at the same time, she was honestly happy.

「I'm a pretty good archer myself.」

「Oh, really? I'm sorry to say this, but… it's a little difficult for someone of your size to handle, isn't it?」

To draw the bow, various muscles from the shoulders to the back of the body are used.

These muscles are difficult to train at an age when your physique is still in its early stages.

This is why the bow is not a recommended weapon for a person like Ilorina, who is still of a small, child-like build.

「I understand that I'm at a disadvantage, but I still like bows…」

「…I understand that feeling.」

Melfalude nodded deeply at Ilorina's words, which were said with a bit of hesitation.

This is because Melfalude also likes to use a weapon called a『bow』.

Because she likes it, she has been able to continue practicing for hundreds of years without getting bored, and she believes that this is not a small part of the reason why she has been able to acquire the skill level she has today.

So even though she knew she was at a disadvantage physically, Melfalude could not ignore Ilorina's desire to become better at archery because she loved it.

「If you don't mind, would you be willing to teach me how to use a bow today?」

「Yes. I don't know if I can help you, but… of course.」

「Thank you very much.」

When she thought about it, she felt that she had learned many things from the members of the concubines over the past five days.

It would be a good idea to spend some time with Ilorina, the last concubine, and teach her the knowledge and skills that she had.