We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Be careful not to eat too much meat.
The Cursed Land, the Rotten Dragon King. And the fairy tale of Armēdo and Yorttenitos, the founding king of twins. I will tell Gouo tales of heroes and my grand adventures.
It feels like I’ve become a court poet, telling stories to someone so important like this.
Gouo wet his lips with the alcohol he brought, listening intently as if to discern truth from lies.
The Mimicho people, who were preparing food nearby, seemed to be listening to my story as they worked.
This made me feel even better, and I started talking about this and that.
“Elnea-kun destroyed the capital cities of the Yorttenitos Kingdom and the Armēdo Kingdom.”
“He created labyrinths in various places in the Yorttenitos Kingdom and the Armēdo Kingdom.”
“His wickedness is even greater than that of a Demon Lord.”
Occasionally, Yufilia and Nina’s interjections and Lily’s nonsensical remarks would interrupt, and each time the Giants and Mimicho would turn pale or try to distance themselves from me, which was all part of the charm.
“No, no, it’s a misunderstanding! I haven’t destroyed that much recently! Or rather, it was Priscilla-chan who created the labyrinths!”
“But you don’t deny the fact that the capital was blown away, do you?”
“It wasn’t me for the Armēdo Kingdom! And as for the Yorttenitos Kingdom incident, I didn’t know how to control my power. You know, when I fought Gouo, only his aide and one other person were blown away, right? I don’t just indiscriminately involve everyone anymore.”
“…The memory of that time is terrifying. But if you had unleashed your full power, my entire army would have been sacrificed.”
“If Elnea-kun had gone all out, they would have been food for Lily and the others from the start.”
“…”
“Be careful. That black dragon is under the Demon Lord’s wing!”
Lily-chan. It’s forbidden to threaten Gouo and the others like a critique.
They were intimidating with their appearance and yet said merciless things, causing those who didn’t know the situation to become hesitant.
“Yes. That’s all for the story. Let’s continue after we eat.”
“It’s finally ready. I’ve never had such a dish before.”
Then, Mistral and Ruiseine, who were directing the Giants and Mimicho while preparing the meal, called us over.
“Uwah, it’s so lavish!”
“Hmph, you call this lavish?”
“No, no, to us, it looks lavish!”
Mistral beckoned, and we headed towards a mountain of food.
Meat, generously carved. Colorful vegetables and fruits gathered despite it being winter.
In a gigantic pot, root vegetables and meat were tenderly stewed, and the bread was also enormous.
It wasn’t that the Giants and we cooked separately; following my intention to do everything together resulted in this.
Giants are several times larger than us, so if we cooked for the usual size of Humans and Mimicho, it would appear too small and meager from the Giants’ perspective. So it seems they cooked with the Giants’ size in mind…
The chunks of meat were about the same size as our faces, and there was a lot of it.
“Ooh! It looks delicious!”
Priscilla-chan, who had been playing with Lily so as not to interfere with the cooking, ran over energetically. Her eyes sparkled like those of a dragon upon seeing the giant meat, and she rejoiced.
“Well then, shall we all eat?”
The meals of the Mimicho who lived in the Great Forest were similar to the situation in Mistral’s village. When many people gathered, they would serve food on large plates, and everyone would take what they liked.
This meal was also prepared in that manner.
“Everyone, get along!”
The Giants, perhaps because they were accompanying the troops, had a similar meal scene yesterday.
However, Gouo is the king, and he seemed hesitant to take food from the same plate as everyone else.
Furthermore, some people showed resistance to the Giants and Mimicho eating from the same plate.
So, we took the initiative to start serving the food.
“If you hesitate, the things you want will be gone. There are many gluttons here, you know.”
“Meat! Meat!”
Priscilla-chan, prancing, tried to grab meat larger than her own stomach.
Behind her, Lily and Laira also looked eager to eat, and if we weren’t careful, it would disappear in the blink of an eye.
The Wyvern Knight Order, who had been out hunting, also returned and reached for the food without any hesitation towards other races.
A little further away, the wyverns were devouring the prey they had hunted.
They were eating the prey whole, so those unaccustomed to it shouldn’t look.
“In that case, I won’t hold back.”
Then, perhaps overcome by hunger, or perhaps thinking not to fall behind us, the small ones, a Giant moved first.
It was the person I had blown away with Gouo.
His name was Bowen, I believe.
He seemed to be Gouo’s aide.
“Don’t fall behind the Giants!”
With Bowen’s movement, the Mimicho also hurriedly followed suit.
With small plates in hand, they reached for the generously portioned food.
There is still a significant wall between the Mimicho and the Giants, but that’s unavoidable.
Looking back at history, we can’t expect them to become friends overnight, but I hope they will continue to have opportunities for interaction like this and gradually reconcile. As I watched the Giants and Mimicho, the food I had been eyeing disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“Ah, my food!”
“Yes, yes. I saved some for you.”
“Thank you, Mistral.”
“Elnea-kun, I was the one who brought this.”
“Thank you, Ruiseine, too.”
“Um, do you want some meat?”
“…Priscilla-chan. You definitely can’t eat that much, can you?”
As I received the food from Mistral and Ruiseine, we all looked at Priscilla-chan.
The little glutton had, of all things, secured a large amount of meat and fruit in a vessel meant for Giants and was smiling contentedly.
