"Lord Rio, please accept an apology from me as well. I promise to have
Uzuma take responsibility for her hastiness. The girls over there shall face a
scolding from me, too," Ursula said, making Sara and the others flinch.
"Yes, I understand. So please, everyone, raise your heads. I will be
distraught if you remain like this any longer," Rio said with a forced smile at
Sara and the others who were still bowing on the floor.
"Lord Rio. The village elders will gather tomorrow morning and offer
you a formal apology. You must be tired tonight. Please rest with Miss Latifa
here in this room," Ursula suggested with a sidelong glance at the girls
slowly rising to their feet.
"Then I shall do just that."
"Good. I shall prepare an attendant for you too. Don't hesitate to inform
us if you need anything."
"No, nothing. Thank you for your consideration."
"Of course. Now, I must make some various arrangements, so please
excuse me. Come along, you lot." The girls all followed Ursula out of the
room.
On their way out, Uzuma and the three girls bowed deeply, prompting
Rio to lightly nod his head at them. Just before she left the room, Ursula sent
Latifa a look overflowing with affection. Then, Rio shifted Latifa from his
lap onto the bed, before laying down next to her.
◇◇◇
Shortly after Rio fell asleep...
The village elders gathered in a council room on the top floor of their
town hall.
"...And that's the general summary of this incident. I believe it would be
proper to offer Lord Rio a formal apology and a reward to show our gratitude
for saving Miss Latifa and protecting her. Are there any objections?" After
Ursula explained the events that occurred, she looked around the room of
elders from where she sat. There were two other elders in the room as well,
seated to her left. The others all wore conflicted expressions.
"I don't believe anyone would object to the apology and reward. But, as
we have no knowledge of how human culture works, our common practices may not be conveyed as intended. What we should apologize for and thank
him with is another matter that needs considering," the elf head elder — an
elderly man seated at the center of the three seats with Ursula — said.
As they were all different species from humans entirely, there was a
significant difference in their fundamental sense of values. In reality, that
difference in value was what caused them to separate themselves from
humans over the course of history. That was why they wished to avoid
expressing their gratitude in the wrong way and causing some kind of
displeasure.
"Then why don't we just ask the kid himself? We can just give him
whatever he wants, so long as it's within our means," the dwarf head elder
suggested from where he sat just to the right.
"Don't you think that would be rather presumptuous, Dominic?" said the
elf male. He looked at the dwarf — Dominic — beside him.
What Dominic had meant was to issue a blank check for Rio to write his
desired amount. But if it was an amount they couldn't afford, they'd be in
trouble by appearing even ruder and ungrateful towards him.
The room buzzed.
"Even so, we cannot simply express our gratitude with only words. We
owe that much to Lord Rio for how we have slighted him. I believe there is
some appeal to Dominic's words, everyone," Ursula said, looking at the other
elders.
The elf elder gave a stately nod. "Well... I suppose."
The other elders in the room reluctantly voiced their agreement too.
Everyone present admittedly felt it was right to repay Rio in some form or
another, but the reason why they were so wary of him was largely due to their
preconceptions of humans.
With problems between their species deep-rooted in their history, this
was one thing that couldn't be helped.
"Yep... gotta avoid humans at all costs. I get why everyone feels wary
and all, but this one was nice enough to save one of our brethren from slavery
and guide her all the way to us from the Strahl region. From what I've heard,
we returned his favor with bad blood. He certainly doesn't seem like the type
of brat to demand that we offer him a slave... Ain't that right, Ursula?"
"Indeed, I can guarantee that much. He was a compassionate and
reasonable boy," Ursula declared assertively at Dominic's question.
"So how about it, Syldora?"
"...All right. Does anyone have any objections?" The elf elder Syldora
nodded and looked over the other elders, but no one stepped forward, and the
proposal was approved.
"Then to show our gratitude, we shall go with the idea Dominic
suggested. Does anyone else have any other points to raise?"
"Hmm. Then may I?" Ursula raised a hand.
"Of course. You were the one most involved with this incident out of the
council of elders," Syldora welcomed her with a nod.
"I would like to address the topic of Miss Latifa. While I'm not entirely
certain, I believe her upbringing as a slave has resulted in what I perceived as
mental fragility. That fragility has manifested itself in the form of dependence
towards Lord Rio. If we were to accept her within our community, we would
require Lord Rio to stay in the village too — at least until she settles down, I
am thinking."
"Ah... In that case, preparations need to be made for lodgings and a
caretaker. We also gotta explain the situation to the villagers... and get the
brat's consent, too, of course."
Dominic scratched his head at Ursula's words; Syldora and Ursula
opened their mouths without missing a beat.
