They said a mother’s advice is always right. She was not wrong.
In fact, in the process of the successorship competition, Riley gave Ian a glimpse of his swordsmanship skill.
“Ian, this is really nothing special, but…”
Riley mumbled as if he was finding all this to be icky. Ian had a violent look on his face. As if he was trying to say Riley should still tell him, Ian brought his face closer to Riley’s.
“I’ll listen!”
“This will take a long time to explain.”
“We need to wait a long time anyway for the children to get treated and come out of the Holy Temple.”
“…”
“Please tell me!”
“… Ugh.”
This time, Riley sighed like Ian from earlier.
* * *
Tsuuuwaaaa.
It was autumn, but it was still raining in Rainfield. In an abandoned building with a pretty good atmosphere, there were several existences gathered there. It was unbelievable that they were all in the same place.
“How many hundreds of years has it been since the last meeting?”
“The last one was over a thousand years ago.”
“Really? I was sleeping, so I didn’t know.”
There was a blindingly bright silver colored elf, a shiny gold colored orc, a vibrant green colored tree, and an ocean blue colored mermaid.
Four different kinds with each very different characteristics were gathered there and having a conversation.
“Where’s Andal?”
“He is not here yet. He said he is bringing a pupil and asked us to wait.”
“A pupil? What’s a pupil?”
“You know that thing that humans do. Things like education.”
“Ah, that?”
“That guy really is an oddball. An oddball.”
“I asked him to bring the pupil. Ah, I think he is here.”
An elf was flaunting her silver hair. The beautiful elf turned her head and mumbled. The space that she stared at started to distort.
“Uu. I just can’t get used to Rainfield. This humid air… It is the worst.”
The distorted space had a burst of light, and Andal and Nainiae made appearances.
“Wow, this is a surprise? Everyone is really here?”
Nainiae stood next to Andal, confused. Andal patted Nainiae on the back hard and walked to the table where the four existences were sitting together.
The silver haired elf said,
“No, one of us is not here.”
“One is missing? Ah, you are right? How come?”
“It was impossible to get in contact. Even the lair was empty. Maybe it is because of an amusement tour.”
“Even so, shouldn’t it be possible to contact each other? So busy to the point of not being able to reply to calls?”
“Perhaps.”
The elf answered Andal’s questions. She looked at Nainiae who was standing there all confused. The elf made a gesture with her hand to tell Nainiae she should sit anywhere comfortable.
“…”
Having noticed the gesture, she lowered her head and carefully sat at a corner. The ones gathered at the table started to have a conversation with Nainiae as the main topic.
“Hum, so that’s her, right?”
“Andal took her to be pu… pu what again?”
“A pupil.”
“So, the human who Andal took to raise as his pupil is her?”
“I would like to have her fight a duel against my guardian spirit.”
“Don’t bother. She appears to be a female and look all weak and fragile. Have you forgotten? Humans are weak? If you kill her, Andal is going to be furious.”
They each said a line to discuss about Nainiae. Andal slowly walked to the table and sat. He butt into the conversation as if he was not going to let it continue like this.
“Don’t make me laugh. The orc that you took in is not going to be able to lay a hand on even the tip of Nainiae’s toes. There won’t be need for a long fight. It will end in 30 seconds.”
“30 seconds? Puhahaha! Andal, it seems like the thousand years made you become more boastful!”
“Huhu, you think I’m just full of empty air? Should I boast some more? It will take at least five high elves.”