Who was it that gave Priscilla-chan the Giant’s vessel and served her the food…
“Priscilla-chan, you got the best meat.”
“Priscilla-chan, you got the most meat.”
The culprits found!
Or rather, I might have known from the beginning. These two are usually the ones who plot mischief.
Yufilia and Nina must have taken food for Priscilla-chan as she wished, to satisfy her desires.
“Yufi, Nina. And Priscilla. You will be responsible for eating all the food you’ve served, okay?”
“Ugh.”
“Eek.”
“Yes!”
At Mistral’s warning, Yufilia and Nina turned pale and looked at the food served in the Giant’s vessel.
Only Priscilla-chan replied energetically and bit into the meat that definitely wouldn’t fit in a young girl’s stomach.
“W-well then, shall we eat too? Itadakimasu.”
Mistral, Ruiseine, Yufilia, Nina, Priscilla-chan, and I sat down and began to eat.
Yufilia and Nina reluctantly started to eat the amount of food that couldn’t be finished with Priscilla-chan.
Looking around, the Giants and Mimicho naturally formed circles around the served food and began to eat.
A Giant and a Mimicho reaching for refills touched each other. Then, albeit awkwardly, they took the same food and ate.
Gouo dislikes vegetables, so the plate Bowen served him was full of meat. Similarly, some of the Mimicho only ate meat.
Even though they are different races, their preferences for food are similar.
Are they all realizing that?
Instead of just being at odds, if they find and understand these small commonalities, the gap will surely be bridged someday.
As it was after traveling and labor, the prepared food was gone in the blink of an eye.
In the end, the food on Priscilla-chan’s plate was too much for even the three of them to finish, so Lily and Laira ate it. I’m sure Mistral will scold her later.
While rubbing our full stomachs and having tea after the meal, I noticed the Giants and Mimicho becoming restless, as if at a loss for what to do.
Right. The common activity of eating has ended, and they don’t know what to do next because there’s nothing else to do.
It seems the burials are mostly finished, and we can’t suddenly ask them to work on the remaining tasks together.
Now, what should we do next? As I pondered this, I felt a presence, as if something was trying to draw out power from within my body.
“Elnea?”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one feeling it, as Mistral and the rest of my family looked at me.
“Um, well, you see. Rinrin seems to have something urgent?”
“Is that so? This must be Rinrin’s signal that she wants to manifest.”
Yun and Ran, who are under our employ. Normally, a formal summoning would be done according to our will, but when they want to manifest themselves, they try to draw out our power like this. Realizing this new sensation, I summoned Ran.
However, since Laira is not here, it’s a restricted summoning.
“W-who are you calling Rinrin!”
“Ah. You could hear me.”
Ran was summoned after receiving the power of our family. Then, she immediately frowned and confronted me.
“Easy, easy. Calm down, Rinrin. So, what’s wrong?”
“Don’t call me Rinrin! …But, I need your help.”
Ran probably doesn’t want to be bothered by the Mimicho and Giants watching around her. She said, without looking away from me.
“Ran… A yōma is at the spring where Ran is sealed!”
“What!?”
Apparently, Ran had gone to check on Ran while she wasn’t manifested.
“A yōma caught Ran’s scent and is trying to break her seal. If this continues, Ran will be in danger, so please help!”
“I also plead with you. Please save Ran. We cannot afford to lose Ran after coming this far.”
Following Ran, their eldest daughter, Yun, appeared.
That’s strange, I didn’t intend to summon Yun?
“Sage Ran!?”
The Mimicho were surprised by the manifestation of Yun and Ran. But even more so, they became agitated upon hearing that Ran was in danger.
“Let’s hurry and save her! Rinrin, lead the way!”
We can’t afford to wait. We quickly prepared ourselves. The Mimicho also fully armed themselves and urged us to take them.
“Is it a dangerous yōma?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It has tentacles like legs, scythe-like hands, countless eyes, and tough scales. Frankly, it’s disgusting. If we don’t hurry, the lake will be eroded and Ran will…”
“What, Balidora!?”
Then, Gouo reacted to Ran’s description.
“Balidora?”
“A hundred-eyed, centipede-like great yōma. He is a sworn enemy who has killed many Giants. If it’s him, you can take us too!”
“You think you can lead the Giants into the depths of the forest?”
The Mimicho strongly refused Gouo’s offer.
We are moving towards reconciliation, but that is still in the future. Just meeting and eating together once is not enough to guide them into the depths of their precious forest. The Mimicho’s claim is justified.
“…No, we will take you. More combat power is better.”
However, Ran nodded.
Ran, who glared at Gouo and the Giants with hatred, agreed to their accompaniment, surprising not only the Mimicho but us as well.
“I have a feeling that thing cannot be defeated with just ordinary power. It’s for Ran’s sake, so I have no choice!”
If the guide, Ran, says so, the Mimicho cannot object.
Upon receiving Ran’s permission, Gouo and the others finished preparing for battle.
The battle axe I had split in two was now brand new, and he was filled with fighting spirit.
“…It can’t be helped. We will comply this time. It is difficult for us as well to fight yōma.”
“Hmph. If Balidora has appeared, we would have gone even without the Mimicho’s guidance.”
It seems that for the Giants, the yōma Balidora is a considerable sworn enemy.
Once everyone was ready, we departed under Ran’s guidance.