"We can leave the caretaking to the apprentice shrine maidens.
Fortunately, they've already met him. It can act as their repentance for
troubling one such protector."
"Hm. In regards to lodging, there's an empty house on my property. They
can live there. I volunteer to take on the role of being their guardian in the
meantime."
And so, the discussion proceeded smoothly, until...
"Hey. Do you have a moment?"
A beautiful voice echoed clearly throughout the council room. Suddenly,
a woman materialized in a spot that had been vacant. She was a young
beauty, and was wearing a dress decorated with delicate flowers. Her green
hair was long enough to reach the floor, and her eyes were a sparkling
emerald color. Her face was so exquisitely refined, it almost seemed devoid
of life, yet she also emitted a warm aura about her.
"Y-Your Greatness..."
As soon as they caught sight of her, all the elders in the room
immediately knelt all at once.
"Great Dryas, the Grand Spirit Festival is still a ways in the future. What brings you here today?" Ursula asked reverently.
"Yeah, I just had something on my mind. I came to ask you guys about
it."
"I see. How may we help you?"
"Just now, I felt the presence of an unfamiliar spirit around this area.
Seemed like a pretty high class one, but it disappeared almost immediately.
I'm almost certain it's someone's contract spirit, but I don't know who. Any
ideas?"
Dryas asked, looking around the council room.
"...Yes, actually," Ursula answered.
"Oh, really? Where is it?"
"I believe it is resting with the boy it contracted to at the moment. We
have plans to bring him to this room tomorrow morning. What would you
like to do, Your Greatness?"
Ursula's answer made the other elders widen their eyes in shock. The
only contracted boy she could be referring to was Rio.
"Huh... So he'll be in this room? Then is it okay for me to sit in
attendance too?"
"Of course, Your Greatness. However, the boy is actually a human
child..."
"Oh, my... How unusual. Humans are visiting this village?" Dryas
widened her eyes in the slightest.
"Yes, there were special circumstances involved..." Ursula hesitated with
a troubled expression.
"Hmm. Well, that's of no concern to me. I'll pop by again tomorrow
morning. See you then."
"Yes, Your Greatness," Ursula acknowledged respectfully.
At the same time, Dryas' figure disappeared into dust. She truly was a
carefree soul, appearing and disappearing as she pleased.
"...There she goes. I never imagined she would appear so suddenly like
that. It's bad for my heart..." Ursula sighed tiredly. The other elders showed
similar reactions.
"Gahaha! She's a great high-rank spirit, after all. Of course she's gonna
be whimsical. We're rarely granted her audience outside of the Grand Spirit
Festival. Let's just consider it good fortune this time," Dominic said.
"That may be true... But, Ursula, what was that you spoke of before? Is it
true?" Syldora agreed with Dominic's words before narrowing his eyes at Ursula.
"Hm. Great Dryas' words just now solidified my theory. Lord Rio has
forged a contract with a spirit. Although it is a little worrying that he didn't
seem to be aware of it himself."
"I see... One thing after another... I never would have expected this after
being rattled awake so late. This has been quite an eventful night indeed,"
Syldora said, pasting a strained smile on his face.
"Damn right. The most eventful of my life." Dominic gave a great nod of
agreement.
◇◇◇
The next morning, Rio woke to find Latifa sleeping in his arms.
Yesterday he had felt the oncoming symptoms of a cold, but now he felt
surprisingly healthy, and it was all thanks to the elf medicine Ursula gave
him. As he was stroking Latifa's hair through her sound sleep, a knock
echoed from the door.
"Yes? I'm awake." Rio sat up and responded, then watched as the door
slowly opened. There in the doorway stood three girls — the silver werewolf
Sara, the elf girl Orphia, and the dwarf girl Alma.
"Good morning, Master Rio," The three all called out together before
bowing in unison.
"Good morning. Is something the matter?" Rio bowed his head to return
their greeting before asking the three of them to enter the room.
"Preparations for breakfast have been completed, so we came to call you.
What would you like to do?" Sara answered on behalf of the three of them.
She was the oldest of the group and often ended up acting as their leader.
"It's a very tempting offer, but I'd like to wait until Latifa wakes up.
She'll get mad at me if I eat first." Rio smiled gently, shaking his head.
The girls' expressions clouded over slightly. Seeing how soundly Latifa
was sleeping as she clung to Rio made them feel even more guilty about what
they had done because of their misjudgment.
"...Understood," Sara said, bowing politely.
"Oh! How about some tea first, Master Rio?" Orphia clapped her hands
together as a the idea popped into her head.
"If it's not too much trouble, then please, Miss Orphia."
"I-It would be my pleasure! Please wait here for a moment." Orphia beamed before turning on her heel.